College Football Report - Michigan's Gap Technique:

The state of Michigan knows a thing or two about overcoming gaps. The state is home to the Mackinac Straits, a five mile gap of water dividing its upper and lower peninsulas. The solution: the Mackinac Bridge, the world’s third longest suspension bridge. The gap between the states two most distant cities is more than 10 and a half hours stretching 630 miles, the same distance from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina. The solution: The fastest speed limit – 70 – east of the Mississippi River. The winning percentage gap between the states best and worst professional teams – the Red Wings and Lions – is like comparing Paris Hilton to Mother Teresa. The solution: declaring your largest city Hockeytown and a paper bag to watch Lions games.

Now the state has yet another gap to overcome. This one comes from Ann Arbor where one of the most balanced and consistently good college football teams of all time, the Michigan Wolverines (7-3), have put together a team that’s offense and defense is as far apart from one another as any team in the history of college football.

Look up the definition of a gap in the dictionary. The first one you’ll get is an opening in a solid structure or surface. That doesn’t really seem to do justice; it’s been years since Wolverine fans could call their defense a solid structure. The second definition you’ll see is a break in a line of defense. That one works to a t of what Michigan fans have witness this season, because their defense has been broke all season long.

The offense has been consistently good. The Wolverines rank No. 5 in the country in total offense, averaging 521.8 yards a game. Michigan ranks better on offense than some of the nation’s best this season, including Auburn, Arkansas, Stanford and Nebraska. The rush offense ranks No. 9 nationally, while the team brings in an average of 37.7 points an outing. They’ve brought in games of 42 or more points four times on the year.

Then there is the Wolverines defense. The three-three-five unit of defensive coordinator Greg Robinson is ranked No. 100 nationally in total defense, out of 120 FBS schools. The pass defense gives up nearly 300 yards an outing, ranked No. 114 in the country. Robinson is lucky his team has an offense that can bring in over 37 points a game. His defense allows an average of 32 points, good for No. 93 in the country. They’ve allowed 34 points or more, six times on the season.

A total of 95 teams fill the space between the Wolverines offense and defense. At this point in the season, however, it’s a personnel problem that can only be fixed with another year of recruiting and developing what they’ve already got.

There is reason to believe the Wolverines are getting better, however. In last week’s win over Purdue the defense gave up its fewest points allowed – 16 – since the opening week of the season. The defense brought in five turnovers, scoring off of one. Call it the rainy weather or blame it on the fact that the Boilermakers were on to their third string quarterback, but the fact of the matter was, the Michigan defense came to play for once when the offense – five turnovers as well – didn’t.

With games against No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 9 Ohio State left on the year, things could either get relatively uglier than they already are or Michigan fans could see a change in the attitude of the defense in two of its biggest games of the year.

Right now, the only fix for Michigan fans is pointing the finger at Eastern Michigan as a worse defense in the state. But that’s far from a solution.

Photo Credit: Patterson – Melanie Maxwell/AnnArbor.com