Dennis Norfleet, Frank Clark, Jack Miller
Frank, obviously that wasn’t what your defense wanted [with] the third down struggles, the passing yards and stuff. What do you identify as the single biggest reason for all that?
FC:“Just poor execution. As a defense one thing you’ve got to do and you take pride in is stopping the run first and foremost, and then getting off the field on third down and that’s something that we failed to do this past Saturday. All we can do from this point on is continue to progress and get better as far as those situations, those third-and-longs, third-and-shorts even and come out next week- this week, actually, and make a difference.”
One of those was yours before the half. Can you take us through that?
FC: “Just failed execution. It was a pretty obvious play. I should have made the play, but that play is over with and I move forward from it. I think I’ve beat myself up enough over it. Like I said, that’s just one of those plays I should have made. I tell myself all the time- I’d say 99% of the time I would have made that play. That was that 1% that I didn’t.”
Jack, you guys talk about blocking things out and not hearing the outside, but what would it mean to the guys on this team to have a crowd that is pretty packed and whipped up for a night game here?
JM: “It’d be awesome, and that’s what we’re hoping happens. There’s no place like the Big House when it gets rocking, and we’re really looking forward to coming home for the first night game in the Big Ten here and all that stuff and having a fun night. So we’re looking forward to the support from the fans and the students and hopefully they can give us an extra edge to get a W out there.”
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Jack, Derrick was running really nice in that game. I think he was over six yards a carry. How disappointing is it to see that he’s not going to be able to play for you guys?
JM: “Yeah, it is. It’s disappointing. Whenever anyone’s season gets cut short it’s obviously a bummer. We have to look forward, and guys like DeVeon and Drake have done a great job, and Justice- Justice has been great for us especially in pass protection and those types of things, and Drake’s going to get his shot now so we’re confident in those guys and they understand what it’s about and I’m sure they’ll step up and be ready to go.”
Dennis, you’re one of the leaders on this team. What have you noticed from Devin since he got sat down? Have you noticed a change in Devin and how he handles himself, or is he the same Devin at this point?
DN: “Devin is fine. He came to a part in his life where he stepped back and seen how everything goes, and that made him a better person, that game. As long as he’s got us behind him he felt that everything was alright. That’s why he had a great game on Saturday.”
You guys are behind him?
DN: “Yes, sir.”
When you say “that game…” was it the one he was benched or the one on Saturday?
DN: “The one he was benched.”
Dennis, you’re close to eclipsing Stevie Breaston for the most return yards, kickoff return yards. Is he someone you watched play when you were watching games, or have you ever seen him on film and what will that mean to you to get that [record]?
DN: “To be honest with you, I didn’t really think about it that way. I really wasn’t not even worried about my return record right now. I’m just worrying about the team, and trying to get a W is the only thing on my mind and that’s on our mind right now. Returning, yeah I’m doing well but the team has fallen and we need to pick it up. That’s the only thing I’m worried about.”
You always want to break a long one, and that’s something that we can see you itching to do. Talk about what it’s going to take to break one.
DN: “Well, for one, it don’t start with me. It starts with with the blocking in front of me, so I depend on the guys that block and I respect them a lot because who wants to just go out there and block for somebody and watch them run? I take my hat off to my teammates, the guys blocking in front of me and I do my job.”
Jack, you talked about the guys who have to step up at running back. We haven’t seen a lot of Drake. He hasn’t gotten a lot of playing time. What kind of player is he? What have you seen from him behind the scenes?
JM: “I think he’s really, really capable. Drake had an awesome spring ball and he was getting in there and getting a lot of reps. I think he’s got great vision. He’s really quick. He kind of brings a different style of play, I think, than Derrick and DeVeon do so that will be interesting to see if he can kind of mix and match a little bit of differing styles out there. It’ll be interesting to see. Like I said, his number’s getting called on and I’m confident he’ll be ready.”
Jack, can you talk a little- did you feel that the offensive line made some progress on Saturday? I think this is the third offensive line combination. Do you think this one is settling in as the five?
JM: “I don’t know who the five will be at the end of the season [or] who it will be next week. I don’t know about that. I do think the offensive line’s making strides. I think even though we fell short of a win you could tell we were committed to running the ball and there was a certain passion that we had during that game that come hell or high water we were going to impose our will, and I think we did that especially as the game wore on. It’s a misleading thing. In five out of six games we’ve average over four yards a carry. So there’s been some bright spots there. As far as blitzes and stuff like that go, when you bring eight guys and you only have seven to protect you’ve got to get the ball out, you’ve got to run the right route, you’ve got to be on your game from every position when it comes to that. So we are making strides. There’s a lot of good things going on. If we continue to build on that I think the offensive line’s going to be where we want it to be.”
