Michigan Wolverines Football: Michigan D-Line 'Looking In The Mirror' After 'Unacceptable' Performances

The Michigan Wolverines have problems all over the field, but the issues have been the most glaring on the defensive side of the ball all season long. The Wolverines are losers of three straight games and have yielded an average of 459 yards in those setbacks.

Last week, the defense allowed Wisconsin to rush for a whopping 341 yards, including 105 yards on the ground from the Badgers' receivers on jet sweeps.

The pressure from the fanbase and the media is beginning to mount, and while the Wolverines insist they're only focused on the voices inside the team facilities, one member of the staff inside Schembechler Hall is sharing similar sentiments with what's being said on the outside.

Defensive line coach Shaun Nua appeared on the 'Inside Michigan Football' radio program Monday night and expressed his displeasure with the porous performances the defense has put out there the last three weeks.

“If they’re not embarrassed with those numbers, then you shouldn’t be part of this fricking game,” Nua told host Jon Jansen. “I can’t sleep, can’t eat. It’s just unacceptable.

“The challenge is — I’m talking about as a full group — what the heck can we do to make sure that doesn’t happen? It comes from passion and leadership. Let’s get the fricking mindset right. I’m sick and tired of all these wasted opportunities. That’s the motivation, is just pride. Where the frick is our pride? Let’s put that on the table and let’s go kick some butt. Those numbers ... that is not Michigan football.

The Wolverines' defensive line is currently without junior Aidan Hutchinson, who is out for the season with a leg fracture, and senior end Kwity Paye, who missed last week's game with a lower body injury. Sophomore defensive tackle Christopher Hinton and fifth-year senior tackle Carlo Kemp are the only two full-time starters still healthy. Hinton believes the unit should still be more productive, despite being without two of the better players on the entire roster.

"They’re two great guys, two great football players, so we miss them, we miss their presence," Hinton admitted. "But, it’s a next man up mentality. Everyone has to pick up their role just a little bit, and if we all just step up in certain areas here and there, then we can just eliminate that gap with them being absent.

"I feel like as a d-line, we’re extremely hard on ourselves in the meeting room and on the practice field. Coach Nua holds us to a high standard, and I have full faith in my teammates and I to step up when needed to eliminate that void."

U-M has also only made six sacks this season and just one in the last three games. Opposing quarterbacks are getting the ball out quick and teams are max protecting, giving the Wolverines a disadvantage numbers-wise at the line of scrimmage, which has caused U-M to adjust its philosophy in the trenches.

"I try to get my hands up, try to deflect passes, because a lot of these short passes are low to the line of scrimmage," said Hinton, who has two pass deflections this year. "I have long arms and I think I have a good knack for where the ball will be. I try to deflect passes and change the game in that sense.

"Maybe just changing up some pass rushes because you don’t have much time, just to get there quicker. You just find things here and there just to get there faster. I mean, that’s no excuse, we still have to be able to execute, get after the quarterback and get hits on the quarterback, because that’s the name of the game."

Hinton, who has seven total tackles on the season, believes the position group has done some good, but needs to reflect internally and improve throughout the week during practice to put it together more consistently.

"Personally, I always feel like I can play better, I don’t care how well I play," Hinton said. "I’m a hard critic on myself, I have been ever since I was a little kid, and my parents instilled that in me to never be satisfied.

"Obviously, we haven’t been getting the results that we’ve been wanting. It doesn’t matter how well I’ve been playing, there’s still ways I can play even better to hopefully impact the game even more.

"I feel like as a d-line, we all feel the same way. At this point, it doesn’t matter how well we’ve played, because the results have not been what we’ve been wanting. We just look at ourselves in the mirror. We have to improve every week, every day."

"If I’m being honest, I feel like we’ve been practicing well these last couple weeks. I feel like we need to just hone in more on the specific details, smaller details here and there throughout different periods and things like that to make sure that when it comes time for Saturday, we’re locked in 100 percent. But I’m a true believer that repetition in practice makes perfect, so if we just keep practicing and honing in on small details throughout the week, we can make a difference on Saturday."

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