The Michigan football team’s linebackers have two primary goals: get in fast and hit hard. And on Saturday in the Wolverines’ season opener against New Mexico, Michigan’s linebackers checked both boxes.

“That group is elite,” Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore said. “They’re four deep. We feel very strongly about that group. … We play them every single day, and those guys are moving fast.”

Indeed, in the first quarter of Michigan’s matchup against the Lobos, the Wolverines’ defense was suffocating. Across the middle, the Wolverines’ linebackers held New Mexico to just 11 rushing and four passing yards in the first quarter. It seemed as though as soon the pocket started to collapse and Lobos quarterback Jack Layne was running out of time, Michigan’s linebackers were already in Layne’s face o

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