You said you guys came with a different approach. Was there something that triggered this going into this game?
JM: “Yeah. We’re pissed off. Everyone is. And we just said, ‘Let’s just go out there and do what we know we can do,’ which is play more physical and pound the ball and that’s what we did.”
Dennis, with Derrick’s injury how does that change- does that put any more emphasis on you or the passing game or other guys on the offense to kind of step up and replace his production?
DN: “It affects us because it always hurts to see one of our teammates down, but everybody’s playing with a chip on their shoulder. If your number’s called be ready. We’re going in to the next game with our heads held high. Just focus as a team and try to get a W, and right now our brother’s down and we need to pick him up.”
Is there a feeling with another injury like that after the things you guys have been going through the past few weeks like, ‘Boy, the hits keep coming’ and how do you get past that?
DN: “You’re going to get beat up. That’s the game. You’ve got to learn to play though pain, but at the end of the day if you’re hurt, you’re hurt. You can’t go out there and you can barely move. Right now we’re just going to pick it up where we left off and keep trying.”
Dennis, you had a play where they were pinned deep, punted, it looked like you wanted to catch it and then it hit and bounced quite a ways. Can you talk about how difficult it is when you’re the guy back there to decide between ‘Do I go for it and catch it’ [or] ‘Do I let it bounce’ [or] ‘Do I fair catch it’?
DN: “Being a punt returner, you just have to feel comfortable. I didn’t quite feel comfortable how it came down. It was a knuckleball. It was good block protection and everything else but at the same time you don’t want to bobble the ball and have it go backwards. I just didn’t feel comfortable catching it the way it was coming down so I let it bounce, and coach told me it was a great call so that’s what it is.”
Frank, can you talk about Christian Hackenberg, Penn State quarterback? He’s accomplished, can do a lot of things. What makes him tough to defend?
FC: “What makes it so tough is how tough he is. He’s a very good- last year playing against him I know that I had never played against a freshman like that. He came in the game- I believe that whole game we got a lot of pressure on him. He had turnovers but the kid kept fighting, and that’s something you want to see out of a football player and that’s something I’m sure we’ll see this weekend. But he’s a great player. Has a great arm. He knows how to put the ball on the spot, and he looks to not make many mistakes as far as passing the ball. And he controls his offense even though he’s very young”
Dennis, you had a long catch, I think it was 20 yards, right in front of the Rutgers sideline but it looked like you had to come back a little bit to make a play on the ball. Has it been emphasized with the wide receivers in the offense to help the quarterback out a little bit, to kind of get to the football wherever it is and make yourselves open a little bit?
DN: “Yeah, we talk about it all the time. If the ball is in our area it’s a catch[abe] ball and we have to make our quarterback when he throws it know we’re going to go get it no matter where it is in our area. And the big thing about it is make your quarterback feel comfortable when he puts it in the air. Let him know you’re going to come down with it, so that’s what I try to do [and] that’s what the whole receiver crew tries to do as we go on.”
You guys are coming off a difficult week. It’s been a difficult season. Do you hear things like a fan saying, ‘Let’s boycott this game’ and what do you say to fans who are jumping ship?
JM: “I would say that I understand their frustration and I share it. We have just as high of expectations for ourselves as any fan or any critic does. I think to boycott a game or something like that I don’t think I would necessarily agree with because at the end of the day, whether people like to hear it or not, things are more important than wins and losses and this experience and what that atmosphere could be like Saturday night is something special for everyone involved. So to represent the university, to represent Ann Arbor and what a special thing that can be; for that to go to waste would be disappointing, I think.”
FC: “Like Jack said, we understand their frustration. No one likes losing, whether in life or in our case on the field. But then again, we love the fan support. The critics are going to be critics no matter what you do, no matter what sport you’re in. No matter what you’re doing there’s always going to be critics. And that’s fine; we welcome it. But at the end of the day we have to get this back on the road. That’s our job. We see it, we hear it, but it doesn’t really affect us. We’ve developed a strong bond within our team and everyone understands what we have to do to change the perspective of what a lot of people think about us.”
DN: “Right now the team has just had a reality check. Either we’re going to go out there and play and worry about what people think and we’re going to lose, or we’re going to go out there with a chip on our shoulder not caring what people say and win. That’s how we played Saturday. We just fell short. But as far as our fan standpoint, we always need our fans. That’s what makes college football football. That’s what makes us come out and makes us have energy. When I have energy it’s because of the fans, and right now we need them behind us just as much as we need our team behind us too.”