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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CoachBP6

September 6th, 2015 at 4:56 PM ^

Ask yourself how this game would of went if Hoke and staff were still here. Utah would have absolutely bombed us. Yes we lost, but you could visually see the better coaching everywhere. This is a team that will get better and better as the season goes on.

Joined: 12/18/2013

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jlove

September 6th, 2015 at 5:33 PM ^

Wasn't impressed with peppers in man coverage either. Let a freshman beat him several times, but did look good coming up on screens and runs

Joined: 03/05/2015

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Hotroute06

September 7th, 2015 at 10:51 AM ^

I thought overall the defense played solid and didnt panic in bad situations.  

 

It seems like a lot of people on here dont want to give Travis Wilson any credit.   His short to intermediate pass accuracy was on the money and was hitting his guys in stride.  Also scrammbled very well and showed deceptive speed.  This guy could be a nightmare for many teams this year.  

Joined: 09/24/2011

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Dawkins

September 6th, 2015 at 9:06 PM ^

I wish someone would take a look at the cleates our guys wear. It defies physics that our LBs and DLs are getting pushed backwards against guys who are as much as 50 to 70 pounds lighter. Same goes for our offensive lineman.

Joined: 05/24/2015

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jrj84105

September 7th, 2015 at 7:01 AM ^

Peppers was fantastic in stopping the quick WR screens. Watch a bad 2013 Utah team with an injured Travis Wilson (ground beef for throwing hand) beat Stanford with nothing but variations off those WR screens. The plays that Peppers blew up were the setup plays for Utah's downfield shots. Peppers single-handedly closed a huge part of Utah's playbook. Utah had numerical advantages in the flats- and should have had a field day if Utah WRs could even get a hand on Peppers. Utah's best blocking receiver and his backup missed week one, so it was a third string freshman blocking, but that doesn't entirely take away from Pepper's performance.

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