steve morrison

Previously: Bowling Green Offense 

Wednesday we covered Bowling Green's offense, today we take a look at their defense. Last season this unit was among the very worst in college football, ranking 125th in SP+. In their first two games, the team allowed 34 points and 389 yards to Liberty and 15 points and 325 yards to Eastern Illinois. Not good, but nothing catastrophic yet. Now they get a chance to take on Michigan. 

The Film: Much like the offense, we only have one option here. Eastern Illinois is not suitable to use as an FCS team and finding game footage of that would be even harder. So we're going with Liberty, which is a bit of a bummer because the Flames' offense is very different than what Michigan runs, so learning much of anything from this game is... hard. Not as hard as last week's largely meaningless review of Bryant/UNLV footage, but still pretty tough to use. 

Personnel: Click for big. 

Bowling Green has really rotated their defensive line this season, with only stand-up EDGE Demetrius Hardamon approaching solid starter status. Hardamon is a pass-rushing specialist who had seven sacks in a limited role this season and has now gotten a larger one this season, though he still is lifted plenty. Opposite him in a three-point stance is nominally one-time Gopher Ail Saad, but plenty of other EDGEs have gotten in the mix at both spots. Cashius Howell is a lean 235 and much more comparable to the 240 Hardamon, while 270 Chace Davis and 260 Jordan Porter are better fits to rotate in for Saad. Hardamon was clearly the unit's best pass-rusher, the rest were mostly indistinguishable from the others. 

Defensive tackle is just as much of a rotation station. Returning starter Anthony Hawkins is their 285 "nose" and a decent player, while last year's 300 lb. backup DT Dontrez Brown starts next to him. They are clearly used more than their reserves, but those backups get a lot of play. Evan Branch-Haynes and Billie Roberts are both in the 290-300 range and are bigger replacements for Hawkins at nose, while I should shout out one-time Michigan commit Davonte Miles, who is deep down the depth chart at tackle. Doesn't feel like Michigan made the wrong call in letting Miles go given his status on this team. 

The linebacker position has two true starters who play nearly every down, returning starter Darren Anders at MLB and new starter George Sipp Jr. at WLB. Anders was the player Seth highlighted in his HTTV preview of Bowling Green, but I thought Anders had a disappointing game against Liberty, where his ability to move in space was noticeably lacking. Sipp had a choppy showing but made more plays that stood out in a positive manner. Anders and Sipp will be out there for the full game, but may be joined by a third ILB in 230 lb. Charles Rosser at SAM, if the cornerback-shaped nickel/HSP leaves the field. Rosser only had 17 snaps against Liberty but I could see him out there often against Michigan's heavier packages. 

The secondary rolled over lots of returning talent from last season. Returning starter Jordan Oladokun was a solid player at corner in 2022 and had another commendable showing in the game I charted. The expectation entering the season was for Deshawn Jones Jr. to start at the other corner spot, since only five Falcons played more snaps than him in 2022, but so far this season he's been buried on the depth chart, just three snaps against Liberty and twelve against EIU. Instead, sophomore Jalen Huskey has stepped up to (presumably) pull a Wally Pipp on Jones. Huskey was a strong performer last season for the Falcons considering he was a true freshman, so that he made a never step forward to supplant a returning starter perhaps isn't stunning. Huskey looked fine against Liberty. 

The safety position includes their nickel/HSP, which is really just a DB. Davon Ferguson is 5'10"/185, so good luck arguing he's anything remotely LB-like. He can drop into coverage or rush the QB as a blitzer and did both against Liberty. SS Trent Simms is back for a third-year as a starter and was pretty nondescript, while new FS starter Darius Lorfils was pretty rough and earns a cyan. As a whole, the secondary had very little rotation, a sharp contrast to the DL. If a different DB does come on, Sean Day or Shamoun Duncan-Niusulu are the most likely candidates. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Another defense to analyze]

Previously: Krushed By Stauskas (Illinois 2014), Introducing #ChaosTeam (Indiana 2009), Revenge is Terrifying (Colorado 1996), Four Games In September I (Boston College 1991), Four Games In September II (Boston College 1994), Four Games In September III (Boston College 1995), Four Games In September IV (Boston College 1996), Pac Ten After Dark Parts One and Two (UCLA 1989), Harbaugh's Grand Return Parts One and Two (Notre Dame 1985), Deceptive Speed Parts One and Two (Purdue 1999)

This Game: Full broadcast with original commercials(!), condensed every-snap video, WH highlights, box score

Welcome to the 2020 fall football season, as best we can provide it. I've put together a tentative schedule of classic games loosely based on Michigan's original slate for this season (and which videos can be found in full). I'll be writing these posts during the week, then streaming the games on my Twitch channel at noon each Saturday. The tentative schedule:

Sep. 5: Washington (1993 Rose Bowl)
Sep. 12: Notre Dame (2011)
Sep. 19: Miami (FL) (1984)
Sep. 26: Wisconsin (2008)
Oct. 3: Penn State (2005)
Oct. 10: Michigan State (2004)
Oct. 17: Minnesota (2003)
Oct. 24: Purdue (1992)
Oct. 31: Northwestern (M00N) — Halloween Bye Week Special
Nov. 7: Maryland (1990)
Nov. 14: Rutgers (2016)
Nov. 21: Indiana (1996)
Nov. 28: Ohio State (1997)

Yes, it's a little weird to start with a Rose Bowl, but I wasn't able to get a full copy of the Brabbs Game, which is surprisingly impossible to find online, in the midst of a move. (Oh, right, I moved last week, which is why you didn't hear from me.)

It's January 1st, 1993. For the second straight year, Michigan faces Washington in the Rose Bowl; the Huskies won handily the previous season on their way to a shared national championship. The Wolverines enter the Rose Bowl undefeated yet out of the national title picture after going 8-0-3 with ties against Notre Dame, an unranked Illinois squad, and Ohio State—the latter two in the regular season's final two games.

That's narrowed Michigan's focus to achieving one of the few goals they haven't marked off during a special five-year run of consecutive Big Ten titles: winning the Rose Bowl. From the Michigan Daily:

skewed goals? at Michigan? well, I never. 

Washington, meanwhile, ranked first or second in the polls for the first nine weeks of the season before dropping two of their final three games, capped by a 42-23 Apple Cup upset at the hands of Wazzu. Beyond the losses, this hasn't been the victory lap legendary coach Don James anticipated; starting quarterback Billy Joe Hobert was ruled ineligible in November because of a $50,000 loan, while reporters—and the NCAA—are looking into potential major violations by the program. 

ABC is carrying the Rose Bowl with Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil on the call. Before we get to any talk about the game, however, we get what's in essence a five-minute ABC News segment on the state of the Washington program:

We'll be circling back around to this after the game.

[After THE JUMP: Football!]