Everything Sherrone Moore said after Michigan's 24-13 loss to Oklahoma

On the offensive shortcomings

I think just that, we had an explosive run. We had a couple runs early. The running game really was just okay, and we didn’t get the rhythm we needed to. We didn’t get the quarterbacking rhythm we needed to, and that’s everybody. That’s not just one person, that’s just not the calls, it’s the execution. So we just gotta be better.

[Sign up for Maize & Blue Review for $1 and get PLUS access for 7 days!]

On John Mateer’s game

I think he did a good job, and obviously the coordinator and him have been together for a long time. So they have that relationship, but he did a really good job. He’s a tough kid, and we saw that on film. We knew he was a really good player. Said it earlier in the week, something we had to stop. And he just did a really good job, and made some plays, and made a lot of our guys miss, and made plays after the ball was snapped outside the pocket.

On the lessons learned from the loss

I mean, I think for us, we’ll watch it on the film, right, and really gauge and see what we need to get better at. I thought on defense, the adjustments in the second half were really good. We got tackled better on defense. I thought there were some missed tackles that we made. And then offensively, just the overall execution. When you play offensive football, one person misses, one person misses here. You have an un-executed play, so we gotta do better at that.

On Bryce Underwood’s first road start

As far as handling the crowd noise and the atmosphere and all that, he handled it fine. It was just the execution. And that’s everybody, it’s not just him. And I think everybody put the pressure on, put it on him. But we all gotta do our jobs, and that’s O-line, that’s receivers, that’s running backs, whoever it is in those situations to make it easier for him.

On the miscommunication issues

Yeah, I think it was just a miscommunication of reading the wrong number or seeing the wrong thing, and we got it fixed and handled.

On the sideline exchange between Underwood and Justice Haynes

Yeah, I mean, right after that happened, they talked it over and they were fine. It’s competitive, they’re competitors. They just both wanna be right. They both wanna be on the same page, and handle it right, and they’re in a good place.

On his homecoming and how it felt to him

I mean, like I said, it was a big-time game between two big-time programs. It wasn’t me versus Brent or me coming back to Oklahoma. It was really about the players, all right? It always is about the players, always will be about the players, never gonna be about me and my experience or anything. So it’s about us getting better right now as a program, and that’s what it’s about.

On Gio El-Hadi’s status

Yeah, I don’t know exactly what it is right now.

On the offensive line and the run game

Yeah, I thought we got some good rhythm, there’s some holes. Obviously, we had the big run, but just gotta keep being consistent in those things. And whatever that is, however we need to do that, we will. We will fix it and just continue to get better at it. What’s your plan for the next couple of weeks?

On the plans for interim coach during his suspension

Yeah, we’ll get to that. We’ll get to that. Right now, just like I said, I’m gonna take it right now and fix the things we gotta fix here, and then we’ll get to that.

On Zeke Berry’s status

Yeah, I mean, he came back out and he was jogging around and moving. So I think we’ll see exactly what the trainers say and what the doctors say about him.

On the issue between Underwood and Haynes

Just the communication, the air, and they just both wanna be right. They’re both competitors, they both wanna be right. And at the end of the day, they figured it out and we gotta handle it.

On Oklahoma’s defensive gameplan

I thought Brent did a really good job with just the looks and the things that they did. It wasn’t that there was a whole bunch of just like tackles for loss and things like that. It was more just getting sputtered in certain spots and just had to create a little bit more rhythm. And they just did a good job defensively. They’ve got guys that have played on that defense and understand the defense. So we just gotta do a better job of combating that.

On whether the crowd played a factor during the game

I mean, I think being away is always a factor, but I thought our guys did a good job. I don’t know if we had any pre-snap penalties, things like that. So we handled the noise well, but obviously, the atmosphere is the atmosphere. And being somewhere different is different. So I thought the kids handled the atmosphere and the noise well. We just have to execute.

On how he prepared for his upcoming suspension

Yeah, I mean, we’re focused on these games, and I’ll handle that as we go through the week.

On how he handles not being with the team for two weeks after the loss

Yeah, I mean, this week I’ll be able to be with them, but it’s hard. It’s something you don’t ever wanna do, but we’ll handle it as a full staff and a full unit. We’ll stay together as an organization and get better from it.

On not converting third downs was a matter of not getting on schedule

Yeah, I mean, when you get behind, you make second and long, third and long, third and long is just harder to convert. And when you’re in those situations, it’s harder to throw down to really convert to get to that first down. So that was part of it, and then just a couple different looks. But again, it’s all comes down to execution.

On what is happening in the run game to find consistency

Yeah, I mean, in the run game, it’s all about connectivity. It’s all about everybody doing their job at that point and straining. And we’ll see on the film today, that was game two. So we’ll see it in film, exactly what happened to make it. You look back at the last week’s game, we actually had more rushing yards than even when I was the all-in coach in a game one. So that was an improvement. But we just gotta continue to be more connected on each play. Because you play five as one or six or seven as one in the run game, and everybody’s gotta do their job.

On what he thought was missing finding Underwood’s rhythm

Yeah, I mean, again, those are things we’ll have to look back on. There’s always different pieces to it, right? It’s route running, it’s spacing, it’s whether you drop a pass, whether you’re looking at the wrong thing. So we’ll take a deep dive look and see how we can get better from it.

On not having Marlin Klein available impacting the gameplan

Yeah, it changed it, but next man up mentality, we have to have that. Cuz you’re gonna have a long season and guys are gonna be in and out, and you gotta be ready to adjust. And so, obviously, Marlin’s a really good player for us, and you don’t want anybody in your team out. But when that happens, the next man up has to go execute.

On what was said during halftime to come out strong offensively

I mean, we brought him in. We just said, if you think the game is over right now, then I think you shouldn’t be in the locker room. And the guys really responded at that point, we didn’t finish. But I thought they fought their tails off for four quarters. We just gotta be cleaner and execute better.