Jesse Minter, Michigan Defense Obsessed With Beating Ohio State

Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter spoke at length about preparing for and beating Ohio State.

The Wolverines have certainly turned a corner when it comes to its rivalry with Ohio State. Michigan has now won three games in a row in convincing fashion and appears to have shaken Ryan Day to his core. Part of the reason is because of an increased level of focus employed by Jim Harbaugh and his staff. There's a level of preparation required to beat a good rival like Ohio State consistently and superstar wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. proved that after the loss.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten doubled more in a game than I did today,” Harrison said after the game. “The safety help they had over top or inside, I’ve never really seen anything like it until today. The bracket coverage in the red zone that we got too.”

Today, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter expanded on the approach even more. He's not a Michigan lifer, but he sure sounded like it when talking about preparing for the Buckeyes.

"Anytime you go somewhere you assess, what's the thing that's kept this place from reaching the highest goals that you might have?" Minter asked aloud. "Particularly it was that game. There were so many wins and a lot of success and a lot of really good defense, I mean, the No. 1 defense in the country, top five, but is it set up to beat the team that you have to beat?

"So when I interviewed here, it was like, 'How are we going to beat Ohio State?' So I think just it's something you work on every day here. You work on it year round. I think all the drills that we do, all the physicality, allows us to be ready for that game. It's really important."

Minter also said that it doesn't stop even after winning.  

"It's even even after the game. You're already thinking about what you're going to do the next time you play them. The guys here have really bought into that and it has allowed us to be successful over the last couple of times we played them."

The efforts have indeed paid off. Michigan is preparing to win its third straight Big Ten title, while Ohio State is picking up the pieces. Minter has been great at preparing for OSU and shows now signs of slowing down.