When defensive tackle Mazi Smith looks in the mirror he does not see the person he is, he sees the player he wants to become. It’s hard not to, what with all the notes jotted down reminding him. Smith likes the tangibility of it, and whether it’s telling his mom or his friends verbally or seeing the notes on the mirror or the ones he jots down, he tries to surround himself with his goals. “I put it places that I can always reference it and when times get tough look back on it: this is the goal at the end of the day, just to be the most dominant defensive lineman I can,” Smith said. “I’ve been told I can be pretty dominant, so why not try to be that.”
Smith has undoubtedly had an impact on the 2021 defense. Though individual statistics aren’t necessarily the best measure of what a nose tackle can do at the point of attack, Smith’s year-over-year statistics illustrate his rise. His 2020 stat line: zero starts, five games played, three tackles, one TFL. This fall, Smith has started all nine games, recorded 21 tackles and 1.5 TFLs, and even added three pass breakups. Smith has been a valuable piece of Michigan’s defensive line, but the splashy stats have been racked up by edge rushers Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo. “Now, look, those guys are elite. So a lot of times, the guys in the middle are taking a back seat to the guys on the edge, so they have to be unselfish as well,” defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald said. “If you want to give those guys freedom to do what they do, you can’t have freelancers up the middle. So those guys are sacrificing for the team, no matter who that is.”
It’s not only the edge rushers who have benefitted from the work done by the defensive tackles. “I think they’ve done a terrific job,” said freshman linebacker Junior Colson. “We have a great relationship so we’re always talking through the plays and what we’re seeing and how they’re going to fit it.” Colson went on to say that the linebackers are better able to read the play and flow to the ball because of the play of the defensive tackles.
How exactly those linebackers flow to the ball, though, is liable to change on a game-to-game basis. “I think the thing that shows up more so is you see somewhat similar formations from week to week that you don’t necessarily see on the team’s previous tape,” Macdonald said. “I think they’re looking for things out of certain presentations. Whether we personnel it or we disguise it, we go into the game with a different game plan, so to speak, so we change it up.”
As the conference gets more and more tape on Michigan’s defense, schematic tinkering and frequent adjustments are to be expected, particularly from a defensive coordinator who says that if you’re not learning “then you’re not doing your job.” There are times where Macdonald will see what an offense is running and how they’re attacking certain concepts and then immediately communicate to his players on the sidelines changes in how the defense is going to be called.
The adjustments are working. Michigan’s defense is ranked sixth in scoring defense (16.0 points/game), sixth in total defense (298.1 yards/game), and 30th in the country in run defense (124.7 yards/game). Asked earlier this week about whether the players pay attention to the rankings, junior defensive back Daxton Hill shared a number that does resonate with the team “Our goal we have is to hold teams to a certain number of points each game. Besides that we don’t really pay attention to other teams,” Hill said. “It’s the same (number of points). At the beginning of the season we had a goal.”
More than one, actually. “Our mindset is nobody runs on us. Nobody runs into the endzone. That’s always been our mindset,” Colson said. “ We’ve not always kept it but that’s been our standard. We’d practice it at times every week: nobody runs on us. If they want to score they’ve got to throw it or do it any different ways but nobody runs on us. That’s just challenging our manhood, as we see it.”
Though frequent changes are incorporated into how plays are called, this defense is rooted in a set of goals developed before the season began. “I think it goes back to principles versus methods. There’s certain principles of how we believe you play defense,” Macdonald said. “We kinda just took what would win the Big Ten, what would be the top in the country, so you’re kinda chasing perfection a little bit. So, if you’re hitting those goals, you’re doing a helluva job.” But how are the goals quantified? Is it just a rundown of the weekly stat sheet? “I couldn’t tell you our stats. I couldn’t tell you,” Macdonald said. “It’s more what it looks like, feels like, type of thing that we’re chasing.”
How Michigan’s defense will fare the rest of this season remains to be seen. There are challenges ahead, that much is for certain. But whether they pass the test or not, Michigan’s defense has already followed Mazi Smith’s lead. The team won't, but look at the numbers. The reminder of what they could be, what they want to be, has been said out loud for everyone to hear.
---
Not a subscriber to The Maize and Blue Review? Sign up today!
Discuss this article on our premium message boards
Follow our staff on Twitter @MaizeBlueReview, @JoshHenschke, @AESchnepp, @BrandonJustice_, @DanielDash_, @DennisFithian, @StephenToski, @TannerWutang, @Baird_CJ, @ZachLibby
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify
Subscribe to The Maize and Blue Review on YouTube!
Like The Maize and Blue Review on Facebook!
