Post-game Comments/Thoughts
"This was embarrassing - we will not come out like this again." - Taylor Lewan
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) September 14, 2013
"We're not coming out like that again." - Devin Gardner
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) September 14, 2013
"I'm not going to play a down -- but, we're going to coach our butts off this week." - Coach Hoke
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) September 14, 2013
"I'm not here to celebrate - we have a lot of work to do." - Taylor Lewan
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) September 14, 2013
This game certainly should not be an accurate depiction of what the rest of the season holds for us. This is still a very talented team, but like Hoke says, there is still much work to be done before this is a championship team. Between turnovers, the offensive line, and the entire defense, there is certainly much to do, but I am 100% confident that the coaching will come through. I fully expect them to win by four touchdowns next week at UCONN.
And let's never speak of this game ever again. And don't pay attention to the media for the next week.
September 15th, 2013 at 12:32 AM ^
comfortable with our second CB position and are playing very soft to protect the secondary in general. I really doubt that anyone other than Countess among the current starters would have a shot to start with the talent/experience we should have in about 2 years.
September 14th, 2013 at 4:42 PM ^
I guess it shows the difference in coaching staff and I should be grateful. Under RRod we would have lost, under Hoke we won.
Let's go Blue! Use this as a lesson and go on a tear the rest of the season!
September 14th, 2013 at 4:49 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:00 PM ^
We need to give Kenny Allen a chance. Wile is not getting it done on Main Street.
September 14th, 2013 at 4:57 PM ^
Happy to see some people step up verbally, but at some point players not going in the first round of the NFL draft should actually perform better.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:02 PM ^
offense: with the interior OL so weak, we can probably forget about being a power running team. We will have to beat teams with Gardner's arm and feet, and Gardner will have to focus on running or throwing it away instead of throwing into coverage. The offense could still be pretty good if he would quit throwing picks.
defense: the back 7 actually hasn't given up too many big plays, which is a good thing because the only way this defense will be effective is by mixing up a lot of different types of blitzes. The defense has no one who even approaches being a difference maker.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:02 PM ^
I'm just annoyed that the 8-yard slants were there for Akron. All. Damn. Day. Do we really not have the players to cover AKRON'S receivers a little tighter than that? Hint: 10-yard cushions on 3rd and 6 don't tend to work out too well.
September 14th, 2013 at 9:16 PM ^
what was brilliant scheme-wise last week definitely wasn't this week. Zeeeero pressure by our D line, and very few blitzes called. Seems like Mattison doesn't trust the corners or LB's one bit.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:05 PM ^
Well, they certainly do not have the right to rush four, and frankly it was pissing me off that Mattison didn't blitz earlier in the game. The longer you let a team like Akron hang around, the more hope you give that team. Michigan needed to stomp them early, blitz them early, take the wind out of their sails early. Instead, Michigan gave Akron more and more hope. That was awful to watch.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:06 PM ^
Call me a troll, but Funk needs to go. The guy is not nor has he ever been a good OLine coach.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:08 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:38 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:49 PM ^
There's a reason you had to create a new account.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:56 PM ^
Yes, there was, and it had absolutely nothing to do with calling out coaches whose units underperform.
September 14th, 2013 at 6:05 PM ^
The only thing consistent about your posts is your inability to know when to stop making them.
September 14th, 2013 at 6:21 PM ^
but I don't think you can kick him out yet. O-linemen are notoriously developmental (as opposed to RBs, CBs, etc) and his first class (the RS Fr) are just starting to play. Sure, it's concerning that we're not doing so hot, but his players haven't worked their way through yet. Tough to say at this point but certainly not promising ime
September 14th, 2013 at 9:37 PM ^
September 15th, 2013 at 12:00 AM ^
agreed, that's two straigth years of poor offfensive line play, and it won't get much easier next year. I'm also dissapointed in our defensive line, with all of the talk about getting good defensive line coaching they don't seem to be getting any pressure the last two years.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:06 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:09 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:10 PM ^
It's all on the OL, Funk while a great recruiter, has been a step down in OL coaching from the previous regime in my eyes.
This team is still a zone blocking team and I would hope Hoke/Borges accept that and go with it. No point in forcing something your players can't do.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:15 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 7:14 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:16 PM ^
Knowing Hoke & Co. they will reinforce what poor decision making equates to this week... but chances are the kids learned the lesson some point in the 2nd half...
Also, Fitz should come out feeling confident in his play and playing under a tense/stressful situation, our young o-line should be able to come out having more trust in themselves and each other.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:17 PM ^
Watching the OL today, that wasn't a coaching problem, that was a talent / experience problem. Akron was blowing our line up play after play after play. That was more or less the same story against ND except Gardner wasn't always trying to throw to the wrong team.
