Wink Martindale sends message to Michigan defense: 'What type of man are you going to be? How are you going to respond?'

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football players came off the practice field Tuesday evening feeling like it was a productive session on State Street. The Maize and Blue emphasized tackling on defense and running plays over until they’re “perfect” on offense. However, what came in the 48 hours between the 31-13 loss to USC and the Tuesday practice may have been more important.

Michigan is fresh off suffering its second loss of the season and must regroup, still possessing a chance to make the College Football Playoff by winning out in the back half of the season, which features a lighter schedule ahead of the Nov. 29 finale against Ohio State.

The defense was embarrassed against the Trojans, allowing nearly 500 yards of offense, including 224 rushing. The Wolverines carry immense pride in stopping the run, and that’s the most anyone has rushed on Michigan since the 2022 game against Texas Christian (263).

Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale shared an emphatic message with his crew coming off the loss.

“Basically, what type of man are you going to be? How are you going to respond? Are you going to let this moment affect the next weeks you got, or are you going to just move on?” Michigan graduate student defensive tackle Damon Payne said.

“I think it was received great. Coming from practice today, a new energy, good bounce back. Just ready to attack the week.”

It wasn’t just the offense, defense or special teams that failed the team at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles — it was all three phases.

“There’s a lot of accountability amongst everybody — staff, players, everybody,” Payne said. “We took moments, thought about what we did wrong and have implemented [the corrections] this week.

“You just take it week by week, play by play. Man, we play as hard as we can for each other, for this university and that’s the product we put out.”

A focus this season has been keeping the same energy and attacking each week the same way, win or lose, after learning some lessons from last season, which featured five losses in the regular season.

Junior tight end Zack Marshall was asked if the mood the team has remained ‘up’ despite the loss.

“No,” the Michigan offensive player responded. “Up, down … it’s definitely like a camera focus. Sometimes, you’re in the wrong focus. Not that it doesn’t make a great photo, like sometimes blurry photos are cool, but sometimes you’ve got to dial it back in and get it to the crisp, Sony X whatever, the nice camera, get back to that really nice, dialed in look.”

Focus in practice

The Wolverines missed 14 tackles against USC, and allowed the Trojans to beat them up in the screen game. Michigan didn’t get much pressure, either, though the dropbacks weren’t long since USC got the ball out quickly.

“Not really much of a drastic change or we need to shift everything,” Payne said of the focus. “It’s just more so, let’s lock in and get back to work, and let’s do things better, not just keep doing the same thing. You’re going to get the same result.”

One of the things Michigan focused on during Tuesday’s practice was tackling.

“Old-school tackling drills,” Payne said. “Coach Wink is very knowledgeable, has a lot of drills for all the positions. We go through it all the time.

“We’ve got to get the guys to the ground. That’s the biggest part, getting guys to the ground, so just making an emphasis on that.

“Just like every other week, even after games where we do great, there are always mistakes, always things to work on. And just highlighting this week, there’s more of an emphasis on wrapping up, bringing guys down. That’s it.”

It better be fine tuned by this weekend, with Washington coming to down. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. was just named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week following a historic performance in a 38-19 triumph over Rutgers in Seattle, amassing 538 yards of offense — 402 passing and 136 rushing — with 4 total touchdowns.

“He reminds me of a great player, that’s what I see,” Payne said of any comparisons. “Outstanding player, outstanding athlete. Excited to play and excited to go against the best. Just ready for this week.”

Michigan and Washington kick off at noon ET on FOX Saturday in Ann Arbor.