[NU Sports] Michigan's d-line and some perspective

[Brad Wilson]

I agree with Paul and disagree with Steve on this one
-- Michigan's defensive line made a huge difference.
They got a rush with just four linemen rushing, a huge
plus in that they could drop linebackers into coverage
and not blitz d-backs. This accounted for the tight
coverage on our shorter routes that act as "runs". 

We can all agree the holding penalties were
devastating, and they all looked like good calls. And
all but one (the one on Herbert) were on o-linemen
holding Michigan d-linemen. I would suggest that if
the Michigan d-linemen had been less effective we
would not have had to hold and thus would have avoided
the holding penalties.

And it was Michigan's ability to control the line of
scrimmage that limited the running game's
effectiveness.

(I am impressed by the progress our young o-line has
made so far -- they are much better than I imagined
they'd be -- but this game just showed they have a
ways to go.)

I think this illustrates the difference between
Michigan and NU as programs. Great defensive linemen
are perhaps the rarest commodities in football.
Michigan gets plenty. At best, NU has 2 at once,
maybe, maybe 3. These kind of athletes are going to be
the hardest for NU to get, as they are the scarcest
and the power teams don't miss many. On the other
hand, as OSU fans are griping re Sutton, the power
teams do miss top-shelf running backs all the time.

Finally, please, people, a little perspective. Losing
this game was not the end of the world. It does not
mean Randy Walker is a dunce -- any more than the
three BT wins in a row made him a genius. It does not
mean the season is over. It was a game NU could have
won -- the fumble return was the absolute killer --
even when NU did not play terribly well. Other BT
teams have this kind of loss all the time -- take
Minnesota's win at Michigan, or Ohio State's at
Minnesota, just to name two. How teams react is the
key. There's a lot to play for -- a BT title could
still happen. A bowl game could -- should! -- still
happen. First win over Iowa since '99. First win at
Columbus since '71. The tomahawk. They are all out
there. 

While I was disappointed by the loss, I was not
disheartened; this wasn't a catastrophic disaster
like, say, Indiana in 2001. Neither should anybody
else be disheartened -- tough game, let's move on. 

Beat Iowa!

Brad Wilson 



"Entertainment is what which you receive without effort. Art is something where you must make some kind of effort, and you get more than you had before." -- Charles Wuorinen

"Quis ipsos custodes custodiet?" -- Juvenal


		
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