Everything Michigan HC Sherrone Moore said during his pre-Purdue press conference

On Rod Moore’s status

Just working through the knee, making sure that it’s 100%. Does some things in practice, does some movement stuff, but it’s not all the way there. I think that one week he had a lot of reps, put some work on it, so we’ll just see how he’s going this week.

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On Cole Sullivan’s health status

We’ll get some more information as we go through the week.

On how Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall differ and whether it’s a thunder and lightning tandem like in 2021

Yeah, I mean a little bit. I think both of them have the ability, as we’ve seen, to have the explosive playability. I think both of them can run you over, make you miss, do that. But I think Justice, we’ve just seen more of the 50-yard runs, 60-yard runs, where Jordan’s only had a couple of them. And Jordan’s really that thumper, that wear you down back, that moves the pile. Where Justice isn’t that as much, but they both have that ability.

So the biggest difference is probably that Jordan’s more of that thumper guy, whereas Justice is the one cut. You know, he can bounce it outside and get that touchdown, or he can one cut and go for 50. But both of them, obviously, super successful in what they’ve been doing.

On what influence he has on the playcalling

I help out, but Chip’s calling the plays. The offensive staff has done an unbelievable job. I thought Coach Newsome really stepped up this week in the game planning and put together some plays and things that we executed at a high level in the game.

So, no, I’m just there to help out and help with things I see. I’m not calling any plays.

On the news of college athletes being able to bet on pro sports and his messaging to the team

I haven’t really spoke much about that to the team. I was so focused and entrenched with Michigan State. I heard the news, saw the news, didn’t really talk about it with them. Probably won’t say much about it this week. I want them to be completely focused on Purdue. Might address it the next week, but I don’t have a strong opinion.

I’m not a gambler, not a bettor, so I can’t say anyway that I have an opinion on it. And it’s a rule that they could do it now. Probably think about what my message will be when I talk to them next week.

On what went in the passing game against MSU

I think it’s two-part. There’s some things in protection and coverage that we just didn’t get synced right. But there were some passes in there that we were super successful on. The one to Andrew Marsh, there’s a couple to Andrew Marsh. Even on the scoring drive in the third quarter, we threw a deep corner route to him. That was wide open.

So it wasn’t necessarily all that. Also, the way the game was going, it became one of those games, you get in a complimentary football game, the defense is playing well and stopping them, and you wanted to get some momentum. And especially in the third quarter, when you hit a 20-yard run, then another 20-yard run, it’s like, it’s hard to throw it there. So at that point, we did what we needed to do to win the game.

On having appreciation for the game Jimmy Rolder had

Yeah, I mean, I think the confidence with him really started in the spring. And it started way back then. It was just all about being healthy. I think for him, it’s the confidence that he has in the system and how he’s practiced, how he’s played, and that affected it. But Coach BJ has done an unbelievable job with that crew. But, you know, watching the film just confirmed what I saw on the field and what he’s done in the past couple weeks. He’s been unbelievable, and he keeps playing at a high level.

On whether there will be changes at punt returner

We’ll see as we go through. It’s always competitive. There’s always competitive battles there. It’s not just him. It’s the return game as a whole. You’ve got to get the blocks.

You’ve got to get the hold-ups. The gunner’s got to do all those. Everything’s got to be aligned and in sync. Then there’s a lot of punts that you’ve just got to fair catch. I think those pieces are part of it. We’ll keep working to get that better.

On the message to Semaj Morgan after fair catching a punt on the five

Yeah, the fair catch at the five. He’s just got to be better there. There’s just communication things when your gunners or your jammers are playing.

He’s got to do a better job communicating with those guys to stay away from the ball.

On Gio El-Hadi’s leadership and his growth

I feel like I’ve known Gio forever. He looks like he’s 35, but he’s only 27 years old. So much growth, so much maturity, and even more so off-the-field maturity than on-the-field maturity, which not everybody sees.

Everybody just sees the football piece. And the off-the-field stuff aligns with the on-the-field stuff. And he’s grown so much as a person, as a player. He just gets better and better. And as a leader, sometimes it’s hard to lead because you’ve got to confront people and you’ve got to demand things. And even when they’re your friends, you’ve got to do that. So I think that’s the piece that he’s grown the most as he’s gone through.

On his assessment of the OL against MSU

Pretty good for 270-something yards rushing. You rush for over 200 yards in a Big Ten game, it’s hard regardless of who you’re playing. I think they played at a high level, and there’s plenty to fix, plenty to get right. But when you have that kind of assert-your-dominance moment in a game, it’s great to see.

