Michigan State Snowflakes: The Defense
October 31st, 2020 at 3:46 PM ^
Hinton stunting on a 4th and 2 qb sneak right out of the hole. Are you fucking kidding me. Get rid of entire staff
October 31st, 2020 at 3:46 PM ^
They never, never adjust. Ever. Just stubborn as hell regardless of their flaws. Don Brown was a good DC at one point. I don't think he is anymore.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
I've said it over and over that Don Brown is just a stubborn set in his ways defensive coordinator. He doesn't know how to use good ZONE coverage schemes.
I mean, once it was clear that the Michigan cornerbacks weren't defending well, he was suppose to just sit back in zone schemes for the rest of the game.
MSU would've gotten some successful running plays, but they wouldn't have gotten those long bombs and PIs that helped score some TDs.
He should've took his chances with making them run more. The cornerback coverage was terrible today.
October 31st, 2020 at 7:56 PM ^
Slow and weak is no way to through life and that describes UM's CB's.
They can't muscle opposing WR's which is important in DB's defense, get a step behind, and fall down when they should be making plays on balls.
Brown has to realize these guys are not cut out to play anything more than zone.
October 31st, 2020 at 8:00 PM ^
Slow and weak is no way to through life and that describes UM's CB's.
They can't muscle opposing WR's which is important in DB's defense, get a step behind, and fall down when they should be making plays on balls.
Brown has to realize these guys are not cut out to play anything more than zone.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
Yes to Don Brown criticism. But FFS, how on earth can our defense get no pressure against that objectively poor o-line? There is no universe, despite our poor tackle depth, where our d-line isn't more talented than their o-line.
October 31st, 2020 at 6:38 PM ^
I agree, I thought the single biggest issue was the lack of a pass rush, no sacks (correct?) and very few "hurries." D-backs can be exposed or alternatively overrated depending on the pass rush' presence or absence. If I had the stomach for it (I don't), I go back and put a stop watch to each of Lombardi's drop backs. And at the end when we blitzed they burned us with the screen.
November 1st, 2020 at 1:17 AM ^
How many throws took longer than 2 seconds that weren't some kind of bootleg? When the CBs suck and football Donnie still has them in man press getting scorched on fades how the fuck can you generate pressure? I saw several plays where Lombardi was about to get hit but the ball was gone. Fucking embarrassment.
November 1st, 2020 at 8:09 AM ^
Every deep ball he threw (and there were a lot of them), he had a lot more than 2 seconds. I was told by someone years ago that 3.1 seconds is a rough cut-off. Less than that, most QBs will struggle. At 3.1 quality QBs will be very effective. At 4 seconds, even mediocre QBs can pick you apart.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:09 PM ^
Indiana showed last year how to beat Brown's defenses. IU didn't have the talent to overcome U-M's advantage. Brown's defenses put up gawdy numbers against lesser teams, but figure out the pressure and you can torch his formations all day.
October 31st, 2020 at 5:08 PM ^
Hire back Chris Partridge as DC-can't be any worse schematically and huge upgrade in recruiting.
October 31st, 2020 at 6:11 PM ^
I do not call for a dude to get fired lightly after Don Browns' performance today he has to go right now.
October 31st, 2020 at 3:48 PM ^
Absolute embarrassment. How does this D line get zero pressure all game? Why is Don insisting on leaving all his CBs on an island when they are terrible at playing on an island? Offense sucked but this one is more on the defense.
I'm about ready to move on from Don Brown. Great, you held Rutgers to -100 yards. No one cares
October 31st, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
Worst of both worlds. Leave your corners on islands and still get no pressure. Might as well rush 3 and drop 8.
October 31st, 2020 at 3:50 PM ^
Cause your problems with aggression.
October 31st, 2020 at 3:50 PM ^
That was pretty poor. Brown didn't help the CB's, despite the fact that they were getting roasted. I think it was probably the worst performance I've seen under Brown. As it turns out, you need to recruit DB and DT to be good at those positions. Beyond that though, the defense has been downloaded. They need to find a way to do something else.
October 31st, 2020 at 8:31 PM ^
Maybe, just maybe, at some point in the future, after lots of work and coaching, our CB's will be able to play press man.
They can't do it now.
At that level, a coach should not ask players to do things that they can't do. Especially when you can scheme around deficiencies.
October 31st, 2020 at 3:52 PM ^
- PJ Fleck is an idiot
- Ricky White is an average at best WR
- Every other B1G team knows how to beat us.
October 31st, 2020 at 3:52 PM ^
Those cornerbacks..
.
October 31st, 2020 at 7:55 PM ^
Agreed, major loss of respect for Fleck getting beat so badly last week.
November 2nd, 2020 at 7:29 AM ^
In regards to Ricky White, after doing some research he was on the cusp of being a 4 star WR who was a star WR at a Georgia powerhouse in Marietta. I don't think Ricky White is an average at best WR. Looking at the recruiting rankings, he was ranked higher nationally than Gray. Hew burned Gray all day. He was also ranked just about equal with Green...who he also burned all day. Believe it or not but I think MSU has some pretty good WR's. They are faster than people believe. Nailor was a track star at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman. Reed was a Freshman All American at Western MI. And Ricky White was a stud at a big time Georgia high school powerhouse. I think some credit should be given to MSU's WR's. And if we go by recruiting rankings...Ricky White was a better recruit than Gray and equal with Green. Ricky White was the better player. It is okay to admit that MSU has some good players out there.
