Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano
Opening Statement: Okay guys, I apologize, I know it's late, there are some guys down there that are hurting pretty bad. I want to make sure they're okay. Try to answer any questions for you.
Q. The strategy in the first overtime after Michigan missed the field goal, were you okay with setting up for the field goal in that spot, were you okay with the range, 45 yards? The play before, you obviously set up by trying to I guess get in that position for the field goal.
GREG SCHIANO: Yeah, the two plays we didn't, we weren't going to be overly aggressive, but they were plays that we felt were in range. And they did, it was third and six and then we just said, Let's center it. That's where Val wanted it, in the middle. And you know what? Sometimes you make them, sometimes you don't. I definitely thought that that was in his range. It just wasn't tonight. It wasn't meant to be.
Q. After a game like that, so many highs and lows, what's your message to the team and what's kind of the mood there?
GREG SCHIANO: Well, there's a bunch of guys that are hurting really bad. My message, I'll always keep private with me and the team. But needless to say, a bunch of guys went and really spilled their guts out there on the field. We're not there yet. We're just not quite there yet. We'll keep chopping and keep working at what we do and we will get there. That's why we're all here together working as hard as we are. We just haven't quite figured it out yet.
Q. Obviously you guys had a 17-point lead. You had a 10-point lead last week. Is there just something about a young, a team that's kind of going through this for the first time that they have to learn how to finish a game like this?
GREG SCHIANO: It's still a half of football to play. It's not really finishing. To me it's just playing every play. That's what you have to do. You don't -- it's coach speak, I know, forget the scoreboard. I tell the team, Let me worry about the scoreboard. The only thing the scoreboard dictates is do we go for two, do we go for one, do we go for it on fourth, don't we go for it on fourth. Those are the things that the coach needs to worry about. The players need to just execute. I'll let them know what we need, if it's a two-minute drive or it's a drive, what type of score we need, we need a touchdown, we need a field goal. Now, that's a little bit to the extreme. I get it, but I really want guys, our guys to learn to just chop every play as hard as you can. And we did that for a ton of plays tonight. I was really proud of the way that we approached the game. Forget the result, but how we approached the game. We just got to keep doing it. We got to do it a little bit better. We got to do it a little more often and one of these days that will put us over the top. Until then, it's very frustrating. It's painful, really painful for our guys, our coaches, but it's part of competitive sports. One team's going to win and one's going to lose.
Q. How much did it affect you when they went from Milton to McNamara? How much did that change things for you guys?
GREG SCHIANO: We fully expected to see multiple quarterbacks. That was not a surprise. Certainly he had a little more success the second quarter, had a little more success moving the ball than the starter, but, yeah, we planned for both, so...
Q. One, Noah's performance, if you could comment on that and then the Michigan touchdown with about five minutes to go, it looked like a pick play, a lot of people have been asking about that. Was that legal?
GREG SCHIANO: I thought Noah played great, I thought Noah played really well. Certainly statistically that played out. But just everything, I thought he was very focused, executed well. The other question, I'm not allowed to answer on that. Stay out of the dog house on that one. But I appreciate it, guys.
Q. I'm not trying to get you to criticize the refs, I was just, is there an interpretation in that where, if the receiver doesn't force the contact, is that, is that what the interpretation was?
GREG SCHIANO: I didn't ask. It wasn't going to change the call. I didn't really -- we got to figure it out. We got to figure our stuff out. We will. Again, guys, apologize for being late getting up here, have a great weekend we'll talk to you on Monday.
Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh
On the game: "I thought our players played with great talent and heart. We had some runs that were really good, tough, hard finishing runs. It was tough and tremendous. There was some really good play on the line. There was a lot of freshmen and sophomores out there tonight and they played their hearts out. It was our goal to be 1-0. This reminds me of some of the great comeback wins that I've been a part of. So many guys gave us great effort. There's a lot to build on when you get that type of character building win."
On the quarterbacks: "Nobody won or lost the QB job in practice during the week. We went into it with the idea that we'd play both quarterbacks. Cade came in and gave us a spark and we went from there. Cade was very well prepared. He's seeing things good. His confidence has always been high. And it's a testament to his ability. I'm happy for him. It was gritty. Sometimes, you have to see it in the game. That was as good as you can play. Heck of a comeback, that's nice to know that you have a quarterback that can come from behind and lead a comeback."
On the game: "That game could have gone either way. Both teams played their hearts out. Guys were having at it. I was happy to see our guys making the plays, having fun. It's been gut-wrenching to not see our guys having fun, and tonight they did. They were able to get the victory and it will be a happy flight home."
On the kickoff return touchdown to start the second half: "I thought that was big. Cade coming in, his first drive was a touchdown, then the next one got us into field goal range. Then that was a huge start to the second half to get the momentum back. The momentum was changing pretty fast and furious the whole night. But our guys stayed the course, stayed in it, kept the momentum for stretches. Both teams played with a lot of heart and played really well. That was a heck of a football game. So many guys made plays, there's a lot to build on."
On the team: "I love coaching this team. Just how they play, it was good to see them letting it rip and letting the talent come out. Having fun doing it. It was all great. Now they know what they maybe didn't know. They're good at football. They've been good for a long time and it's good to go out and play like you're capable and have fun doing it. Guys were competing the whole night. That was a huge emphasis, to fight all night. Go for sixty minutes or more if that's what it takes. Whether it starts well or not, just stay the course and go play. It was very inspiring."
On Rutgers: "They've done a great job. Great job coaching and great job putting together the roster. They have a lot of players that have come in, mature players, transfers, veteran players that have done a great job. The play calling is really creative. A good fundamental team in all areas. I was really impressed."
On the defensive effort in OT: "We came up with the big stop when we needed it. A lot of guys were in their playing. We had a good rotation of guys in the defensive line. Don did a great job making some calls, stopping the bubble screen when they were hurting us with that. Just battling really. Real gritty."
