quavaris crouch

Previously: MSU Offense 

Yesterday this space looked at the Michigan State offense and discussed its Jekyll-and-Hyde nature, peering in at the playmakers and dissecting how to stop it. Today we take a look at the defense, whose relentless commitment to bending without breaking is admirable. Michigan State has allowed a lot of yards this season, but not nearly as many points as you'd expect in their seven games, helping the team stay undefeated. Is this unit good? Or just meticulously coached? Or lucky? Let's examine: 

The Film: We chose not to use Nebraska for this one because the Husker offense is not a suitable analogue for Michigan considering the chasm of difference running the ball separating Adrian Martinez and Cade McNamara. Youngstown State is not suitable because they're an FCS team and we already exhausted our supply of FCS team-based FFFF's for this season back in week two. Northwestern, Rutgers, and Indiana are not suitable because their offenses are terrible. WKU's offense is not a good comparison for Michigan because the Hilltopers have a video game passing offense that averages over 400 yards per game through the air. By process of elimination, that leaves us with Miami (FL). 'Canes QB D'Eriq King is definitely more mobile than McNamara, but this game did not include many designed runs for him, so it was a better comparison that Nebraska and Martinez. Miami it is. 

Personnel: Seth's chart. Does Cade get his cyan back? NO: 

The interior defensive line for MSU sees Jacob Slade return as a starter and he's a helluva player. They lost Naquan Jones in the offseason and have been looking for a replacement at that other spot, rotating a few solid options. The most used one by far is Simeon Barrow, getting close to the same number of snaps as Slade. However, Maverick Hansen has over 200 snaps to his name at the position too, not to mention over 160 snaps having gone to Deshaun Mallory. It is the opinion of this column and PFF that Barrow is the best of those three to pair next to Slade. 

Defensive end sees longtime Michigan villain Jacub Panasiuk line up as one starter, a player who has been at MSU so long it feels like he was recruited by John L. Smith. Panasiuk, unfortunately, is good now. At the time of the Miami game, Drew Beesley started opposite Panasiuk and was (in your author's opinion) excellent, but he has been out since the Spartans played Nebraska in late September with a leg injury. When Mel Tucker spoke to the media the other day, he declined to give an update on Beesley's status. In his absence, Jeff Pietrowski has become the starter, with Drew Jordan getting a bunch of snaps as well. Those replacements are decent players, but are not Beesley. 

MSU starts just two traditional linebackers, sticking to a strict 4-2-5 base defense. Those two starters are invariably Quavaris Crouch, a Tennessee transfer and erstwhile Michigan recruiting target, and Cal Haladay. Crouch is a proficient blitzer but has struggled in other phases of the game, while Haladay is more of a do-everything rock, whose presence MSU sorely missed when he was out for a half against Rutgers due to targeting. If one of those two come off the field (they rarely ever do), then you'd see Old Friend/New Enemy Ben VanSumeren come on, who could become one of only a few players in the history of the rivalry to lose in consecutive years for two different teams (can we get Elias Sports to look that one up?). 

At cornerback MSU has a healthy number of players who get involved, but the starters are Florida transfer Chester Kimbrough and Alabama transfer Ronald Williams, joined by legacy Spartan Michael Dowell, brother of Andrew and David. In a base 4-2-5, one of either Dowell or half-CB/half-S Darius Snow are on the field for most plays. There's a precipitous drop-off in snaps after these four, but you may see Charles Brantley out there every so often. One note: in the film of this game you're about to observe, MSU was starting Kalon Gervin at corner, who has since entered the transfer portal. He wore #18 if you see him in clips. 

Lastly, at safety there's star Xavier Henderson lining up at the SS position, who has received excellent grades in every facet of the game this season. Opposite him is Angelo Grose at FS, who isn't quite the same caliber of player. When I say those two never come off the field, I mean it: they have each logged over 550 snaps this season and the next closest true safety has just 83. But as mentioned, Snow may line up there, since he's listed as a safety on the roster. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: this article bennnnnnnds, but it don't break]

Michigan has assistant coaches again, which means they get to recruit again. It’s been a minute since an update so we’ll go over the shape of the end of 2021 recruiting, then give an overview of 2022 recruiting and, if there’s anything available, transfer recruiting.

The Xavier Worthy Question

It appears Michigan has dodged a self-inflicted bullet here. Admissions decided not to let him enroll early for some reason nobody—including Worthy—seems to understand. Both Rivals and 247 have noted Worthy was the first of Michigan’s class to graduate his high school, and did so with a 3.5 GPA. Via Worthy himself he is in Ann Arbor, and is being patient with whatever’s going on over in tweedville.

2021: The Great DT Search

Michigan retained defensive line coach Shawn Nua, and that seems to have helped with Michigan’s biggest remaining need for this class, with top 3T target George Rooks committing earlier today.  Rooks appeared to be trending to BC during the Nua drift, and then PSU was in a strong position a week ago, with Rivals East Coast analyst Adam Friedman predicting Rooks to Happy Valley just this morning.

When last we spoke Michigan’s other top target was MI 4* Rayshaun Benny. Benny committed to Michigan State after their fluke victory, but did not sign with them in the early period, which everybody took for a sign that his Spartandom wasn’t cast in bronze. If you’d asked me then which Michigan’s more likely to get I’d say Benny, but that seems to have flipped in January. Benny has publicly maintained he intends to sign with MSU, Rivals Adam Gorney said it “would actually be a surprise if he flips to the Wolverines” on January 6, and Josh Helmholdt predicted Benny sticks with the Spartans a day ago. However the guy on the ground, EJ Holland, says Michigan still has a chance, and adding Bellamy helps($). Texas is also getting involved late.

