On Topic: Snowflakes Defense
Not sure where our snowflakes are but can I offer you that this is a 1997 level defense. Doubted due to dubious (fairly) big 10 offenses.
They held us together every moment tonight.
You don't want to see the snowflakes special teams thread.
These all SEC wide receivers were erased. #55 was a beast. Milroe contained. Milroe sacked.
Whatever money Minter needs to make, we need to retain. One of the best performances vs 5* everywhere a Michigan defense has done in 3 decades.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:21 PM ^
Herculean planning and execution.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:56 PM ^
Absolutely! Minter called a fantastic game and the athletes responded with a near flawless effort. All of the uncertainty with the coaching situation, I think Minter would be a key man to lock up. Especially with Mike MacDonald drawing a ton of head coaching interest... keeping Minter from the Ravens would be a great idea.
January 1st, 2024 at 11:44 PM ^
I haven't see this posted yet, so I'll drop it here.
Did anyone else notice how the Defense kinda knew what was coming on the last play in OT on 4th and goal, after the two timeouts (one from each team)?
Bama only slightly changed their alignments on the two successive plays, but the D had it sniffed out. They had it stacked up inside and Milroe went nowhere.
Plus the injury timeout for the Bama WR gave both teams a lot of time to strategize.
Kudos to Harbaugh and Minter for drawing up the right play when it counted the most.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:21 PM ^
Defense played outstanding! Thank you!
January 1st, 2024 at 9:24 PM ^
Six sacks, forced a turnover, two fifty plus field goals for them to get twenty? They were damn good
January 1st, 2024 at 9:49 PM ^
Just watching the body language of this defense all game. all confidence. No quit. It was the BEST unit on the field on both teams by a margin.
They were put in some bad situations, some short fields, the effin Bama punter from down under sending 58 yard punts... they didn't give any fucks and just balled out.
Yes Mikey got shook by that one play with an amazing play by Bama RB but that's football. No worries. That side of the football is really sick. And just imagine both our gift of gods DTs are coming back next year as 21 year old bad asses. As is WJ - who Nick freaking Saban said - no I am not going to even try all night.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:24 PM ^
I didn't realize how much I depended on the snowflakes threads until tonight
January 1st, 2024 at 9:25 PM ^
I guess you can win (Rose Bowl) championships with defense.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:26 PM ^
Very good game plan and effort in general. We had some trouble keeping contain on runs in the second half, and they burned us with misdirection a few times. But we generally prevented them from using their passing attack.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:26 PM ^
Other than the uncharacteristic missed tackle from Sanristil, a beautiful defensive performance.
January 1st, 2024 at 10:13 PM ^
You mean on the first Alabama TD? IIRC, Sainristil was all alone in the middle field. Very hard to make an open field tackle on a good RB in the center of the field. The real problem on that play is that the linebackers were nowhere to be found.
That said, I saw Sainristil struggle with tackling a few times so it was a bit of a rough game for him in that department.
January 1st, 2024 at 10:29 PM ^
I actually thought that the botched snap on that play hurt him. He truly didn’t know if it was meant to be a run or pass play and had to hold his ground with the timing being off. Had it been an immediate give he comes up to fill the hole and takes the space away. Unfortunate play but the defense was just so damn tough and gutsy tonight
January 1st, 2024 at 9:26 PM ^
How many replays do Herbie and Fowler need to watch before giving Josiah Stewart some credit for blowing up the right tackle and causing him to trip Milroe???? Big time play in big time moment.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:30 PM ^
Amaizing push by Stewart, forcing Bama OL into the QB's path.
And all the sacks we got!
January 1st, 2024 at 9:27 PM ^
Other than the uncharacteristic missed tackle from Sanristil, a beautiful defensive performance.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:27 PM ^
I'd love to have heard Joel Klatt call this game. Herbstreit can talk individual plays but too often misses the big picture.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:29 PM ^
Michigan turned Milroe from a dynamic QB into a checkdown journeyman. Alabama literally stopped looking downfield in the second half.
Michigan dominated a good offensive line and did not sit back and spy. The attacked and used trap coverages to confuse the QB and OL.
Another masterclass in what you can do with this many high-level pieces and the ability to control the line of scrimmage. Chefs Kiss!
January 1st, 2024 at 9:30 PM ^
Holding Alabama under 300 total yards despite the offensive struggles at times... nothing short of amazing. Great job from the players and the coaches - from prep through execution.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:31 PM ^
There were many heroes on D tonight, but Josaiah Stewart gets my vote. On that 4th down play in OT, he shoved the tackle into the backfield and into Milroe, who tripped over his leg and into the arms of the defensive line.
For a guy who was supposed to be too small for the B1G, Stewart sure came up big on that play.
January 1st, 2024 at 10:19 PM ^
"big on that play" I see what you did there
January 2nd, 2024 at 4:09 AM ^
Yes, Stewart Hutchinsoned a 360lb 1st round tackle back into his QB on 4th and goal. Game Over, start building statues.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:31 PM ^
The consensus was for the defense to give up 20 points and that what happened.
That was a good 'Bama offense and the Michigan defense made so many key plays that held them to 20 points, 2TD+2FG in regulation and then zero point in the OT.
They limited Milroe and sacked him 6 times.
