Greg Schiano previews Michigan week following Wednesday's practice
With an upcoming matchup against No. 2 Michigan on Saturday, head coach Greg Schiano discussed what he has seen from his team through the first three games, including the breakout play from running back Kyle Monangai.
“I think Kyle’s always been physical and learned to be a little more patient with the play,” Schiano said. “Hats off to Coach Ciarrocca and Shaw for getting them to understand the play. There’s different levels to understanding run plays and I think Kyle is at another level right now.”
Monangai is coming off a performance against Virginia Tech where he racked up 143 yards on 16 carries and scored three touchdowns. Monangai currently leads the Big Ten (sixth nationally) with 357 yards and was recently named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.
“I’m very proud of the way Kyle’s worked to develop into the running back that he is,” Schiano added. “I think he’s a perfect example of what can happen in our program if you come here and sell out for the program.”
Schiano also talked about what he has seen from his tight ends and explained why they have not been used in the offense as much as some might have thought.
“We haven’t thrown the ball quite that much anyway,” he said. “As blockers, I think we’re much improved. We have a long way to go, but you can see where it’s positively influenced plays.”
Defensive lineman Aaron Lewis is also coming off a quality outing where he made eight total tackles, three solo, and a key sack that prevented the Hokies from making it a three-point game early in the fourth quarter.
“He’s always a very productive player but there’s some weeks where he just jumps off the tape and last week he did that,” Schiano said. “This is a guy we need to play at a high level because he has those kinds of abilities.”
In addition, Schiano talked about the difficulty of going into a place like Ann Arbor and coming away with a victory.
“It’s definitely tough when you go play in a hostile stadium with many people,” he said. “But I don’t think that’s an issue, I think it’s more up here. You have to be able to chop the moment and stay in that moment.”
Schiano also discussed what he has seen from the duo of Deion Jennings and Tyreem Powell and how they have developed into important cogs in their defense.
“He’s really developed into a very good player and one that we rely on,” Schiano said regarding Jennings. “He’s a phenomenal special teams player and, if he wasn’t such a key ingredient to our defense, we would use him on every one of the special teams.
I think Tyreem picked up right where he left off. I think he’s a better player this year than he was last year and I thought he was a really good player last year.”
As for the return game, Schiano does not anticipate the game plan to change much considering the level of special teams his squad will face on Saturday.
“I would say that we haven’t even really had a return game,” he said. “We’ve fair caught every kick-off and I would anticipate that’s going to happen this week.”
Schiano also offered his well-wishes to defensive line coach Marquise Watson who has been absent from the team since opening day with an illness, along with where things stand regarding the Naseim Brantley situation.
“Obviously coach isn’t with us so we keep him in our prayers, I’m hopeful he’ll be able to recover fully and come back to join us,” he said. “Naseim, I just hope that it works out the way it should. I’m not saying that just because it’s our guy, I believe if you look at it from a neutral standpoint he should be allowed to play.”
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