OT- Gholston vs Georgia

Submitted by Hail-Storm on

Last night BTN was replaying the Georgia - MSU Outback bowl from last year.  I had not seen the game, and admitedly, did not watch the whole game last night.  However, as I've read MGoBlog for the last few years, I began to watch the game differently, and began to focus on the play of one player, as I've done multiple times in Brian's great Michigan breakdown and grading of Michigan players.

Last night I focused on Gholston, as I had heard that he had an outstanding game, and as a top defenseman we will be going against next year, it seemed relevent. Anyway, here are my observations;

- Georgia seemed to run away from Gholston a lot, either up the middle or towards the opposite sideline

- Ghoslton appears to be a high risk high reward type of guy (ala Jake Ryan in the early part of the 2011)using speed to explode up field, but often losing edge contain for cutbacks

- Non of this may matter as Ace and Brian pointed out that Gholston was kept in check by our next great OT in Lewan

- Non Gholston tidbit, I think Michigan will do much better against the interior. Jerel Wrthy is unstopable when he jumped the snap, and he did that a lot against us last year  

Anyway, since it is the offseason, and it appears the BTN will show a lot of footbal now that baseball is over, I was wondering if anyone else now watches games like this after reading MGoBlog for a while. Also, anyone who wants to correct my assessment feel free.

BigBlue02

June 12th, 2012 at 4:15 PM ^

If that were true, every defensive lineman in every game ever played would be punching players and twisting helmets. Holding happens all the time to every D lineman. There is a reason you guys have had more than double the number of personal fouls compared to us in the MSU/UM game since Dantonio has taken over.

ScruffyTheJanitor

June 12th, 2012 at 1:11 PM ^

I remember thinking that up the middle pressure was going to be the issue before the game was played, and then I was forced to watch that unfold as I wondered if I were in hell.

Jmilan

June 12th, 2012 at 1:36 PM ^

This year should be a whole lot different. With the emergence of Fitz it should take some pressure off of Denard and the passing game. As always if he can minimize turnovers this game should lean in our favor. No doubt State has a great D coming back, but Worthy is a bigger loss than they think and Gholston isn't the mythical god that they proclaim him to be. He got the best of Lewan in the video that someone posted maybe one time and the play was ran to the other side of the field. We shut down Bell for the most part last year IIRC and it always seemed to me at least IMO that Baker was the one who was giving us problems. This year will be interesting and if we win the denial in EL will be tremendous. I love how the 4-0 stuff gets thrown in our face, but they quickly forget that before they were "4-0", Michigan won the previous six.

/End rant

Bodogblog

June 12th, 2012 at 1:44 PM ^

He was dominant at times, looked very good.  Maybe the O-Lineman he was going against were terrible. Also, they A-gap blitzed all game and even the Sparty OL couldn't pick it up.  Am very confused by this.

I also watched the Wiscy spring game, and observed that their linebackers are stiff, causasian, and tough as hell.  Though overall I think they take a big step back this year.

BraveWolverine730

June 12th, 2012 at 1:58 PM ^

As far as Wisky LBs, I don't think that is a change from what we saw last year. State was able to absolutely kill them with Martin coming out of the slot being matched up against either of their LBs and then Oregon did them even worse.  I also agree they'll take a huge step back because Russell Wilson was really, really, good and took that offense from very good to probably top 5 in the country. 

Bodogblog

June 12th, 2012 at 3:52 PM ^

If Toussaint can get himself involved catching passes out of the backfield, he could be an absolute dagger 2-3 times per game.  Then opposing teams see that on film and have to worry about him, and the LB's start watching and hanging tight (or the CB's stay lower in the flats).  This helps open up curls and post routes.

This would seem to help the passing game that doesn't have proven TE's.  All of this much easier said than done.

WolvinLA2

June 12th, 2012 at 2:45 PM ^

I think that says as much about Sparty's OL than anything else. People are saying they should have a good OL this year, but that's mostly based on them returning four of five starters. Except the one guy they lose was their best lineman and who cares if you return a bunch of guys from a unit that sucks. What Gholston can do against MSUs tackle is no indicative of what he'll be able to do against Lewan.

vaneasy2338

June 12th, 2012 at 4:52 PM ^

probably a second team all-conference player. However, I'm not seeing the top 10 pick people(a lot of which are michigan fans) are refering to. He looks very, very stout in the run game, and he's hard to move.

But I'm not seeing the explosion in the pass rush though. And that's a requirement to be such a high pick. Reminds me a lot of Nick Perry. Where you're just searching for that explosion and not finding it anywhere. A lot of their sacks come from high motor plays (which is fine but it also doesn't make you a top ten pick). And if you watch the Taylor vs. Gholston tape, you are seeing where that lack of explosion against an nfl-cabiler left tackle is so tough to overcome.

GoBlogSparty

June 12th, 2012 at 5:16 PM ^

While your analysis is probably right, keep in mind that last year was Gholston's first year starting as a DE. Many reports out of camp from the coaches were commenting that his technique has been greatly improved.

Worthy garnered double teams last year which freed up Gholston for more one on one coverage. I believe this year Gholston will be attracting the double teams, which will free up Marcus Rush (the other starting DE) or any of the LBs on the A-gap blitzes. Overall, I see Gholston's technique and fundamentals as a DE improving but his numbers probably going down because of the extra attention he will receive.

Still a little worried about the interior of the line as that was somewhat of a weak spot (in terms of depth) last year and with the departure of Worthy and the transfer of Ramando, depth further takes a hit.

My $0.02

Perkis-Size Me

June 12th, 2012 at 8:30 PM ^

Jerel Worthy may have been unstoppable on the D-Line, and whoever is replacing him may not be as good as he was, but at the end of the day, it is not a stretch to say that MSU's defensive unit next year, as a whole, will be better than it was last year.

It might be a bit of a tradeoff. Fitz might have more running room up the middle without Worthy plugging up the hole, but MSU's back 4 will be better, making passing situations that much more difficult.