Rashan Gary performance yesterday: what did close viewers think?

Submitted by wolverine1987 on

Question for the board: I watched the game at a bar and forgot to record it, so I wasn't able to closely follow the action. It seemed to me that Gary's name was seldom called, and his stats on ESPN read one tackle, one assist, no sacks (though it seemed like he had a half sack to me). Question is, what did close viewers think of him? Was he doubled consistently? I went through the defensive snowflakes thread and found no Gary specific comment, thus this thread. 

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The Baughz

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^

Agree with him losing contain but he was consistently double teamed even tho they had only had a 3 man front. That paved the way for guys like Bush. He was super aggressive off the edge and got upfield too much on occasion, but had an impact with his pressure and commanding of double teams.

Joined: 10/08/2010

MGoPoints: 31913

TrueBlue2003

September 3rd, 2017 at 2:37 PM ^

and you because he didn't play a bad game and assuming that based on only racking up a few stats is lazy analysis.  He and Hurst are the beasts that make everything possible for that defense and they allow DB to run a 3-3.5-4.5.

Gary commanded a double team on nearly every play, and not only did he stand up to them (instead of getting caved in like we did frequently to their DL), he often beat the double to apply pressure.  When you can do that, you free up guys like Bush and Furbush to be unblocked heat seeking missles and allow Winovich to work his guy one-on-one (which, like, good luck).  All that can be said of Hurst too, who commanded doubles all day.

They both played good and were the keys to the defense obliterating just about anything Florida wanted to do. We went aggressive because we were playing overmatched QBs and we were probably perfectly fine giving up a couple first down, knowing neither of them are Denard-level home run threats.

Joined: 01/05/2010

MGoPoints: 38075

BallCoachDubb

September 3rd, 2017 at 1:33 PM ^

He did not have a bad game at all. He over pursued probably twice. Most notably the franks scamble. But the reason you heard Bush and WInovich and other names so often is because of the attention Gary commanded. He was doubled constantly and even tripled at times. I said earlier on the Def TD at the end He was triple teamed. 2 Ol and the RB tried blocking him and he still collapsed the interior of the pocket.  He hurried the QBs all day long. His stats won't show how much he is doing in these games. Kind of similar to how Jabrill did more for this defense last year than his stats showed

Joined: 12/07/2016

MGoPoints: 325

PopeLando

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^

He was - to my eyes - basically unlockable. Sometimes he took himself out of the play by rushing too far upfield, but it was far more common that he was chasing the QB/RB with murder in his eyes.* *Ok, I couldn't see his eyes. But in my mind he had murder in his eyes...

Joined: 08/01/2015

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The Baughz

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^

Honestly guys/gals this might be the quickest defense Michigan has ever had, or close to it. It will get even quicker when guys like Vilain and Jeter get healthy and the secondary is only going to get better as the season progresses. Also i thought Hudson player really well. He is very disciplined and fundamentally sound. And the safeties were kinda "boring" and that's why the D only gave up 3 points! Don Brown is a wizard.

Joined: 10/08/2010

MGoPoints: 31913

1VaBlue1

September 3rd, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^

The 1985 defense was out-fucking-standing in itself.  The three ('85, '97, '16/'17) were different eras in how defenses operated, but the team speed on each - as well as the gap discipline and tackling fundamentals - were very similar.  It's hard to compare different eras, but it sure is fun!

Joined: 01/31/2016

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PopeLando

September 3rd, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^

He's still alive. Still a donor, as far as I know. And for some reason, he's still in charge of an organization. Like, somebody looked at Dave Brandon after he left the AD job and said, "Now THERE'S a man who's a good leader and can usher my company into the future."

Joined: 08/01/2015

MGoPoints: 68312

Oost

September 3rd, 2017 at 11:15 AM ^

Mone isn't a passrusher. Florida knows where he'll be on every play, and Furbush gave Don Brown a lot more flexibility in how he attacked. Variously, I saw Furbush line up as a traditional SAM, rush with a hand down, blitz from a middle linebacker position, and drop into a zone.

So just Brown messing with the Florida o-line.

Joined: 01/31/2012

MGoPoints: 188

Wolfman

September 3rd, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^

but even there I noticed a lot of 3 man DLine that allows for a lot of double and in many cases triple team blocks. He was still getting penetration frequently however, and when he's occupied in this manner it allows the backers - designed by Brown in large measure - to come through clean. As you saw our front 7 in large part was basically a wall, allowing FL very little. This was the result of all carrying out their assignments properly which, depending on base front and other intangibles, will stuff the stats for some, take away from others. Overall, he had a damn good game. 

Joined: 07/23/2008

MGoPoints: 8259

TrueBlue2003

September 3rd, 2017 at 2:32 PM ^

in the 3 man fronts with Furbush and Bush filling/threating blitz on either side of Hurst/Marshal (the DT).  This allowed us to disguise whether we were sending Bush, Furbush or both on the blitz.  Just diabolical destruction.

All made possible by the fact that Hurst and Gary could stand up to doubles and Florida wasn't going to run a power run game to try to take advantage us not having a planet shaped nose up front.

Joined: 01/05/2010

MGoPoints: 38075

RandomWolverine

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^

Double teamed and chipped consistently. Freed up Winovich on the other side. Winovich and the team in general did well against Ivey in solo action. I was not as impressed with him as I thought I would be. Chase smoked him for the sack, fumble, TD at the end.

Joined: 07/30/2014

MGoPoints: 408

runandshoot

September 3rd, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^

It looked like Ivey was expecting to be able to chip, and then hand off Winovich to the guard on a double team.  When he didn't have help - he grabbed the guard's shoulder and said something to him as Winovich crushed Zaire.  Oops!

He definitely didn't look 100%, and even if he was, I don't know if it really would have made any difference versus that defensive front!

Go Blue!

Joined: 09/04/2009

MGoPoints: 6670

SteelBrad

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^

Michigan ran a three-man front the majority of the game so that neutralized him a bit by default. He was still incredibly active and his work free up a ton of pressure from the linebackers.

I was the most impressed by the pressure 3 and 4 rushers were able to produce. If I recall correctly, there was one play where 3 rushers beat a max protect. Insane.

Joined: 04/27/2011

MGoPoints: 4160

urbanachiever

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^

Mid way through he second quarter I thought to myself had I hadn't seen him much. So, I focused on him for a handful of snaps, one of which he was blown about 3 yards off the ball (albeit by a double team).

The shift to 3 down lineman will force him to see more doubles and presumably spend less time in the backfield. It will be interesting to see if DB stays with this look going forward.

Joined: 01/16/2010

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SpinachAssassin

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:45 AM ^

Florida didn't have their starting RB so Michigan didn't need to stack the box and, thus, more 3-man rushes and fewer chances for flashy plays (which they still racked up anyway).

Whatever Florida QB was out there didn't have enough talent or understanding to take the top off the D so Michigan was playing off and Florida couldn't do much. Basically forcing Florida to beat us in the air, which they were incapable of doing.

Joined: 05/23/2013

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gary3

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^

He did get credit for a hurry, and if you watch the tape, he was in the backfield all game.

Could have been better, wasn't anything like Charlton against OSU. But he was good against OSU himself, so I think we can reasonably expect better performances.

Joined: 09/26/2016

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jimmyshi03

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^

There were plenty of plays he helped to make by flushing QBs and turning RBs the other way. And they also seemed to be avoiding his side on most plays. Also, he'd have had a sack on the second play where Franks fell down, as he was essentially unblocked.

Joined: 08/22/2013

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