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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 7, 2019

Paul Chryst

Madison, Wisconsin

Central Michigan - 0, Wisconsin - 61

THE MODERATOR: We'll take opening comments from Coach and then open it up for questions.

PAUL CHRYST: Certainly appreciate the win. We were excited to get back home. Love the way Chris made the first play. You know, Chris made a play and set the tone; on the first drive, offensively, we took it down and scored. A lot of guys contributed, a lot of guys played, and good to get this one.

Q. (Away from mic.)
PAUL CHRYST: I think we're going to look back and see things we improved on, and we will have plenty of stuff to work on over the bye week, but Jack did do some good things. Defensively, there was a lot, but we will still have a lot to work on.

Q. (Away from mic.)
PAUL CHRYST: I think it's important, and certainly we've got to be able to -- we thought coming into the year we've got to do a better job of attacking the whole field, and so when you can do that, it's good, but I think guys have had confidence in it, you know. I know last week we were 0-2 for those "chunk" plays, but he wouldn't have cut 'em loose today if he didn't have confidence in it, so I don't know that doing it in a game makes you more confident, but it was good to see. It's nice to be able to hit a couple of those, obviously.

Q. (Away from mic.)
PAUL CHRYST: The goal every week is can you be the best team in the stadium. You appreciate that the guys take that challenge, and the first two weeks we were. Going on, anticipating, I should say, that the competition, especially as we get into conference, it's going to be a lot better.

But you get the opportunity, and you have to play what you have in front of you, and I appreciate the way the guys approached it, anticipating, certainly, that we're going to face really good teams. We're going to face really good teams coming up.

Q. (Away from mic.)
PAUL CHRYST: I felt obviously confident in them, and I felt that was certainly something we didn't handle the first game real well. It's putting ourselves in a two-minute situation, you know, and if you're going to look at this one, I think we would still be better if we took a loss and gave ourselves a chance for a long field goal, but I think we've gotta be better there. I did feel good. I felt confident. When you do it on second down, you feel confident, with your defense, first of all, and offensively felt good about 'em, but there is an example of where we can still be better.

Q. Paul, when Cephus was first reinstated you were asked what do you think he can give you, and you said you didn't know because it's been so long. What has he given you these first two games, and has anything he's done surprised you?
PAUL CHRYST: I don't think that anything he's done has surprised us, but I am impressed -- I mean, he went through a lot, and everyone did, right? He certainly gives us a great energy. There is a reason why the linemen absolutely love and appreciate him. Every down, first game, you know, couple of those screens that we hit, he was a big part of that. You saw a little bit different today, and I think that he gives -- he missed a year playing with a group that he loves and in a game that he loves.

When you get it back -- there is a spirit about him that we would all be crazy not to see and appreciate and learn from.

Q. You come out in these first two games, pretty big favorites. How happy were you with how your team has been able to start the games off and put the pedal to the metal, run the score up to not give these lesser teams a chance to think they're in the game or have a chance to stick around in the second half?
PAUL CHRYST: There's a lot in that one! (Chuckles.) I appreciate the way the guys play, and you want them to play each snap. You know what? These are limited moments. You want them to maximize 'em. I think that the group for the most part has done a good job with that, and all of the other stuff -- every week there is a challenge, right? Every week there is an opportunity.

You just want guys to be in that moment, to maximize it, and I think for the most part they're doing that.

Q. Paul, Graham had an opportunity for his first drive. What did you see on that drive and what went into the decision for him to split the drive with Chase?
PAUL CHRYST: If the circumstances were right, we wanted to get him in, and fortunately they were and, you know, the value of just playing those first snaps -- and certainly Graham had his today, and I don't know if we had some others but that's a big deal. First snaps, first pass, all those things are good to get, and I thought he did some good stuff with it, and it's important.

Q. You kept throwing the ball well. Were you trying to get something on tape for Michigan and give them something to think about?
PAUL CHRYST: You know how that is. I thought we needed to keep working at it. There is a point where, you know, really tried to get both Graham and Chase some throws. Already Chase played last week and didn't get anything, and also you do want to move the ball. They did a pretty good job, especially with some of those groups, you know, I thought we had to throw it to move it. But a lot of it was just kind of how do we play and keep growing as a team.

Q. Paul, when you score 61 points you can lose sight of the other side of the ball. Another shout out to the defense, especially with three or four guys out. What does that say about the depth and just how good that unit could be?
PAUL CHRYST: Yeah, you're right. It doesn't get lost certainly within the team, but that's big, and a lot goes into it. And I thought guys were playing, and a lot of guys contributing. It's kind of like what we were talking about earlier; we know we are going to be tested differently, and probably tested more, but each one of these is important and they've had two tests right now.

I think what I have enjoyed about this team right now is they're playing off each other, for each other and with each other, and we know there is going to be a lot more to come, but if we can build on that and continue to grow, then -- we've got a ways to go, but I like the way we have started, certainly.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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