Following Michigan’s 42-17 win over Iowa on Senior Day, Brady Hoke spoke to the media about Denard, the new offense, and the upcoming battle with Ohio State.

Brady Hoke speaks to the media after the Iowa game (Justin Potts, M&GB)

Opening Statement
“It was a good game, a good football win. The seniors got to go up the tunnel senior victors for the last time in this game and we put a lot of emphasis on that because of the struggles and what they go through when you look at a guy who’s been here for our five years. So it was great for them and great for our team that the younger guys, younger-classmen, went out there and competed for  them. That’s the expectation and the guys who are seniors who were playing in their last game at Michigan Stadium, I thought they did a nice job of going out there and playing 60 minutes of football.”

On how difficult it is to see the seniors perform for the last time in Michigan Stadium…
“It’s always difficult and that’s because I’m a very emotional person, good or bad. Pick your poison. We get very tight, close with the players because we are there to help them grow, so from a personal life standpoint to the academics to social to everything else, they’re your sons. That’s the way we look at it.”

On when he made the decision for Denard to play and come up with the role he played…
“I didn’t make the decision for him to play. Once he got cleared and he felt good health wise, we had talked about doing this for 18 months. Al [Borges], when he got home last week after the Northwestern game that night, he had nine plays ready. And we put six more in. So I think Al Does a tremendous job of taking your personnel and the playmakers that you have on your team and having the ability to get them the ball and let their God-given ability take over.”

On Fitz Toussaint’s injury…
“He’s in the hospital now and he has surgery. I think we’ll leave it at that for now. His mother wasn’t here, he had two brothers here, so we’ll leave it at that.”

On how important it was to work out some of the kinds with Devin and Denard on the field at the same time before next week…
“Next week really never had anything to do with it. We had to beat Iowa. We’re still in a championship race and we wanted to win this game for our seniors and also because we’re still in a race for the championship.”

On whether there was any thought of using Denard as quarterback…
“Well, I think it would be unjust for us not to use him in the best way that we thought would let him be the most successful. He’s throwing the ball a little bit, he’s not throwing it a lot, so we felt this was the best. This kid has put up with a lot of criticism at times [and] he’s been praised at times. He’s a competitive guy who loves the game and loves his teammates and he showed great maturity the last three weeks and great leadership.”

On whether he had to convince Denard that he would play, but not at quarterback…
“No.”

On whether there was any thought of playing him at quarterback…
“Nuh uh. There really wasn’t. I mean it was you wanna play, where could he help us best playing.”

On whether Denard can throw the ball…
“Yeah, but not as well as he’d like to.”

On Denard’s personality of being willing to not “be the boss” in his last home game…
“I think it tells you about what kind of kid he is, what kind of young man, I should say, he is. His development, his growth, his character, and the integrity. This kid has had some unbelievable moments here at Michigan and in Michigan Stadium and he has had some moments that weren’t so good. But he has grown within this team and this is his team. Him and [Jordan] Kovacs – all the seniors have a big piece of it, and I know Devin said it the other day, he has been the face of Michigan football.”

On how comfortable Devin looked scoring six touchdowns…
“He had six touchdowns? See I don’t remember that stuff. [Reporter: "He was pretty good."] Well, I think you answered your questions, he was pretty good [everybody laughs].”

On whether he heard the crowd chanting ‘Beat Ohio’…
“Yeah, and I said to somebody next to me we need to beat Iowa.”

On the comfort level of the team playing at home, having not lost at home in two years…
“Well, I think you see it in all kinds of sports, playing at home is something that’s treated us well and I think the familiarity with everything. I wish I could tell ya, I just think there’s a comfort, I guess.”

On whether his teams have always played well at home…
“I have no clue. Again, it’s something that I don’t think about.”

On whether the offense used against Iowa will be what we see going forward…
“Going forward where?”

Ohio State and the bowl, or could Denard go back to quarterback?…
“Umm, I don’t know. I guess he could. I don’t know. It’s an option.”

On when Denard was cleared, what he had to do to get cleared, and is he able to grip the football…
“Yeah, yeah. What’s today, Saturday? Probably, umm, six days ago.”

On whether Denard is cleared for good now or if he’s still day to day…
“He might be day to day.”

On whether Fitz’s injury was his ankle or leg…
“I’m not going to [get into that]. I want to make sure his mother has been contacted.”

On what it will mean coaching his first game in Columbus as head coach…
“It’s fun. It is fun. Because it’s a great rivalry and there’s a lot of respect on both sides, both programs. So for both programs it’s fun. It’s fun. It’s going to be fun.”

