Rutgers Snowflakes - The Defense
November 10th, 2018 at 11:17 PM ^
Maybe we should let him play a little more before we shovel dirt on him.
I think the LB (Gil) got buried in the wrong gap on the TD run, which opened up the cut back lane.
November 11th, 2018 at 2:11 AM ^
No kidding.. I mean that Chase Winovich fella kept flopping back and forth with defense then offense then defense again. He must suck right?
November 11th, 2018 at 1:33 AM ^
The post above sounds an awful lot like the whining about Kinnel last year. Hawkins was well-positioned on the pass in the ND game; unfortunately, in his first extended game action, he didn't jump for the ball. I'm glad we have Hawkins--who's played well overall, as acknowledged by Harbaugh. Just as I'm glad that we have Kinnel. BTW, Jared Wilson gave up a TD to ND when he was put into the game in his freshman year; turns out that he wasn't bad in the rest of his UM career.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:48 PM ^
Immediate reaction: except for a couple plays at the start of the game the D played to their usual suffocating ways. That whole building had no energy and i’d bet it was tough for them to keep creating the energy every play. Also, I think metellus and hill will be okay moving forward. Paye I’m not sure but could have just gotten his arm twisted funny.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:49 PM ^
I don't wanna say we were looking past our opponent but it did seem like it, they got more rushing yards on us than I thought anyone but Alabama could. Another odd stat is zero sacks, IIRC, I know they didn't pass much but man this a 1-8 team we played here. Give them credit for what they did. I know Don Brown and the defense is fine, just... I don't know, maybe my expectations were too high.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:53 PM ^
Many key players were resting... It's Rutgers. Even the fans downplay them as Rutger, which you think the players do too.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:02 PM ^
Rutgers went max protect, with a bunch of quick passes. We just rushed four. I don't remember a single creative blitz. Its hard to get nice stats when you are playing vanilla and they are doing everything they can. No one on the Michigan side seemed concerned. As long as everyone is back healthy and ready to work Monday, we are good.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:08 PM ^
It's hard to get any sacks when the other team does not attempt to throw downfield. Rutgers passed like 20 times and at least half of those were screens. When they did attempt a pass it was either a short drop by the qb or max protect. Also D was in full on vanilla mode from the get go.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:06 PM ^
The announcer said that normally Rutgers has 5-7 screens prepared for a game and this week they had 14.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:55 PM ^
The pressure was definitely there—at least in this game, the Rutgers QB seemed pretty good at realizing when he was in danger and getting rid of the ball. I don’t follow Rutgers closely enough to know if this a fluke or a strength of his.
November 10th, 2018 at 11:19 PM ^
It's hard to get sacks when the other team runs mostly screens.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:50 PM ^
seemed a little lackluster for only giving up 7 points.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:51 PM ^
No serious looking injuries and think everyone available to play against Indiana if needed.
November 10th, 2018 at 9:50 PM ^
Gary looks like he may have stung his left shoulder. May be he should rest against IU and come back in beast mode against OSU.
November 11th, 2018 at 8:25 AM ^
He was back in after that — moving well, full of energy. No way he goes back in if he had aggravated whatever it was that kept him out — so probably just a stinger like you say. But he needs to play against Indiana, not just to build on his individual progress in his return from injury, but because he’s a key on the field, drawing double-teams and changing what the opposing offense does — the rest of defense needs to see that.
For example, my hot take on Rutgers’ successful runs was that they were running away from Gary’s side and toward Winovich’s — so a bit of an adjustment was needed there.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:56 PM ^
Solid effort, post gauntlet. One big run. Hope the players who left are ok.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:00 PM ^
It is hard to play mainly vanilla and for safety/injury free, when the other team is throwing ALL The wrinkles at you. We absorbed the blows, shut them down. Next opponent up.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:04 PM ^
Q: How many plays does Winnovich play in a game? It feels like our starters play (and play well) late into games. With our massive time of possession advantage, how many plays does he play and how does that compare to other Dlinemen from other schools? Our defense looks fresh, rested and firing late into games... playing with a fire late into the 4th that few seem to be able to match.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:07 PM ^
Solid but not a great game by the D. Understandably less than 100% sharp.
Run D was just OK (other than the 80-yard bust) and the RU screens had potential a few times - luckily Rutgers has awful execution. Winovich seemed out of synch (need to see the UFR) and Hawkins biff on the long run was absolutely awful safety play. Pass D was fantastic.
Guys played well overall and ran to the ball. Good game but below the standards of an elite defense.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:16 PM ^
What happened to JKP? Seems to have disappeared.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:17 PM ^
Please get healthy for next week. Go Blue!!!
November 10th, 2018 at 7:17 PM ^
Just saw that Rutgers didn't have a single yard passing until the third quarter. Nice.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:32 PM ^
One of the bottom performances of the season but easily the least motivated.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:36 PM ^
Rashan Gary has more team spirit than Nick Bosa.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:39 PM ^
The defense once again played the like #1 defense in the country. Moving on...
Am I the only one concerned that the B1G brass is already holding secret meetings to ensure a few of our elite defenders are ejected for ''targeting'' in the second half of next weeks game?.....
November 10th, 2018 at 11:25 PM ^
No, you're probably not the only one - tinfoil hats aren't THAT rare. We're the B1G's ticket to the CFP. Why would they want to fuck that up?
November 10th, 2018 at 7:45 PM ^
Rutger had 193 rushing yards and 50 something passing. The D was pretty good, not great, compared to the standard they set thus far. I didn’t anticipate the rushing yards they got. But good win overall. I think we were playing safe to get out as unscathed with injuries as possible.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:28 PM ^
80 came on one play and they probably got another 30 or so against our deep bench. At no point did it feel threatening. Shit happens sometimes.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:01 PM ^
If we get to the playoffs, Kinnel needs to improve.. that TD was on him 100%.. he makes some good plays, and blown plays, time and time again...
November 10th, 2018 at 11:10 PM ^
I think the LB got buried in the wrong gap on the 80 yard run.
November 11th, 2018 at 10:24 AM ^
Also a nice run by the back to finish, weaving just enough to throw off the pursuit angles.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:19 PM ^
I was watching without sound at this point but Gary came up looking like he hurt his shoulder. God I hope not.
November 10th, 2018 at 9:01 PM ^
Pass rush? Any sacks today?
November 10th, 2018 at 9:27 PM ^
Just saw that Rutgers didn't have a single yard passing until the third quarter. Nice.
November 10th, 2018 at 9:46 PM ^
Stopping a few plays and our defense could have had 3 straight shutouts. If we did not fumble inside of the 10 we could have had a shutout against MSU. If Harbaugh kept the starter in on PSU during the last drive, we could have shutout. If the D did not slip us on the Rutgers run, we would have had a shutout Today.
November 11th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
The defense was fine.
Like the offense, things were kept pretty vanilla. You've got to believe we're saving the funny stuff for OSU.
November 11th, 2018 at 10:29 AM ^
I think they started the game too aggressive, in big play highlight reel mode, and that contributed to the busts. Not just the TD - a couple of dropped screens would have gained big chunks. Not enough respect for the opponent. They settled in after the TD though and were their usual dominant selves.