Exclusive Interview: Reggie Bush, Brady Quinn, Matt Leinart Preview Indiana-Michigan Matchup

Big Noon Kickoff analysts Reggie Bush, Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart give a players' perspective on what Indiana football needs to do to slow down No. 4-ranked Michigan. Watch the full exclusive interviews, or read the transcript summary of their best comments.

Haley Jordan | Oct 8, 2022

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In a special Hoosiers Now exclusive interview, Big Noon Kickoff analysts Reggie Bush, Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart previewed Indiana's homecoming matchup versus undefeated Michigan with reporter Haley Jordan.

For the first time, FOX's Big Noon Kickoff comes to Memorial Stadium. The crew will be posted up outside of the south entrance and encourages fans to come watch the show beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The FOX pre-game show is led by Reggie Bush, a former running back at USC and 10-season NFL player, Matt Leinart, former USC quarterback and 7-season NFL player and Brady Quinn, former Notre Dame quarterback and 7-season NFL player alongside sports commentator Rob Stone and former college and NFL football coach Urban Meyer.

In Friday's Big Noon Kickoff rehearsal, Bush, Leinart and Quinn used their knowledge from their decorated careers to analyze what needs to happen for Indiana (3-2) to compete with No. 4-ranked Michigan (5-0).

—On what Indiana needs to do to slow down Michigan...

BUSH: "They (Indiana) got to throw the kitchen sink at Michigan. They got to be creative in their play calling. The offensive coordinator needs to be extremely creative. They have to protect the football most importantly.

"I think in every team, every game I've ever played in and as far as I know, turnovers are the number one way to lose a football game, so for Indiana, you're at home, got the crowd behind you. It's your environment to keep the crowd into it, you got to make plays.

"Most importantly, if you protect the football, you're always going to give yourselves a chance.

"I want to say the defense should blitz a lot. They should not sit back and allow Michigan to dictate this football game to them. Indiana has to take the game to them. By that, I mean being aggressive on defense like I said blitzing, coming after the quarterback, trying to get him off his mark and first and foremost stopping the run game because that's what Michigan does well."

LEINART: "Turnovers on offense has been a big issue with the quarterback. That's always a key in games like this, especially when you're a heavy underdog, so if they can protect the football, and look defensively, they have to stop Blake Corum. Blake Corum has been outstanding this year, and they're going to run the football, and you got to force J.J. McCarthy to beat you throwing the ball."

QUINN: "I think this Michigan team is very well-rounded. The biggest thing is you got to find a way of stealing some possessions, so that's getting some turnovers if you can from J.J. McCarthy, doesn't have a ton of experience, right? It's his second road start.

"Offensively, you're going to have to create some big plays and throw the kitchen sink at them whether it's special teams, running some sort of gadget trick plays..."

—On how Michigan will attempt to shut down Indiana's defense...

BUSH: "This game is going to be very different for J.J. (McCarthy) because Indiana's pass defense has not been great, and so if I'm the offensive coordinator from Michigan, I'm trying to air it out. I want to see J.J. McCarthy at his best. I want to see him delivering the football down the field..."

—On what makes Michigan running back Blake Corum hard to defend...

BUSH: "Well, I think he's a natural fit for the position for one, and by that I mean it seems like it just comes to him naturally, the game. He's patient with his reads. Last week, I thought he was really patient just continuing to hit the holes and finally at the end of the game, he broke one and scored a touchdown.

"A lot of times, that's how the running back position is played. Sometimes you're going to see those players hit those big runs, those exciting runs. I had a bunch of those, but it's really about living in between those three and four-yard runs, being okay with that and still running the football and waiting for that big run to come."

LEINART: "He's really powerful. Really strong for an undersized back. He's shifty. He has all the traits great running backs have. He's got great vision, great feet. He's proven he can carry 30 times a game...He's a legit Heisman candidate for them."

—On what makes Indiana stand out from other campuses on Big Noon Kickoff...

LEINART: "It has every bit of a college feel. When we go to these places, the college towns are what make our shows so much fun for us to be there, the fans and all that. I know they're kind of coming off a tough loss and it hasn't been a particularly great season so far, but hopefully the fans come up and show up for their team and they show up for Big Noon. We're excited to be here."

—On J.J. McCarthy...

LEINART: "Yeah, he's young. I know exactly what that feels like when you're in a competition and you win but you're expected to perform especially at a place like Michigan where the expectation is really high, and they're coming off a season they went to the playoffs.

"J.J. is a great kid. He's a humble leader He's a super talented player, and he's showing so far this year why they named him the starter, and that's no disrespect to Cade McNamara who's a great player and leader for them, but J.J. just adds more to this team."

QUINN: "Really since J.J. McCarthy's taken over at starting quarterback, they haven't really unleashed him or let him push the ball downfield. He's struggled a little bit with his accuracy downfield, so I'll be curious to see if Jim Harbaugh takes this moment to allow J.J. McCarthy to open some things up in the passing game because they've basically been riding him on the back of Blake Corum in the ground attack.

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