After 4 games the Michigan defense is ranked No. 1 in the nation in Yards Per Play (3.52) and Yards Per Game (203.0).

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/22

Michigan's rushing defense is currently ranked 4th, giving up 69 YPG, just ahead of Alabama.

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/24

Michigan's scoring defense is tied for 12th (13.0 PPG), tied with the Scott Frosts.

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/28

Notable perhaps too that Michigan is ranked as high as 8th in the nation in Passing Yards Allowed (134 ypg):

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/695

Impressive work thus far, but MSU, @Indiana and @PSU loom ahead.

Last week Rashan Gary was asked:  “Do you guys have a nickname for your defensive group or a rally cry?”

Gary’s response:  “No, not at all right now. We’re just waiting for somebody to give us a name.”

The NFL has a long history of nicknames for outstanding defensive units. A few that come to mind from over the years are The Purple People Eaters, The Orange Crush, The Steel Curtain, Gang Green, The Killer Bees, and I’m sure many more I don’t immediately recall.  It doesn’t seem to be as popular for college units though.

So, should the 2017 Michigan defensive unit have a nickname?  A couple options include “The Blue-Collar Defense” (just a shirt I wear to work), or my personal favorite, “The Brownout Defense” or simply "Brownout D"  I can envision a future headline that reads “Penn State Whiteout suffers Brownout!”

What say you?

Side note:  My inaugural post so hoping I’ve followed the proper MgoProtocol.

11 Warriors has an interesting article on Don Brown's defense last year (link). 

For the second year in a row UM's linebacking core appears to be the weak link on defense late in the season. This is troubling, but can it be fixed...and quickly? Last year Ryan Glasgow's injury was a huge loss but we can't blame line injuries now. What can UM's staff do to help improve the play of say Mike McCray? Is the answer simply playing a more athletic Devin Bush Jr.? I'm not football smart enough to know but it sure seems ineffective linebacker play is UM's Achilles' heel versus the run and intermediate passes on an otherwise elite defense.

If the mods feel this has already been hashed out let's move on but I'm still unsure as to the answer.

Go Blue! A big Thank You to all student athletes for working your *sses off this season!

OK, so I can't find this piece that appears in this morning's print edition of the Washington Post anywhere on WashPo's site. The only place I could find it is on PrintReader, which it turns out makes it a snap to copy and paste articles into the webtool of your choice. So here you go: (BTW, the WashPo is the defacto local paper for the Terps ICYDK, although some would argue it's the Baltimore Sun, but whatever):

Not a Michigan man, but Brown is a perfect fit

Well-traveled coordinator’s relentless philosophy has made the Wolverines’ defense the best in the country

• The Washington Post
• 3 Nov 2016
• BY CHUCK CULPEPPER

LON HORWEDEL/ASSOCIATED PRESSMichigan Coach Jim Harbaugh, left, hired Don Brown in December after Brown turned Boston College’s defense into the best in the country during his three seasons there.

I perused the college football shows this morning, expecting to hear some praise of the defenses on display yesterday at Michigan Stadium. I was disappointed; the general assessment of this “defensive slugfest” implied that the offenses “struggled,” and that the struggling produced the good defensive play and not the other way around.  Sure, they singled out D highlights, but the tone was softly critical that anything remotely special occurred.

IMO, the summary of the talking heads and various analysts was that this boring game may have lived up to expectations to be close and physical, but the level of play was malodorous and full of inherent offensive incompetence.

I argue that what we saw on display on defense (both sides) was as more glorious and far rarer than the video game offenses in the Big 12, Pac 12 and ACC. Yet little credit for those special defenses; however, I heard how “dominant” Clemson’s defense was and profuse praise for individual defensive performances in various games producing 90+ points.

It appears defense is only desired as part of an occasional highlight play or defensive stand that doesn’t otherwise impede the mad sprint up and down college football fields all over the country.

I am old enough to remember the ’85 Bears. I say Viva la Defense!