In the days before Michigan’s game at Ohio State, Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale pretty much laid out the Wolverines’ defensive game plan.

Martindale, who returned to college after 20 seasons coaching in the NFL, raved about Ohio State’s offense, which was averaging 439.1 yards a game and scoring an average 37.8 points. It was Michigan’s defensive performance that was vital in the 13-10 upset at Ohio Stadium last Saturday, as the Wolverines held the Buckeyes to 252 yards, including only 77 rushing.

“I think that you need to — this is gonna sound like a double-edged sword — stop the run and not let any ball get over your head,” Martindale said on the “Inside Michigan Football” radio show last Tuesday. “And to do that, you’re gonna have to stop the run sometimes with a lighter box, and we’ve been pretty good at doing that.”

His comments were prescient. That’s how Michigan’s defense approached slowing Ohio State’s run game, and that proved successful. Defensive tackles Mason Graham, a finalist for the Outland, awarded to the nation’s top interior lineman, and also the Nagurski for the top defensive player, and Kenneth Grant had exceptional games and were the nation’s highest-rated defensive tackles in the Power 4 last weekend, according to Pro Football Focus.

Graham played 47 snaps and finished with seven tackles, second behind linebacker Ernest Hausmann’s eight. Grant played 46 snaps and finished with four tackles and was credited with a shared tackle for loss and also five pressures.

“Wink let us do the basic stuff so we could play faster,” Grant said on the “Inside Michigan Football” postgame show. “We let the hounds out. It was just a great game all around. The D-line helped the DBs (defensive backs), and the DBs helped the D-line. I feel like we were a complete defense.”

The Wolverines had interceptions from Aamir Hall and Makari Paige. They didn’t have a sack, but had four tackles for loss.

For Michigan, the key was holding Ohio State, which entered the game averaging 177.5 yards rushing, to 77 yards. Leading rusher Quinshon Judkins, who was averaging 69 yards a game and had eight touchdowns, gained 46 yards on 12 carries against Michigan and TreVeyon Henderson, who averaged 65.6 yards and had six touchdowns, had 10 rushes for 21 yards. Neither scored against Michigan.

“We struggled to run the ball in this game,” OSU coach Ryan Day said after the game. “We know we’ve talked about this many times — we have to run the ball, especially in this game. It was a little windy out and in order to win the game, you got to be able to run it. We weren’t able to do that. Tried a couple different schemes, couldn’t quite get into a rhythm on that … you can’t just abandon the run. You have to be able to control the ball.”

Graham said he sensed the Buckeyes were getting frustrated.

“Throughout the game, they kinda lost courage,” Graham said on the postgame “Inside Michigan Football” show. “Me and a lot of the other guys were not letting them do a lot of stuff, so I feel like they got frustrated. Had to fall back on throwing the ball because they knew they couldn’t run the ball. I feel that’s what helped us a lot.”

Will Howard was 19-of-33 for 175 yards and had one touchdown against two interceptions. Howard entered the game having completed 74% of his passes and had 26 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also ran for seven touchdowns.

Martindale had taken some heat earlier in the season and some questioned whether he could adjust to the college game. He was the architect of the Baltimore Ravens’ defense that was implemented at Michigan in 2021 when Mike Macdonald left the Ravens for Michigan and in 2022 and 2023 when Jesse Minter, who also learned the defense under Martindale, took over.

Michigan’s defense was particularly evident in recent games. At then-No. 8 Indiana on Nov. 9, the Wolverines held the Hoosiers to 18 second-half yards and two weeks later after a bye, they reached bowl eligibility with a 50-6 win over Northwestern.

After the Ohio State win, edge Josaiah Stewart reflected on Martindale’s coaching.

“He trusts his players,” Stewart said. “He calls what he calls and expects us to make plays. He puts us in the right position really the whole season. I’m proud of him coming in from the league and adjusting to college the way he did. The sky’s the limit for him in college.”

Michigan will lose most of its top defensive talent to the NFL Draft, so now begins the important part with Martindale shoring up depth with finds in the transfer portal to go along with the incoming freshmen as the Wolverines try to maintain their defensive edge.