Jim Harbaugh team defensive line stiffens up against Iowa

Indianapolis, Ind. Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of the Michigan football team, performed a song that could be considered familiar during the postgame celebration following the team’s third consecutive Big Ten Championship.

“(Sophomore) Kenneth Grant had a dominating game,” Harbaugh said “So did (sophomore) Mason Graham, (senior) Kris Jenkins, (graduate) Cam Goode, those interior edge guys. The edge guys were incredible.”

To the trained ear, these monologues are nothing new. In fact, they can become borderline monotonous as Harbaugh intricately works through every piece of the position group. Often, in dominant win after dominant win for the Wolverines, the listing of names can become a mantra — simply one complimentary lull after another.

But this time was different.

Because amid the brightest lights of the season, and with a championship on the line, No. 2 Michigan’s defensive line and its depth quietly shined.

“They’re very well-coached,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “They’ve got a lot of girth inside. It was tough to get anything going in the running game, and they rotate guys through. They have four, five, six guys that are pretty good in there.”

Up and down the lineup, Michigan’s defensive line strength, and depth, did its job. Against a struggling Hawkeyes offense that even looked underwhelming on its best days, the Wolverines were still firing on all cylinders. From stuffing the run to clogging passing lanes and even forcing a fumble, the defensive line made sure Iowa’s offense posted a blank slate. And it all started on the line.

The line of scrimmage was a pesky plane for the Hawkeyes all night. A run-oriented offense that finds success in offensive possession and ball control, Iowa’s attack found itself bottled up by Michigan for 60 minutes. Four separate Hawkeye rushers combined for 51 total yards on 18 attempts — good for a difficult 2.83 yards per carry.

Stuffing the run time and time again, the Wolverines forced Iowa’s offense into disadvantageous offensive situations. Ten times alone on the night, the Hawkeyes found themselves in 3rd-and-five situations or longer — and they converted on just two. Set up for failure due to a struggling passing offense, Iowa was inevitably forced to drop back.

Then Michigan’s defensive line went to work.

“I would attribute Michigan’s defensive performance or our offensive performance to their defense,” Ferentz said. “They have a really good defense, and it’s statistically proven. I think they give up 10 points a game.”

In this case, the Wolverines gave up none as the Hawkeye’s offense found itself caught between a rock and a hard place on the line of scrimmage.

As Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill dropped back to pass, in part, due to a struggling rushing attack, Michigan’s defensive line hit its groove. When it could get to the quarterback, the line brought Hill down with ease, logging three sacks and five tackles for loss.

And when the defensive line couldn’t find Hill as fast, he found it. Senior edge Jaylen Harrell, Graham and junior edge Josiah Stewart combined for four tipped throws that resulted in incompletions as a hurried Hill compensated for his struggling offensive line.

In one specific instance, Stewart ducked under two linemen and blocked a pass from Hill down with both hands, seemingly by jumping a potential screen pass. Iowa’s offense was dejected and ineffective as they kept making mistakes or going close to making field goals. Furthermore, there were plenty of players who filled in for standouts like Harrell, Graham, or Stewart. The Wolverines, an older lineup with skill in rotation, didn’t back down.

“They’re very veteran, very veteran on defense.” Ferentz said.

Eventually, Michigan’s pressure paid off. Midway through the third quarter, as Hill backed up under center to his own goal line, two unblocked rushers in senior edge Braiden McGregor and graduate Mike Sainristil rushed free off the edge. Panicked, Hill half-heartedly attempted to toss a prayer that Graham and Sainristil poked out of his hand and into the hands of the Michigan defense.

Throughout the course of the contest, it felt as though every standout defensive play had a defensive lineman’s hand in the cookie jar. Whether it was senior defensive tackle Kris Jenkins falling on a fumble caused by Sainristil, or Grant recovering Hill’s forced punch-out, Michigan’s defensive line came to play early and often, feasting on offensive lines, and filling the box score in the process.