... the start of the Big Ten season, for starters. Here are highlights from the podcast, including Bo's former righthand man on...
• Junior quarterback Shea Patterson versus SMU: "He continues to be an accurate passer. He throws from the pocket, and he throws well on the run. Now, I think a couple of times in the pocket, he gave up a little bit too quickly, and missed some open receivers downfield.
"But overall, there was improvement there. Not that he needed a lot, because he has the ability to get out and run the ball, to get on the edge running and also to throw the ball on the run. All those things are real plusses for Michigan. I don't think we'll have to worry about who is going to stick their hands under center or stand back there and receive that snap.
"He's shown that he can do the job, and I look for him to continue to improve."
• On starting a quarterback just learning the offense, like Michigan did in 1975 with Rick Leach: "Not only did we have a freshman quarterback, we changed the offense FOR that freshman quarterback. It was a double dose. Not only did the quarterback have to learn, but because of his abilities, we changed the offense, so the rest of the team had to learn along with him.
"I think that's what happens. He has to learn the players. The players have to learn him, and they have to learn to work together and become the team that you want them to be. So it's not just the progression of Shea Patterson. It's the progression of the kids around him, that make him a better football player. That's what you really work for.
"It's a little scary, until you get a couple of games under your belt and find out what they can do … let's face it, you've got to be able to run the football in order to be a good quarterback. If your team can run the ball, that's going to make it [easier].
"It's not just those receivers. You've got to have somebody up front who can run the football, and give you protection. The SMU game kind of proved some of those things. It was a win, let's never forget that. That's the most important thing."
• The start of the Big Ten season when, as Harbaugh said, it almost counts two: "I read that, that it's like playing two games. It's like playing 10 games. When you start the very first game in your Big Ten season, it's so critical. The thing you want to do is win the Big Ten championship.
"If you don't win that very first game, it becomes much more difficult to accomplish that particular thing you want. That first game is so telling and so important, it kind of just eats at you. I read some of the things the kids were thinking about.
"It's like the season is now just starting. You played your preliminary games. Now the season starts. It's really important that we start this first game with that in mind — it is the No. 1 game for us, and from here on out, we can't afford to make the mistakes we made before."
• His must-do list versus Nebraska: "The No. 1 thing we've got to do in this game is improve, improve, improve. We've got to get better. No. 1, if we're going to blitz a quarterback and leave our [defensive backs] out there one-on-one, we've got to get to the quarterback, or we've got to make him move or do something so that he doesn't really have time to work on our defenders. Don't leave them on an island by themselves.
"The second thing is, on offense, we have got to control the line of scrimmage, still, a little bit better. When we have a chance to make plays, we've been doing it, so we've got to continue to do that.
"I know you say Nebraska is coming in here [at 0-2]. I'm going to tell you, it's Nebraska coming in. They've got great pride. They're a great football program. You keep in mind that they're going to come in here to turn their whole season around. We've got to prepare to stop that."
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/mi...tball-podcast-jerry-hanlon-with-john-borton-1
• Junior quarterback Shea Patterson versus SMU: "He continues to be an accurate passer. He throws from the pocket, and he throws well on the run. Now, I think a couple of times in the pocket, he gave up a little bit too quickly, and missed some open receivers downfield.
"But overall, there was improvement there. Not that he needed a lot, because he has the ability to get out and run the ball, to get on the edge running and also to throw the ball on the run. All those things are real plusses for Michigan. I don't think we'll have to worry about who is going to stick their hands under center or stand back there and receive that snap.
"He's shown that he can do the job, and I look for him to continue to improve."
• On starting a quarterback just learning the offense, like Michigan did in 1975 with Rick Leach: "Not only did we have a freshman quarterback, we changed the offense FOR that freshman quarterback. It was a double dose. Not only did the quarterback have to learn, but because of his abilities, we changed the offense, so the rest of the team had to learn along with him.
"I think that's what happens. He has to learn the players. The players have to learn him, and they have to learn to work together and become the team that you want them to be. So it's not just the progression of Shea Patterson. It's the progression of the kids around him, that make him a better football player. That's what you really work for.
"It's a little scary, until you get a couple of games under your belt and find out what they can do … let's face it, you've got to be able to run the football in order to be a good quarterback. If your team can run the ball, that's going to make it [easier].
"It's not just those receivers. You've got to have somebody up front who can run the football, and give you protection. The SMU game kind of proved some of those things. It was a win, let's never forget that. That's the most important thing."
• The start of the Big Ten season when, as Harbaugh said, it almost counts two: "I read that, that it's like playing two games. It's like playing 10 games. When you start the very first game in your Big Ten season, it's so critical. The thing you want to do is win the Big Ten championship.
"If you don't win that very first game, it becomes much more difficult to accomplish that particular thing you want. That first game is so telling and so important, it kind of just eats at you. I read some of the things the kids were thinking about.
"It's like the season is now just starting. You played your preliminary games. Now the season starts. It's really important that we start this first game with that in mind — it is the No. 1 game for us, and from here on out, we can't afford to make the mistakes we made before."
• His must-do list versus Nebraska: "The No. 1 thing we've got to do in this game is improve, improve, improve. We've got to get better. No. 1, if we're going to blitz a quarterback and leave our [defensive backs] out there one-on-one, we've got to get to the quarterback, or we've got to make him move or do something so that he doesn't really have time to work on our defenders. Don't leave them on an island by themselves.
"The second thing is, on offense, we have got to control the line of scrimmage, still, a little bit better. When we have a chance to make plays, we've been doing it, so we've got to continue to do that.
"I know you say Nebraska is coming in here [at 0-2]. I'm going to tell you, it's Nebraska coming in. They've got great pride. They're a great football program. You keep in mind that they're going to come in here to turn their whole season around. We've got to prepare to stop that."
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/mi...tball-podcast-jerry-hanlon-with-john-borton-1
