Noteworthy comments from Jim Harbaugh’s pre-Maryland press conference

Now that the non-conference slate has ended, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and his 2022 team are now focused squarely on the Big Ten slate. Here’s what Harbaugh had to say about that, as well as a number of other topics:

On what he’s seen from Maryland on film – “Really good play-makers, quarterback’s playing outstanding, doing a really good job of protecting him and he’s making a lot of plays — in the pocket, out of the pocket. Overall, it’s just a really good offense.”

On pass-protection struggles – “There’s been some times where we’ve gotten beat on a one-on-one matchup, this game, the game before. You’re striving for perfection but sometimes — well, probably all the time, you don’t get perfection. You hope to obtain excellence.”

On who will replace Cade McNamara as the backup quarterback – “Davis Warren, Alan Bowman, Alex Orji, seeing very good things from them in practice and when they’ve gotten into the games. I think we’ve got good confidence in all three.”

On the receivers improving their blocking skills – “The way he’s (Ronnie Bell) blocking is at an elite level. So is Cornelius Johnson, Roman Wilson, Andrel Anthony, it’d probably be a battle on who’s our best blocker. But it’s showing up in the perimeter. Perimeter game is at a new level for us and you’ve seen that in the ballgames that we’ve been playing.”

On the lack of penalties thus far – “There’s been a high emphasis put on it, a good example would be the way the defense hits a quarterback. Every time we’ve had free runners, they do a great job of keeping it in the strike zone, keeping their head out of it. Just really focusing on the technique and to the best of your ability doing your job without getting those penalties.”

On the performance of the defense to start the year – “The best thing about our defense when I look at them is just the way guys are getting off blocks. They’re getting off blocks and making tackles. The upfront games and twists have been really good, it’s fun to watch. 14 guys I think have gotten [tackles for loss] out of the 18 TFLs we’ve had.”

On Blake Corum – “Yeah looking at Blake, he was just so good when he got here. He’s always maintained an impeccable approach to the game, but I think he’s added a few pounds this offseason, but it’s all strength, all lean muscle mass. But there’s probably no better example of selflessness than Blake Corum, he’s a tremendous worker and a tremendous leader.”