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Michigan football defense showed Wink Martindale’s ceiling vs OSU
TAMPA, Fla. — With his back to Jesuit High School’s Alumni Field, standing in his signature cutoff T-shirt and sunglasses, Michigan football defensive coordinator Wink Martindale made sure to thank a reporter for a question.
Saturday marked four weeks to the day since the Wolverines‘ 13-10 upset victory over then-No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio but it was the first time Martindale had a chance to talk about his unit’s masterpiece since that day.
“I’m so glad (you asked),” Martindale joked, after he’d answered a few questions about the Wolverines’ preparations for Tuesday’s ReliaQuest Bowl. “We were really confident in the game plan. The heart of the message all week was, ‘Take ’em to the deep end in the fourth quarter.’ And then we knew we could take over the game defensively. … We just physically outplayed them. When your best players are playing their best, that’s when you have a lot of success.
“We felt good going into the game of how we were going to attack them, and give them some different looks they weren’t used to, and when they started getting used to it, we went to a different look. And it kept them guessing (and) reaching the entire game.”
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The victory sent the OSU fanbase into a tailspin. Much of that happened because Martindale’s unit limited the Buckeyes to season lows in points (10), yards (252) and first downs (16).
Of course, the Buckeyes’ next performance gave a boost to the standard set by U-M, as Ohio State hammered Tennessee by 25 points in Columbus to open the College Football Playoff.
“(The Buckeyes) have a very talented group,” Martindale said Saturday. “It was just our day that day and I’m glad we had it.”
Although Michigan’s crowning moment came in Columbus, the Wolverines had been surging for a month beforehand.
The Wolverines have allowed just one touchdowns in their past 12 quarters and just two in the past 14, dating back to the third and fourth quarters on Nov. 2 against No. 1 Oregon. That’s when, in Martindale’s mind, he felt his unit truly start to click.
“Probably the second half of Oregon and I think it just kept building,” Martindale reflected. “Indiana, I thought we played really well. They have 18 yards in the second half. But the thing that the players finally realized was when you hit a quarterback like we were hitting quarterbacks — Northwestern, Indiana — those quarterbacks, once they start getting hit, they’re a different quarterback. And I think that that was one of the biggest lessons defensively that they learned.”
There’s no doubt the finish to the regular season changed the lens through which the year will be viewed. In mid-November, when U-M was sitting at 5-5, the possibility of missing a bowl game and a loss to Ohio State felt imminent. Even during OSU week, the Wolverines were three-TD underdogs.
Not that Martindale could acknowledge that.
“That’d probably be illegal if I looked at the spread,” Martindale quipped Saturday. “But that’s what I heard.”
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Instead, the Wolverines got their fourth consecutive win over OSU for the first time in more than three decades. It capped a regular season that, despite its disappointments, saw wins over both rivals (Michigan State and OSU) as well as victories in two other trophy games, against Minnesota (Little Brown Jug) and Northwestern (the George Jewett Trophy).
Martindale said 2024 is a year he won’t soon forget.
“It was one of the most rewarding experiences that I’ve had personally in coaching just because of where we came from,” he said. “So I think that the future is bright, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Crippen to return for fifth year
A few hours after linebacker Ernest Hausmann announced his return officially, Saturday morning at practice, center Greg Crippen posted online that he would return to Ann Arbor for a fifth season.
“I will be coming back to Michigan next year to help bring home another National Championship,” Crippen posted on social media. “Being a Michigan man is about loyalty, brotherhood, and excellence. I’m committed to this team, to this University, and to leaving everything on the field every single day.”
Dominick Giudice, a converted defensive lineman, won the starting center job out of fall camp and started the first five games. But Crippen — who came to Michigan as a four-star recruit out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida — took over the starting job for the final seven games this season.
Giudice has since transferred to Missouri while Crippen is now one of four offensive linemen with starting experience expected to return for the Wolverines; joining would-be sixth-year tackle Jeff Persi, fifth-year Giovanni El-Hadi and redshirt sophomore Evan Link.
Michigan will lose more than 70 games of experience with the departures of Myles Hinton and Josh Priebe, so the return of the 6-foot-4, 309-pound offensive lineman with 27 games played is much needed for Grant Newsome’s group.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
The Michigan football defense showcased defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s potential against Ohio State in their recent matchup. Despite the Wolverines falling to the Buckeyes, the defense displayed an aggressive and disruptive style of play that kept them in the game for much of the contest.
Martindale’s aggressive play-calling and creative blitz packages were on full display as Michigan consistently pressured Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and forced turnovers. The defense also did a solid job of limiting big plays and keeping the Buckeyes’ high-powered offense in check for much of the game.
While the Wolverines ultimately fell short, the performance of the defense under Martindale’s leadership showed the potential for this unit to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. With continued development and execution, Michigan’s defense could become one of the best in the country under Martindale’s guidance.
Overall, the Michigan football defense’s performance against Ohio State showcased Wink Martindale’s ceiling as a defensive coordinator and provided hope for the future of the program. With continued growth and improvement, the Wolverines’ defense could become a dominant force in college football.
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Michigan football, Wink Martindale, OSU, Michigan defense, college football, Big Ten, defensive coordinator, Ohio State, rivalry game, football analysis
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