These Wolverines Defend Their Territory Aggressively

Given that Coach Lloyd Carr spent eight seasons as Michigan’s defensive coordinator, it’s no surprise the Wolverines’ success was built on defense. The surprise is how different their defensive philosophy has become, changing from a passive, we-dare-you-to-throw-over-our-heads approach to a young, aggressive defense that capitalizes on the quickness and athleticism Carr has brought to the program.

The change, orchestrated by first-year defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann, helped carry Michigan to its first 11-0 season since 1971 and a berth against Washington State in the Rose Bowl. It’s almost a bonus that the defense probably is more effective against the pass, Washington State’s chief weapon. Michigan led the nation in efficiency against the pass and gave up only 8.9 points and 206.9 yards a game; Washington State ranked second in the nation with 42.5 points and 502.2 yards a game.

“When I got here in ’94 it was a bend-but-don’t-break defense. We didn’t do blitzes as much,” strong safety Marcus Ray, who earned All-Big Ten team and second-team All-American honors, said Tuesday before practice at Saddleback College.

“We’ve changed the whole defense to 4-3, with a little bit of 3-4. This year, we just blitz and our front four is playing better as a unit. We used to be all zone in the secondary, but now we have the cornerbacks that can go out there and cover guys.”

Defensive end Glen Steele, also an All-Big Ten pick, said players enjoy the new approach. “This year we’ve really let it go and applied pressure any way we could,” he said. “I love it. I’d much rather be aggressive than read and react because it gets difficult when you try to read what’s happening.”

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Michigan packed “The Big House” to overflowing this season, averaging an NCAA-record 106,448 fans a game at Michigan Stadium. The Wolverines probably could sell that many Rose Bowl tickets to fans and alumni, but they were allotted only 26,000, about 11,000 fewer than Washington State’s allotment.

Michigan Athletic Director Tom Goss said he spoke to Tournament of Roses officials about the inequity but doesn’t anticipate getting more tickets.

“Our problem is we cannot accommodate 25% of our fan base,” Goss said. “I personally have a concern with how they split up the tickets. . . . Our fans are very loyal. I’ve lived on the West Coast. You can go to games here and they’re not sold out. You can go to the Midwest, and most games are sold out, not just Michigan.”

Goss said he was told the favoritism toward Pacific 10 Conference schools dates to the days of train travel, when fans of Big Ten schools couldn’t be depended on to attend the Rose Bowl in big numbers because the trip was so long.

“As I recall, we’ve had the airplane quite a few years,” he said. “There has been progress. Two years ago, [the Big Ten school’s allotment was] at 16,000 tickets. We feel better at 26,000 but disappointed equity couldn’t be reached. We have a huge alumni base on the West Coast and we would have liked to make tickets available.”

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Michigan planned to leave Orange County today and move to Pasadena for final preparations. Carr said he consulted with Penn State Coach Joe Paterno and Ohio State’s John Cooper in planning the logistics.

“They felt very confident in the set-up where you leave [home] early and practice in warm weather and move up to where you’re going to be the last week,” Carr said. “Looking at it, it really fit into our schedule. I feel very good about what we’ve done. Regardless of the outcome, for the players, this was the best way to do it.”