We are just one day away from the Alabama Crimson Tide’s season opener against Michigan. One. Day. Away.
On Wednesday, I broke down the Michigan Wolverine offense, and now I’ll take a look at the Michigan defense.
The offense is always much ballyhooed, but it was the Michigan defense that really helped change the team’s fortunes in 2011. After fielding some of the program’s worst defensive units in history during the short Rich Rodriguez era, Brady Hoke came in and completely turned things around on that side of the ball.
The Wolverines ranked 17th in the nation in total defense last season, giving up 322 yards per game. They ranked 16th in pass defense and 39th in run defense. The Wolverines stop-unit was particularly stingy when it came to giving up points. They gave up just 17.4 points per game in 2011, which was good for 6th in the nation.
The Wolverines return 7 starters from that unit, and they should take another step in the right direction.
On the defensive line, the good news is that Michigan’s four starters have a combined 38 starts between them. The bad news is that all 38 starts have been made by senior defensive end Craig Roh.
Outside of Roh, Michigan has a lot of inexperienced guys who will be in for a rude awakening against the best offensive line in the country on Saturday night. Michigan will sorely miss the presence of Mike Martin and Ryan Van Bergen along the defensive line.
Helping to mitigate the three new starters on the line, Michigan returns all three starting linebackers led by senior Kenny Demens. The leader and tone-setter of the Wolverines defense, Demens led the team in tackles a year ago with 94. Nick Saban and the Tide coaching staff are well aware of Demens’ ability, and several members of the scout team have been sporting his No. 25 jersey in practices.
Sophomores Jake Ryan and Desmond Morgan are the other two returning starters at linebacker for Michigan. Ryan had 11 tackles for loss and 3 sacks last season while Morgan racked up 63 tackles.
In the secondary, Michigan has talented players, and they only gave up 190 yards per game through the air in 2011. That being said, the Wolverines have had issues in the past with giving up big plays due to the occasional mental lapse. AJ McCarron has the arm to make the Michigan DBs pay if they slip up.
The secondary is led by junior safety Jordan Kovacs. Kovacs has started 33 games for the Wolverines at safety, and is as rock solid as you can get in the defensive backfield.
At the other safety spot is junior Thomas Gordon, who was third on the team in tackles with 67 last season, and led the Big Ten in fumble recoveries with four. Gordon has 14 career starts under his belt.
J.T. Floyd is Michigan’s No. 1 corner and the senior has started 22 games at corner. Floyd struggled in his first few seasons in Ann Arbor, but he really came into his own last season.
At the other corner spot is sophomore Blake Countess, and he has the potential to be the number one guy for the Wolverines in 2012. Countess put together a solid freshman campaign that saw him earn Big Ten All Freshman Team honors.
Overall the Wolverines look to have a strong defensive unit, and they should get better every week. Unfortunately, they do not have much room for error early in the season against the 2nd ranked Crimson Tide.
Their linebackers and secondary look strong, but Michigan’s defensive line will be the biggest issue against the Crimson Tide’s stout offensive line. I fully expect Alabama to dominate up front and impose their will on the Michigan defense.
Look for Alabama to pound the rock on the ground with Eddie Lacy, Jalston Fowler, TJ Yeldon, and Dee Hart. AJ McCarron just needs to manage the game and let the running game and the offensive line shoulder the load on Saturday night, and the Crimson Tide should take care of business to open the season.
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