Talking defense hot button issues with former Michigan All-American linebacker Ron Simpkins.
On playing young defensive tackles like Chris Hinton and Mazi Smith: “You can do it, but in situations. You don’t know if freshman at that position can go out and play whole game. There’s a lot of difference between high school and college. In high school they can be bigger and stronger and just dominate a guy. By the time they get to college, it takes some time for young guys to understand.
“Here, it’s about doing your assignment first. Once you get that down, you get a little free and more comfortable. The bottom line — can you get off blocks and go make plays?”
On big plays allowed against Wisconsin, including a long touchdown run by Jonathan Taylor and what went wrong: “Communication … rotation. It was a situation when the receiver went in motion, the safeties rotated. One was going deep middle and one was coming up for primary force. Kwity Paye didn’t contain outside, and there’s nothing you can do at that point. When a guy has a running lane, he’s full speed by the time anybody realizes what going on.
