The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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28 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2017 Michigan's other corners in the ro- tation have elevated their play, too, Zordich said. "[Sophomore] David Long and [redshirt junior] Brandon Watson have progressed well. We're happy, but we still need to continue to progress," the coach noted. He's also pleased with the way they're playing the run. That was an area of concern in fall camp, but his group has stepped up its play. "So far, so good," he said midway through the season. "For all the man [coverage] we play, they're not run off a lot. They're seeing the run, and they're able to fit. "Lavert had two or three tackles for loss [over a few games], so he's seeing it. David Long made a huge play in the Michigan State game coming off a man and stopping a third-down play. They're seeing it, which is good." Long hasn't gotten the same recogni- tion Hill has this year, but he's quietly become an extremely dependable cor- ner in his sophomore year. He notched a pick that changed the game (for a short time, anyway) in the first half of the Penn State loss, and he's also been a huge part of the conference's best pass defense. Long isn't about the press and in- sisted he couldn't care less about who gets the attention. "It's not about who gets the credit or media time," he said. "We're just doing our job in any way that we can. As long as I get the job done and help the team win, I'm good with whatever people say." Long admitted the secondary could help out a bit more in run support, though. "Coach [Don] Brown tells us all 11 guys need to tackle on defense," the sophomore confirmed. "It's something we all need to do regardless of what position we are." Still, the corners had been a strength of the team through 10 games, led by Hill. "He's been pretty high all season — he really has," head coach Jim Har- baugh said. "Lavert's been a really good player for us. I was going to say steady, but he's been better than steady. "He's been playing at a really high level — had some great defenses on balls, pass breakups, interceptions, tight coverage. "That's why we brought him here." STILL ASCENDING The safeties, meanwhile, have gener- ally been good, as well. The secondary as a whole — and the entire defense — took its lumps in the 42-13 loss at Penn State, but that was the anomaly in what's been a great season. Brown said part of it was the Nit- tany Lions brought their 'A' game and played lights out during the nationally televised contest, adding he wasn't at all pleased with the result. "Penn State's a pretty good offensive football team — they scored 35 in the first half at Ohio State," he said. "But we didn't play our best game. "I'm not making any excuses; they had a lot to do with that. We've got to be better than that. That's the ex- perience part of it that you're looking for, to get young people to understand how we've got to go about our busi- ness and our approach more than the end result." A week later, his unit held an improv- ing Rutgers squad to 101 yards pass- ing. More than half of them came on two plays, including a one-handed grab over Kinnel that couldn't have been ex- ecuted — or defended — much better. "We play combination coverages, but we don't want guys running free … this guy here, this guy drops him. We're not doing that," Brown explained. "I'd rather spend our time teaching great technique and great fundamen- tals. … We don't want people running through air and to be relying on zone pieces. That's just not what we do." Teams have done their best to try to take advantage of mismatches. Penn State, in particular, threw to receiv- ers matched up on safeties, and even though the coverage was often tight, quarterback Trace McSorley was on the money, passing for 282 yards. Some were critical of Brown's scheme, even though it was one that had worked incredibly well through 10 games. Former Michigan All-Amer- ica linebacker Ron Simpkins wasn't among them. "Offensive coordinators are going to look for matchups with slot receiv- ers when there are safeties on guys they normally wouldn't be covering," Junior Tyree Kinnel is the top tackler in the secondary for the Wolverines. After 10 games, he has 56 stops, including 4.5 for loss, and is also tied for the team lead with two interceptions. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Sophomore David Long returned his second interception of the year 80 yards at Maryland. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN