Defensive Attitude
I really liked the attitude or swagger that some of the players on defense displayed yesterday. On the plays that Carvin was involved I noticed that he seemed to "bring it". Also noticed it a bit with Gordon on his plays.
It's nice to see some attitude from the young guys instead of just going through the motions or seeming to be lost. I'm very optimistic for the improvement on defense next year with (hopefully) or without a change in defensive coordinator.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:15 AM ^
Hope this is not the case of a one hit wonder performance.
They played great no doubt - and I hope the progress continues, but to put things into perspective
1) Purdue was playing with a 10th string QB and lacked any kind of playmaker on offense
2) It was raining hard - where it is difficult to hang on to the ball or stay on your feet.
Even our own offense - which usually scores about 40 points a game could only score about 27
But you make a good point - these games are confidence boosters and attitude makes bad players look good, and good players look great.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:57 AM ^
in Yards per play Purdue's defense is better than Wisconsins and only .1 worse than MSUs
November 14th, 2010 at 10:10 AM ^
any type of one hit wonder. They came and played. They will not have the same games vs WI or tosu, but they don't have to, as long as our Offense is scoring.
At that point, all we need is 2-3 stops/half. That's good enough and all we can reasonably expect with what we have on D.
My hat is off to them for this game. Don't get your expectations up, just be glad we did what we did and hope for what I wrote above.
If we stop TOs, get 2-3 D stops/half......look out. I don't care who we play.
November 14th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
someone much wiser than myself said this at the beginning of the season and it has held true through 9 games:
this team will win the game if we're able to get two stops per half.
November 14th, 2010 at 12:38 PM ^
people could downplay that defensive performance. Yes, it's not the '06 game against PSU. But: we didn't have Mouton or Martin, in past weeks we've been lit up by PSU's walk-on McGloin (although in retrospect he's actually a pretty good gamer, but it was his first start), UMass has strafed us, and our defense averages giving up 400+ yds/game.
It may not have been pretty, Purdue's offense may have been a train-wreck, but for them not to score a signle offensive touchdown on our D? That's progress, man. I'll take it.
November 14th, 2010 at 1:26 PM ^
people are understating this fact. We didn't give up a defensive TD! Hello! I don't care who you're playing. That's outstanding any way you cut it. Great confidence boost for the young squad out there.
People seem to turn a blind eye to the fact that every game is different. Some games the offense will lag and some games the defense will lag. Today was an example of the offense crappin the bed and the defense winning the game for us. Having said that, if the offense doesn't play a lot better in the next few games, we are in serious trouble.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:09 AM ^
against Purdue.
That says something about the effect of the rain.
November 14th, 2010 at 7:05 PM ^
There was no rain against MSU and we scored 17. Truthfully, we've been pretty up-and-down on offense. We've had two monster games (Illinois and BGSU) and have averaged 30.5 ppg in the other eight.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:21 AM ^
I am hoping things have clicked with a few players, and we are seeing the results. Regardless, it is easy to see that they are growing more confident and playing with more swagger.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:34 AM ^
Rob Henry (I think that was the QB in at the time) scrambled out to the left, and looked to be a yard or two past the LOS. However, Carvin hit him so hard he bounced back two yards OOB behind the LOS and Carvin got credited for the sack. Now that's a gamer, ladies and gentlemen.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:15 AM ^
.....about the defense, and that has nothing to do with the quality(or lack of it) of Purdue's Offense, is that our D was tackling well, and gang tackling as well. I noticed more players around the ball at the tackle which speaks to the D improving on flying to the ball and being where they are supposed to be. Also, our D, when they were tackling, seemed to not give up much yards after contact like they have mostly done all season. They still weren't great, by any stretch, but were playing with confidence they didn't have earlier in the year.
November 14th, 2010 at 11:00 AM ^
and have swagger when you know from watching film that Purdue can do nothing on offense outside of a 10 yard box.
Purdue was the most inept offense I have seen from a Big 10 team in years.
One positive as mentioned above, they did tackle well.
November 14th, 2010 at 11:09 AM ^
Did you see any Michigan game in 2008?
November 14th, 2010 at 11:14 AM ^
and I would still say what Purdue put on the field yesterday was worse and far more predictable. At least Sheridan or Threet could throw the ball more than 10 yards downfield, Purdue couldn't or wouldn't.
November 14th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^
Are you sure you have seen 2008 Michigan? Threet had accuracy issues past 10 yds and Sheridan Didn't have any power to throw further than 10 yards.
November 14th, 2010 at 12:34 PM ^
at Minnesota in 2008, don't forget. Sheridan looked like Aaron Rodgers against the Gophers; I recall multiple 20+ yard completions.
November 14th, 2010 at 12:34 PM ^
at Minnesota in 2008, don't forget. Sheridan looked like Aaron Rodgers against the Gophers; I recall multiple 20+ yard completions.
November 14th, 2010 at 1:50 PM ^
how many times has Michigans D made bad offenses look good this year? It was refreshing to see them make a bad offense look...well...bad.
November 14th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
One of my favorite sights from the game was a play Courtney Avery made in, I believe, the 4th quarter. Henry tried to throw a 10-15 yard curl route to the right and Avery read the route, jumped it and dove in front of the receiver to knock the ball away. It would have been nice to get a pick there, but I think that play might be the first knock down on a curl/out/stop route all year.
Avery showed good instincts and agility on that play, really good for a young and unheralded freshman. Hopefully we'll some more of that in these last two regular season games.
November 14th, 2010 at 12:58 PM ^