Durkin Donuts vs Brown Donuts

Submitted by UMProud on

In 2015 the Michigan defense, under DJ Durkin, had a 4-game shutout streak that hypnotized the Michigan fanbase.  I was at the game for shutout #4 vs Northwestern (#13 at the time) and it was magical.

How do you feel about the possibility of shutouts this year? 

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mGrowOld

August 28th, 2018 at 8:55 AM ^

Don't quote me on this one but I'm pretty, pretty sure MichiganFan1984 has Benn there before (quitting the board but not really quitting) many,many times over the past couple of years.

It's almost like he got mad cause the people who run the board didnt take what he felt was appropriate action on a couple of parody account threads which made fun of him or something.

DISCUSS

MichiganFan1984

August 28th, 2018 at 9:58 AM ^

I didn’t quit. Just took a short break because I let my emotions get the better of me. As a long time reader, I don’t get your “Discuss” comment so I guess I need to read more. I’m guessing it has something to do with a troll account. I do remember a lot of trolls. RDT, Wolverine in a bag, Franklin Hatchett and so on. 

MichiganFan1984

August 28th, 2018 at 11:31 AM ^

If it’s not someone that has a lasting impact then who cares. I mean is anyone going to remember these Ohio State idiots once they are gone? I think not. The 3 trolls I listed were all unique and had a lasting impact, anyone outside of those 3 are irrelevant to me and were lame pointless trolls with no life. It doesn’t mean if someone brought somebody up, I wouldn’t remember, but those 3 stick out in my mind. 

Berger04

August 28th, 2018 at 8:13 AM ^

I think we have two. Rutgers and Western Michigan. With a possibility of a third with the dumpster fire at Maryland right now.

Most importantly- just win the game....focus on that first. Just win them all!!

PopeLando

August 28th, 2018 at 8:23 AM ^

Shutouts are a product of luck as well. With the exception of Rutgers, I think each team missed a field goal.

I don't think we shut anyone out. But that answer is based on a couple things: 

1) I don't know how good our offense is going to be. The more mistake-free they are, the higher the chance of a shutout.

2) How good will our DL be without Hurst? He stopped a LOT of offense by himself last year. 

Gucci Mane

August 28th, 2018 at 8:29 AM ^

That shutout streak was really amazing. The crowd chanting defense at the end of the northwestern game gave me chills. However, I would rather give up 10-17 points against the bad teams but hold Ohio state to 24 or less. 

Bambi

August 28th, 2018 at 8:42 AM ^

None. Not because our D isn't good, but because it's all very luck/situationally dependent.

I know at least in that NW game there was a missed FG. That FG being made/missed has little bearing on the D, and if there's a bad turnover that gives a team an easy chance at breaking a shutout.

Also we should hope our offense is better than either of the past three years (at least the beginning of 2015 when we couldn't pass) and so we should be scoring more. That means shutout = blowout so more second string snaps and a potential easy score for the opponent.

Finally I just don't think Brown's defenses are made for shutouts. There's a ton of blitzing and man to man on the outside. All it takes is one play where a LB gets edged or one blown coverage for the shutout to be gone. We were a top 10 S&P+ D last year but only 24th in IsoPPP+, the explosiveness metric (we were top 10 in every other category, top 5 in all but 1). That's not terrible but it means we can be prone to big plays and that's hard to shut out a team with. 

mgobleu

August 28th, 2018 at 8:58 AM ^

That's what's been so mind boggling about the D the past couple years. They've been dominant despite almost no pressure being put on the other team from the offense. That's why I'm so high on this season; with even a modest upgrade on offense (they can't be worse) and they'll take the pressure off our defense. I see no reason Don Brown won't have a top 3 unit in almost every category.

bluescreen

August 28th, 2018 at 9:23 AM ^

We play some good offensive teams this year. The only teams we may have a chance to shutout would be SMU and maybe, maybe Nebraska or Maryland. Just my .02

reshp1

August 28th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^

Durkin's defense kept a safety 30 yards downfield and beat up on bad teams with the other 10 guys. Against good teams, especially good running teams, his refusal to involve everyone in the run defense meant getting bled down the field series after series.

 

Brown's defense flings anyone and everyone at the line and trusts the corners to play man on an island. They give up big plays on occasion against good and bad teams but also are effective at booting teams off the field  or at least forcing them to beat tight coverage. 

 

I'd take Brown's defense any day, even if it means fewer shutouts against bad teams (which, let's face it are meaningless and also a fluky stat anyway). 

saveferris

August 28th, 2018 at 10:23 AM ^

I don't care about shutouts, but leading the nation in scoring defense would be nice.  One of the great things about the 1997 defense was being secure in the knowledge that if Michigan was able to put up over 20 points, you could sit back and rest easy knowing a win was almost assured.

JHumich

August 28th, 2018 at 12:00 PM ^

I think we shut out every team until Penn State

Being a pre-season homer full of optimism is, to me, an important part of College Football fandom. I love feeling like this every year.

And I love that I'm actually believing it this year!!

GO BLUE!!!

SMart WolveFan

August 28th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^

"Shut-outs" are really team accomplishments, even if the D carries the load; so, even without the "doughnut", I could see the D going a few games of "quarters without giving up a point".

 Maybe 9, 10 quarters.

uminks

August 28th, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^

Just win games! Shutouts are nice but I'd take a B1G championship with no shutouts as oppose to having 3 or 4 shutouts but 3 or 4 losses.

Swazi

August 28th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^

Defense is too aggressive to expect shutouts.  They eventually give something up when you blitz so much.

 

But they don’t give up many still.  I expect this defense to be top 5 in scoring defense this year.