Western Michigan Snowflakes: The Defense
September 8th, 2018 at 4:46 PM ^
I think the complaint was more that Furbush was dropped back, rather than someone with more athleticism. I'm okay with Furbush in that play, though - something to be said for experience telling you where to be. And he did get the INT...
September 8th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
Watch Kemp all game He got a decent amount of pushed and knife into the backfield.none was just a guy out there and had a few chances to make a play but couldn't get off his block
September 8th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
I agree. It looks like he's jumped Dwumfour on the depth chart and seemed to always push his guy back. It'll be interesting to see how he holds up against better competition
September 8th, 2018 at 3:48 PM ^
Moving forward would like to see Ross > Gil and Hawkins > Metellus.
Thought the defense was outstanding. Who would have thought that B. Watson would hold Eskridge to 2 catches for 20 yards? The kid had 240 yards receiving last week.....
GO BLUE
September 8th, 2018 at 4:00 PM ^
Watson has really improved. Stride for stride with the guy from wmu. I think Watson might be most improved in secondary so far.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:51 PM ^
Agree. Happy with Watson.
September 9th, 2018 at 8:31 AM ^
Agree Watson has played well in these two games.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:37 PM ^
Yeah Eskridge is a weapon.
Apart from the penalties, Michigan's D really shut down what WMU wanted to do on offense.
September 8th, 2018 at 4:04 PM ^
Hutchinson getting plenty of snaps and looks the part. I like that development
September 8th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
Michigan vs WMU 1st half every play. (2nd half coming later)
September 8th, 2018 at 4:52 PM ^
The dreaded mullet!.png)
September 8th, 2018 at 4:56 PM ^
Defense is good. A little worse than last year though. That could change as players settle into the season.
September 8th, 2018 at 4:59 PM ^
Only real complaint I have was that we had penalties that gave the Broncos more opportunity than they should have had (much of which was the same problem against ND last week). Other than that, good performance.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:01 PM ^
Send Metellus to the end of the bench and give Josh Ross the lion's share of snaps over Devin Gil.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:02 PM ^
I think Metellus needs to sit for a week. That's back to back games he's made incredibly dumb penalties, no-discipline penalties. I think he's a better player than Hawkins but needs to get his head straight and stop making preventable mistakes.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:06 PM ^
Thought it was interesting to move Winovich to DT on obvious passing downs.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:10 PM ^
Defense is good. Back 7 is really good. D Line is not as dominant because of the DTs being average. Better DTs frees up Gary and Winovich more and we have more than just 2 sacks that game. I give us an A-
September 8th, 2018 at 6:19 PM ^
Honestly, I thought WMU had some nice receivers and Wessinick has the ability to hit some tight windows. The secondary locked those guys up pretty well all game. The entire secondary looked great but, B-Wat continues to really impress. Crazy how much that guy has improved over the past 2 yrs.
September 9th, 2018 at 12:29 PM ^
Wassink throws a nice ball. Our D was just too good for WMU but I could see them having some success this season.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:29 PM ^
Seemed good on D for the most part. I just wish we could capitalize on more of the opportunities we were given. I counted 2 dropped picks. I know it didn’t matter today but those could be huge against a solid team.
September 8th, 2018 at 7:02 PM ^
Hawkins tackles so well and seems to cover well (tough with the tv coverage).
Ross is physically talented > Gil and a tackling machine.
Long is excellent, and Watson has really improved.
Metellus appears unreliable with the penalties and misses.
This D can be very good. Healthy Solomon is crucial for the D to reach elite,
September 8th, 2018 at 7:05 PM ^
Hawkins tackles so well and seems to cover well (tough with the tv coverage).
Ross is physically talented > Gil and a tackling machine.
Long is excellent, and Watson has really improved.
Metellus appears unreliable with the penalties and misses.
This D can be very good. Healthy Solomon is crucial for the D to reach elite,
September 8th, 2018 at 7:46 PM ^
Notre Dame beat Ball State 24-16, and Wimbush who tore our D up in the 1st half threw 3 picks
September 8th, 2018 at 11:03 PM ^
Of course he did. That's what happens in ND-UM. Rich Pawlus looked like a schmuck for most of 10 games each year. But he won his 4 predicted Hiesman's against Michigan each year.
September 8th, 2018 at 8:06 PM ^
Imagine for a moment is 1/2 of the balls that hit our players squarely in two hands were actually caught instead of bouncing off... we would be 2-0.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:01 PM ^
Hot take: Devin Bush's dreads mullet is the most ridiculous hairstyle in Michigan Football history
September 8th, 2018 at 9:13 PM ^
Encouraging considering the missing DL guys. We won't survive without those guys trying to play 3 down linemen with 2 ends much. WMU's QB was complete ass on long throws, why in God's name do they ask that kid to make throws he can't make repeatedly is beyond me so I'd still like to see more from our corners, they did make some good plays today when the QB managed to get the ball near a wideout.
Gary, Winovich and Bush are just so so good with Hudson is getting close to that level. Really a joy to watch out there.
Good times watching how Don Brown played some games with the QB's head and reads and exchanges. Worth a second look.
The difference between top D1 talent and MAC talent was on full display, faster, bigger, stronger won out.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:28 PM ^
Defense looked good. Fast, aggressive and very sure tackling.
WMU has some weapons, and we made them look pretty impotent.
Quibbles:
- Hill seems too grabby; every time I saw him, he was holding someone. He's gonna get a lot of flags if he keeps that up.
- Everyone is killing Matellus, and his late hits are really frustrating - but last year Bush was a bit out of control, and he figured it out. I think he and Hawkins are both pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. Still weakest link in the D.
- We're a bit thin at DT, and we miss Hurst. It's early, and hopefully Aubrey will be 100% soon.
Positives:
- Young Mr. Ross can lay some wood! He's gonna be a great player. Big, athletic, and has a nose for the ball.
- Great tackling, and our DB's look like the best cover guys in the country. They are blankets. Agree that Watson looks really good.
- Thought coaches did a good job of dialing down the outside rush to better contain the middle. Of course, it helped that WMU doesn't have a running QB, but I liked what I saw.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:56 PM ^
Even though this was a near shut out, I'm still more impressed with the 2nd half play of our D against ND. That was as good of an indication of this D as we are going to get at this point ho n time.
September 8th, 2018 at 10:24 PM ^
Don Brown's defense has returned. I hope he can continue to build things up when we face more quality opponents. Classic swarming Michigan Defense. All around solid and pass protection has greatly improved. They got one call to my memory but overall they are starting to look at the ball way more.
If there is any complaint I could have it is that we gotta catch some of those near-interceptions! A few of them were hard to reach but you gotta take advantage of some of those opportunities.
September 9th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
We need our DT’s to get healthy. Defense did well today, I don’t think they are the same dominant as in past....it can still be good, maybe brown will adjust some against better competition and it will make our defense stronger against those teams.
September 9th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
The tackling has been so good for so long that I almost take it for granted
September 9th, 2018 at 3:13 PM ^
My only gripe is Devin Gil. He's not overly quick or strong and seems to have already missed 3-4 tackles this year. Not a fan of him