Michigan Football: Michigan at Michigan State — How MSU Does it Right
Posted at 8:30am — 11/3/2013
Michigan Football: Michigan at Michigan State — How MSU Does it Right
I’m not going to discuss the offense in this post, the problems are so obvious they do not need re-hashing.
But one of the big differences in yesterday’s game is that our O had to face a team of men, while their O had to play against our boys.
Take a look at the starting defense for MSU:
SDE Marcus Rush Jr*
RSH Shilique Calhoun So*
NT Micajah Reynolds Sr*
DT Tyler Hoover Sr*
SLB Taiwan Jones Jr
MLB Max Bullough Sr
WLB Denicos Allen Sr*
CB Darqueze Dennard Sr
CB Trae Waynes So*
FS Kurtis Drummond Jr*
SS Isaiah Lewis Sr
Nov 2, 2013; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines wide receiver Jeremy Gallon (21) runs for yards after the catch against Michigan State Spartans defensive end Marcus Rush (44) during the 1st quarter of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY SportsNew Starters: 3
1st or 2nd Year Players: 0
3rd Year Players: 2
4th or 5th Year Players: 8
If you look at their depth chart, the key players are all third-four year guys:
DE Joel Heath So*
DT James Kitteredge Jr*
DT Damon Knox So*
LB Ed Davis So*
LB Jairus Jones Sr*
LB Kyler Elsworth Sr*
DB RJ Williamson So*
MSU red-shirts their kids and develops quality depth. They don’t play kids before they are ready: period.
Michigan, on the other hand, has not developed this type of depth or defense yet. It is that simple.
Nov 2, 2013; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Devin Gardner (98) gets sacked by Michigan State Spartans linebacker Denicos Allen (28) during the third quarter at Spartan Stadium. Spartans beat the Wolverines 29-6. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY SportsTake a look at us by comparison. Here’s our depth chart from yesterday’s D:
DE Brennen Beyer Jr
RSH Frank Clark Jr
NT Willie Henry Fr*
DT Jibreel Black Sr
SLB Jake Ryan Jr*
MLB Joe Bolden So
WLB Desmond Morgan Jr
CB Ray Taylor Jr
CB Jourdan Lewis Fr
CB Blake Countess So*
FS Courtney Avery Sr
SS Thomas Gordon Sr*
New Starters: 5
1st and 2nd Year Players: 3
3rd Year Players: 5
4th and 5th Year Players: 3
Depth
DT Chris Wormley Fr*
DT Ryan Glasgow Fr*
DT Quinton Washington Sr*
DE Cam Gordon Sr*
DE Mario Ojemudia So
LB James Ross III So
S Jarrod Wilson So
1st and 2nd Year Players: 5
4th and 5th Year Players: 2
Nov 2, 2013; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans defensive lineman Damon Knox (93) tries to tackle Michigan Wolverines quarterback Devin Gardner (98) during the fourth quarter at Spartan Stadium. Spartans beat the Wolverines 29-6. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY SportsAfter watching Channing Stribling get burned at PSU/IU and Jourdan Lewis get attacked against MSU, I don’t need to say how rough it is when you have to rely on kids who aren’t ready to play major college ball.
So our defense is not only significantly younger and more inexperienced than MSU, the kids we do have couldn’t hang with the ones they have. Other than Jake Ryan, none of our kids could start at MSU. None. In fact, some of our starters, wouldn’t make their two-deep. Frightening.
And this is one of the reasons why coach has said it would be 5 years to recover from the previous mess. Until we have the talent/experience/depth necessary to compete at the highest levels, we are simply going to be boys playing a man’s game.
As far as our D coaching goes, I still believe in the guys we have, although there needs to be a lot of reflection about who we are playing and why.
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Written by GBMWolverine Poster — DieHard5661
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