2nd Half Defense
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/drivechart?gameId=303100130
The defense really stepped it up in the 2nd half.
They stopped the Illini on 5 of their 7 drives and had 4 3-and-outs! Great job by the defense all around.
GO BLUE!
November 6th, 2010 at 5:37 PM ^
adjustments much??? :)
November 6th, 2010 at 5:37 PM ^
Not to mention a stop on the two point conversion in OT. Scary day, but a win.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:42 PM ^
wow. interesting stat. good post. +1
November 6th, 2010 at 5:43 PM ^
The defense kept playing with heart, even when given bad field position due to turnovers. They played like Molk lit a fire in them!
November 6th, 2010 at 5:43 PM ^
Reminds me of Indiana when they made some adjustments and stopped them on 4 consecutive drives. Demens played great today and Courtney Avery suprisingly not as bad as I thought.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^
Not to mention how ecstatic I was to see Ezeh in only 1 play (there may have been a couple more), but also have Demens put in a performance that had hints of David Harris.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:51 PM ^
Ezeh was in most of the 2nd half as the OLB. Like, a lot of plays.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^
Looks like the teams played two games today. Bizarre that the ESPN drive chart shows an "end of game" for each quarter. Haven't seen that one before.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:47 PM ^
Quick! Where's UMDad to interject some negativity?
November 6th, 2010 at 5:53 PM ^
Not MgoDad, but you asked for it: we gave up 65 points. (45 in regulation isn't much better)
November 6th, 2010 at 5:56 PM ^
Except it was a sarcastic joke.
Come on people, have a few celebratory beers and be happy that we won for a few hrs before going all "OMG we sux!!"
November 6th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^
Only giving up 14 in the second half has me happy, 20 in 3 OT's not so much. A WIN is a WIN. On to Purdue.
GO BLUE!!!!
November 6th, 2010 at 5:48 PM ^
I'm not trying to take anything away from the win, I'm just curious, was this the worst defensive performance in Michigan history?
November 6th, 2010 at 5:50 PM ^
You must have a short memory. Last week was 1000x worse.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:51 PM ^
Perhaps on points, but I think a certain game refered to as "The Horror" is, and always will be, the worst.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:57 PM ^
Disagree, post-apocalyptic Oregon game, Purdue '08 and Penn State '10 were all worse at least defensively.
November 6th, 2010 at 6:14 PM ^
Disagree with your disagreement. While those were bad, giving up that many points and yards to an FCS, however good they might be, with the level of talent and returning players we had was still worse IMO. Oregon was rolling to a NC that year before Dixon got hurt, so a shalacking against them is understandable on some level (though we certainly should've played better than we did) and the failed 3-3-5 against Purdue is what it is. But The Horror was just plain unacceptable.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:58 PM ^
In my memory, OSU '06 in the #1 v #2 game was about as bad, but a lot of that was field conditions. The Horror and Oregon back to back in 07. Illinois, Purdue, and OSU in '08. Penn State this year. I'd also put it on par with UMASS. We had stops when it mattered, and in this one, enough stops to overcome a -4 TO rate.
November 6th, 2010 at 9:31 PM ^
Any discussion of the worst defensive performances in school history has to include 2000 Northwestern, when we gave up 54 points and well over 600 yards (still the worst yardage performance ever, I believe) when we actually had some talent on D.
I'd say last week was worse than this, score aside. PSU scored on eight of 10 possessions, not counting the final kneeldown (when it could have easily been 9-11 if they'd wanted).
The 2008 Purdue debacle has to be down there as well.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:50 PM ^
This was the first game where the defense looked competent enough to win in the B10. Hopefully they continue to improve, but they appear to at least be on the right track with whatever adjustments were made.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:52 PM ^
But I can't help but love the first line of the drive chart:
Michigan poss: 14 seconds, 1 play, 75 yards TD!!!!
Little did we know that play would define the entire afternoon!
Go Blue!
November 6th, 2010 at 5:53 PM ^
I've never been prouder of a 65-point defensive effort than I was today.
November 6th, 2010 at 6:04 PM ^
Did anyone else feel so much better seeing Roh down on the line instead of dropping back in coverage looking lost? I know, we gave up 65 but he did create some pressure on the qb on certain plays which is something this Michigan defense hasn't done all year. At least Gerg listened this time to Roh and moved him down where he is more comfortable.
Go Blue.
November 6th, 2010 at 6:17 PM ^
Here's the stat I look at to see how the special teams and offense put the defense in a hole a lot.
Avg. Illinois scoring drive (not counting OTs): 38.6 yards with a long of 60 according to box score on ESPN.com
Meanwhile Michigan had an average scoring drive of 67.4 yards.
That's a pretty ridiculous stat and really speaks to the kickoff problems and turnovers. The team gave a great effort today and it just feels great to get a win! Go Blue!
November 6th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
Whoops.
November 6th, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^
This defense had a tremendous second half given the field position woes didn't let up. 14 points allowed with 7 off of a turnover in our territory.
And of course we shouldn't forget the three true freshmen and converted players we have on D. There is hope that this will be a talented D at some point - maybe even some point soon.
November 6th, 2010 at 7:55 PM ^
I saw definite improvement from our newer starters, especially the names I listed above in the title. Regardless of what the UFR shows, these 4 made tackles today with an edge. This was the perfect remedy to the PSU game, forget the score, we won.
November 6th, 2010 at 9:20 PM ^
Our D wore down their Offense in both illionis and indiana game. :)
November 6th, 2010 at 9:25 PM ^
When we were driving, down 45-38, I looked at the clock and thought "Uh oh, this is setting up for Illinois to have the ball last and beat us on a FG." I am very, very happy to have been wrong.
November 6th, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^
Maybe it's just me, but on the chart for OT, why do we have 4 possessions while Illinois has only 2. And it says turnover on downs. I thought every possession in OT was a score.
November 9th, 2010 at 4:52 PM ^
the adjustments on defense continue and hopefully we'll see improvements the rest of the year........congratulations to defense on getting the final stop.