• Michigan's defensive front sorting itself out: "I still don't think we've heard if [sophomore defensive tackle Aubrey] Solomon's going to play, or where he's at with his knee. So we've got some depth … not issues, but opportunities, I'd say, on the defensive line.
"No one has really grabbed the opportunity on the defensive line to this point. It's obviously early, but we've got four sacks through two games as a team so far. I'm waiting for someone to come up and have a big game there.
"I would say at the linebacker position, I don't want to ever single out one kid, but we haven't heard [junior viper Khaleke] Hudson's name a ton this year, with regard to his stats in tackles for loss and sacks. We know he's playing that viper position, and in Don Brown's defense, usually he's unaccounted for or he's got some blitzes specifically for him.
"I'd like to see some more people rotating in on the defensive line and at the linebacker spot, not necessarily because we're lacking there, but just to see if we can't influence some more production. I do feel like we've got better athletes there, and we should be getting more production, especially in terms of tackles for loss, sacks, QB pressures, those sorts of things."
• What he'd like to see against SMU: "I don't think we necessarily have to dial up the pressures in order to get pressure. I don't want to misconstrue that. With Michigan's defensive line, traditionally, we should be able to have a three- or four-man rush and still have a quarterback uncomfortable.
"We've had plenty of NFL products come from our defensive line. That's been the case, and that's how you have a successful defense, especially on third downs. If you have the option, as Don Brown, to rush four, and get the coverage, and still get the quarterback off his spot, or come after him, and he knows he has to get rid of it in two, two-and-a-half seconds, you need both of those in your pocket to be a good team at the end of the year.
"I'm just looking for some more four-man pressure in getting to the quarterback and containing the quarterback in this game.
"Other things I'm looking for … SMU is 0-2, and you look at the last game, 42-12 is a big loss. But you look at the box score and SMU was down two at halftime. They were up originally in the game. They did some positive things. They had 13 first downs. Against Western, we gave up 17 first downs.
"If we looked at a couple of stats I'd like to see, one would be QB pressures, QB sacks. I'd like to see more than two in the game. The other would be, we've got to get off the field on third down. Not as many first downs given up. Double-digit first downs for opponents that we match up with like Western or like SMU, that's a benchmark for playing as well as we should be playing, or are we just doing enough to get out of here with a win. That's what I'll be looking at."
• The best pass rusher he's ever had as a teammate: "Ever played with would be Brandon Graham. He was unbelievable with his hands. He was extremely powerful. He was just one of those freak guys. I think he ran a 4.5 at one point. He was a freak show, when it came to pass rush.
"But honestly, the guy that got me to come to Michigan, and that I still kind of idolize and I know him now, outside of football, is LaMarr Woodley. LaMarr Woodley was just a free-style pass rusher. There were so many times when I'd come in as a freshman and Coach [Steve] Stribling — who was with Coach [Lloyd] Carr's staff at the time — would say, 'All right, we're playing five-technique, so watch LaMarr on this play. He's going to go outside. He has outside contain.'
"Well, then the ball would be snapped, and LaMarr would do a nasty spin move inside, get to the quarterback and sack him. Stribling would kind of shrug his shoulders and look at me and say, 'Well, you make that play, you don't have to stay outside.'"
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-wolverines-football-pre-game-podcast-ryan-van-bergen-1
"No one has really grabbed the opportunity on the defensive line to this point. It's obviously early, but we've got four sacks through two games as a team so far. I'm waiting for someone to come up and have a big game there.
"I would say at the linebacker position, I don't want to ever single out one kid, but we haven't heard [junior viper Khaleke] Hudson's name a ton this year, with regard to his stats in tackles for loss and sacks. We know he's playing that viper position, and in Don Brown's defense, usually he's unaccounted for or he's got some blitzes specifically for him.
"I'd like to see some more people rotating in on the defensive line and at the linebacker spot, not necessarily because we're lacking there, but just to see if we can't influence some more production. I do feel like we've got better athletes there, and we should be getting more production, especially in terms of tackles for loss, sacks, QB pressures, those sorts of things."
• What he'd like to see against SMU: "I don't think we necessarily have to dial up the pressures in order to get pressure. I don't want to misconstrue that. With Michigan's defensive line, traditionally, we should be able to have a three- or four-man rush and still have a quarterback uncomfortable.
"We've had plenty of NFL products come from our defensive line. That's been the case, and that's how you have a successful defense, especially on third downs. If you have the option, as Don Brown, to rush four, and get the coverage, and still get the quarterback off his spot, or come after him, and he knows he has to get rid of it in two, two-and-a-half seconds, you need both of those in your pocket to be a good team at the end of the year.
"I'm just looking for some more four-man pressure in getting to the quarterback and containing the quarterback in this game.
"Other things I'm looking for … SMU is 0-2, and you look at the last game, 42-12 is a big loss. But you look at the box score and SMU was down two at halftime. They were up originally in the game. They did some positive things. They had 13 first downs. Against Western, we gave up 17 first downs.
"If we looked at a couple of stats I'd like to see, one would be QB pressures, QB sacks. I'd like to see more than two in the game. The other would be, we've got to get off the field on third down. Not as many first downs given up. Double-digit first downs for opponents that we match up with like Western or like SMU, that's a benchmark for playing as well as we should be playing, or are we just doing enough to get out of here with a win. That's what I'll be looking at."
• The best pass rusher he's ever had as a teammate: "Ever played with would be Brandon Graham. He was unbelievable with his hands. He was extremely powerful. He was just one of those freak guys. I think he ran a 4.5 at one point. He was a freak show, when it came to pass rush.
"But honestly, the guy that got me to come to Michigan, and that I still kind of idolize and I know him now, outside of football, is LaMarr Woodley. LaMarr Woodley was just a free-style pass rusher. There were so many times when I'd come in as a freshman and Coach [Steve] Stribling — who was with Coach [Lloyd] Carr's staff at the time — would say, 'All right, we're playing five-technique, so watch LaMarr on this play. He's going to go outside. He has outside contain.'
"Well, then the ball would be snapped, and LaMarr would do a nasty spin move inside, get to the quarterback and sack him. Stribling would kind of shrug his shoulders and look at me and say, 'Well, you make that play, you don't have to stay outside.'"
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-wolverines-football-pre-game-podcast-ryan-van-bergen-1
