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Michigan 'well aware' of strong Georgia defensive front, but 'we size up well'

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•12/29/21•

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(Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Long before the College Football Playoff matchup against Michigan, Georgia’s front-seven has been the talk of the college football season. Behind three All-Americans — senior defensive tackle Jordan Davis (first team), senior defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (second team) and junior linebacker Nakobe Dean (first team), the Butkus Award winner — the Bulldogs are second nationally in rushing defense (81.7 yards per game), and just four opponents have run for more than 100 yards. The Bulldogs are also tough to keep away from the quarterback, with 41 sacks on the season.

Lost in some of the pre-Orange Bowl shuffle has been Michigan’s offense, which is led by an offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award for being the nation’s top unit and is the “heart and soul” of the unit, according to redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara.

“We’re well aware that especially their front in their box is very talented,” McNamara said. “I think if anyone in the country is going to block them, it’s going to be our dudes.

“We size up well to them, and obviously they’ll be a good challenge, but we’re looking forward to it.”

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After all, Michigan has yielded just 27 tackles for loss all year — 14 less than any other team in America — and rushed for 223.9 yards per contest, good for 10th in the country.

“They’re a great defensive front,” redshirt junior right tackle Andrew Stueber said. “We’ve played a lot of great defensive fronts this whole year. We’ve prepared great for them, as well, and we’ve tackled them well I’d say. It’s something that we’ve taken a lot of emphasis on.

“We’ve had a lot of time to dissect and deconstruct what it is they do. They’re really well-coached, they play hard, they rotate a lot, they have some great schemes, some great fronts, some great movement, but at the end of the day it’s something that we focus on ourselves.

“Cade said it before, the offensive line is the heartbeat of this team, so we take that on our shoulders every day to start moving the ball, moving the line of scrimmage, and so it really starts with us. They’re a great front, but we just have to play Michigan football, play our game, play what has gotten us here right now, and I think we’ll do just fine.”

The Wolverines have been in games that have come down to the wire at the end, and the offensive line has delivered — at Nebraska, at Penn State, versus Ohio State and others. Michigan’s endurance has been a key factor in wearing out the opponent.

“We’ve played a lot of closer games, a lot of fourth quarter games, and when it comes down to it, those are when you win the games, when you win championships, too,” Stueber said. “It’s helped with our conditioning but also our mental state. I think as you get later into games your emotions can kind of vary more because you’re tired, you’ve invested in this.”

Some fans panicked when Stueber said before the Ohio State game that Michigan wasn’t going to change what it does when playing the Buckeyes. It turned out that the Maize and Blue stuck with their bread and butter, running for 297 yards and five touchdowns in a dominant win.

“Our goal was simple. We know what works. We know how to play Michigan football, and I think that it’s important to continue playing what’s best for us and not tailor it too much to the team we’re playing,” he reiterated Wednesday.

“[Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis] has done a great job all year and will continue to do a great job of calling great plays, forming up great plays, great formations and everything to prepare us for this game, so we’re fully confident in him, all the coaches are fully confident in him, and the players are, as well.”

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