TAMPA, Fla. — No one gave Michigan football a chance against the vaunted Ohio State team it was set to face to close out the regular season, but it turns out that the Wolverines were plenty prepared for the Buckeyes.
The ‘O.G.’ of the defensive system that Michigan installed in 2021, Wink Martindale showed off why he was once one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL. Despite Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter having better overall success, they never held the OSU offense to just 10 points as Martindale had.
So what allowed the Wolverines to play so much better than expected?
“Well, we were really confident in the game plan,” Martindale said. “And, our whole message was all week, let’s take them to the deep end in the fourth quarter. And we knew then that we could take over the game defensively. So, I know there’s been a lot of speculations about this and that and this and that.
“But, all credit to the players. The game always has been, always will be about them. I come out with that on Twitter because that’s what it was. We just physically outplayed them. And, guys, when your best players are playing their best, that’s when you have a lot of success. And you saw that with Makari’s hit on the quarterback. Ernest’s hit on the quarterback that was sort of hidden that no one saw because it was on a read sweep play. He got it pretty good. And after that, he started getting a little nervous back there.
“So, the guys had a great rush plan. Lou had a great rush plan. And Kevin with the four upfront. LaMar and BJ did a great job with the coverage aspect of it. Just sticking to our game plan. And, you know, it was a lot of fun to watch.”
With that in mind, did Ohio State do anything that surprised him? After all, as Ryan Day has said since he took over the head post in Columbus in 2019, ‘You’ve gotta work The Game every day,’ yet, as Martindale tells it, there were no special plays, no surprises, nothing that the Michigan football defense wasn’t ready for.
“No. No. I know it was going to be a great challenge, with the receivers that they had. And, our guys up front, they played really well against the run. And, it was a fun game. It was a fun game to be a part of.”
With the win, Michigan advanced to 7-5 with four straight wins over the rival Buckeyes.