Michigan Wolverines football defensive coordinator Don Brown has received criticism over the past two years for the way his units have performed against Ohio State, first allowing 567 yards and 62 points in 2018 and following it up by yielding 577 yards and 56 points this past year.
While the extent to which Brown's defenses have been dismantled are downright embarrassing for the Wolverine veteran coordinator, it's also important to note how seldom the game's elite defenses are shutting down — or even containing — elite offenses nowadays.
To further exemplify this, we've taken a look back at the eight occurrences in 2019 when a top 10 defense squared off against a top 10 offense, and the results have heavily favored the offenses.
Here are the matchups that are being studied (the top 10 offensive team is listed first below):
• Clemson's 29-23 win over Ohio State (this game has been counted twice, since both teams' offenses and defenses each concluded inside the top 10)
• Washington State's 38-13 loss to Utah
• LSU's 37-10 destruction of Georgia
• Ohio State's 38-7 annihilation of Wisconsin
• Ohio State's 34-21 win over Wisconsin
• LSU's 42-25 triumph over Clemson
• LSU's 42-28 victory over Florida
Six of the eight top 10 defenses listed above gave up at least 29 points in their respective games, with the exceptions being Utah's 38-13 blowout of Washington State and Clemson's 29-23 win over Ohio State.
Additionally, 32.2 was the average number of points allowed by the game's top defenses, while they gave up an average of 473.6 yards per game.
Seven of the eight offenses above put up at least 417 yards on their elite defensive counterparts (Utah limiting Washington State to 313 yards was the exception), while three of the eight eclipsed the 500-yard plateau (LSU's 628 yards on Clemson and 511 against Florida, and Ohio State's 516 yards versus Clemson).
Again, these numbers don't excuse the pitiful performances that Michigan's defenses have put on against Ohio State the past two years, but it does put in perspective how seldom elite offenses are being contained by the game's top defenses.
The chart below further exemplifies how the sport's best offensive units are not only having success against elite defenses, but oftentimes shredding them:
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