The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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there, I knew he was good, but he's really good. He's really good. "I thought there was not another rung to go on the ladder, but there is. He found another rung to go even higher. I told him that, 'Man, you're really good.'" Peppers, occasion- ally on loan to the offense down the stretch, described that as a "special m o m e n t . " T h e re are other moments — less special in feeling, but just as formative regarding the end product — that make the sec- ond-year Wolverine break out in a grin as well. He has extremely high expectations, therefore doesn't mind tough coach- ing — and he gets it, along with all of his teammates. "One thing about these coaches, they're going to coach you hard and they're going to be honest with you," Peppers said. "They're not going to let everybody else tell you how good you are. They're going to give you the real. That's how we take it. We hold each other accountable. "Plays we're supposed to make, we tell them: 'You've got to make that play. That could change the game.' We don't say it in a way where we try to get them out of the game. We hold each other to a higher standard." When that happens, the Wolverines collectively improve. The instruction doesn't require a hard sell, either, even though it never arrives sugarcoated. "That's been the good thing," Dur- kin said. "When we've had times where myself or our coaches have not been real pleased with our perfor- mance, it's been one of those deals where you go in the meet- ing room and they feel the same way. " I t ' s n o t l i k e they're looking at you like you're crazy. They agree and un- derstand what the film shows. That's the best part about our guys. They take pride in their perfor- mance, and it mat- ters to them. When you have that — guys that are willing — they'll correct it." Redshirt junior defensive lineman Chris Wormley, who boasts a team- leading 10 tackles for loss, including four sacks, insisted the Wolverines grew considerably following the Min- nesota game. They caught a reminder of what had made them so good early, and then turned it around to surrender no offensive touchdowns in a 49-16 win over Rutgers. The defense can't let up, even a little, Wormley stressed. "Especially during Minnesota, we had a lot of what we call 'loafing,'" Redshirt junior defensive lineman Chris Wormley led the Wolverines with 10 tackles for loss in the first 10 games. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN