Defense/ST Notes: Michigan unleashes a new wrinkle in suffocating performance

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines got a much-needed cleanse on Saturday, following up last week’s 24-13 loss at Oklahoma with a 63-3 win over Central Michigan on Saturday.

The Chippewas were stymied and never had much going for them offensively with U-M allowing only 139 yards of total offense. It was also a step forward from a tackling perspective, with the fundamentals being focused on in practice this week.

“Was tackling emphasized? Yeah, it, yes,” associate head coach Biff Poggi said after the game. “We tackle every day. This past week, coming up to this game, those tackling circuits were extended a few periods. And I thought we tackled really well today. Good football teams tackle well, generally, and in space. So it was a lot of work by Wink [Martindale] and his guys getting that done.”

Of course, Saturday also came with a breakout performance from a familiar face in a new role. Senior linebacker Jaishawn Barham got all of his reps in the game at EDGE and had a dominant showing with 6 total tackles and 2 sacks, coming out of this one as the star of the game on that side of the ball.

“I thought he set the tone early,” Poggi said. “Wink had a really good plan. We’re going to move him around more, so you have to account for him. He is a very, very explosive player. I thought he set the tone early and kept going for us.”

Barham appeared to take a shot below the waist early in the second half and left the game. The only update Michigan’s interim head coach had was that he might not be from this planet.

“On Jaishawn? The update? He might be a superhero,” Poggi said. “We’re doing a DNA swab right now. But he could be. That’s the update. He’s fine.”

Teammates also weighed in on the superhuman performance from the athletic Michigan teammate.

“That’s Superman,” sophomore running back Jordan Marshall said. “Going against him in practice every single day is not fun, especially in camp when we’re pretty live and we’re hitting each other. It’s no fun. He’s a problem. I’m glad he’s on our team.

Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood weighed in: “Jaishawn is one of a kind, of course. He’s like no other, but we’ve got 10 other players on the field that make amazing plays every day at practice, so that makes me better every single day.”

Michigan’s offensive line has seen that type of disruption from Barham plenty of times, and it seems it could be an area we continue to see with its depth at linebacker.

“Jaishawn is obviously very hard to block, especially as an O-lineman,” sophomore tackle Andrew Sprague said. “But, like Bryce said, we’ve got Cole Sullivan, Ernie, Jimmy Rolder, Troy Bowles, Chase Taylor. We’ve got a lot of good linebackers, so everybody gives a good look.”

Michigan freshman has a moment

There were plenty of high-fives to be had for Michigan on defense, but one of the most impressive moments came from Underwood’s Belleville HS classmate, defensive back Elijah Dotson.

Dotson grabbed his first-career interception in the third quarter, one of two Michigan turnovers on the day.

“[It was] surreal,” Dotson said after the game. “All glory to God. I couldn’t imagine anything better than that. I said all week I was going to get an interception. I told my coaches. I told them if it came my way and the ball comes, I’m going to get one, so that’s what I did.”

Underwood said that he called his shot for Dotson, as well. The two made plays together in high school, and now have done so early in their careers at Michigan.

“I called it in the first quarter,” Underwood said. “I called he was going to have an interception. He told me before the game he was going to have one, but I told Rod Moore before the second quarter, ‘He’s going to come down with a pick if they throw his way.’ It was an amazing feeling to see one of my guys that I came all this way from high school make a good play.”

Dotson, like most Michigan players this week, were playing fired up with head coach Sherrone Moore out serving a two-game suspension. They were hoping to give him something to cheer about while watching the game at home with his family.

“Earlier in the week, he told us he would do anything to be out there with us. He just said to play for the name on the back; don’t even play for me. Because we all said we’re going to play for Coach Moore this game. He said play for the name on your back. He said he was going to be at home, jumping up and down on his couch, regardless of what happens. He said he was proud of us and he loves us, so we went out there and played for Coach Moore.”

Miscellaneous U-M vs. CMU defensive/special teams notes

• True freshman cornerback Jayden Sanders made his first career start on Saturday. He is the first true freshman corner to start as a freshman since Will Johnson, who started the 7th game he played in the 2022 season at Rutgers.

• Junior linebacker Troy Bowles forced his first career fumble during a fourth-quarter CMU drive. It was recovered by sophomore defensive tackle Manuel Beigel, the first of his career.

• None of Central Michigan’s first five drives had more than 10 yards or lasted more than six plays. U-M held CMU to 80 yards in the first half, the fewest allowed by a Wolverine defense since limiting UNLV to 60 in 2023.

• CMU was held to 139 total yards, rushing for 79 yards on 2.4 yards per carry. Michigan’s run defense has allowed 267 yards in 3 games (2.6 yards per carry).

• CMU was held to 8 first downs, matching Michigan’s third down defensive output in last year’s win over Northwestern. The Chippewas recorded first downs on just 8 of their 11 drives.

• Senior kicker Dominic Zvada missed a 42-yard field goal attempt on Saturday, his second miss of the season. He missed only one field goal last year, an attempt that was blocked at Illinois.