Oct. 27, 2009
Opening Statement:
"As I said last week, we're going to keep pushing buttons and we're going to keep trying to do what we have to do until we get this thing right. There are some things we can build on from last week. We had some opportunities, as we did the week previous, to put ourselves in a position to win the game and we didn't get it done. That's something that we have to get through. As I told them, when we get tired of this sick feeling, and we will, we have to push through this thing and break through it and we will. We will get where we're supposed to be. I really believe that we're not as far as it may seem. We're in really good shape health-wise. Everybody practiced last night with the exception of Uh-Oh [Michael Hoomanawanui]. He will probably be a day to day. It's the same thing, it's his ankle, he had it last week but he played three-fourths of the game and did pretty well. Jarred [Fayson] is pretty close. We'll get him a little more work today and have a better feeling about him after today. Obviously this is a great challenge coming up. There is a lot of history in this game, in this stadium. Obviously our guys are excited and looking forward to it. Last night's practice was good. These guys are excited about the opportunity and the challenge of playing Michigan here back at home."
On Tyler Sands:
"Tyler had a hip flexor, he practiced and ran and everything. I thought he did pretty well, I really do. I'll tell you what's happened a little bit with the offensive line. You've see the whole energy level step up a little bit, you've seen everybody practice a little bit harder. It gives you some depth there if you get more than just five guys you can get a few plays out of. Ten, 15, 20 plays, it keeps everybody fresher and obviously they're going to play better."
On Sands playing better in the second game versus the first:
"Yeah, I think he did. He'll have his hands full this week. Both of those defensive ends at Indiana, it's amazing, you keep saying that these guys are as good of defensive ends as we've played and we come up against [Brandon] Graham. Anyway, he's making progress, he really is. He gives you the intensity. He gives you the enthusiasm. He's having fun. Every time he steps out on the field he'll get better and better."
On Donsay Hardeman:
"Donsay's fine. I think Sunday he told me he was going to play. His biggest problem was that he had a little stomach flu yesterday morning. That was his biggest problem yesterday. But he's fine. He's out there. He practiced and went through everything."
On avoiding the flu that has hit some teams:
"No, we haven't. I was sick on Saturday. (Coach Mike) Schultz was sick. Our doctor has done a great job with how we've handled some guys. If somebody gets it we get him separated from the team. We try to isolate as much as we can. I don't know if you can completely get rid of it but our doctors have done a pretty good job."
On Garrett Edwards starting if Donsay Hardeman is back:
"I think you're going to see all three of those guys for sure. Having Garrett back was good. Donsay will give you the fire and energy you like. I think Walter [Aikens] is going to be a guy who just keeps getting better and better."
On Terry Hawthorne:
"Terry played quite a bit. I can't tell you how far you get behind when you miss camp. It's just an unbelievable amount of individual work and the actual installation and so forth, but he's done a good job, he really has."
On Hawthorne playing receiver or defensive back:
"Obviously at the end of the year, maybe before spring ball, we'll address that issue a little bit more, but when we moved him over there after the second scrimmage or on the last scrimmage, the offensive guys made me sign something saying that they would get him back."
On using the quarterbacks the same way as the last game:
"Pretty much. I should rest that, I know that's a question out there. I was very pleased with the way Jacob [Charest] went in there. It's one thing going into a game plan knowing you're going to play in the beginning of the year when everybody's optimistic, and another going into a game under those kinds of circumstances and pressure and needing to win. I was very impressed with him. I thought he did a good job. I will continue to use him. I think he brings a different animal to the table and I think he can give us some help."
On the quarterback rotation:
"Everybody says they don't want to be a two quarterback system, and I'd be another one to say that. But a lot of people do it and a lot of people have success with it. I think the thing we're trying to do, just like everyone else, is to do the thing that's best for us, and what gives us the best opportunity to win. Michigan will do it. You're going to see two quarterbacks there. Even if [Tate] Forcier has done a heck of a job, they're going to play them both at some point and time during the game."
On game planning for two quarterbacks:
"Talking with Juice (Williams) a little bit, with Eddie [McGee] and Juice there wasn't a lot of game planning and not a lot of difference. When you game plan against Juice and against Jacob [Charest] there's a little bit of difference. Now you actually are dealing with a little different animal."
On if Nathan Scheelhaase will play:
"Well, God forbid somebody gets hurt or something like that. Nathan is chomping at the bit to go and do it, but it's Jacob's [Charest] opportunity to do it, Jacob threw for almost 8,000 yards in high school. He's a good quarterback. There was no question in our minds when we recruited him that he can help us win. The one thing that's a little bit different that I've seen here this past week is that he might be an option maybe more than what I originally thought."
On the cons of a two quarterback system:
"I think the one position is the position of the timing and so forth of the running game. People think in the running game you just hand the ball off. The timing and steps and all those things have to mesh. Just because of practice time and so forth, it's hard to get the time that you need to get that timing. It worked out pretty well this past Saturday and yesterday I was pleased and happy with the way practice went. I think it could help us win and that's what we all want."
