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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 29, 2008Obinna EzehQ. You guys were on the field for close to 30 minutes. Now that you've had time looking at the film, how proud were you of the defense considering how long you were out there? OBI EZEH: I was real proud of the guys. I thought we did a great job. I thought -- I mean when we went out there at the beginning of the game, we just came out with a mind-set we were going to play as long and as hard as we had to play. It just so happened we had to play for a very long time. I was real proud of the guys and I thought we stood tall the whole game. Q. Obi, you go from defending the power game to constant spread. How is Illinois's spread different than some of the spreads you've seen? OBI EZEH: A different mind-set. We seen a little spread earlier in the season. I guess the main difference, I mean Juice Williams could be more of a run threat. He's a good passer, too. I know he's worked on the off season with his passing game. We've got to see him as a dual threat. I haven't had a chance to break down the film. I'm on my way over there after this. But from what I've seen they've got some athletes and some skilled position athletes that we're going to have to defend. We'll have to be real disciplined in our techniques. Q. What's the biggest challenge to contend against? OBI EZEH: I mean with any good running quarterback, I guess, just tackling and maintaining our assignments, I guess. Q. So what do you change scheme-wise because of the running quarterback? OBI EZEH: I don't know what we're going to do, how we're going to defend the zone option. I don't know whether we're going to have our ends read or our linebackers read. I don't know what the coaches want to do with that yet. I know we'll change up a little bit but not too much with our base stuff, because we practice against our offense and they run a spread. So it won't be too much of a difference. Every team kind of puts their own spin on the offense. But at the end of the day it's the spread. Q. How much really since the Utah game have you guys worked against the spread? OBI EZEH: We see them every day in practice. So I mean no matter who we're playing, we still have periods delegated to just practice against our own offense. Q. You were right in the position to pick off that pass that Jon got. Have you given him any -- OBI EZEH: I try to give him a hard time, but I knew if I would have tried to struggle for the ball it probably would have ended up being an incomplete pass. That actually happened earlier in practice after a tipped ball. Me and Jonas Mouton went up for the ball. Jonas kind of knocked the ball out of my hand. And kind of flash back, rather take the turnover than an incomplete pass. I tried getting my block on somebody, but I felt he had enough blockers, there was about nine guys in front of him. Q. We've been asking this question over and over today. But what are your theories on why the team seems to play better overall in the second half? OBI EZEH: I mean conditioning. I feel like we can outlast a lot of teams. And I feel like we usually go in at halftime losing and we come out with more of a sense of urgency, I guess, that we should be playing with the whole game. So that's kind of what our aim is to try to play that way the whole game. We haven't really been able to do it. Hopefully we can come out and do it against Illinois. Q. Would you describe the way Jon's played the last two weeks, and maybe Jonas. Seems like they've been getting a little better each week. OBI EZEH: Yeah, really. Right before Jonas was getting a lot better. Jon's always been pretty good. They're really embracing their roles. They weren't starting the beginning of the year. They kept working, kept getting after it. Now all their hard work is paying off. Q. When you're going up against each of the tight ends on your team in practice, can you describe what each of them brings? OBI EZEH: Our tight ends, well, Massey is, he's physical. He's a good run blocker. He can catch the ball, too. Carson's athletic. He's fast. So you've got to kind of watch out for that. And Kevin Koger, he's usually been with the first, not with the first and second team, but with the third string, I haven't seen too much of him, but he's obviously been working his tail off to be put in that kind of position to really help our team out. Q. Does it surprise you, though, that he made such an impact on Saturday? OBI EZEH: You know, it did, just because I would expect like Carson or Mike Massey to be in there. But just goes to show you anybody can make a play at any time. You've just got to keep working and be ready when your opportunity comes. Q. If you could say yourself, who do you say is the hardest hitter on your defense? OBI EZEH: I know Jon would say himself. And Steve Brown would probably say he's one of the hardest hitters. I would probably have to give it to one of the D linemen, because they're just out there rocking people. Tim Jamison and Brandon Graham. And Terrance Taylor, if he gets a good shot on you, he's pretty good. And with Will too. Q. The hit Graham put on Evridge, right before he fumbled -- OBI EZEH: He's a great player. Really great to see him having such a great year, too. End of FastScripts |
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