4C — October 19, 2016
SportsWednesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

THE MICHIGAN 

DAILY TOP-10 POLL 

2. OHIO STATE: The best 
players from Michigan play for 
... Ohio State.

1. ALABAMA: Nick Saban still 
yelled at Lane Kiffin last week.

9. WISCONSIN: You really 
start to wonder what the 
Badgers’ record would be with 
Bart Houston under center.

3. MICHIGAN: Jim Harbaugh 
was the best coach working a 
chain gang in the country last 
weekend.

6. TEXAS A&M: Aggies fans, 
don’t check under your bed 
— there’s a Nick Saban-sized 
monster waiting.

5. WASHINGTON: It’s sail-
gating time.

7. LOUISVILLE: Lamar 
Jackson would be a great 
Heisman candidate … if he had 
any tackles for loss.

4. CLEMSON: Before you mock 
NC State’s kicker, think about 
how disappointed in you your 
parents are.

8. NEBRASKA: Easiest way to 
anger the Children of the Corn? 
Ask them about their strength 
of schedule.

10. WEST VIRGINIA: Dana 
Holgorsen may have lost most 
of his hair, but his team has yet 
to lose a game.

Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with 
first-place votes receiving 10 points, second-place 

votes receiving nine and so on. 

Cookies make dominance even sweeter

The Michigan football team’s 

defensive line conjures images 
of physical pain inflicted on 
quarterbacks, a toothless grin 
from one of its anchors and the 
sheer size of the dominant unit.

But it might come as a surprise 

to learn one of the ways defensive 
line 
coach 
Greg 
Mattison 

motivates his squad — sweet 
treats.

“Coach Matty’s wife gives 

us cookies for sacks, tackles for 
losses, and there’s a new one — 
highest percentage,” said fifth-
year senior defensive end Chris 
Wormley. “And Ryan (Glasgow) 
has got it probably four or five 
out of six weeks, the highest-
percentage bag of cookies.”

Cookies might seem like an 

odd way to motivate a group that 
brings aggressive intentions into 
every game, but so far, it seems to 
be working.

Through 
six 
games, 
the 

Wolverines have racked up 59 
tackles for loss, 24 sacks and 
have 
chased 
four 
opposing 

quarterbacks out of the game. 
Wormley said the most cookies 
he has earned for a single 
game was three bags — which 
translates to about three dozen 
chocolate chip cookies — and 
that he usually tries to share 
the sweets with his teammates. 
(“Delano Hill usually steals 
them because he’s right next to 
me,” he added.)

But while the line competes for 

cookies, Wormley also pointed 
out that the unit has a marked 
cohesion to it this year. Prior to 
the season, it was easy for fans 
to fantasize about the prospect of 
rotating two similarly dominant 
complete lines. But halfway 
through the year, that’s been 
close to reality.

Perhaps the best example 

of the depth can be seen in 
Wormley. At his size and speed, 

he is capable of playing on both 
the interior and exterior of 
the line. He expected to play 
more inside coming into the 
year, but at the halfway mark, 
he has consistently been used 
at defensive end. Meanwhile, 
interior linemen Matt Godin, 
Maurice Hurst and Ryan Glasgow 
have 
combined 

for 
four 
sacks 

and 10.5 tackles 
for loss.

That 
diverse 

spread 
of 

production 
has 
given 
the 

entire unit more 
confidence.

“It’s cool to see 

Taco (Charlton) 
get a sack, and 
then Ryan Glasgow, who’s a nose 
tackle who usually doesn’t get 
the opportunity to make sacks, 
get sacks,” Wormley said. “And 
me, and Rashan (Gary), and Mo 
Hurst and Godin. So it’s cool to 

see everyone do that, and I think 
when we have that mentality 
and that confidence in ourselves 
that the (defensive backs) are 
going to give us time to get to the 
quarterback, we just make plays.”

When the Wolverines take on 

Illinois this weekend, they’ll be 
facing an offensive line that does 

a relatively good 
job of limiting 
those 
kinds 

of 
plays. 
The 

Fighting 
Illini 

are tied for 28th 
nationally 
with 

five tackles for 
loss allowed per 
game and tied 
for 46th with just 
two sacks allowed 
per game.

But against a defense like 

Michigan’s, those numbers are 
liable to inflate. Penn State is 
allowing just 1.8 sacks per game 
if you exclude the Wolverines, 
but in that game, Michigan 

tallied five.

The line relies on a trust and 

familiarity Wormley says has 
been building since the end of 
last season. But that feeling has 
grown stronger of late, and the 
results are clear.

“I know Taco’s going to do his 

job extremely well, and I look to 
my left and I know Matt or Mo is 
going to do their job perfectly,” 
Glasgow said. “So it’s like, ‘I’m 
going to do my job and I’m going 
to do it to the best of my ability.’ 
You don’t feel as if you have to 
compensate for anyone.”

And 
when 
it 
comes 
to 

compensation, Mattison’s wife 
might be onto something with 
her reward system. Normally, the 
players are rewarded for strong 
play with a sticker for the helmet. 
But to Wormley, the exclusive 
treats make that success even 
sweeter.

“Everyone 
gets 
helmet 

stickers,” Wormley said, “but 
(only) the D-Line gets cookies.”

Defensive line coach Greg Mattison has worthy reward for his starring unit

MAX BULTMAN

Managing Sports Editor

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Fifth-year senior defensive lineman Chris Wormley has four of the Michigan defense’s 24 sacks this season.

“Everyone gets 
helmet stickers, 

but (only we 
get) cookies.”