FootballSaturday, September 27, 2019
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‘Everybody’s questioning us? We’ve just got to prove it’

For the Michigan defense, this 
weekend’s game will likely offer 
little in the way of conclusive 
answers.
Rutgers 
comes 
into 
this 
weekend’s bout in Ann Arbor ranked 
107th in the nation in total offense 
(one spot shy of Tennessee). It hasn’t 
finished better than 127th of 130 
teams in a full season since 2015-
16. Starting quarterback McLane 
Carter is out for Saturday’s game 
with a concussion, and the backup, 
Artur Sitkowski, threw for just 40 
yards and registered a negative 
adjusted passing yards per attempt, 
according to Sports Reference, in 
last year’s 42-7 loss to Michigan.
All of this is to say, this weekend 
likely won’t be a banner one for the 
Scarlet Knights. Conversely, this 
is far from the game to provide a 
litmus test for a defense suddenly 
on thin ice. That doesn’t leave this 
game devoid of meaning on the 
defensive end.
Last 
week, 
the 
Wolverines 

allowed 359 rushing yards in a 
revealing loss at Wisconsin. They 
have spent this week, as would 
be expected, touting a desire to 
improve and the will to do so.
Players and coaches admonished 
their effort from a week ago and 
noted a revamped energy in practice. 

Buzzwords like “physicality” and 
“execution” flew around the building 
like popcorn in a microwave.
“We didn’t play physical enough,” 
said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 
on Monday. “We were out-hustled. 
I take responsibility for that. In any 
ways that we were out-schemed, I 

take responsibility for that. It’s my 
job to make sure we are completely 
sound, in all offenses and defenses 
that we’re running.” 
Added senior linebacker Josh 
Uche: “You’ve got to respond to 
adversity. Everybody has a plan 
until they get punched in the mouth. 
Mike Tyson said, ‘You got punched 
in the mouth, what are you going 
to do about it?’ Am I going to lay 
down? Hell no. I’m going to get up, 
I’m going to keep fighting, keep 
swinging. That’s what this team is 
going to do.”
Swing, it presumably will, at a 
particularly feeble target Saturday. 
Though 
players 
would 
never 
entertain the idea, Rutgers might 
just be the ideal opponent coming 
off such a comprehensive drubbing. 
As such, the nature of the 
loss seemingly required a full-
scale breakdown — an effort to 
re-establish the fundamentals and 
start anew.
“There’s not a doubt in my 
mind that we can’t get that back,” 
said senior defensive end Michael 
Danna on Tuesday. “So we’ve got 
high expectations no matter what 
the outcome was last Saturday or 
whatever. Like I said, we still have 
high expectations. We still have a lot 
of hope.
“We were all surprised. We didn’t 
want to have that outcome. It is what 
it is now. That was four days ago, so 
we’ll move past it. It’s a new week, 
it’s a new challenge ahead.”
The 
questions 
this 
week 
— 
and 
subsequent 
answers 
— 
understandably 
focused 
on 
schematic 
and 
personal 
improvement. How does this get 

better? This is a unit that frequently 
touts its desire to be the best in the 
nation. It’s not an unsubstantiated 
expectation; 
all 
of 
Michigan’s 
defenses in the Don Brown era have 
finished top-3 in total defense, with 
the 2016 squad finishing No. 1 in the 
nation. 
That’s the standard at Michigan 
these days, and rightfully so. 
Last week’s performance, though, 
surfaced 
real 
questions 
about 
whether this roster’s personnel can 
live up to its internal expectations.
It wasn’t simply the result that 
raised alarm bells, but how it came 
to be. Wisconsin was unambiguous 
about its intention to run the ball 
down the defense’s throat. Then it 
went out and did so. The Badgers’ 
offensive line had its way with 
Michigan’s front. 
The result was a performance 
Harbaugh described succinctly: “It 
was thorough.”
The players, many of whom have 
been part of nationally elite defenses 
in their Wolverines careers, would 
scoff at any such notions of decline. 
They believe they have the group in 
place to reach a different level. And 
they don’t have much interest in 
entertaining the alternative.
“A lot of people outside of the 
program have a lot to say, but we’re 
worried about what’s going on inside 
the program,” Danna said. “We’re 
all family here, we’re a brotherhood 
here. We don’t condone none of the 
outside opinions, we stick together 
no matter what everybody has to 
say.”
There 
is 
caution 
against 
overreacting to any one result, no 
matter how revealing. This week 
will likely alleviate some existential 
concerns, though far from all. 
The defense can only prove so 
much about their aptitude for big 
games against a decidedly sub-
par opponent in Week 4 — that is, 
obviously, assuming the Wolverines 
win.
For now, the defense, and the 
team writ large, is treating Saturday 
as a stepping stone. Eventually it 
could reach a desired end. But not 
without taking that first step.
“I think we’re a physical, hard-
nosed defense,” Danna said. “There’s 
no doubt in my mind about that. I 
spent all camp being here, seeing it. 
There’s no doubt in my mind we’re 
a hard-nosed defense. We’ve just got 
to put in on tape now. 
“Everybody’s 
questioning 
us? 
We’ve just got to prove it.”

Michigan defense eager to respond after dismal performance in last week’s loss at Wisconsin

MAX MARCOVITCH
Managing Sports Editor

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
The Michigan defense gave up 359 rushing yards in last week’s 35-14 loss to Wisconsin, prompting introspection this week.

