Lloyd Carr Program Quotations

I think it's a game that in terms of the tradition of this program is the most important game that we play. I think for any team playing in it, it's a big game. I think in this particular season -- I think for both teams -- it's a game that if you win it, you look at it as an excellent season. If you lose it, it's probably a disappointing season.

We'd like to tackle the quarterback, ... Traditionally here, we've taken great pride in the way we played defense. Like every other program in the country, the spread offense creates problems. I've said this because when you use the quarterback, really in many instances like a tailback, and yet you have four wide receivers and you spread the defense out, you're going to give up some yardage, you're going to give up some points. I think that's fundamental.

Every program has goals and you have to decide, do you still have the same goals, because when you look around at what's happened in the first two weeks, a lot of very good football teams have lost. I don't think at this stage anybody is out of anything unless you've lost two games.

I've interviewed every player on our team, and that's always part of the conversation. There's a lot of things that certainly should be motivating. I don't think there's anybody in this program that wants to go through that kind of season again. I think they'll do everything that they're asked to do to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

His greatest strength is that he's smart, ... The most difficult part about trying to evaluate quarterbacks is determining whether or not they'll be able to embrace the pressure. Matt comes from an excellent background. He's been in a high-school program that had more exposure than any program in the country. He made it very clear he was excited about the challenge of playing in a program like this.

The most important thing is having the opportunity to prove what type of team we are against the best. We are a program with a lot of tradition and pride. Whenever you add that in as a motivator, your expectations are high.

I don't worry about the polls, but I think any time you're ranked high it's a compliment to your players and your program and it's challenging and we look forward to trying to do better. We have our own goals and they can't be any higher than anybody else's goals for us.