2001 FBL vs. Minnesota -- quotes
11/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Statement regarding a Detroit Free Press story ... "I feel it is my duty as head football coach at the University of Michigan to respond to an article written this past week by Drew Sharp in the Detroit Free Press, from which I quote:
"'Jeremy LeSueur committed one of the ultimate brain freezes. That's where Michigan lost the game.'
"In order to support his argument that Michigan 'got what it deserved' Sharp blamed Jeremy for the loss of the game.
"His statement is irresponsible and reprehensible.
"He has embarrassed and humiliated a student at the University of Michigan -- a young athlete who made a mistake in the heat of competition.
"Mr. Sharp should know that Jeremy has a 13-year-old brother who was born with a severe brain injury and he should know that his inexcusable use of 'brain freeze' has resulted in ridicule and made Jeremy's life this past week a living hell.
"His vicious, mean-spirited attack is also an embarrassment to a great newspaper. I trust the Detroit Free Press will apologize to Jeremy because it is the right thing to do. Mr. Sharp should apologize personally and publicly."
Opening statement on Minnesota game ... "This game was hard-fought and hard-hitting. They responded to as difficult a situation as I can remember this week and we set ourselves up nicely for a trip to Madison, Wis., next week. We feel good about ourselves and look forward to our game against Wisconsin next Saturday. I thought our backs, B.J. Askew and Chris Perry, ran with power and aggressiveness and they made some people miss. This is a long season and in this conference backs really get beat up, but at this stage in the year if your backs are healthy like ours are now, you're in good shape as a team."
On backup quarterback Jermaine Gonzales ... "I think he can give you a change in pace of the game and we're going to do some things to his strengths. We do that with all our quarterbacks. John (Navarre) does some things that Jermaine doesn't, so you always want to fit the game to your strengths."
On Minnesota ... "In the first half I told the team that Minnesota is a tough team and they lost a close game last week, so I tip my hat to the coaching staff. I didn't expect it to be nothing but a close ball game, which it was. There was no enthusiasm in the locker room, on the field or in the stands, so we went into the half looking to increase our intensity and enthusiasm."
On Tyrece Butler's blocked punt ... "I think Tyrece's block was the biggest play of the game. Last year he had surgery and missed the entire year. Two weeks ago in Iowa City, he made what I think was the biggest play of the year and today he did it again."
Senior Cornerback Todd Howard
On the rivalry with Minnesota ... "The last time I had the opportunity to play for the Little Brown Jug was two years ago at their place and it was important to get back to playing for it. The Jug means a lot to the team."
On the kickoff returns ... "I had some great guys blocking in front of me. It was up to me to make the first guy miss and then I just followed my blockers the rest of the way."
On containing Minnesota's Ron Johnson ... "The touchdown he did catch was a mental mistake. For the most part I'm very happy with the way we contained him. All their receivers are talented and we did a good job stopping them."
On containing the Minnesota offense ... "We knew last week that we gave up too many yards on first down. So this week we wanted to stop them on first down in order to keep them into long yardage for second and third downs, to give our offense good field position."
Senior/Junior Linebacker Victor Hobson
On the game ... "We just wanted to keep up the intensity, because in the first half they basically matched ours. So we wanted to come out in the second half with more enthusiasm to take them out of the game."
On stopping the run ... "That's our goal every week. Our coaches did a good job of preparing us and we executed the plan great. That's why we stopped the run."
Junior Running Back B.J. Askew
On the U-M running game ... "We really didn't do anything differently. We got tired of everyone talking about how bad we were doing, so we came out today with something to prove."
On field position ... "It made it a lot easier on our offensive line, because when you get good field position it's great on the guys' legs, they don't have to be on the field very long. Todd (Howard) set us up with his returns and we produced when we got the opportunity."
Junior/Sophomore Quarterback John Navarre
On the U-M running game ... "Well, it's one thing we stressed all week. Last week it lacked a little and by us practicing it this week, the rushing game produced."
On the win ... "Every time you win a football game that's all that matters. As a quarterback you might not play well, but you're measured by your wins and today we got another one.
On his performance ... "I think the rhythm is based on moving the football and when Jermaine (Gonzales) went in we still moved the ball, so I didn't feel I lost anything by coming out. I didn't play extremely well or extremely bad, but we had a chance to win and that's all I expect of a quarterback."
Minnesota Head Coach Glen Mason
On the game overall ... "Michigan is a good football team, let's face it. The way I look at it, if they hadn't missed a field goal against Washington and things had turned out different last week in East Lansing, then they would be challenging for all the marbles and not just a Big Ten championship. They're good because they have good players and they are well coached and they don't make many mistakes like we made today. It's amazing we were that close in the first half with the number of mistakes we were making and the penalties we took. Our offense did a good job right before half, moving the ball into position to kick the field goal and eventually scoring. I thought it would give us some momentum, but it didn't. Michigan came out and moved the ball in the third quarter and they only took three penalties all game, so they won."
On penalties in college football ... "Holding in college football is ridiculous. I am not naming an official or particular conference, but I feel that way and I know a lot of other coaches that feel that way. It's got to be changed."
On Michigan's rushing game ... "Well, they have two good running backs and they are hard to defend. They have a big offensive line and they have big running backs so you know that they are going to try and establish their running game early."
On the Michigan-Minnesota rivalry ... "If neither team has any wins, no fans show up, it's not on TV, the media doesn't know about it and your kids still show up to bust their butts, that's a real rivalry."
On Michigan backup quarterback Jermaine Gonzales ... "We were surprised how early Gonzales played. When he first came into the game, I thought they were going to do that double pass."
Senior Wide Receiver Ron Johnson
On Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr's comments to him following the game ... "He told me I played a good game, I'm a good athlete and that I've got a lot of football ahead of me so don't let this loss get me down and keep playing hard."
On their motivation for the rest of the season ... "We've still got football to play. There's some personal stats we can get and we've got to get the younger guys ready for next season."
Senior Linebacker Greg White
On Michigan's talent ... "They're a pretty good team. They're an all-around team and they showed it today."
On the loss that ended Minnesota's bowl hopes ... "It hurts knowing we're not going to a bowl, but we wanted to win this game and that hurts a little more right now."
Sophomore Quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq
On the play of Michigan's defense ... "They didn't do anything we didn't expect. They had the better angles on us and they made their tackles."
On Minnesota's ill-timed penalties ... "They were stupid penalties that just killed us. You take them away and add our big plays and we're right with them (Michigan)."
A little more on their penalties ... "I have no clue why we jumped offsides or chopblocked at the times we did. We'll have to take a look at the film this week. We didn't play badly, we just made bad plays, especially on our big plays."
