Michigan State Snowflakes: The Defense

Dominant. MSU has a weak O and the D shut it down other than ~2 plays. Something like 35 yards rushing? Just bludgeoned their run game, Jaylen wasn’t going to beat UM by himself, so game over.

We pissed in their ocular cavity.

Sorry...my 2.5 year old has a movie favorite of So I Married an Axe Murderer and it runs on a loop around here.

Great second half and, honestly, really good first half save for MSU's one Coleman-heavy drive.  Minter has absolutely exceeded my expectations this year.

Watching the highlights and it’s crazy how blatant the push off was on State’s TD. Sigh 

I really believe Minter is better with halftime adjustments than McDonald was. They clearly are making changes at half that halt what the opposition was having success with in the first half.

How many second half shutouts for this defense? I hink 3 points allowed in the last 3 or 4 second halfs. This defense is legit

Tuck comin

My one nitpick about an otherwise stellar effort from the defense was it didn't seem like the pass rush was very good at all. Secondary made it not matter with great coverage most of the game but a concern for OSU.

Stellar.  For all the preseason hype about how good the offense was going to be and how everyone including myself was more worried about the defense, well uh the D is setting the tone on 8-0.  Jesse Minter has been pure gold on adjustments.  MSU got some bullshit floating passes to hit and got one big play in the second half but that was about it.  Otherwise they had to get bloody for every yard gained.  I couldn't be more pleased with the defense.

Their whole offense was throw it to Coleman after he pushes off. The defensive coaches solved that. And Sparty had nothing else.

Suffocation. Minter was a great hire. 

1.6 YPA on the ground, a few chuck-and-prays, and a bust by Colson (?), and that was MSU's offense. No points in the second half. Can't cover the receivers, Tuck? They were blanketed in the second half -- except for the one bust.

Pass rush could improve some, but this was an excellent effort. After 16-7, I wasn't concerned. At 22-7, MSU had no chance to win.

If the refs called offensive pass interference. This would have been a shut out. Instead it was just complete domination. 

The third quarter is when the defense shines the best.  Just two 3 & outs for the entire quarter.  Granted, the running game killing the clock also helps.  

Also, even though the game was already over at that point, I lost my mind with jubilation on the interception....only for the fact that teams rarely if ever lose fumbles or throw picks against us.  We've had several dropped interceptions the last few games but we could never hold on to them.  

Second Half: 3 and out, 3 and out, 3 and out, 5 and out, Colson bust and then interception. good enough adjustments. another game of 40-20 time of possession

This defense has so exceeded pre-season expectations it's unreal.

Very best aspect - halftime adjustments. We dominate everyone after halftime. 

Right behind that - fantastic player development. Such improvement, it's truly impressive.

I am more than impressed with Minter and Elston and Clink - DL was supposed to be a weakness, especially edge - yet Morris has been terrific, the inside guys are fantastic, Graham is already a budding star, and somehow we are incredibly deep after losing two special guys to the NFL.

DB's are terrific. One busted coverage all night. Coleman made some great catches despite great coverage - gotta give the guy some credit.

Sainristil - unbelievably good. Unimaginably good. Position switch into an NFL-caliber slot defender. 

Michigan was supposed to be.a team that needed to score a ton to win this year. Defense has been incredible.

Well done, boys. Well done, coaches. 

Go Blue!

Solid, great adjustments to back shoulder fades, better pressure on Thorne forced a couple big 3rd down misses.  

Stuffed them for 2 1/2 quarters.

Even as MSU had some early success moving the ball, I realized that I was feeling fine. It’s such a fan luxury to have coaches you know are analyzing every play and making accurate adjustments. 
 

McDonald was excellent at it last year and Minter is taking it a step further this year. I’m thoroughly impressed with the defensive coaching. I highly doubt OSU will put on some 21-30 point barrage on UM like they did in the final minutes of the PSU game. Our adjustments are just too quick. 

Great to see them pitch a shutout for the last 3 quarters of the game. Great adjustments were made after the lone sparty TD. The secondary really stepped up. Love that late INT!

Interesting note that I didn't see mentioned anywhere online from what I could tell, but Jaylen Harrell limped to the tunnel with around 3 minutes left in the game.  Just something to keep an eye on moving forward

Allowing 7 points to your in state rival and winning decisively, well done. 

I like our defense a lot! Our pressure by committee has us playing downhill and fast. Biggest thing for me is that there is almost always a hard clean hit by the D. We are physical!!!〽️