Wolverine Wednesday: Liked The Defense

Michigan's defense had a nice day on Saturday and their worst drive was the 1st drive.   I saw decent  progress and the players seemed comfortable in a coupe of zone schemes.  Now it's nearly impossible to see Zone coverages on TV but to me Mike McDonald from the Doobie Brothers mixed up the schemes nicely.   

Here's what my eyes saw:

• Dax was everywhere and has a ton of flexibility in his Nickel/Safety role. 
• Saw some flashes from Hill-Green at LB and can see why he is getting early playing time. 
• Didn't see Michael Barrett much and think Hill-Green is taking his reps
• Pass rush seems to be an issue.  Michigan started to get more pressure after the scheme changed early. 
• I thought the interior of the DL was just Ok, I expected better results lining up against MAC lineman
• I also thought the CB's where in the proper position, there isn't a superstar in that position group and they just need to do their job. 
• Hutch is very good and could be the second best pass rusher in the country behind Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux.
• Michigan needs Ojabo to be dominate 

In other news:

• The Big Ten lost a bowl today as the Red Box Bowl shut it down.  In other news, so did the Blockbuster Bowl, Travel Agent Bowl, Newspapers Bowl, and the Rotary Phone Bowl.  

• Seems the poll voters were not impressed with Michigan's win over Western Michigan as the Wolverines are still not ranked.  ABC/ESPN must love that neither Washington or Michigan are ranked this weekend. 

• Cade was the highest rated PFF Power Conference QB with a 93 rating 

• Maybe the biggest recruiting of  weekend of year is coming up.  Including Walter Nolan who doesn't have Michigan in his top group but taking one of his officials this weekend and this is his 2nd trip to A2.  Another 5 star Josh Conerly is also coming in but he lives in Seattle and might be using this visit as a sneaky way to watch his hometown team.   USC 5 star DB commit Domani Jackson will also be in town, his senior year is already over due to an injury.  He is a lifelong Michigan fan but it might be hard to get him out of California.