15 days until Michigan football: Wolverines' defense tightens up in the red zone
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 2 opener against East Carolina. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
With 15 days until Michigan kicks off the season, we take a look at the Wolverines’ red-zone defense, which allowed only 15 touchdowns on 34 attempts last season. That 44.1-percent conversion rate ranked tied for seventh nationally. It was fourth in the Big Ten, behind Illinois (35.9), Iowa (41.2) and Minnesota (42.9). It’s worth noting, however, that those three conference foes played Big Ten West schedules, a division that had lackluster offense last season, to say the least.
The Wolverines particularly shined in this department at the end of the season, in two of the biggest games of the year, at Ohio State (45-23 win) and against Purdue in the Big Ten championship game (43-22 victory).
Stopping the Buckeyes in the red zone is one of the biggest keys to knocking off the hated rival. They had the No. 2 overall NFL Draft pick at quarterback and great talent at wide receiver. Head coach Jim Harbaugh has said the last two seasons that the Wolverines knew they’re going to rack up yards and even score points, but it’s on the defense to tighten down when it matters and offense to respond. Michigan passed that test with flying colors in Columbus last November (and in a 42-27 win in Ann Arbor the prior campaign).
Ohio State entered the red area four times against the Maize and Blue last season, coming away with 13 points. Michigan forced 2 field goals, allowed 1 touchdown (on the opening drive of the game) and nabbed an interception late in the game.
Michigan was almost just as good against Purdue the following week, to the point that kicker Mitchell Fineran had a career day. He posted a career-best 5 made field goals in the game (27, 32, 43, 45), with 2 of them coming in the red zone. Michigan was allowing the Boilermakers to drive up and down the field in the first two-plus quarters but got stops in the red zone. The Boilermakers had just 19 points on 6 trips inside U-M’s 20-yard line, with 2 touchdowns.
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Uncharacteristically, Michigan allowed 4 red-zone touchdowns against TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, the most the defense had given up in a game all season, to cap off the year.
Athleticism is key for a defense in the red area — speed and length especiall help. The front-seven has to be able to knock the offense back and flow to the football, and the secondary has to make plays on the ball. Michigan was great at it last season, returns six starters and has a lot of depth, making fans hopeful that the Wolverines will yield similar results this fall, particularly in the biggest games.
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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