Diaries

It is obvious Michigan's season hasn't started out the way we all would have
liked.  However, things were put in perspective for me today as I watched
the Dow take the largest dip since 1987 and GM's stock devalue by over thirty
percent.  Certainly we all can agree that the recent lag (substitute halt,
explosion, or absolute meltdown for the word "lag") in the American
economy is of much larger importance than the recent lag in Michigan's
offensive numbers.  But it got me thinking about commonalities in these
situations... I mean, let’s face it, the world and college football are both
changing rapidly.  This isn’t our grandparents America, just like it isn't
our Grandparent's Michigan.

There are a myriad of reasons for the recent struggles in the automobile
industry.  One such reason is the fact that companies are building and
selling 20th Century cars in the 21st Century.  The world we live in today
requires cars with better technology leading to increased fuel
efficiency.  In other words, the market has changed and so too must GM,
Ford, and Chrysler.  It’s not going to be easy.  Adapting to new
circumstances never is but adapt they must.  And it may even get worse
before it gets better.  But...they'll do it.  They just need to
commit to it.

Prior to this year our beloved Wolverines were much like the struggling
auto
companies.  We had a great team that we loved, but before we could even
realize it, the college football "market" passed us by.  Suddenly our run-run-pass-punt style of play wasn't as effective as it once was. Yes, we
are now in the process of adapting just like the auto industry must
do. 
Its terribly difficult and, at times, downright painful.  (Does anyone
else find themselves screaming out in the middle of the night?) And if
that wasn’t
bad enough, it may get worse before it gets better.  But they'll do
it.  They just have to commit to it. As fans its on us to be there
supporting them in this time of transition.

There was a time when Michigan was Champions of the West and America
championed industry around the free world.  Both will be back. Both will
rise from the ashes of what seems to be their lowest point in our lifetimes. 
So, how am i so confident? I don’t know. Maybe I feel like we need some
optimism in this world and around these boards.  But mainly, it’s because I believe in the
resiliency of this country and this team.  Thus, I concur with Coach Rod
that, Michigan football will be back.

 

London Times Online
October 9, 2008
University top 200 in full

h**p://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article4910798.ece?token=null&offset=48&page=5

The list in full:

1- 100

1 HARVARD University United States

2 YALE University United States

3 University of CAMBRIDGE United Kingdom

4 University of OXFORD United Kingdom

5 CALIFORNIA Institute of Technology (Calt... United States

6 IMPERIAL College London United Kingdom

7 UCL (University College London) United Kingdom

8 University of CHICAGO United States

9 MASSACHUSETTS Institute of Technology (M... United States

10 COLUMBIA University United States

11 University of PENNSYLVANIA United States

12 PRINCETON University United States

13= DUKE University United States

13= JOHNS HOPKINS University United States

15 CORNELL University United States

16 AUSTRALIAN National University Australia

17 STANFORD University United States

18 University of MICHIGAN United States

19 University of TOKYO Japan

20 MCGILL University Canada

21 CARNEGIE MELLON University United States

22 KING'S College London United Kingdom

23 University of EDINBURGH United Kingdom

24 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of T... Switzerland

25 KYOTO University Japan

26 University of HONG KONG Hong Kong

27 BROWN University United States

28 École Normale Supérieure, PARIS France

29 University of MANCHESTER United Kingdom

30= National University of SINGAPORE(NUS) Singapore

30= University of CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles (U... United States

32 University of BRISTOL United Kingdom

33 NORTHWESTERN University United States

34= ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE France

34= University of BRITISH COLUMBIA Canada

36 University of California, BERKELEY United States

37 The University of SYDNEY Australia

38 The University of MELBOURNE Australia

39 HONG KONG University of Science & Techno... Hong Kong

40 NEW YORK University (NYU) United States

41 University of TORONTO Canada

42 The CHINESE University of Hong Kong Hong Kong

43 University of QUEENSLAND Australia

44 OSAKA University Japan

45 University of NEW SOUTH WALES Australia

46 BOSTON University United States

47 MONASH University Australia

48 University of COPENHAGEN Denmark

49 TRINITY College Dublin Ireland

50= Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de LAUSANNE... Switzerland

