Defense and Overall Toughness

As turnover prone and hit and miss as our offense is at times, its still good enough to win us games. Sure Tate drives me crazy when he has a pocket to step up in but instead takes off scrambling, alot of times running into a sack. But hes a true freshman. The offense puts up enough points to win most games. Last year was the worst defensive team in Michigan history. Going into this year I thought we had to be better for sure. We knew our depth chart was suspect, but I had no clue we would be so bare that we would have to play 2 walkons. I hate to blame it on the DC again because we have had 3 different ones in the last 3 years with similar results. But Gerg has to share the blame. Like I said I know we are short on talent on Defense, but at some point the coaches have to take responsibility for these players development. The 12 yards off deal is where you question the coaching. Sure Gerg is in a tough spot because with our D if you dont play off the other team could just as easily beat you deep. But 12 yards? I would like to think Warren/Woolfolk could handle atleast 6-8 yards without getting burnt deep. The last point I want to make is the overall toughness of the team. I agree with Wojo's article about this team being mentally soft. It seems like the team is just waiting for the wheels to fall off. This is unlike Michigan. They play these traditionally weak Big Ten teams and appear intimidated/on their heels. I worry because in the past, I imagine older players on the team would make sure that younger players knew that Michigan is supposed to beat these teams. But now we have so many young players that show up to these games looking like they dont even belong on the same field as Illinois? Purdue? Come on this is Michigan. One thing I thought about RR is that this team would be a mentally tough, wont back down team. We havent seen it yet. Hopefully its just because the team is young. Regardless, like it or not, RR's seat is heating up.