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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 10, 2008

Nick Sheridan

Q. Nick, you look at lot better than you did after the game. You clean up pretty well. Any lingering effects from any of the bumps and bruises?
NICK SHERIDAN: No, not too bad. My hand is a little swollen still, but other than that, I'm pretty good. Bruised a little bit, but not too bad.

Q. You took a lot of hits, but you didn't take a sack the whole game. How much was that a goal of yours going into the game?
NICK SHERIDAN: I think it's probably more of a goal of the offensive line, but yeah, some of that lies on the quarterback, getting rid of the ball. Our coaches did a good job of rolling me out a little bit and getting some quick passes that helped us out. Yeah, it was good, important not to take a sacks. Sacks and turnovers are two things that can really hurt you offensively, and they can stunt drives. So that was good for us not to have either of those. We did have a fumble down there, but other than that, we did a good job of protecting the ball and obviously didn't put too much pressure on you. Our O-line did a good job of protecting me and that was a key for us.

Q. (No microphone.)
NICK SHERIDAN: There was a couple plays there I did a good job, but you just try to be a football player there. Sometimes guys aren't open or they're in the right defense or it's a certain call. A couple plays there I got outside the pocket and was able to find Sam, I think, on a play and Darryl, so yeah, that was great for us.
Even on those plays the O-line did a good job of protecting it. We had a couple routes that weren't run properly, a couple miscommunications there, but the O-line's protection was good all day.

Q. It looked like you were almost freezing the safety a little bit with some look-offs and whatnot. Is that what you were doing?
NICK SHERIDAN: I mean, you try to do that all the time. I don't know if it was like an emphasis or if I did it more or less this game than I have in the past. But I guess if that's what it looks like, then that's a good thing.
But yeah, we always -- certain plays you look certain ways and try to hold safeties and defenders and that sort of thing. But no more of an emphasis was put on this game than it has been in the past.

Q. Watching the film, did it look maybe a little different than you remembered or what you saw on Saturday? Did anything stand out to you?
NICK SHERIDAN: It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it looks. We still have a lot of room for improvement, and I could have made a couple better throws and a couple better decisions. That's the beautiful thing about football is you can always get better. But I thought we played well and played hard and kept fighting, and they were physical, Minnesota was, on defense, and they played hard.
I was happy we were able to move the ball a little bit, get some 1st downs and help our team.

Q. How much does working with the first team in practice help you prepare with the second team?
NICK SHERIDAN: I think it helps. But I mean, you take your reps as they come and you just try to make the most of your reps. It's not like the first team offense is getting more reps than the second team. It's pretty much split right down the middle. Most of the time you're repeating plays so you get the same looks and the same plays that you're running.
As far as, yeah, getting rhythm and that sort of thing with the other guys or with the first team, that helps in the week up to the game. But you know, I mean, it helps a little bit, but it's not that big of a deal.

Q. With both of you being healthy, the two of you guys, how do you think it'll play out?
NICK SHERIDAN: I don't even think about it because it'll drive you nuts, and it probably drives you guys nuts not knowing, so that makes me happy a little bit (laughing).
I don't focus on that. It doesn't change the way I prepare for the game, whether I'm the starter or the backup. Like I said before, I'm all for whatever helps us win, and everybody is happy after a win or a loss, so that's what I'm for, and whatever Coach Rod thinks is best for the team, I'll support that. I'm in there to help Michigan in whatever capacity it is on Saturday and throughout the week. That's my focus.

Q. Considering the stage, had you ever had more fun playing football than you did Saturday?
NICK SHERIDAN: Sure, I mean, I had a couple games my senior year in high school and when I was younger. I played both ways, so I didn't really come off the field when I was a little guy.
I always have fun playing football, though. You have a little bit more fun when you win than when you lose. But it's fun playing big-time college football, especially when you win and do well. I had a blast Saturday.

Q. You've played more within yourself. Can you describe, is that more because you're more familiar with the offense and you're not thinking and it's just sort of there now?
NICK SHERIDAN: Yeah, I mean, we're getting more and more comfortable with the offense. You know, I thought I made some good decisions there and it just kind of starts flowing. You just start making the right decisions. Even on run plays you have a lot of different reads we can make and decisions you can go with the football. So we just got some 1st downs, got it down a little bit, you kind of get more and more comfortable as the game progresses and you kind of see what they're trying to do on defense. So yeah, I think everybody is getting a little bit more comfortable with the offense.
But it's just one game where we played well, and hopefully you can string together a few games in a row and then you can say we're clicking a little bit. But until that happens, we're still a very inconsistent team on offense. We'll strive to be more consistent this week in practice and hopefully these next couple games.

Q. Can you talk about how important this game is for the seniors?
NICK SHERIDAN: Yeah, it definitely is a focus for us, and you feel for the seniors that have endured this year. It's been difficult for them, as it has for all of us, but maybe more so for them being their last year. So yeah, you want to go play hard for them all the time, but particularly in their last home game. I'm sure it'll be a memorable game for them, and hopefully we can go out there and play well and play hard and find a way to win.
But we've got a big task ahead of us with Northwestern. They're a great team and they've had a great year. We'll have our hands full Saturday.

End of FastScripts

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