Youth on offense vs. youth on defense

Easier to limit how your young players hurt you on offense than it is on defense, where other teams can target those weaknesses.

I find it somewhat ironic that people are so excited about the youth of this offense, but shocked and appalled at the youth of this defense. "Why can't RRod get some experienced defenders out there?" vs. "RRod has depth for the next 3 years for all offensive positions!"

Farnn is right though. What has been killing us these past two games is when offensive mistakes coincide with defensive mistakes. What may have been +7 points for us becomes +7 points for the bad guys. 14 point swings right there.

Your take is interesting, but if you spend 5 seconds looking at why certain players are playing it is easily explained. 

All they have to do, is do one thing on any given play and do it reasonably well.  Run the route, catch the ball.  Take the handoff, hit the hole.  For positions like O-line, experinece and age/strength help out tremendously, which is why is rare to see true freshman playing there.  And I think we all remember how 1st year QB's work out.

For defense, as someone else stated above, you're responible for much more, have to react to what the offense if throwing at you, and you can be exploited.  Plus, most young guys on defense, simply aren't strong enough to handle upperclassmen.  All recipes for distaster for the young and inexperienced.

Youth hurts at most positions on defense.  It hurts mostly at QB and on the line on offense.  On offense, a true freshman RB, slot, or WR can shine if he is really fast.  His assignments are more individual in nature and don't require a lot of reading, nor do they require a person to be a year or two older, and thus bigger and stronger, like the line does. 

On defense, a Ty Law or Charles Woodson can shine at CB if he has decent players around him, particularly at safety, to compensate for his occasional errors.  I think this brings it back to talent and depth, as someone already mentioned.  A great defense can break in a talented underclassman or two and make up for their mistakes.  When half of your defense is underclassmen, though, you are in trouble. 

The upside is that underclassmen will eventually be upperclassmen.  That is why so many, including myself, are preaching patience.  It will eventually work out fine for Michigan; it's just going to be a year or two (or three) later than most of us anticipated or wanted.

I think it's important, as a general principle, to remember that offensive players know where they're going on a given play.  (It's an out route, or block the safety, etc.)  Defense is largely reactionary, and when reacting to the new, greater speed of a college offense, freshmen are always slow.

.....but experience at playing time as well. Rogers is a senior, yet is seeing his first true game experience this year at corner due to position change. Our secondary is filled with starters and backups who are just this year seeing meaningful time at the positions as starters. Not ideal for quality secondary play.

As such, we get burned a ton mostly for players playing out of position, and even more by players playing the WRs too soft, hence the 10 yard curls and 7-9 yard outs/ins that are open all day long to opposing QBs. I expect a major improvement next year in the secondary, one that should end up being a plus to the defense.

Our DL is another story entirely. Upperclassmen fill the two deep, other than Black, and it looks serious for 2012 and beyond unless we see a major DL haul this season for recruiting.

Overall, I expect the D will be average, to better than average, next season, with 2012 being a question mark, not for the secondary, but for the DL.

Take a peek at the second string for a second.

Have you read Misopogan's Decimated Defense?  Should explain everything you need to know.

It's not just an issue of youth, it's an issue of experience.  Most of our offensive starters also started or saw major playing time last year.  Basically the only one who didn't is Denard, and he has phenomenal talent. 

The D has a number of first-string players who never saw the field before this season, or had a very minor role if they did: Rogers, Cam Gordon, Thomas Gordon, Banks, Johnson.  Demens.  And the guys behind them are generally even less experienced.