A few years ago, ESPN analyst Chris Spielman criticized Michigan's defense in referring to them as Mike Martin and a supporting cast more worthy of Indiana than U-M. Safety Jordan Kovacs is one of many who helped prove him wrong.

Now in his fifth year, Kovacs has blossomed into one of the Big Ten's better safeties. Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison isn't one to heap praise on his group, always searching for improvement, but he makes an exception for Kovacs.

"There's one that's always consistent - that's No. 32," Mattison praised. "That young man has had a tremendous camp. You talk about consistency. If you graded every play, I would like to see that grade. He's really working hard and he's been the most consistent.

"There are a number of them who have been very consistent for a practice, and then they've got to come back for the next one. I don't want to name names, because I wouldn't be doing them justice - but that's one I will name. He just gets better and better. He's what it's all about."

"He's like all the others guys. He shows some really good things, but other days it's, 'I've got to do that better,'" Mattison said. "There's a guy that hasn't played it very much, and he's not that biggest guy. He needs to play extra hard and play very physical, and he's got to play with great technique.

"When you get tired and you go through a whole camp, you sometimes tend to not play it perfectly. Then you don't play it as well. He understands, but he's working really hard. I think he's going to really help this defense."

"When you have a very good pass rush coming and somebody in their face, you can maybe not play as good as you have to and still be okay," he said. "If you're not getting a pass rush, now you'd better be right on top of it.

"That's what the first game and early games are all about to find out, okay, where are we that way? Is our secondary improved? I don't know that you'll see that. Are they ready to be that type of secondary? At the same time, are we going to be able to get pressure with a four-man rush? Those are all the things you don't know right now. You see it one day and maybe don't see it the next day. You can't say yes it's there or no it's not there."

"Our whole group, that's the thing we've been doing," he said. "With this defense going into the season, who's going to be the guy? That's a lot of positions. Who are going to be the two guys? We don't know that either, until you really look at it the next few days before you get into the game, and then you're going to know in that game. Then you make a decision after that game, the next game. That's how it is here."