Michigan vs Utah every snap defense

Submitted by Maizen on

A few observations: 

Our safety's (outside of Peppers) are complete non factors. Durkin has them frequently playing nearly 20 yards off the LOS pre snap. It's very odd and I would say a reason we didn't turn Utah over.

Re soft coverage, way too much of it. Our corners did a great job when playing press and really frustrated the Utah recievers. When they were allowed free releases they found seams in the defense. Peppers really covered up for some of the defencies in the scheme in the 2nd half. Jourdan Lewis is a flat out stud. Why Durkin played him off his man half the game I have no idea. The kid is great press corner.

Linebackers were absolutely lost in zone coverage. They had no idea who to cover or how deep to make their drops. The answer might be to play more man? I'm not sure. Utah's running back was able to leak out way too frequently. James Ross needs to see more snaps. Our Bucks were terrible. This is Durkin's position group, so I'm concerned.

Very few blitzes.  Not sure what to make of that.

Tackling could have been better. There were a few times we could have really put them in a long down and distance but missed the chance. I'm sure that will get better as the season goes on.

Overall not a bad effort, but not an exceptional one either. Utah has a solid offense but I expected more from the defense based on where we were last year. 17 points is right in the range we want to be but quite frankly Michigan was lucky Utah missed those two field goals. I want to see more aggressiveness going forward. We need to generate more sacks and turnovers. Better passing offenses are going to have their way with us I'm afraid if we don't.

http://mgovideo.com/2015-michigan-defense-vs-utah-every-snap/

 

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2manylincs

September 6th, 2015 at 12:16 AM ^

But i was nowhere near as pessimistic as you are. The d held an all conference player(booker) to nothing. We played a real live opponent on the road and lost. It happens, were not 1997 michigan, were rebuilding at this point. The defense stopped the run and did ok pressuring the passer compared to reasonable expectations.. lewis looked great and stribling and clark held up.. The o couldnt run to save their lives. But if rudock cuts down on the turnovers and the line and recievers continue to develop we stand a good chance in every game left. I wont even debate special teams. We both got what we deserved.

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Maizen

September 6th, 2015 at 12:30 AM ^

I hear you, but I wouldn't say we held Booker to nothing. He had over 100 yards from scrimmage and a TD. We had 1 sack. We had zero functional turnovers. And again, our coverage was way too soft. Michigan had the #7 defense in the country last year (we lost Clark and Ryan, but add Peppers and Morgan). 4.8 yards per play vs Utah is top 25 good but not top 10 good. This unit should be top 10 again, especially considering very few teams play defense in college football anymore. I don't know what your expectations were, but mine were higher.

On the bright side we did an excellent job getting off the field on third down.

Going forward I want to see tighter coverage and more blitzing.

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Maizen

September 6th, 2015 at 1:03 AM ^

No one in the Pac-12 plays any defense. Oregon just gave up over 500 yards of offense to an FCS team. Colorado lost to Hawaii this weekend. WSU lost to Furman. We stopped Booker on the ground but he killed us ctaching passes out of the backfield. He had over 100 yards from scrimmage and a TD.

Why our DB's are playing 15 yards off the ball half the time I have no idea.

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Michael

September 6th, 2015 at 1:12 AM ^

Can you point to a play where our DBs playing off the line by 15 yards resulted in a significant play? Do you have any reason to believe this is purely contextual or indicative of a larger flaw in our defensive scheme for the season?

Joined: 06/30/2008

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alum96

September 6th, 2015 at 8:51 AM ^

"No one in the Pac-12 plays any defense."

Spend some time comparing the offenses in the Pac 12 to any  other conf. Check the past 10 years of QBs drafted- compare the Pac 12 to the Big 10.  Then do the same for wide outs. 

The Pac 12 have wide open passing schemes-crap teams like WSU or Cal can put up 40 on you.  A mid tier team in the Pac 12 is Zona; in the Big 10 its Northwestern or Iowa.  Compare those offenses.

Nothing in a vacuum.

Stanford and Utah's defenses would be top 3 in the Big 10 most years by the way.

WSU is Mike Leach-dude hasnt coached one minute of defense the past 20 years I am sure.  Colo is the 2nd worst team in the Pac 12.   You mention those teams defense then neglect to mention the offenses of UM, NW, PSU, Iowa, Purdue, Illinois for the past 3 yrs.  If you put ASU Oregon UCLA Washington's defenses in the Big 10 their stats would explode higher.

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killerseafood3

September 6th, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^

Pretty much this. Facts are indeed facts, but stating the world is on fire, because you have watched every snap (and telling everyone else they are wrong), well, OMG Shirtless basically hit the nail on the head.
It was the first game. Allow coaching to happen. You are upset because new coaching didn't turn this team into a national champ in one game. Insanity.



