The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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34 THE WOLVERINE ❱ OCTOBER 2024 BY CLAYTON SAYFIE B etween the NFL and injuries, Michigan lost seven full-time starters from last year's de- fense that ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense, including mul- tiple players at every level of the unit. The Maize and Blue have shown flashes of dominance against lesser opponents, but the 31-12 loss to Texas Sept. 7 revealed that first-year coordinator Wink Martin- dale's group is still a work in progress. "No drop-off" was the company line coming from inside the Michigan pro- gram after winning the national cham- pionship last season, but the benefit of hindsight after three games tells us that was more wishful thinking than anything else. There has been some drop-off, which has led to growing pains, but the outlook of the defense remains positive. In football, all three phases — offense, defense and special teams — work to- gether, and context matters. Martindale's crew has immense pressure on it to carry a team with an offense that's replacing even more starters from last year (10) and has a major question mark at quarterback. The offense didn't do them any favors against the Longhorns. Michigan aver- aged 4.5 plays per possession on its first six drives, going 2-of-8 on third down in that span. At halftime, the Longhorns had run 45 plays to Michigan's 21. That led to key defenders getting fatigued early in the game and Texas taking advantage by building a 24-3 halftime edge. "Obviously, there's a standard here in how we play defense, and the thing that's made this place special and is a carry- over to this year is we play with blinders on," linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary said when asked if the defense was bur- dened with having to carry the offense. "We don't worry about what's going on the rest of the game, as far as offense and special teams. We just know the standard that's been set on defense, and when we MIXED SIGNALS Vaunted Michigan 'D' Has Early-Season Ups And Downs Senior edge Josaiah Stewart (left) and junior tackle Mason Graham are anchoring a strong defensive front. Through three games, Stewart had 10 tack- les (including 3.5 stops for loss and 2 sacks), while Graham had 9 tackles and an assisted sack. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL