Michigan football: Does the defensive line carry extra burden due to struggles in secondary?

The Michigan Wolverines football defensive line has applied consistent pressure, but the team’s pass defense numbers haven’t been up to its standard. The Maize and Blue have given up 6.4 yards per pass (35th nationally) and 259.8 passing yards per game (110th).

Michigan ranks 25th in the country with a 34.1-percent pressure rate, and is even effective without blitzing, attaining pressure on 31.4 percent of pass plays with four or fewer rushers, according to Sports Info Solutions. The Wolverines also average 2.8 sacks per game, tied 19th in the nation.

The secondary is viewed as more of the issue with the pass defense, which could put more on the shoulders of the defensive line. If they get home quicker, the men in coverage don’t have to chase receivers as long.

“At the end of the day, it’s hand in hand,” Michigan defensive line coach Lou Esposito said. “When we play good defense, it’s all 11 guys doing a good job. So our guys take it as, if there’s a big play — whether it’s in the run game or the pass game — we haven’t done what we’re supposed to do. And I think that’s the biggest thing — it’s 11 guys.

“I know you can look at things and say, ‘Oh, well, this guy is giving this up or that guy’s giving that up, or the ball went through this hole or the ball went through that hole.’ It’s all 11 guys. And if we’re getting a great pass rush, some of those things don’t happen on the back end. I think it’s hand in hand.

“It’s not one group or one person. It’s us as a group, and those guys know it and they take that pretty seriously.”

Michigan has blitzed on 40.8 percent of opponent’s dropbacks this season, but it’s brought less heat under coordinator Wink Martindale lately. The Wolverines brought extra rushers (five or more) on only 27.3 percent of the time against USC and 31.3 percent of dropbacks versus Minnesota.

The strength of the defense is up front with the line, and Esposito acknowledged that since it might not need as much help getting to the passer, Michigan can dedicate more resources to coverage on the back end.

“I think if you look at us the last three or four games, I would say we rushed four more than we brought five or six — significantly — because of that,” Esposito said. “But every game is different.

“If you see something, we’re watching an opponent and they run this protection and they don’t have an answer for this, that’s what you want to do. You want to put your guys in the best spot to win, whether that’s rushing four, whether that’s bringing five, whether that’s playing man, whether that’s playing a fire zone behind it. It’s a chess game and you’re always trying to match it.

“You’re trying to give them a picture and then change it post-snap. They think you’re in man, now you’re playing zone. They think you’re in pressure, and now you’re dropping out. They think you’re not pressuring, and now you’re pressuring.

“[Martindale’s] mindset is, whatever it’s going to take to win, and I think that’s the one thing that you’ve seen the last couple weeks for us.”

Michigan has a big matchup with Illinois this week, and Martindale said the No. 1 goal is to stop the run, which will help the Wolverines be effective against the pass. The Fighting Illini will likely be without leading rusher Kaden Feagin at running back but still pose a challenge with the run game.

“You gotta to stop the run with them,” Esposito said. “They’re big, they’re physical [and] their running backs are big. The offensive line is massive. They’re going to try to run the ball, and if you let them run the ball, it opens everything else up. 

“The quarterback is super shifty. He’s going to get himself out of situations. They’ve got a pretty good tight end core and a really good receiving core that finds ways to get open, and they make some unbelievable catches on the perimeter. So it’s going to be a tall task for us.

“We’ve got to be on our best game, and the guys have practiced like that all week. So we’re excited about the competition and excited about the opportunity.”