Unselfishness is helping Michigan defense dominate up front despite added pass protection

Those who know football understand well why the Michigan pass rushers haven’t put up gaudy numbers this year — they just aren’t being given the opportunity. Week after week, teams are leaving 7, sometimes 8 blockers in against 4 or 5 rushers in hopes that their skill guys can make plays against the secondary. Most of them haven’t even shown it on film before they get to the Michigan game. 

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In a way, Michigan defensive line coach Mike Elston said Wednesday, that’s a compliment. They know how good the U-M line and front seven is, and they’re trying to keep their quarterback upright. It takes selflessness and great coaching to combat it — it’s human nature to want to “get yours” anyway in the form of sacks or pressure — and the Wolverines are showing plenty of both. 

“It’s very frustrating,” Elston admitted to the Michigan media Wednesday. “You break down everybody you’re going to play —  break down their third down protections, what their tendencies are — and very few teams are a 7-man gap protection or a heavy protection team. Then, when they play us, they change their entire identity. But … that’s understood. We have some really dynamic players up front. You certainly don’t want your quarterback trying to throw the ball from his back, so … 

“We do have some things we can do for a 7-man gap protection, but there are seven guys and four rushers. So, the math is not in your favor. But they have three receivers out on the route, so if we can do something to convert and get a little bit of pressure on the quarterback and collapse the pocket on him and there are no run lanes, then that’s a win for us.”

There have been a lot of those this year. On occasion, like in Mason Graham’s performance in a 52-10 win Saturday night, Michigan is still applying some pressure and making it even harder on the quarterback. Other times, the line is so strong it’s constricting the pocket anyway, giving the quarterback nowhere to run and nowhere to throw. 

Even better, when they try to go underneath coverage, the defensive linemen are getting their hands up and knocking balls down, an emphasis this year. As frustrating as it might be for the front seven to not put up huge sack numbers, it’s even more so for offenses trying to move the ball against them. It requires all guys doing their jobs, and that’s what we’ve seen through seven games. 

“We’ve let the quarterback out (a bit). But again, you have six guys in the protection, and you have four rushers — there are two open gaps,” Elston continued. “So, you collapse the pocket and people want pressure … they want sacks. Well, if you get too far up the field, guess what? You’ve opened an interior rush lane. There’s a fine line in that. There’s an unselfishness our guys have that they’re going to sacrifice a little bit of getting up the field and cutting it loose and then just collapsing the pocket on the guy and not let him take off and scramble.”

Eventually, Elston noted, his guys will be rewarded. He’s not sure when, but the opportunities will come.
“There are going to be teams that have to drop back and throw,” the Michigan second-year assistant said. “I think you’ll see the heat we’re able to bring and the pressure we can bring. We have things we can do to bring pressure, but also if you look at Nebraska, Rutgers, Bowling Green … most of those teams ran the ball on third down. They weren’t even dropping back and throwing the ball. You can call it all you want, but when you’re thinking about pass and you run the ball, that can be frustrating for a defensive lineman. 

“But protections are unique against us and different against us, and we plan for that … Kris Jenkins [for example] is a dominant force, both in the run and the pass game. We’ve got him moving all over the field. There are some teams you’re going to play that they make it a perimeter game; a down the field game. You’re not going to have the kind of production you want in certain games. Teams have been pretty strategic. They know we’re really strong up front; they know it’s going to be challenging to run the ball inside.”

But again, he said, the day will come when they have to play straight up against the Michigan defense. 

“Not play action; not boots and things like that,” Elston said. “Not 7-man gap protection. They’re going to have to get their skill out, and I believe we’ll be ready for that when it happens.”