Last Line of Defense Against Tillman - Great Lakes Midshipmen

As predicted, the Midshipmen defeated the Packers in week 14 to move into 2nd place in the Taylor division. Their three losses were to excellent teams: Muncie, Nashville and Tillman. The Muncie loss causes some concern because Great Lakes was a 12 point favorite. However, that happened way back in week 1 so maybe the Midshipmen hadn't got their sea legs yet. Or is that SportsTurf legs?

 

Great Lakes is the anti-Muncie. Muncie has the better defense, Great Lakes has the better offense. Muncie has some flaws on offense, Great Lakes has some flaws on defense. The Midshipmen defensive line features Patrick Kerney and the Average Triplets (Sapp, Bernard and Hali). It's remarkable how they are ranked in the top 10 against the run. Maybe the run stopping capability of the two hosses in the LB corps, Nick Barnett and Lance Briggs helps. The secondary is the strength of the GLM defense with 8 ratings at both CB positions and Ed Pro-Bowl Reed at safety.

 

On offense, Matt Hasselbeck has several excellent targets on every play including Clinton Portis at RB and Chris Cooley at TE. The primary target is Brandon Marshall who is actually being underutilized, currently at only 60 receptions on a 102 catch year. There hasn't been a lot of double teaming on Marshall. Avoid it at your own risk. The running game featuring Portis is definitely unspectacular. For that matter, based on yards, the passing game is the same - 10th in the league. But they score points and that's what matters.

 

The games against NW Missouri and Tillman reveal the hurtles the Midshipmen must overcome if they expect to make it to the Big Show. Opposing RBs went wild on the Great Lakes defense while the defenses made Portis look like Andy Reid or Oprah running in jello. But Hasselbeck & Co. kept them in it. They were ultimately, barely successful against the Rednecks but 3 picks doomed him against Tillman.

 

(Editors Note: These statistics are prior to week 14 results.)

 

Great Lakes Midshipmen

Current Record: 10-3

Offense Ranking: 5

Rushing Rank (Yards): 11

Passing Rank (Yards): 10

Defense Ranking: 6

Run Defense Rank (Yards): 8

Pass Defense Rank (Yards): 6

Records of Opponents: 92-77

Common Opponents with Tillman: NCT, NWM, NE, WAU, DAK, NAS, STE, DON

Record vs Common Opponents: 7-1

Avg Scores vs Common Opponents: GLM 26.5-13.1, TIL 33-13.1