Previously: Rutgers Offense After studying the rough display that is the Rutgers offense, we get a much more respectable unit today in the Rutgers defense. Greg Schiano has consistently been able to coordinate solid defenses in his career, and the Rutgers defense looks in line with that. They rank 29th in SP+ defense and are allowing fewer than 300 yards per game (22.5 points per game against this season). At the very least, it's watchable football. The Film: I will delve more into this later on in the piece, but the list of opposing offenses that Rutgers has faced is lacking in quality. The only top 50 SP+ offense that they have played happens to be our bitter rivals down in Columbus and while I'd prefer not to pick the Ohio State buzzsaw offense and have something between "terrible" and "the best in the country", I have little to offer. The only other option was possibly Minnesota, but after the hassle that it was to get footage of that game for the offense FFFF, I wanted to stay away from that. So, OSU it is. Personnel: Click for big or here for PDF. The Rutgers defensive line has been hamstrung by the injury to Mohamed Toure, their top pass rusher who was ruled out for the season in June after undergoing surgery. In his absence, "Michigan transfer" Aaron Lewis is a starting DE. Lewis is a New Jersey native who was a 3* recruit in Michigan's 2020 class. He enrolled early but never practiced with the team due to COVID and then decided to transfer to be closer to home amid the pandemic, so he was in the program for a totality of a few months, hence the quotation marks. Lewis has been an active contributor at Rutgers for three seasons now, starting to round into a solid player with a touch of pass rush and alright holding down the edge. Opposite him is Wesley Bailey, clocking in at an identical 250 lbs. and a classmate of Lewis'. Bailey has taken a little bit longer to become a contributor but this season has ascended to the starting job, doing an admirable job. Jordan Thompson and Kenny Fletcher come on for a few snaps each but Lewis and Bailey are definitely the every-down starters. At defensive tackle, Ifeanyi Maijeh and Kyonte Hamilton are the starters for Rutgers, both of whom clocking in under 300 lbs. Hamilton in particular is a slight 270, so that's a weight matchup to watch. Both of these players are solid, but as I'll show you, I think they are exploitable against a rushing attack like Michigan's. Mayan Ahanotu gets in the mix, the clear #3 option at tackle, while Troy Rainey is used more sparingly, though he has logged significant snaps in garbage time. Rutgers uses two traditional LBs and these two guys play nearly every non-garbage time snap, WILL Deion Jennings and MIKE Tyreem Powell. Rutgers saw the LB level devastated in the offseason, losing four linebackers with significant experience, including star Olakunle Fatukasi. Powell and Jennings were very new to a starting role, yet surprisingly, they've done a respectable job keeping this ship afloat and not letting it turn into the dumpster fire many were expecting. Neither player is an impact piece but to this point in the season, they have been serviceable B1G starters, which is huge for Schiano's defense, in the process of rebuilding its front seven. Like I said, Powell and Jennings rarely come off, but if they do, Jamier Wright-Collins and Austin Dean are the next men up at LB. While the front seven saw sizable turnover, the secondary returned mostly intact. Both of last year's starters at safety return, but Christian Izien has slid to nickel. Izien was an All-B1G Honorable Mention last season and has been good in coverage, but struggled getting off the blocks defending the run. Rutgers uses its nickel in the box a decent amount, so that dimension of the position is worth noting. The other returning safety is Avery Young, this week's Dangerman after a nice showing against the Buckeyes, including an INT. His coverage was a highlight of the defense's performance against the high-powered OSU passing attack. Desmond Igbinosun is the other starting safety and I don't have a ton to say about him based on my viewings, other than that he's one of PFF's lower-graded Rutgers defenders. Young and Izien have rarely left the field this season while Igbinosun has missed some time with injury, which allowed Elijuwan Mack to get a bit of run. At corner Rutgers returns Max Melton, who you may recall missed the Michigan game last year after a "paintball gun incident". That was a shame for Rutgers, because Melton is a fine corner. Returning starter Kessawn Abraham has been dealing with injuries off and on so former Temple transfer Christian Braswell has been elevated to the starting role, but even then he has been rotating with Rob Longerbeam. Melton rarely comes off the field, the others are all rotating with each other. [AFTER THE JUMP: So this defense is gonna try and stop Blake Corum?]