What Matt Weiss said after Ohio State, before Big Ten Championship game

Entering the Week 13 game at Ohio State, without Blake Corum, just about no one game Michigan football a chance to beat, let alone dominate the Buckeyes. Yet, there the Wolverines were, making plays we haven’t seen all season, from big, explosive deep-ball passes, to trick plays, to the game-sealing 75 and 85-yard runs by Donovan Edwards.

As a result, the maize and blue advance to the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis vs. Purdue on Saturday, while Ohio State has to sit at home, hoping that something happens with either TCU or USC to allow the Buckeyes to advance into the College Football Playoff.

On Wednesday, Michigan co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss shared more insight about the offense’s plan and execution vs. OSU, as well as what he’s seen from the Purdue defense.

Here is everything he had to say.

(Editor’s note: special thanks to The Wolverine.com‘s Clayton Sayfie for the audio since we were unable to attend.)

How much new was there in the passing game for Ohio State?

Yes, good question. We had a lot of great stuff ready to go. And we were ready for everything — for overtime, for two-point, shoot out — whatever came up. As it turned out, the big plays made it so we didn’t really need to use a lot of stuff we had saved up that was ready. Really, a lot of the big plays we hit was with base, day-one training camp stuff.

The first big play to C.J. was a check by J.J. He’s so smart and so well prepared that we’re able to put most of the checks on him. A lot of college teams look to the sideline. But he correctly identified that was a zero blitz, he did the check that we had discussed and just made a great play to drift away from the free rusher, throw a hitch, and C.J. did the rest. So really, really just basic stuff.

Was he surprised at the WR separation?

I wouldn’t say I was surprised. I mean, we were surprised a little bit the way that they played initially in the game. Certainly going into the game, they had shown, more access, a little more off-coverage on tape. I don’t know if that was something that they planned to do all along for us or if it was something they saw. Illinois played a lot of man, not as much press as Ohio State did. They saw that decided, to do it. But whatever the reason, played us a little bit different. We quickly just adjusted. And like I said it was really basic stuff that made the plays.

Second-half QB runs

Yeah, it’s definitely a weapon that we can go to at any time, I think just the threat of being able to go do it anytime forces people to play a little bit different, which opens up more in the pass game or in the run game. But yeah, it’s something that we use when we feel like we need it.

The second half there, we felt like we needed it. And we did, certainly to your point, more than we had done, we need to do against Penn State, like you said. But it was great, it was productive. It was also when J.J. was running through three guys on the sideline, I think that fires up the team to see the quarterback do that. So in many ways, it was helpful for us.

Why were the big plays so successful?

Yeah. So I’d say two things. One is just the way that they played us. No one had really tried to do that, there’s very few teams just came up and played with no depth on the defense. Sold out to stop the run. That’s not something that we’re used to seeing. So the way that they played created a little bit of opportunity. But I’d say more than that, nobody was surprised in this building when we connected on the deep balls, just because we see it every day in practice. And so some of that is limited opportunities in games — there’s very few, very few deep passing attempts in the games that we played.

So sometimes, limited opportunity, a small sample size, but at the same time, I would say J.J. is getting better. And, all year in the quarterback room, anytime something bad happened, you know, we’d always look at it and just say, ‘Man, that was good. Yeah, it’s great.’ Because especially with a player like him, good players don’t make the same mistake twice. The fact that it happened in all these games, we know that it’s not gonna happen again. And so you look back to like Rutgers, Andrel Anthony is wide open down the field, J.J. throws really, really a pretty good throw. But tried to make a perfect throw, right? It was just off his fingertips, we missed it. It would be an 80-yard touchdown or whatever, if we hit it. And we just look back and say, ‘Hey, you know, that’s good. That happened.’ Because you learned the lesson that if a guy’s wide open, it doesn’t need to be a perfect pass.

So fast forward to Ohio State and C.J. runs a beautiful route and he’s wide open. And J.J. just puts the perfect amount of air under it. Lets C.J. run under it, doesn’t necessarily go to hit him in full speed and stride. And we may the play. Yes, it’s great to see. Great to see that. But proud of J.J., proud of everybody.

It was an epic team win. So many things to take away from it. But the way the guys just played with joy. I mean, our guys had fun playing that game and not just in the fourth quarter when the game was over. But when the game was on the line, you look down at our sideline during timeouts, whatever, there’s guys dancing up and down the sideline. You got Trevor Keegan playing the air guitar on a critical third down during the timeout that they were playing AC/DC. And that’s not supposed to be — guys see seized the moment, had a great time, played like grown men playing a kids’ game. And this is the way football should be played. They played smart, let the other team get the emotional penalties like we have in all these big games. And then played unselfishly, just like we have all year. But a whole bunch of guys play for each other, bunch of guys have played for the block M and really just just embodied what Michigan football is all about. And I think it’s a huge credit to Jim, the culture he has built here, the team that he’s built here. It’s probably unrivaled in terms of team. Certainly there’s other teams out there, maybe have a little bit more talent. We’re pretty talented, too. But I’d say it’s unmatched in terms of team, in terms of culture. And that showed up in that game for sure.