Michigan has also added a pure nose target in TX 3* Ikechukwu Iwunnah. Non-fans of Don Brown’s DT recruiting will be happy to hear that Ike, who committed to Colorado a week ago, is 6’4”/290. Sam Webb more or less admitted on our roundtable last week that Brown’s demands for the position held Nua back from pursuing the space-eater types he likes, like Ike. Iwunnah is a weird late-riser since he played in Dallas and was DPOY for his district as a sophomore, but his HS coach says Ike is listening to Michigan($) despite the recent Buffs commitment. Brice Marich notes Michigan’s pitch is serious($), with Macdonald, Harbaugh, and Nua all in contact. Marich also notes the 290 is more accurate than the 275 still up on his own site. Lorenz thinks Michigan’s got a good shot at a flip.($)

The 247 guys think Nua’s hands were tied under Brown, that Michigan’s DL coach going to be more aggressive from here in after some of the better scouted, higher-ranked southern and western dudes, and that they’re all going to have size.

[After THE JUMP: transfers, casting about for cornerback names, The Bellamy Effect]

Welcome to the second annual early signing day, which is basically early Christmas for recruitniks and the day most likely to be celebrated by both those overflowing with optimism about the promise of the future and those who view the commitment of anything less than a five-star as a treatise on the state of the program. If you’re the kind of person who follows recruiting tangentially you can expect some suspense today, but it’s clustered around very few players. In case you’re looking for a primer, Michigan’s 2019 class is currently #9 nationally and #1 in the Big Ten with an average player rating of 0.90 per the 247 composite. Michigan expects 24 of its 25 verbal commits to sign and email in their letters of intent today according to 247’s Steve Lorenz, with the lone February signee slated to be KS ATH Amauri Pesek-Hickson. That leaves two suspense-generating commitments to wait on, and one that seemed to be going Michigan’s way until early yesterday morning.

On that note, things don’t look great for Michigan with regard to the nation's #4 overall player, OH DE Zach Harrison. The deluge of crystal ball flips started yesterday morning around 7:30 with Sam Webb and continued throughout the day. Webb said on the radio last week that he wasn’t going to flip until he had solid intel and to keep an eye on his crystal ball; five crystal balls flipped in an hour, and with those Michigan’s chances clearly flat-lined. It’s been well publicized that the outcome of The Game had an adverse impact on his recruitment, and it seems that Michigan’s multiple visits to try and assuage any fears weren’t enough to yank him out of Ohio State’s orbit. And it’s that part, that proximity and pull toward Ohio State, that appears to be too much for Michigan to overcome. 247’s Steve Lorenz posted his final thoughts heading into today and said that the rumblings about Michigan falling to third and this turning into a decision between Ohio State and Penn State illustrates how serious the people around Harrison were about him not going to Michigan. Lorenz went on to say that the biggest factors in Harrison not committing to Michigan are the people close to him who have his ear and Urban Meyer resigning. Harrison was reportedly not Meyer’s biggest fan, and Ryan Day getting the head job bolstered the Buckeyes’ chances. Lorenz said Michigan fans have a right to feel a little snakebitten at that particular development, which, yeah.

Moving to a recruitment that should jumpstart a second volume of Road to Ann Arbor for Tom VH should he flip (again), Michigan seems to be back in the battle for five-star OK S Daxton Hill. Multiple reports cite Alabama planting a seed of doubt in Hill’s mind that the current coaching staff would remain in Ann Arbor for long, with the poorly-timed Don Brown interview at Temple and the ever present Harbaugh-to-the-NFL rumors giving their staff the leverage they were looking for to flip Hill unexpectedly. It’s no surprise in light of this that Harbaugh went to ESPN’s Adam Schefter the next day to let people know that he was not leaving Michigan, calling the rumors a “choreographed message” that emerges every year before signing day. With Don Brown also staying, Michigan’s staff worked hard to erase any personnel doubts Hill had, and there was a surge of optimism that Hill would flip back to Michigan. That still appears to be a possibility, but a complication has emerged and somehow Ohio State’s involved in this one, too.

According to WolverinesWire’s Isaiah Hole, the commitment to watch today in relation to Hill's recruitment is that of FL S Jordan Battle. Though technically a Buckeye commit until this morning, it’s been expected for some time that he would flip his commitment to Alabama. Hole on the situation:

The word is, Hill is not looking to be a part of a class that has three safeties. So, in short, watch what happens with Battle and Alabama on Wednesday. Should he sign a letter of intent before Hill to end up in Tuscaloosa, there’s a strong indication that Hill could be back in the fold in Ann Arbor.

Hole goes on to write that the staff feels optimistic about flipping Hill back regardless of what happens with Battle, but it certainly seems that Battle signing before Hill would significantly bolster Michigan’s odds. The Wolverine’s Chris Balas reports that Alabama’s staff didn’t expect Hill to sign today as recently as this weekend, though they’re pushing hard to get him to do so. Balas says those close to Hill’s recruitment expect it to continue into January, so for today, keep an eye on Jordan Battle.

[The good news is after THE JUMP]