On the success of the downfield passing game today…
“Well, I think some play action set it up. Gallon made a terrific catch with concentration. The ball was where it needed to be and it was defended pretty decently. One of the best throws that was made – and catches – was an out on the sideline to Roy [Roundtree]. I thought Roy did a nice job with his hands. I said this last week, but I think Roy is really catching the ball more with his hands and not as much in his body as he had earlier.”

On when he noticed Roy starting to catch the ball more with his hands…
“Shoot, I don’t know. Sometime. Probably in practice”

On whether the offense threw things out that Ohio State will have to prepare for…
“You know, if I was that smart to do that, I would have done it. But no, we were trying to beat Iowa. We were trying to put our players – it would be very selfish of us as coaches for us not to give these kids the best chance to win a football game. Whatever we do offensively or defensively to prepare, if we don’t do that, then we’re short-selling this program and these seniors and these kids, and we’re not going to do that.”

On what prevented him from using this offense prior to today…
“How would I answer this. [Reporter: "Honestly." Crowd laughs] I would say in doing it it would have been done kind of like we did last year a little bit more when we had both of them on the field and we just added to it. There’s a maturity level for everybody that it takes to be able to handle those kind of things.”

On whether he meant Devin at quarterback and Denard at receiver…
“Maybe. Sort of.”

On how the job of the receivers and the way Devin is throwing the ball is helping the offense pick up where Denard left off…
“I think there’s a lot of truth to all of that. I think our front is blocking better. I think part of that is the play action game. I think part of it’s the play action out of the I-back that has helped.”

On how tough it is for an opposing defense to prepare for a new formation…
“Well, you’ve got to spend some time on it, so sometimes that’s the biggest thing. You’re spending time maybe on a formation that was run three times and thinking what can you do out of it, what can they do out of it, and so as a coach, you’re spending your time and then you’re taking practice time. So, it’s time and there’s one thing that none of us have is a lot of time.”

On how confident he is that the players can put the emotion of the last home game behind them…
“Well, they’re going to have to. I’m pretty confident in how our seniors have led and how we’ve gone to work every Sunday – win and lose.”

On the defense’s performance…
“Yeah, we missed some sacks, we don’t tackle, they’re knocking us off the line of scrimmage early. It was awful.”

On Desmond Morgan’s status…
“I thought he’d be ready, but he’s not.”

On whether he wants to say what the injury is…
“No.”

On Gary Moeller getting honored during a timeout and what it means to him…
“It means a lot. Coach Mo as a person, as a coach, and a man, means a lot. Means a lot to Michigan.”

Michigan beat Iowa 42-17 and Denard Robinson, in his last game in Michigan Stadium saw snaps at quarterback, running back, and receiver. He started the game at running back in his first game since his injury suffered at Nebraska and amassed 122 total yards (98 rushing, 24 receiving). He spoke to the media afterwards and got a little bit choked up at times.

Denard speaks to the media after his last game in Michigan Stadium (Justin Potts, M&GB)

On what it meant to be a senior leader and a Michigan quarterback…
“It means a lot. It’s hard to put into words what this means to me. Being the leader on this team and being one of the guys that was picked by the team to be a captain and a leader, it’s kind of hard to swallow right now because it’s come to an end.”

On when he knew he would play today and when he started working on playing running back/receiver…
“I’ve been getting treatment a lot and [it] has been getting better and better, so once I got a chance to get the go-ahead, I went out and started practicing, started playing a lot of stuff.”

On how desperately he wanted to play in his last game and whether he had to campaign the coaches to do so…
“Oh no. I think everybody knew. They know me, and they know that I’ll do whatever it takes for the team. I’m the kind of person that if I can go, I’m going to go and I won’t hold back. I’ll do whatever for this team – that’s my family.”

On how his elbow feels now, and whether he could have thrown the ball if he had to…
“It feels pretty good. I threw the ball in warmups, so we’ll see next week.”

On who’s idea it was to play the role he did today…
“Coach. Coach Borges. He dialed up some good stuff and I was all for it.”

On getting the ball from Devin Gardner instead of him throwing to Devin like it was in the first half of the season…
“It is kind of funny, but we never talked about it. It was just, let’s go with it.”

On what he was thinking about walking up the tunnel for the last time…
“All the memories that I had with the team and being with these guys. Everything we went through – the ups and downs in the stadium – just memories that kept going through my head.”

On whether there is a memory that stands out more than others…
“Not really. I think just thinking about it being my last time playing in the Big House. It just blows my mind because time went by so fast. It just surprised me that it went by so fast. I guess we were having fun, and when you’re having fun, time goes.”

On when he started practicing again…
“This week, I got the go-ahead.”

On whether he practiced the last couple of weeks…
“I did a little bit, and it was day to day what I could do and what I couldn’t do.”