It was a great performance. Kudos to Minter and his staff.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:34 PM ^
And that was with a muffed punt return gifting turn them the ball in Michigan territory.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:32 PM ^
Stewart made perhaps the best, albeit lost in the moment, play of the game....BLEW UP the tackle to destroy any chance for Milroe to end the game.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:32 PM ^
So many people thought our defense was ok either because they didn't play tough opponents or the opponents do not have an offense, etc....
I know our defense is great... But today... Just WOW!!! Lights out....
January 1st, 2024 at 9:34 PM ^
Elite defensive performance
Generational
January 1st, 2024 at 9:35 PM ^
Best defensive performance I can recall in my years of fandom, considering the stakes and the lack of support from the other 2 phases.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:35 PM ^
How often did you even hear Bamas WRs names? That pass D made them a mon factor. Only thing Tommy found that worked was running the ball.
What an all time performance. A defense that will be remembered alongside the ‘97 unit
January 1st, 2024 at 9:40 PM ^
Truth
I was flabbergasted by how little the WRs were talked about or available. I guess playing OSUs stable of 5 first round draft picks annually preps you for 2 really good but not 1st round WRs on other teams.
January 1st, 2024 at 10:11 PM ^
Poor Will Johnson had nothing to do. I don’t think they targeted him once.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:36 PM ^
No offense snowflakes yet but at first glance trente Jones did a great job. He looked like an upgrade at right tackle on what we had most of the year.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:39 PM ^
I mean, what else is there to say? They pitched an absolutely dominant first half, and they limited the damage in the.second half when our offense was sputtering. When they had the chance to get it done on 4th down in overtime, they fucking got it done.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:42 PM ^
So good. Minter is incredible.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:43 PM ^
Saved our bacon repeatedly.
Aside from the one missed tackle by Mikey in the first touchdown, played pretty much a perfect game.
Mason Graham is a load. Rod Moore had another excellent game, and the two transfers, Wallace and Stewart, were unsung heroes.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:43 PM ^
Simply put, the defense is the reason Michigan won today. Bailed special teams out of some tight spots, held strong in key moments, forced a HUGE turnover...the entire road to victory went through them.
There's no coaching snowflakes thread as I'm writing this so I'll add: Minter coached his ass off. Absolutely killer game from him.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:43 PM ^
Saved our bacon repeatedly.
Aside from the one missed tackle by Mikey in the first touchdown, played pretty much a perfect game.
Mason Graham is a load. Rod Moore had another excellent game, and the two transfers, Wallace and Stewart, were unsung heroes.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:43 PM ^
Minter's game plan will be studied by every bama opponent as long as Nick is coaching. Brilliant.
Bama was completely destroyed in the first half; our blunders and missed chances kept them in the game.
Amazing, amazing performance by the entire D-line; clearly their experience with Georgia taught us what we needed - a deep, stout, talented D Line.
Special credit to the defensive backfield too - those bama receivers were no slouches and our guys made some PLAYS out there.
Wow, what a performance! This was yet another magical day in a special, special season.
Dragon slayed!
Go Blue! Happy New Year everybody!
January 1st, 2024 at 9:43 PM ^
Saved our bacon repeatedly.
Aside from the one missed tackle by Mikey on the first touchdown, played pretty much a perfect game.
Mason Graham is a load. Rod Moore had another excellent game, and the two transfers, Wallace and Stewart, were unsung heroes.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:44 PM ^
Defense played out of this world!!! Mason Graham is a man among boys! Stewart, Barret and Colson too!
January 1st, 2024 at 9:44 PM ^
the D balled!!
so glad they got to seal the win at the end!
January 1st, 2024 at 9:45 PM ^
JOSIAH FUCKING STEWART
January 1st, 2024 at 9:46 PM ^
I'm not sure what needs to happen in order to retain Minter at Michigan, but it needs to happen at all cost. He was the difference maker.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:48 PM ^
incredible !!
January 1st, 2024 at 9:48 PM ^
Fabulous scheme from Minter and great execution, especially from the front. Milroe looked off, even when Alabama found some rhythm.
January 1st, 2024 at 10:11 PM ^
After the first five sacks he was hearing footsteps
January 1st, 2024 at 10:13 PM ^
Yah. It'll really suck if minter takes a HC job and best Harbaugh pays him big bucks. Only the TCU game wasn't flawless since he's been here.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:49 PM ^
Remember when we all (well, a lot of us) said you can win with just defense in the CFP, we were going to have to actually score?
I mean, technically, yeah, but not really.
Wow.
January 1st, 2024 at 9:51 PM ^
John Harbaugh, for sending us first one and then another defensive coordinator he trained to revamp our defense, which now seems adaptable to pretty much any style of offense. That changed everything for Michigan. The vaunted Alabama downfield passing game was non-existent.
January 1st, 2024 at 10:24 PM ^
I love when the commentators and opposing coaches say "well its a Baltimore Ravens defense" which is pretty effin hard to do in CFB with all the disguises and stunts and you know our players actually have to go to school unlike the teams we are playing in the playoffs.
RETAIN JH!
January 1st, 2024 at 9:56 PM ^
Great performance by the defense tonight against a unique challenge. This defense is just as good as the '97 defense - doesn't have a Charles Woodson, but we are deeper...