My take on the Michigan Defense
Hey, I am new here to mgoblog. I have been reading this blog for around 8 months now and I decided to join in on the fun and write my first diary. I hope you enjoy it.
This past weekend marked not only a new offensive era for our beloved wolverines, it also marked the first Greg Robinson Michigan defense. As we all know he has had quite a successful career as a defensive coordinator (does not include little shindig at Syracuse!). It has been well documented how productive and exciting our defensive line can be. My personal favorite is Mike "The Hulk" Martin. Also, the uber athletic linebacker core of Jonas Mouton Obi Ezeh and our spinners/deathbackers/quicks/hybrids have been receiving a lot of publicity also. What, to me, has been overlooked is our cornerbacks.
Coming into this season i was quite uncertain about our cornerbacks. With all the hype surrounding Donovan Warren his first two seasons I had seen his thus far in his career as underacheiving. He changed my view of him in one quick weekend. Besides from the penalties (which I thought were bogus, but were called nonetheless) he seemed to be a truly dynamic defensive back. He looks to me as a Leon Hall type cornerback with an extra inch or two. How much more exciting could that sound?! Then there was Boubacar Cissoko. He had seen very limited time during his freshman season so I didn't know what to expect. As far as the first game goes, he looks to be a very physical defensive back that could be a dominant cover back down the road.
I just wanted to know what the rest of you thought of our cornerbacks in the first game.
Thanks for your time! Hear's to keeping up the success!
This past weekend marked not only a new offensive era for our beloved wolverines, it also marked the first Greg Robinson Michigan defense. As we all know he has had quite a successful career as a defensive coordinator (does not include little shindig at Syracuse!). It has been well documented how productive and exciting our defensive line can be. My personal favorite is Mike "The Hulk" Martin. Also, the uber athletic linebacker core of Jonas Mouton Obi Ezeh and our spinners/deathbackers/quicks/hybrids have been receiving a lot of publicity also. What, to me, has been overlooked is our cornerbacks.
Coming into this season i was quite uncertain about our cornerbacks. With all the hype surrounding Donovan Warren his first two seasons I had seen his thus far in his career as underacheiving. He changed my view of him in one quick weekend. Besides from the penalties (which I thought were bogus, but were called nonetheless) he seemed to be a truly dynamic defensive back. He looks to me as a Leon Hall type cornerback with an extra inch or two. How much more exciting could that sound?! Then there was Boubacar Cissoko. He had seen very limited time during his freshman season so I didn't know what to expect. As far as the first game goes, he looks to be a very physical defensive back that could be a dominant cover back down the road.
I just wanted to know what the rest of you thought of our cornerbacks in the first game.
Thanks for your time! Hear's to keeping up the success!
September 8th, 2009 at 8:38 PM ^
Every time, but one, a pass was completed it appeared as if there were multiple boys in blue on the ball instantly. And the biggest thing was that the tackles were made, it didn't take 3 attempts to bring the man down. We'll see how things go this weekend for a more clear picture of the secondary's abilities. I think it's going to be important for the line/linebackers to shut down the run in order to limit the effectiveness of the play action pass.
September 8th, 2009 at 8:42 PM ^
I agree, tackling was spot on. I hope we tackle as well or better against Notre Dame.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:46 PM ^
The Orange didn't seem to overwhelm the Irish so much as just not let them loose. Dink, dunk, missed pass, run stopped for 3 instead of 5 and it's 4 and 2, boom goes the punt. Syracuse tackled everything, didn't let Jimmah get outside the pocket or give him a lot of time to look around, and they didn't bite on the play-fake or the pump-fake in the secondary. They swapped up looks so ND didn't get to just come up, read the D, snap and go. Using the Craig Roh position in zone blitz took away a lot of the planned hot routes and dump offs. But still, the big thing was tackling -- bang, bang, bang, lots of white jerseys on the ball and no yards after contact.
Woo.
OK, maybe more.
Woooooo!
September 8th, 2009 at 8:55 PM ^
There was a lot of continuity on the defense throughout the game; there wasn't much confusion out there and it seemed almost every play ended up the offensive player wrapped up fairly quickily. ND is a step up though; heck, it seems like Clausen and most of that bunch have been there for like 6 years.
September 8th, 2009 at 9:26 PM ^
yesterday that odes like this were going to get bumped from Diaries? No offense to the OP, but this is more a Board post.
As for the cornerbacks, they were good. Warren could be better. Turner needs to get PT, soon, and Cissoko needs to stay healthy. There's going to be 1 or 2 long TDs to Floyd / Tate. The key for Michigan to win is to make that all ND gets. Anything more and it's likely Michigan loses.
However, Michigan is now looking at a 3-1 September, so I will not be disappointed if Saturday is a loss. I can tell the improvement is tangible.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:03 PM ^
we will have our way with the irish.
our o and d lines both seem superior to theirs.
and if true, we win, and we win big.
understandably hard for those of us that have suffered thru the last year. we are afraid to be too optimistic, for fear of the pain of defeat and disappointment.
but believe what you saw saturday. we are better coached and in better physical shape and we are very tight as a team. we are very, very good (although not yet great). nd is only fair to good and will fail in a2.
go blue!
September 9th, 2009 at 12:33 AM ^
Man, you really are a douche. WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM.
You could have made the same post without the first paragraph and it would be just the same. Why!? Why is there a cadre of people on mgoboard that just INSIST on being total assholes!?
September 9th, 2009 at 12:46 AM ^
We are not on the same team, or any team for that matter. We are fans that happen to like the same team. For all I know, that's about as much as we have in common, and I do not, for one second, give a shit that you or anyone else cheers for the same team that I do. When it comes down to it, you, I, and everyone else are simply anonymous strangers that happen to cheer for a bunch of other strangers. That's it. Maybe JG2112 is a douche for writing that first paragraph (personally, I agree with him), but to argue that he shouldn't have done so simply because we happen to cheer for the same team is idiotic.
[Edit: And in JG2112's defense, it appears that this should have been a Board post and not a diary, given that it has now been moved from the the diaries to MGoBoard.]
September 9th, 2009 at 12:40 AM ^
Well, considering he just signed up today and does not have the requisite 20 points, I'd say that's why this was a diary and not a forum topic.
September 9th, 2009 at 1:03 AM ^
Good point.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:37 AM ^
I really like what I saw on Saturday. GERG somehow has them swarmiing to the ball without the overpursuit that used to kill Michigan, especially against the spread and mobile QB's.
Saturday, Michigan was the team with the mobile QB's and it was the opponent who occasionally overpursued. Most of all, though, it was Michigan whose QB ran for a long TD on a broken play. After watching Michigan get their backs broken by mobile QB's for years, it was great being on the other side of the fence. Now, I finally know what it feels like.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:19 AM ^
I was most impressed with S. Brown. Likely because I didn't have high expectations for him given his past. He looked good in his new position and it looks like GERG knows how to better utilize his players than past UM DC's. I was very impressed with our Defense but they have a much better opponent this weekend.
I was also impressed with Warren. He had a great game and had two suspect penalties that I thought could have gone against the offense just as easily. I can't wait for the game. I am not going to let my fan bias get in the way of reality, ND is a strong team this year. If we can manage a win in this one it will bode very well for the rest of the season.