Michigan’s defense took a long ride against Western Michigan, but the real stress test is here now.
The Broncos controlled the ball for about 40 minutes in Week 1, which kept the Wolverines’ defense on the field for most of the afternoon. Even with that grind, Michigan’s front held up well enough, giving up just 12 points on four field goals.
Now comes Oklahoma, and the challenge looks bigger in every way. The Sooners didn’t light up the scoreboard the way some of the nation’s top offenses did last season, but they still gave Michigan problems in last year’s Week 2 meeting, piling up 408 total yards. More than anything, Oklahoma kept the Wolverines from consistently getting into the backfield and stayed on schedule for much of the night.
The Sooners bring back much of the same offensive line, and Michigan defensive ends coach Lewis Powell made it clear Wednesday that he expects a major battle.
“We’re excited we have a good offensive line that’s coming in,” Michigan defensive ends coach Lewis Powell said on Wednesday. “One of the best, if not the best, O-line groups in the country … (we’re) fired up to have Oklahoma in the building.”
Powell singled out sophomore tackle Michael Fasusi as well, calling him “one of the best offensive tackles in the country.” Fasusi, one of the country’s top freshmen last season, played only 17 snaps in Oklahoma’s opener against UTEP and is still building back to full strength after an offseason shoulder injury. If he’s ready for a full workload Saturday, that only adds to the difficulty for Michigan.
Michigan may have some answers of its own on the edge. Dom Nichols and John Henry Daley logged heavy snap counts against Western Michigan, but Powell said that setup is likely to change this week. He wants five or six players in the rotation.
Freshman Carter Meadows could be part of that mix after missing the opener. Powell said Meadows returned to practice Tuesday and the staff is “hoping” he can go this week. That could also open the door for more work for players who barely saw the field Saturday, including sophomore Nate Marshall, who played just eight snaps.
Powell said the heavy workload against Western Michigan served a purpose, even if he’d prefer to spread things out more.
“I feel like it was good for us to get all those reps (last weekend). We needed it,” Powell said. “If we could have, I probably would have rotated (more players) just to keep guys fresh.”
Michigan’s edge group spent much of fall camp as one of the most discussed parts of the roster, and now it gets the early-season proving ground it’s been waiting for. Against a physical Oklahoma front, the Wolverines may need both their top pass rushers and a deeper rotation to create the kind of disruption that can tilt the game.
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For Wolverines fans, the hook is less about the broad concept than the way this new format keeps widening the list of names worth tracking. The set is set to feature the first Bowman cards of Texas quarterback Arch Manning, along with special cards of NFL legends in their college uniforms, and the checklist already includes eye-catching pairings like Joe Burrow and Paul Skenes, Vince Young and Kevin Durant, and Matthew Stafford and Anthony Edwards. [Read more 🡒]