The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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28 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2017 Winovich definitely believed it. One of his inspirations is Conor Mc- Gregor, the Irish mixed martial artist and boxer who recently lost a cham- pionship bout against Floyd May- weather, but who gained plenty of respect along his journey. He was working as a plumber be- fore jumping into an arena in which the cracks are significantly more painful. McGregor kept faith in him- self and demonstrated the guts to make a switch, Winovich noted. "I was a tight end," he said. "I said, forget this, and went to defensive end. He was a plumber and said for- get this, and went and did what he loved, did what he was best at. "You've got to be a little obsessed. You've got to be a little crazy towards your craft. I believe I'm just the right amount of crazy. "There's a quote, 'The people who are crazy enough to believe they're going to change the world are the ones who usually do.' I believe I can accomplish great things here and be- yond. I'm going to give it my best shot and see what happens." A NON-STOP MOTOR Jansen likes where Winovich is headed. As an All-Pro offensive tackle who spent more than a decade fighting off pass rushers in the NFL, Jansen knows a good irritant when he sees one. Winovich qualifies … except for the coiffure. "He's got the best hair on the team," Jansen assured. Winovich often performs with it on fire, figuratively speaking. He's not going to slow down, so his op- ponents cannot. "He plays with a very high mo- tor," Jansen said. "There are no plays off. He plays every play right to the whistle. That can be extremely an- noying to an offensive tackle." The fourth-year defensive end proved exasperating right to the end in 90-degree heat at Purdue. He earned his second Defensive Line- man of the Game team award in that one, tallying 2.5 sacks among 3.5 tackles for loss. Just as impressive in the blast furnace of Ross-Ade Stadium — or maybe more so — is the fact that he never came off the field on defense. "[Defensive line] Coach [Greg] Mattison was laying out the outline of how we were going to sub," Win- ovich recalled. "I said, 'I don't need a sub. I feel great.' I felt better as time went on." "Chase is a baller," Gary said. "Chase is a beast. He's one of those crazy people that keeps on going. He doesn't get tired. I already knew he was going to have a big season. His best game has yet to happen, so keep your eyes open. "You never know what he's going to do. He's everywhere. He's run- ning down, making plays 30 yards down the field, then running back and making another play." According to Jansen, Winovich at- tacks blockers with a multi-pronged approach, making it very difficult to handle him consistently. "He's always been a really good athlete," Jansen said. "He's got great change of direction, he's got good balance, but this year he's gotten a lot stronger. He's playing with a lot more power. "There have been a couple of times where I've seen him try and get the edge. He's not going to get it, and I've seen him turn and bull rush an offensive tackle. I've seen him knock an offensive tackle right on his butt. "When you've got a guy with a combination of his speed, change of direction and power, it's very hard to game plan that guy and think, 'Okay, Winovich recorded a team-high eight tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, against Purdue. Perhaps even more impressively, he never came off the field on defense in that contest. Still, teammates insist his best is yet to come. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN