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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 8, 2016

Chris Ash

Piscataway, New Jersey

Michigan - 78, Rutgers - 0

COACH ASH: I'll just actually go ahead and open up for questions. Not a whole lot to say about the game, and just go ahead and open up for questions.

Q. I guess how did it the game become that lopsided?
COACH ASH: You watched it like I did. We didn't get a first down until late in the game. You go 2-of-18 passing the ball, you gave up 481 yards rushing, that's what happens.

Q. Were you hoping to get a spark from putting Zach in the game?
COACH ASH: We were hoping to getting in going on offense right now. You know, whether it's through Zach or somebody else or a running back. You know, we've got to get something going on offense. We've obviously struggled the last three weeks in a row.

Q. Is it a personnel thing with offense or is there something wrong?
COACH ASH: The whole thing's on me. I've got to do a better job of getting the team ready. Simple as that.

Q. What do you tell the team after a loss like this?
COACH ASH: We show up to work tomorrow. That's it.

Q. How difficult do you think it will be to push on now?
COACH ASH: It won't be difficult. I mean, that's what we do. That's what I'm here to do. Nobody said it was going to be easy. You know, we're going to keep grinding. We're going to keep fighting, and that's as simple as that.

Q. You said you were looking for anything. Was Chris Laviano hurt?
COACH ASH: No, Chris isn't hurt. No, Chris is fine. No, we got to try to get something going on offense. We just felt it was the right time to see if someone else could give us a spark and do something different.

Q. Was your decision to go for two there in the first half on that extra point; any thoughts on that play?
COACH ASH: No, they converted. You know, it's our job to stop them. There's no thoughts on that at all.

Q. Overall, the margin of 78 points, any concern about that, the margin, the number of points Michigan scored?
COACH ASH: Right, no, I mean, we lost a game. It's an ugly game.

I'm not concerned about the score. I'm concerned about our kids. We've got a bunch of good kids in that locker room and I feel awful for them right now. They have done everything we've asked them to do. They have grinded really hard and they kept a good attitude throughout this game, last game, and I feel really bad for them.

Q. Physically, how do you think you came out of this game?
COACH ASH: I don't know. I mean, we've got bumps and bruises. We went into the game with bumps and bruises. But until we get a chance to talk to the trainer and evaluate everybody, I don't know. But we've been beat up. That's just the nature of college football. And especially playing in a league like this, against really good teams, physical teams, you're going to get beat up.

Our depth is getting tested right now. We don't have a whole lot of depth at a number of positions. And unfortunately we've got some guys that are just fighting and clawing and doing everything they can, and maybe can hardly move a leg or a shoulder, you know, but that's where we're at.

Q. The way you've lost the last two weeks, is that something that can hurt the morale of team? Is that something that you have to --
COACH ASH: A loss, any loss can hurt the morale of the football team. You know, we lost to two outstanding football teams. Obviously don't want to lose like we've lost last week or this week.

But any loss hurts the morale of the football team. It's my job to make sure the morale continues to be high and we continue to have a positive attitude within the whole organization: That's coaches, that's players, that's support staff. That's on me and that's the job that I get paid to do.

Q. At this point, today's film, you won't look at it, you'll just go to the next game?
COACH ASH: No, we'll watch it. We have to watch it. We've got to find out what we've got to do to get better. If you don't evaluate it, you don't know what you've got to do get better. So it's not just move on and throw the tape away. We're going to evaluate it just like we would any other game, whether it's a victory or a loss.

Q. We all know you had a big rebuilding job. Did this surprise you as to where they are right now, I guess how much still needs to be done?
COACH ASH: No. Nothing surprised me. Again, nobody said it was going to be easy. I never came in here and promised any wins. Never said we couldn't win games, either. You know, never did that.

Came in with the process and a plan, and we're going to stick to that plan and we're going to keep going. We're going to recruit; we're going to develop; we're going to keep coaching, just like we did when we first got here.

Q. Playing the No. 2 and No. 4 team back-to-back, obviously is not optimal. The schedule certainly looks easier from here. Do you have to remind the guys that there's still a lot of season ahead of this team at this point?
COACH ASH: Absolutely. Our focus was on playing this game, though and when we bring them back in tomorrow, we'll talk about what's left and what's out in front of us. Not going to make any excuses about the teams that we play. They are on our schedule every year and we've got to play them every year.

So it's our job to get better. It's our job to coach the guys up to move the ball and stop the run, you know, which we didn't do either one of them tonight. We'll discuss what's out in front of us tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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