Lloyd Carr Quotations

I wouldn't do that to the other school. That's just me. I wouldn't do that.

When I look back on it, we were ninth in the Big Ten in rushing offense. That's how you lose five games. You better be able to run the football and then you have a chance.

Obviously, when you're part of a unit that has had as much criticism as the defense has had, I think it's a motivating factor, ... But what I look at it is the way they've worked, and the way they've trained, and the way they've practiced. We're much stronger up front than we were a year ago, and I think that was one of the problems, one of the big problems. We're stronger, we're bigger, we have better depth. I think that is going to make a difference.

Obviously, we're in a position we're not accustomed to being, but there are no promises out there. We'll see how we handle this particular position.

One of the things that this guy Collins says is, he measured great organizations, great businesses ... they lasted,

Obviously, there is a sense of urgency about this week that's very special, that perhaps is different.

If there would have been anybody loafing there, we wouldn't have run them down.

I don't ever in my life remember going into any game feeling like I was an underdog. I certainly have never experienced that at Michigan.

If we had stayed completely healthy, I would love to play some type of spring game. But Saturday we had a couple of guys (get hurt). I don't know if they will practice. ... When you add that, and if you have any more, it's pretty tenuous. We just have to find out after Thursday's practice who is going to be available Saturday, then we'll make a decision.

If they're going to have instant replay, they should have to let coaches challenge. Otherwise, you have a guy in the booth that nobody knows. He makes decisions on whether a play should be reviewed, and we get no explanation, and you use timeouts that you don't get back.

Max put himself right in the middle of our running back situation.

Jake Long got rolled up in practice and will miss a significant amount of time.

I can honestly say I have never held that mind-set, ... I mean, if you do that here, 'Get me to eight,' you're in trouble. What I'm always striving for ... I tell the players: Once, I was part of a national championship team. That really changes the way you look at things. Once you do it, there's nothing else, there's no goal out there that compares to that one. That's what I'm thinking about: How can we do this?

I'd be more interested in what he wanted to do.

I can't imagine the excitement that Larry Foote is going through. He went to high school at Pershing, then to have a great career here.

I don't think you ever disregard the record. The record is the results of the games. It's an important standard, and we're all disappointed about it. But I'm not disappointed in our players. They fought to the last minute of the last game.

Certainly, depending upon the outcome of it. Yeah, it will be a significant loss if we lose him.

I don't know why we played like we did ... But I just hope we don't play like that the rest of the season.

Here at Michigan the goals are always extremely high and the expectations are always great. When you stumble early, that's when you really find out how tough your team is.

With most of us having four games left, I don't remember this early in the season as many teams having two losses, and everybody has one. It speaks to the parity of this conference.

We've got to get the ball in there for seven points.

We have to be able to run the football. We haven't been able to do that going back to the Wisconsin game.

I am just happy to be around guys that love to play and never say die.

He understands that I have great confidence in him,

If some things are reviewed and some aren't, then you have controversy and the whole purpose of this thing was to avoid controversy.

He's grown up. He's mature. But he was tough. He could take a punch and get back up. Even four years ago, it was obvious he was going to be an outstanding quarterback.

He has a tremendous attitude. He's very optimistic. He's very positive.

He was tough to tackle, but we should have gotten to him several times. I was disappointed with the loss and with the tackling.

I'm always prepared for change, or at least I try to be prepared for change, at any position. There were a lot of people outside that were considered, and the people we ended up with were quality in every way.

His touchdown may be the biggest play of our season. Mario is an outstanding football player. He displayed that in high school. He came from a great program. But I guess I am a little surprised at how much he's done as a true freshman.

He's got great toughness. He's got great vision. And he's got great size.

He's been impressive, and he's going to lend at least quality depth to the (center) position.

He's been very impressive. He has all the ability we thought he had, maybe more.

He's bigger and stronger, and he knows what he's doing. He's matured. That's always the key.

He has really improved his throwing from the standpoint of seeing the field. He's doing a great job of looking off the (defensive backs) and finding alternate receivers. He's being very patient in the pocket and doing all the things you want a quarterback to do.