How does Jim Harbaugh develop coaches?

Jim — he’s always been a great coach. Obviously, I have an interesting perspective, as I was with him 13 years ago, and then left and came back. He’s always been a great coach and it’s something from all the success he’s had. And I wouldn’t say it’s changed, because he’s probably one of the most genuine people you could ever meet. I mean, that’s what a lot of people love about him. That’s what draws a lot of people to him, it’s why he’s great at recruiting is what you see is him. There’s no hidden agendas. There’s no filter, what you see is what you get. And sometimes maybe he’ll say something that surprises people or is a little bit different. But that’s him and it’s awesome. And people love that about him.

So I’ve never said he’s changed. But I would say it’s just like anybody else. Like, he’s always a great coach, all the experience. Like I said, he’s at the point now where it’s just like masterful, like you watch him coach this team, build this team. And it’s masterful. He learned from experience. He’s obviously a talented coach, too. But I mean, everything the team needs, he provides. Whether that’s his leadership style, he confronts everything but not anyone. So anything that he sees that needs to be fixed to meet his vision, he’s going to confront it. That’s never in a personal way, he never offends anyone doing it. But he’s honest. And just a great football coach who knows football and knows what the team needs.

And just so many great lessons throughout the year, where he’s kind of pulled the team aside and talked to the team and talked to the team in team meetings and his message and he’s really just built something that’s something that’s really special.

Would he like to see the Big Ten get rid of divisions?

Yes, that’s a good question. That’s something I’ve thought about. I mean, I definitely understand what a lot of people have said where you don’t want to last state Michigan game to be meaningless, right? Where both teams are already locked into a conference championship, potentially, where it becomes like a Week 7 team in the NFL, a team that has nothing to play for, they rest the starters, and play for the one to knock somebody out and win the championship. And I don’t think anybody wants to see that, certainly.

I’m not sure what the best format would be. I kind of like the relegation format. We’d have two divisions, and the top ones in the bottom conferences go to the top. And then everyone in the top conference has to play each other. So the scheduling is fair, right? You get to from the bottom to keep the rivalry games. And then you’d assume that certain teams will always be in the top conference, you wouldn’t have that problem. But that’s a question probably for smarter people.

On Colston Loveland

Colston — can’t say enough good things about him. I mean, he’s a team guy, does everything he’s asked, gives great effort, really, really talented, as we all saw. But again, going back to what kind of what we said before with the passing game. Nobody was surprised by what he did in the game. And we’ve seen it in practice for weeks, and he’s just scraping the surface of what he’s going to be. It’s our chance probably to be one of the best tight ends in Michigan history. I don’t say that lightly because we’ve made some good ones.

Was his TD an option route?

That was a planned double move. The receiver got knocked down. So we ended up with a one-man route, but he won, so it’s all good.

How hard was it of a decision to go with J.J. McCarthy as the starter over Cade McNamara?

Yeah, I mean, I think that it was a really hard decision, throughout training camp and everything played out. I think it’s just another credit to Jim, the way he handled the whole situation. I would just say, with Cade, too, I mean, the guy’s a Michigan legend. And I don’t say that lightly. But, he’s 12-2 as a starter here, he is in the top 10 of every single-season quarterback record. He was voted All-Big Ten by the coaches, voted a team captain by his players, won the Big Ten, beat Ohio State. So he’s a Michigan legend. And we’re just really grateful to Cade for everything he did here.

I know J.J., he was up here the other day, and he said he wouldn’t be where he is without Cade. I think that’s true. I also think the thing I would add to that is we wouldn’t be where we are as a team right now without Cade. So, wish him nothing but success, wherever — his story is just still being written. So wish him nothing but success. Hopefully, we don’t have to play him. But he’s a great player, he’s got a great future ahead of him. And everyone here is indebted to him for last season and for everything else he did to help us build into ’22.

How much is the system based off of execution for success?

So I mean, that’s been critical to our success, obviously, points per drive, we’re one of the top teams in the country. And then turnovers, we are one of the top teams in the country. We don’t turn it over, we score, and we try to get the ball — we’re pretty hard to beat. So that’s been key to our success.

I think it really just is a credit to the players, to every guy that touches the football, taking care of the football, because that’s what that comes down to, in terms of fumbles. And then in terms of interceptions, guys catching the ball, the receivers, the tight ends and running backs. But also, you know, J.J.’s obviously been a big part of that. And we just built a great foundation for him of knowing where to go with the ball, being smart and knowing what to do. And it’s what sets a foundation, so hopefully, everything expands from there and grows from there. But, it’s hard to — sometimes people forget he’s 19 years old. And in the first year as a starter. So with where he is, I mean, we’re just thrilled with him. He’s an incredible player with a bright future. It’s a credit to him and how hard he works. It’s like what, like Alex Orji said — we were talking in the quarterback room — he walks around with a confidence like he’s seven feet tall, but he prepares and treats everyone like he’s five feet tall. And I think that was well said, and we’re just blessed to have him.