On Jacob Charest having control and command on the field:
"The one thing that probably impressed me the most about him was his poise. As I said, it's one thing to get in as a quarterback in kind of a mop-up action, but it's another thing to get in when there's a lot of pressure and things going on. The poise that he had, he handled himself in the huddle. I thought more importantly than that, was when things were all around him and he kept his eyes downfield. He didn't think about scrambling and he got the ball off. That's not as easy as a lot of people seem to think."
On what he remembered while recruiting Charest:
"I think the biggest thing is who his mother and father were, like all parents. I told my daughter I'd buy her a horse if she stayed close. You'd like to have your children close. Particularly he has a brother, who's a heck of an athlete as well, playing in high school. That's why they weren't able to make it last week. They will be here this week. That's the biggest thing, the distance thing. I've said this a thousand times, one thing about the University of Illinois, one thing about this area, if people come on campus, if people get around to people, we're going to have a chance. It's something about this place. It's a great place."
On Mikel LeShoure getting close to taking over as the primary back:
"He's 122 yards closer. I know everybody would like to have the one guy, and Mikel had a good game. He did well and he's getting better and he's getting more confident. I think everybody gets more confident around him. I'm excited for him. Every time Mikel came out of the game, it was on his accord not on our accord. I think to be able to know that you can come out of the game and catch your breath and have a good player go back in there, I think it's a very healthy situation. Reggie [Mitchell] does a great job managing it. We are to the point now where for certain plays you want to get certain guys in there. We don't worry about that too much."
On Mikel being suspended for one game:
"That's something where I'm not going to discuss the situation but Mikel has done everything we've asked him to do. He's playing extremely well right now and practicing well, all the things that you'd want him to do, as they all are. The biggest thing is that he's had the opportunities. You always talk about with players that you don't know when the opportunity is going to come and you have to be able to take advantage of it. He says it's an opportunity he's taken advantage of and it's worked out well for him."
On the running back rotation being Reggie Mitchell's decision:
"With Reggie, it's a lot of practice, how they practice, how they prepare. I usually get my say in there as well, but I think it's important that those guys are held accountable and that they understand that they have a job to do that's not just running the football. They all understand they're going to have to block, they all understand that they're going to have to catch the ball and do all the things that a running back has to be able to do."
On the running backs having a good year:
" I think so, I don't think there's any question. At the running back position we're averaging pretty decent yardage and that's what we have to be able to do is run the football."
On the Michigan game:
"I don't think there's any question that it's a major game for us. I think this for a lot of reasons, if you go back and look at the history of this game, the history that's happened in this game in this stadium, there are a lot of people who for them this is 'the game.' They're all 'the game' to me right now. Obviously it's an important game. It's a big game. It's a home game. Hopefully we're going to have a crowd out there, and we're going to need everybody. It'll be an opportunity for us to get back on track. As I told our football team, I don't know that there's anybody that we played this year that if we played the way we're capable of playing, we could have won. That's the thing right now. You have to put all that stuff aside. You have to rip the rearview mirror off and go forward. It's what can we do right now."
On impressions of Michigan's offense and defense:
"Obviously they're leading the league in scoring and in rushing. This is a football team with four or five seniors on the offensive line that have done a heck of a job. They're the same players but it's a different psych and a different attitude than last year. They're playing pretty well. Defensively they're doing a lot of the same things and similar things that we do on defense. They're an eight-man front. Greg [Robinson] spent a lot of time in the NFL. It's funny because I see some similar things that we try to get done and we try to do in the defensive end. Brandon Graham is the real deal. He plays with great intensity and emotion. Both sides of the ball are going to have their hands full. Once again, that's what we have to do. We have to know what we're doing, but we have to take care of us and we have to play the way we're capable of playing."
On who will start at quarterback:
"They're both going to play. They're both going to be out there and I think Juice (Williams) understands that. I'm not trying to dodge the question or anything like that. They are both going to play and as I said, Jacob [Charest] gave us some things that I'm excited about. You see that ball come off his hand quick and he stuck it in there well. With the experience that Juice has, we can do some things as well. If I'm not mistaken, he holds that record at the Michigan stadium for total offensive yards. He hasn't done that yet, but he has done it and it's our job to get him to do it again."
On how Juice Williams is handling the quarterback situation:
"I have to question somebody who was talking about Juice, and I mean this, if I had a son, I would want my son to be on this team if no other reason than to see how he's handling it. It's easy to point fingers but it's unbelievable the way the guys handle it. To me, no one saw this thing coming and obviously he didn't either. The way he's handled it, I'm not sure a lot of adults could handle it.
"I had a long talk with Juice (Williams) yesterday. It never really came up. Juice wants to win. He's puling his hair out. The biggest thing we have to do with Juice is that everybody's pounding on him and he has to somehow separate that stuff. He's done it before. It's a confidence issue. If you've ever had your confidence shaken at anything you've ever done, he has to overcome that stuff and that's something we as a coaching staff have to help him do. He's done it before and he can do it again and it's our job to get over that."
