Tag: Mazi Smith

‘I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface;’ Michigan continuing to strive for perfection

This team is peaking at the right time.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For once, Michigan is finally peaking at the right time, at the end of the season. Nothing exemplifies that more than the beatdown just put upon rival Ohio State, a team that’s boasted how much it’s owned the Wolverines in recent history.

As the maize and blue embark on a new journey, heading to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time, they’ll need to continue their high level of play, something they’re sure they’ll do.

Why though? One of the big reasons is because the bar has been set with the game vs. the Buckeyes. That said, as good as the defense looked, for instance, outside of one player, there’s still a lot of room for growth, junior defensive tackle Mazi Smith says.

“Always keep going,” Smith said. “I don’t think I’ve scratched the surface. I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface. The only person probably scratched the surface on what they can do is Aidan. I just think we keep getting better every game and keep getting more dominant and more dominant.”

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Even with the win over OSU, this team isn’t satisfied. There’s still a lot of work to do, and the potential for three more games — two are guaranteed.

The defense, and the team, are chasing perfection, and they’re still not there yet — either in actual play on the field, or in acquiring the results they hope to achieve.

“The sky’s the limit for all of us,” Smith said. “We’ve all got a lot of talent. We’re all working hard on what we’ve gotta do to get better every day, but on the tape, we haven’t played perfect. That was close. The last game was the closest that we played to perfect, but it was still imperfect, there was a lot to clean up. So, that’s what we’re striving for — perfection.”

For Smith, this is exactly what you want.

It’s a hungry team that wants more, a team that has, thus far, hit the 11-win mark for the first time since 2011, with a chance for 12 on Saturday — a number reached once: in 1997, when the Wolverines won the national championship. Should this team continue to improve, as Smith said, ‘the sky’s the limit.’

“It’s exciting because we done won a lot of games and we haven’t played as clean as we’re supposed to do yet,” Smith said. “So, we’re still striving. Put it all together.”

Of course, to reach that number, which isn’t a plateau even, Michigan has to avoid a letdown in Indianapolis. Smith is convinced that it won’t be. Why? Because in past years, the Wolverines would be sitting at home at this juncture, having lost to Ohio State. This year is different because the team has already met one goal, and the next comes with a win on Saturday.

“It wasn’t the end of the season,” Smith said. “A lot of times in the past, that’s been the last game we played. But we’ve got another one. Now we’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do to beat Iowa.”

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Camp buzz: 5 Michigan players who have increased 2021 playing time

If you don’t know these guys as of yet, you will soon! #GoBlue

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Sometimes we get some inside intel where we’ll get a good idea of who has been emerging in fall camp. Other times, we can make informed opinions based off what we’ve heard in media availability. This is a case of the latter.

With all of the fall camp press conferences now in the books as Michigan football moves onto game week, you can gather who will be big contributors based on either what the coaches are saying or their teammates. Likewise, if a player actually speaks with the media, that’s as sure of a sign as possible that they’ll see the field early and often.

With that in mind, here are our five candidates to see the field a lot more in 2021 than they ever have before in Ann Arbor.

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3 Wolverines that teammates expect to breakout in 2021

The first one is particularly tantalizing! #GoBlue

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INDIANAPOLIS; DETROIT — Every year, unless something goes horribly awry, every college football team will have at least one player by the end of the season that fans didn’t know much about who will become something of a household name.

While it’s always something of a mystery — sometimes it’s a true freshman who arrives on campus during the summer, thus there’s little prior knowledge as to their in-season ceiling — usually, we can gather some kind of idea, based on the hype they’re getting in the offseason. That’s because the work is put in the spring and summer months, and it shows come the fall.

“I feel like we’ve won half the battle. Now we’ve gotta win the second half of the battle,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said at Big Ten media days. “I always look at an offseason that way. The offseason is half the battle, you gotta win that, you gotta get your best possible team to training camp and then you go about winning the second half of the battle.”

With that in mind, when WolverinesWire asked Michigan LB Josh Ross and EDGE Aidan Hutchinson at Big Ten media days, as well as OT Andrew Stueber at the TUFF event in Detroit, all three said some common names as to who they anticipate will be shining stars by the end of the 2021 season.

