Sensational sophomore Denard Robinson, along with fellow sophomore Vincent Smith and junior Michael Shaw, ran all over the hapless Connecticut defense during Saturday's game, racking up almost 300 rushing yards.

But for every spectacular run — and there were many — there was a big, bulldozing offensive lineman clearing the path. Sometimes it was a sliver (which was all Robinson or his running mates needed) and sometimes it was so big all three Wolverine quarterbacks could have fit through it.

On defense, the extremely inexperienced secondary allowed a few big plays but played reasonably well overall. For what was undoubtedly every Michigan fan's greatest worry before the game, the young defensive backfield held their own, barely giving up any big plays and tackling much better.

But behind almost every incomplete pass, there was a charging defensive lineman ready to eat Husky quarterback Zak Frazer as a pre-dinner snack. Time and time again, the linemen were pressuring Frazer into rushing an off-balance throw.

The game was filled with tremendous plays for the Wolverines, but none of them would have happened if the men in the trenches hadn't excelled like they did all game.

On the offensive line, it was senior tackle and team captain Stephen Schilling, as well as center David Molk, paving the way for Robinson.

"One of our goals this week was to play physical, so we came out and ran right at them," Schilling said after the game. "We made downhill runs and we tried to take it to them. It worked for us early and it kind of set the tempo for the rest of the game."

That physicality was a big reason the Wolverine offensive line was able to push around the undersized Husky defensive line all day long, which was how Michigan held onto the ball and kept its defense off the field.

The Wolverines held possession for 36:52. The Huskies? 23:08. Michigan's offense racked up scoring drives of 14, 7, 8, 19 and 11 plays.

It was winning the time of possession battle that allowed the Michigan defensive line to continue to rush the quarterback and stuff the run all game.

"That was absolutely amazing," redshirt junior defensive end Ryan Van Bergen said. "I don't know for how many plays I was on the field but I honestly feel pretty fresh right now ... The offensive line did a really great job and the whole offense did a great job of picking up first downs when we needed them."

The defensive line gave up just 138 yards rushing to Connecticut, almost half of which came in the fourth quarter. And despite not recording a sack, the line was all over Frazer.

Especially active was sophomore Craig Roh. Roh was all over the field, recording five tackles, two for a loss.

"Myself and the defense as a whole was just hungry," Roh said. "We were so hungry .. We were making plays, we came out, we were hungry."

Many on the Wolverines' defense expressed their satisfaction with watching another defense try to keep up with Robinson. But Sometimes just as challenging as catching up with him is staying in front of him as a blocker. With Robinson's complete disregard for the concept of a pocket, at times it's hard for the offensive line to know where he is on the field, making it harder to know who to block.

It's a problem the lineman are happy to have.

"Sometimes you don’t know where he’s at and you've got to keep your head on a swivel but he’s back there for a reason," Schilling said. "That’s part of his game is to make people miss and get out of the pocket and create some plays on the run. If that helps us, it helps us."