On Bryce Underwood performing better at home than on the road

I mean, I think that just really more so of how the games have went. I don’t know if it’s much of a home-away thing. I think it’s more of how the games have gone.

Early on in the season, we played a really good defense in Oklahoma, and I think it’s a good thing that was his first road start. You know, so that’s different than, in Nebraska, he played a really good game. And I think as you grow, as you grow as a player, you just keep getting better and better. So I think that’s just how the game went.

On whether he’d like to see the Notre Dame series return

Yeah, absolutely. Pretty close with Marcus. But, yeah, that’d be great to see. You know, and I know we’re aligned to play. I think it’s not until, like, 20-what? 30? Yeah, 2032 or something. So maybe we can get that a little earlier. But we’ll see.

We’re just really worried about the game we’re about to play. But, yeah, 100 percent, that’s a traditional rivalry that is a staple of college football, for sure.

On going away from the tight ends in the pass game against MSU was planned or a product of the game

Yeah, both. I think the game flow of how it is, it’s not really, you’re saying you’re not going to get it to them. I think there’s always plays to get it to them. And there’s some plays we tried to, and they either got covered or weren’t open. So, we tried to get to Marlin, and both the DBs backed up. Bryce had to throw it out of bounds.

And there’s one that we try to get to him, and he gets tangled up. So not necessarily not trying to get it to him. I think that’s just how the game went.

On what he saw in his redshirt freshmen OL as recruits that made him believe they could contribute early

As recruits, just the talent that they had in high school, how well they played, what type of kids they are, what kind of families they came from. You know, start with Blake. Just was so proud of him. Didn’t know what his emotions would be because he’s known this rivalry for such a long time with his dad playing here. But he played super well, had an edge to him. Almost got a penalty, had to yell at him on the field because he was standing over somebody. But he said he didn’t hear the whistle. I don’t know if I buy that or not. But I like the edge that he has.

Jake Guarnera stepped in and played really solid for the past couple weeks. And trying to replicate Trevor Keegan with the neck roll. Looks good, looks really good.

And then Sprague’s been the starter at right tackle since game one, and he just keeps getting better and better and better. He actually played his best and played the best of the alignment on Saturday. So those guys are playing at a great level.

On Morgan not having results in game where he might be having them in practice

Yeah. You know, I think stuff happens. In practice, he practices at a high level. He practices hard, practices with energy. But we challenge him. We challenge him just like we challenge everybody else.

So there’s constant competition with him. At punt return, there’s constant competition with him at receiver. So we’ll constantly do that to put the best product on the field we can.

On whether he thought about a Hail Mary to end the first half

Yeah, I did. I did. But the way it was going, we just wanted to — we were going to get a couple more plays and see if we can get the ball and see if one broke. And then it didn’t. And then we got to a third down. And I said, if we got the ball to a certain spot, we were going to go do it.

But when that did happen, we decided not to.

On things he can take away from earlier in the season to potentially face two QBs against Purdue

Yeah, absolutely. I think both quarterbacks have their strengths. Brown, the kid that’s been the starter, I don’t know if he got, I think he got banged up and then came back. But he’s got a high ability. He can make throws. He’s actually more athletic than you think. He does a really good job of manipulating the pocket and making plays and getting the ball out to his playmakers.

Hamilton, the other kid, I think number three, you know, more of the quarterback, running guy, but can throw it. So we’ve got to have a plan for both of them. The things that we’ve done in the past to eliminate those things, it’s kind of like playing a combination of the guys we’ve just played in both weeks. So we’ve got to do a good job of disrupting them, making them uncomfortable, and keeping them off rhythm.

On Jordan Marshall doing enough to get more carries moving forward

Yeah, 100%. I mean, Jordan’s, you know, he would go to 95% of the schools in the country and be the starter, if not all of them. So he’s an outstanding running back. He has the ability to make you miss. He has the ability to run you over. He has the ability to, you know, take the big one to the house.

So he’s done everything he can at this point to get carries, and he’ll continue to do that.

On Andrew Marsh returning a punt against MSU

Yeah, just constant competition. You know, he’ll be back there, and they’ll compete this week the same way they did last week.

On whether he’s been part of such a young OL before

The closest one was 21, when those guys that were here until 23 played as sophomores. Some true sophomores, or Keegan was a redshirt sophomore, Zinter was a true sophomore. Karsen played, Trente was playing. So kind of in that mold of those young guys that we had in that group. So, but redshirt freshmen, second-year guys, no. So it’s pretty cool for them to be playing at this high of a level.

