The Wolverine

December 2011

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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allowed a 40-yard play against its de- fense. U-M was one of two programs to not allow a 50-yard play before Nebraska's Taylor Martinez threw a 54-yard touchdown in the second quarter of the 11th game this season. The philosophy is simple: make a team drive the field to beat you, and there's a better chance they'll make a mistake, or that you'll force a turn- over. The "give us a place to stand" mentality paid off in the Ohio State game when the Buckeyes had to settle for a field goal after lining up first-and-goal from the 5-yard line, down 30-24 in the fourth quarter. U-M finished 13th in the coun- try in fewest 40-yard plays allowed (six), tied for sixth in 50-yard plays allowed (two) and tied for first with six others in not allowing a single play of more than 60 yards. The Wol- verines were 87th or worse nation- ally in plays allowed over 10, 20, 30 … all the way to 90 yards in 2010. • Forced turnovers were up. "We were plus-six [in turnover margin], which is a far cry from what were the last three years, minus-32," Hoke noted. "The offense, for the most part, did a nice job taking care of the football, and the defense was able to create some opportunities with fumble recoveries and interceptions to get the ball back for the offense." U-M finished 109th in turnover margin last year, but improved to 26th in 2011. Eight less turnovers helped the cause, but the defense did its part in creating eight more. The Wolverines finished second in the nation in fumble recoveries with 19. • Red-zone defense was the best in the Big Ten. Opponents made it inside Michigan's 20-yard line 35 times but scored only 68.6 percent of the time, including 20 touchdowns. U-M was second in the conference in red-zone turnovers (six) and tied for second in turnovers on downs (four) inside the 20. The Wolverines finished fourth in the conference in red zone defense last year. However, opponents man- aged to reach the red zone 57 times and scored 86.0 percent of the time they did, including 37 touchdowns. • Third- and fourth-down defense was better. Michigan finished third in the Big Ten in third-down defense (opponents converted on 36.1 per- cent of their tries) and first in fourth- down defense (38.9 percent) com- Redshirt junior safety Jordan Kovacs and the Wolverines improved their ranking in turnover margin from No. 109 last season to No. 26 in the country this year. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL DECEMBER 2011 THE WOLVERINE 27 pared to 43.3 (ninth) and 75.0 (ninth) in 2010. Opponents can't score if they don't have the ball, Mattison has noted repeatedly, and the U-M defense took advantage when it had a chance to get off the field. There were reasons that can't be measured, too, that led to the im- proved statistics despite only one player — Martin — finishing on the first- or second-team All-Big Ten squads. Tackling, abominable over the last two years in particular, was much better, with helmets on the ball forcing many of the fumbles. More physical play was the result of more demanding practices, the players noted. Hoke made fall camp challenging, and he didn't let up throughout the season. More than anything, Martin said, the staff developed a no excuses mentality that permeated into each player, starting from the top down. The seniors carried that torch throughout the year. "It's fun to be able to see where we've gone from the beginning of the season to now," Martin said. "It's just a constant reminder of the improve- ment we've made every day. It's been a blessing to be able to be coached by Coach Hoke and this staff, and he's going to continue — and his team will continue — to have success, be- cause of the leadership that I know his next senior class will have." Believing in who you're playing for, too, plays a big part. "Coach Hoke, it's really not about him," Martin said. "He'll tell you that himself. It's about the guys he's coaching. There's so much genuine care that he has of coaching you and improving you as a guy. We're all in this together, and you need all the pieces to be successful. "I think we put together a group of guys, seniors and underclassmen, that want to do whatever that can to make sure this team is successful, and Coach Hoke is a great coach." "Just a defensive line coach," Hoke would say. The results, though — on defense and overall — say oth- erwise. ❑

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