|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 22, 2008Rich RodriguezCOACH RODRIGUEZ: Mark Ortmann we think will be able to play this weekend. He hasn't gone full pads yet. He will tomorrow. He practiced yesterday, but yesterday he was in shorts. So hopefully to get him back is a good thing because Perry Dorrestein in kind of a freak thing last week in practice nicked his knee up. But we were encouraged. We thought he'd be out, but we were encouraged by his progress. So it looks like Perry may be able to play, as well. We'll know that in the next couple days. But either way, getting Mark back will help. You have him, and we'll still keep Perry at left tackle, let those two kind of battle it out. Outside of that, slow progress with Terrence Robinson. It doesn't look like he'll be ready to play just yet at slot receiver. We were hoping to have him back, but it doesn't look like he'll be ready just yet. I think the rest of the guys should be okay. He's practicing, so we've got him back in the mix competing at guard. Q. Is Sean back to full health? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, Mike looked a lot better. A lot of the guys, they had a couple days off, so it looked like they got bumps and bruises healed up and got their legs back a little bit underneath them. Q. Is Robinson at the point where you can red-shirt him and find out? COACH RODRIGUEZ: I don't think we want to determine that because we have so many games still yet to come. But he's doing a little bit more, he's jogging, but he's still not ready to go full speed. Q. Aside from getting guys healed up, what's the biggest benefit of this gap in games? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, for us we had an opportunity last week in particular to work on fundamentals and techniques and just to -- there's so many young guys playing, sometimes they can get information overload. And now going back and giving them a chance to catch their breath and look at it again. We have a lot of things we've still got to work on. There's still going to be a lot of growing pains, but I was encouraged by the mentality that they had last week, and then obviously yesterday they seemed to be pretty fresh and excited. Again, the way it breaks up, we still have one non-conference game and the rest of them are all league games, and our guys understand how brutal the rest of the schedule will be. Q. Some early thoughts watching the tape? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I think Wisconsin being ranked in the top ten, being ranked eighth in the country, there's no weaknesses, big, physical team, a typical Wisconsin team. They're going to run the ball right at you. They do a great job in doing different things formation-wise, play action, bootleg, and using their skill guys. They've got a lot of running backs that are very powerful. Obviously I've been watching more of their defense. They're a very physical, active defense. Their front is outstanding. Their safeties make plays, their linebackers are active. There's no question they're one of the better teams in the country. Q. And playing very well. COACH RODRIGUEZ: I think them getting a big win at Fresno was an accomplishment for them on the road, and I'm sure, like us, they're excited for a Big Ten team. Q. How much is your defense like what you ran at West Virginia? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, what we're doing now is completely different from a base standpoint, and we're a base four-man front. We get in some odd stuff that's similar to what we did at West Virginia, different down and distance situations, but our basis, like them, was a 3-3-5. Q. Does that help with the physical pounding? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Any team, whether you're an odd front or an even front, depending on the style you're going to go against, is going to put more guys up on the line of scrimmage, either a linebacker or a big guy. I think all defenses nowadays is multiple. You see every even front defenses will run some odd packages, and most of the odd front defenses run some form of even packages. To label somebody just as an even or odd front, I think those days have come and gone by the wayside. Q. In terms of sacks, is there a common thread there or just the opponent? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think probably it's more of how teams are going against us defensively. Notre Dame, for instance, was a lot of quick game, get the ball out quick, play action stuff, throwing the ball very quickly. And the other two games they were in the shotgun getting rid of the ball quickly. So I think we haven't had a lot of drop-back passes so far. Teams have done a good job against us protection-wise, but some of it is also their scheme and how they're getting rid of the ball so quick. Q. Was it difficult to prepare for a Wisconsin that has the ability versus some of the teams earlier in the year that didn't ever try that kind of play? COACH RODRIGUEZ: I think a different style than obviously the guys on our team, but it's not a big deal because we will go self-service each other and get our good guys on offense, our veterans, and give the defense a good look as opposed to just having them go against the scout team. In particular tomorrow and Tuesday will be an important day for our offense to give our defense a good look. Now, will they be as effective at doing it as Wisconsin, no, but the same is true with them, I'm sure they've worked quite a bit on the spread and getting their big guys to give them a good spread look, as well. So I think you see that. A lot of times I think that too much is probably made out of that. But the biggest thing is the guys they're running with, those big linemen. It's hard to simulate that size, the size of the backs. But a lot of times it's just a matter of playing physical, getting off blocks and tackling with authority. Q. Simulating P.J. Hill, is that like gravy? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, we'll use -- Kevin will do some of that, mike Cox is a big back. He'll do some of that, as well. We have guys in the program that can simulate that. The biggest thing is their size up front and the line, and their tight ends -- we have some pretty good tight ends. Their guys are -- they've got two outstanding tight ends that could play for anybody. Q. Have you gotten enough work in on the return game to feel better about that? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I just hope we catch the ball. We've tried out just about everybody back there. There's been seven, eight guys back there catching kicks every day. We try to put them in pressure situations, but it's different in the game. You've got to be able to do it and focus and just catch the ball first in the game and know that we're going to get some short kicks and some kicks that aren't exactly kicked right down the middle, and we've got to be able to handle that. As much as we've worked on it, we should be better at it, but now I will be very disappointed. Q. Who do you anticipate using back there as a kick returner? COACH RODRIGUEZ: It's still wide open. We obviously have some veterans in Morgan Trent and Brandon Harrison. We've got Boubacar and we've got Martavious Odoms, looking at James Rogers, Avery Horn. I mean, you name it, they're all back there getting reps and we're just trying to -- we're doing it every day. Q. Shaw is still a possibility? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, Mike Shaw, Sam McGuffie. Q. What's the hardest thing about coaching that? COACH RODRIGUEZ: You've got to practice. It's our job to make sure they practice it enough and concentrate. They're taking it seriously. Nobody is trying to do it on purpose, it's just sometimes their eyes aren't in the right place when the ball is coming down. Sometimes they misjudge the ball when the ball is kicked, and they're out of balance when the ball is coming down. The only thing they can get better at is taking reps, and they're taking a lot of reps. Q. Because there's so few of those mistakes in the first two days and there were so many in the third, can you view it as an aberration? COACH RODRIGUEZ: I hope. You hope that's what it is. It's frustrating to everyone concerned, but they are trying. The hardest part is you know you're going to be errors, but as I mentioned so many times you don't want to have the unforced errors, dropping the ball for no apparent reason, whether you're running the ball or you're a quarterback or returner or what have you. Those are things that are easily corrected, and they should be corrected. It's just a matter of guys getting confidence and working on it so it becomes a habit. Q. Where are you at with Molk, Moosman and Ferrara? COACH RODRIGUEZ: John Ferrara, as I mentioned before, he's playing both right and left guard and he's been working a lot at the left guard to give us some competition with McAvoy, so we're still up in the air a little bit who may start there, but they'll probably both play. Moose is the swing guy. He can play both guards and center, which he has. And then David I think is getting better and better each week at center. Q. (Inaudible.) COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I think so. I think any time you lose, you maybe lose a little confidence, but at the same time if you see the positives that came out, at least that's come out in the last few weeks, I also think we're making progress. But until you go against the caliber of Wisconsin, do you really know where you're at. That will be another test for us. Not just because of youth, but even with some of the veterans. I'm anxious to see how some of our veterans will play because they've done well against us in the last couple years, Wisconsin has, and they're a veteran team. So this is a game where even our upper classmen can truly judge where they're at and how they're playing. Q. Talk about your relationship with Chris. COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, Paul Chris, their offensive coordinator and I, have been very good friends for a long time. In 1989 I was a volunteer coach at West Virginia and he was the offensive graduate assistant, so we spent a lot of time together and got to know each other and obviously kept in touch throughout the years. David is one of the most intelligent players we've got. He's a smart player, knows what we want. He's done a good job of being more physical. We've challenged our guys to play more physical, and they've got the ability to do that, and he's tried to do that in the last couple weeks. He's a guy that he's trying to do what we're coaching him to do, and he's a great young man. He's been around knowing a little bit -- you talk about a guy that represents your program in every way you want on and off the field and the way he's involved in community service and all that, just a terrific guy and a good football player. Q. Is Terrance playing at the level that -- COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, Terrance has played pretty well. I mean, he's in -- you may not see the sacks and all that, again, because it's particularly hard when you're inside there. But Terrance is in good shape. He's worked hard. He made a few plays. Again, it's tougher because of the way some teams defend us or have gone against us with the quick game and some of the things they're doing. But we think both he and Will Johnson have been pretty solid, as has Mike Martin, our true freshman. Those guys have played pretty solid football. But again, the bigger test is probably going to come this week when they're really going to get challenged up front. Q. What do you make of Allan Everidge? Seems like he's had some games (inaudible) -- COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, they've been able to impose their will on us in some of the early games and dictate the tempo and the whole flow of the game with their running game. I think he's been smart with the ball and made some big plays. He's a big guy. He's thick, and I think he's a tough guy. You can tell even though he's a first-year starter, this is not the first time he's started. This is a guy who transferred, started games before he transferred, so he's kind of been in the big arena, so to speak, and you can tell that when he's on the field. There's nothing really phasing him. Q. Considering who you're playing this week and the style they go with offensively, how much did the way they were able to run it against you guys, how much did that bother you? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, again, there were times when we didn't think we fit right on the run defense and gave up a few runs, and that was disappointing. The big plays hurt us more in that game than anything else. Again, I think our defensive coaches will have a good plan, and I think they know -- Wisconsin in two weeks, they're going to have a few surprises. Knowing their staff a little bit, I don't think they're going to come out in the spread and do the triple option and all that kind of stuff all of a sudden, they're going to do what they do, but they're going to have a few surprises, a few wrinkles, and we've got to be ready for that, and more than anything else we know they're going to come downhill at us with their size and what they feature, I think our coaches will have a good plan for them. We've just got to execute. I think our players will take a lot of pride in knowing this is going to be a very, very tough physical football game from start to finish. Q. (Inaudible.) COACH RODRIGUEZ: I think so, a little bit. Probably the same for all the schools in the Big Ten. This is the beginning of the Big Ten season, and I can't speak for the other schools, but it's probably for us our first go each and every year competing for a Big Ten Championship. I'm sure all the other Big Ten schools will say the same thing. I think for that there is a little extra hope and a little extra bounce in our step getting excited for it because nobody has played a Big Ten game yet. As frustrated as we've been with some of the early games, you kind of start fresh here with Big Ten conference play. Q. How do you approach this? Do you guys talk about Big Ten Championships? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, we talk about it kind of being our second season, even though we still have a non-conference game left. Our second season as far as Big Ten conference starts now, and everybody is 0-0, and I think, again, that's our first goal every year and always will be, Big Ten. Q. Talk about the offensive line affecting the development of the team. COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, you like to have -- I'm sure most coaches would say this. You like to have some continuity because of the communication and just getting those five guys -- that's probably the one unit where you want to try to get settled on your five or your top guys for that continuity because there's so much communication and things that have to go on there. But because of injuries, we haven't been able to do that. Hopefully we'll eventually get that, not only just get them healthier but get our best five, whoever that may be, out there playing on a consistent basis. Q. Has Steve carried himself any differently in practice after going through that first big road test? COACH RODRIGUEZ: No, not really. I think Steve and all our quarterbacks are growing a little bit. I think he probably got a little bit of confidence, there's also some plays he'd want to have back. Steve is an eager learner, and I think he's a guy that as soon as he makes mistakes, he knows about it, and if he's not sure, he's going to ask. Those guys all do that. So I think his growth has been expected, and I think it will continue to be so. Steve has got to play within himself continually, not try to force things, but at the same time, we don't want him to be out there afraid to make mistakes, as well. Q. As much of a test as this is against a top-ten team, how much of an opportunity could it be if you could win to get a confidence booster and kind of kick start things? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, there's no question that with confidence it would help a little bit, but more than anything the importance of starting off Big Ten play with a win would be huge. Everybody is starting off with the same slate. But our guys, I think, are excited about it. They know the challenge. You don't have to -- they saw the results from this year, watched them on film, they know what happened last year and know the challenges out there. I don't know how many starters they have, seniors, at Wisconsin. They're a pretty veteran team, 11 or 12 seniors, and they're playing good football. But again, it starts off 0-0, and I'm anxious to see how we compete against this football team. Q. What kind of problems could Beckum cause for you? He's obviously a different kind of player. COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, he's athletic enough to play wide out but strong enough to play tight end. He runs great routes. He's a guy that goes out there, there's no question he's an NFL guy, and they'll use him as such because everybody talks about match-ups and being bigger than a DB and faster than a linebacker, and he's that match-up type of guy. There's a reason why they featured him and talk about him so much. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|