What's behind the improvement in the Michigan pass rush?
Michigan doesn’t have Aidan Hutchinson or David Ojabo terrorizing quarterbacks this year, but the Wolverines are still ahead of last year’s sack pace. Defensive line coach Mike Elston predicted a “by committee” approach before the season started, and that’s pretty much what it’s been.
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The defense has turned it up lately, notching 11 sacks in the last two games. Iowa and Indiana offensive lines aren’t the Big Ten standards, but it’s clear the Michigan line — and the rest of the defense — is doing something right.
“There’s been more focus on it, trying to get off the football better, put guys in better situations,” the Michigan first-year assistant and former linebacker said Wednesday. “Not running by the quarterback. This week in itself is going to be an incredible challenge because of the escapability of Penn State’s quarterback, Sean Clifford.
“We’ve done some things in terms of line movements and stunts, but there have been a lot of really good one on one wins, and that’s been great to see.”
They all have different strengths, and they’re starting to use them. Senior edge Mike Morris leads the team with 5 sacks, usually using brute strength to get home. Frosh Derrick Moore is second among the linemen with 2 — he’s speedier, and his burst is what’s been helping him.
Michigan grad student Eyabi Okie, meanwhile, only has 2.5 (it seems like they’re missing a few in the stats), but he’s arguably emerged as the best Michigan pass rusher over the last several weeks. He’s been tough to block, and it’s played a huge role in the defense’s improvement.
“The beginning, what we didn’t want to do is put too much on his plate,” Elston said. “That was evident. We wanted him to be comfortable in the system, and we do a lot of things defensively here. You can overload him with utilizing him in your base package, nickel package, third down package. You have to pick and choose what you want to utilize him in just because it can become overwhelming, and you’re’ not going to get much out of a young guy like that his first time in the system a few weeks in.
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“So, the conversations were pretty general, just making sure he understood the technique we were going to use in certain situations. Now, this far into it, it’s in depth of aiming points and what we want to look at. Just more in depth detail of the actual plan.”
As they’ve gotten deeper into the season, the Michigan coaches have added more to everyone’s plate. It’s a talented group with a lot of depth, Elston reiterated, and there are several guys who have another level to reach.
Keeping them fresh and rotating has been the strategy, and that’s not expected to change.
“A lot of guys can go in there and create pressure. Rotating guys in, keeping them fresh in situations against Indiana, for example — they were going fast tempo,” Elston noted. “We were able to slow the game down with subbing some guys in and getting as many fresh bodies in as we could. Therefore, you had quite a few guys with the production they had.”
As for the improvement overall?
“I think it’s a combination of the guys starting to get into a rhythm of how they want to use their strengths and attack the weakness of the offensive line, along with some schematic things coach [Jesse] Minter and the rest of the staff have come up with,” Elston said.
There’s still work to do, but the Michigan line is coming along nicely. They have 22 in 6 games (3.67 per game), and a chance to impact the game again Saturday when Penn State comes to town.