On whether he has any discomfort at all with his elbow. It looked like he grimaced after patting an Iowa defender on the helmet after a play…
“No, I was good. He made a good hit on me so I gave him a slap on the hat.”

On Devin Gardner’s performance the last three weeks…
“He’s doing great and he’s been playing well. We all faith in him and we all knew he could do it. I’m behind him 100 percent. I support him and we support him. He’s doing a great job and I can’t wait to see what he can do in the future.”

On his comfort level with the role he played today and what the challenge was in that role…
“Of course, going against another defense, but our offensive line did well when I did run the ball. When I did get it off a screen pass or something like that I feel like they did a great job blocking. I just had to try to make a play.”

On whether this gives Ohio State more to think about for next week…
“Oh yeah (laughs), oh yeah. It’s going to be a great game and it’s going to be a physical game, but right now we’re focused on this win.”

On Fitz Toussaint’s injury…
“That’s our brother. You know, it’s always sad and it’s always bad when you see one of your brothers on the ground and you can’t help him right then and there. So it was bad, but he’s a strong guy and I know he will bounce back  and our prayers go out to him.”

On whether there was a point after his elbow injury where he didn’t know if he was going to be able to come back and play, and how easy it was to embrace this new role…
“When I had the time off and they said I couldn’t play those two weeks, I was just like ‘man,’ it was a bad feeling, because I never miss big games. I missed one game and that was like my first year playing football. I’ve missed three games my whole life, so it was different for me being on the sidelines and cheering them on. It was tough, but when I got the chance to get back on the field, there was no question. It was like let’s just go out there and have fun and enjoy being with your team.”

On whether he was he tempted to throw the ball at all…
“I wasn’t tempted, I mean Coach made some good calls and I was ready to do what I had to do to try to help the team out.”

On whether he has ever played a game where he was the quarterback but never threw the ball…
“No, I haven’t.”

On what he and Devin Gardner said when they embraced after the game…
“I just told him to keep going. Keep leading, keep playing your game. We’re behind you. That’s all.”

On how he would evaluate his career based on what he thought he would accomplish when he first got here…
“I couldn’t imagine what I have done. I didn’t think I’d have as much success as I’ve had. I think God blessed me to give me the opportunity to play and start for three years and keep going at it. To have the opportunity to graduate next semester. I feel like it’s a blessing to be here and it means a lot. It means a lot.”

On how surreal it was to be in the huddle but not calling the plays…
“It was different, but practice kind of made me go ‘Ok, you’re not going to call the plays right now’ so I was in the back of the huddles trying to listen to what was going on. It was kind of different.”

On his thoughts on his last game in front of the home fans…
“It is just an honor to be playing in front of so many people. They cheer for you and they can’t wait to see you play or see the team come out of the tunnel and the winged helmet being on the field. I want to say thank you to everybody that ever came out and supported us and personally, I love them, I love the fans, and appreciate them.”

Michigan kept its Big Ten title hopes alive with a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win over Northwestern. Brady Hoke spoke to the media afterwards.

Brady Hoke postgame press conference (photo by Justin Potts, M&GB)

Opening statement
“Let me ask them a question: Who started writing the article before the game was over? [room laughs] Obviously we’ve got a lot that we didn’t do well, but we did do well when you win the football game. It was two teams that played hard. I have so much respect for Pat [Fitzgerald] and how he runs his program and how his guys come to work every day and how they play. We knew it would be a dog fight. We missed way too many tackles, but you’ve got to give Kain Colter some of that respect because he made us miss him. We’ve got to do a better job there.

“I think offensively, [we] moved the ball pretty consistently. Still need to rush for more yards from the backfield, which  means we’ve still got to continue to improve up front, how we’re blocking the line of scrimmage. We missed a couple of cuts, but Devin did a tremendous job really managing everything, staying in the game and extending some things and then his athleticism obviously helped on some of the first downs. We were 7-of-10, so that’s all I’ve got to say.”

On whether this is the kind of win where he tells his team to just find a way to win and build from it…
“Well, there’s a lot to build from and a lot to learn from. Our seniors play their last game at Michigan Stadium next week. That’s significant and if we want to send them out the right way, then we’ve got to play better. That starts always with the coaching side of it and that has to be paramount for us.”

On the bit plays by the seniors, Roy Roundtree and Kenny Demens…
“Roy really, I think on a couple of balls, he really had great focus and great intensity into what he was doing. On the last tackle there, number one, I like the call that Greg [Mattison] made because it was one where we may have talked them into running the football because of some of the space inside. Then Kenny did a nice of really working inside out to the ball. Maybe a little bit earlier we were maybe getting to far ahead of them.”

On how much the experience of tight games the past couple years is a benefit in a game like today…
“I think that’s a great question and I think when I look at them on the sideline and communicate with them and talk to them, they are never in doubt that they weren’t going to win the football game, in my opinion. I think all of that helps. I think experience in anything in life helps you get through it the next time, and I think the same thing in the game of football.”

On how Devin Gardner improved from last week to this week…
“I don’t know if I could do that right now. I think he managed the game well. I thought he had two throws [that were] probably not the best throws. He did a nice job getting rid of the ball in the end zone. He made some good decisions.”

On how different the offense is run with Gardner as opposed to Denard…
“I think the biggest thing is there’s a little more to that. There’s a little more vertical run. There’s a little more power play, to some degree, but a lot of lead play – iso, they used to call it in my day. But from that standpoint, there’s still the zone read and all those things from the gun too.”

On what Northwestern was doing to convert third downs so well…
“What were they doing? I think they converted and they were a little more accurate in some of the throws on the seven routs, smash routes. We need to do a better job in the seam part of our defense when they were throwing it. And I think he scrambled at times and either we missed the tackle, which we did a couple times on a scramble, or we didn’t force the ball enough. As far as when you talk about your lanes and compressing the pocket from the outside.

On the resolve of the team to step up and stop Northwestern on third- and fourth-and-short in overtime…
“These kids have been great. It didn’t surprise me. It really didn’t surprise me. There were 18 seconds left when they punted the ball or something like that and Dan Ferrigno did a nice job all week because they would rugby punt, if you want to call it that – it wasn’t a full on rugby – but lining up Gallon where he lined him up. That’s exactly where when we charted a year of punts, that’s where they were going and they rugby punted and it was perfect. It got us great field position and then obviously the throw.”

On Gardner’s throw to Roundtree at the end of regulation…
” Well, I really can’t describe it all for you, but we knew we had to get to a certain point on the field. We knew from the 35, 38 in, is where we wanted to kick the field goal to tie it up. It just so happened that the post part of the route, the combination was where we needed to hit it. Devin through it well and Roy made a football play.”

On if Denard could have played if Gardner had gotten injured in the game…
“Maybe. [room laughs] He was dressed, right? [Yes] Ok.”

On what Roundtree has done to step up the past two weeks…
“Oh I don’t know, he’s always been like that. Roy’s always been pretty focused. He prepares well, he gets himself ready for a game.”

On whether he has seen a change in Roundtree the past two weeks…
“No, not really.”

On where do you start with trying to stop Northwestern schematically…
“Scheme-wise was really good. I thought Greg and the defensive staff, you’ll go back and look and [say] maybe I should have ran this more or whatever it might be, but I thought scheme-wise, especially with some of the things we were doing – I’m not going to explain them, obviously – it was very effective. We kind of got them into one formation. When you can get somebody into one formation, two formations, then you don’t have all the other problems.”

On Denard’s status…
“Day-to-day.”

He didn’t do much in warm-ups…
“Day-to-day.”

On whether he would have written the game story if he were in the reporters’ shoes…
“No. No. Because of those kids. No way. My wife just asked me that on the way in. Did you know you were going to win? I said yes.”

On Northwestern’s success with the option…
“Perimeter of the defense. We need to play better on the perimeter of the defense. Need to get off blocks better.”

On whether he’s surprised Northwestern went away from the option…
“No, because I think he [Colter] got beat up a little bit there for a minute. Siemian’s a very good quarterback, but he’s not the same quarterback. Then when he came back, they went to their bread and butter on the fourth down play – tried to go option.”

On how hard Fitz Toussaint ran and what the offensive line has to do to help him…
“Well, I think we’ve got to finish on blocks a little better, combination wise. I really thought they were getting some movement – probably not as much as we would like, because it never is. I do think he ran extremely hard. I mean, you could hear football on the field.”

On the win keeping the Big Ten title hopes alive…
“Well, we can’t worry about what other people do. We’ve got to worry about what we do. We’ve got Iowa [next].”

On what he will do with the quarterback situation when Denard is healthy enough to come back…
“I think that’s probably something we’ll figure out.”

On his faith in Brendan Gibbons to make the game-tying kick and Drew Dileo to hold it…
“You know, that combination is a pretty good combination. They work so much together, because we kick everyday. But they are two – don’t tell Gibbons I ever said this – two football players.”

On Devin commanding the huddle and leading the offense…
“Well, he’s really done a nice job, and always has. I thought the way he’s gone about his business, the maturity and the growth has been really, I guess, expected.”

Denard Robinson threw for 159 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the 45-0 win over Illinois. In the process, he became the eighth player in NCAA history to record 40 career rushing touchdowns and 40 career passing touchdowns. He also became the eighth player in Big Ten history to eclipse 10,000 career yards and moved past Chris Perry and into a tie with Mike Hart for third in career rushing touchdowns at Michigan. He also passed Rick Leach for fourth in career touchdown passes.

Denard and Desmond Morgan postgame press conference (photo by Justin Potts, M&GB)

Cliffs Notes:

- His injury was just a boo-boo
- He’s not even thinking about Michigan State yet
- He likes throwing to Devin Funchess
- He doesn’t care about stats
- He always expects to win

On what he injured and whether he was scared that it was more serious than it actually was…
“Well it was just a boo-boo. I mean, everybody gets hurt, so it was all good. I came back in and it didn’t bother me at all.”

On the defense…
“I think every great team has to have a great defense. If we can score points, we can win the game if they shut them out. They played well and it was a team effort today.”

On how long before the game ended did he start thinking about Michigan State…
“Right now, I’m not even thinking about it. This is a big win for us and it was a tough game we just won. We feel good about it because Illinois is a great team and we want to enjoy that right now and then tomorrow we move forward.”

On the handoffs and big run after coming back from his injury…
“I just go with whatever we get. I just go out there and play football and whatever I see, I just play with it. Our offensive line blocked well today and we had a lot of holes.”

On how comfortable he is with a run-heavy offense for the second straight game…
“I’m comfortable with it because this is Michigan. This is how Michigan always plays. The running backs are running well and the offensive line, they come out every day and practice hard, and put forth effort today, so I’m happy with them because that’s where it starts.”

On whether he saw all the blocks that set up the 71-yard touchdown pass…
“Oh yeah. I saw the last block by Michael Schofield. He’s the right tackle [and] he came from way back and he made the key block, so that was exciting watching him go down the field and make a block.”

On what’s it like to be able to throw it up in the back of the end zone to a big guy like Devin Funchess…
“Funchess always goes up and gets the ball and you enjoy throwing to that guy. He’s a great athlete and I enjoy it.”

On whether it feels like Denard has 10,000 total yards…
[laughing] “I don’t even know about that. I don’t look at the stats or any of that stuff. I just go out there and play football. The only stat I care about is turnovers and I just go out there and have fun with the team worry about winning.”

On the confidence level and whether they’re going into games expecting to win…
“Every game we come in expecting to win. If you walk on the field and you think you’re going to lose, you’re going to lose.”

Michigan dominated Illinois in all three phases of the game, setting up a big showdown with Michigan State next week. The Wolverines out-gained Illinois 527 to 134 and won 45-0. Brady Hoke spoke to the media afterwards.

Brady Hoke postgame press conference (photo by Justin Potts, Maize and Go Blue)

Cliffs Notes:

- He’s happy with the performance overall, but there’s still room to improve
- It was frustrating to leave points on the board in the first half
- Kenny Demens did his homework which led to his interception
- It was important to get Russell Bellomy some game action and he’s confident in him
- Denard just had a boo-boo
- The running back job still belongs to Fitz
- There was no question about awarding Gerald Ford’s legends jersey to Desmond Morgan

Opening Statement…
“It was a good to win on Homecoming. It’s good to win anytime and really, complete game wise in a lot of ways, this was probably the most complete we’ve played. Running the ball with the running backs, Denard obviously had some great runs in there, and defensively after the second series or two we started playing Michigan defense. We played well against the run and I thought when we did that on first and second down it gave us an opportunity to try and put some pressure on the quarterback, and I thought the guys did a nice job. Some things in there, we had some penalties, running the ball early – them against our defense – we weren’t happy with, but overall, it’s probably as complete as we’ve played. But it’s not near good enough.”

On the offensive and defensive lines…
“I didn’t think early up front defensively we were playing with gap integrity and getting off blocks as well as we needed to. We were hitting in there and getting four or five yards and five or six yards, and that’s not stout enough at the line of scrimmage. I think we’ve got some work to do there. I thought we played a little better as the game went on, but at the same time I think there was a lot of improvement. From an offensive standpoint, I think as we continue to grow to some degree, I think we’re playing a little better when you look at pad level. I think we’re playing a little better with the speed that we want to play with.”

On the big defensive plays early…
“Those were critical, but the one where they went for it on fourth down and our defense stepped up and did a nice job, we got the ball back and we’re in two-minute, and we get nothing. That’s frustrating because we felt coming into the locker room during halftime that we left some points on the board. You can’t do that when you play for championships.”

On the play of seniors like Quinton Washington and Kenny Demens…
“Quinton has improved probably every game and it’s exciting as a coach when you see a guy who steps out there and gains confidence and plays better. He’s a big part of our football team and he’s a wonderful young man. Kenny, I’ll tell ya, the interception, he had seen the route, he had prepared. And that’s the one thing I think we’ve done better as a team is the preparation. He knew formationally, he knew route-wise, he knew where they were lined up, what route was coming, so he jumped the route and that’s a maturity that you like to see in your football team. Kenny being a senior, you expect that, but when it works out, you’re excited about that.”

On the importance of getting Russell Bellomy some real game action…
“You know, it always is. I think we’re very excited about Russ Bellomy, and we have been. He came in there with a lot of confidence. We had the one exchange problem later in the game and I think the ball slipped or we didn’t get it up enough, but he’s a guy that we think is a good quarterback. That’s why we recruited him, so it was good to get him some work, and obviously meaningful work. But any work is good work.”

On when he starts thinking about Michigan State…
“I don’t know. I hope these guys enjoyed this right now. I don’t know if you ever don’t think about rivalry games. I think that’s always part of what makes us special being Michigan.”

On why he chose Desmond Morgan to wear number 48 and if he laid down any expectations for him…
“It was very easy to choose Desmond because of his character and his integrity, because of how he comes every day in our building, in the classroom, in the community. He is a great kid and really the Grand Rapids connection didn’t have a whole lot to do with it until I felt like I was going to do it with Desmond and then it kind of clicked in.”

On the thought process behind mixing in Thomas Rawls and Justice Hayes with Fitz Toussaint…
“We just wanted to give them both some more carries. I think competition is always healthy for everybody, so getting those guys some time out there [was good]. Vince, we didn’t play at all because he had a little bit of a hamstring [injury] and so that’s where Justice got more reps because of that.”

On whether the running back spot is still Fitz’s job…
“Yes.”

On how confident he was that the defense could win the game when Denard went down with an injury…
“I’d like to tell you I was very confident. I felt good about our guys on defense, and the other piece of it is our kicking game. We had kind of challenged that group, challenged ourselves as coaches that our kicking game had to make improvements and has to continue to. But with that part of it, I was comfortable if that’s the way it would have gone.”

On Denard’s injury…
“Just a boo-boo.”

On how relieved he was that it wasn’t too serious and Denard could go back in…
“Well, anytime any guy gets dinged up and boo-boos and stuff, you always worry about it.”

On whether Denard not throwing an interception for the second straight game is comfort level with the game plan or maturity…
“I think it’s a combination of both. I think he obviously reassessed after Notre Dame a little bit – we all did – where we were. And then I think some [of it was] game plan. We were determined that we were going to run the football and in the passing game, the play-action part of it, the passing part of our offense that he felt most comfortable with.”

On how much he stressed to the players not peeking at Michigan State before the game…
“I didn’t talk about it, because our guys never even mentioned it [or] looked at it. I was really surprised, but I felt really confident about every week for us is a championship game no matter what. So they have to prepare for every opponent like a championship game. There was none of that in the locker room or anywhere else. It was Illinois and how we wanted to play, and how we wanted to prepare.”

On whether today was the jump start that Fitz needed…
“I thought Fitz ran the ball hard. I thought he got more north and south. [Did it] jumpstart him? I hope. But at the same time, I think there were two runs I didn’t really like, but other than that I thought he really started getting vertical a little more.”

On whether Fitz needed a jump start…
“You’ve got to explain jump start. Is that where your battery dies? Well, we didn’t do that with him. But I just think, and I’ve said this before, it’s not always the back. There’s 10 other guys out there. If Denard doesn’t carry out fakes very well, then that’s not going to be effective. I just throw that out as a piece that’s all part of coaching and how you put our offense together.”

On Jake Ryan’s relentless effort of missing the quarterback and not giving up and sacking the quarterback, causing a fumble…
“Greg [Mattison] and the defensive staff do a tremendous job when you talk about effort and the toughness that you need to play football at Michigan with and defense at Michigan with. Number one, the self pride that Jake has and how he is as a football player, it’s more of a Michigan pride and a team pride and a defensive pride. That’s not why he got off the ground and forced the fumble, but that’s part of who he is and who we want to represent.”

Denard Robinson came up just three yards short of 400 total yards against UMass in just over three quarters of work. He passed Tom Brady and Jim Harbaugh on the all-time passing list, and John Navarre on the career total yards list, and tied Chris Perry on the career rushing touchdown list.

Denard talked a lot about being accountable to his teammates (photo by Dave Reginek, Getty Images)

Cliffs Notes:

- The interception was a bad throw
- He could have played better. He missed some throws he should have made
- He doesn’t worry about records; just being accountable to his teammates
- He’s comfortable with Elliott Mealer
- Taylor Lewan was mad about scoring a touchdown
- He just loves to play football, regardless of who it’s against
- He’s watching the Michigan State – Notre Dame game tonight

Full transcript is below.

