Brady Hoke

Opening remarks: “We had a pretty good day yesterday. You liked the energy and how they competed practice-wise. Lot of things we have to clean up from a fundamental, assignment, and technique -- those kinds of things. From playing a little tighter and little more competitive on their receivers. Their three-step game is an integral part of what they want to do offensively, so that’s part of where we need to be … good tacklers, guys breaking on the ball, and being disciplined with our eyes. That’s going to be an issue during the football game.”

Jerel Worthy said he had scouted Michigan’s tendencies for the past three years to a science. Do you have a group to look at your own tendencies to make sure that doesn’t happen? “Yeah I think Al and Greg both do a good job of looking every week, after a football game, at what we called and when we called it. I think we’re creatures of habit to some degree in how we look at different personnel groups on both sides, how you formationally run a route or combination of routes. Good football teams do that. Mark has got a really good staff. They’re good coaches, so I’m sure they’ve dissected this thing every which way you can.”

You don’t do a whole lot simulating crowd noise in practice. “Correct.” Is that not a big concern because of the system you use? “Correct. We talk about it every week. Wanna make sure we’re dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. The way Al’s system is set up and the communication part of it, he feels pretty comfortable with what we have.”

(more after the jump.)

MSU’s rushing game this year hasn’t been as successful as it has been in past years. Have you seen any differences in what they’ve done? “No, no not really. They’re going to be physical up front, they’re going to run the power, they’re going to run the outside stretch play, they’re going to run the inside zone, they’re going to combination block at the point of attack. They have big tight ends, so the C-gap run game is pretty good for them. They do a nice job of zoning off on the combination stretch play. The three backs are all really capable of hurting you.”

What’s Barnum’s status? “He practiced yesterday and he’ll practice today.”

Brandon Herron didn’t travel last Saturday. Where’s he at right now? “He’s on our football team, and he’ll practice again today like he did yesterday.” Why didn’t he travel last week. “He, uh, got hurt.”

MSU running the power play sounds a lot like what you do. How prepared are you for defending it? “Everyone has a little bit of their different intricacies to it. How you’re going to handle the five-[technique], how you’re going to course to the back (Ed: I think that’s what he said?), even from the quarterback’s action and all that kind of stuff. It’s good that we see those blocks, but there’s different guys blocking you.”

Does this game bring the best out of your defense given how physical it’s going to be? “Well, we’re going to find out. It’s always been a physical game. It’s a game where both teams take a lot of pride in how well their fronts play on both sides and the physicalness that they come off the ball with. The way that they want to possess the ball. All those things are part of it.”

You’re playing them a little later in the year than you have in the past. Does that extra couple weeks of cushion make a difference in preparation? “I have no clue, to be honest with you. I think the last time that I was on a team that played them, it seemed like it was this time of year, so I don’t know if it makes any difference.”

Is it better to play rivals at the beginning of the year or the end of the year? “I don’t think it really matters much.”

Has this week of practice been different? “I think it always has been. We have three rivalry games that we’re fortunate to have, but I think this one and the one at the end of the year are ones that you usually don’t have to do a whole lot of motivating.”

How much has the secondary improved since the beginning of the season? “I think we’ve improved some. I don’t think we’re near playing as well as we need to. From a supporting the run, supporting the bubble screen, getting off blocks, to where our eyes and our discpline on alignments and discipline on assignments and keys. I think Curt’s done a good job with them, but we are a long way from being a good secondary.”

What have you seen from J.T. Floyd? “I see a little more consistency, but at the same time, he’s got to show that more … consistently?”

Jake Ryan and Cam Gordon are pretty different at the SAM linebacker position. Do you play them differently? “Not really. They are different to some degree, but Cam being banged up a little bit hasn’t helped his development like you’d like to see. He’s put on some weight, gotten a little stronger, all those things that you need for the physicalness for the position. I don’t know if it’s fair for me to judge one or the other right now. I think they obviously are different, but at the same time, both have the skill set to play the position.”

Is Cam healthy enough to play at this point? Would you consider holding him out for the season? “I think he practiced pretty well yesterday. I think the more he does, the better he’ll get.” What’s your mentality about holding out a guy who could be a contributor but is hurt? “Well, get him healthy first for his own safety. The worst thing we can do is put a guy out there who’s not ready because that’ not being accountable to this program and this team, and it’s not being accountable to him when you look at where he is healthwise.”

How does Spartan Stadium rank in terms of hostile environments? “I think it’s a great atmosphere. I think they’re very passionate about their team, so personally I think it’s a great environment. I can’t rank any of them, but I think it’s a neat place to play.”

Will you rotate more on the defensive line because of how physical this game is going to be? “I don’t think so. I think we’ll kind of stay with what we’ve been doing. It was a little trickier last week because of some of the tempo things, but I thought Jerry Montgomery did a nice job getting guys in and out. I think we’ll probably stay how we are.”

How big was second half for Jake Ryan to be put back in and make some plays? “Well it always helps your confidence, and probably as much as anything, [it’s] the experience of playing plays [against someone] other than your look team. You’ve got different colored jerseys that are playing plays, and probably the speed of the game being higher, so it’s good for him to get those looks, those keys from that look … I know what I’m saying. You don’t.”

Can you talk about the decision to change the jerseys at halftime? “They were pulling a little bit, and we’ll always have another set that will be a little tighter. If you’re a defensive lineman particularly, you want to have a tight fit on you so people don’t get greedy with their hands.” Was there a concern about holding? “We hold. They hold. They all hold. It’s football. We just have to fight -- the way you get holding penalties is you fight and compete off blocks.” Are you going to keep wearing that second set of jerseys? “I don’t know. That’s a good question for big Jonny.”

How has Mike Martin been playing? “I think the last three weeks he’s played very well. I think he’s played more physical at the point of attack. I think he’s reacting to blocks better. More consistent. We still have to finish plays more, clean up hits and those kinds of things.”

What went wrong on the field goal? “We got pushed back a little bit over the guard. When people put two or three guys in there, it takes a man to play that position. We practiced the heck out of it, and I get scared we’re going to get somebody hurt when you do, but the only way you’re going to do it right is to practice it. We just got too much penetration.”

Is that the limit of Gibbons’ range? “Nah, he’s probably little stronger than that. He’s hit some balls in practice outside and inside. I think 55 or something like that, with a little bit of distance to it.”

Has he supplanted Matt Wile as the long FG kicker? “I don’t know. I know we have a lot of faith in Brendan right now.”

How do you defend against quick passes that teams have been completing against you? “You show it to them. You show it them. You talk about their technique and their hips and if they’re keeping their feet under their hips. Not opening up. There’s a lot of technique, and you can’t defend all of those. I mean, that’s just part of you playing cover-3. That’s the weakness of the defense. Cover-2 takes it away. Quarters -- you have to be a pretty good man player. Cover-6, you’re good on one side, you’re not as good the other side. It’s just the technique and fundamentals you have to have, and there’s always a confidence to it.”

Are you happy with progression of corners in man-to-man coverage? “Every day’s different.”

Greg Mattison said he wanted to coach better for these players. Is that something you think about as a staff? “Yeah, we talk about it as a staff. We’re here at Michigan for those kids and no other reason. To help those kids from the academic to the community and social and all that, to how we play football and how we represent Michigan. Yeah, that’s important.”

Can you defend against MSU’s trick plays? “Your eye discipline is going to help you defend those plays. There’s always some that are very unique that you may run into now and then, but if you’re disciplined with what your job is and your eyes, then you’ll do a pretty good job.”