Junior defensive end Ryan Van Bergen pulls down Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins in the first quarter on Saturday.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

Ryan Van Bergen was in normal college student mode, ordering a sandwich at a Subway.

But when you’re a 6-foot-6, 283-pound defensive end on the Michigan football team, it’s tough to go unnoticed.

So the sandwich artist looked up and asked the same question Van Bergen hears on campus, in newspapers and from random classmates.

When is the Michigan defense going to improve?

“You get used to it,” Van Bergen said. “You just have an answer prepared, a general statement for everybody: ‘We’ll keep working at practice and we’ll get better.’ “You just have to get used to it. Comes with the territory.”

Michigan’s defensive struggles are highlighted even more by the success of the Wolverines’ offense. While Michigan is third in total offense in the Football Bowl Subdivision (533.67 yards a game), it is 112th in total defense (450.67).

Since 1999, just four FBS teams had more disparate rankings at the end of a season than the 109 spots that separate the Wolverines’ current ranks. In 1999, Nevada was second in total offense and 112th in total defense. In 2005, Arizona State was second in total offense and 114th in total defense and Northwestern had the No. 4 offense and No. 117 defense.

Last year, Houston had the top offense in the country - and the 111th best defense.

“I don’t worry about it, because our guys don’t look at it from a stats standpoint,” Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. “They look at it from a winning standpoint. ‘Are we winning or area we losing?’ … I don’t think guys are worried about this side of the ball, that side of the ball. They are worried about us as a unit.”

Michigan, 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten, is coming off its first loss of the season, a 34-17 setback against Michigan State. Iowa (4-1, 1-0), with a defense that allows just 10 points a game, is at Michigan on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. game (ABC).

“There’s no pressure,” wide receiver Kelvin Grady said. “We all have faith in our defense. They work hard, and coach (Greg) Robinson is getting it together, you know.”

Rodriguez said Michigan will focus on defensive fundamentals - including tackling when it is idle for a week following the Iowa game. On Saturday, sophomore linebacker Craig Roh said the Wolverines work on tackling a few periods of practice per week.

Expect that number to jump with no opponent to play.

“Well, we’ll do a whole lot more fundamental work during the week,” Rodriguez said. “Almost like the first couple weeks of training camp.”

So while the players on the Michigan offense might not put pressure on the defense verbally, their effectiveness stands as a glaring notice to the defense.

Improve. Fast.

“It puts pressure on us to just get better,” Van Bergen said. “When you have an offense that is that good and putting points on the board, there’s no reason you shouldn’t win a lot of games.

“Obviously, the first thing to look to if you are losing games is what is the defense doing because (the offense is) putting points on the board. We have to come out and do better.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein