ANGELES – The Rose Bowl national semifinal on Monday between No. 1 Michigan and No. 4 Alabama is rapidly approaching.
The first-ever bowl news conferences were held on Thursday by both teams, who are now in California. Inside the Sheraton Grand in Los Angeles, Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator for Michigan, and a few defensive players addressed the media.
The highlights from the interviews on Thursday are as follows:
Actually, it’s an 11-on-1 mentality. His ability to both take the ball himself and scramble to throw it a great distance downfield or to dump it off to the speed guys when he drops back.
“Eleven on one.” Our men need to play quickly, but we also need to do a terrific job up front with our rush lanes and integrity of that. There are instances, in my opinion, when you should let those guys go and perhaps send someone else in case they mess up, and there are others when you should not overcoach them into waiting to see what he’s going to do. However, I’m excited for our guys to take on that task and I have faith in our players’ ability to succeed when they get out there.
— Minter on taking on Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, who ran for 765 yards (not including sacks) and 12 touchdowns on the ground and passed for 2,718 yards and 23 touchdowns to place sixth in the Heisman voting.
Funny thing is, I keep hearing from everyone that we should be afraid now that we have ‘Bama. It was more akin to being shocked that a Power Five team that had never lost would not be selected. We were just arguing over who would take the fourth position, since we kind of assumed that all the unbeaten teams would show up.
The fact that Florida State was absent caused a bit of a shock to all of us. It wasn’t really a dread of any team at all. That jolt was all that was there. It’s strange that everyone seems to be saying, “Y’all were scared,” whenever I hear about it. I noticed you guys in the video. Alright, that is what it is. Everyone is expected to speak. Everyone will have something to say.
— Michael Barrett, a linebacker for Michigan, on the popular response video when he found out his team will play Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
“He claims he has no resentment, yet he is not forgetful. That is his way of life. Though he is not resentful, he is fully aware of everything. That is our collective way of life. We can recall every event, statement made by the media, action taken by anyone, and statement made by anybody.
“We remember, but we don’t harbor resentment.” I wouldn’t characterize it as a grievance between us. All we know is what we are capable of. Being able to go out there and just put down the line, trust the man next to you, and put down the line because our coaches prepared us the correct way and each player has the appropriate mentality, shows us what we can accomplish. Everybody here has the same mindset.
— Junior Colson, a linebacker for Michigan, on overcoming hardship and proving naysayers incorrect. This season, the club missed six games without head coach Jim Harbaugh due to injury, and since October, they have been embroiled in a scandal involving sign-stealing.
“I looked at some calls that I really wanted to have back, but I also kind of liked the way we played. I believed that occasionally we chose unwise angles. In general, I didn’t think we performed well at the line of scrimmage in a few areas. reviewed our planning and noted any areas that we may not have given enough attention to when we were getting ready.
Once more, you fail, you grow from it, and you make an effort to improve. In the end, though it was a horrible sensation at the time and you disappointed a lot of people, most of all yourself, you look back and say, “Man, I’m glad that happened.” Eventually, though, every hardship presents a chance to improve and to grow. You set yourself up for disappointment, in my opinion, if you sit there and think, “Hey, we were 13-1, let’s just run it back, it worked out pretty good.” Strive for improvement by trying to change and grow. I firmly believe that this has improved our performance in many areas, and once more, I would want to express my gratitude and admiration for the players for putting in the necessary effort and believing in the importance of the game, which has paid off.
Minter on improving after losing to TCU 51-45 in the playoffs of the previous year. In terms of scoring defense, Michigan is ranked first and second in 2023.
If I were a coach, I would probably suggest wearing some slacks. To be honest, I would wear a button-down and slacks. most likely a hat. I would most likely be wearing sweatpants and a hoodie and be more relaxed. I doubt I would wear khakis like Coach Harbaugh does. I might absolutely put a hat on.
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Barrett about how he would dress for a game if he were a coach.
“They are a good team overall, as everyone knows. They move quite quickly. Simply put, I don’t think this is a whole new team that we haven’t seen. All of the high-level teams that we have played have, in my opinion, have speed. I simply believe that we need to halt everyone who is attacking.
Safety Rod Moore discusses what makes Alabama stand out.
“No, he communicates with us honestly. That’s one aspect. He shares all of his ideas with us. He lets us know whether he’s meeting with the team. Or if he says to us, “Hey, I’m with you guys all year long.”
He is a trustworthy individual. We always have faith and trust in him for everything he says. He will never betray his word again. Things like that never phase us. Ultimately, we are confident that he will provide us with the solution. He will eventually inform us. He won’t keep it a secret, and the media will uncover it.
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