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What Shaun Nua sees in Michigan’s defensive line struggles

The Michigan football defensive line hasn’t generated nearly as much pressure as usual and the team DL coach discusses why.

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Currently mired in a three-game losing streak, the program’s longest in a single-season since dropping their final three games of the 2017 campaign, there is more than just a singular issue plaguing Michigan football.

One of the most glaring, however, has been the lack of pressure generated by the defensive line. After posting five sacks in the season-opening victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Oct. 24, the Wolverines have totaled just one sack in the last three games, which came in the loss to the Wisconsin Badgers on Nov. 14.

Second-year defensive line coach Shaun Nua, who joined Jim Harbaugh’s staff after one season under Herm Edwards with the Arizona State Sun Devils, appeared on the Inside Michigan Football radio show with Jon Jansen on Monday to discuss his young – and banged up – position group and where they go from here.

Prior to embarking on his coaching career as an intern with BYU in 2009, Nua played for the Cougars from 2003-05 and spent three seasons on National Football League rosters with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills, meaning he can relate to the frustration his players are feeling.

“You rely on the leadership that you have from your coaches, to the leaders on your team, especially your teammates, people that have your best interest,” Nua said. “It’s very, very easy, for times like this, for you to be very, very down and depressed and start pointing fingers. Truth is, it’s very simple, you just go the mirror and look in there and see what you can do better. That’s probably the main thing I learned through all the adversity as a player and now as a coach, it holds true then, and it still holds true now.

“What can you do as an individual to get better? What can I do as a coach to help my guys? What can I do as a coach to help the other coaches? That’s kind of my focus right now, just dig deep, humble yourself, and figure out what the heck is going on.”

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While not completely absolving the defensive line for their struggles, Nua’s young men have been hit particularly hard by the injury bug.

The team’s starting defensive ends, junior Aidan Hutchinson and senior Kwity Paye, are presently sidelined. The former left the game against the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington on Nov. 7 with a fracture in his right leg and will likely miss the remainder of the season, while the latter was unavailable for the Wisconsin contest due to a reported groin injury.

“Anytime you lose players the caliber of those two, you want to change, but you don’t want to change too much, not in a panic mode,” Nua said. “You still got to have faith in the guys that are up next, you know, next guy up mentality, but at the same time, the hardest part, you lose two leaders. That’s probably just as much of them as players.

“The challenge now falls, not just on the players that are stepping up, but myself to make sure, not only their mindset is right, but that they know what they’re doing so that way they can perform at a higher level.

“Losing those two definitely is a challenge, but I also look at is as an opportunity for guys like (redshirt sophomore) Taylor Upshaw, all the younger guys, (redshirt junior) Luiji Vilain, (redshirt freshman) Gabe Newburg, for those guys to step up and see what they can do. That’s what we’re going through right now.”

With Hutchinson and Paye out of action, redshirt senior Carlo Kemp slid out from his normal tackle spot to end against the Badgers. As Nua shared, having an experienced player with this type of versatility is a luxury and someone the younger guys can learn from.

“It means the world because it’s a very sensitive thing,” he said. “Does that mean you have lesser faith in the guys that were there? No, it’s just you want to put the best players on the field, and we have good faith in (Christopher) Hinton and (Donovan) Jeter inside, and Kemp was the next best guy.

“To have him, it’s not like he hasn’t played the position before, he played it two years ago, so, it was almost like an easy move for us to say, ‘OK, we’re playing Wisconsin, let’s get some bigger bodies out there.’

“He did a heck of a job getting the plays down, especially the technique and the fundamentals to play on that edge, he did a good job.”

One of the few positive takeaways from the 38-point loss to Wisconsin, which was the program’s worst home defeat in nearly 85 years, was the extended action some of the younger ends saw, particularly Upshaw and Vilain. Nua took a moment to comment on what he saw from some of his less experienced student-athletes.

“Obviously, not good enough for us to win, but very, very encouraging to see them get in there and make some plays,” he said. “Taylor (Upshaw) did a great job of taking advantage of some of the plays that came his way and made some plays. The experience they get is invaluable, it’s constantly strengthening their foundation of them continuing to become better players.

“Unfortunately, their time has come a lot faster than we thought with Kwity (Paye) and Aidan (Hutchinson) being out, but it’s still a good opportunity for all of them. Guys like Gabe Newburg, Taylor Upshaw, Luiji Vilain, huge, huge opportunity for them to get better, get some experience.”

Paye was in sweats on the sideline on Nov. 14, but Nua remained vague when Jansen asked about when fans will see him back on the field.

“Hopefully, as soon as possible. The sooner, the better, and I know he’s working his butt off trying to get back as fast as possible.

“His influence on these guys is very, very high, they respect him a lot. I told him, ‘Do not shy away during the game, you’re basically one of the coaches now, go help out, whatever you see, help out the guys on the edges.’

“And that’s exactly what he did because his experience is invaluable for us. He did a good job communicating with the guys on the sideline and it was fun to watch him see the game from that perspective. Hopefully, we get him soon.”

Transitioning to the interior of the line, Nua laid out the plan for steady improvement for sophomore Christopher Hinton, redshirt junior Donovan Jeter, and redshirt freshman Mazi Smith.

“Consistency,” Nua said. “Especially with Jeter and Chris Hinton, consistency is my biggest challenge to them, consistently dominant the middle.

“We all know we’re not there yet, so, the challenge for them is consistency. Mazi Smith and (redshirt junior) Jess Speight, they don’t have a lot of experience in there, so, that’s what they need. Whatever reps they get is huge for their development.

“The two veteran guys, Hinton and Jeter, the challenge for them is to consistently be dominant, and be more dominant in the middle.”

The next chance for the defensive line to generate some pressure and build some confidence among the fans will come on Saturday against Greg Schiano’s Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-3) at 7:30 p.m. EST on the Big Ten Network.

Rutgers is averaging just 328.8 yards per game, a total that ranks No. 104 among Football Bowl Subdivision programs, and has surrendered eight sacks, suggesting this matchup could be exactly what Nua’s group needs.

Shaun Nua sees multiple players stepping up on interior DL

With the 2020 season around the corner, Michigan football DL coach Shaun Nua shared who’s been emerging at defensive tackle.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Perhaps one of the biggest concerns heading into 2020 for Michigan football has been who would step up on the interior defensive line. But to hear the staff talk about it, it’s sounding more like a strength than a weakness.

Going into a season with virtual unknowns is always a reason for fan anxiety, at least, and the Wolverines haven’t had solid push in the front-middle since Mo Hurst departed after the 2017 season. However, it appears there are several contenders in the middle who have made a strong impression this offseason.

Meeting with the media on Wednesday, defensive line coach Shaun Nua broke down the contenders, starting with a former five-star in Christopher Hinton — a player many anticipate could start opposite returning tackle Carlo Kemp.

“Hinton’s limited experience last year is definitely helping him,” Nua said. “Now he’s not playing like a sophomore. His footwork is a lot faster now. His knowledge and understanding of the game – even though it was at a good place is now at a better place, anticipating stuff. Those are the guys inside – Jeter, Carlo, Hinton, Julius Welschof, Mazi Smith is coming along, along with Jess Speight, Phillip Paea. They’re all doing good.

“The younger guys, especially Mazi Smith – I see the progress more than he does. It’s good and bad. It’s good that I see the progress that he’s – he wants to arrive already, but it’s a good problem to have from his point of view. He’s a competitive young man that has completely changed his body frame, and now he’s at a level where he’s really, really close to having that breakout experience right now.

“I feel really good with our inside guys. They’re fighting – it’s gonna be some good battles.”

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One player who has risen like a phoenix from the ashes this offseason is a German-born player who flipped not long before the 2018 class’ signing day in defensive end-turned-tackle Julius Welschof.

Welschof reported to campus at 253-pounds his freshman year, but is now up to 286 — further enabling his move inside. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said of him on his Monday radio show, “Keep an eye on him. He’s coming into his own.”

Furthermore, the 6-foot-6 tackle has frequently been mentioned on Twitter by Don Brown, having earned the coveted ‘dude of the day’ award from the Michigan defensive coordinator after practice on Sept. 14 and Aug. 21, as well as being ‘not a dude, but a guy’ on Sept. 10.

So why the sudden emergence? Nua explains.

“Julius Welschof is just experienced – the game of football wasn’t instilled in him at a young age,” Nua said. “The things he needed was a lot of repetition and the COVID time off, it was probably useful for him, especially to get into the playbooks and study. And then the next thing, the next step, was to get a feel for how to play the game to get his football instincts intact.”

With that in mind, we can project that either Donovan Jeter — who also earned considerable hype from Nua — and/or Christopher Hinton will be the tackle to start alongside Carlo Kemp. But expect to see Welschof and Jess Speight — the former walk-on who started against Alabama — to get in early and often while Mazi Smith and Phillip Paea continue to emerge in the defensive middle.

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Jim Harbaugh: Michigan’s defensive identity in 2020 starts up front

Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh shares why the DL is the team’s defensive identity and who’s standing out in the linebacking corps

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What’s kept Michigan from being as dominant the past two years defensively as it was the three previous?

The Wolverines are still in the upper echelon of college football in terms of total defense — meaning, yards surrendered per game — but 2018 and 2019 have seen some serious lapses, particularly against Ohio State. Still, the maize and blue have finished no worse than No. 11 in that metric since Jim Harbaugh arrived, but there has to be a reason why it hasn’t been able to keep pace with the Buckeyes, right?

One part of it certainly could be the lack of push up front. In 2016, Michigan had eight sacks against OSU. In 2017, it had three. But in 2018 it had zero and managed just one in 2019.

So to say that the defensive line needs to improve, particularly in that game, it wouldn’t be terribly novel of an idea.

Thankfully, it appears that’s the defense’s strength heading into 2020, as Harbaugh told Jon Jansen on the Inside Michigan Football radio show that he feels the defensive front is that side of the ball’s identity — starting with the two ends up front.

“I think if you can picture – I know you can picture it, but Kwity Paye and Aidan Hutchinson – two — wow,” Harbaugh said. “Tremendous players and they’re having great camps. I kinda look over at them and I see the identity for our defense in those two. Really talented, great, high-effort kind of players. Carlo Kemp and Chris Hinton – and now Donovan Jeter also is really surging and doing great. Such a natural and good football player. And Jess Speight, total Michigan man. Talk about position switches and a guy who will do anything for the team — In there playing nose.

“Also, Luiji Vilain, looking for him to have a very good year. Taylor Upshaw is surging as a player. Also say Julius Welschof, keep an eye on him. He’s coming into his own. Mike Morris, Mazi Smith, Gabe Newburg – really turning into great football players.

“That group of defensive linemen – a lot of identity coming out of that group.”

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Michigan will need more than the front four in order to get the defense back in the top four, nationally, in 2020.

Behind them are two household names in Josh Ross and Cam McGrone, but there’s a newcomer, in terms of starting, in VIPER Michael Barrett — a former quarterback in high school.

Starting with Barrett, Harbaugh broke down the linebackers, including who could spell the starters as the game wears on. All-in-all, he appears happy with the depth.

“He’s a rock-solid guy,” Harbaugh said. “Tough competitor and experienced player. Feeling very good about the linebacking position with Michael Barrett, Josh Ross and Cam McGrone. And some other players are behind them. Ben VanSumeren is looking for, competing for a starting spot at the SAM backer, along with David Ojabo. Adam Shibley has really surged here the last couple months and is doing a great job at the MIKE position. He’s got versatility to play both MIKE and WILL. Outstanding young player.

“Anthony Solomon is a sophomore, but he’s doing a heckuva good job. The two freshmen to really look at are inside backer Nikhai Hill-Green and Kalel Mullings — both doing really well, especially for only being freshmen. So starters and depth are being developed there at the linebacker position. Jaylen Harrell – make another note, right there with Nikhai Hill-Green and Kalel Mullings standing out as freshmen – Jaylen Harrell is doing that as well.”

We’ll see all of the above in action in mere weeks, with the season opener at Minnesota kicking off on Oct. 24 at 7:30 P.M. EDT. The game will be nationally televised on ABC.

