Colorado State Snowflakes - The Defense

SMOKIN HOT!! One pass interception and a scoop and score. They got in the backfield often, had QB sacks. They only gave up the one big pass play that was a TD as the only blunder out of all of the plays CSU had in the game and I'll call it great.

This defense picks up where last year's defense left off.

Seth will be giving Kris Jenkins a star by the Iowa game - book it

Have to grade on a curve b/c CSU's offensive line was expected to be ass, but my favorite part of the game was the 2-play sequence where Derrick Moore got pressure from one end, then Eyabi Anoma got the sack from the other (with Mark Jones failing to properly call either play). My expectations for the defense went up a notch after pitching a shutout through the competitive portion of the game vs air raid.

Not to fan the flames of hype but… how about Eyabi Anoma??

I have said here that EDGE would be fine -- seems like we find someone and they blossom. I was concerned about the LB level and figured the secondary would be fine. 

This exceeded all of those expectations -- either that or CSU is really, really bad. But I think they were/are better than "really bad" and we were FLYING to the ball -- and the QB.

Hail yes. Great start, keep improving.

There is nothing of value to be derived from today's game.  Thankful for the reps and lack of injuries.  Moving on.

Norvell should have taken Millen out. Kid was getting pounded and may have developed a career long case of the yips. 

We'll know more after the next two weeks... well, maybe not.  But, they're good!!

NOT a weakness! Held up their part of the deal at least as well as the offense did. Nice work, men.

Disappointing performance for Cade after all that offseason work and supposed improvement. Looked like the exact same limited QB we saw all last season. I like the kid, he won some big games and made some good throws last year, but the future is now. JJ is dynamic, possibly a guy that gets put in the best ever at UM QB conversation before it’s all said and done. 
 

EDIT: This obviously belonged in the Offense snowflakes thread. My bad. 

Overall it's hard to say since this was CSU with all the transfers and new coach etc. BUT

That DLine after the first series was lights out. Great on the run and the pass. Seemed like they were in the CSU playbook. 

Secondary did not get tested as much as I was hoping to see (DLine partly responsible here). Didn't love the coverage on the deep stuff but maybe some of those sacks were possible due to coverage. 

Sanistril seems comfortable and made some big plays I thought. Love to see it. 

Very interested to see the UFR on this game. 

Sainristil made some plays

If McGregor could get around the edge a foot less deep he has 3-4 sacks, Millen seemed to be able to just step forward enough for him to fly by. Jenkins had a few great plays getting massive push, Anoma seemed to step in way quicker than we could've thought. Good vibes going forward it seems

My only complaint about the defense is we didn't get to see more of them. They weren't on the field long..

The D was certainly better than I thought it would be.  I mean, 8 sacks?!  OK, perhaps CSU's offensive line isn't great and that had something to do with it.  But you've gotta love two forced turnovers and a near complete shut down of an air raid offense.

Amazing. Total domination short of a rutger.

I am not worried any more. 

My expectations were/are high. This is very much what I expected. I am not surprised but I am very pleased-because they are going to wreak a lot of havoc. Love the effort and the team speed. 

Edit: 7 X 15 is surely some kind of record!

Exceeded my expectations! I expected Enoma to just provide depth and he gets a sack. Braiden was not being talked up and he gets a sack. Hard hits on the QB all day! A scoop n score and a pick?!?!

The defensive line seems like the real deal. Excited to see them play against conference foes.

The people who were wringing their hands that Graham getting significant snaps meant our DL was bad should relax a little. We had good pressure from a lot of people and Graham was making plays repeatedly.

Best defense in the Harbaugh era

the snowflakes threads are a good idea but they take up too much of the board and stay up to long pushing good post-game topics, evening games, etc off the board too quickly. 

suggestion: combine them into 2 instead of 4.  so keep, say, 'offense/coaching' as one, 'defense/special teams' as the other. 

all in favor, say 'aye', those opposed, same sign...

Crazy that they had so many sacks, but blew like 3 or 4 really easy sacks too.

some promising youth out there today.  benny, moore and graham have the physical traits to make an impact this year and potentially blow up moving forward.  sainristil looked natural - no doubt he plays just as tough on D.

D has talent and favorable schedule to find themselves before truly competitive games.  they lack an every down terror like hutch but still have potential to be strong unit.  who pops like ojabo, though not expecting to that extent? 

on O loveland looks pretty athletic, im curious to see what he does.  gonna be tough to find a role given talented WRs, vet TEs, plus harbaughs desire to involve walkon TEs as well.  good start overall though 

Can’t say I learned much about the Air Raid offense today.

Great game. 
 

I’m more than a little miffed that Fox never showed a replay of the CSU TD because I’m not at all convinced that was a legit catch. I slowed the play down, and the refs should have looked at it. Another camera angle would have been nice. Instead, we get: what? I don’t care if it’s a blow-out. It may well have been a shut-out. 

Honestly, I don't know what to make of this game.  Yes, we played well, but this was Colorado State, and almost all the pressure seemed to come from a 5 man rush unlike last year when Hutch and Ojabo were able to get pressure with just a 4 and sometimes 3 man rush.  I didn't see much pressure today when we rushed 4.  This will be a bigger issue when we face a real passing attack.  

I'm not saying our defense is bad or they played poorly--and of course the D will be different without two first round edge rushers--but I am saying this game didn't tell us anything (or at least tell me anything) and neither will the next two.  

I was afraid we’d miss McDonald but Minters got some serious Moose nuts when it comes to 3rd down. It almost looked like CSU was trying to block 15 guys every play. 

Few items from my view…

Transition costs will be much lower than normal switching DC and a lot of personnel. That’s good. 

Edge is super athletic. Anoma has the goods. He’s like lightning when he gets out there. He could end up a major component of this team. 

Who will be “the guy”? The guy that won’t let you lose. Bush, winovich, hutch, peppers…the guy that wills you to win. 

I hope the identity of this defense remains one that eats nails and kicks ass. Over the past decade there just always felt an element of “softness” until later year. 

csu caveat applies but good start!

I think this interior DL has a chance to be as good as any we’ve seen at Michigan in a while. 2016 was very strong with Glasgow, Hurst, and Mone, but outside of that group, Smith, Jenkins, Graham, Benny and company is looking mighty promising.

And to think back not very long ago when we had Ben Mason being forced to the Dline, it has to bring a smile to one’s face.

We still have to see it once the schedule and competition picks up, but I’m starting to believe the defense will be just fine.