And I mean, it’s scary to think how good he could be. There’s not too many 19 year olds that are playing in the College Football Playoffs. I think Trevor Lawrence did it. But it’s scary to think how good he’ll be when he’s 22.

Does Jim Harbaugh put a bigger emphasis on execution?

Yeah, for sure. For sure. Just that we do put an emphasis on, on fundamentals and on execution. There’s no doubt about that. We’d like to think we have a good place to be. Yeah, there’s an emphasis here on that. And to your point, I think we do that better than anybody. Guys get developed here. Guys are really well-coached here, it shows up on Saturdays and they are proud of that.

Purdue's defense

Purdue’s defense is really sound. They’re not going to have any coverage busts or turning anybody loose. There’s none of that on tape. They all know what they’re doing. They’re in the right spot. You can tell that they’re well-coached. They do stay simple in terms of the coverages that they play, and that helps them do that, to be really sound, to not give up anything cheap. And they play really hard. They’re well coached and they play hard, and they’re gonna be certainly a formidable challenge.

Jack Sullivan, 99, is a really good player in the front. The corner, No. 23, is a really, really good corner. So they have good players too, but for sure what jumps out is how solid they are, disciplined they are and how hard they play.

Is the offense more dangerous in a dome?

Yeah, I think especially these last few weeks and in the Big Ten — I mean, we love the weather. We always say, it’s just how we like it. If it’s 20 mile an hour wind or raining or snowing, we love that. We’re an all-weather team, we feel like that gives us a huge advantage. We’d love to be in some conference where we get somebody up here from like Florida or something to play in The Big House in November. But that’s just not the way it works. We feel like even against the Big Ten teams, we have a huge advantage of the weather and we love that we embrace that.

But that being said, I think J.J. and the receivers, yeah, they’re fired up quite a bit after a few weeks of wind and rain. And so there’s no question there. They’re excited.

Did he coach Kalel Mullings to make that throw?

Yeah, Kalel did a great job that we have full confidence in. And obviously, we wouldn’t have called that play. Blake was the primary guy for that. Kalel was the backup. But really proud.

He said that you’re supposed to move a little bit more to the right to be able see a little bit better. And he said that he couldn’t see Luke at all, but he knew he was out there. So he just threw it. So it’s a great play by him. A cynic would say he might have underthrew it, because he’s a defensive guy, he wanted us to burn more time going into the endzone — which we did, we burned five minutes off the clock. But it was a great example of just — we have total confidence in our players. Obviously, we could have still gone for it on fourth down there if we didn’t get it.

But I think it’s kind of overlooked in the game to the first draft of the second half, we went for a fourth-and-1 on our own 34. And we did it so quickly, I think kind of nobody really took note. But that was a great example of just the confidence Jim has in the coaches to let us call that play. The confidence that we have in the players to execute that play. I mean, a fourth-and-1 around 34 to start a half,  there’s some risk involved in that. And then you watch the play, and you see Zak Zinter, Olu just absolutely blow their guys off the ball. And you’re like, ‘Yeah, these guys got our back.’ And of course, drive down the field for a touchdown to start the half and the floodgates open. And that was a huge play of the game, too, just like the Kalel.

So we played fearless and get guys to play fearless, so you’ve gotta coach fearless, too. Proud of the players, proud of the coaches. There’s some big moments in the game.

How do they decide when to go tempo?

Yeah, so we have the ability to do everything, which most colleges don’t. We huddled predominantly for the Ohio State game, but most of the time, we’re in no-huddle, and then we mix them both. So we have the ability to do anything. And usually, just like the gameplan, a play or personnel group or anything else, we do whatever is gonna help, (that) we think it’s going to help us the most in that game, in that situation, right? So usually, when we move between the — in that game, we huddled, and like you said, we went really fast on the fourth-and-1.

What was the play before that play?

The play before was run with Donovan, it was a third-and-4 and I think he got three. I think it was the fourth-and-1, it’s actually a quarterback read, but we were gonna give it to Donovan. But we know that if we get to fourth-and-1 that there’s a good chance that — Jim has great belief in our players like we all do, especially with our O-line. Fourth-and-1 is a good thing, its in our favor, so usually try to go for those. We’ve been great on fourth down all season. I think that helped us, too.

But yeah, to your point we knew if we got close enough, yeah, we’d be going for it.

How do you coach fearless and not be reckless?

That’s a good question. It’s a fine, fine line to balance. But everything we do, we bet. We have input from everybody and a great coaching staff. So, obviously, we make mistakes at times, things we would like to have back but I really don’t think we’ve been reckless. It’s a great question, it’s a balance.

Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire