Michigan defensive lineman Mike Morris is the next man up whether he's ready or not. While departing players Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo are going to be tough acts to follow, they also set the standard of what the football program is looking for with its edge defenders.

Morris has accepted and embraced the challenge by building an entirely new mindset knowing exactly what the opportunity ahead for him could potentially hold.

"Just changing my mentality," Morris said. "Last year we had people who were going to make plays. They were going to make plays. Now, I have to put myself in a position to make plays and actually take over the game. I feel like my mentality going forward is to just attack the offense."

Generally in sports, the 'next man up' mentality always holds true. Whether you lose depth to injury or early departure, the next player up has to be ready in case the unpredictable happens.

For Morris, he doesn't have to be reminded of what the depth chart looks like now. He knows that he's the one under the microscope.

"I feel like I have no choice," Morris said regarding being the next man up. "Who else is it going to be? I feel like I have to. I feel like I am holding myself to that standard and it's going to be me."

Was it something the coaches said to him to get fired up? Hardly.

In fact, this was something he engrained in his own mind.

"It was just self-realization," Morris said. "I want it to be me. I want to put myself in that position to make that play. I want to be that guy."

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