Michigan Defense Unbreakable in Shutout Win over BYU
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 26, 2015
By John Kopko
Last week, senior defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow and members of the Michigan defense expressed their frustration over allowing a late touchdown in the 28-7 victory over UNLV that spoiled what would have been a shutout. A week later, the defense made its strongest statement yet, holding No. 22 BYU scoreless in a 31-0 rout on Saturday (Sept. 26) at Michigan Stadium.
"When you look up at the scoreboard, and you are playing as hard as you can at halftime, and they have zero points, you know you are capable of playing another half of scoreless football," Glasgow said. "You want to duplicate that in the second half, and that's what we did. I was really proud of the defense and how we played."
The Cougars entered the game averaging 432 yards and 30 points per game. The Wolverines had other ideas, however, holding BYU to just 105 yards and eight first downs. The performance marks the first time since November 2003 that the Cougars have been held scoreless and the first time since a 2010 loss to Utah that they haven't managed to score a touchdown.
"Our mindset is the same every game, regardless of the numbers they put up," senior defensive end Mario Ojemudia said. "We expect to hold every team to no points. It's a high expectation, but this is Michigan and you expect that out of us."
Junior defensive back Channing Stribling led the way for Michigan with four tackles and a pass breakup. Glasgow recorded three tackles -- two of which went for losses -- while Ojemudia, senior defensive tackle Willie Henry and junior defensive tackle Maurice Hurst combined for three sacks.
After BYU moved the chains four times over the course of the first two drives, the Wolverines clamped down and didn't allow another first down until six minutes remained in the third quarter. Over that span, the Cougars went three-and-out six straight times, gained a net total of 23 yards, and never moved the ball beyond their own 34-yard line.
All 31 of Michigan's points came in the first half, aided in part by the field position created by defensive stops. Of the Wolverines' five first-half scoring drives, four scores followed a BYU three-and-out.
Michigan's hard-nosed defense began to take control late in the first quarter when Glasgow blew up a run for a six-yard loss. Henry followed with a sack for a 10-yard loss that stalled the Cougars' best drive of the day and forced a punt. The ensuing Wolverine drive ended in a touchdown that extended the lead to 14-0, and Michigan was never challenged the remainder of the afternoon.
Graduate student quarterback Jake Rudock finished the first half with 36 rushing yards and two touchdowns, one yard short of BYU's first-half team rushing total of 37 yards. With a touchdown run of 60 yards that took about 15 seconds, junior running back De'Veon Smith nearly doubled the Cougars' first-half rushing total on a single play.
Though the offense began to slow down in the second half, the defense did not. It allowed just 43 yards of total offense and never let BYU get past Michigan's 43-yard line.
Of the Cougars' 12 possessions, 11 ended in punts. The remaining drive expired with the fourth-quarter clock.
Defensively, I would rate (the performance) a seven," Glasgow said. "There are some things we definitely can correct, being a little tough on our guys. It was a good performance overall, but we can definitely get better from here."
What would be the perfect defensive performance in Glasgow's mind?
"Zero yards and zero points."
He'll have to settle for a shutout for now.
• Michigan Shuts Out No. 22 BYU to Close Non-Conference Play
