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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 12, 2007Jake LongQ. What's more important, the comeback of the season or getting a win over Ohio State? JAKE LONG: It's winning the Big Ten Championship. That's what we've been trying to do all year, and that's our goal. You know, it's right there for us. Beating Ohio State and winning the championship. Q. How much have you thought about playing this team? JAKE LONG: I've beaten them once my red shirt year, but I really don't count that. All the seniors, we haven't beaten them yet, and what a better way to win than to play for the Big Ten Championship, play at our own place. They're a great team, and it's going to be a lot of fun. Q. From a player's perspective, does the hype and the attention ever get kind of ridiculous for you guys? JAKE LONG: We try to block it out. We try not to listen to the TV or media all year. We don't do it now, either. Q. (No microphone.) JAKE LONG: I don't know. They haven't gotten in our heads. We just haven't beaten them in a couple of years. We've just got to go out, practice well. It's a new year, new team, so just go out and try to get a win. Q. What do you remember about that '03 game? JAKE LONG: I remember it was the 100th game and just a lot of emotion. It was for the Big Ten Championship. It was a real emotional game. It was a fun game if you were part of it. Q. When you look back at these last three games, why do you think you guys have struggled and why do you think you haven't broken through? JAKE LONG: I don't know. You know, that's in the past. I really don't know. You know, that's why I said, it's a new season, new team, and we're not thinking about the past, we're not thinking about we haven't beaten them in a couple years. We just want to go out, play this game, play this season. Q. Was yesterday any different than any other Sundays during the eight-game winning streak? JAKE LONG: No, not really. We were disappointed that we lost, but everybody was -- after we got done finishing the film, watching the film, everyone was excited to get back to work and start watching film of Ohio. Q. How much do you use the mentality of having to bounce back after starting 0 and 2, having to bounce back after your loss against Wisconsin? JAKE LONG: We're not even focused -- we don't care what happened at the beginning of the season, we don't care what happened last week. We wanted to be in this spot, we wanted to be playing for the Big Ten Championship. We just got there a different way. You know, nothing needs to be said. No one needs to be -- get picked up or nothing. We're ready to go. Everybody is going to work hard this week. We're playing for the Big Ten, so everybody is going to be excited, ready to go, and they're going to work hard. Q. Were there areas of your game you thought you wanted to improve upon, and if so, what were they? JAKE LONG: This year? There's just little things, little technique things, some footwork sometimes, using my hands every time in pass pro that I wanted to work on, just punishing people and run blocking a little more. You know, I felt I've done a good job at getting better at that this year. Q. Were you more relying on physical ability in previous years and now are combining the technical part of it more? JAKE LONG: No, I've always tried to have the best technique that I can. I've worked on it and gotten better every year at it. It's just the same this year. I wasn't where I wanted to be yet, and I just kept improving on my technique. Q. No matter how much film you watch, do you count on them pulling out a few new wrinkles? JAKE LONG: Yeah, I'm sure they have stuff that they save for us. You know, we've just got to pick it up, just play whatever they bring at us. That's why you've got to pick up the stuff you know that's going to come, so when they have little wrinkles, you might be shocked at first but then pick it up the next time. I'm sure they've got some stuff up their sleeve for us. Q. What would you attribute the reason you guys are about to play for a Big Ten Championship after the way you started? JAKE LONG: I think the seniors on this team, the leaders. Everybody really stepped up. Seniors didn't want to go out that way, nobody wanted to. They really stepped it up in practice, made sure we brought everybody else along, and everybody was really excited to start winning again. You know, we just really turned it around right there. Q. Guys have said in the past that Coach Carr is a little different during rivalry week, especially this one. Have you noticed anything different this week? JAKE LONG: You know, he's seemed the same. I'm excited about this week because there's always a lot of emotion, a lot of excitement at practice. Practices are hard, practices are exciting, and it's just a lot of emotion all week and a lot of excitement. It's going to be fun around the building and at the game. Q. Do you have a feeling about whether Mike and Chad will be ready to go this week? JAKE LONG: I don't know, that's a question you'll have to ask Coach, but they're looking good. You know, they're ready to go, and I'm sure they'll do anything they can to get back on the field and play the last game. Q. What would you say Lloyd Carr has taught you in your time here? JAKE LONG: What has he taught me? So much, I mean, as a football player and as a person. There's a sign in our building that says, "Those that stay will be champions," and he pounds that into everybody. If you stay at Michigan, if you do all the right things, then you will be a champion in life and in