SMU Snowflakes - The Defense
September 15th, 2018 at 7:29 PM ^
Super pissed that Hudson has to miss the first half next week. Going to be interesting if Martinez can go.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:30 PM ^
Ugly, ugly, ugly, much worse when Hudson went out.
Kept drives alive with bad penalties and generally just looked off all day.
Hoping this is just an off day, but there are definitely some concerns from this game watching SMU move the ball up and down the field at will.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:36 PM ^
They did seem to miss Hudson quite a bit. Definite drop off. Will be interesting to see if Brown adjusts for next week.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:31 PM ^
If we ever didn’t blitz everyone on third and long, the opposing offense would have no idea what to do.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:42 PM ^
I agree with this take. Play some coverage on 3rd down. The straight 4 man rush is plenty good enough.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:33 PM ^
Rough game, too handsy, and too many penalties.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:34 PM ^
Too many penalties, though the call on Hutchinson was a bad call.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:35 PM ^
I’m beginning to think that the plan was for Aubrey to start at DT, and he was going to be a stud, however, he got sick before the first game and then injured. I think the defense is scrambling when it comes to DTs. Hopefully Aubrey is back soon.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:05 PM ^
I thought Kemp and Mone both had a decent day, the bigger issues seems to be poor DB play and getting outschemed by an offense anticipating constant pressure.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:38 PM ^
The defense played like shit, no question. But, whatever happened to PI being waived off due to the ball being uncatchable?
September 15th, 2018 at 7:38 PM ^
Don't remember hearing Hawkins name today- maybe I missed it- but did he get some PT?
September 15th, 2018 at 7:40 PM ^
I could swear he was the one who blew the coverage on SMU's long touchdown, so yeah he did get playing time.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:43 PM ^
He did. SMU lined up two receivers one behind the other, Long jammed the front one, and Hawkins hovered around the front one before recognizing that the back one had just blown past him.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:38 PM ^
I think football is one step away from two hand touch
September 15th, 2018 at 7:41 PM ^
Only one truly bad play with the Hawkins bust for the TD.
D just doesn’t seem to have the same “fire” this year as last. Hard to quantify.
I would love someone smarter than me (Maybe the UFR) to explain what (if anything) SMU did differently in the 2nd half aside from apparently slipping the refs some wads of cash.
Probably would be useful to develop a (zone?) scheme to roll out the next time we run into a ref crew that is going to call things so close........ this crew would have been great to call some of our games vs. MSU back in their “no fly zone” days..
September 15th, 2018 at 7:42 PM ^
First half plays are up - 2nd half will be up shortly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL-CqXYcT3k
September 15th, 2018 at 7:43 PM ^
It’s easier “to make great throws” when you know they’re in man and you’re reading one defender most of the time. You aren’t worried about drop backs or where the soft spot is. Please stop the “we bring out the best qb” it happens by design.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:45 PM ^
First time in a long time the offense played better than the defense.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:48 PM ^
I would like to see Gary moved inside more or just moved around. To me he has one move on the end, he tries to simply run around the tackle every play. He’s not disruptive enough. Move him, he’s too predictable. Winnovich is better than him. Defense in general is overrated.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:58 PM ^
I thought Gary was very disappointing today. Saw him nearly make one great play but whiffed on the tackle.
September 16th, 2018 at 6:26 AM ^
Saw a few whiffed tackles by the D.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:18 PM ^
I dont know, Gary still looks like he gets double (or triple) teamed on almost every play. Winovich usually only has to worry about beating one guy.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:22 PM ^
Another reason to potentially move him around! Put him in the middle, put him outside, hell, line him up at LB. move him if he’s such a weapon! Right now he’s neutralized every game and is a non factor!
September 15th, 2018 at 8:47 PM ^
So what are the 1-2 people without a blocker doing?
September 16th, 2018 at 9:13 AM ^
He definitely still struggles one on one a lot.
September 16th, 2018 at 9:10 AM ^
I made this point after the ND game and was negged to hell. *Shakes head*.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:50 PM ^
We need to get to the qb consistently. That's how we need to stop the pass.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:58 PM ^
Damn. I gotta remember why I don't read these things -- it's like talk radio, but less insightful and less informed.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
People just like to be miserable, there is no other way explaining the overreaction some of our fans have. We played another FBS team who has a good offense. They been giving hard time to everyone they have played so far. You cant expect our defense to shut out everyone . That is just unrealistic expectations.
Yes they were mistakes made but in the end the defense held them to 20pts. You cant expect the defense to win games, this is not the 90s anymore. Offenses are more complicated and more advance now days, plus you cant play anymore since the refs throw a flag against defnses for every little thing. Whats important coming out of these games is that our offense is slowly coming together and everyone is feeling more comfortable around each other.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:12 PM ^
Hard time vs everyone? North Texas was up 36-0 at half.
I mean if you're comfortable with Michigan being Iowa level then yes Michigan played up to expectations
September 15th, 2018 at 8:24 PM ^
North texas is also good they destroyed Arkansa today. Maybe Norh Texas is i dont know better than you think? Look at the smu vs tcu game. You have to realize that the talent is everywhere now days and even the “shitty” teams have playmakers. I would not compare us to Iowa because that will get ugly very fast. Look at Iowa’s recent record against ranked teams.
September 16th, 2018 at 7:02 AM ^
Take a gander at Michigans record against ranked teams. As far as being compared to Iowa, don't know how that could "ugly very fast". There is not much difference between the two programs.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:12 PM ^
Hard time vs everyone? North Texas was up 36-0 at half.
I mean if you're comfortable with Michigan being Iowa level then yes Michigan played up to expectations
September 15th, 2018 at 8:07 PM ^
3rd and long scares me. We need to play some zone defense at times. Running q.b’s have been killing this team for years.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:25 PM ^
Lewerke will kill us on above if Brown doesn't smarten up
September 15th, 2018 at 8:11 PM ^
Slow start for the offense, but once they scored in the second Q they didn’t really stop after that.
ill need to watch the play by play to see how the OL overall looked. Rough at the start then wore their defense out. Credit to Herbert for these guys to finish when they need to.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:11 PM ^
From the stands the defense looked very good. It just looked like SMU made some very good plays and had good play calls when they needed them. Those pi penalties were horrible. Several of them were called on obviously imcatchable balls. That one receiver of theirs was an absolute stud. This felt like a good game from Michigan believe it or not.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:22 PM ^
Kwity really made that QB paye
Close officiating calls seemed to all go their way
Hudson targeting and Hutchinson roughing calls were infuriating
If you subtract the pick six, defense gave up 13. Not bad
Someone cover that Porsche guy though...
September 15th, 2018 at 8:26 PM ^
To sum up a hundred comments and thousands of words after a 25 point win that everyone will forget in a week. Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch. Disaster is around the corner, why don’t they do what I know they should, so and so sucks.
The awful faction of our fan base continues to grow.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:31 PM ^
It’s because The defense played like ass against weak competition. The pass defense was as bad as I’ve seen under Harbaugh and Brown. SMU has the blueprint to how to beat this defense. So looking further down the schedule, more talented teams will do that with even more success. We wanted to see a dominant effort today. And that clearly wasn’t there
September 15th, 2018 at 8:38 PM ^
Just wait till OSU hangs 40 on us in the shoe. You'll be saying wait till next year as we bring in a 30th ranked class
September 15th, 2018 at 8:53 PM ^
We will probably lose to Ohio State. They have better players and out recruit us every year. This includes years where we have top ten classes. I am not in the wait till next year group. It’s going to take a good deal of luck to beat OSU until their program declines.
that being said the constant bitching by the fan base is not going to help. Recruiting does not get better when the current players despise their own fans. Flailing around like the Browns, firing coaches and changing direction every few years is not going to get it done either.
i get complaining about a loss but ho hum performances in lame non conference games happen. It is just as likely that the defense put in a half ass effort in a game it’s difficult to get excited about as it is that everyone has Don Brown figured out and our defense sucks.
The constant anger and bitching by our fan base makes it difficult to get any joy out of following Michigan.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:02 PM ^
"The constant anger and bitching by our fan base makes it difficult to get any joy out of following Michigan"
I suspect that's hyperbole on your part and a last minute throw-in on your post to hammer home your point. If so, I get it though a bit dramatic.
If not, then you take the opinions of other fans way too seriously, my man. If you're that sensitive I'd suggest not going to the board in the 24 hours after anything but a win over a top 25 team. You will be happier for it. Trust me.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:17 PM ^
I agree on staying away from the board and have done that. It is a little more difficult to stay away from friends and family. Also I don’t think its sensitivity to the opinions but what seems like a growing tendency to look for and highlight anything negative about the team at all times.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^
Agreed. No use getting upset at the program anymore. Watching Bama today, yeesh. We won't be beating them anytime the next decade.
However, the poor coaching with the available players we have is cause for concern no?
September 15th, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^
Agreed. No use getting upset at the program anymore. Watching Bama today, yeesh. We won't be beating them anytime the next decade.
However, the poor coaching with the available players we have is cause for concern no?
September 15th, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^
Agreed. No use getting upset at the program anymore. Watching Bama today, yeesh. We won't be beating them anytime the next decade.
However, the poor coaching with the available players we have is cause for concern no?
September 16th, 2018 at 1:17 AM ^
MoBoCarr, I wonder if in the future, they'll lump Richrod, Hoke, and Harbaugh...its looking more and more like it.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:56 PM ^
Fans who are willing to objectively assess the team saw serious reason for concern with the defense today. Maybe that's because Proche is the best WR we'll play all season (which I think may be the case). If so, then I agree it may an overreaction today. But we don't know that yet. Your approach of wearing rose colored glasses is admirable but probably a sign of naievty as well.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:35 PM ^
I agree with some of the posters here. Don Brown has become predicatable on 3rd and long. Send pressure and go man on the outside. A good mobile QB will run free. Not rocket science. If an arm chair QB can figure this out then you bet a good coach on the other sidelines has figured this out as well. Problem is that I don't see a willingness to change. I really like Don Brown and I am glad he is our DC, but he better change or this will be a long season.