50= PEKING University China

50= SEOUL National University Korea, South

53 University of AMSTERDAM Netherlands

54 DARTMOUTH College United States

55 University of WISCONSIN-Madison United States

56 TSINGHUA University China

57 HEIDELBERG Universität Germany

58 University of CALIFORNIA, San Diego United States

59 University of WASHINGTON United States

60 WASHINGTON University in St. Louis United States

61 TOKYO Institute of Technology Japan

62 EMORY University United States

63 UPPSALA University Sweden

64 LEIDEN University Netherlands

65 The University of AUCKLAND New Zealand

66 LONDON School of Economics and Political... United Kingdom

67 UTRECHT University Netherlands

68 University of GENEVA Switzerland

69 University of WARWICK United Kingdom

70 University of TEXAS at Austin United States

71 University of ILLINOIS United States

72 Katholieke Universiteit LEUVEN Belgium

73 University of GLASGOW United Kingdom

74 University of ALBERTA Canada

75 University of BIRMINGHAM United Kingdom

76 University of SHEFFIELD United Kingdom

77 NANYANG Technological University Singapore

78= DELFT University of Technology Netherlands

78= RICE University United States

78= Technische Universität MÜNCHEN Germany

81= University of AARHUS Denmark

81= University of YORK United Kingdom

83= GEORGIA Institute of Technology United States

83= The University of WESTERN AUSTRALIA Australia

83= University of ST ANDREWS United Kingdom

86 University of NOTTINGHAM United Kingdom

87 University of MINNESOTA United States

88 LUND University Sweden

89 University of CALIFORNIA, Davis United States

90 CASE WESTERN RESERVE University United States

91= Université de Montréal Canada

91= University of HELSINKI Finland

93= Hebrew University of JERUSALEM Israel

93= Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Germany

95 KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Scie... Korea, South

96 University of VIRGINIA United States

97 University of PITTSBURGH United States

98 University of CALIFORNIA, Santa Barbara United States

99= PURDUE University United States

99= University of SOUTHAMPTON United Kingdom

101 - 200

101 VANDERBILT University United States

102= University of NORTH CAROLINA United States

102= University of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA United States

