The Big Ten released its all-conference awards for defense on Tuesday (LINK).
Hit the jump for the full list.
COACHES
1st team: DB Lavert Hill
2nd team: DL Kwity Paye
2nd team: LB Khaleke Hudson
2nd team: LB Josh Uche
3rd team: DL Carlo Kemp
3rd team: DB Ambry Thomas
3rd team: P Will Hart
Honorable mention: DL Aidan Hutchinson
Honorable mention: LB Cam McGrone
Honorable mention: DB Josh Metellus
Honorable mention: RET Giles Jackson
Honorable mention: RET Donovan Peoples-Jones
MEDIA
1st team: DB Lavert Hill
2nd team: P Will Hart
3rd team: DL Aidan Hutchinson
3rd team: DL Kwity Paye
3rd team: LB Khaleke Hudson
3rd team: LB Josh Uche
3rd team: DB Josh Metellus
3rd team: RET Donovan Peoples-Jones
Honorable mention: LB Jordan Glasgow
Honorable mention: DB Brad Hawkins
Honorable mention: LB Cam McGrone
Honorable mention: DB Ambry Thomas
Honorable mention: RET Giles Jackson
I find myself agreeing with the coaches’ votes more than the media, and that really has nothing to do with Michigan. It has to do with players on other teams.
A couple notes:
- Former Michigan LB commit Dele’ Harding (Illinois) was named 1st team by the media and 3rd team by the coaches. Harding was #1 in the Big Ten (and #2 in the country) in tackles (147) by a wide margin: Ben Holt of Purdue was #2 with 114. He was also tied for 11th in the conference with 13 tackles for loss.
- Former Michigan DB commit Garrett Taylor (Penn State) was named Honorable Mention by both the media and the coaches. He’s #21 in tackles (75) in the conference, with 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble.
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Two ways to look at this.
1. Look at all this talent and Don Brown can’t stop Ohio State. He needs to be moved.
2. Look at all the guys Don Brown put on the all-conference team, he’s doing a helluva job.
I’m going with the latter.
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I think we all agree that Don Brown is a hell of a coach except against Ohio. Look at Big Ten All Conference Team on Offense. Ohio State has someone in the first, second and third team in every position. From QB, T, G, C, RB, TE and WR. We are not even close to matching it on the defensive end.
Unfortunately, it means we must improve our recruiting. JH and DB are great at unearthing 3star prospect into good players but it is not enough. No offense to Dwumfour, Mettalus, Glasgow and V Gray. They are good enough to beat Indiana, Maryland and Rutgers but not good enough to beat Ohio.
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Brown did very well against OSU in 2016.
Despite all the criticism – has any DC done better over the last 3 years than Brown?
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Penn State has done significantly better over the last three years. For all that James Franklin gets ragged on, he is a better coach than Harbaugh.
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You are right WCB but the difference is not so big.
2017 – Michigan did better by every measure: ypp, yards, points, despite OSU coughing up 2 fumbles vs PSU and none vs Michigan.
2018 – PSU did better by every measure. 62 points vs 27 points. Brown got destroyed while PSU had their best performance, holding OSU under 400 yards.
2019: OSU punted 3 times in 11 drives against PSU and 4 times in 11 drives vs Michigan. While OSU put up twice as many points the difference was primarily that OSU kept fumbling the ball to PSU. The one offensive fumble they had against Michigan bounced right back to Dobbins on a big gain. That’s luck.
also note that we didn’t yet mention 2016 when Brown held OSU to 10 points and less than 300 yards in regulation. PSU beat OSU but their defense performed worse than Michigan’s.
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Brown and Pry both started in 2016 so it’s a nice apples to apples comparison. Their 4-year performances against OSU are about the same.
In fairness to Pry – Brown had a better foundation to build off of (the 2015 defense he inherited was excellent) and his recent performance has been worse. In fairness to Brown – nobody on OSU is talking about how they prepare all year to defeat PSU.
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Harbaugh is 3-2 vs Franklin.
2 blow-out wins vs 1 blow-out loss
1 loss where Michigan outgained PSU by 150 yards in Happy Valley and dropped a game-tying TD.
Harbaugh is the better coach.
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The biggest difference in their accomplishments is hardware. While I don’t think highly of Franklin (as evidenced in my preseason prediction), he has a B1G title. I’d rather have that than a one game lead in head to head
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Me too Welching JE. But Franklin has been around 1 year longer and won that title on a tie-breaker. Michigan beat him 49-10 that year and he got OSU at home (while Michigan lost in Columbus in OT on a dubious call with an injured starting QB).
It’s better to be lucky than good and Franklin got lucky in 2016. That said, he is also pretty good, despite the derision from places like Mgoblog.
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Franklin won his title in Year 3
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