CSU's Jay Norvell on Michigan: 'This a good football team'
Michigan hammered Colorado State, 51-7, in the opener Saturday, using stifling defense and methodical offense to beat the Rams. CSU head coach Jay Norvell, in his first year as head coach, gave credit where it was due after watching U-M dismantle his team.
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The Rams played hard, but they were simply overmatched. The Michigan pass defense and pass rush was swarming, shutting down quarterback Clay Millen and the CSU ‘air raid’ attack. Colorado State finished with only 219 total yards and allowed 440 in defeat.
“This is a good football team,” Norvell said of Michigan. “I thought we did some good things. The game was pretty much penalty-free on our side of the ball. And I was proud that Clay took care of the ball offensively, for the most part, he had one bad read in the game where he didn’t really see the roll of the coverage.
“But for a guy playing in his first game, I thought he did a lot of good things. He threw for 16-of-20 and saw open receivers, delivered the ball pretty good.”
His one big mistake, an interception by sophomore safety Rod Moore, led to a field goal.
But Millen was harassed all day. Michigan got to him for seven sacks and plenty more pressures. That he completed 80 percent of his passes — most underneath the defense — was surprising. He simply couldn’t do enough damage to keep up with the U-M offense.
“We didn’t execute on third down when we had to, to keep the chains moving,” Norvell said. “And that’s what good defenses do — they did that all last year. They’re very talented, they have good players up front.
“We were concerned [going in],” Norvell said. “We had a bunch of new guys playing up front — the offensive line never played together. And they made some plays on us. They sacked us a couple of times, we got behind in the score, as well. So — it is what it is.”
On the other side of the ball, the Michigan line was leaky, at times. Veterans Ryan Hayes (precaution) and Karsen Barnhart (out early with an ankle) were out, and the makeshift line wasn’t always in synch.
They got better as the game progressed, however.
“We got some pressure, but overpowered at times,” Norvell said. “I thought late in the game, their offensive line started leaning on us, and we got overpowered a couple of times in our line. But, overall, not discouraged about our guys at all.
“You know — this a good football team. They’re pretty different than everybody else on our schedule. So, I’m proud of our players. I think we’re doing a lot of good things, and a lot of things right. If we continue to do those things, we’re going to see improvement as we go through the year.”
