[Upchurch/MGoBlog]
Ryan Glasgow and Amara Darboh
Can you talk about how the defensive performance today gave you the opportunity as an offense, particularly, to provide the end result?
AD: “Yeah, from the offensive standpoint, the defense kept getting three and outs and then kept helping us stay in the game. They didn’t let them score all half, so that gave us the opportunity to make a play at the end.”
Talk about the placement on the long touchdown pass.
AD: “Oh yeah, it was perfect. It was one-on-one coverage out there. The safety was in the middle, then I got inside my guy and Wilton put a perfect ball and I just had to run underneath it.”
This was your guys’ first true test of the season; this was the first time you guys played an opponent many people considered a contender in the Big Ten and also nationally. What does this win mean for you personally moving forward? How does your team improve from here?
AD: “I think it says a lot about our team. Wisconsin’s a very tough football team—very good defense, very good offense—and I think us beating this team says a lot about our character. It says a lot about the players on our team, but we need to focus on the games ahead, because this win doesn’t define our season.”
Ryan, it seemed like they were playing to get the ball back to the defense to win it. Was that kind of the message, it was your guys’ time to win the game?
“Regardless of what the offense does, we don’t want any other offense we’re playing to get a yard, get a first down, get a touchdown. So, regardless of what the offense does, we expect to win every game. We had a seven-point lead, which we think that’s enough for us to win a game on defense. Regardless of how many points they score, we feel like should win the game on defense.”
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[/Speight joins the panel]
[Upchurch]
Wilton, perfect time for a big-play game-winner. Describe what you saw there.
“Yeah, presnap Coach Fisch dialed up a good one. We all really love that play, and I think every receiver, Jake Butt. It’s play-action where I can take a shot. I saw single high one-on-one with Darboh and that’s probably the best scenario as a quarterback that I could hear is one-on-one with Amara Darboh. I got back to the top of my drop and saw that he won on his release, and it was still solid coverage so I knew I needed to put it in one spot and one spot only and he made a great play.”
Ryan, going into this game this was supposed to be very physical, what with Wisconsin’s win over Michigan State. Could you walk us through how physical it was and how much the defensive line helped set the tone?
“Yeah, there were some big boys up front. I think they were averaging like 6’6”, 320 or 315. We’re not quite as big up front, but it all comes down to technique and effort on the D-line, and I think we played hard, I think we played fast, and I think we played with great technique. All that credit goes to Coach Mattison. When I looked to my left and look to my right, I’d see guys who’re in the program four or five years and who really wanted this game up front, so we accepted the challenge and I think we did a good job.”
Wilton, can you tell us what you guys call that 11-man, single-line I-formation and where that came from and what it does for you?
“Can’t tell you, it’s a secret. No, that actually—I don’t know where that came from. Maybe Boise State?”
AD: “Yeah. Coach Harubaugh just put it in.”
WS: “Yeah. Coach Jay Harbaugh and head-man Harbaugh and Drevno and Fisch all just kind of came into a meeting earlier this week all with a big smirk on their face, so we knew something was going in that they liked, and it happened to be that play. The bottom line is if you do something like that, you better not mess it up. You better pick up the first down, and we were able to do that.”
What does it do for you to line up like that?
WS: “I’m sure it’s probably pretty confusing for the defense. I don’t know, I never played defense, but if you see 11 or 10 dudes in a line that’d probably throw you off a little bit, make you think.”
RG: “I think that’s fair to say, yes.”
From a defensive perspective, can you talk about how you stopped Corey Clement today, and then the second question for anybody is nine points got left off the board there with the field goal kicking—was that a source of frustration for you guys?
RG: “He’s a good running back. You know, I think we just rallied to the ball. He broke a few tackles. That’s going to happen sometimes, but I think we just rallied to the ball. There was a lot of effort in pursuit to the football. I think that’s the biggest thing. He did break some tackles in the backfield and make some big cuts, but I think overall our pursuit is what helped shut him down.”
WS: “Yeah, the field goals, any time you leave points off the board it’s not the goal, it’s not what you want, but that’s not on the kicker. That’s on me as a quarterback and on the offense to get the ball in the endzone. We had been efficient all year once we got to the red zone being able to score touchdowns. I think we’d been averaging like 49 points a game. So, on a windy day like this, to put that much pressure on the kicker, it’s not fair, so we’ve got to hit the film and figure out how to get six or seven on the board instead of just three.”
Did you feel like you needed a touchdown at the end instead of getting in field goal position?
WS: “I always feel like we need touchdowns. It doesn’t matter what the score is. It doesn’t matter if we’ve got Janikowski kicking field goals, it’s just that we need touchdowns and that’s the bottom line.”
Wilton, how did you guys stay composed despite all the trips inside the fifty where you didn’t score, and then you guys haven’t been on the road yet so what do you anticipate learning about this team as you guys get ready to hit the road?
“Yeah, obviously it’s a bummer when you have that good of field position. Your defense continues to get good field position, but then you get down there and you’re unsuccessful. So we’re going to have to take a long, hard look at this film, figure out what we need to do better to be more efficient, to move the ball down the field, to get the ball in the end zone, and just like every game, learn from our mistakes and build on it.
“As far as the road game, yeah, this is October and we haven’t been on the road yet. We’re excited to get out of Ann Arbor and go take an opponent on in their house. Two years ago we went to Rutgers. It was a hectic crowd. They did like a Black Out and stormed the field. We just need to keep our composure and just play football. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Just play the game.”
Ryan, you’ve got that hockey player smile going on. Did that happen today?
“My tooth?”
Yeah.
“No, the tooth’s been gone since I want to say July 10th or 15th, somewhere around there.”
Talk about Jourdan’s play at the end on the long pass. That’s probably a play you guys see him make quite a bit in practice.
WS: “Yeah, we see him make a lot of plays, but that was on another level, I think. I think he jumped and like floated for five yards and somehow just caught it with one hand. But yeah, that’s a guy that’s going to be playing on Sundays for a long time, so glad that he’s on our team.”
Wilton, you guys knew you had a different challenge today with Wisconsin being so tough physically. Do you feel like even though this was the tightest game and maybe the most mistake-prone game, maybe you guys learned more about how you can handle teams like?
“Yeah, absolutely. If you want to be a great team you’ve got to learn from your mistakes, and we do that. To have so many of them, it’s a lot to learn and a lot to build on. We left a lot of opportunities out there where we could have put the ball in the end zone, could have gotten threes, so yeah, we’re going to hit the film and learn from it. It’s a good feeling to have that type of game and walk away victorious.”
Amara, Ryan said earlier that when the defense has a seven-point lead it feels like that’s enough. Do you have enough faith in the defense when y’all are up that even when things aren’t going well to know they can perform the way they did today?
“Yeah. We have a lot of playmakers on that side of the ball, but just because I have faith doesn’t mean I’m relaxed on the offensive side of the ball. I think even though they were getting stops, we, Wilton and I and the rest of the offensive players, still knew that we needed to score.”
Wilton, I know we’ve talked every week about your progress spinning out of the pocket, but then rather than throwing the ball away it looked like you forced a couple balls today. Is that something you’re paying attention to?
“Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, there was one [where] I took a sack. I needed to just throw the ball out of bounds. But I don’t know, I was just confident in being able to shake off tacklers and extend plays. But when you’re playing a defense like Wisconsin that’s that talented and that fundamentally sound, you’ve just got to learn to live another day and not take the risk. I tried to force a couple balls in there today that probably shouldn’t have been thrown, but that’s just another thing to learn from on film.”
Was it any nerves because of Wisconsin coming in with--
“Actually, no. Today was the most comfortable I’ve felt on an opening drive yet. I felt the ball was coming out well and saw that completion to Jake Butt on my first pass. No, there was no nerves. It was just—our motto’s the next opponent, so we don’t really worry about the name on the jersey.”
Ryan, how different is this defense now that you have Bryan [Mone], Taco, and Jourdan back?
“There’s a lot of leaders on this defense and a lot of playmakers. I think that’s the biggest thing they bring. Taco is an elite pass rusher. Bryan’s one of the strongest kids I’ve ever seen play a double team, do anything on the football field. And Jourdan is Jourdan. You saw the play he made to close out the game. I think it just brings playmaking ability, and people are going to show up in the big games and in the big moments.”