Henne was in the end zone. I'm sure they'll say it wasn't. He was in the end zone and I think they just did not do a good job in the booth, because it's the kind of play that should have been reviewed.

He felt a pop. It's really too bad because he's done such a great job. His family had moved to Texas, and his dad was going to get a chance to see him play, and he didn't play.

We took advantage of the opportunities to get ahead, and what I liked is we didn't slop around and play with a lot of mistakes and we didn't turn the football over. There were a lot of good things there.

I went into the training room after the game and Jon had tears in his eyes as I talked to him, ... I said, 'You must be in unbelievable pain.' He says, 'No, I was just thinking next Saturday is going to be the first Michigan football game I have missed in 30-some years.'

LaMarr Woodley played the best game since he's been at Michigan. I said they've improved.

Marlin had a very difficult year last year, ... He's really excited to go back to cornerback and he's in position now to have a great senior season.

That experience sometimes comes at an expensive cost, but I think in terms of the future teams here at Michigan, it will be valuable to those guys that had the opportunity to play early.

I saw Gabe make one great play and I thought we did a lot of great things inside. It was on the perimeter where we got hurt more than anything else.

I thought he missed some open receivers. I thought he had five balls dropped.

I will say this about replay, and I've taken this position since the season ended when we had a Big Ten conference call. If they're going to have instant replay, they've got to have a coach's challenge. Otherwise, you've got a guy in the booth nobody knows, and he makes decisions on whether plays should be reviewed or not, and we get no explanation.

It is a significant injury. And I think it would take an extraordinary rehabilitation for him to come back, but I've seen guys do things that I never thought they could do. So I don't rule him out, but he's got a lot of work in front of him.

I think they have great balance, and any time you have great balance, it's a much more difficult challenge to defend. Pittman has had an outstanding year; over 1,100 yards in ten games. I think he's tough, has great vision, finds the hole, and of course he's surrounded by a lot of good people. When you're complimented and you have the balance to both run and throw, then it opens everything up.

I think anytime that you have a performance like that against you, certainly you try to learn some things from it,

I think because of the fact that both of those men were ADs, as well as the football coach, we didn't play Notre Dame for a long time.

Our players embraced him and Chad gets most of the credit for that because of the way he handled the pressure of the job and the praise he got for doing it. But (quarterbacks coach) Scot Loeffler did a great job of helping him get better every day and (offensive coordinator) Terry Malone did a great job of giving him things he could handle, not overloading him.

Our biggest problem has been, offensively, getting the ball in the end zone. We've had ample opportunities in the red zone that would have impacted all those games, and we have just not been able to execute the things we need to do.

On the touchdown, he made a very good run. He gave us a chance to win in the end.

I think he played as well as we could have expected him to play. He made our Victors Club, which goes to those guys who have excellent performances, and to do that in his first start at the guard, I think he's a very bright guy.

I think he's throwing the ball extremely well and I think he has the confidence of being in a lot of big games, the experience that comes with being in tight ball games, being in two-minute situations, being ahead, being behind, all of the things that you need to learn to be able to learn to be able to control the game and lead your team. I think he's done a great job of that.

I think I made my position clear there,

I think one of the things that's important in maintaining the tradition of college football is making sure every game of the regular season means something, and the bowl tradition is something we should never give up. But if there is a way of going to a one-game playoff after the bowls, that's something that should maybe happen as we go forward here.

I think certainly it was maybe the biggest play of our season, but I'm not surprised that Mario is the outstanding football player that he displayed in high school,

I think certainly the '97 team raised the bar at Michigan. They raised expectations, which were already enormous. But I think the goal of every Michigan team since then is to win the national championship. And I think we all recognize how difficult that is to do. And yet it's certainly a goal worth pursuing. I think we're trying to pursue that every day.

I think if you take one play out of the football game, our defense did a very good job,

I think he's a guy that can make you miss. He's a guy that has great vision. He's one of those guys that can hurt you in a lot of different ways.

I think we all understand that a running game allows you to control the game. When we were able to run the football, that allows you to protect your defense and it allows you to do a lot of things that help you to win. We were very, very average running the football. And I think that always comes back to haunt you. I can guarantee you this spring that becomes an area that we must improve in, and we will.

