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| This is Jayron Hosley (#20). I bet #41 is gonna catch him. |
MICHIGAN
Starters: Redshirt junior J.T. Floyd (6'0", 185 lbs.) started 11 games at cornerback; he was named All-Big Ten Honorable Mention after recording 45 tackles, 8 pass breakups, 2 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble. True freshman cornerback Blake Countess (5'10", 176 lbs.) started the final 5 games of the season; he has made 36 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 6 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble. Fifth year senior Troy Woolfolk (6'0", 191 lbs.) starts at free safety after beginning the year as the starting cornerback; he has notched 29 tackles and 2 pass breakups on the year. Redshirt junior Jordan Kovacs (6'0", 197 lbs.) started 11 games at strong safety; he ended the regular season with 64 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 1 fumble recovery, and 2 forced fumbles.
Backups: Redshirt sophomore Thomas Gordon (5'11", 208 lbs.) started 9 games and arguably should have held his starting job over Woolfolk at free safety; Gordon made 59 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 4 fumble recoveries, and 2 forced fumbles. Sophomore cornerback Courtney Avery (5'11", 173 lbs.) started 2 games at nickel corner; on the season he has 24 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1/2 a sack, 2 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries (1 returned for an 83-yard touchdown).
VIRGINIA TECH
Starters: Junior cornerback Jayron Holsey (5'10", 171 lbs.) started 12 games at cornerback and was named Second Team All-ACC; he made 59 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 3 interceptions, and 8 pass breakups. The other starting corner will probably be Cris Hill (5'11", 180 lbs.), a fifth year senior who has 5 starts; Hill has 33 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, and 6 pass breakups. Free safety Antone Exum (6'0", 220 lbs.) was All-ACC Honorable Mention; he has made 85 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, and 10 pass breakups. Senior rover Eddie Whitley (6'1", 200 lbs.) was named Second Team All-ACC; he has 78 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 2 interceptions on the year.
Backups: Part-time cornerback Kyle Fuller was discussed in the linebackers preview, since he will likely start at weakside linebacker; he's essentially a nickel corner. Redshirt freshman cornerback Detrick Bonner (6'0", 189 lbs.) is the only other significant contributor in the defensive backfield; he started two games at cornerback and has 26 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 1 interception on the year.
THE TAKEAWAY
Going purely by accolades, J.T. Floyd is Michigan's best defensive back, and even he could only manage honorable mention when it came to all-conference selections. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech has two or three All-ACC Second Teamers in the backfield, depending on where you place Kyle Fuller. Holsey himself has more career interceptions as a junior (12) than the entirety of the Michigan defensive backfield (10).
As for team rankings, it's somewhat equal. Virginia Tech is #17 in pass efficiency defense and #39 in pass defense, while Michigan is #36 in pass efficiency defense and #17 in pass defense. It helps the Hokies that their front seven (and nickel corners) get after the quarterback and are #11 nationally in sacks.
However, the individual numbers suggest that Virginia Tech has the better defensive backfield. Their starters have the edge in interceptions (7 to 3) and tackles for loss (27 to 17), as well as all-conference selections. Holsey is a better cover corner than anyone Michigan has at this point, and the rest of Michigan's secondary doesn't make up the difference.
Advantage: Virginia Tech
I've read through these previews and I'm wondering if you are overrating VT a little on defense. I watched two of their games this year (Miami, Clemson) and was not impressed with their DL at all. Don't think they would stack up favorably with DL's in the Big 10. The secondary and S/OLB hybrid types are quite good though and as you mention, that gives the DC flexibility to be aggressive. If Denard is in any kind of throwing groove, I see UM moving the ball and scoring a decent amount of points.
ReplyDeleteThe x factor is strength of competition which I don't think Magus can really adjust for. The only big team V T faced was Clemson who waxed them twice. However, Michigan hasn't had a good showing against a top passing offense at all either (Nebraska is a ranked team but not a top passing O).
ReplyDelete@ Painter Smurf and Anonymous
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is correct in that I'm not adjusting for strength of schedule. That's difficult for me to do because a) I don't want to and b) I'll leave that to the engineers and mathematicians over at MGoBlog. As I mentioned on another post, I can't exactly say "Well, Virginia Tech is ranked higher than Michigan and puts up better individual statistics, so therefore I think Michigan has the advantage."
We all know/think that Virginia Tech has played a soft schedule in a soft conference, but I also realize that Michigan hasn't exactly played a murderer's row of opponents, either. We lost to mediocre Iowa team and a pretty good MSU team, we beat Nebraska soundly, we missed PSU and Wisconsin, and we barely beat a 6-6 Ohio State. Michigan's signature victory might even be the Notre Dame win, and they went 8-5.