Sherrone Moore took the podium Monday in his trademark blue-collar jacket, confident in his team's chances to win The Game.
In a press conference to start game week, the Michigan head coach discussed quarterback Bryce Underwood's preparation for The Game, called for the Big House to be “the loudest place it's been” and shared what he's done to beat Ohio State today.
When asked about Ohio State's offense, Moore called the Buckeyes “the best team in the country” with talent littered across the field.
"The receivers are elite. Four, Jeremiah (Smith) is elite. Carnell Tate is elite. They got Brandon Inniss, he’s elite. The tight end, Max Klare, is a really good player as well. The quarterback is elite," Moore said. "They’ve got elite players everywhere on the field from a skill position standpoint. Running back is really good, O-line is good. It’s a challenge I know our defense is ready to take on.”
Moore also discussed what makes Michigan tough. That toughness will come in handy when the Wolverines face an Ohio State defense, which ranks No. 1 in the nation in yards and points allowed per game.
“The way this place is built. What Michigan is all about. The intensity, the intentionality of how we practice, how we prepare, that’s what we want. We want it like that," Moore said. "We want that physical battle. We want the toughness. We want the violence. That’s what we want. It fits us. But they’re playing really well. They’re playing physical as well, so we’ve got to match it and they’ve got to match us.”
Here's a recap of Moore's press conference, complete with full quotes:
On Bryce Underwood making his first start in the rivalry
“He’s well-educated on the rivalry. He knows everything about it. He’s seen it from afar, and we’ve talked about this game for a very long time — whether it be spring ball, whether it be training camp, whether it be the summer. Everybody knows what this game is all about. They all understand it. It will be about going through the routine and just doing the things that he’s done to this point to get him prepared for the game.”
On what Michigan Stadium’s environment should be like
“Be the most ravenous, craziest, energetic environment that we’ve had in Michigan Stadium ever. That’s what we want it to be. The loudest place it’s ever been. I don’t know what the decibels have been or what they could be, but we need them to reach peak on Saturday.”
“Be the most ravenous, craziest, energetic environment that we’ve had in Michigan Stadium ever. That’s what we want it to be. The loudest place it’s ever been.”– Sherrone Moore on the environment in the Big House
On what he’s done “to beat Ohio State today”
“A lot. Woke up, worked out, prayed, watched a lot of film, met with our coaches, met with our staff, already met with our players, anything possible, and just tried to be in the same routine that we’ve done and create the edge that we need to win the game.”
On whether Michigan has a mental edge over Ohio State
“I mean, I just think we’re gonna go prepare for the game. I don’t know what really outside the building — none of that really matters. What people think, what people say doesn’t matter. What matters is how we prepare, how we get ready for this game mentally, and that’s it. I don’t know about the mental edge piece. I just know that we’re gonna go prepare to win the game.”
On how Michigan flipped the rivalry
“Our players playing really well in those games. Executing in those games has been a huge piece. We’ve had good game plans where our players have played their best games in those games, and that’s ultimately been the difference.”
“It’s potent, man. It’s one of the best in the country — obviously, the best team in the country ... They’ve got elite players everywhere on the field from a skill position standpoint.”– Sherrone Moore on Ohio State's offense
On Ohio State’s offense
“It’s potent, man. It’s one of the best in the country — obviously, the best team in the country. The receivers are elite. Four, Jeremiah (Smith) is elite. Carnell Tate is elite. They got Brandon Inniss, he’s elite. The tight end, Max Klare, is a really good player as well. The quarterback is elite. They’ve got elite players everywhere on the field from a skill position standpoint. Running back is really good, O-line is good. It’s a challenge I know our defense is ready to take on.”
On whether Ohio State’s national championship after losing The Game made the rivalry less meaningful
“Yeah, I don't think anything changes the intensity. Ths is as intense a rivalry you'll see in sports. So I don't think the outcome, regardless win or lose, is not going to change it.
It's a new year every year. It's a new game. So I don't think that's going to change the intensity.”
On what makes Michigan tough
“The way this place is built. What Michigan is all about. The intensity, the intentionality of how we practice, how we prepare, that’s what we want. We want it like that. We want that physical battle. We want the toughness. We want the violence. That’s what we want. It fits us. But they’re playing really well. They’re playing physical as well, so we’ve got to match it and they’ve got to match us.”
