CARR ON NOTRE DAME WEEK:
we've got a lot of things to work on this week. We look forward to playing in one of the three great rivals, rivalries that we have in Michigan. This is certainly one of them. It always comes early in the season. Notre Dame Stadium is a great venue, an exciting place to play, and we know those guys down there like they know us. I know them because I tried to recruit almost all of them.
"So, we know each other. We understand, I think, that we're both part of two of the great, the greatest traditions in college football. So it's always a great game. We have always had great games down there, but it's been too long since we've won down there. So we look forward to it."
• Can you talk about how you will establish the running game? ... "There's not a lot of things I want to talk about. There's a lot of things that go into establishing a running game. I think first and foremost Miami (Ohio) is a good defensive football team. They brought their safeties down, their safety made some plays right on the line of scrimmage. So part of it was the fact that they had a very good defense and that they played well. But, but there were also some things, typical, some of them. Missed assignments, we had some of those and missed the hole at times. So there's a combination of things and I think collectively we have to get better there."
• You talked about defensively an emphasis on trying to create turnovers and that was something there was more of an emphasis in the preseason. Is that something that you can continue throughout the season? ... "I don't think it's going to continue at that rate. I mean, seven turnovers, that's -- and Miami a year ago was not a team that just gives the football up. Some of those we caused. Sometimes the opponent makes a mistake. But I think as we get into the rest of this season, we're going to play teams that take care of the football.
"Now, if we can continue to hustle and be around the football and cause pressure on the quarterback, certainly we're going to have a chance to cause more turnovers than we did a year ago, and that's certainly been an emphasis. I think it's always an emphasis.
"But I do think that we had very good pressure. And of course I've said this from the beginning, Markus Curry is one of those guys that during the course of his career has had some interceptions where he's caught the ball away from his body. He's made interceptions where the ball was not thrown to him; where he went and got the football. I think you have to credit him. I think the fact that we had three safeties, Ryan Mundy is getting his first start, that was certainly big play because they have to start it, and Ernest Shazor was where he was supposed to be. He was executing his assignment and we had good pressure on that. I think the ball came out a little bit faster than they wanted it to but Ernest made, in my judgment, the biggest play of the game."
• Have you talked to Matt (Gutierrez) about him getting back to practice? ... "No, I haven't. We'll practice today and I have not seen Paul Schmidt today, so we'll just have to see how that goes."
• Knowing full well the circumstances surrounding the Notre Dame situation, struggled last week, how difficult of a challenge or how dangerous of a team might this be? ... "Well, I don't know that I agree with anything, the way you've phrased some of your questions. But I think Michigan/Notre Dame, the rivalry that it is, the only thing that's important is what you do today, what you do this week.
"The preparation, I think our players, I think our kids, I think the people in this program take great pride in representing this institution, and I know the same is true of Notre Dame.
"So, you know, at times, somebody loses a game and everybody wants to think the house is burning down. Well, we're in an era in college football when you play on the road, it's very, very difficult to win. And we understand that. We know we're going into, you know, a great venue to play, and yet their fans, they are like it is for somebody when they come in here; they make it tough.
"So we've got to find out how we handle the pressure of going on the road in an environment where everybody is cheering against you instead of for you."
• Watching the tape and studying them on the road, how much more difficult will be with two freshmen? ... "Well, you only get to start your first college game one time, and he's done that. Now you've got to start your first road game, but the fact that he was able to start in his first game here at Michigan Stadium I think gives him and everybody around him a lot more confidence. I think the experience he had there will stand him in good stead. I don't worry about Chad Henne from the standpoint of being able to handle it because I think he's been there. Once you've been there, it's easier to do it again. But does that mean it's going to be easy? No. Does that mean anything other than he has some experience? No."
