Michigan Football's Dominant Edge Unit Could Get Reinforcements vs. Oklahoma

The Wolverines' edge unit was dominant against WMU and Michigan will need it to do the same this weekend.

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There weren't too many positives from Michigan's 13-12 win over Western Michigan last weekend, but the Wolverines' defense played well overall, and the edge rushers were great. Dom Nichols led the unit in snaps with 55, and John Henry Daley had 43 as the other starter.

Entering the season, Michigan was expected to rotate its edge rushers, but Cameron Brandt saw 32 snaps and then you have to go way down to find Nate Marshall's name with eight snaps in Week 1. Heading into Oklahoma, DE coach Lewis Powell expects more rotation this weekend with five or six edge rushers getting into the game.

"Those guys took most of the reps on the night last week, and Nate came in and did some good things," Powell said. "I like the progress of the whole group going in from Cam to what we've seen on Saturday. There was a couple guys that weren't ready. They're still nagging injuries, but they should be all back this week. I think you'll see a little bit more rotation this week. That was a good first game, but a lot to work on and excited moving forward to next week."

Reinforcement on the way

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With Michigan essentially only playing 3.5 edge rushers this past weekend, the Wolverines weren't fully healthy and Powell expects that to change against one of the top offensive lines in the nation. The expectation is for Michigan to rotate to keep its edge rushers fresh and to keep the Sooners on their toes.

Five-star edge rusher Carter Meadows didn't suit up last weekend, but he is expected to suit up for Saturday, and Powell said he could make his debut. Between Nichols, Daley, Brandt, Marshall, and Meadows, that would give the Wolverines five edge rushers to rotate, with the possibility of either Benny Patterson or Tariq Boney seeing some action.

"I think so. I think the rotation, being that we're getting some guys back healthy, I think there would be a more fluid rotation," said Powell. "You wouldn't see guys just take so many reps, but yes, I'd like probably five, maybe even six guys to rotate on the game."

Nichols is a special player

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If Michigan is going to slow down the Sooners' potent rushing attack and keep John Mateer at bay, it's going to need Dom Nichols to show out once again. The Wolverines know what they have in John Henry Daley, a former All-American, and Michigan wants to have another formidable force with him.

Last weekend, Nichols had nine tackles, 2.5 TFLs, and 1.5 sacks. Powell called him special and he's not sure he's ever coached anyone like him.

"Dom had a good day," Powell said. "Dom is a special player with just a good mix of speed and power and size. I'm not sure if I've ever coached somebody like him, but he's a special player, and he's one of our leaders in our room, and he graded out pretty good."

Fans can see Nichols and the Wolverines take on the Sooners this Saturday at Noon ET on FOX.

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