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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 13, 2006

Rueben Riley

Q. You've seen a couple Ohio State defenses now over your career, how does this compare to the other ones?
RUEBEN RILEY: Ohio State defense is an Ohio State defense. You'll see them very aggressive, you know, great linebackers, great defensive ends. Just a great defense and they have been like that since I've been here, and probably forever.

Q. Pretty similar?
RUEBEN RILEY: Yes.

Q. As a lineman, what do you need to be especially aware of out there?
RUEBEN RILEY: Probably the crowd noise, you know, as far as the offensive linemen. You have to make sure you key in to Chad. And other than that, just play within yourself and do your job to the best of your ability.

Q. Is this particular week fun every year?
RUEBEN RILEY: Playing football is fun. When you get a chance to, you know, be in a Michigan-Ohio State game, you can't ask for anything else.

Q. (No microphone.)
RUEBEN RILEY: Wood is good because just, I mean, he can do it all as far as pass rush. He can do it all. He can give you the ball. He can go around the edge. It's just troubling to figure out what he's going to do. That's what makes him good.

Q. What's the difference in problems he presented on the line?
RUEBEN RILEY: I guess as a linebacker, you'd be glad when he jumped back into coverage. When he's coming off that edge, it's a question mark. You don't know what you're going to get.

Q. A lot of people are pointing out Coach Carr's record against Tressel, only one win, but as a fifth year senior, do you feel like you only have one win against Ohio State, are you looking at that at all?
RUEBEN RILEY: Oh, definitely. That's all you do is look at it. Now is what's important. You can't dwell on the past. So, you know, just look at it and know that that's what it is.
But next Saturday is what's important.

Q. Do you feel there's extra pressure on you guys that you maybe want this win more?
RUEBEN RILEY: No, I can't say pressure. 11-0 isn't pressure. Pressure is when you're trying to get into a Bowl and do all those things. We're just going out there to play to the best of our ability.

Q. Can you describe the emotion you saw of the seniors that graduated the last few years and went out playing Ohio State, and how you that might impact you this year?
RUEBEN RILEY: Yeah, you just see a sickening feeling in the face of those guys, and you know that, you know, you don't want to feel that way. Being younger and just looking at them and seeing how that affected them, you say, I don't have want to feel like that on my way out.
The key is just to give it all you've got. I'm confident in the group of guys we have and that we'll go out there and execute and do the things we need to do. But just a sickening feeling you see on their faces; you know that's no way you want to feel.

Q. What's the difference this week for players away from practice, just on campus?
RUEBEN RILEY: I'm not sure. Never been 11-0. So we'll see how that goes. But as far as just playing O-State, it's always the biggest game on our schedule. So from that standpoint, you have the comes and the criticism and everything like that. But, you know, you're at Michigan. That's normal.

Q. What are your thoughts on maybe doing this Michigan/Ohio State thing again in the National Championship?
RUEBEN RILEY: Okay. (Laughter) You know the thing with that is, you have those numbers and all that type of stuff that you have to add up and subtract and I'm not sure what they do.
But most important thing for me is to go out there and get this victory now and for our team is to get this victory now. If it so happens that we play them again, we'll have to get that victory. Now is what matters the most.

Q. If you beat them in their place, do you think you should have to beat them on a neutral field, too? That would be pretty unfair, don't you think?
RUEBEN RILEY: Okay. That's what I say again. Okay. If that's what we have to do, I'm sure we can go out and do it. I don't know the numbers and who is coming up and who is going down and all that. So if that does happen, then, you know, more power to it.

Q. What's been the difference in Chad this year?
RUEBEN RILEY: You see him being more aggressive vocally, you know, grabbing a couple guys, just being very positive with it. Not jumping on guys making them feel bad, but just saying, I need you, we need you. And when you have a guy, a quarterback far as an offensive lineman's standpoint saying, I need you, that's all you need to say, okay, you have me and we'll get the job done together.
But just him being more aggressive with grabbing guys and telling him, let's go, together, it's been big for us.

Q. Talk about the running game this year and how important that's been.
RUEBEN RILEY: You know, that was a big issue that we wanted to correct and make sure we had a very strong running game. It's been going good for us this year. The running's great, because it sets up the pass and, you know, everything like that. Whenever you can run the ball, it's a 1-up.

Q. This team being healthy, how big is that at this point in the year?
RUEBEN RILEY: That's big. We have veteran guys who are healthy, fifth year guys, seniors like Tyler, the tight ends are strong and healthy, and it's key for us to block and go down and catch and everything like that. So to have those guys back is tremendous.

Q. How much of an advantage is it, both of you guys have played before -- how much of an advantage is that going in on Saturday?
RUEBEN RILEY: It's a big advantage because you know what that atmosphere is like. You can simulate it as much as you want to in practice, but until you get down there and get in that environment, it can be a rude awakening. But to have a lot of guys who have been down there in that environment is key.

