Jesse Minter did plenty of self reflection on the plane ride back from Arizona after Michigan lost a 51-45 shootout to TCU in last year's Fiesta Bowl CFP semifinal.
Minter saw his Wolverines defense allow nearly 500 total yards and an average of 7 yards per play in their worst performance of the season.
While he was disappointed, Minter also knew that he had an experienced unit returning that knew the scheme. It was now a matter of making his players understand what they needed to do to be successful.
Enter Minter's emphasis on the four pillars of his defense — block destruction, shocking effort, ball disruption and obnoxious communication.
Those pillars are why the top-ranked Wolverines (13-0) have one of the nation's top defenses going into Monday's College Football Playoff semifinal in the Rose Bowl against Alabama (12-1).
“We always talk about the four pillars of our defense with the different phases of the game. I feel like that’s a big step we took in the offseason that has really helped our defense,” defensive tackle Mason Graham said.
Michigan has the nation's top-ranked scoring defense, allowing only 9.5 points per game. It is second in total defense (239.7 yards per game), second best against the pass and sixth best in stopping the run.
“My job is to try to put the players in the best position to be successful, but if we can have those guys playing at a fundamental level just at a football level that allows us to play at our best,” Minter said. “A lot of times you can overcome a bad call if you play that way.
“But eventually any adversity is an opportunity to grow, an opportunity to get better. I think if you sit there and say, hey, we were 13-1, let’s just run it back, it worked out pretty good, then you set yourself up for disappointment.”
Defensive back Rod Moore said the other benefit of the pillars is it is consistent from all levels of the defense, from the linemen to the linebackers and the secondary,
The defense recorded two shutouts this season, including a 26-0 victory over Iowa in the Big Ten championship game, and held eight opponents to single digits. However, the unit does have a chip on its shoulder.
That has been reinforced this week with more attention being focused on Alabama.
“I’m sitting here talking like the underdog, like we’re not the No. 1 team in the country. I get it. It’s ’Bama. It is what it is. Let everybody talk to the game. That’s kind of how I see it,” linebacker Michael Barrett said.
Linebacker Jaylen Harrell also knows why the disrespect is there, even though the Wolverines are in the CFP semifinals for the third straight year.
“Oh, we’re playing ‘Bama. They’ve been here, whatever, eight times or ten times already. So everyone jumps on ’Bama when it’s time to play playoffs, you know,” he said. “We can’t really say that too much. We’ve just got to go out there and handle business the right way and get the job done. Like you said, we’ve been here now our third year, but we’ve been unsuccessful two years in a row.”
The four pillars will be put to its greatest test on Monday. Alabama comes in with the nation's 14th-ranked offense and quarterback Jalen Milroe's combination of arm strength and athleticism will make it more imperative for Michigan's defense to stick to fundamentals.
“Everyone talks about him as a runner. I don’t think they’ve really seen his arm on tape, like throw the ball 60 yards on the run, in the pocket, stuff like that,” Harrell said. “Really this matchup is just good-on-good. That’s all you think about when you’re ’Bama-Michigan. Like I’m pretty sure everyone is, okay, that’s going to be a heavy weight matchup. That’s going to be a great game.”
