UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 24, 2005

Lloyd Carr

COACH CARR: Well, we're going to face I think the best offensive football team we have seen this season. I don't think there is any question about that. I think Brett Basanez is having an All-American type year. I don't think there is a better quarterback out there as Basanez. When you look at statistically what they have done offensively, the balance they have is exceptional, 311 yards throwing the football and 225 running it. So you are spread out all over the field. Their receivers are experienced. And this Sutton is having an exceptional year. He has got great quickness, great vision. And he is a lot like Mike Hart. But a guy that catches the football well. And so it's going to be a great challenge for our defense, but what we have got to try to do is find a way to score some points because I don't think anybody is going to shut this offense down. Questions.

COACH CARR: They score more points than the other team. I think, any time you get into overtime, you can't make mistakes, and in terms of penalties, you can't turn the football over and so I think those are two things that -- and you can't miss kicks, you know. It's you talk about a fine line between winning and losing, I think in overtime you have to be focused so that you don't get penalties and put yourself out of field goal range or certainly you can't turn the football over and you better make kicks. So we have been able to find a way to hold the other team to field goals. I think -- I don't know. Do we have any -- we had a triple overtime once. Who was that against? Michigan State, the triple. Well, that was last year, yeah. Well, there is five of them. But at any rate, the point I was going to make is that defensively, if you can hold them to a field goal, you know, you have got a chance. But I don't think there is any secret to it. I think, you know, we haven't made mistakes I think, and somebody has made some plays, so I think it comes to that.

COACH CARR: Well, I don't think there is any question. We have had a lot of exposure to the spread offense this year. And of course Penn State did a great job putting that offense in one year. What you are dealing with Basanez is a guy that started 34, I think 34 consecutive games, a guy with great leadership. He has got every intangible you want and he has been there. He knows that offense inside and out. And you know, it's an amazing thing to -- I can remember when he was a freshman, and you know, even then he was not physically strong. He has grown up. He is mature. But at that time, there were things you could see. He was tough. I mean, you know, he could take a punch and get back up. So I think even four years ago, it was obvious that some day he was going to be an outstanding quarterback and today that's exactly what he is.

COACH CARR: Well, I think that's an interesting question because the truth is, and I am not going to get into that, but the question we have got to answer is how we're going to play this game or how we're going to try to play it because I think you start with a premise nobody is going to shut Northwestern down. So there is some ways that you can approach it and, you know, you can try to control the clock, that's certainly I think important in terms of keeping them off the field. The thing that's most impressive, in watching the Penn State game, Penn State is an outstanding defense football team. The first series of the game Northwestern had the ball for 16 plays, so that means that if they're going to keep the ball every time they get it -- the more they get it, the more your defense is going to wear down. So now you can also go in with the idea that you are going to try to out score them. So that's really what we have got to decide. We have got to look at who is going to be healthy and all those issues, and then decide how you are going to play the game.

COACH CARR: Well, I think -- I think I was clear. I don't think anybody is going to shut this offense down, so I am -- my concern is trying to win, so that's the deal.

COACH CARR: Well, you know, we're tying to win here by playing good defense and having a great kicking game and being able to be good in the turnover margin and fewest penalties. Because in the long run, those teams that turn the football over the fewest times generally has the best chance to win. By the same token, I have always believed this, we have always tried to have an offense here that can score in a hurry either at the end of the half or the end of the a game, or if we get behind and the circumstances dictate that we have to score a lot of points, then we try to have an offense that can do that. By the same token, you need an offense that when you have got a lead you can lineup and control the clock, and that's something this season that we have not been very good at. In the last two games, we have had opportunities to put the game away and we could not possess the ball, we ended up punting it. But that's we're trying to do is have an offense that can do two things and have a defense that can keep people out of the end zone.

COACH CARR: Well, I think Jake Long, I will say this about him, you know, I think at some point, there will be -- he will be considered with the very, very best offense linemen that have ever played here, and that's high praise because he is so talented athletically and he is so tough mentally, so he is a different dimension. And you know, anybody who going to start a football team Jake Long would be a great place to start.

COACH CARR: Yep.

COACH CARR: Well, we certainly have that capability.

COACH CARR: Well, and the truth is that is one of the disappointing plays because, if there are seven men in the box which there was there, we feel like we can make five yards running the football. One of the things that we didn't do a very good job of in this game is we left a lot of yards on the field. We missed some cuts and that really is going to hamper any offense and certainly it hampered ours on Saturday.

COACH CARR: Hart, Woodley and Graham, I don't think I mentioned that, did I? Well, I can't -- I don't know. I have not had a report. And I can say this, that they have all got a good chance to play, but we will have to see how they respond in practice. Because if you don't practice, you are not going to play well. You can go play, but you are not going to play well. So we will have to see how they respond.

