Overanalyzing 4 sacks against Hawaii

Submitted by bmdubs on

Hey mgobloggers - I just want to point out the biggest difference I've seen in impact defense so far this year.

Look at our top sack producers from last year (table below) and compare it to how UM created sacks against Hawaii this weekend.  I won't state my conclusions but I think it's pretty clear how these defenses differ after only one game.  There's no reason not to be excited!

2015 Michigan Football Sack Totals

 
Player Sacks
Chris Wormley (DL) 6.5
Willie Henry (DL) 6.5
Taco Charlton (DL) 5.5
Royce Jenkins-Stone (DL) 3
Maurice Hurst Jr (DL) 3
Mario Ojemudia (DL) 2

5.5 more players were credited with one sack apiece for the season (Wilson, Morgan, Lewis, Ross III, R.Glasgow, and a half sack for Godin).  This represents DJ Durkin's D.  Stunts and trickery along the DL opened up pass rush lanes for the DL so they wouldn't have to blitz and commit more men than they wanted to...

 

Now here are the defensive box stats for sacks from the Hawai'i game:

2016 UM Sacks vs Hawai'i

 
Player Sacks
Mike McCray (LB) 2.0 / 19
Jabrill Peppers (LB) 1.0 / 14
Ben Gedeon (LB) 1.0 / 8

 

All of the sacks were by LBs (only by the strictest definition of course). I did see their QBs escape a couple potential sacks by DLs but the fact remains that this D is significantly different than last year's D.  I think it's for the best.

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nerv

September 4th, 2016 at 6:20 PM ^

But we'll have to get him out of there when teams start to spread the field on us. He got caught in some tough matchups and ended up giving up a number of those short passes at the end of the 2nd quarter. 

He seems like hell be a force against manball and more pro styled offenses. Hopefully well be able to find a nice balance by the end of the season to allow him to be equally effective against a spread-option (OSU) style.

Joined: 04/14/2009

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TrueBlue2003

September 4th, 2016 at 8:25 PM ^

UFR but I feel like that was a result of a unique run and shoot offense that put a lot of guys wide but doesn't threaten the run like a spread-option offense.  I'll be surprised if anyone else is able to exploit McCray like that and if they do, they're probably giving up options in the run game (since they'd also have to have recievers tying up our DBs and Peppers, theoretically).

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LSAClassOf2000

September 4th, 2016 at 5:42 PM ^

I would agree but it is not terribly uncommon for linebackers to be among the sack leaders on a team, particularly in some schemes, and that's fine. I think when the defensive line is basically blowing up the OL and leaving gaping holes for an LB to charge through and get to a QB still figuring out his read progression versus a hole in the ground, if you will, then the line is generating plenty of pressure. 

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Mr. Yost

September 4th, 2016 at 6:07 PM ^

However, I just rewatched and it was a very frustrating game for them. Like playing Indiana. A lot of quick passes and moving the pocket where the DEs are double on one side and chasing from behind on the other.

I also believe they were in the gun the entire time.

Gary was particularly frustrated as he couldn't do much other than line up, bull rush for 3 seconds and try and get his hands up to knock the ball down if it was thrown his way...then jog down and try to chase the play from behind if they pass was complete.

I don't think yesterday was a good indicator. We'll have to see how they look against the pro-style offenses.

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Farnn

September 4th, 2016 at 5:51 PM ^

I was surprised to see Michigan actually bring 7 on a blitz, rare to see a coach ever bring more that 5 when blitzing. Seems they kept the coverages behind the blitzes pretty vanilla, which was why the short slants worked. Against better teams I'd expect you will find someone dropped back underneath those often.

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Farnn

September 4th, 2016 at 5:51 PM ^

I was surprised to see Michigan actually bring 7 on a blitz, rare to see a coach ever bring more that 5 when blitzing. Seems they kept the coverages behind the blitzes pretty vanilla, which was why the short slants worked. Against better teams I'd expect you will find someone dropped back underneath those often.

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turtleboy

September 4th, 2016 at 5:53 PM ^

Glad the linebackers are making their presence felt. We're going to need them to make the difference against the spread vs Indiana, OSU, and possibly Clemson if we face them.

Joined: 04/22/2011

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charblue.

September 4th, 2016 at 5:55 PM ^

double-teamed the inside rush, and let the outside guys go one-on-one, which freed the linebackers to have at it. This was, of course,by design. Wormley was a surge, never mentioned, but always a factor. If they wanted to call holding on every play, they had lots of opportunity. Michigan was held game long.

Glasgow was a beast on the interior. And our linebacker fears were relieved by dynamic play from McCray, Gedeon and Peppers. The safeties were spot-on, Thomas and Hill. Of course, Hill had the beautiful pick-six. Stribling, my man from Matthews, NC, got picked on because he was playing the qb's throwing side all game long, not because he was targeted. As it was he had two picks and was in the back pocket of every receiver he covevered even when he got beat.

This is a beautiful defense with the kind of communication and response we haven't witenessed for years. Those who want to challenge small things, can find room to criticize. But overall, this team played lights out yesterday, and Hawaii just happened to be the victim. It wouldn't have mattered who the opponent was. If you watch guys play long enough, you get what they are feeling and wanting to show. From the first snap, their was an intensity on that field that belied the opponent. They know they are being judged. And they want to be the best they can be. They are very good.

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Mr. Yost

September 4th, 2016 at 6:02 PM ^

Shouldn't we compare how much we blitzed vs. how much we blitzed last year? I feel like if we blitzed as much last year as we did yesterday we'd see more sacks from LBs.

I could be wrong...but last year we seemed to try to generate pressure with the front 4 or 5. This year it seems like the line is holding the OL up and the LBs are shooting the gaps.

Again, I could be way off...I'm no coach. But shouldn't we consider what they're being asked to do before we make a judgement?

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Sac Fly

September 4th, 2016 at 6:07 PM ^

Every single sack was either a stunt or an overload that gave one of the LB's a free run at the QB. The D-line would have had a few of them but the LB's got there first.

Joined: 04/03/2010

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991GT3

September 4th, 2016 at 6:11 PM ^

was leagues above Hawaii OL. No way can you even start to reach any conclusion as to whether they are good.

I would argue otherwise. Though JH complimented his defense, I cannot believe he is happy. The DL line did not dominate. They rarely put pressure on the QB. Often they were out of position creating throwing and running lanes for the QB. Had they been playing a good spread offense, they would have given up several touchdowns. THis was not a note worthy effort by the DL or the defense

THey have a lot of work to do before they can be considered  an elite DL.

Joined: 12/14/2013

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991GT3

September 4th, 2016 at 6:48 PM ^

tendencies is foolish. At the end of the year we will be facing a spread offensive that has score over 40 on us three years in a row. Last year our defense after several games was considered the best in the country. Yet OSU shredded our defense.

Let's now make the same mistake again. In the final minutes of play in the first half Hawaii was shredding our defense. Our defense looked confused and often were out of place. It pains me when I read on this blog that MIchigan was holding something back (reading saving it for future games). Nothing was being saved. The team wanted a shut out but was finding it difficult to defend the spread Hawaii was using.

In short, they are not ready for prime time. Thankfully they have another puff game coming up.

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DetroitBlue

September 4th, 2016 at 7:19 PM ^

You have no idea what you're taking about. By the end of the half, the game was completely out of reach. There's no point showing anything at that point; keep it as vanilla as possible so future opponents have less to prepare with. On top of that, we didn't have the best coverage corner in the entire country playing. Clark and Stribling are good, but they're not JD. Plus, OSU's offense is nothing like Hawaii's.



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UMForLife

September 4th, 2016 at 7:52 PM ^

Obviously, you know more about what they were trying to do than Harbaugh. Come on. One drive where they hit a few down the middle or on a slant. And you want to freak out? Did you consider that they wanted to see how the defense react? It seems like you wanna mock everyone who is positive about the defense when no one knew what the coaches were trying to teach. It is your choice to be negative but don't pretend like everyone should feel the same way.

Joined: 11/04/2013

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kalamazoo

September 4th, 2016 at 8:36 PM ^

Like the thought process. We did get beat by osu from the spread and the last drive of first half being shredded was alarming. Even without our best people, I was not expecting that temporary shredding. I'm sure the coaches will fix it, if it was something that was not intentional. And yes, our D has more to prove and will be a fun watch!

Joined: 08/20/2010

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Vote_Crisler_1937

September 4th, 2016 at 9:27 PM ^

991GT3,

You wrote:

"In the final minutes of play in the first half Hawai'i was shredding our defense. Our defense looked confused and often were out of place"

Harbaugh said:

"I'm watching our defense go through the first half, even into the third quarter.. there wasn't even a mistake made. There wasn't an alignment mistake made, (or) a stance alignment mistake."

Please clarify what you are talking about because it sounds like you saw a very different game than Harbaugh. At this point I trust Harbaugh's opinion especially because he reinforced it in his interview with Brandstatter and added something about their eyes were never even looking at the wrong thing.



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