football. There's just so many things that he does for all the players and me. He's just a great person and a great coach. Q. There's been some speculation this may be his last year. Has that crossed your mind? JAKE LONG: I haven't thought of that. I haven't heard of that. That's something you'll have to ask him. I don't know. Q. Talk about the Ohio State defense, what you expect from them. JAKE LONG: Aram Olson is a great end, one of the best ends in the league, if not the best. He's a strong, physical, fast guy. We played against him last year. Their D-line, they're a great D-line, great linebackers. With Laurinaitis back there, they fly around, they can run fast. They're all physical, they're big, and they're a great defense. Q. Did you have about as good of a career as you can have here? Will it bother you if you lose the championship you will have never beat Ohio State? JAKE LONG: I mean, I don't know. I really don't think of it that way. You know, I'm sure I will once I'm done playing here, but right now I don't care what happened in the past, I don't care what my record is against them. I just want to go out and focus on this game and win this game. I'm not thinking about what happened in the past or our record. Q. How much of you wants to win this game for Coach Carr? JAKE LONG: I mean, a lot. You know, you always want to win for your coach. All the flak that he got at the beginning of the year and throughout the year, people don't see behind closed doors how great of a coach he is, how great of a person he is. We just wanted to win all year for him, and this game is big. Q. How much of an adjustment has it been to have Adam move over and have Justin in there? Do you sort of feel the difference at all? JAKE LONG: Not really. I mean, we practice it in practice all the time. We did it through camp. Every day it seems like someone on the line is playing in a different spot. You get comfortable with different guys. The other guys get comfortable in other positions, so that's really not a big of a difference. Q. It seems like you guys have played together so long. It really doesn't feel any different? JAKE LONG: Not really. It seems about the same. Q. You said the Michigan State game (Inaudible). JAKE LONG: It's about the same. It's intense, emotional. I mean, anything goes. Like I said, Ohio State, they don't like us and we don't like them. It's an intense rivalry and it seems like every year it's for the Big Ten, so it's always a lot more emotion that way. It's going to be fun. Q. Your last game in the stadium, have you thought about that, and could you name a high and a low from your time here? JAKE LONG: I've thought about it, but I don't think it's sunk in yet that it's going to be my last game. You know, it went by fast. There's just so many great memories in that place. I said it was going to be a real emotional game because it's my last time, and it's going to be hard once it's over. Q. There are a lot of former players (Inaudible). Do you think that a lot of the same kind of people are going to do things for you guys this weekend? JAKE LONG: I have no clue. I don't know what they're planning to do. That would be pretty cool if they did that. Just watching the old guys come back and supporting you, it's a great thing to see and be a part of. But I have no clue what they have planned. Q. (No microphone.) JAKE LONG: You know, I've talked to Baas a lot, Stenavich and Lentz. I was pretty close with all those guys. I've talked to them every now and again. Q. Just to get technique off them? JAKE LONG: Just talking, seeing how they're doing, talk about Michigan, talk about where they're at and how they're doing. Q. Talk about how much more difficult it will be to win this game if Henne and Hart do not play? JAKE LONG: Well, having Mike and Chad, they're great veteran players. They do everything right. They don't make mistakes, and they give everybody emotion, not only the offense but the defense. You know, they play every play 110 percent. You know you're going to get their best. If they don't play, that means everybody else just has to step it up. The whole line has to step it up, protect Ryan better, get bigger holes for the running backs. Everybody has to pick up the slack and just go harder and make sure anybody who's back there feels comfortable and is ready to go. Q. I think most people watching will see a difference in the team. Do players see a difference in the team? JAKE LONG: I don't know, not really. I really don't know. They definitely bring more energy. Everybody gets excited seeing those two back there, and you know you're going to play harder to make sure they don't get touched. They just bring a lot more excitement. Q. Do you think Shawn has something personal to play for being an Ohio guy this week? JAKE LONG: I don't know. I'm sure -- I really don't know. That's a question you'll have to ask him. I don't know. Q. What's Ryan done well? JAKE LONG: He's done well with being thrown in there. A lot of games he's been thrown in there at weird times, and he's adapted well and made good plays. He's stepped up. I think he's becoming a better leader throughout the year. You know, he's just got to keep improving leadership skills and make sure that he commands the huddle and everything like that. You know, a young guy, you're going to improve on leadership as you get older and with maturity, and he's gotten better at that. I'm sure he'll keep getting better. Q. Of all the times he has talked to you guys, what do you remember about what Bo would tell you about this rivalry? JAKE LONG: Oh, man. Just to leave it all out on the field. Just go in there, it's always your last game, and it seems like it's always for the Big Ten, so just don't hold anything back, leave everything out on the field because you don't have football the next day. You don't have another game the next week. This is it, this is for all the marbles. Just go out there and give it everything you have. Q. Can you talk specifically about Bo's talk last year to the team? JAKE LONG: Just pretty much the same message, that he's watching us, that we're going to do great, just leave it all on the field, like I said. Q. What do you think it was about Coach Schembechler that has allowed him to continue to have that legacy even after he retired, that it was still real meaningful when he came to talk? JAKE LONG: Just everything he's done. He's a true Michigan man, just the legacy he left behind. He made Michigan football. He's a great coach, he's a great person. He touched everybody's lives when he was around. Just having all that, you don't forget a man like that. Q. (No microphone.) JAKE LONG: That doesn't tarnish the match-up. I'm sure they're the same way as us, they want to play for the Big Ten Championship. We took a different road there, but we're still playing for the Big Ten and they're playing for the Big Ten. It's a great rivalry, and it's not going to tarnish the last week. Q. (No microphone.) JAKE LONG: Absolutely. Even if it isn't for the Big Ten, you still want to play and play well and beat them. I mean, it doesn't change anything. Q. Are you going to take it upon yourself to describe the '03 win to the team for guys that haven't experienced it? JAKE LONG: If they ask. We're not looking in the past, good or bad. I mean, if someone asks what it was like, then I'm going to tell them. But I'm not going to make sure to bring it up and tell them that. Q. From the beginning of the season until now, how did Lloyd Carr handle that? Was he the same, was he different? JAKE LONG: You know, it was frustrating after the first two games, and he was frustrated. But he was just -- like he brought more emotion -- he knew that we could be a great team, so he demanded our best and he could sit at practice and meetings, and he brought a lot of emotion and he expected our best. He got it out of us. We've been doing it all season. Q. How did he show that emotion, louder, angrier? JAKE LONG: I don't know, he was just different. You could tell that he just -- he was louder, I guess, a little bit. He seemed like he was more excited. I really don't know how to explain it. But you could just tell and everybody could tell that he wanted our best and he was going to get it from us. Q. Did you see him on the sideline after Shawn's penalty? He went a little crazy. Did you see that? JAKE LONG: Yeah, I saw it. Q. Have you seen something like that ever before in your five years? JAKE LONG: Yeah, I've seen him go off like that before. He's an emotional guy, and he's going to do everything to get us excited. Someone made a bad call, he's going to give it to them. Q. (No microphone.) JAKE LONG: Yeah, it gets us excited to see him. All the emotion that he has and how much he cares about us, that's going to make us go out there and play harder and make sure that we play our best and do everything we can. Q. Last year there were some comments Mike made about OSU's defense. Anything you guys can take into this match-up? JAKE LONG: No, it's a different team, different season, different atmosphere, and we're not thinking about last year. Anything that was said or the game or nothing, we're just focused on this year. Q. Do you think a win would help validate your decision to come back this year? JAKE LONG: I mean, I don't feel like I have to validate my decision for coming back. That was my decision, and I felt like I did the right one. That's not what this game is about. This game is about this team, about this championship. It's not about me. I'm not even worried about that. Q. Is it difficult to concentrate on anything else this week? JAKE LONG: Yeah, it's pretty hard to focus on anything else about football this week, just so much that goes into this game and this year and for the championship. So it's hard to do anything else but football this week. Q. It's been a pretty crazy year in college football, but here at the end are Michigan and Ohio State playing for the rights for the Rose Bowl. Does that give it a sense of normalcy? JAKE LONG: I guess, yeah. It seems -- the five years I've been here, this game has come down to Ohio State-Michigan for the Big Ten and for a chance to play at the Rose Bowl, and that's what it is this year again. It's fun. It's where it should be. Q. After the second game did you think you would be here? JAKE LONG: Absolutely. I had no doubt that we would be in this position. You know, we just stumbled the first couple games, and I knew that we could have a great team. I knew we were going to turn it around, and there's no doubt in my mind that we would be playing for the Big Ten Championship. Q. Why did you think that? JAKE LONG: Just the team we had, the seniors we had, the leaders we had, and our coaches. I just knew that the team that played those first two games was not the team that we were going to be, and I knew that we could turn it around and we could win games. Q. (No microphone.) JAKE LONG: It doesn't matter. I guess it doesn't matter. It's still for the Big Ten. The loss last week doesn't matter. We're still playing for the Big Ten. They come in with a loss, it's the same, it doesn't matter. End of FastScripts |
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