UFR -- Secondary Against UConn

Submitted by Hail2Victors on

Unfortuantely, I was not in a position to watch the game on Saturday.   Thankfully, my beautiful bride (and Michigan grad) was able to tape much of the game for me after some technical difficulties with the DVR.   Seeing the final score and the hightlights on line yesterday while sitting in a 3-hour layover in Philly's airport didn't prepare me for the horror as I watched the replay today. 

I wil take nothing away from the offense.   They did really well for a first game and if D-Rob can stay healthy, this team should a lot of games.

My fear is the still the defense.   UConn really beat themselves in so many ways on Saturday with innumerable drops in key situations.  Our secondary had as many problems as feared in preseason but were blessed by drops and a few overthrows by UConn.   For this weekend, I fear Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph will torch our  secondary should Crist get as much time to throw as Frazer did.  I look for a very high scoring game in South Bend.

Anybody else fearing this as well?

david from wyoming

September 6th, 2010 at 10:51 PM ^

How the hell can you say the team overachieved based on ONE GAME? Maybe what you expected was just wrong to start with? If one of the players were in front of you right now, would you say to his face that he is overachieving and imply that you think he isn't that good?

BigBlue02

September 6th, 2010 at 9:47 PM ^

I've noticed a lot of brand new members since Saturday (or that have very few MgoPoints) that seem to be focusing on the reasons they think we will be in trouble next Saturday. I wonder why? I also wonder how many more negative posts about the defense we will see considering we held uconn to 10 points. I personally was disappointed that denard didn't run for 250 yards. He must stink.

clarkiefromcanada

September 6th, 2010 at 9:50 PM ^

...so apparently that means it's time to ratchet up the anxiety for a segment of the fanbase. I am sure the RichRod haters will be sharpening the knives by Wednesday also.

Personally, I thought the defense played as well or better than one might have hoped...interesting how well they fared against the much hyped goliath offensive line of UConn...

Maybe, OP, just enjoy the win and wait for the fireworks display from Denard again next Saturday.

readyourguard

September 6th, 2010 at 10:49 PM ^

All this chatter about UConn not executing (overthrows, dropped passes, etc.)..........  Guess what?  That's what happens when your opponent is whoopin your ass.  The offense begins to press because they know they're in a hole.  QBs and receivers put pressure on themselves to connect, knowing that if they don't convert, (in this case) Michigan's offense will get the ball back and potentially add to the deficit.

That's football, man.  In our case, the best defense is a potent offense.

BigBlue02

September 7th, 2010 at 12:08 AM ^

Not to mention that a bunch of their dropped passes wouldn't have made much of a difference anyway. I remember at least 3 passes that were dropped by a RB or TE within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage with a Michigan defender or 2 fastly approaching. You can't tell me that drop behind the line of scrimmage would have made up the 20 points

MGoKalamazoo

September 6th, 2010 at 10:50 PM ^

The defense definitely had holes in their coverage. However, ND is starting a freshman QB which could equalize an experienced UConn QB with periodical dropped passes. IMO, this is a winnable game that could propel a young Michigan team. Personally, I see this game as the epitome of all swing games. A win would be huge confidence for the young fellas.

Blue since birth

September 7th, 2010 at 12:28 AM ^

It's still his second ever start and his first year with the current coach/system.

IIRC he has two (three?) first time starters in the oline as well... They won't be going up against the Purdue dline either .

We should be able to get pressure on Crist and do a much better job of stopping the run than Purdue.

jamiemac

September 6th, 2010 at 11:17 PM ^

I actually thought James Rogers played well and JT Floyd made the defensive play of the game?  They answered some questions about their ability to play against most of our schedule.

Are you sure your bride DVRed the correct game?

Hail2Victors

September 7th, 2010 at 8:11 PM ^

Guess I should prepped my comments a little better.   Got completely torched myself on my comments.   D Rob was spectacular and I hope he can stay healthly all season.   My hope was for us to win the game and get off to a good start.   The team certainly blew that goal away.   

JT definitely made at least one play of the game.  My favorite was Denard's fake and 40+ yard pass play to Terrence Robinson. 

Guess Im just paranoid.  Maybe I should change my screen name to Paranoid One?  It just seems like Michigan is always losing key players to injuries.

UMxWolverines

September 7th, 2010 at 12:20 AM ^

We just gotta keep pressure on Crist. Receivers are going to get open no doubt, so the d-line will need to step up more than against UConn. Linebackers did pretty well i thought, better than I expected, but don't let Allen break off huge runs. Dbacks played alright, but also better than expected. There was one play I especially liked when the UConn player was going to catch it and Floyd timed the hit perfectly and crunched him.