Q. How would you describe that environment to someone who has not been there?
RUEBEN RILEY: Loud. Loud and unfriendly.

Q. Coach was talking the other day about the Halloween mask incident, any more of those kind of things?
RUEBEN RILEY: I don't know if you want to, you know, label it as loose, but he's just been more interactive, I'll say. He's been joking and everything like that, but you can point out every year where he's done something like that, but that's just who he is. You really can't call it loose because it's business, it's definitely business for us. He want us to go in with that mind-set that it's business. But it's business; it's fun.

Q. When you look at the big wins this year, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, what is about those guys that love to sees the opportunity to play big games on the big stage?
RUEBEN RILEY: Definitely, big players step up in big games. I'm sure that we'll have a lot of guys eager to make those plays, and, you know, do the big things. But the key is just to, you know, play within yourself and to the best of your ability. You know, that will be more than enough.

Q. What's it like for a guy like -- (no microphone.)
RUEBEN RILEY: It's great. You know, first of all, they probably can't see him behind me so that's key right there. But just for a guy that has that kind of vision and that kind of explosiveness off the line of scrimmage is great.

Q. Can you describe where the team is a year ago from where it is today?
RUEBEN RILEY: Undefeated, you know. The ability to finish is probably been the key for us this year. A lot of things didn't go our way last year, but that was last year. The key to this year is we have been able to finish games and get W's.

Q. How much of a different feeling is it?
RUEBEN RILEY: Totally different. You know, totally different. As a competitor, there's nothing, you know, better to do than to win. And when you're undefeated at this point, you can't ask for anything else.

Q. Was there a point where you guys looked at each other and said --
RUEBEN RILEY: Last season.

Q. When last season?
RUEBEN RILEY: I'd have to say probably the off-season workouts, you know, when we had time to assess everything and say, you know, we're Michigan and that won't happen again.

Q. Playing in the Rose Bowl -- inaudible -- what are your thoughts on that?
RUEBEN RILEY: I don't know. I'm sure my team feels how I feel and we just want to win the Big 10.

Q. Can you talk about how Coach makes you watch Cinderella Man and how it's helped?
RUEBEN RILEY: Yeah, oddly it has. It fits perfectly. Just coming back from a very uncomfortable season last year to having things go the way we wanted it to this year, it's that Cinderella story.

Q. Does it matter that you're No. 2 and not No. 1?
RUEBEN RILEY: That don't matter. Don't matter at all.

Q. Do you feel like an underdog at all?
RUEBEN RILEY: Sort of. And I like that underdog role, and I'm sure my team does, and we embrace it.

Q. Is there any element of wanting to win this game for Coach Carr, for his record against Tressel?
RUEBEN RILEY: Yes, everybody in there wants to win the game for each other and for the team, and Coach Carr is part of that team and definitely we want to win that for him.

Q. Why do you like feeling the underdog?
RUEBEN RILEY: Less pressure. Less pressure. You go out there and perform and give it your all. You don't have anything hanging over your head as far as you should have done this and you need to do that. The underdog is supposed to lose.

Q. Do you know much about Bo Schlembechler and when he used to coach?
RUEBEN RILEY: I'm sure if you're around Michigan football, you know who Bo is. You see old Coach hanging around he'll grab and you give you a couple of pointers here and there. Yeah, Coach is always around talking, interacting.

Q. Are they good pointers?
RUEBEN RILEY: Oh, definitely, definitely.

Q. (No microphone.)
RUEBEN RILEY: Definitely. They are great defenses. They are stingy defenses and they don't allow a lot of points and things like that. There's a lot of similarities in there. I'm sure they are 1 and 2 as far as the Big 10 goes. Definitely, they are stingy.

Q. What's the difference with the defense this year from last year?
RUEBEN RILEY: The difference is just the assault on the quarterback. You know, the assault on the pass rush, they are very aggressive. It's like you had to get in those third-and-long situations, because they just rip you up.

Q. The game in 1969, do you know anything about it?
RUEBEN RILEY: (Whistling) No, born in '84. I'm glad we won that game. (Laughter).

Q. (No microphone.)
RUEBEN RILEY: Definitely, definitely.

Q. In what way?
RUEBEN RILEY: Just like I said, to see that sickening feeling on the seniors' faces, to really feel like it was a disappointment to the Michigan tradition and to say that, you know, that won't happen to us our senior year, we'll make sure of that. We'll go through training camp and we'll go through everything better and tougher and harder to make sure that doesn't happen again. You know, that was a wake-up call for us.

Q. How would you describe Ohio Stadium?
RUEBEN RILEY: Loud and unfriendly.

End of FastScripts

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