I think this bodes poorly for the rest of the season. I want to be positive, but damn, we were out played by Akron nearly the entire game, not just one quarter. I hope I'm wrong, but unless line play is much improved, I can't see how we win any more than 7 this year.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:22 PM ^
4-5 the rest of the way.
damn, that will suck
September 14th, 2013 at 6:30 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:19 PM ^
I'm getting tired of watching Borges put our quarterbacks into situations that don't fit them. Granted DG played like crap. However it is evident that he plays much better out of the gun. The zone read was clicking and we did not stay with it. Also Borges has to get out of his tendencies. When under center we always run a dive/power run or PA roll out to the right. When we were under center Amato stacked the box and brought a blitz off of the R edge. That covered about 95% of what we have been doing from under center. He repeatedly calls about 3-4 horrible games per year. That combined with poor play from the guys on the field led to this near loss. Last year ND and MSU games stick out as badly called games. I hope we start running mainly shotgun formations until we get a decent lead. Also we need to realize that we are going to have to use DG in the run game more than we want to due to the youth in the middle of the OL. At least we got the W.
GO BLUE.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:28 PM ^
I think your first post is crap
September 14th, 2013 at 8:05 PM ^
I think all of your posts are crap
September 14th, 2013 at 5:23 PM ^
after the ND game and didn't give two chits about Akron. Coaching first and foremost is to blame for overlooking this or any opponent.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:45 PM ^
I need better skills.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:30 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:30 PM ^
After spending a week explaining to all how the two PI calls we got last week weren't weak or flukey....the refs bailed us out big time. We got two PI calls that were bogus while a ref staring at our corner maul their receiver in the end zone threw no flag. We even got a few favorable spots. The last 10 minutes or so of the game I was watching thinking 'thank god the refs arent goign to let us lose,' we almost did anyways. That was the least enjoyable michigan game I've watched in a long time :(
September 14th, 2013 at 5:38 PM ^
Hoke has a poor road record
We still havent won a Big Ten title forever...
I think MSU still has upper hand until we beat them in EL
September 14th, 2013 at 5:39 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:40 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:49 PM ^
this in my mind. W is a W. on to next game.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:42 PM ^
...is that this is an extremely young team. Young teams make a lot of mistakes and are prone to mental weakness, including things like letdowns. The upperclassmen can be great leaders, but young kids are going to be young kids. A few kids listen to their parents the first time not tell them to touch the hot stove, but a lot of kids learn by getting burned.
We've been seeing a lot of mistakes in every game, even the 50 point blowout in week 1. Too many penalties of the false start/offsides variety. The interior of both the offensive and defensive lines are very inexperienced and will be outplayed until they have enough games under their belts. Don't expect that to happen until late in this year or next year. Some guys even lose confidence and never become the player they can.
The disappointing aspect of all this is a senior QB with plenty of big-game experience as the starter, plus an entire off-season of preparation. It was admirable of Lewan to try to accept responsibility for not giving Gardner enough time, but every one of those TOs was when Gardner was not under pressure and simply made horrible decisions. The #1 job of a QB is to keep the ball from the other team. The only players on the team who should be giving it to the oppponent are the punter and kick-off specialist (and I do mean specialist, b/c it's time to put Kenny Allen back there).
Let's all pray we can grow up quickly.
September 14th, 2013 at 6:38 PM ^
Except for Gardner, this team is not especially mistake-prone. The bigger problems are that the interior OL can't get any push and the DL can't generate any pressure. I think they can game plan around those things to some degree, but I would not expect much improvement in those areas over the course of the season.
September 14th, 2013 at 8:20 PM ^
...has receivers running free in our secondary, those are mistakes in coverage. When Akron has RBs bottled up then bounce into a vacated gap, those are mistakes. How many false starts can you take before you think they're mistakes? We've now had 18 penalties in 3 games, none by Gardner and none by the DL.
Mistakes are more than just TOs.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:42 PM ^
Hey I think the coaches know more about who should play since they actually go to practice and know the players. Yeah let's just start plugging in new guys. Do you know how good they really are? No. If they were better, they would be playing. I don't understand why people complain about who's playing. You don't know the team as well as the coaches.
September 14th, 2013 at 7:05 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 8:15 PM ^
Old QB depth chart:
- Gardner
- Manziel
- Morris
- Cleary
- Swieca
- Moores
- Bellomy (inj.)
New QB depth chart:
- Manziel
- Guiton
- Gardner or Morris
- Cleary
- Swieca
- Moores
- Bellomy (inj.)
September 14th, 2013 at 5:44 PM ^
Let's scoop that turd off the driveway and throw it in the trash can. On to Connecticut for the win we should have put up today. GO BLUE!
September 14th, 2013 at 5:47 PM ^
football game, so I missed the whole second half. (phone was not working) Cannot believe that almost happened. But there is no "Win, Loss, should have lost". Only 2 columns. That being said, I think a lot of fans treated this game like the players did. I said in the "where to watch the game on Mars" thread that I was shocked everyone kept saying "It's Akron". Yeah, Akron. Scary stuff.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:48 PM ^
They talk and play like the Detroit Lions. That is not a good thing.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:52 PM ^
Granted, they still have to prove it out on the field, but I'm loving the accountability to the point where Taylor's disagreeing with Devin about whose fault this was...
September 14th, 2013 at 6:27 PM ^
September 14th, 2013 at 5:55 PM ^