Orange Bowl Snowflakes: The Defense

Submitted by LSAClassOf2000 on

This is the thread for your hot takes on the defensive performance in the Orange Bowl.

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umchicago

December 31st, 2016 at 12:27 AM ^

on the long TD brown was gave thomas the talking to; not lewis.  also on the last TD, lewis had about as good of text book coverage there is.  he stayed with the WR andread the receivers eyes.  when the WR turned, lewis turned, but the ball was already there.  and the throw was just high enough.

lewis only breaks that up if he's looking at the QB the whole way.  nobody plays D that way in that coverage.

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Michifornia

December 30th, 2016 at 11:55 PM ^

Couple of big lapses obviously but they kept the team in the game.  Hats off to Taco and defensive line.  They put us in position to win in the end.  Tough loss.

We'll be back.

GO BLUE!!

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wolverine1987

December 31st, 2016 at 9:51 AM ^

It's pretty factual that the kickoff at the end was the game. So one important lapse. Then a second one for the defense allowing the TD. 

The story of the season to me is that this terrific defense with great coaching and woinderful college players could not close out the games when they had the chance.

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MGoPoints: 18065

Yeoman

December 31st, 2016 at 12:20 AM ^

You don't get something for nothing--if you want havoc, sometimes there's a price to pay at the back end. You get pressure on the QB while your 250-lb linebacker is trying to keep up with Dalvin Cook on a sideline fly route...that's high-variance stuff. There are going to be big plays in both directions.

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LSAClassOf2000

December 31st, 2016 at 12:00 AM ^

For those interested in the overall numbers:

Rushing - FSU ran it 35 times for 149 net yard, which comes to 4.26 yards per carry on average. The problem there, of course, is the 145 yards of that which belong to Dalvin Cook.

Passing - Deondre Francois was actually 9 for 27 for 222 yards, which is 8.22 yards per attempt but 24.67 yards per completion. Yeesh.

We gave 371 yards on 62 plays, or 5.98 yards per play allowed on average.

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Ghost of Fritz…

December 31st, 2016 at 12:31 AM ^

the D played well.  If you look at the numbers it would look like a good performance.

But they had a few coverage and contain busts, and other mental errors (Lewis oddly giving uo the winning TD) that FSU took advantage of. 

In a way it may have been the worst defensive game of the year for Michigan (even if the overall stats look decent).

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lhglrkwg

December 31st, 2016 at 12:21 AM ^

They crushed FSU's offense for like 80% of the game but the other 20% of the game were huge busts. Lewis was shockingly ok today - trading his usual great plays with bad ones

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SD Larry

December 31st, 2016 at 12:22 AM ^

was hit pretty hard helmet to helmet earlier in the 4th quarter.  He made some good plays in the game.  , Maybe just fatigue led to him turning back on the TD pass a little late.  There were a lot of little things that went into this loss, but the defense played well against an explosive FSU team. 

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MichiganMan14

December 31st, 2016 at 12:25 AM ^

Cook is gonna Cook. 207 total yards. No idea what some folks were thinking in reference to shutting him down. Noonie Murray is a big time talent and for Lewis was up and down. He got "Mossed" on the last play but made several other great ones. Charlton is the best defender on the Michigan Football team and earned big money tonight. Lastly, Josh Mettelus has a damn bright future.

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lhglrkwg

December 31st, 2016 at 12:42 AM ^

I mean, after a really rough 1Q, Cook did get shutdown aside from a few huge busts. From the 2nd quarter on, he was getting devoured at the LOS with the notable exception of the huge run on 3rd and 22. I was actually really impressed how well we shut him down by and large

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taistreetsmyhero

December 31st, 2016 at 12:27 AM ^

Not quite enough to win. Not sure why everyone here thinks big plays count for less than methodical drives. This was the Colorado game all over again, except we gave up 2 big plays in second half instead of only 1.



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Yeoman

December 31st, 2016 at 10:12 AM ^

You can always explain away the big plays as bad luck. By the time you've got a big enough sample to know for sure, they may have already wiped you out.

It's not as bad as finance--there aren't any truly catastrophic losses here because you can only give up one touchdown at a time--but sample size is still a problem.

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YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

December 31st, 2016 at 12:42 AM ^

Since early in the season thru the very last game, Hill & Thomas just bitched key plays. Cook's long run was on Hill mostly and Thomas somewhat. Long TD pass was a blown coverage - again on Thomas' shoulders. Need a little bit more. Need playmakers. Need to eliminate the "almost" factor.

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