What Jim Harbaugh said after Michigan football beat Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS — There are very few things Michigan football’s head coach has to be disappointed about six games into the 2023 season.
In six tries, the Wolverines have six wins and are bowl eligible. The team’s latest victim is Minnesota, which lost emphatically to the maize and blue, 52-10, on Saturday, on its own home turf.
Following the game, Jim Harbaugh spoke about Will Johnson’s interception, why he believes J.J. McCarthy is the best quarterback in the country, Mason Graham’s impact upon returning from injury, why the Wolverines were in the wrong defense on Minnesota’s sole touchdown and more.
Here is everything he had to say.
On Mason Graham
I think he really missed it, being out there — and club, no club, he’s a great football player. He had a great game tonight, really dominant.
And just about anybody you bring up, I’m gonna say the same thing. So many people played, young guys played. And they’re starting to come into their own it’s really good to see. But you can tell how much the jug means to our team. They played like it tonight.
Congratulating players in a picture, Will Johnson's interception
I just came over to congratulate Will, and then they kind of threw me in the picture. So it was great to be in the picture. Can’t start a game better. Love the pick sixes — two pick sixes. But it was an RPO, Will really had good eyes. Made the catch, finished it off, so did Keon Sabb — great play. Both, they were trying to throw it over Keon’s head on the boundary, went up, climbed the ladder, as they say, get the ball.
Just so great. I mean two pick sixes. We’re going back to 2017 — Tyree Kinnell and Lavert Hill against Cincinnati. Remember that one well. So that was cool, very cool.
And J.J., those would be — a great game by him, too. 70% completion, just in total control out there. Whether it’s the protections, the plays, I mean, he’s just got a great, great command of the offense. And had a couple drops, too, and some of the throws he made were just right on target again. And the way he ran, I thought it was one of his best, best performances. Really playing — great quarterbacking by him. AP type of stuff.
On J.J. McCarthy's physicality, playing on a bum ankle
Yeah, a little bit. But it’s like the young people say — he’s a dawg. D-A-W-G — disciplined athlete with grit, put an acronym into it.
I thought he really — that’s what really jumped out of my mind. Watching him play, he’s in total control when he’s making those kinds of plays. It looked kind of wild like he just doesn’t care. Like he’s just got no conscience. But he’s really in total control. The athleticism that it takes to do that is off the charts. It really is. But he’s — it’s great.
I know a lot of people, there’s a lot of great quarterbacks around the country and hear people talk about how this is the maybe — that it’s one of the best quarterback drafts ever, sometimes they say that in September, early October. But I know there are, there’s there’s a lot of really good ones. I mean, nobody we’d rather have than J.J. McCarthy. I haven’t watched all the guys, kind of starting to watch some of the others. But you know, play for play, J.J. McCarthy — maybe I’m a little biased, but I don’t think so. I’m trying not to be, but I think he’s the best one, I really do. Certainly no one we’d rather have. Just so good, so proud of him.
And everybody else, too — great game. We really played well. We had one penalty, a holding penalty. It looked like a pretty good block. So I love grit, just good. I mean, it’s grateful, grateful for the way that guys go about their business. And it’s really happening during the week of practice, too. I talk to you before about it. But I mean, the way they practice is incredible. These games you can just feel them getting won. It’s half the battle to have a great Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday practice, and you still got to play the game. But just the sharpness, and you feel — it’s early in the week, it gets polished. It’s at a really high level to start with, and by the end of the week, and these guys are dialed in, they’re sharp. They’re ready to go and ready to play.
Jesse Minter in the second half
Yeah, it speaks for itself, right? That we have not had any points scored against us in the third quarter. He’s really good. Made it a point today to have time to go spend time over there and watch him do that. And it was really good.
They were hurting us on a wide zone. And (Jesse) moved our end down into a six-technique — that really helped. Start really resetting the edge, good not getting upfield and giving up that C-gap. Great adjustment, I think, just really pretty obvious, it speaks for itself that he can make those adjustments and we play so well, in the second, third quarter and the fourth quarter.
