Takeaways from Sherrone Moore’s pre-Wisconsin press conference

Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore met with the media Monday morning to preview the game this Saturday against Wisconsin (noon, FOX). Here is a recap of the key things he had to say.

• Moore kicked off the press conference by saying they worked on fundamentals over the bye week, including tackling and ball security. “Went back to the roots of the basics … we just focused on getting better.” He also mentioned the drops and creating competition in the wide receiver room.
• It sounds like the Wolverines are getting healthy, as Moore noted that left guard Giovanni El-Hadi, right guard Brady Norton and tight end Hogan Hansen are “in a good place” and they are “trending in the right direction” to be available vs Wisconsin this Saturday.
• Even when Norton comes back, he will have to earn his job back after some great play from redshirt freshman Jake Guarnera over the last couple weeks. Moore also mentioned Nathan Efobi as being a competitor at right guard, but that’ll be once El-Hadi returns from injury.
• Moore said he is “really proud” of center Greg Crippen for staying the course and sticking it out at Michigan even when he got passed up by a few guys. He had his best game of his college career two weeks ago at Nebraska, Moore noted.
• When asked about Erik “Soup” Campbell and Juan Castillo this offseason, Moore said he brought them in because of their experience level, but also because he’s known both of them for a long time. “Bring in guys that have experience that love this place that love our kids and want to help them at a high level.”
• When asked about younger guys standing out to him during the bye week, Moore brought up true freshmen wide receivers Andrew Marsh and Jamar Browder, as well as true freshman running back Jasper Parker. Defensively, Moore mentioned that the guy that’s stood out the most, surprisingly, is true freshman linebacker Nate Owusu-Boateng, who has yet to play in a game this season. “He’s back (from injury) and he’s feeling good. He was just in the backfield half the days and it was good to see him moving around.”
• Moore said right guard Jake Guarnera started to emerge as a legitimate starting contender in the spring. “You saw the evolution of him changing his body, changing his mentality … just getting the confidence that he can do it.”
• On the wide receiver drops, Moore said it’s all about where your eyes are when you make the catch. He also said many of the drops came from the receivers trying to make a move before the catch was secure. “The kids have done a really good job during the bye week and it’ll continue to be a focus as we go through the week.”
• Wisconsin has the top-ranked rush defense in the country, allowing about 50 yards per game. When asked about that, Moore noted it’s a team effort from the defensive line to the linebackers and defensive backs. “We’ve gotta be sound and go be able to execute our game plan the way I think we can.”
• Finally, true freshman offensive lineman Andrew Babalola had a “super successful” surgery, per Moore. “He’s in a great place.”