{"id":3071,"date":"2025-10-08T13:49:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/zeke-berry-settling-in-ahead-of-usc\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T13:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:49:09","slug":"zeke-berry-settling-in-ahead-of-usc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/zeke-berry-settling-in-ahead-of-usc\/","title":{"rendered":"Zeke Berry settling in ahead of USC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>After two weeks away from football due to an undisclosed lower-body injury sustained <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/no-15-michigan-folds-under-pressure-and-falls-to-no-18-oklahoma-24-13\/\">against<\/a> No. 5 Oklahoma, senior defensive back Zeke Berry returned to the gridiron Saturday for the No. 15 Michigan football team\u2019s matchup <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/amid-initial-offensive-struggles-no-20-michigan-grinds-out-win-over-wisconsin-24-10\/\">against<\/a> Wisconsin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His return wasn\u2019t necessarily a statement, but a chance for him to regain his footing and display the steadiness he brings to the Wolverines\u2019 secondary. And as Michigan prepares to head west to face Southern California\u2019s versatile offense, Berry\u2019s return comes at an optimal time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was expecting to be back a lot sooner, but it just didn\u2019t feel right,\u201d Berry said Tuesday. \u201cSo just trying to see what I can do and get back out there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As expected, there were some hiccups.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>On the third-to-last play of the Badgers\u2019 opening drive, Wisconsin quarterback Hunter Simmons fired off a checkdown to wide receiver Vinny Anthony II, who caught it at the Michigan 28-yard line. Immediately, he made a break for the Wolverines\u2019 end zone as Berry and junior defensive back TJ Metcalf converged on him. But as Berry went low for the tackle, he missed, and Anthony II gained several more yards before Metcalf pushed him out of bounds at the Michigan 9-yard line.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Missed tackles marred the Wolverines\u2019 entire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/after-subpar-opening-drive-versus-wisconsin-michigan-defense-plays-to-its-standard\/\">defensive performance<\/a> that drive \u2014\u00a0 a drive that ended in a touchdown for the Badgers. Berry\u2019s missed tackle wasn\u2019t an isolated incident, but it served as an eye-opener for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s some things I can do to get better,\u201d Berry said. \u201cMaking sure I stay on the hip, not trying to let him be too far, just things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As it turns out, Berry was capable of making those adjustments quickly. After the shaky start, he settled into his coverage and began to return to his old routine \u2014 one that exudes confidence and discipline. He corrected his course, tightened his technique and finished with four tackles. It\u2019s that resilience and knack for adaptation that has cemented Berry as an integral piece of Michigan\u2019s secondary.<\/p>\n<p>And to observe his impact after the adjustment, look no further than the third quarter of the Wolverines\u2019 game against Wisconsin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Midway through the quarter, Michigan\u2019s offense had finally started to gain momentum, heightening the stakes of its defensive possessions. Luckily for the Wolverines, Berry was prepared. Following Anthony II closely, Berry successfully broke up a pass on the third down, forcing a three-and-out and paving the way for the Wolverines to take a decisive lead with a touchdown on the next drive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a playmaker, you saw that (against) Wisconsin,\u201d sophomore defensive back Mason Curtis said. \u201c(He\u2019s) hopefully gonna get a pick going back home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Michigan prepares to face the Trojans this weekend, Berry will be a vital part of that preparation against the conference\u2019s top-ranked passing offense. A veteran player who has faced \u2014 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/michigan-runs-to-27-24-victory-over-usc-in-smash-filled-statement-win\/\">beaten<\/a> \u2014 USC before, his adaptability and reliability will be key. His ability to adjust against the Badgers illustrates exactly how his steadiness can help anchor the Wolverines against the Trojans\u2019 dynamic offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Berry regained his footing against Wisconsin. This weekend against USC, Berry will simply look to dig in.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<div class=\"newspack-popup-container newspack-popup hidden  newspack-inline-popup      \" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000\" id=\"id_162162\" data-segments=\"\" data-frequency=\"0,0,0,month\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Please consider donating to The Michigan Daily<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After two weeks away from football due to an undisclosed lower-body injury sustained against No. 5 Oklahoma, senior defensive back Zeke Berry returned to the gridiron Saturday for the No. 15 Michigan football team\u2019s matchup against Wisconsin.\u00a0 His return wasn\u2019t necessarily a statement, but a chance for him to regain his footing and display the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[314,745,3182,3183,744],"class_list":{"0":"post-3071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ahead","9":"tag-berry","10":"tag-settling","11":"tag-usc","12":"tag-zeke"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3073,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071\/revisions\/3073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}