104 University of LEEDS United Kingdom

105 PENNSYLVANIA STATE University United States

106= University of ADELAIDE Australia

106= University of ZURICH Switzerland

108 University College DUBLIN Ireland

109 TECHNION - Israel Institute of Technolog... Israel

110 GEORGETOWN University United States

111 MAASTRICHT University Netherlands

112 TOHOKU University Japan

113 FUDAN University China

114 TEL AVIV University Israel

115 University of VIENNA Austria

116 Université catholique de LOUVAIN (UCL) Belgium

117= MCMASTER University Canada

117= QUEEN'S University Canada

119 University of ROCHESTER United States

120 NAGOYA University Japan

121 OHIO STATE University United States

122= DURHAM University United Kingdom

122= University of MARYLAND United States

124= National TAIWAN University Taiwan

124= University of OTAGO New Zealand

126 ERASMUS University Rotterdam Netherlands

127 STONY BROOK University United States

128 EINDHOVEN University of Technology Netherlands

129 University of WATERLOO Canada

130 University of SUSSEX United Kingdom

131 University of BASEL Switzerland

132 University of CALIFORNIA, Irvine United States

133= CARDIFF University United Kingdom

133= Technical University of DENMARK Denmark

133= University of LIVERPOOL United Kingdom

136 University of GHENT Belgium

137= Freie Universität BERLIN Germany

137= TEXAS A&M University United States

139 HUMBOLDT-Universität zu Berlin Germany

140 Ecole normale supérieure de LYON France

141 University of Science and Technology of ... China

142 WAGENINGEN University Netherlands

143 NANJING University China

144= SHANGHAI JIAO TONG University China

144= University of GRONINGEN Netherlands

146 University of ARIZONA United States

147= CITY University of Hong Kong Hong Kong

147= Universität FREIBURG Germany

149 Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie PARIS V... France

150 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México ... Mexico

151 RUTGERS, The State University of New Jer... United States

152 University of BATH United Kingdom

153 University of ABERDEEN United Kingdom

154 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (II... India

155= Eberhard Karls Universität TÜBINGEN Germany

155= VU University AMSTERDAM Netherlands

157 TUFTS University United States

158 KYUSHU University Japan

159 The University of WESTERN ONTARIO Canada

160 QUEEN MARY, University of London United Kingdom

161 University of LAUSANNE Switzerland

162= CHALMERS University of Technology Sweden

162= NEWCASTLE University, NEWCASTLE Upon Tyn... United Kingdom

164 SIMON FRASER University Canada

165 University of FLORIDA United States

166= CHULALONGKORN University Thailand

166= Universität GÖTTINGEN Germany

168 University of NOTRE DAME United States

169 Universität FRANKFURT am Main Germany

170= INDIANA University Bloomington United States

170= University of CALGARY Canada

170= University of LANCASTER United Kingdom

173 KTH, ROYAL Institute of Technology Sweden

174= HOKKAIDO University Japan

174= Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (I... India

174= RENSSELAER Polytechnic Institute United States

177= University of LEICESTER United Kingdom

177= University of OSLO Norway

179 University of CAPE TOWN South Africa

180= University of COLORADO at Boulder United States

180= WASEDA University Japan

182 MACQUARIE University Australia

183= Lomonosov MOSCOW STATE University Russia

183= Université Libre de BRUXELLES (ULB) Belgium

185 BRANDEIS University United States

186= University of BARCELONA Spain

186= University of CANTERBURY New Zealand

188= POHANG University of Science and Technol... Korea, South

188= Technische Universität BERLIN Germany

190 Universität STUTTGART Germany

191 University of MASSACHUSETTS, Amherst United States

192= University of BERN Switzerland

192= University of BOLOGNA Italy

194 University of READING United Kingdom

195 University of ANTWERP Belgium

196 University of SAO PAULO Brazil

197= DALHOUSIE University Canada

197= University of BUENOS AIRES Argentina

199 KOBE University Japan

200= University of ATHENS Greece

Dear Ann Arbor News,

You have a job to fill. Sports columnist. The problem with your last one (Jim Carty): not enough of a homer. You could go the traditional, boring route: hire some other dude with the "right" credentials. And watch us all hate him.

Or you could hire Brian Cook. Brian, as you may know, happens to run the best damn Michigan blog in the land. He would make an excellent hire, and would make a splash (the mixing of new and old media, and all that).

So, a choice. Hire some lame dude/dudette. Or hire Brian (if he's willing). Don't miss the opportunity!

Your pal,

Coach Schiano

These words are here in order to meet the 200-word diary minimum that Brian so ruthlessly enforces. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. Especially these words: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0.

 

 

I think gsimmons has covered many of the problems of the defense in the comments section, so I'm just going to write about a few things I saw out of the offense.

• I saw more man blocking on the O-line this game that what I noticed the last few weeks.  The counters with Moundrous coming across the line of scrimmage produced a couple big gains.  The line looked much better in the man scheme than the zone.  They were getting a decent push and getting to the second level.  The timing on the zone scheme just doesn't look quite right yet.  We may see more man blocking as the year progresses if the zone scheme continues to struggle.
• Although they struggled more in the zone scheme, it was not always to the play side.  There were a few plays where I thought Threet should have kept the ball.  The DE had his shoulders completely turned, and Threet still handed the ball off.  The DE was then able to run down the play from the back side for minimal gain.  The corners were also pretty agressive on the running plays.  I thought the zone read where Threet has the wideout as a third option may have worked well in the game. 
• One of the ways Illinois was defending the zone read was to immediately bring the backside linebacker to tackle the QB.  So you have an unblocked DE to take the RB, and an unblocked linebacker to take the QB.  In this case, the QB should immediately throw the bubble screen.  Against Illinois, Michigan already had an advantage by alignment with a safety 10 - 15 yards off the ball.  With a linebacker going after the QB, there is no inside out flow to the play.  If its a good throw, its probably a 6-7 yard gain every time. 
• I thought we would see more bubble screens, but its probably better we did not.  The blocking by our wide recievers was probably the worst I've seen all year.  The basic idea behind stalk blocking as a wideout is to sell vertical until the DB stops his back pedal.  If if he starts to come up under control, you stay in front of him, hit him, get your hands on the breast plate of his shoulder pads, keep your feet moving and drive him back.  If he comes up hard, cut him and keep him on the ground.  The wideouts looked very tentative in their blocks, and you have to be aggressive but under control when blocking as a wideout.  If Matthews gets a block on the play that Minor fumbled, it probably goes for a big gain. 
• The play in the first half where Threet threw it to the middle of the field was probably a mistake by Odoms.  Miller was running with him down the middle on his release, and thats a good mismatch for us.  Threet thought he was going to keep running, but he broke off over the middle.  Either he just ran the wrong play, or he thought Miller was going to stay over top of him.  Either way, I think Odoms was wrong on that play. 
• I think we will see more shake up on the left side of the line.  Ortmann is a step slow at guard, and I thought Dorrestein was consistently standing up off the snap instead of driving out of his stance low.  He was blown backwards several times as a result.  This is a fundamental thing that should be fixed this week in practice. 

