The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/230001
your coverage, especially being in a defense that wants to blitz. "You can't blitz if you're not taking away those quick three-step throws to the flat, the slant or to the tight end across the middle because a good quarterback will see those routes are open and then you just sent seven guys on the rush for no reason, and I think we saw that was an issue for this defense throughout the season." There were some positives, however. "[Junior] Desmond Morgan was pretty solid in the middle for most of the year," Ezeh said. "He was always where he was supposed to be, doing what he's supposed to do, and he was pretty good in pass coverage too. Younger guys like Ross and Bolden were getting their bearings week by week, and dealing with the ups and downs." Michigan's linebacker corps was dealt a blow when the Wolverines' best defensive player, redshirt junior Jake Ryan, suffered an ACL tear in the spring. He would miss the first five weeks of the season. Fortunately, in his stead, Beyer and Gordon filled in admirably, combining for six sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. "You would expect to see some ups and downs, but what ended up happening instead is the guys that split reps there brought something differ- Linebackers James Ross III (left) and Desmond Morgan (right) combined on this stop to keep Akron receiver L.T. Smith from scoring in the final seconds of Michigan's 28-24 win over the Zips on Sept. 14. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL