Michigan football bolstered into the top five in the AP Top 25 Poll after defeating Colorado State last Saturday, 51-7. The Wolverines are sitting comfortably with a No. 4 ranking, but there are still 11 games left on the schedule and the maize and blue will be tasked to take on Hawaii this upcoming Saturday.
The Wolverines did score 51 points, so the offense did what it needed to do, even after stalling in the red zone three different times which led to three field goals. But the most impressive thing about Michigan when it faced the Rams was the defense.
As everyone knows, Michigan lost key starters to a top defense from 2021, but the maize and blue have so many players that have experience. Michigan started a brand new defensive line in its first game last Saturday with the exception of Mazi Smith, but mostly everyone that played does have experience thanks to the rotation that the Wolverines do with the defense.
The Wolverines compiled seven sacks and 11 tackles-for-loss against Colorado State. After the game, edge defender Mike Morris said that the Wolverines had a chip on their shoulder and he said that Michigan has plenty of edge players that can play winning football.
On Tuesday, Jaylen Harrell — who got the start against the Rams — shared similar sentiments. He said that there really is a chip on their shoulder, but the main goal for the defense is to keep improving every day which will lead to the defense in a position to be great.
“Yeah, like you said the chip there is actually a chip and a lot of buzz about this then the third about who to replace,” said Harrell. “We all have been saying like we’re not trying to replace no one, who’s trying to get better each and every day. But our chemistry rushing the passer, stop the run, whatever it may be. The main goal is keep getting better each and every week, putting our defense in the best position to be great.”
Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter did a great job against the Rams in disguising plays. The Wolverines did a great job getting to Millen when it blitzed, but the amazing thing was, how many times Michigan was able to get to the Rams’ quarterback when just rushing four guys. Harrell said that he thought the four-man rushes were good, but he also thinks that Michigan could have finished better than what it did getting to Millen. That’s a big statement since the Wolverines did rack up seven sacks.
“Four man rush wise I thought we were getting back there as well,” said Harrell. “But like I said we could have I feel like we all could have finished a little better. Yeah, we left some rushes out there for the quarterback could feel us. But overall pretty good. Pretty good debut for us as a defensive pass rush.”
When rotating so many young players in and out of the game, the worry comes in externally, will it bother anyone? Of course, everyone wants to play, but a ton of teams will feature three-to-four guys and Michigan featured seven or eight players. But linebacker Kalel Mullings says its fun to the team when they see so many players making plays on defense. He gives credit to the coaches for allowing different players to earn an opportunity.
“Yeah, I mean, you know, last year, we had so many amazing players that left,” said Mullings. “And I feel like there’s a defense and as a team, there was, you know, external pressure and internal pressure as well to kind of replace that. And it also gave a lot of us the opportunity to step up and replace it as well. And I feel like coach Minter and the whole defensive staff has given us the opportunity to make plays and to step up to get home get sacks, get ball disruption. And, you know, we all saw on Saturday, so many guys getting home and getting sacks. You know, it’s just fun to do. It’s fun to see it’s fun to be a part of, and it’s just fun in general.”
Even though Michigan lost some key cogs to the defensive unit from 2021, the Wolverines have young and hungry talent returning in 2022. Mullings was asked about the difference between the 2022 team compared to last year. Speed was noticeable, and Mullings says that Michigan has some burners on the defensive side of the ball. He sees it on the perimeter and he has been seeing it since camp.
“And I feel like it definitely shows up on the perimeter,” said Mullings. “You know, perimeter plays in practice, and all throughout fall camp, you just see it all over film guys burning to the ball. Backside players making plays that you’re like, oh my goodness, how is he even in the shot? And I feel like it’s gonna help us a lot. Just having extremely, extremely athletic guys and extremely fast guys all over the field. Who doesn’t? Who doesn’t want that? I mean, it’s gonna be great for us.”
The Wolverines will take the field this Saturday against Hawaii at 8 p.m. EDT on Big Ten Network.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbzardvge799bm2 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=62414]