Gift from the football gods’: Kenneth Grant sack sets the tone for Michigan’s defense against Washington

He proved it time and again this season. Who can forget the chase-down tackle of Kaytron Allen in the Penn State game? And now, few will forget Grant’s tone setting sack in the second quarter of the National Championship Game.

The setting: 1st-and-10 for the Huskies from their 20-yard line. Washington had mustered only a field goal through their first three drives, but they’d gotten into Michigan territory twice and hadn’t had any negative plays.

Grant is lined up across the left guard, Nate Kalepo, who is in his fifth year with the Huskies. It’s footwork and hand technique and imposing strength: Grant gets under Kalepo’s arm and into his body, and that leverage allows him to knock the offensive lineman onto his backside.

What follows is every quarterback’s nightmare: An unblocked 340-pound athletic freak who is charging at you like a freight train:

Michael Penix Jr. does well to step to his right and avoid an immediate thunder sack, but Josaiah Stewart has kept contain and prevents an easy escape. Grant finishes the job, grabbing Penix by the jersey and slamming him to the ground:

According to Pro Football Focus, Michigan generated pressure on Michael Penix Jr. on 17 of his drop backs in the CFP National Championship Game. On those plays, Penix completed just 3-of-15 passes for 14 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Perhaps most importantly: By the end of the game, Penix was in considerable pain and discomfort. The defensive line had done its job.

The Huskies entered with one of the most potent offenses in college football, boasting the Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line, a Heisman candidate QB and a Biletnikoff finalist at receiver. The Wolverines held them to 301 total yards, including just 46 rushing yards, and a single touchdown that came on fourth-and-goal.

As Jim Harbaugh said: “Jesse Minter: A-plus-plus the whole way.”

And for Kenneth Grant, it was the culmination of a year-long goal:

“This year, we want to have the whole D-line as a whole getting a lot of sacks, getting pressure from the inside,” he told me over the summer. “… If you look at the statistics, the interior defensive line didn’t really get all the sacks [in 2022]. It was more the edge group these past couple of years. So that’s something Mike Elston wanted to stick with was getting more production out of the interior guys.

“It’s a lot of eyes on me, and I gotta keep grinding no matter what.”

And a lot of eyes saw him deliver as Michigan won a national championship.