With new faces in rotation, Kwity Paye expects DL to be ‘phenomenal’ in 2020

Senior Kwity Paye shares who he thinks will be ready to take a massive step forward in the upcoming season.

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Entering last season, one of the big questions was how a new look defensive line would look under a brand new position coach in Ann Arbor.

It answered the call, exceeding many’s expectations, but things reset year-to-year. Despite returning Shaun Nua as the D-line coach and three of four starters, without an obvious 3-technique defensive tackle now that Michael Dwumfour has transferred to Rutgers for his fifth-year, questions return.

However, if you ask senior end Kwity Paye, there’s no question. The line is going to be good, if not great.

Asked about the state of the defensive line by Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast, Paye shared why he’s enthusiastic about the group, including one who he anticipates to be the new starter in the middle.

“I think our D-line is gonna be phenomenal this year,” “We got Chris Hinton – he started some games last year – but I feel like he’s coming into his own. Being a true freshman as a 3-tech that’s nothing easy, being in the trenches. I feel like him having experience last year and coming into his own this year, he’ll step up big time. Me and Aidan off the edge – arguably the best duo in the country. So we’re just gonna come back and do our thing.

“Carlo Kemp, a leader on the D-line, he’s gonna come in and give it all he got. You saw last year, he played most games injured. There were some days where he was struggling to walk but he still a leader and wanted to come into the game. He gave it his all.”

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But it’s not just the starting caliber players that Paye is eager to see.

Though he never got the glimpse he had hoped to get with spring ball, as it was canceled less than a week before it was set to begin due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are a lot of fresh faces that Paye anticipates will take a massive step forward in 2020. Some are names that have been discussed — at WolverinesWire, we’ve been anxious to see Luiji Vilain take the field, while players midseason often mentioned freshman David Ojabo as coming along nicely. While others he mentions are relatively newer names.

“I’m so excited for our D-line, because we have some ballers behind us,” Paye said. “We’ve got Luiji Vilain, we’ve got (David) Ojabo who’s gonna come off – an athletic freak. Gabe (Newburg)’s huge! I don’t know what he was doing down there in quarantine, but I seen Gabe yesterday and he was just huge. Oh my God! I’m excited for our guys. Mazi Smith. Phill (Paea).

“I feel like with spring ball being lost, it was kind of a bummer, because I was excited for those guys to shine and get some more reps and work on their craft a little bit more. But we’re gonna start a player-led something soon, so we’ll catch them up.”

If the season goes on as scheduled, Michigan football fans will be able to get a glimpse of the revamped defensive line come Sept. 5, when the Wolverines travel to Seattle to take on Washington.

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Who Michigan can expect to see up front defensively in 2020

There are a lot of questions about who the Wolverines will use on the defensive interior in 2020, but Brown feels the whole line is stacked.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — If there’s an area of consternation for Michigan fans as the season approaches, the defensive interior is among the chief concerns.

The Wolverines return Carlo Kemp for a surprise fifth-year, but with Michael Dwumfour’s transfer to Rutgers this offseason, there isn’t a known commodity to line up next to him. Plus, the maize and blue didn’t bring in any defensive tackles in an otherwise solid 2020 recruiting class.

That means that Michigan will be relying heavily on a new starter with little experience. But there’s certainly some upside to the players who should be in rotation.

Somehow, many forget about two of the players who will be a large part of what the Wolverines do up front in 2020: former five-star Christopher Hinton and fourth-year tackle Donovan Jeter.

Given that he was an early-enrollee, Michigan native Mazi Smith tends to get the bulk of the attention from the fanbase, but he got little time in 2019. He’ll also be a part of the rotation, defensive coordinator Don Brown says, but with the other two, there’s a lot of reasons to expect them to play a big part this upcoming season. Jeter was highly anticipated as a freshman until he tore his ACL in the offseason. He hadn’t quite returned to form even last year, but he got some playing time. Hinton was worked in slowly and started the bowl game against Alabama with both Dwumfour and Kemp out with injury.

Brown says that late-season experience should help that duo be a major part of what the Wolverines do up front in 2020 — along with the aforementioned Smith.

