Jay Harbaugh praises 'constant chaos' from defense as Michigan shutout UNLV in 1st half

Jay Harbaugh, eldest son of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, finished his career as the head coach of the Wolverines with a lead in hand. But before Harbaugh handed off his interim head coaching duties to Mike Hart at halftime — the duo are filling in for the school-suspended head coach — he spoke with CBS sideline reporter Jenny Taft.

Leading 21-0 against UNLV, there wasn’t much for Harbaugh to pick on. The defensive line had caused havoc and quarterback J.J. McCarthy finished completing 17-of-18 attempts with a touchdown to boot.

“Really happy with how we played, especially the defensive front. Just constant chaos up front. A few TFLs, five sacks if I’m correct and love the way the quarterback is playing, so we gotta keep it up,” Harbaugh said.

Taft asked Harbaugh what his message to Hart would be as the running backs coach took over head coaching duties for the third and fourth quarters.

Harbaugh kept it simple and referenced something his dad — or “head coach Harbaugh” — frequently tells his Michigan team.

“Just be him, just like head coach Harbaugh always tells us: ‘Be yourself, be loose, have fun and great things will happen.'”

Hart didn’t let off the intensity as Michigan cruised in the second half

Michigan interim head coach Mike Hart lead the Wolverines in the second half against UNLV in Week 2. And as the Wolverines were cruising to a relatively easy victory, Hart shared his expectations for the fourth quarter with Taft.

Leading 35-0, Hart was rolling backups through the game. But the head coach for a half still wanted to see his team execute and finish strong.

“We just gotta finish strong. That’s what I keep telling them, just execute. Finish them game. Even though the twos are going in right now, we’ve gotta finish. Twos gotta get better, we gotta get better as a team,” Hart said.

Unfortunately for Hart, shortly after his interview, third-string quarterback Davis Warren threw an interception, sticking the defense into a quick-change situation.

Warren was in the game for Jack Tuttle, who had entered as the backup for McCarthy but got banged up on a long keeper. Hart shared a brief up date on Tuttle.

“Jack’s doing alright. He’s in the tent right now. He got up, he told me he was fine when he walked across the field. Late hit out of bounds, sometimes that stuff happens — it’s football,” Hart said.

And even with Tuttle likely done for the afternoon, Hart likes the quarterback options Michigan has got to roll out.

“We’re deep, we’ve got Davis Warren, we’ve got Jayden Denegal, we’ve got Alex Orji. So we got some guys we’re going to put in there and let play a little bit. “