The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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young players. Ray: The biggest offensive disap- pointment was the lack of a consis- tent running game. The offensive line struggled to maintain blocks and create holes versus athletic defensive fronts. Michigan has a decent stable of running backs, but they are lacking a home-run hitter at that position. The offensive guard play was "offen- sive" to say the least and that primarily was the reason Michigan's run game lacked consistency and balance. The Wolverine: What was the biggest success story defensively? Skene: The Michigan defensive line showed a consistent ability to get pres- sure on the quarterback. I thought [de- fensive line] coach Greg Mattison did a great job developing and pushing that unit to play better and better in spite of injuries. [Redshirt junior end] Willie Henry was a dominant player. [Redshirt ju- nior nose tackle] Ryan Glasgow played above expectations as well. [Redshirt junior end] Chris Wormley can be more consistent and will be in 2016. This will be a great unit to anchor the defense in 2016. Simpkins: [Redshirt freshman] de- fensive back Jabrill Peppers. What he brought to that team in relationship to getting those guys to believe in them- selves and making the entire unit a better defense … I think he put that de- fense in a position to take over games. Van Bergen: I'm taking Ryan Glasgow. I think the impact he had early in the season, the defense was in contention to be the No. 1 defense overall. And then when we lost him, we saw a dip in defensive production — offenses had more success and it was noticeable when he wasn't in the game. I don't think anyone suspected he would be someone that teams had to Redshirt junior wide receiver Jehu Chesson, left, notched 50 receptions for 764 yards (15.3 yards per catch) and a team-best nine touchdowns, while quarterback Jake Rudock threw for 3,017 yards and 20 touchdowns in his lone season under center for the Wolverines. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL