Everything acting HC Biff Poggi said after Michigan's win over Central Michigan

On the decision to wear sleeves today

Well, my friend Warde Manuel said, congratulations, but you’re wearing sleeves. No shorts and a cap. So, that’s what went into it.

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On Jaishawn Barham getting snaps at EDGE

I thought he set the tone early. Wink had a really good plan. We’re going to move him around more, so you have to account for him. He is a very, very explosive player. I thought he set the tone early and kept going for us.

On Justice Haynes’ consistency

Yeah, he rushed for over 100 again. Coming into the game, he was the fourth leading rusher in the nation. He’s very dangerous. I think he got a 70 called back or something like that. He’s developing, and he’s a dynamic back. We have a bunch of dynamic backs.

On whether Bryce Underwood using his legs was by design

Sherrone really wanted to open things up with him a little bit when he felt it was the right time to do so. He’s young, and you want to kind of scale him into it. Chip Lindsey really took that mandate and I think did a great job. Bryce is just, you know, so it was a plan to get him using his legs a little more. But, I mean, I have a Labrador retriever that could coach that guy. I mean, he’s unbelievable.

On the difference it made to have Underwood use his legs more today

I think it’s critical because what he does is he does not, when a quarterback can extend a play, you know, you’re a defense, you play two plays really well, and you think you’re getting off the field, and this kid extends the play with his legs. Those things are heartbreaking for defenses. I mean, it takes a lot out of you and it breaks your spirit a little bit. And he’s, boy, he’s gifted. I mean, y’all saw that, but he is so gifted. I’m glad we got him.

On Semaj Morgan’s day on offense

Yeah, Samaj is a very valuable player. He obviously plays on special teams and he’s an electrifying player on offense. He’s a guy, a lot of those catches, some of them were longer, but he’ll take a swing pass and turn it into 8, 10, 12 yards. You have to account for him when he’s in the slot, and that’s sometimes hard to do. So I thought he played really well.

On Underwood’s running ability opening up lanes for the running backs

Well, I think today, if you look at today, we didn’t start out the game rushing the football with great dominance. And when he started using his legs, some of them, some design runs that Coach Moore really felt strongly about, that kind of got him off to a good start running the football and then of course the scrambles and the broken plays. How do you defend against that? You can’t stop it all, right? You have to pick your poison, and with a kid like this, you come into this game and you say, well, what we’re going to have to stop is we’re going to stop him throwing. And then he winds up, what did he have, Dave, rushing? 114, rushing. And then it just kind of puts your game plan a little bit in the wastepaper basket. So it was very important.

On whether tackling was emphasized this week and what he saw from the team

Was tackling emphasized? Yeah, it, yes, we tackle every day. This week, this past week, coming up to this game, those tackling circuits were extended a few periods. And I thought we tackled really well today. Good football teams tackle well, generally, and in space. So it was a lot of work by Wink and his guys getting that done.

On the shake up with the offensive line due to injury

Yeah, Sherrone spent all individual this week with the offensive line. I mean, he was the best offensive line coach in the country for two years. He won the back-to-back Moore Award and, in my opinion, the best coordinator, too. So he got over there and kind of started looking at things. And I think that will continue when he gets back. I think it’s really important for our football team. We played, I think, all of our offensive linemen. And there was not an instance in the game, which is rare, where our second and third units were not knocking people off the ball. And I think that’s really impressive. And they’re very young. This is a really young football team. Highly talented and very young. And I want to say this. You know, what an odd day. Because today, this day was actually heartbreaking for me. Because I have children that are Sherrone’s age. And we were texting last night. Just about how much he loves me, and I love him. And it was a really hard week in our building, a really hard and emotional week. I think what people that care realize that football is a game about relationships. And his players love him like you wouldn’t believe. And what I would say today was you saw a love letter from 120 young men to their football coach today. And I think that’s outstanding.

On the motivation to win for Sherrone Moore

It was everything. He said I don’t want you playing for me. I want you playing for yourselves and I don’t want you playing for the coaches and for Michigan. As soon as he walked out of the door, I said, we love him. We all work for him. But we’re not listening to that. And so they were locked in for him. And it was a very — at dinner last night, it was a very tearful moment because the players brought him up and gave the break, had him give the break. At that point, he left and he was a wreck. But so was everybody else in there.

On the challenge of him stepping into the acting head coach role

Well, as I say, emotionally, I love this guy, and so it’s hard. It really is hard. But I love Michigan too. Sherrone said to me, he sent me this text, I don’t know, about 7 o’clock last night, he said you’re who I want to do it. I know you’ll love our boys to the core. That was the text. So when somebody trusts you like that, and, I got to say, Warde trusted me with this. I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful. But, this was all about Sherrone Moore, and it’s going to stay all about Sherron Moore.

On Barham’s status after the game

On Jaishawn? The update? He might be a superhero. We’re doing a DNA swab right now. But he could be. That’s the update. He’s fine.

On whether the offensive performance is the textbook example of what the identity should be

Yes. It’s an explosive offense. It’s designed to be an explosive offense. It’s designed to be an up-tempo offense. And it is. You don’t know where the football is coming from. You can get reverses. You can get any different kind of short throws or long runs. There’s a multitude of runs from gaps schemes to zones, inside and outside zones. There’s a robust screen game, which you didn’t really see today. So it is a very hard offense to stop. And I understand what the next question is going to be. We thought at Oklahoma we would take the air out of the ball because they’re an air raid offense. And we’re not taking the air out of the ball ever again. Not with this guy and taking snaps.

On the difference in preparation this week and what next week will look like

Well, it’s going to be a lot different, right? And I’m going to try to do everything as I think he would do it because the players are used to that. And I will say this to you, I’ve been around a lot of coaches, a lot of really good coaches. Sherrone, he’s a young superstar. He’s a superstar.