3 things holding back Michigan football defense from being elite

Missed Assignments

Texas had seven explosive plays (20 yards or more) in just the first half. Michigan football actually got the better of Texas on a lot of plays.

Looking at the net success rate vs Texas, Michigan really didn't do too bad. But giving up explosive plays isn't sustainable for a defense at any level of football.

One of the main reasons for the explosive plays comes down to missed assignments. There were multiple times throughout the game where Michigan would miss a gap in the run game or leave a Texas player wide open in pass coverage. This can be due to inexperience and having a lot of new guys starting. It also leads me to believe that Wink Martindale is trying to do a little too much too early.

It's ironic given all the talk from people this offseason who were worried Martindale would be too one-dimensional this year. But given how many unique alignments and coverages we've been seeing, and that a lot of these assignment errors are coming on third and long when Michigan football is reaching deep into the bag for exotic play calls, I think that Martindale is asking these guys to take on more than some of the new players are ready for right now.

Texas went 10/16 on third downs, with 8 of those conversions in the first half. While Ewers manipulating the pocket well to buy time and exploit coverage certainly hurt, too many times defenders missed assignments and gave Texas chances to make plays.

In the NFL it's a lot more reasonable to expect your defense to be able to handle more things schematically. Those guys are pros who have likely seen it all before and just have more experience in a variety of defensive schemes. But in college these guys have to worry more about the basics of the system with limited practice time and demanding class schedules.

It takes longer for college kids to pick up the complexities of a defensive system and I don't think that Michigan's defense as a whole is there yet. But I also think it doesn't take as much to confuse a college offense. Wink Martindale can get away with doing a little bit less but more effectively. I'd like to see them trim back the playbook a bit until later in the season once they've shown they can consistently execute their base plays.