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No. 15 Michigan football secured a 34-17 Week 1 victory over New Mexico in its opener this past Saturday. While the Wolverines probably exceeded expectations on the offensive side of the ball in most people's eyes, the defense, even though the unit was solid as a whole, it might be fair to say defensive coordinator Wink Martindale's squad can ramp things up a notch and take things to the next level considering the talent on that side of the ball.
On Wednesday, defensive line coach Lou Esposito met with the media for a just over 15-minute session ahead of the Wolverines' game at No. 18 Oklahoma this Saturday night. While some teams play the strategy of showing a minimal amount of personnel packages and scheme variations in Week 1 ahead of playing a tougher Week 2 opponent, Esposito confirmed that was not the case for the Wolverines' defense last Saturday night.
Instead, Michigan left everything on the table on defense as Esposito said it's important for them to get as many game reps within their own system as possible.
"We didn't hold anything back," said Esposito. "For us, the more game reps you get at running your system, the better of you're going to be, no matter who you're playing. And again, like I've always said my whole career—25 practice reps is like one game rep. So, we're going to run what we run. Coach Wink is great at that. He was very very clear with what our vision was. So, we didn't hold anything back. What you saw is what you're gonna get."
Esposito acknowledged that different programs take different approaches in that regard. The Sooners seemed to be one taking the opposite approach as the Wolverines, at least on the offensive side of the ball. For example, California transfer Jaydn Ott, who was one of the top running backs in the portal this past offseason, only got one carry in Oklahoma's 35-3 win over Illinois State this past Saturday after he was reportedly working on getting back to being 100% healthy.
If Ott didn't play a much greater role on Saturday against the Wolverines then it would be shocking, and it was likely a classic case of the Sooners not wanting to put too much on tape for the Wolverines in terms of how they want to attack the running game and utilize Ott, along with protecting his health in a game OU was going to win either way.
"Not everybody does that, I get it," Esposito said. "And Oklahoma might not have done that (the same way Michigan approached Week 1). They're talking about different guys playing now and they held some guys out. So we'll see. It will be a great challenge for us."
Sooners running back Tory Blaylock had the most productive day on the ground for OU against Illinois State with eight carries, but after getting injured late last week, he may not be ready for this weekend.
With a bit of uncertainty when it comes to OU's rushing attack, along with a shuffling offensive line in certain spots, Esposito said the defense is preparing for all of their backs.
"They run hard. They were physical at the point of attack," said Esposito. "I don't know if the run game was an emphasis for them the entire game last week. I think they have really really good running backs. Then Ott, you just put the tape on from the year before, he's electric."
More Michigan News
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More must-reads:
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