Rashan Gary performance yesterday: what did close viewers think?
Question for the board: I watched the game at a bar and forgot to record it, so I wasn't able to closely follow the action. It seemed to me that Gary's name was seldom called, and his stats on ESPN read one tackle, one assist, no sacks (though it seemed like he had a half sack to me). Question is, what did close viewers think of him? Was he doubled consistently? I went through the defensive snowflakes thread and found no Gary specific comment, thus this thread.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:34 AM ^
Stat line not impressive. He overpursued on a couple plays and lost containment. Hopefully it was just a bad game.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^
September 4th, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^
The UFR will be kind to Gary.
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 3:39 PM ^
Kid is a beast - he ate blocks and allowed others to get stats. He is fast for a big man!
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
Not sure why people are downvoting you. You're exactly right. Although, Gary was doubled and chipped often.
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 2:37 PM ^
and you because he didn't play a bad game and assuming that based on only racking up a few stats is lazy analysis. He and Hurst are the beasts that make everything possible for that defense and they allow DB to run a 3-3.5-4.5.
Gary commanded a double team on nearly every play, and not only did he stand up to them (instead of getting caved in like we did frequently to their DL), he often beat the double to apply pressure. When you can do that, you free up guys like Bush and Furbush to be unblocked heat seeking missles and allow Winovich to work his guy one-on-one (which, like, good luck). All that can be said of Hurst too, who commanded doubles all day.
They both played good and were the keys to the defense obliterating just about anything Florida wanted to do. We went aggressive because we were playing overmatched QBs and we were probably perfectly fine giving up a couple first down, knowing neither of them are Denard-level home run threats.
September 3rd, 2017 at 1:33 PM ^
He did not have a bad game at all. He over pursued probably twice. Most notably the franks scamble. But the reason you heard Bush and WInovich and other names so often is because of the attention Gary commanded. He was doubled constantly and even tripled at times. I said earlier on the Def TD at the end He was triple teamed. 2 Ol and the RB tried blocking him and he still collapsed the interior of the pocket. He hurried the QBs all day long. His stats won't show how much he is doing in these games. Kind of similar to how Jabrill did more for this defense last year than his stats showed
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
I was there and they were damn good and damn quick. Not sure which team D was faster but it would be close between 1997 and 2017
September 3rd, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
The 1985 defense was out-fucking-standing in itself. The three ('85, '97, '16/'17) were different eras in how defenses operated, but the team speed on each - as well as the gap discipline and tackling fundamentals - were very similar. It's hard to compare different eras, but it sure is fun!
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:16 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^
I just hope we can stay healthy, as depth remains an issue in some places.
I'm not happy that we're going to face Air Force (and their constant cut-blocking) again this season. Why did we schedule them again?
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:13 PM ^
Because Dave Brandon won't stop haunting us from the grave.
September 3rd, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 1:53 PM ^
Agreed. I haven't seen a faster SDE than Gary or DT than Hurst. Bush & Hudson are both uber fast and aggressive.
September 3rd, 2017 at 1:58 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:54 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:15 AM ^
Mone isn't a passrusher. Florida knows where he'll be on every play, and Furbush gave Don Brown a lot more flexibility in how he attacked. Variously, I saw Furbush line up as a traditional SAM, rush with a hand down, blitz from a middle linebacker position, and drop into a zone.
So just Brown messing with the Florida o-line.
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^
but even there I noticed a lot of 3 man DLine that allows for a lot of double and in many cases triple team blocks. He was still getting penetration frequently however, and when he's occupied in this manner it allows the backers - designed by Brown in large measure - to come through clean. As you saw our front 7 in large part was basically a wall, allowing FL very little. This was the result of all carrying out their assignments properly which, depending on base front and other intangibles, will stuff the stats for some, take away from others. Overall, he had a damn good game.
September 3rd, 2017 at 2:32 PM ^
in the 3 man fronts with Furbush and Bush filling/threating blitz on either side of Hurst/Marshal (the DT). This allowed us to disguise whether we were sending Bush, Furbush or both on the blitz. Just diabolical destruction.
All made possible by the fact that Hurst and Gary could stand up to doubles and Florida wasn't going to run a power run game to try to take advantage us not having a planet shaped nose up front.
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:40 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:00 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 2:34 PM ^
and rushed the QB so he played much like an OLB. Definitely a hybrid viper type position.
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:12 AM ^
a solid B,maybe a B+. He wasn't outstanding, but he was very good.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^
It looked like Ivey was expecting to be able to chip, and then hand off Winovich to the guard on a double team. When he didn't have help - he grabbed the guard's shoulder and said something to him as Winovich crushed Zaire. Oops!
He definitely didn't look 100%, and even if he was, I don't know if it really would have made any difference versus that defensive front!
Go Blue!
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:13 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^
Yep this is true and the RB had to help on Gary too. There was no RB to help on Winovich because Gary just collapsed the whole interior of the Oline on the snap. That was one of the craziest things i've seen from a Dlineman ever
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
I was the most impressed by the pressure 3 and 4 rushers were able to produce. If I recall correctly, there was one play where 3 rushers beat a max protect. Insane.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
The shift to 3 down lineman will force him to see more doubles and presumably spend less time in the backfield. It will be interesting to see if DB stays with this look going forward.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:45 AM ^
Florida didn't have their starting RB so Michigan didn't need to stack the box and, thus, more 3-man rushes and fewer chances for flashy plays (which they still racked up anyway).
Whatever Florida QB was out there didn't have enough talent or understanding to take the top off the D so Michigan was playing off and Florida couldn't do much. Basically forcing Florida to beat us in the air, which they were incapable of doing.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
He did get credit for a hurry, and if you watch the tape, he was in the backfield all game.
Could have been better, wasn't anything like Charlton against OSU. But he was good against OSU himself, so I think we can reasonably expect better performances.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^
he almost killed zaire on one way but zaire managed to get out of it. and the other times i was spotting #3, he had 2-3 guys double-triple teaming him...
thats respect.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:18 AM ^
Yes! Disruption. Gary was in the backfield quite a bit, forcing ballcarriers to change direction and be tackled by our other defenders.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^
Gary is a beast. Numbers won't matter. He'll cause disruption to offenses beyond what is measurable. Doesn't matter is he's not named by the broadcasters, he's a force!