Defending a 1-Dimensional Offense - Michigan @ Indiana

No one will read this thread, as we're all following the Lloyd Brady photoshop thread.

Secondary is not good, will be attacked.

This is the reason I'm confident that it won't be a particularly close game. I don't see IU keeping MIchigan under 40 as long as we need to keep the foot on the gas and if the D keeps up its level of play in non-Umass games we should give up 24-28.

somewhere that Michigan will have 6 INT

seriously, I'll be stunned if we don't run for another 300+ yards, and I have Denard at over 150 rushing.  We won't stop them completely, but enough to win. 

The end zone will stop our offense more often than IU will. 

run for like 2,750 yards on us last year?  Alright, so maybe they are two dimensional. 

I don't feel comfortable with predictions of a blowout in the road in a Big Ten opener, I don't know, maybe I should, but....

I could see IU putting up points in the mid thirties if we don't bring our A game. Mid 20s if we do. I don't think either of those will be enough.

I like the dime package that we showed this weekend. Our safeties are good in run support and with the extra speed coming of he edges it helps the back end out. I think we hold them to the 20s and put up around 50.

that we likely have the edge in talent and efficiency. And I appreciate the analysis. But Michigan does have to play this game, and has to play it on the road (equals 9-plus-odd assumed points for the home squad). That and the bounces of the game could combine to make it close.  

SEND FOUR GUYS AFTER THE GD QUARTERBACK!!!!  THE FRONT THREE AREN'T ENOUGH!!!! 

It doesn't have to be every down, but the fourth guy needs to come from differing angles to at least keep their OL guessing.  How else are we going to hurry the QB and get our 6 INT's?  We've seen the dime, so now send one of those CBs in on a blitz off the edge.  Sure, he might get crushed by a tackle, but that could open up something for RVB or Martin. 

We don't need a lot of sacks, but we have to make the opposing qb's feel more urgency. 

Indiana played us down to the wire last year at home I don't think it will be a lot different this year.  Brian seems to think it's going to be a no contest sort of game but that's just silly.  Indiana can't help that they have played a bunch of donkeys this year.  They have beaten who has been put in front of them handily with an offense that runs the pistol with a senior qb and some good wr's.  If we come out early and get a 3 and out or a turnover then I think we can dominate the game. But if we give them confidence early and they score on their first drive then it's going to be a long day where we will need to score every drive to keep the pressure on IU.  Michigan 42 IU 33

Well thus far this season they have been one dimensional but I don't think we can ever go into a game this season assuming that we are going to shut down a particular component of another team's offense.  Our defense does not have the luxury of looking past anyone at this stage, especially since this guy torched us last year.

 

I know people have been ragging on our secondary, but to be honest I don't see Floyd, Rogers and Kovacs making that many mistakes. In fact, they all seem to be playing pretty well.

I know this goes against the conventional wisdom since our D-Line is thought to be pretty decent, but from what I've seen the main issue with our passing defense has been lack of pressure on the Quarterback. Maybe it's the 3-3-5 and not the players. I dunno. What I do know is that last year the opposing QBs seemed to have all day to throw, and that doesn't seem to be much different this year.

I know Cam Gordon has been beaten a couple of times and those couple of times went for big plays, but he wasn't the reason UMASS was able to constantly move their offense through the air. UMASS showed that short passes work just as well against our D as the long ball, and lack of pressure on the QB seemed to be at the heart of it.

There's a reason NFL teams pay top dollar for defensive linemen and not so much for defensive backs: it's because putting pressure on the QB is the easiest and most efficient way of disrupting a passing attack.

Indiana's strength of schedule is really really bad.  They have played three teams ranked below Bowling Green in the Sagarin rankings.  I don't like our pass defense, but I think that we can at least match the 300 yard average allowed by Towson, WKU, and Akron.  I know that we're not supposed to get excited about shredding the defenses of UConn and Bowling Green, but that applies double for Indiana's impressive passing numbers.  The more I research Indiana, the more it seems to me that it's going to take some major unpredictables/intangibles for us to lose.  If we score less than 38 points in this game it would shock me.  If we score 65 again, it won't surprise me at all.

I think the Hoosiers inablity to run the ball will limit the number of long drives their able to put together, as incompletions and execusion errors will cause them to stall.  I think if Michigan's secondary can take away big plays and minimize turnovers so that Indiana has to put together long drives we will win comfortably.

The Oracle knows this contest will end in a Michigan victory.  The Oracle can see 402 yards of total Denardfense en route to a solid beating of said donkey hoosiers.  The future is yours.