Hoke: 'As Far As Where This Team's At, I'm Excited About It'

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

CBS DETROIT - Michigan head coach Brady Hoke stayed positive Monday, undoubtedly not the easiest task considering how convincingly Notre Dame stomped the Wolverines over the weekend.

"We've got to execute a little better, but as far as where this team's at, I'm excited about it," Hoke said in his weekly press conference. "We understand that our goals are still out there, and now we've got to turn to Miami [Ohio] and be back at home with our students and the Michigan fans and go back to work.

"Our goal is to win the Big Ten championship, so that's out there," Hoke added. "Now, do we have to get better and work hard? Yeah, we do."

Notre Dame shut out the Wolverines, 31-0, and it was the first time Michigan had been blanked since 1984. Irish quarterback Everett Golson threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns.

"From a defensive standpoint, there were some things that we need to be tighter on, some technique issues that we've got to clean up," Hoke said. "Sometimes that happens when guys get in certain environments, where your fundamentals and techniques are everything. I thought we lost that, and some of it is the environment you're in.

"The biggest thing for us defensively, we have not created any opportunities for our offense," Hoke continued. "We haven't created field position, we haven't created any turnovers, and that's as much as anything. So what's the mean, we're not hitting the quarterback enough? Some of it's that - not forcing bad throws, not playing tight enough on those bad throws."

Of course, the offense did not look too hot either. Quarterback Devin Gardner completed 19 of 32 passes for 189 yards, threw three interceptions and finished the game with a ghastly passer rating of 31.1.

"He understands and realizes that when he's going to run the ball we've got to have better ball security, he understands that as he pre-snap reads something there's also a progression from there that he's got to do a better job with," Hoke conceded, "but he also made about five throws in there that were pretty special."

Hoke understands fans are frustrated but said the real supporters of the program will not bail based on the team's struggles.

"If they're truly fans, they'll believe in these kids and what they've done and the hard work that they've put in," Hoke said. "If they're not, they won't."