Overall, the offense did some good things, but they also did a lot of bad things.  If we hit on the long passes to Savoy and Odoms at the end of the first half, maybe that changes the game.  I don't want to beat a dead horse with things that have already been discussed, but I thought I'd point out a few things that I haven't seen in the comments section.

Nothing too earth shattering about the numbers from the Illinois game, most of the results would be right in line with expectations after watching the game.

Overall, Illinois had a game score of +21.  The breakdown was: +22 offense, -5 defense, 0 field position, +2 kicking game, +2 penalties.

Michigan had a game score of-22. -2 offense, -16 defense, 0 field position, -1 kicking, -2 penalties. Odoms did produce one of the top 10 receiving performances for the week with a +10 adjusted game score.

The offense/defense numbers vary slightly between the two teams because they are normalized based on the expected performance of the opposing unit.

Michigan was the 9th worst performance of the week while Illinois was the 15th best.

The projected score based on field position was Michigan's closest of the season: Illinois 30, Michigan 29

For my overall team rankings and the top performances from the week, you can go to my blog.

Offense Overall: -2

Running game: -6

Sam McGuffie: -1

Stephen Threet: -1

Brandon Minor: 0

Michael Shaw:-4

M. Odoms: 0

Passing Game: +4

M. Odoms: +10 (9th best performance of the week)

Greg Matthews: +9

Mark Moundros: +2

Michael Shaw: +1

L. Savoy: 0

Sam McGuffie: -1

Penalties (Offense): -2

Against: -2

For: none

 

Defense Overall: +16

Rush defense: +8

Juice Williams: +8

Daniel Dufrene: -1

Pass defense: +8

A. Benn: +8

D. Dufrene: +7

Penalties (Defense): +1

Against:-3

For: +4

 

We can bitch about the offensive ineptitude all season - but most of us have prepared ourselves for that.  We're also prepared to lose some football games.  Heck, we're even coming to realize and prepare for freshman mistakes like bad routes, lack of blocking by skill players, and fumbles.  But what I am NOT prepared for is a veteran defense giving up 500 yards and 45 points.  They can't blame that on the offense this week.  Only the late Odoms fumble was an example of the D being put in a bad spot.  Otherwise the offense got them a lead and Zoltan pinned Illinois deep on most occassions.  This loss was ALL on the defense. 

Let me preface this entry by saying that I don't have a lot of football knowledge when it comes to specific formations, plays, or strategies.  There are no doubt plenty of readers who can comment on those details and we'll get some more insight in the UFR.  I was at the game and sitting in the fourth row, so my perspective may also be skewed with regard to what was actually happening.

That being said, I was frustrated by what I perceived to be a "prevent" defense being implemented consistently against Illinois in obvious passing downs.  My definition of "prevent" is when you rush only three guys and drop 8 into a soft zone.  I don't care if those three guys are Lawrence Taylor, Reggie White, and Derrick Thomas - when you have 5 offensive lineman blocking three rushers you're going to fail more often than you succeed.  Against Illinois there were too many replays where I saw one of their offensive lineman looking around for someone to block and not finding anyone. 

The fact is, Juice Williams is not a great passing QB.  I'm sure ILL fans will point to his stats against Michigan to argue that point.  But the guy completed only 50% of his passes.  The fact that 13 completions went for 300+ yards is on the defense.  Whenever he was pressured, he fired as inaccurately as Threet does on most occassions.  But when he had all day to sit around looking for a receiver, he picked us apart.  Like the DL analogy above, I'm convinced that a good pass rush will create an All-Pro corner out of a mediocre one.  I don't care if you have Woodson, Law, and Jackson as your DBs - if they have to cover for a long time and the QB has a chance to read the defense, they'll lose most of the time.  And that's what you saw on Saturday (in my opinion).

The 3-man rush, which I associate with "prevent" looked to be a failure on Saturday.  I was told that Shafer loves to blitz.....but where was it?  I know you take a risk when you blitz against a 5-wide formation with a running QB.  But was that risk greater than letting Juice F-ing Williams pick you apart from an easy chair inside the pocket?  I think we all realize that the defense has to create a turnover or two to compete against tough teams.  How do you expect to get a turnover if you're rushing three and sitting in a soft zone? 

That's my gripe - the defense blew the game and I thought they failed both in strategy and execution.  Even a Henne-Hart-Manningham offense is going to struggle to overcome 45 points and 500 yards of offense.  I thought Michigan should/could have scored 31 points - counting the 4 points that Lopata missed and the wide open miss of Odoms running down the middle of the field.  Scoring 31 points with this young offense is pretty good....and we would have still lost by two touchdowns thanks to the defense.