On what he saw on the pick-six…
“Jeremy Jackson came open. I just threw it behind him and it was a bad throw. It was a good read, just a bad throw. I need to put my feet into it and follow through with the throw.”

On the block by Joe Kerridge on his long touchdown run…
“When you’re on the football team, everybody on the field has to be accountable, even from the scouts and everybody. When Joe gets on the field I know he’s going to be accountable. He just told me about it.”

On whether this was the type of game they needed to have entering the tougher part of the schedule…
“We needed to get a good win and everyday we need to come out and get better. We came out today (and) I feel like we got better, but we still have some things to work on.”

On his performance…
“I left a couple throws out on the field that I knew I should have made. I missed (Jeremy) Gallon on one throw and I missed Devin (Gardner) on another one, so those are throws that I think I need to improve on and try not to leave them on the field.”

On passing Tom Brady and Jim Harbaugh in passing yards…
“To be honest with you, the only thing I think about is winning and just going out there and being accountable to my team. So when it comes to records, it’s just going out there and playing football with the team.”

On the performance of the running backs…
“They ran the ball well and we have to keep doing it. We have to keep getting better every time we get out on the football field.”

On his comfort level with Elliott Mealer after three games…
“I’ve been comfortable with him since the first game. We’ve been working all summer and all winter and all spring, so I feel really comfortable.”

On the importance of no injuries today…
“It’s always good to have healthy guys and always good to have the guys that we count on. If somebody does go down, somebody (else) will be ready to play anyhow. We just have to stay healthy and every time we get a chance, improve.”

On getting Roy Roundtree involved in the game today…
“Oh yeah. Once he got open and I made the right reads and got him the ball, he’s a phenomenal athlete and receiver. I enjoy throwing the ball to him, so when he gets open and I the a chance to throw it to him I know he’s going to make something happen.”

On whether the game plan was to spread the ball around…
“I think whoever comes open, that’s who I throw the ball to. I go through my reads and go through the progression and just look at the defense and see what comes open.”

On the fumble on the goal line and whether Taylor Lewan was happy to get the touchdown…
“Actually he was kind of mad because if I would have kept going outside he would have probably made that block on the guy that hit me. I have to make the right reads and I have to hold onto the ball. That’s first thing’s first – always protect the ball. He just told me we scored and that’s the main thing.”

On still being in the game, up 49-13…
“That was for the team, everybody on the team. We knew we had to come out and play well and Massachusetts was a good team. We knew we had to play well and we have to get better every time we step on the field. So that’s what coach wanted to do.”

On what it is about Notre Dame that brings out the best in him…
“To be honest with you, it’s going out there and playing football. Whenever I get on the football field, I want to play my best and be accountable to my team. So when I get the chance to run the ball or throw the ball, I want to do it to the best of my abilities.”

On Russell Bellomy’s performance…
“He played calm and I enjoyed watching him play calm because even though he had a little pressure on the edge, he tried to step up in the pocket and you could tell that he had confidence. I think he’s going to do pretty well.”

On whether he will watch Michigan State – Notre Dame tonight and whether he can gain anything from watching a game like that on TV…
“Oh yeah. Watching football in general, when you watch the game, you don’t look at it like a regular person anymore. You look at it because you watch and break down film all the time. You watch the plays and you watch how they play. So tonight when I watch the game, I’m going to look at it and see what we can do on them.”

Michigan beat UMass by 50 points this afternoon, improving to 2-1 on the season, but head coach Brady Hoke wasn’t completely pleased with the effort. At least that’s how he portrayed his feelings to the media after the game with the big matchup with Notre Dame a week away.

Hoke wasn't pleased despite winning by 50 (photo by Dave Reginek, Getty Images)

Cliffs Notes:

- The team works hard, but isn’t where it needs to be
- He used his timeouts effectively at the end of the first half (as opposed to last week, which he didn’t say)
- Both Desmond Morgan and Stephen Hopkins should play against Notre Dame
- The offensive line needs to get better push, but he’s not frustrated with them
- Vincent Smith and Drew Dileo’s performances weren’t surprising
- Need to get better on third down defense
- The team needs playmakers to step up other than Denard. He singled out Devin Funchess as an example
- He’s not pleased with the run defense

Read below for the full transcript. Denard Robinson transcript to follow.

On the development of the team through three games…
“I think we’re progressing a little bit in the two areas that are the most concerning. That’s up front defensively and up front offensively. I don’t think we’re anywhere close to where we should be and where we need to be, so we’ll go back to work and keep working it. I like the attitude our team has had and how they’ve come to work. I think for us to meet the expectations we all have we’ve got to get a lot better.”

On the two-minute drill at the end of the first half…
“Once we knew we were getting the ball back we wanted to go, and they did a nice job with it. I’m going to have to go look at it to recite every play to you, but I thought we were good with the timeouts when we took them and what we needed to do.”

On how important it was to stay healthy and whether he had any reservations about playing Denard when up 49-13…
“We wanted to play him another series. This is all about trying to get a mindset of the team and a mentality to win a championship. Keeping the offense together was a big part of that and letting them finish. I don’t know if we got any boo-boos today, but we’ve had one of those years where we’ve had a lot of guys get dinged up.”

On the play of the running backs, especially Fitz Toussaint…
“I think he did okay. I think there’s a couple times I’d like to see him stick his foot in the ground and be more vertical with some stuff.”

On whether Desmond Morgan and Stephen Hopkins will be out for multiple games…
“They should be back next week.”

On what kind of injury Morgan has…
“I don’t know what they classify it as. Sometimes they get dinged.”

On whether this is the type of game they needed…
“We would have taken any win.”

On the offensive line play…
“I don’t think we moved the line of scrimmage as well as we need to.”

On what they have to do to open up holes…
“We better play with better leverage. We better combination block better when we’re doing that, and we better finish.”

On if he would contemplate shaking up the lineup…
“I think we will evaluate like we always do.”

On Vincent Smith’s performance…
“Vince is one of those guys that whenever you call his number he’s going to perform. It’s not surprising. I think when you look at what he’s done for Michigan football and how he comes to work every day, it’s not surprising.”

On whether he’s disappointed at how this team is progressing, and what is his assessment of the team at this point…
“I think we’re getting a feel, but these kids have worked hard, and they’ve worked hard since last January. They have high expectations. It’s our job to be honest and be real and push them to where they can meet those expectations. I told them the same thing I told you: it’s great to win, but if we want to win a Big Ten championship we need to improve a lot in a lot of areas, and they start up front on both sides of the line of scrimmage.”

On how the team can improve in a game like this that isn’t close…
“There’s always a team morale factor and being able to play a lot of guys – a lot of guys who have worked hard, a lot of guys who go down on the look teams. Having the ability to play in this football game in front of 110,000 family and friends, I think that’s great and that’s what you want to happen. The other games are not just for those guys who got that opportunity, but for us as a team, to improve, in the kicking game, on offense, and on defense. Turnovers – we’ve been terrible – terrible – at creating turnovers and if we don’t start creating turnovers we’re going to get beat. We need to give more opportunities to our offense. Running the football and defending the run – I think they were 7-of-17 on third down. We had opportunities to make some stops and we didn’t make them.”

On whether he’s frustrated with the offensive line…
“I’m not frustrated with them. I wasn’t frustrated before with them, because I know how hard they go to work and how much they put into it. But at the same time, we’ve got to do it better. So, frustrated? I’m not frustrated. I like our offensive line. It’s my favorite part of the football team because of the work that they do. I put a lot of pressure on them. We put a lot of pressure on them. Just like we do our defensive line. If you’re going to be good in football, you better be good in your offensive line and your defensive line.”

On the importance of finding a playmaker other than Denard…
“That’s part of it – that’s a big part of it – and that’s why we need to block better in the traditional run plays with the running back. I think there’s some playmakers on the offense – at receiver, at tight end. I think Devin (Funchess) is a guy who is a freshman and he’s still got a lot to learn, but he’s a playmaker and we’ve got to find more. But trying to get your running back to be a playmaker is blockgin at the point of attack.”

On whether he’s pleased with the rush defense, and whether he was able to evaluate it effectively against UMass…
“You know, I think you are, to some degree. They have four senior offensive linemen who are pretty good football players. Mike Cox was a scholarship athlete here at the University of Michigan, and when he has a hole there, he runs it pretty well. But totally, probably not when you get into a powere offensive team.”

Were you pleased?
“No.”

On whether the plan was for Matt Wile to angle his kickoffs…
“Yeah we were trying to, just like everything else, your kicking game, we’ve felt like the first two ball games we didn’t play as well as we needed to. The Alabama game, we had three blocks in the back on kick returns that killed us. Last week, we didn’t think we were consistent enough. Part of that is trying to place the ball on kickoffs. He did the pooch punting because that little pineapple kick – I don’t know what they call it, but that’s what I call it – he does it pretty effectively. But yeah, we were trying to spread the ball a little bit.”

On whether Drew Dileo’s performance was a nice surprise…
“No. Drew is not the biggest cat in the world, but he’s got a heart that’s huge, and he loves the game of football. Every day, Drew comes out and we ask him to do a lot. And he does it well for us, so it’s not surprising.”