On Blake Corum's long run
Yeah, just watching a lot of games, I mean, there’s a — everybody’s made the run game more of an emphasis, You can even see it in the pro game, the attention to the run game, defending the run. Teams are defending the run better, their teams are running the ball better. Not just college football, either, but there’s probably not going to be — getting 50-yard-plus runs, as many as we had last year, that’s an anomaly in football. And, you start to think that’s the expectation. It’s not in real football. And I think Blake’s adjusted to that. Donovan, too — like, it’ll happen when it happens. They’re great running backs. And now Kalel, I put him in that category that it’ll be there, just take the ground that’s yours. And then, you’ll see it when the big one presents itself.
And I think that mindsets really, really helping with our backs and just keep going, it’s good, and they’re great backs. So take the ground they give you and then — I mean, they came out of the crib knowing how to — they’ve been good. They’ve been great in high school, they’ve been great in college, they’ll be great pros, too. They’re great backs, I really believe they come out of the crib, they crawl out of the crib a different way, earlier than others, other babies. And they just know that they have the vision. They have the balance. They have the strength and the vision to know when that big one’s there. But hey, it was great to get one. It’s really great to get one.
Having J.J. take the ball instead of handing it off in the red zone
Just because it’s such a weapon. Even last week, J.J. didn’t run as many but just him carrying out the fake created a touchdown for Kalel Mullings — they just work hand in hand. And, we’re not like expecting J.J. — a couple of those that he pulled today, it probably would have been better — I mean, I thought when it happened, give it. Defenders had the angle on it, but he’s fast.
I don’t know if you know this, but he, I think when he actually gets put on the clock, he runs somewhere in the four-fours, which is easy, no-brainer, man. I think he can, without stretching, go out, run a five-five — a four-five, four-five — I stand corrected there. When he starts, he’s fast. I mean, he ran some angles today. And it’s good — playmaker. I mean, probably his best attribute. There’s other really good ones. He’s really smart. Talked about how he’s in control of the entire offense and the protections, the mental side of the game, really accurate thrower, can make every throw to every part of the field, super athletic. I mean, he’s a great runner and of all those great qualities, His best quality is he’s a playmaker.
On the defense with Mason Graham in the lineup
He’s one of the really great players, right? Kris Jenkins is a great player. I mean, the block destruction, the way he plays. Kenneth Grant is a great player. And so is Mason Graham. Now you got three great players. Cam Goode is really coming on, too. And Rayshaun Benny — it’s great. And then there’s when they play and rotate in and play together. It just makes the whole unit, that interior defensive line play better. They’re all really good.
And then need to see — Cam Brandt had a really good game, if you noticed. And so Trey Pierce — did a lot of good things. So nice to see those two young guys get in there and play so well. Mike Elston does a great job, a tremendous job coaching, the technique, the things that he’s brought. We just keep getting better and better on the defensive front with his coaching,
How do the players stay motivated?
I think the thing that’s most driving them is just their parents, what the parents already poured into them. Their mom, dad and God, you know? But yeah, if you know Jim and Megan McCarthy — I do. I know what they poured into him, Mason Graham’s parents poured into him, James Corum poured into Blake. And every single guy, I think first and foremost, it’s just that they did the hard work. There’s gratitude, there’s humility, and there’s positivity, encouragement. They’ve been they’ve been esteemed, you know? All in a good way.
It’s a fabulous group of parents. I mean, it was even a couple was the years before last I gave the Ford award to the parents. I mean, it’s a special group. Just how much how much they poured it into our players makes it a walk in the park for a coach. I had the point that the No. 1 — the drive. They had drive, it wasn’t because of — maybe some other things along the way. But first and foremost, I would say it’s those families and what they poured into those kids.
On Minnesota's touchdown
No, we weren’t in the right defense really. Their field goal kicker could have made it from that distance and if we let them take a shot to the end zone. We really should have been in a double cloud, thepree-de. But, at least a three-deep and a five-under would have been preferred. So yeah, that really wasn’t on the players there.