October 31st, 2020 at 3:53 PM ^
In a word, sucked!
October 31st, 2020 at 3:54 PM ^
When you have Iowa-level talent on defense, you have to learn to play defense like Iowa.
Some self-awareness is in order, Don.
October 31st, 2020 at 3:55 PM ^
In hindsight, I’d like to apologize to Jourdan Lewis, David Long, Lavert Hill, and Ambry Thomas. I very much took them for granted when they were here. And I’m sorry.
October 31st, 2020 at 3:59 PM ^
This game was mostly lost in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Defense had zero sacks against a poor offensive line (supposedly), allowing many of the downfield completions. Don Brown gets a big F for failing to adjust and go to zone. But like many of Harbaugh's recent teams, there is just no toughness or resilience. Pathetic.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:05 PM ^
They lost on both lines of scrimmage, very disappointed in that effort. Don Brown has got to go, he won’t change, pathetic.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
The game has passed Don Brown by. It’s that simple.
How you can not get any pressure on obvious passing downs with the talent Michigan has is beyond my comprehension.
I believe in Zordich as a coach so I put the CB issues on recruiting.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:09 PM ^
How you can not get any pressure on obvious passing downs with the talent Michigan has is beyond my comprehension.
and against a horrible State o-line...
October 31st, 2020 at 6:51 PM ^
What happened to solve problems with aggression? There is none.
October 31st, 2020 at 5:13 PM ^
Brown should have been fired after last season, if not the year before, after the way OSU abused us.
It's going to be worse this year.
October 31st, 2020 at 9:34 PM ^
In our history with OSU, when one fell behind, the other made a big change to keep up, often pillaging the rival. We didn't do this with Carr when he began to lose consistently to Tresses, and now Harbaugh 0-5. He has held onto Brown and I just see a gimmick that a good team will abuse.
October 31st, 2020 at 10:39 PM ^
You are right. I thought he would adjust as he recognized his teams' weaknesses. Instead he tries to fit square pegs into round holes. I think Jim and Don have taken us as far as they can. Time to move on. Unfortunately.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
Glad Kwitty Paye managed to come back after being hurt. Actually thought Javon played better in second half and was a bit unlucky with some of the late MSU receptions falling into receivers laps. Miss Ambry Thomas big time.
November 1st, 2020 at 12:55 AM ^
Who is Javon? Jalen Perry only played in the 2nd half if that's who you mean.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
What happened to the off-season talk of going more zone, this year?
October 31st, 2020 at 4:04 PM ^
It joined "speed in space" as fun things they just like to say.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
What happened to the off-season talk of going more zone, this year?
October 31st, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
What happened to the off-season talk of going more zone, this year?
October 31st, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
Our db’s are fucking garbage. Any offense coordinator would just throw against them all day. Ever play. You’re either going to complete the pass or get a PI call.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:02 PM ^
Don Brown has lost his fastball, and he only has one pitch.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:03 PM ^
Our D is bad. Look how MSU with their big 340lb DT plugged up the middle. Instead we have a 286 lb converted DE trying to do the job.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:30 PM ^
The run defense was fine (granted MSU does not run well), but we managed to generate no pass rush while giving the corners no help.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
Who is buying into Don Brown now? Play zone and win.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:30 PM ^
Yep. This^^^
October 31st, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
You still have to play coverage in zone. This isn’t meant to excuse Brown but just playing a zone won’t fix this.
November 1st, 2020 at 1:10 AM ^
It really comes down to this. Had they gone zone defense in the second quarter, they probably wouldn’t have been at least torched by Rocky Lombardi. That was fucking embarrassing on multiple levels
October 31st, 2020 at 4:09 PM ^
It seems like every year MSU has a patchwork OL that we're supposed to destroy and somehow it holds up.
I've had my fill of Don Brown. You can pretty much tell in the first 5-10 minutes of the game if we're going to have a rough defensive outing, because adjusting on the fly doesn't seem to be his strength.
October 31st, 2020 at 4:09 PM ^
NO fucking pass rush at all. They let Hermey the elf/dentist punk their secondary.
Linebackers????
This team sucks every year.
No improvement after 6 years when there should have been major improvement after 3.
Too bad Wolverine nation loves their little Michigan Man Harbaugh.
This program LOVES MEDIOCRITY.....
OSU will prison rape them AGAIN.
They will NEVER get better with this program.
GO Texas! Fuck Michigan
October 31st, 2020 at 4:09 PM ^
Welp...now we know that Milton looked so good in practice because the defense is trash.
I'm not sure if this comment should be in the offensive of defensive snowflake post
October 31st, 2020 at 4:10 PM ^
- PJ Fleck is a bad coach
- Ricky White is not very good and torched us. We are screwed against most B1G WRs.
- Brown does the same thing every game. Most times it works, because we have better players. He’s not creative or innovative.