COACH CARR: Well, for those out there, I talked to John, John's wife Sherry called me this morning and that is a very, very serious injury, and he is going to -- he is under surgery as we speak I think unless he is out. But there is a lot of really big problems in there. So this is not going to be -- this is not just a normal broken leg. I mean they're going to -- it's not good. And so our thoughts and prayers are with John because this -- I went into locker room -- I went into the training room after the game on Saturday and John had tears in his eyes as I talked to him. And the thought -- and I said to him, because the thought came to my mind that he must be in unbelievable pain, and he was. But I said, "You must be in unbelievable pain." He says, "No, I was just thinking about next Saturday is going to be the first Michigan football game I have missed in I would say 30 some years," so this football is awful important to John.

COACH CARR: I don't know if I should say that or not, but he is at St. Joe's.

COACH CARR: Well, you know, I just know that they're concerned because it's a serious injury.

COACH CARR: Well, I think Ron English is a great football coach and what he is done. I told him this morning, I can't imagine a coach doing a better job with a group of kids than Ron English has done. He is just a magnificent individual. He is going to have great success in this profession. And to take a true freshman like Brandon Harrison and teach him enough, but I think it goes much deeper than that. When you take Barringer and Englemon -- Grant Mason is having a wonderful year. He was absolutely outstanding in that game, and of course I have said this, and I think Leon Hall has had a great year, and so I think -- but it's a lot more than just individuals. It takes getting them to play as a unit. And the thing I have been most pleased with with our defense is that we haven't given up near as many big plays in an era where big plays are pretty common, and so I give a lot of that credit to certainly our players. They have done a great job. They have done a good job keeping the ball leveraged and inside for the most part, but I think it also speaks to, you know, the job that Ron has done.

COACH CARR: Well, I think -- no, I think he is -- I think, you know, being a great coach is like being a great anything. You have to have passion for what you do. He has that. He has got a great work ethic, and he is got an outstanding knowledge of the game. I think in terms of coaching, he is a great teacher. He can break it down and make the complicated things simple so that a guy that is 18 years old can understand what he is talking about, and that's not -- you know, that's -- you know, it's not certainly uncommon, but I think those are the things that separate him. And he is a guy that is got a wonderful personality. I think he is a charismatic guy that can relate to anybody. So he is --

COACH CARR: Well, you know, they're going to play a lot of four wide receivers, so we got to play more defense backs, and certainly this is going to be their biggest challenge because all of these receivers at Northwestern or most of them have -- they're experienced, they have been around. And you know, one of the things that is important, and it's not the most obvious thing, but if you can force the quarterback to not know the coverage until the ball is snapped, then that creates some advantage for you defensively. But Basanez is so smart. He has been around for so long that he has a great ability to change the play and get into the option when he sees certain things or run the football at certain spots when he sees certain things. But a lot of that disguising comes down to what the secondary is doing. If the safety, instead of lining up on the hash, if he is in the middle of the field, then he knows right now it's going to be some kind of three-deep coverage and that makes it very, very easy to attack a defense. So you know, that's part of the big work that they got cut out for them.

COACH CARR: Well, I don't think there was a more important play in the game, that was a third down and two. I think it was a great play call on their part and I think Jim Herman called the perfect defense. That play for a two-yard gain is very, very difficult to stop, but we were in man coverage and Jamar was on the tight end who motioned across. And a lot of times, when you are in man coverage and the man you have blocks, you don't take your eyes off him. And what you need to do is, if he is blocking him, is immediately look to the inside and that frees you to become a run defender, and that's exactly what Jamar did. I mean for a young kid, I have seen seniors that busted that, but he had great -- the concentration and the discipline that when his man blocked, then he immediately looked inside, here came the ball carrier, and he went up and made the tackle for no gain. Because had they converted that first down -- that third down, now they still have time outs and plenty of time to take three shots at the end zone and to see when we win the game. So that was a major play in that game. And for a young guy to make that play, speaks highly of, you know, his ability to concentrate and under pressure execute in a disciplined way.

COACH CARR: Well, you know, I think you probably got an feel for the type of kid he is. He is just a solid guy and a fun guy to be around. But our system -- I don't think any system defensively today is simple because there are too many formations and there are too many different types of offenses that you are facing on a weekly basis. So there is a learning curve there. But it's amazing, because we only talk about the light comes on, and for Jamar early in the season he didn't have a very good training camp, and in the first two or three weeks, he just seemed tentative, and somewhere along the line, it all became clear for him, and, you know, the clutter was gone and he was able to go in and play within the system. So he has done a wonderful job and he is a very physical guy. He is a big guy. I mean he is the kind of safety physically that you like because he is big and he can run and he made another great play in there on a play late in the third quarter that hit through there, that found a crease and he made a tackle for a five-yard gain, and had he not made the tackle it's going to go for 10 or 15, so he did a lot of good things in there.

COACH CARR: Well, I think they did a pretty good job on Saturday keeping Iowa out of the end zone. When you get to four down -- when you get to the end of the game and the team has four downs, and that's why I think a lot of it goes back offensively that what you would like to do is be able to control the clock because these offense teams are difficult to stop in three downs, and when they have four, they're very, very difficult. I think if you studied the whole thing, you know, you would find that there is a lot of teams marching down the field at the end of the game because it's easier to call plays because you know you have got four downs. And if you have got time outs, that's where time outs are so critical. But yeah, we'd like to play better at the end. We didn't purposely let them drive down there in those games that you are speaking of.

COACH CARR: Well, I kept waiting for him to call time out. We had the lead. And when you have the lead, you know, the use of time outs is -- I think most coaches have a philosophy on how they're going to do it, and sometimes it's clear, and sometimes it isn't. But when you have the lead, for the most part, particularly in that situation, where he had plenty of time, he had his time outs, and I wasn't going to help his offense by using the time outs. But you know, had they made that first down, I was then at a point where I would have used one of them. But it's -- I don't know that there is any -- you know, there is no situation there you can't be criticized for if it goes wrong. I mean I guess that's the bottom line.

COACH CARR: I was impressed. It was a little bit different shade than I have seen in the past.

COACH CARR: I don't need another look because I saw it on the field. I saw the same thing the linesman saw. And I am amazed. I am going to try to get copies this afternoon because I think there is an important issue there, and the issue is, you know, that it's not supposed to be overturned unless it meets certain criteria, and I don't -- unless there is some other angle that I didn't see, I don't know how they could turn it over.

COACH CARR: Well, I wouldn't -- I think they're all in that boat. Yeah, I expect Jason Avant to play and, you know, I think Brandent Englemon will play based on what I know from after the game. But other than that, I don't know.

COACH CARR: It's a good question. We will have to see how it goes.

COACH CARR: Well, I think we will play more than one for sure.

COACH CARR: Well, I will tell you one thing, that 19-yard run made it pretty hard to take him out of there, because what he did on that play, I mean, there was not much space there. And what he displayed in that game, even on the first-down run from the five where he got it down to the one, and then the touchdown run, he showed great patience and that was one of the problems we had, if you cut the ball -- if you make up your mind when you get the football that you are going to cut back or that you are going to straight ahead, either one, you are wrong. You are going to be right a few times. And so you have to take the ball up in there and let it happen, and that's instinctive. And you know, I think that's Kevin Grady is learning every day. So but Jermane, I think because of his experience was able to give us a big lift there, and certainly, when a guy makes a run like that, you are saying, hey, that's what we need.

COACH CARR: Well, I think his fumble was the result of carelessness with the ball. He had the ball in front of him, and you know, I think there is nobody that has been more diligent. And I think sometimes it's like, you know, if a guy is in a slump in baseball, you know, you press. I think you know, the receiver sometimes presses when he drops a couple of balls and certainly I think Max may be doing that right now. We would certainly like for him to prove that he can hang onto it because we need him in the position we're in. And I didn't like the way he carried the ball, and he has got the ball out in front of him and he knows that that makes him much more vulnerable to fumbling the ball, so we just have to see.

COACH CARR: Well, I don't know what you mean lightly recruited. You know, I think, if one school recruits -- you know, I mean some people have the idea if you don't get a 50 scholarship offers you are not -- you know, you are a question mark. And the truth is there is a lot of good players out there and certainly he is one of them. And I think he would be an outstanding back in any system because he has got great vision and instincts. And athletically, you know, when you see a guy that young, because there aren't a lot of high schools up until recently that throw a lot to their backs, but he can hurt you as a receiver. He is got very natural hands. So you know, I think they have got a guy there that you know can do it all and that's what you are looking for.

COACH CARR: No.

COACH CARR: His health is good. And you know one of the difficult things in athletics is being the back-up quarterback, that's a hard job. And you know, I think it tests everything that from a mental standpoint, from an emotional standpoint and, you know, I am just -- I think his teammates really appreciate the fact that every day he brings a great work ethic and a great attitude and enthusiasm, and I think, you know, that's going to enable him to be successful when his opportunity comes.

COACH CARR: Well, I think the first characteristic you look for in athletics from a leadership standpoint is a guy that plays with great intensity and great will to win because, you know, ultimately in a team game, your best players have to perform. It all comes down to performing. And it's hard to be an outstanding leader if you are not performing your part in the play. And Jason has been an exceptional leader. I think that's one the reasons, one the primary reasons he was selected was because he brings his work ethic every single day. And his will to compete is exceptional. It has been that way since the day he got here.

COACH CARR: Well, I think Rueben is going to play an important part in this football team because we have got some guys -- you know, everybody in that line is banged up in some way, shape or form, and so he is going to play. I think his teammates respect the way he did change positions. I mean, you know, we have talked about how difficult his challenge was in moving after getting -- being a starter and having considerable experience as a guard. But I think the beautiful thing about Rueben is that he is a team guy, and I think he understands -- I think he understood when he moved there, it might not be something permanent.

COACH CARR: Well, I think he could -- you know, it's not like he would step in and pick right up because it is a different position, but he works on their practice and that's certainly something that, as we go forward, he'll get more work there.

COACH CARR: I think we will know more about that after the by-week. I am going to sit down with Adrian, and more than anything else, I think it comes down to, you know, what he wants to do. I think that's probably what will dictate that decision.

COACH CARR: Well, he has got great physical gifts. I mean he is big, he is strong, he is agile. He was an outstanding basketball player in high school except he didn't jump as high as I thought he would have. I always tease him about that. He is a great athlete and he is possessed with the same type of temperament I think that John Jansen. I mean he is -- when he goes out to block you, you know, he is going out there with a purpose. And so he has got all the ability, plus he is blessed with a competitiveness and a desire to be the best. I think he knows what his potential is and he is willing to work to realize that potential.

COACH CARR: Well, there was a couple of plays in there where he showed some rustiness, but considering how long it has been, you know, I can say this, I think we all feel like he played better than we have could have expected him to play.

COACH CARR: Yeah. Yeah. Are you talking about our interception? Yeah, Mario, as is typical of freshman, you know, I think he saw something and reacted to what he saw as opposed to what he was supposed to do. And any time you do that, the -- you leave the quarterback. The quarterback doesn't have time. We have -- let me back up a minute. We have a route that is designed where the receiver reads the safety, and if the safety is inside, he breaks outside; if the safety is outside, he breaks inside. And that play, the protection is designed so that the quarterback has a little bit more time because it takes time for that play to develop. On the play Saturday, that option was not in there, and so when Mario decided to go behind the safety, then it led to an inception. So you know, that's a mistake that he will learn from.

COACH CARR: Barringer? I asked him yesterday what his name was. I think he ran well last week. But now we will have to see if he can make the cuts that you have to make in a game situation. He has made a lot of progress, but we should know more this afternoon, because Paul Smith is going to work him out and give me a call.

COACH CARR: Yeah, I think Rondell, we expect him back which will be a great thing for us.

COACH CARR: Well, I think, you know, that they have improved defensively in a lot of areas that you don't necessarily see on film. I think, you know, they have been very good at intercepting passes and they have played against some outstanding offensive teams. I mean there is some great offensive teams in this league, and one of them is the team they beat last Saturday. I mean that's all you have to know. And I thought they did a very good job against Penn State. I mean, you know they had a chance, you know. Penn State made a couple of miraculous plays. And you talk about the question you had, that's a perfect example. I mean they have got -- Penn State is -- they got them fourth and 15 at the shortened of the field there and make a great play to the tight end on fourth down to get a first down, then they go down and on the last play of the game Robinson hit the 25 yarder. So you know, I think they have -- I think they played very hard and I think they're very well coached in terms of what they're trying to do.

COACH CARR: Well, we have to see who shows up here first.

COACH CARR: I am not sure. Well, let me say this. The most impressive thing is, outside of the fact all the statistics and the 67 percent accuracy, the most impressive thing offensively for me is the fact that he has thrown one interception and he has been sacked five times. Now, when you are hitting 67 percent of your passes and you have only thrown one interception and you only have been sacked five times in eight games, another impressive thing is they have only punted the ball 28 times in eight games. Now that comes out to my way of figuring about three and a half times a game. So you know, there is a lot of things there, and I don't know if that answers.

COACH CARR: Well, I think -- no. Well, I think you have to be patient, and you have to be disciplined from the standpoint of where you are supposed to be. Because the heart of the offense is being able to check against certain looks that are going to stop a lot of your plays, but now they don't have an answer for the option or the quarterback running the football. So they out number you in other words. So if you are supposed to have two guys over here, you better have two. If you got one and he runs the option, it's a big play. So you know, you better be disciplined and be where you are supposed to be so that you don't give up big plays. I think the best thing about our defense in terms of that very thing is that for the most part we have had people where they're supposed to be so they're not -- in that game on Saturday, the big wide receiver, you know, has been averaging 21 yards a catch. I think it was somewhere around 10 for us. Now you are taking a guy doing some good things even though he may be catching some passes on you. Okay. Thank you.