The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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26 THE WOLVERINE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2026 ❱ MICHIGAN FOOTBALL doesn't have faith in "athletes who play quarterback." Whittingham didn't get into a back- and-forth and essentially pointed to the fact that those in Michigan's building and at practice every day — not just once — have a much better view of what Un- derwood brings to the Wolverines. "We see Bryce every day," Whit- tingham said. "We know where he's at and what we need him to [do] and the time and effort he's putting into every- thing. I've got to say, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but we feel good about Bryce's progress right now." — Clayton Sayfie ENOW ETTA GRADES DL HIGHLY EARLY IN CAMP Senior defensive tackle Enow Etta is stepping into a larger role this year as one of the leaders and projected starters on the interior. Etta said the defensive line has per- formed at a high level throughout camp and graded the group highly one week into U-M's fall camp on Aug. 13. "I give it an A for sure. Top to bottom, we have a lot of young guys working, and I think that's the biggest thing," Etta said. "I want to be a leader because that's what I saw being a young guy with guys like Rayshaun [Benny] and Mason [Graham]. So doing the same thing, showing these guys what the example is. When they get to this point they can say, 'We looked at Enow, or we looked at Trey [Pierce], and we learned how things were done.' It's passing that tradition along. "We have a lot of guys working, and guys that just got here picking up the playbook really fast, and that's what you love to see." Michigan has developed a standard over the years of stout play up the middle, most recently with Graham and Kenneth Grant's ability to take over games — in- cluding a massive upset over Ohio State in 2024 — during their careers. This year's group requires a bit of pro- jection, but Michigan is more than happy to fly under the radar as it matures. "We have to go out there on the field and do what we do," Etta said. "It doesn't really matter what people say, because I always believe you can't let the highs take you high and the lows take you low. What are you going to do when people gas you up on social media? Be excited? No. We know what we have to do. It doesn't matter if people are saying we are going to be great or people are saying we are going to suck. At the end of the day, we have a standard to uphold. "Outside noise is just noise. We are going to do what we do regardless of whether everyone supports us or nobody likes us." Etta, who has appeared in 26 games during his Michigan career, has one start to his name and much to prove. But in his mind, as long as the group puts the work in, everything will round into form. "Why am I confident? Because that's just the standard we have to hold," Etta said. "That's what we do in practice. They say you practice how you play. We know what we can do when we play to- gether. "The biggest thing is playing together, and we have a group of tight-knit guys that want to play together, that like each other. We all hang out outside of here. The synergy is there. Now it's just trans- lating that product to the field." This isn't the first time Etta has seen questions about how capable the group might be. After Graham and Grant opted out of the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl, the 19-13 U-M victory over Alabama was a turning point and confidence boost for what he and Pierce could bring to the table. "We just hop on Twitter, and I know they say you're not supposed to read, but I'm like, 'Man, let me just read.' They're talking about, 'Oh man, Michi- gan is about to get destroyed; their start- ers are not playing,'" Etta said, recall- ing the matchup that pitted a Michigan team, playing without several key start- ers, against a loaded Alabama roster in a bowl game. "We went out there and shocked the world. I looked at Trey and said, 'They counted us out and look what we did.' We were the only ones who believed in us. I don't think we've ever been more counted out. Of course, we've been un- derdogs against Ohio, but at that mo- ment it was like, 'The season's over, there's no way we win,' it's big, bad Bama — and look how it turned out." That effort serves as a thesis state- ment for how Etta talks about this year's Michigan defensive line. They have been written off before and responded. Whether this defensive line can replicate that weekly remains to be seen, but Etta's early evaluation suggests a group that outperforms the outside noise. – Anthony Broome Enow Etta, a 6-foot-5, 328-pound senior defensive tackle, played in every game last season and recorded 15 tackles with 2.5 for losses. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL