Michigan football team moves end Brennan Beyer back to linebacker to combat Ryan’s injury

Jake Ryan’s knee injury continues to force Michigan’s defense to play musical chairs.

Defensive end Brennan Beyer has changed positions, going from rush end to outside linebacker, according to Angelique Chenglis of the Detroit News. Beyer has played linebacker in the past.

"Everybody knows how much we love Jake, but you have to be ready for that at every position," Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison told DetNews.com. "You can’t go through a season without injuries—that’s why it’s football."

This move was made solely to get Beyer more experience at the linebacker position in case more injuries occur. Mattison added that Beyer will move back to end as soon as Ryan is back on the playing field.

"(Beyer’s) done some very good things for only being moved back a couple of days," Mattison added.

Michigan will have plenty of depth at the linebacker position this season and will likely utilize a combination of several different players.

Briefly: Appalachian State, the FCS team that upset Michigan 34-32 in the Big House on Sept. 1, 2007, is making the move up to FBS play.

According to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy, both Appalachian State and Georgia Southern will join the Sun Belt conference for the 2014 season. However, neither school will be eligible to win the conference title or get selected for a bowl game until 2015.

Michigan hosts Appalachian State for a rematch on Aug. 30, 2014. With the Mountaineers joining the Sun Belt, this game will now place two FBS squads against each other, meaning Michigan’s strength of schedule will look a little bit better than how it previously did on paper.

U-M is also scheduled to host Miami (OH) and Utah, and visit Notre Dame in 2014.