Shaun Nua – Page 3 – Syndication Server

Ben Mason back primarily to offensive side of ball for Michigan

The Wolverines coaching staff confirms that the quintessential football player is back primarily to the offensive side of the ball.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After an offseason and early season of experimentation with Ben Mason at the 3-technique, Michigan defensive line coach Shaun Nua confirmed on Wednesday that Mason is back primarily with the offense.

“Yup, majority fullback now,” Nua said.

We got our first look this season of Mason on offense — where he was for the entirety of his first two seasons in Ann Arbor — in the Week Four contest at Wisconsin. His sole carry, unfortunately, resulted in a fumble recovered by the Badgers near the goal line.

But, since, we’ve seen more and more of him on offense, and less and less on defense, though that hasn’t resulted in carries.

Actually, he’s come in less as a running back and solely as a fullback, blocking for those who would be ballcarriers.

So what enabled the move back to fullback, especially given that new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ system made it look like such a position would be obsolete in the more spread-focused attack?

“He’s a guy that has a skill set of moving people around and taking a person and putting him in a place he doesn’t want to be in terms of blocking,” running backs coach Jay Harbaugh said. “He’s able to do that in a variety of different ways. I think it speaks to the flexibility of the system in Coach Gattis’ offense, taking a guy like that, who had a very specific role in a very different scheme and finding ways to apply it. I think you’ll see that continue to grow as we move forward.”

The other question is why make the move from defense back to offense?

Harbaugh had little answers in that regard in terms of who made the actual decision. But, given what Mason is capable of on the offensive side of the ball, the move makes sense in his eyes.

“I’m not really sure,” Harbaugh said. “The only part I could say is that he has a very obvious skill set on our side of the ball in terms of being a really good blocker, having great contact courage, being able to run right through somebody without stopping his feet and play with good leverage and hands. That being part of it, obviously he has good hands. He can catch the ball, he can carry the ball. There’s those things that always kinda made him a natural fit, but besides that, I couldn’t really say.”

Harbaugh isn’t sure offhand where Mason is weight-wise after he spent the entire offseason bulking up to play on the defensive line.

Listed on MGoBlue.com as 270-pounds, assuredly a measurement taken before the season, Harbaugh is sure that Mason has shed a few pounds now that he’s returned to the offensive side of the ball, “Not by much, but I think a little bit (lighter), though.”

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Why Shaun Nua was ‘at peace’ heading into MSU game

Michigan’s defensive line coach shared why he was more relaxed heading into the game against State than any other rivalry he’s been in.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — They say of rivalry games to throw out the record books, that the perceived better team is going to get everything they can handle by its bitter enemy.

Yeah, about that.

On Saturday, the score was as lopsided as the records between Michigan and MSU, as the Wolverines handled the embattled Spartans with seeming ease.

On defense, it all started up front, with the defensive line consistently making MSU QB Brian Lewerke uncomfortable, despite having only gotten to him 3 times. But what’s it like for someone like DL coach Shaun Nua, who was just getting his first taste of the rivalry on Saturday? How do you prepare for the emotional component of a game like this when you’ve never taken part in it?

After having been through the game, a 44-10 drubbing by Michigan — Nua notes that the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy stand tall with some of the other notable rivalries he’s been a part of.

“Been in a lot (of rivalries),” Nua said. “The Army – Navy game, the Holy War: Utah – BYU, (Arizona) -Arizona State – this is right up there.”

But with a bevy of personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties between both teams, Nua said he didn’t know the tenor of the game until it was well underway.

Still, there was little trepidation he had going into the game, and a lot of that had to do with his unit’s focus and preparation.

“I think it’s when the first personal foul flag went up!” Nua said. “It was probably the most at-peace I’ve ever been going into a rivalry game. And that comes straight from the players. I felt that they were confident. And going into that game, I felt like, ‘I think we’ll be okay as long as we execute.’

“My main worry was the mental part, the emotional part. I think we had five flags and the D-line was responsible for four of them. I was like, ‘Crap! I did a bad job of explaining the emotional part of the game!’ But, we came out on top and it turned out well.”

One of those unsportsmanlike conduct penalties was assessed early to second-year defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, whose father — Chris Hutchinson — was a team captain and All-American in the late 1980s-early 1990s.

Upon getting flagged, Nua says he did have to settle the younger Hutchinson down, but that he loves seeing the aggression he had in this particular game.

“I did – a couple times,” Nua said. “But it’s good, it’s good to be passionate, just gotta control it.

“Aidan – in-state, been in this rivalry since he was born. So I understand where his passion comes from.”

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Shaun Nua breaks down the progress of his younger defensive linemen

What the Wolverines defensive line coach has seen from the D-line players who haven’t been in heavy rotation as of yet.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After lots of questions coming into the 2019 season, perhaps the most of any position group, the Michigan defensive line group has answered those and more, proving that it can be a dominant unit leading the psyche of the Wolverines defense.

Just two sacks shy of last year’s season total in 13 games — while that’s not entirely on the defensive line, given that the linebackers are also heavily involved — the production is certainly there, with Kwity Paye and Aidan Hutchinson among those leading the charge on that front.

But, what about the younger players on the team?

We know plenty about the aforementioned, but we’re starting to see some of the bumper crop get their opportunities late in games. Defensive coordinator Shaun Nua says that he really enjoys getting to work with the first and second-year players, because they’re eager and putting themselves in a position to be future contributors.

“Yes, yes – Mazi Smith, Hinton, Upshaw, Ojabo, Newburg – all those youngsters,” Nua said. “Because you see the progress. It gets frustrating with them sometimes, because they’re competitors as well. They want to do it right now. But they’re doing a great job and I’m excited. It’s fun.”

Beyond that, here’s everything Nua had to say about the younger generation of players, including Chris Hinton, Luiji Vilain, Donovan Jeter, Taylor Upshaw and David Ojabo.

Chris Hinton

Often when a team gets a five-star in recruiting, it’s likely that they’ll get into the rotation earlier than later. However, with Michigan having a solid D-line rotation, former five-star Chris Hinton has been able to slowly acclimate, with the coaching staff prioritizing his development.

He’s been in more and more in recent weeks, and notched his third tackle of the season against Michigan State on Saturday.

Nua shared where Hinton is in his progression and development, sharing that he’s not surprised that he’s starting to see the field more often.

“Yes, happy with how he’s progressing, but it’s not a surprise,” Nua said. “He’s a young man that has a good head on his shoulders. And very competitive as well. Not surprised at all. Expectations are still high though, so he knows he’s got a long ways to go as well.”

NEXT: Luiji Vilain

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