D-line sack competition helping fuel Michigan football DT Kenneth Grant
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In Week 1, Michigan sophomore defensive tackle Kenneth Grant showed he was vastly improved from the year before, but he didn’t have too much to show for it.
Grant did have the pressure on the East Carolina quarterback which led to an errant, rushed throw, which resulted in an interception by Wolverine nickel back Mike Sainristil. For all his rushes in that game, however, he never got home.
In Week 2 against UNLV, however, Grant’s brute force allowed him to accumulate 1.5 sacks — which is where he stands now. Now Grant is a starter with Mason Graham sidelined with an injury, and while he’s not gotten any more sacks, he’s continuing to harass quarterbacks. Compared to his freshman year, it’s a big difference in performance.
He says that the game is coming more natural to him and his prowess on the defensive front is due to knowing a lot more about what he’s seeing on the other side of the ball.
“Yeah, it’s definitely slowed down,” Grant said. “It’s really all about studying and stuff like knowing the offensive tendencies, and all their tips and tricks. It really helps slow down the game and you can expect what’s coming before it already comes.”
After not getting home in Week 1, it felt good for Grant to get into the backfield and bring the quarterback to the ground. However, with some of his teammates starting to rise up the leaderboard, he feels he needs to step it up since he hasn’t gotten any sacks since that Week 2 game.
“It was definitely a sigh of relief but it was motivation to go get some more,” Grant said. “Because (Jaylen Harrell) and other guys talk in your ear like, ‘I’m coming to get you! I’ll get those sacks!’ But yeah, the competition all around, it makes us everyone better.”
Having internal competition is helping the entire unit. Of the nine sacks tallied through four games thus far, the defensive line unit has accounted for 7.5. Grant says there’s no actual reward for getting the QB to the turf, but he and his teammates are certainly jockeying to see who can finish the season with the most sacks.
“It’s just bragging rights, trying to get each other fired up and really just trying to get each other at our best, on our peak any way, shape possible how.”
Grant and the Wolverine will get another opportunity in Week 5 when the maize and blue travel to Nebraska. Kickoff will be at 3:30 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on Fox.
