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8A — Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

New formation a success in first trial against the Gators

On Saturday against then-

No. 
17 
Florida, 
Michigan 

defensive 
coordinator 
Don 

Brown showcased yet another 
wrinkle to his blitz-heavy 
defense.

The 
new 
scheme 

incorporated a 3-3-5 stack, 
which, 
as 
redshirt 
junior 

defensive end Chase Winovich 
explained, involved moving 
the eighth-ranked Wolverines’ 
SAM linebacker to defensive 
end. In doing so, Michigan 
had the flexibility to add a 
linebacker to the box while 
putting a VIPER on the field 
as well.

Winovich 
added 
that 

the 
new 
formation 
allows 

the 
linebackers 
to 
blitz 

while 
deceiving 
opposing 

quarterbacks with the guise of 

their standard 4-3. And if the 
Gators’ offensive performance 
was 
any 
indication, 
the 

Wolverines weren’t easy to 
figure out. 

“When we unveiled it, I 

think they were just like, ‘Oh, 
crap, how do we adjust to this?’ 
” 
Winovich 
said 
Saturday 

night. “We had so many plays 
early on (in the) first half, 
Coach Brown said we have so 
many plays we haven’t even 
done yet, and we’re having a 
lot of success. And he said, 
let’s keep pushing.”

According 
to 
senior 

linebacker Noah Furbush, the 
inception of the new scheme 
all 
began 
during 
spring 

practices, 
as 
Brown 
was 

rotating a collection of players 
at different positions in an 
attempt to try to maximize 
everyone’s strengths.

And 
as 
it 
turned 
out, 

Furbush’s 
strengths 
were 

maximized 
at 
the 
SAM 

position of the new 3-3-5 
stack.

“I think it’s a lot of the same 

things I do at SAM,” Furbush 
said. “A lot of the principles 
carry over. But it’s definitely a 
new thing, it’s different having 
your hand in the dirt than just 
two feet on the ground.”

Originally, 
though, 

Michigan never intended to 
anchor its defense around 
the stack in its season opener. 
But with the success the 
formation 
yielded, 
there 

was no reason for Brown to 
deviate from it.

After all, the Wolverine 

defense 
recovered 
three 

fumbles — including one for a 
touchdown — while applying 
enough pocket pressure that 
Florida managed to register 
just 181 yards in the air. 
Perhaps 
most 
relevant 
of 

all, though, is that the new 
formation held the Gators to 
just 11 yards on the ground. 
By the end of the day, the 
Wolverines had registered six 
sacks and 11 tackles for loss. 

“The defense, the way they 

played, it was the best since 
I’ve been here coaching, that 
I’ve seen our defense run to the 
football,” 
said 

Michigan coach 
Jim Harbaugh. 
“Holes 
opened 

up 
and 
they 

closed. Pursuit. 
Nobody 
on 

the 
ground. 

Everybody 
(was) 
getting 

up 
running, 

making 
the 

tackle.”

As 
it 
turns 

out, 
one 
of 

those fumbles was the icing on 
the cake for Furbush and the 
Wolverines during the debut 
of their new defense.

With just over 90 seconds 

left in Saturday’s game, after 
Michigan had already chased 

Gators 
quarterback 
Feleipe 

Franks, Malik Zaire took the 
snap on 2nd and 18 in his own 
end zone. But Winovich burst 

through 
the 

line, 
forcing 

a 
fumble 

that 
Furbush 

promptly 
covered up for 
a 
touchdown, 

putting a nail 
in the Gators’ 
coffin.

“Don Brown 

had an excellent 
game 
plan,” 

Harbaugh said. 
“(He) 
worked 

one style of offense with the 
first quarterback that was 
in there. When they went to 
Malik Zaire, it changed. More 
read option and adapted the 
scheme.

“Our players knew it. They 

knew what they had with the 
one, and they knew what they 
had with the next. They were 
on it. Very happy. We were 
a 
confident 

unit, 
really 

well-coached 
defensive unit. 
We thought we 
were going to 
be 
good, 
and 

we were good. 
We’ll 
continue 

to build. I was 
really 
pleased 

with 
the 
way 

they ran to the 
ball.”

And 
while 

the 
Gators 
will 
be 
glad 

Michigan’s new-look unit is 
in the rearview mirror, there 
may be no one happier than 
the Wolverines’ own offensive 
unit. For the first time in a 
calendar year, they finally got 

to play someone else.

“We’ve seen it for so long 

now that — to me it’s more 
personnel, just because we’ve 

got 
a 
lot 
of 

guys 
that 
do 

a lot of things 
really 
well,” 

said 
fifth-year 

senior running 
back Ty Isaac 
on Monday. “I 
know when we 
first 
started 

seeing it, it was 
giving us fits, 
just 
because 

it’s hard to tell 
what’s 
coming 

from where.

“It turns into playing spots 

instead of body type. They’ve 
done a really good job of 
keeping (the) offense, at least 
us, off balance and obviously it 
worked against Florida.”

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Senior linebacker Noah Furbush and the Wolverines have benefited from the implementation of a new 3-3-5 defensive formation, as demonstrated against Florida.

BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan’s New 3-3-5 Defense

181

Yards allowed in the air 

11

Yards allowed on the 

ground

6

Sacks registered

3

Total points given up

KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

“A lot of the 

principles carry 

over. But it’s 

definitely a new 

thing.”

“They’ve done a 
really good job 
of keeping (the) 
offense, at least 
us, off balance.”