“When they look back on it, they ended up having to play at the end of the year due to injuries at tackle and at nose,” Brown said. “That’s only gonna end up paying dividends for them moving forward. It would have been nice if we could have had the ability to work in spring practice, but everybody was in that same scenario, so that’s just part of it. But we now have a chance, those guys played in two big games. Obviously, being able to play in a big game is an important piece, now we just need them to take it on an elite level in a big game.

“Christopher Hinton – I’m really excited about his potential. You mentioned Donovan Jeter. Mazi Smith is another guy as well. We think all of those guys, in evaluating and watching them in some of the winter workouts in the conditioning phases, I really feel like they’ve taken their game to the next level in terms of their physical ability, their ability to run.”

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Despite all the hyperbole and expectations out there, Brown looks at the interior defensive line and sees a net benefit.

The push up front, outside of the pass rushers, has been one of the things that Michigan has been somewhat lacking since Mo Hurst’s eligibility was exhausted, though that was one of the central tenets to the Wolverines defensive strategy.

What Brown sees is a group of defensive tackless who now have the bulk to be effective — something that wasn’t necessarily the case in recent years, to go along with the ability. It’s one thing to have solid technique up front, but if you’re undersized, going up against some of the nation’s top interior offensive linemen, it’s not going to do much good.

This group, however, has gotten to where it should be weight-wise, and Brown thinks that will pay dividends come fall.

“Sometimes things get said and the reality is they’re really out of context,” Brown said. “For example: when you have four down linemen, you want each one of those four guys to have the ability to run and hit people. Now obviously, there’s a degree of size in the tackle and the nose scenario. And we have that size. Jeter’s a 300-pounder. Mazi Smith is a 300-pounder. Chris Hinton is a 300-pounder. And all three of those guys are very athletic. We’re excited about them, and obviously we’re very excited to have Carlo Kemp come back because not only will he provide experience, he’ll provide that essence of leadership that we desperately need there. But I’m very confident in the guys we have inside.”

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While Michigan will essentially gain those players via productivity this upcoming season, it also lost a lot on the defensive line.

As mentioned, Dwumfour is gone. So are NFL draftees Josh Uche and Mike Danna — both pass rushers. While they have proven production that made them so successful at the college level, there’s another group waiting in the wings that haven’t had those types of numbers.

Yes, we know about the prowess of starting ends Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye, but Michigan’s success up front has had as much to do with the guys in the middle as it has constantly rotating the starting ends with capable reserves. We saw it in 2016 with starters Chris Wormley and Taco Charlton being spelled by eventual top-end draft picks Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary. The current starters — Paye and Hutchinson — had similar roles in 2018 when Winovich and Gary became the top guys.

Though ‘salt and pepper’ remain, replacing Uche, who was drafted by New England in the second-round this year, means some changes to how the scheme is run. Brown would note that it actually means returning to how the defense was formulated before Uche became a dominant force, which led to more 3-3-5 or 3-4-4 looks, given that he was technically a SAM linebacker.

With Uche’s departure, there are a number of players who are expected to be that next man up. Be it third-year former Florida commit Taylor Upshaw or the re-acclimating Canada native Luiji Vilain — who missed both of his first two seasons due to injury — as well as second-year end David Ojabo, a relative newcomer to football who Brown notes has a lot of similarities to Uche’s skill set.

Brown is excited to see how the group progresses once they’re able to get back onto the practice field given how much talent he has at his disposal.

“Now, last year, we had another set of circumstances,” Brown said. “Well, you’ve gotta play Josh Uche. And in that respect, we needed to play in some of our three-down, 3-3 stack-type structure to get that guy on the field especially on second and third down. And in some of our four down structures, we wanted him in some of the four down guys. I still think our defensive end scenario is really blessed, because we have Aidan, we have Kwity Paye. I’m very anxious to see how Ojabo does. Upshaw – Luiji Vilain in limited reps. I go back and watch Luiji play last year at times, and obviously he was hurt because Mike Danna was there. But, the bottom line is it’s his time now and he’ll have an opportunity to prove what he can do and I think we’re gonna get productive, solid play out of him as well.”

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