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They turned things around in November, however, when they were second in the country in total defense, allowing just 269.7 yards per game.
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We played Iliinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan in Novermber. Here's what they did against our defense (points are those scored by their offense only):
Illinois: 14 points, 96 yards passing, 74 yards rushing, 170 total yards.
Wisconsin: 14 points, 154 yards passing, 206 yards rushing, 360 total yards.
Michigan: 21 points, 171 yards passing, 108 yards rushing, 279 total yards.
That works out to 16.3 ppg, 140.3 yards passing, 129.3 yards rushing, 269.7 total offense.
Illinois' offense flat out sucked (next to last in the country in total offense). Wisconsin's offense wasn't all that great. They rolled it up against [Mark May] teams (38 against Purdue and Minnesota, and 62 against Indiana), but couldn't do [Mark May] against decent or solid defenses (13 against MSU, and 14 against us and Stanford). Michigan scored a ton against everyone that didn't have a defense but, like Wisconsin, struggled against decent to solid defenses (14 against Alabama, 6 against Notre Dame, 12 against MSU, and 9 against Nebraska).
So while it was pleasant to see a significant statistical improvement, it may not be as great as the numbers suggest. More than the monthly stats, the thing I see as the most positive aspect was how we totally shut Michigan down in the second half. Hopefully the defense uses that as a springboard into next season...