UConn coach, Michigan <> Georgia best defense?
I like to listen to opposing coaches. Yes, UConn was way outmatched and the coach needs to coach-speak, but all caveats applied, I think Mora's comments are a salient data point. Enjoy:
Apologies if I once again did the link incorrectly. As a CE UM grad, my practical skills are minimal.
September 19th, 2022 at 1:38 PM ^
Eh. I think this defense still has a lot to prove and they surely know it. It starts for real this week.
September 19th, 2022 at 1:43 PM ^
"We shall see," said the blind man to the deaf boy.
September 19th, 2022 at 2:20 PM ^
"I see", said the blind hardware store clerk as he picked up a hammer and saw.
September 19th, 2022 at 8:37 PM ^
In the land of the blind the man with one eye is king
September 19th, 2022 at 1:44 PM ^
I'm not sure I understand your thread title, but... I don't see how we can compare our defense to Georgia's at this point. Honestly, did you watch Penn State play? They play with relentless energy and violence... i get that auburn appears to be a shit show. Maybe penn state gets brought down a peg in conference play, but the reason that psu is rated lower is because their offense, qb, coach are duds. there are other defenses looking good/better.
So, to your question. I don't see a lot of knifing through by the DL, and I saw in the early 2nd half - still with starters, the QBs still getting space, DBs not seeing, and he ran a decent amount. I get that we were up by 40. But.. he was moving it a bit.
If nothing else, last year's playoff game should teach us that until we can do it on the field, UGa is probably a big step ahead (of us and everyone else but bama). They look pretty good at everything.
September 19th, 2022 at 1:47 PM ^
Personally, I agree completely that UM is not yet in Georgia's class. But Mora put them there and it was an interesting listen, so I shared. This was absolutely not a "See! We have the best defense!" post. I apologize if it came across that way.
September 19th, 2022 at 1:58 PM ^
It didn't to me. You made the appropriate caveats.
And I'm also very much in the camp of "wait until we play real teams" before we can say much about this team.
September 19th, 2022 at 3:30 PM ^
We have much to prove but for the most part the assignment play is sound and they are playing fast.
September 19th, 2022 at 3:12 PM ^
Its a fair post. Just saying... i dont quite believe we're more than a top 10-15 defense at this point... how we look against Maryland might change that. Especially if our starters play the whole game and we win a 30-10 type game.
Not mad at you - just don't think we're in the bama/georgia class. Even last year's defense with all the studs got run over by georgia. Gotta add some more blue chippers if we can to keep the high end quality high. As an example, the TE Bowers from Georgia is ridiculous. We love our TEs, but that guy's upside is ridiculous if healthy. Same on defense. We need the high end guys to balance our 3-4 year guys who take time to find themselves.
All that to say - lets just keep winning whatever way we need to... O, D, ST, whatever. and lets all be glad that we dont have marcus freeman as a coach.
September 19th, 2022 at 5:29 PM ^
No Michigan fan is making that defense comparison. UConn's coach made it in a postgame interview. Whether Michigan has an elite defense isn't based on what it has done so far. It will be based on what it does on a bigger stage going forward. Michigan has few question marks on either side of the ball and is positioned for a fantastic season.
We shall see whether Coach Mora's commentary is coachspeak or a fair assessment.
September 20th, 2022 at 9:38 AM ^
Well, comparing our defense to Georgia's is one way for a coach to explain away a 59-0 loss. Just sayin'.
September 19th, 2022 at 6:09 PM ^
Might want to check the stats on Penn States D while they played two teams with a pulse they sit at 72nd among power five in total defense. After watching the Auburn game I think they beat a mediocre team.
September 19th, 2022 at 6:50 PM ^
I watch A LOT of college football and Auburn’s offense may have been one if the worst things I saw all weekend. Their QBs, while physically gifted, do not know how to play QB. The one guy who may is buried on the depth chart (Calzada)….maybe Harsin is playing chess and wants to get fired. Auburn’s one true weapon on offense (RB Tank Bigsby) only had 11 total touches. It was epic mismanagement all around. Penn State is salty in some spots but just average in others. Staee’s defense would have bottled up Auburn.
September 19th, 2022 at 7:59 PM ^
Yeah I think that game says more about the sorry state of Auburn than it does about PSU( despite Danielson having to pump them up because they trashed an SEC team).
September 20th, 2022 at 8:59 AM ^
That's fair. But, we don't know a lot about a lot of teams. Just saying, how PSU's energy/intensity was super high on defense, and it matched in performance. They were completely disruptive. Michigan's D against UConn didn't feel that way.
So, while its fair to say that we dont know about PSU because Auburn blows... we don't know about Michigan because of who we played. And "I dont know how good we are" is a far far cry from "Are Michigan and Georgia equals on defense"
September 19th, 2022 at 6:09 PM ^
Sorry double post
September 19th, 2022 at 1:56 PM ^
If Mora had played GA's D this would feel more meaningful to me. (Or Bama's, or Clemson's, or even Iowa's)
September 19th, 2022 at 3:46 PM ^
If he had played Georgia's defense he might have compared them to the '85 Bears.
September 19th, 2022 at 2:00 PM ^
I'm a huge homer, but even I'd say Georgia is the one team in CFB that has looked distinctly better than Michigan to start the year. Ohio State has looked pretty durn good but so has Michigan (in terms of "sharpness" and all that entails, and also talent on display, etc.). Michigan has actually *looked* better than Bama--not to say they in fact are better, but Bama was remarkably shaky against Texas--and almost everyone else I've watched. But not Georgia. Georgia is probably the best team in the nation again
September 19th, 2022 at 5:47 PM ^
OSU barely beat a shitty ND squad, at home, at night. I’m not buying them yet.
September 19th, 2022 at 8:14 PM ^
That may be more an issue with their coaches. May it continue to be!
September 19th, 2022 at 2:05 PM ^
After seeing what they did to South Carolina and Oregon, it's safe to say Georgia clearly has something against birds.
September 19th, 2022 at 2:16 PM ^
My dogs also hate birds, so maybe you are on to something?
September 19th, 2022 at 2:29 PM ^
One of the MGoStats folks really needs to check for correlations based on mascots and their dining preferences.
I have a Great Pyranees (which should be somebody's mascot).
I would expect them to bark loudly every time an opposing player moves, to take full snoring naps during every commercial break, and win every game ever played in the snow.
September 19th, 2022 at 6:35 PM ^
We have three Great Pyrenees livestock guard dogs for our farm-coyotes. Otherwise, they are fantastic dogs.
September 19th, 2022 at 2:18 PM ^
Flash the Golden Eagle (Kent State's mascot) is in for a world of hurt come Saturday ......
September 19th, 2022 at 3:19 PM ^
So... do they prefer a duck or a goose?
September 19th, 2022 at 3:28 PM ^
If they are like mine, bagging a turkey would be the ultimate satisfaction.
My dog is a Pyranees rescue. It came from a farm family that "had" a pet turkey.
September 19th, 2022 at 4:47 PM ^
Is...is this a Game of Dragons reference?
If so, very clever.
September 19th, 2022 at 3:30 PM ^
They apparently also hate poser bulldogs, a la Samford. Miss St better watch out...
After Kent State, they'll take their aggressions out on tigers for 2 weeks straight - although Auburn has a bonus eagle mascot for UGA to hate.
September 19th, 2022 at 2:17 PM ^
Mora's team just got annihilated.
It's not like he can say, "yeah they blanked us, and our QB is going to have nightmares for a while...but they're just kinda average, you know?"
September 19th, 2022 at 3:30 PM ^
Scott Frost disagrees with you.
September 19th, 2022 at 3:32 PM ^
Yeah, I would say that UConn TOTALLY outhit Michigan on Saturday, results just didn't show up on the scoreboard for the Huskies.
September 19th, 2022 at 2:18 PM ^
Since its a podcast in the middle of the workday, a quick summary of the salient points would be welcome. Instead, we get another rush to post with a question for a title.
C'mon, OP, you can do better...
September 20th, 2022 at 12:29 PM ^
I, too, was in the middle of my workday. If you listen, as a Michigan fan, you enjoyed. All the salient info was included in the post. Brian isn't tipping me on the side.
September 19th, 2022 at 2:22 PM ^
It's coach speak but I'd rather hear than that him talking about how we aren't that great and they outhit us.
September 19th, 2022 at 2:35 PM ^
While I'm glad to see him complimenting the defense in that way, it feels kind of hollow given that we've played probably the weakest schedule in the country so far.
Looking forward to seeing them against some teams with a pulse these next few weeks.
September 19th, 2022 at 2:47 PM ^
Eh, one team has played a conference opponent and a traditionally strong offense in a ranked team and completely shut both down. The other has played 3 tomato cans.
This week will be a better gauge especially in the pass rush and secondary. I think this year's defense is strong, but we still haven't figured much out yet.
September 19th, 2022 at 6:19 PM ^
Tomato cans? Many of these player are playing on scholarship just like ours do. I hear tomato cans It sounds degrading. Love to see your kid on one of those teams I doubt you’d use that term.
September 20th, 2022 at 12:21 PM ^
Found the tomato farmer.
September 19th, 2022 at 3:00 PM ^
If a CE grad isn't comfortable with the current site, I think it's still time to #FireDrupal !
September 19th, 2022 at 3:05 PM ^
It would be nice, but no.
September 19th, 2022 at 4:07 PM ^
Uconn's score like would not have changed if they faced the bulldog defense rather than ours.... so I guess that's why
September 19th, 2022 at 4:46 PM ^
UM D and GA D comparable? As of 9/19/22 - no. People saying otherwise are fools. GA would march all over us right now.
September 20th, 2022 at 6:11 AM ^
I wish. Not to say that we aren’t good on D, but to compare us to Georgia is a bit of a stretch. When you play teams full of no stars, any top 5 team will look like Georgia.