Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison anticipated the question almost immediately after sitting down for his Tuesday press conference.
“I might as well answer it before you ask,” Mattison said. “What about the pass rush?”
Mattison feels that it’s him, not his defensive front, that has the most to answer to after another lackluster effort of pressuring the opposing quarterback in Saturday’s narrow win over Akron.
He also expressed surprise that all of the teams Michigan has faced so far have opted to go into max protection. Senior defensive tackle Jibreel Black noted that teams are quickly picking up on the increased emphasis placed on the pass rush in camp.
“We’ve got a lot of athletes on our defensive line,” Black said. “We’ve really got to focus, tune in and get past that max protection.”
According to Mattison, teams are choosing to turn games against the Wolverines into possession battles, challenging Michigan to either send more men to pressure the QB or sit back and get shredded apart. So far the Wolverines have opted for the latter option, getting torched for 346 yards per game through the air.
Still, Mattison acknowledged that all the criticism of the defensive woes shouldn’t fall on the pas rush. After all, it’s only three games into the season and some leeway is warranted for each defensive lineman to figure how to fulfill his role.
The secret to an effective pass rush is success in individual matchups. That has eluded Michigan to this point, and according to Mattison, it will continue to until the defensive front masters moves it should be grasping.
The Wolverines defense was held without a sack against the Zips and has collected just five sacks through three weeks.
“I don’t think we’re overwhelmed,” Black said. “We didn’t digest the information as well as we could’ve so that’s why we’re going back to the drawing board.”
Black also said that it would be unfair to judge the line exclusively by its sack totals, though he did say, “The numbers don’t lie.” According to Black, this week in practice has marked a return to fundamentals for the unit.
The Wolverines will continue to rotate speedier bodies into obvious passing situations, because they lack the movement that players like 301-pound fifth-year senior defensive tackle Quinton Washington and 315-pound sophomore defensive tackle Ondre Pipkins have from the outside.
As the unit continues to search for solutions going forward, Black said he wouldn’t take it personally should Mattison decide to dial up more blitz’s.
“We want to do what’s best for the team,” Black said. “If it’s best for the team to blitz certain quarterbacks, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Whether sending more than four rushers will solve Michigan’s pass rush problems remains to be seen. But a change is needed before the lack of pressure shows up as an ‘L’. After all, a goal-line stand with an all-out blitz on the last play of the game is all that kept Michigan from a devastating loss to Akron.
“I told them on Sunday, it’s not acceptable how we’re pass rushing,” Mattison said. “Apparently, I’m not doing a good job of teaching you, and I’m going to do a good job teaching you because we are going to be able to pass rush.”