On whether Bryce Underwood was bailing on plays too early or whether it’s a protection issue with the OL

Yeah, there’s a mix of it. There’s a mix of both. Everybody’s a culprit on some, whether it be route depth, spacing, alignment. There was an alignment one in the red zone. If he’s on a tighter line, he probably throws the ball on the flat for a touchdown. We take the under, if a guy goes underneath the linebacker. So there’s all those little things that continue to, you know, that showed up. But there was a lot of positives, too. Through the wheel route, he was able to take those shots. So there’s a lot of things to learn from, and we’ll definitely get it fixed.

On Hogan Hansen’s status and whether it’s a different injury or same one he’s dealing with

Yeah, I mean, I think he’ll practice more this week. I think he’ll be ready to go, but we’ll see as we go through the week. It feels like he’s in a good place, though.

Same.

On what he’s liked about the defense the last two weeks

Yeah, one, the tackling. We had the one that got out this week that Coach Wink was upset about. Those two that got out, he was trying to be stingy with it all. And I thought the way we were defending the run overall has been outstanding.

And then the tackling has been really good. I thought we’re doing a much better job of playing blocks on the perimeter. Our corners, our safeties play physical on the perimeter. It’s like linebackers out there. And that was an emphasis in the spring. That was an emphasis in fall camp.

And those guys were doing a really good job of that. And then the depth, the wave of guys that play, the way the guys that play up front, the way the guys that play linebacker in the secondary, there’s so many guys that play in the game and play at a great level for us.

On whether rushing four more consistently has had a tangible effect

Maybe. But I think we’ve rushed — sometimes we rush three, sometimes we rush five. We’ve gotten sacks with five. So it’s just depending on the offense you’re playing.

On why Underwood’s completion depth wasn’t as good this week vs. last week

I think it was because we got into the game in the third quarter, and we had an explosive run of 20 and an explosive run of 25. So that’s just going to happen sometimes. So I don’t think it has anything to do with Bryce’s ability or the receiver’s ability.

Trust them, think they’re really good, and we will be complete and we’re going to go try to win games.

On the impact Max Bredeson has on games

I mean, Max graded out, let me see what he graded out. Pretty, pretty high.

*media question* Are you looking at PFF?

No way. Our grades. I don’t even look at PFF. No, I cannot do that. Max graded out 97% on 39 snaps. Was as winning football as winning football can get.

He’s just off the field, on the field. He’s the prototypical leader, person, student athlete, everything that you want in a football player. If you had 11 Max Brysons, you’d probably go undefeated every year for your whole coaching career because he is everything you want as a football player. Everything. On the field, off the field, as a leader, as a teammate, as a person. The dude is just unbelievable.

And he is as violent as a player as I’ve ever been around. When he runs at you, you know it’s going to be a collision. We’re to the point in the season, in practice, I don’t really let him hit people like that. He only has one speed. So when he practices, you have to ease him down. Jalen Hoffman is just taking all the steps to try to replicate what he’s doing. It’s fun to be around Max. He’s always around the building. Jalen just continues to get better and better. And I’m just proud of him.

On Jyaire Hill’s game and whether the long pass to Nick Marsh was on him

It was a combination of both. He’s got to do a better job rerouting and getting the safety over the top. And that probably wouldn’t happen. But overall, Shug, man, Shug’s playing outstanding for us. He’s playing really good football. He’s covering the best guy usually all the time.

He’s always doing his job. He’s tackling super well, playing physical. So excited about how he’s playing.

On whether he would like to give Derrick Moore the majority of the snaps at EDGE with the way he’s played

Yeah, I mean, we’ll just, I’ll let them, we’ll look at how the rotation goes through the game and the impact times he needs to be in there. But you got to keep him fresh so that he can execute at that level that late in the game. He’s playing at a high level.

I think they’re doing a great job on defense, rotating those guys. But when you’ve got guys like him, you’ve got guys like Jayshawn or Cam Brandt or Dom Nichols or TJ Guy, you’ve got to let them all roll. And we’re doing a really good job of doing that.

But he played at an elite level. That’s two games in a row, two sacks. So just keep playing at a high level.

On his appreciation for the military

My dad, my dad’s retired military. He’s a retired Master Sergeant. My rock, my pops. I love him so much. So appreciative to what he did, but also what everybody in the military and everybody’s done for us.

We wouldn’t be in the safe bearings of Schembechler Hall or anywhere without them and what they’ve done for this country. So just so thankful for them. And yeah, it means a lot to me. You know, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to my family what my dad has done, what everybody else has done.

On whether his dad was strict

Pretty strict, but not too crazy. I only got spanked like twice, three times. And that’s because the punishment was bad. So the one time I got the worst one, we were living in England, and I decided to get in the car. I think it was like five or six or something. And I hit the accelerator, ran the car into the garage door.