Everything Sherrone Moore Said After Michigan’s Loss to Ohio State

After jumping out to a 6-0 first-quarter lead, the Michigan Wolverines had absolutely no answer for Ohio State as the Buckeyes left the Big House with a dominating 27-9 win. Following the game, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore spoke to the media. Here is everything he said.

Opening Statement

“Obviously very disappointed in the result. Credit to them and how they played and how they executed. We did not play to our standard. We started off fast and thought we had good rhythm offensively. Defensively we had a big goal-line stand and held them to field goals, but we didn’t execute in the red zone, which ended up being the story of the game. In the second half we couldn’t get a rhythm offensively. They did a good job and credit to them. There’s no excuse for it. We have to be much better, and they outplayed us today. We’ve got a lot to work on.”

On the Difference in the Game

“They just played better. They executed better. We didn’t play well enough. We didn’t execute enough. They executed when it mattered, and they played a better game.”

On His Emotions

“It doesn’t feel good. It stings. You sting for the seniors, you sting for the program. When you’re in this 24/7, when you’re in this 365 days a year, this hurts. You work tirelessly to make this successful. It’s not about me — it’s about the kids and all the hard work they put in. I’ll put it on me. I always put stuff on me and self-reflect, look at what we need to fix, and see what we need to do. It has to be better.”

On the Lack of Quarterback Pressure

“We didn’t get enough rush. There were things we could have done, but we didn’t do well enough in our twist game and those things. They picked up the pressures and did a good job.”

On Ohio State Limiting Michigan’s Passing Game

“Coverage-wise they did some things to reroute the receivers, and we just didn’t get a rhythm. We didn’t protect well enough. We didn’t get guys open enough. It’s a team effort. There’s no blame and no pointing fingers. It’s a whole-team effort. We have to work to get better at all those things for both those guys and all our players. We’ll go back to what we need to improve.”

On What Michigan Can Learn From This Loss

“We’ll look at the film and see exactly what it is. You don’t want this feeling again. So for 364 days you figure out ways to win this game, along with all the others. But we have another game to play, so we have to regroup and try to get 10 wins. That would be a huge success for this team. To get 10 wins with such a young team — starting six freshmen, redshirt freshmen, a true freshman quarterback, a redshirt freshman running back, and three redshirt freshman offensive linemen — we have to regroup as a team and make sure we do that.”

On the Run-Heavy First Half

“You always want to be balanced. When something starts working, you lean on it. The first run of the game was a big one, so you lean on that more. That wasn’t the plan — we wanted to be balanced — but when the run game is successful, that’s what you want to do. We didn’t do a good enough job with it in the second half.”

“When you get down at certain times, you have to throw it. That’s just what the game became.”

On Losing the Battle at the Line of Scrimmage

“I thought we would have been better at stopping the run. Late in the game they did a good job of leaning on us. We didn’t do a good enough job stopping the run. Credit to them. I’m not taking anything away from how they played. They played well.”

On QB Bryce Underwood’s First Experience in The Game

“I want him to feel the feeling he has right now. That will motivate him enough to be as good as he can be. That stinging feeling he has — and all the players and coaches have — embrace that feeling from this loss, and it will motivate you throughout the year.”

On the Officiating: J-Sean and the Jeremiah Smith Touchdown

“The official grabbed J-Sean with two hands and he reacted. He shouldn’t have reacted, but the official grabbed him. That was a penalty. As for the Jeremiah Smith play, they said he had control of it. It didn’t look like he had control, but it’s not my decision. They told me it was inconclusive and that he made the catch, so the call would be upheld.”

On the Impact of the Jeremiah Smith Touchdown Call

“It was a big piece. We start the game with a pick throwing at Jeremiah Smith, and at that point it was 6–3. If that’s a touchback, that gives us a little momentum. It was a big moment, but we have to do the other things. We have to do the other things in the other spots to win.”