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snarling wolverine

September 6th, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^

Do you plan to follow your own advice?  I just glanced at your posting history.  In the last 48 hours you've offered these thoughts:

 

No need to get your panties in a wad.
the 1970's are fucking over. Good god.
I blame mgoblog. If they never would have conducted that stupid poll Michigan might still have the maize it's had for the past 20-40 years.
You know what else was popular in the 70's? Bellbottoms. Guess we should bring those back to. And let's go live in a van down by the river. That sounds cool too.
So anyone saying this is very 70's ish is flat out clueless.
Do people here just make stuff up? Also why is this fan base stuck in the 1970's?
"I like it because Harbaugh likes it" makes you a lemming.
This fanbase will like damn near anything.
I swear some in this fanbase are stuck in the 70's,

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WichitanWolverine

September 6th, 2015 at 1:48 AM ^

I just don't get it. Same as last year, the only reason this game wasn't a blowout was because the defense played their dicks off. They gave up 17 points, right? How many were on organic drives that started from kicks/punts? Do people really expect us to hold a team like Utah to 10 or less? The Rivals "scorecard" was pretty harsh on the defense too. I thought they were spectacular. I really don't get it.

Joined: 09/30/2009

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Maizen

September 6th, 2015 at 7:36 AM ^

How was it ridiculous? 1 sack, zero functional turnovers, 4.8 yards per play. It was above average but far from great. Last year Michigan held Utah to 281 yards and 13 first downs, and a huge chunk of those yards came on that busted screen pass. Utah doesn't have a great offense. I'm not saying we played bad any means. I'm just saying I expected a bit more. If we're being honest with ourselves those 17 points should have been 23 with the two missed kicks.

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SalvatoreQuattro

September 6th, 2015 at 11:35 AM ^

with the missed FG and two missed long TD passes.

 

Missed FG's happen. They aren't fortunate occurrences, but poor execution by the team. You know, like overthrowing wide open receivers.

Some of your criticism is spot on. The LB's were poor. They were the biggest issue in my opinion. Michigan really needs to upgrade the athleticism at that spot.(and I think they know this which is why they are using a 4-2-5)

Joined: 11/30/2010

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enlightenedbum

September 6th, 2015 at 12:36 AM ^

Basically expected a B+ defense because we don't have an elite pass rusher.  And that basically panned out.  Was a little disappointed by the LBs, especially in pass coverage.

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MaximusBlue

September 6th, 2015 at 8:36 AM ^

Definitely need to see more Ross in any scheme/formation and he should be starting. Also need to see Gedeon get some reps to see what he can do. He didn't get in a lot under Hoke, but when he did get in he made plays. J. Lewis locked down one side of the field and shut down Utah's best receiver. Peppers started flashing in the second half. It's a real shame RJS is a senior. I'm still not even sure what he can do but he looked better than Ojemudia. Need to see a bigger sample size of the safeties and other corner before I determine what's going on with that.

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Michael

September 6th, 2015 at 1:15 AM ^

Safeties (aside from Peppers) being a non-factor in your opinion is actually a huge positive, given the scheme we deployed in this game. We asked our secondary to do a lot and they handled it. The weaknesses we saw were in the LBs; Bolden got pulled for Ross perhaps a little too late.

Complaining about playing our often single-high safety 20 yards deep implies you either have no idea what this staff is trying to do defensively, or you're just complaining for the sake of complaining. Which is of course totally acceptable for Michigan fans.

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Maizen

September 6th, 2015 at 1:20 AM ^

We're playing a Cover 3, just like the Seahawks. You may have hard of Cam Chancellor and Earl Thomas playing safety for them. They impact every game they play and are a big reason why that defense is so good.  Unlike Seattle we aren't pressing our corners all that much and it was a problem vs Utah in pass coverage. Too many free releases that allowed Utah to hit timing routes. It's all on tape.

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lilpenny1316

September 6th, 2015 at 2:02 AM ^

They're the reason that Seattle can play the scheme they're playing so well.  Also, Harbaugh needs time to recruit the guys for that system.  Do you remember last year when we got burned having these guys play press and they couldn't do it well (ie. Countess)?

 

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Hail Harbo

September 6th, 2015 at 1:36 AM ^

Was usually 10-13 yards from the LOS, only two or three times was he as deep as 20 yards while the corners typically played press coverage.  It is interesting that the unit that was hailed the highest, the LBs, turned out to be the softest part of the D.

On a happier note, I recall only one semi-deep pass that was completed...when the WR pushed off on Peppers (bad no call) and nothing else.  

I'm confident Durkin will have the LBs squared away, both in pass coverage and their tendency to over run the play.  I wish I was as confident about the other side of the ball.

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MChem83

September 6th, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^

These guys have been here three or four YEARS.  Are you suggesting they're going to be significantly better after three years and two weeks than after three years?  Because THAT is ridiculous.  They aren't going to get faster, smarter or stronger.  Their instincts are not going to get any better.  What they are now is what they're going to be all season.  Sorry.

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