On the rivalry
“This one is different. You can’t describe it. Literally, I could try to describe you the feeling of exactly what it feels like. ‘Oh, it feels like this, it feels like this.’ I can’t. Like, I remember last year, going on the field with Jaishawn (Barham), and we’re running out during warmups, and he’s like, ‘Oh, this is different.’ And Jaishawn don’t say much, so for him to say that… It’s a feeling that you can’t describe. It’s an intensity. It’s just an aura about it that you can’t describe until you get on the field, but it’s awesome to be a part of. It’s great to be a part of this. It’s the best rivalry in sports, in my opinion. It’s the funnest one to be a part of. It’s competitive. There’s nothing like it.”
“It’s a feeling that you can’t describe. It’s an intensity. It’s just an aura about it that you can’t describe until you get on the field, but it’s awesome to be a part of. It’s great to be a part of this. It’s the best rivalry in sports.”– Sherrone Moore on The Rivalry
On Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs
“Reese and Downs are excellent players. Arvell is as elite as an edge rusher, as an edge player as we've seen all year, and Caleb Downs is probably one of the smartest football players in college football. Just from seeing a lot of football, played a lot of football, and both those players are elite players that we've got to deal with.”
On how Michigan educates new players on the rivalry
“Yeah, I mean, we try to educate them throughout the year of what this game is all about. Training camp, I had speakers come and talk about it. We'll talk about it throughout the week, throughout the building, they see it every day. They see it even more now. But I don't think there's really a way to just take away that initial feeling that you're going to get when you walk out on the field. And you kind of don't want them to take that away. You want them to feel that intensity, that burn. That's that little extra motivation. It's like putting on that favorite song on your AirPods right before the game. So you want them to have that feeling a little bit, that little jolt right before the game.”
On Michigan’s second-half dominance vs. Ohio State in recent years
“The game plans are great, but we always talk about the how not the what, and the players have just executed. And they're unbreakable. Especially in that game, they want to be unbreakable. They want to do everything they can to go win that game. But, again, this is a new game, new year. So we've got to reset the clock and try to do that again.”
On whether last year’s postgame flag plant has any bearing on this year’s game
“No, we talked about that at the beginning of the year. We've been pretty good about any postgame interactions of when we win a game or when you end a game, we're going to go to our student section, go to our band and shake hands, cordial ending, and be done with it. And that's it. So our guys have been good about that, and we'll continue to do that.”
On Matt Patricia’s Ohio State defense
“I think, one, those guys play together. They play really good together. There's so many different coverages, front variation, blitz variation, and it's game by game. There's a story in each game of how he calls the game. It's not just this game, he's doing this; it's not just by formation, it's not just by personnel, it's by game. So we’ve got to do a good job of identifying that early in the game and figuring out how to play that through all four quarters, and I think it changes as you go half to half.”
“those guys play together. They play really good together. There's so many different coverages, front variation, blitz variation, and it's game by game. There's a story in each game of how he calls the game. It's not just this game, he's doing this; it's not just by formation, it's not just by personnel, it's by game.”– Sherrone Moore On Matt Patricia’s defense
On injured players Max Bredeson, Ernest Hausmann and Semaj Morgan
“Yeah, Max, X-rays, we'll see. Didn't look great, but if anybody can push through it, it's Max Bredeson. So we'll know more as we go through the week. Semaj will be fine, and Ernest will be day-to-day.” (Moore also said safety Rod Moore is out for the rest of the season.)
On playing this game with a College Football Playoff berth on the line
“I think that's something you talk about, something guys know, they acknowledge, they understand the importance of this game, that it's different than last year. You're playing for something big, and that's what you want. We always talk about ‘They remember November,’ and to be able to play for that, play for a spot possibly in the playoff, and even in the Big Ten Championship, like, all those things are at hand, and our kids deserve to know that they're in that position. And we'll talk about it, but at the end of the day, we've still got to go prepare.”
On what allows him to meet the moment in big games
“It ain't me. It's the kids, man. Like, I'm not out there playing. I love it. I love doing this. I love being a part of this team, and we work tirelessly as a staff to go win these games, but it's not me. It's those kids that step out on the field.”
On what Michigan must do to win Saturday
“One, you got to win the line of scrimmage. Always got to do that. You can't let outside noise control the preparation and the progress of what we're doing and the process of what we're doing. Because there's a lot of things going on, right? It's College GameDay. It's Big Noon Kickoff. It's this, it's that. There's going to be a lot of people here. But at the end of the day, we got to channel our focus on our preparation. That's how you win. Prepare the way we prepared for those last three games.”
“you got to win the line of scrimmage. Always got to do that. You can't let outside noise control the preparation and the progress of what we're doing and the process of what we're doing ... we got to channel our focus on our preparation. That's how you win.”– Sherrone Moore On what Michigan must do to win Saturday
