Defensive/ST Notes: Michigan delivers 'big boy' performance in Big Ten opener

The Michigan Wolverines played inspired defensive football after a rough stretch early on Saturday. Rutgers got on the board right off the bat with a three-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 69-yard touchdown pass.

From there, the Scarlet Knights totaled only 182 yards of offense and did not score the rest of the game.

Michigan prides itself on not flinching in those big moments, and its ability to put a bad play in the rearview mirror was an example of its focus and composure.

“The thing that hit me was Friday I had [defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale] talk to the team after the Friday practice,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. “He had a lot of good messages. One was ‘don’t flinch.’ Repeated that a few times. As soon as that play came out, that’s one of those plays right out of the start of the game that could make the normal, ordinary person or team flinch. That’s the first thing I thought of when I got back into the locker room after the game … they didn’t flinch Coach Clink. They did not.

“It was great. So much good in the defense. 77 yards on the ground on 23 carries. That’s a run wall. That’s big boy football. So proud of the guys — Jaylen Harrell, the edge guys. Josaiah Stewart played really well. So did Braiden McGregor. Derrick Moore had a big tackle for loss. Tight coverage all along in the secondary throughout the game We were close a few times on getting interceptions, then we did with [Mike Sainristil].”

Michigan felt like it left some opportunities on the field last week in all three phases of the game. The players took that to heart and were able to lock in after a big mistake.

“Last week, we felt like we left some plays out there probably as a team,” Sainristil said. “We didn’t dominate the way I feel like we could have. The offense left some plays out there, defense left some plays, special teams left some plays, but that just proves that we’re not where we want to be.  And there’s a lot of work that we’re going to continue to do.

“And I think the reason that today we feel how we feel is simply because Harbaugh is back, man. So it’s like I said, it’s great to have him back. It’s great to have him on the sideline, his presence.  and we can’t wait to continue battling going forward with him.”

Mike Sainristil owed U-M a touchdown and delivered

Sainristil and junior safety Rod Moore had their own individual blunders on the opening touchdown, but Sainristil probably wears more of it having tripped on the play. He repaid the favor and them some after a 71-yard interception returned for a touchdown in the third quarter. At the time, U-M led 17-7 and was on the verge of seizing total momentum, but Sainristil’s explosive defensive play helped seal a victory.

“For me personally, I feel like I allowed it. That was my man that scored. But good players make good plays, good players make mistakes. You scored a touchdown. I kind of brushed it off right away. I said, I’m gonna get you on my back. And I told Coach Clink going into the third quarter, I told him I’m gonna get one.”

He got one.

“Just such a difference maker, Mike Sainristil,” Harbaugh said. “A difference maker, a guy who makes the magic happen when we need the magic to happen. And he made it happen. Beautiful thing.”

“We knew it was fourth down,” Sainristil said. “They played it aggressively. Coach called it in. He wanted to play it aggressively. So just blow it up. That’s all that means. Just blow it up. Be ready to do whatever it takes to get that ball back for the offense. A regular stop, whether it’s a takeaway. We were man coverage. I read the play, and made a great play on it. And the rest of the defense helped lead me into that end zone.”

Run wall holds up in showdown with Rutgers

Rutgers came into Saturday with the 20th-ranked running game in the country, averaging 210.7 yards per game. But Michigan’s “run wall” held up against the Scarlet Knights, who had only 77 yards on 27 rushes in the game. Kyle Monangai had led the Big Ten in rushing coming into the game, and was held to 27 yards on 11 carries.

“Our mentality is, you can’t run the ball on us,” junior linebacker Junior Colson said. “It doesn’t matter. They tried to imitate us, just how our offense [plays]. They’re smash mouth trying to run the ball. But our mentality, you can’t run the ball. You have to try to throw it over our head. We had a pretty dominant first half in the run game. I think they had like 20 yards or something like that. But it’s a mentality. You have to fit the gap soundly, you’ve gotta trust the players around you, you’ve gotta trust the DBs to show up, and just dominate them up front.”

Michigan wanted to flex its muscle as a smashmouth football team on both sides of the ball against Rutgers, and the mission was largely accomplished.

A”t the end of the day, there can’t be two smash mouths,” Colson said. “We’re the first, so we had to go out there and dominate them up front, dominate them on the back end. You’ve gotta show ‘em who’s boss. We got here first. You’re not gonna try to come in here and take it from us. That was our mentality coming into the game.”

Odds and ends Michigan defensive/special teams notes

• Sophomore defensive tackle Kenneth Grant made his first career start on Saturday in place of classmate Mason Graham (thumb). It was also the first game that graduate defensive back German Green saw action. Graham is expected to miss next week’s game at Nebraska before being re-evaluated.
• Michigan’s 7-0 deficit at 14:00 of the first quarter was the first time it trailed this season.
• The last Wolverine to return an interception for a touchdown was Michael Barrett, also against Rutgers last season on the road. Sainristil’s third-quarter pick was the first off of a Scarlet Knight passer all season long.
• Colson led Michigan with six tackles on Saturday and has 22 total tackles on the year.
• U-M’s defense turned Rutgers over on downs three times on Saturday afternoon. Opponents have yet to convert a fourth down on the defense yet this season.