• Do you have any sort of policy that an injured guy will get his job back? ... "You know, I can remember in the last couple of years, somebody wrote an article that said part of my policy was that an injured player never loses his position. I've said nothing of the sort. I've always said, you're always competing. You're always competing. And it's difficult; you face as an injured player, you face the challenge that when you're not there, somebody is practicing and playing in your stead. And so, you know, you have to make determinations as a coach. There's great competition there and that's just the way that I look at it."
• Will Chad start this week, first on the depth chart-- or will that change if Matt practices? ... "I want to see what happens this afternoon. If nothing changes, nothing will change. How's that?"
• Is there any extra pressure there -- can you talk about the similarities between the two programs? How hard would it be to go through a battle like this every year? ... "Well, you're getting into all kinds of speculations and, you know, the only thing I'm thinking about right now is trying to take all of the things that we need to put together in terms of the things we can tell our kids this week and prepare. We've got a lot of guys that have never been down there. That's a different feeling. We've got enough things to worry about. I think that's a question for another time."
• Is there anything unique or dangerous in playing at Notre Dame, as opposed to playing in Ohio Stadium or Michigan Stadium? ... "Well, I think all of those are great places to play. I think it's a great place to play football because the student body down there is always enthusiastic, they are always loud. The colors, you've got the green, the bands. Our band will be there, I hope they will be there, they are always there. So in terms of all of the pageantry that makes college football so special, you get it all down there.
"Of course, I think it's a little bit louder since they have added the seats -- I don't know what you call it, but they added seats there. It is definitely louder than it used to be and it's always been loud.
"So, I don't think there's -- you know, when you're on the field, I don't know that you're going to be aware of anything except what you see on the other side of line of scrimmage. Now as you walk in there and as you warm up for the game, you get an opportunity to really sense the excitement that all of those people bring to that game, and those jerseys and the color and those elements. It's a special time."
• Many have mentioned the fact they were impressed with Chad's composure in his first game and also his attitude and his swagger this summer. He was here most of the summer; how much does that play into his early development, that he spent so much time early and impressing his teammates? ... "Well, he came in during the spring just as Matt Gutierrez did when he was in his senior year in high school. He came out in the summertime. I think it was invaluable. I don't think he could have done what he did on Saturday if he had not made the sacrifices to come in during the spring, to be here in the summertime. With that said, going on the road is a different deal because it's much more difficult because of the noise. All of the things that go with going on the road. So his development has just begun. We are just beginning here."
• What did you see in (Brady) Quinn that made you recruit him? ... "Well, Brady Quinn was in my office and we recruited him as hard as you could recruit a guy. We wanted him very much to come to Michigan. I think he got an opportunity to play a year ago, and now he's been in all of the big situations. He's been under pressure. He knows how to prepare for a game and I think, again, I think Quinn will be a great quarterback before he's through."
• Are you concerned about any injuries? ... "You know, I can tell you what I think, and I will. I think there's only one of them, I'm more concerned about (Joey) Sarantos because he has been an outstanding special teams guy and played a very significant role in that game on Saturday. I don't know how that ankle is going to be, we'll see. But the others I expect will be ready to go. Again, you don't know how they are going to respond to practice. That's what I know now."
• You mentioned how impressed you were with Chad, is that the most difficult part of a young guy having to perform like that in his first game? ... "I think in our offense, I think the influence that professional football has had on college football, the spread offenses, the one-back offenses, has been a substantial. And with that comes, you know, a lot of verbiage. That's why a lot of the plays are so long, there are so many words in them that we put them in our wristband so that the quarterback will read certain plays from his wristband.
"However, what makes it even more difficult for a college quarterback than a professional quarterback is the professional quarterback has a headset and he has somebody giving him the play from the press box right into his helmet. In college football, you don't have that.
"So, particularly for a young quarterback, it's a tremendous challenge from a standpoint of all of the signals of all of the things that you have to do to get the play to him and then he's got to repeat it. If he leaves one word out, then somebody doesn't know what to do. And so, you know, it has -- you can't run the offenses without very good communication."