I think it starts - we always start in the state of Michigan. And we did not recruit a large number of guys from this state this year. It already is apparent that next year will be a very good year in this state. We start here, but I think our coaches did a great job. I was in 16 states in 15 days in January, and so we were spread out, and yet I think we've got an outstanding class.

I thought Ross Ryan had a wonderful debut here. I think he's one of those guys that really is a weapon. And imagine a punter running down the field 40 yards or so and recovering a fumble. Ross Ryan is a competitive guy.

I think we learned that he's durable. When you carry the ball, particularly in your third game as a true freshman, 25 times, I think it says a lot of things.

I thought our team, despite some of the things we were challenged with, fought back and played through some adversity, and I'm proud of this football team. I think the thing I've been impressed with is how we've competed.

I thought Chad did some great things in there. That last touchdown, it was a great drive. He scrambled for significant yardage and on the touchdown; he did some very good things.

I think it is certainly one of the better defensive teams in the country.

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.

I think it's a great plus. Any time you can put two or three guys in there that have different types of abilities, I think it creates issues for the defense.

I thought the second half we did some very good things. The turnovers were really monumental, there's no question about that.

The problem we had was in the Red Zone

Will Paul has really (made) strides. He's got the ability to play there and has picked things up very quick.

You'll see what those changes are on Saturday,

We need to play harder. We need to play tougher.

We've been giving the ball back too many times. We haven't been productive.

We hope he'll be able to come back for the last couple weeks of spring practice.

Whoever wears that jersey has some big shoes to fill. And we're out there now trying to find him.

Why would you ask a dumb question like that?

We have a lot of guys who have been on the road. They just haven't been to Madison,

We've looked at a lot of film of Charlie's teams at New England. We've talked to a number of people who have coached against him, done as much research as it's possible to do.

The question I was asked before the season was, 'Would you be disappointed to not be in the Sugar Bowl?' ... I can tell you, I would never be disappointed to take a team to the Rose Bowl. To play in that stadium -- outdoors, on grass, in the sunshine -- how could you be disappointed?

You look back at the last 30 years, and they've won more national championships than anybody in the country. We have a history with Nebraska going back to the (1986) Fiesta Bowl and, of course, the '97 co-national championship.

We had some great drives, but we stopped ourselves every time.

We are never really certain what kind of intensity the team is going to come out with, (but) I am very pleased with the intensity and the fact we got a lot of guys some experience. I think when you look at the big picture, we got a lot of things done today.

We'll see how we react Saturday. That's always the biggest test how you respond. Everybody's disappointed but resolute in doing what we have to do to turn the season around.

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.

When you are across from him, you always know you are going to be in a real fight.

We don't make any excuses and never will, but we've been a very unlucky football team from an injury standpoint.

We've worked hard on it, but the key to the Nebraska defense is up-front four. That'll be a real test for us.

We thought if we get control of the game, Ohio State would have trouble playing from behind, but they played very well from behind. Nobody ever would have thought they would throw for that kind of yardage, but they changed the tempo of the game, they made it very hard for us to pressure the quarterback.

We have no excuses, ... We never make excuses. But we've had some injuries.

We are all disappointed with that. But I'm not disappointed in our players.

We're still a long way from being where we need to be.

The other thing is that they promoted from within. So there are a lot of people who have been affiliated with this program, who have coached here and are coaching here, who are extremely capable. So we'll see what happens.

Whether things are going great or poorly, you have challenges. Challenges when things are going well are a lot more fun, but no less difficult. In our case, there's no question it's not as much fun. But if you have good people and good character like we have, you approach it thinking that together you can get through it. And if you have a good work ethic, you have a chance to fight your way out of it.

We're just not where we need to be,

Being a quarterback is a process. And I think he made a lot of progress. I think he made some very good throws out there today, then he had some very poor plays that he'd like to have back.

Vince Young is the finest athlete I've ever been on the field with.

When you look at what he did in the fourth quarter, there was not a lot of space in that defense on the last drive.

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.