We haven’t really started opening it up yet. That’s the scary part. We haven’t started opening up our defense. You’re going to see.
— Sophomore defensive end Rashan Gary
Like a kid facing a pile of Christmas presents after a year of anticipation, it’s time to start opening.
Michigan needs its defense, immediately. A crew that sailed with swagger through a 3-0 non-conference schedule now heads for stormier seas.
The Wolverines lost 10 of 11 starters from the nation’s top total defense in 2016. You know what the brash ball hawks are talking about?
That’s right. Being better.
“You just want to be great,” fifth-year senior linebacker Mike McCray said. “This year, we want to be better than we were last year. So far, we’ve done a great job with that. I still feel like we can be a lot better.”
They’ve been plenty formidable through the opening quarter of the schedule. They’re fifth in the nation in total defense, surrendering only 208.0 yards per game. They’re top 10 nationally in half a dozen other defensive categories, including sacks (tied for sixth, 4.33 per game), tackles for loss (tied for seventh, 9.0 per game), rushing defense (ninth, 82.3 per game) and defensive touchdowns (tied for second, three total).
They’re surrendering 14.7 points per game on paper (to tie for 24th nationally), but only 10.0 in reality (which would tie for eighth). The only way they could have stopped Florida’s two pick-sixes involves bolting from the sidelines and absorbing a 22-men-on-the-field penalty.
They’re fast, ferocious and fired up, using every slight to move them forward. Officials flagged Gary for a late hit and targeting Cincinnati’s quarterback, the latter eventually overruled.
His seething beneath the helmet couldn’t be missed. He’d been chop blocked the whole game, he asserted, and felt a little surly anyway.
When the refs let him stick around, Bearcats quarterback Hayden Moore wished they hadn’t. On the very next play, Gary buried him, striding away exuding an enough is enough aura. A game that shouldn’t have been as close as it was at the time turned all Michigan.
“He just brought a lot of energy to the team and to the crowd,” McCray recalled. “If you play angry all the time, you just dominate. That’s what he does.”
That’s what Michigan needs on Saturday, in the Big Ten opener. This isn’t your father’s brand of Boilermakers, new head coach Jeff Brohm injecting more than a kernel of competence amid the corn.
Purdue gave No 16 Louisville all it could handle, before losing a 35-28 shootout. Last weekend, the Boilermakers crushed Missouri 35-3 in Columbia. The longtime woebegone of West Lafayette look no more like a typical Purdue crew than Gene Keady looks like Fabio.
Brohm blew in from Western Kentucky, where the Hilltoppers were king of the Football Bowl Subdivision mountain a year ago in points per game (45.5) and yards per play (7.65). Quarterback David Blough has completed 12 of his 13 passes in the red zone, including four touchdown tosses.
That’s a sore spot for Michigan, standing 1 of 10 on touchdowns scored in the red zone. While the Wolverines are finding their way on offense, Gary, McCray & Co. need to remind the Boilermakers which program has won 22 of the last 27 in the series.
History counts for zero on Saturday, and Jim Harbaugh knows it. He delivered a 10-minute press conference at Schembechler Hall on Monday and probably could have beaten sophomore linebacker Devin Bush Jr. back up the stairs when it ended. Harbaugh knows talk is nothing and prep is everything at this point.
He did acknowledge the loss of freshman wideout Tarik Black for an extended period. Arguably Michigan’s best receiver early on, Black cracked a bone in his foot — another tough break for an offense looking for all the help it can get.
It can receive a lot from Michigan’s defenders, and Gary — while saying all the right things about trusting U-M’s offense to produce — vows it’s about to get more.
“That’s the crazy part,” Gary insisted. “You’re all going to see. A lot of our defense you haven’t seen. A lot of guys you haven’t seen. It’s going to be great, when it all starts clicking like it’s supposed to click.
“Everybody running to the ball, everybody flying to the ball, everybody having fun. That’s the key part when you’re out there on the field with your brothers, out there making plays. It’s a wonderful thing.”
This band of brothers is about to be tested like it hasn’t been so far. McCray offered one sign he’s seeking regarding Michigan’s potential defensive greatness.
“Changing the game,” he said. “Turning the game around. Just taking over, really.”
No better time than now, lest the Children of the Corn become even scarier.
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