Borges/Mattison Pressers 11/12/13
November 12th, 2013 at 6:44 PM ^
The defense has really let the team down. If the defense would have had last drive stops against PSU and NE we would have had 2 more wins despite the offensive problems. I guess I'm more disappointed in the bend but often break defense! I knew the offense would be so so given the interior line youth.
November 12th, 2013 at 6:46 PM ^
I hope this is sarcastic. A defense that gives up 17 points to Nebraska should always be in good shape against the worst run defense in the Big Ten. The defense has given the offense PLENTY of chances to win ball games.
November 12th, 2013 at 6:53 PM ^
Stop NE on that last game winning drive and we win 13-10. Stop an awful PSU offense from scoring the tying TD and we win that game. The defense did step up against Akron to prevent a loss.
November 12th, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 7:01 PM ^
I agree that the defense has given up drives at inoppertune times but they've also been placed in a lot of tough situations with turnovers and bad field position and come up strong.
November 12th, 2013 at 8:28 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 8:48 PM ^
If Gibbons make one of those FG in OT we win. Against Nebraska if we were able to get a first down or two we get a TD instead of a FG.
November 12th, 2013 at 8:54 PM ^
Thats an incredibly short sighted way of looking at it. Had it not been for the defense holding strong against Nebraska, it would have been a blow out. Maybe theres some argument to PSU, but we were one mis-timed jump from sealing that game. Then the D actually won it twice in overtime, only to be let down by offesnse. Even MSU, you could not expect any more out of a D that was constantly starting inside their own 50 and watching one 3 and out after another.
November 12th, 2013 at 9:01 PM ^
SCORE SOME F&#KING POINTS
November 12th, 2013 at 7:08 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^
Why is he a moron? While the defense has not really let the team down, he's right that it has rather pathetically given up crucial drives at the very end of games fairly consistently the last two years.
November 12th, 2013 at 6:50 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 10:27 PM ^
Right. Historically bad performances from the offense and the defense is the problem. Gotcha.
November 12th, 2013 at 11:10 PM ^
There is no question that the offense has let the team down and they were by far the biggest issue. However, don't be totally blind to the issues with the defense. They gave up 10 points early against NE, then tightened up and played great only to have a let down against a 3rd string QB when it mattered most.
The exact same thing happened against PSU, then they started to blitz in the 2nd half and Michigan got a 10 point lead into the 4th qtr. That should have been enough to win, but they let a freshman QB pick them apart, once they let up on the pressure.
Against MSU they looked good early, then let up and didn't put any pressure on the first year starting QB just before the half and to start the 2nd half. After that it was game over. If they had played an aggressive style like MSU that is a different game. They probably still lose, but it is not a blow out.
The defense has definitely played a role in the 3 losses. The point is that there was no reason to let up. It was working, stay with it.
November 13th, 2013 at 1:40 AM ^
This isn't a good sign either, may people said that we will get tired of Mattison's bend don't break defenses that fail many times in the 4th quarter. Sigh...a lot of things we heard about these coaches are coming true.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ^
agree more. I think it's become sort of a pattern with Mattison. End of game drives to Nebraska and PSU and end of half drive to MSU this year. Last year we lost to SC on an end of game drive. Year 1 we gave up a drive to ND that we luckily overcame with Denard driving the team to a TD in 30 secs. I'm not saying get rid of Mattison, but I think some of the problems can be attributed to these last minute scores we give up regularly.
November 12th, 2013 at 6:48 PM ^
Can anyone really fathom how Al Borges has been employed by BCS level institutions for the past 20-ish years?
November 12th, 2013 at 11:52 PM ^
Well, he did engineer an offense that averaged 40+ in the Pac-10 (UCLA in 2000 and 2001) and an offense that averaged 30+ in the SEC while going undefeated (Auburn in 2004). In the process, he turned Cade McNown and Jason Campbell into first round NFL draft picks. Dude has a great track record, he just doesn't seem to be working out at Michigan.
November 13th, 2013 at 1:03 AM ^
Those halycon days at UCLA were actually 1997 and 1998. In 1999, UCLA and Borges averaged 20.9 ppg.
He had one year at Cal (2001), in which the team went 1-10. The offense averaged 18.3 points per game (105th of 117). Everyone was fired.
He then had two years at Indiana under Gerry DiNardo (2002 and 2003), in which the teams went 3-9 and 2-10. In 2002, they averaged 21.5 points per game (95th of 117). In 2003, they regressed, averaging 14.8 points per game (115th of 117).
Despite that, somehow he was hired by Tuberville at Auburn. He inherited a roster with redshirt senior QB first round pick Jason Campbell, senior RB first round pick Cadillac Williams (5th pick overall in 2005), and redshirt senior RB first round pick Ronnie Brown (2nd pick overall in 2005). With those pieces in place (and those players having been developed for three to four years by others), the 2004 Auburn offense ranked 18th of 120. With each year of Borges at the helm, it regressed: 30th in 2005, 56th in 2006, and 85th in 2007. Borges did not make it to the bowl game in 2007.
He did not coach in 2008.
You'll see a similar regression at Michigan: 27th in 2011, 58th in 2012. (I expect the Iowa and Ohio State games to lower our averages this year as well.) We are putting up 100 yards fewer per game. Our yards per play have regressed each year: 6.8 in 2010 (under RR); 6.2 in 2011; 6.1 in 2012; 5.6 in 2013 so far.
People who know more about football than I do can argue whether he makes the right calls, but the players keep messing things up; whether his offense would work in a perfect world, but recruiting or youth or something else is to blame; whether as someone in the field, he must be given five years at a stop to try to make things work, etc. I simply would like people to know his actual background. Just like when people say Hoke inherited a cratering program at Ball State and turned it around, when in truth, Ball State had gone 6-6 the prior two years under Bill Lynch, and Hoke spent four years trying to get back to .500, and went 7-6 in his fifth year.
Anyway, typing out these statistics is my form of running Touissant up the middle 27 times. Doubt it is having much effect, but feel compelled to do it anyway.
[Note: I see that you are saying he is not working out at Michigan, so I am not arguing with you; I would simply like more people to know more about his record.]
November 13th, 2013 at 9:56 AM ^
Thank you, Newtopos, for the very informative post. That's pretty damning evidence to counter those who ahve been defending Borges.
I'm no football expert either but when facts are brought out, they can be very convincing.
I remember being taken to task last year when I maintained that the jury should still be out on Hoke because, while he went 11-2 in 2011, he had a very mediocre win/loss record as a HC prior to coming to Michigan.
November 12th, 2013 at 6:51 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^
Actually, what scares me is that Hoke is starting to sound like Rod Marinelli did at the end in Detroit. A whole lot of "we've got to do a better job coaching" and "we didn't execute" and not a whole lot else of any substance.
November 12th, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 7:03 PM ^
If I hear "It's on me" a couple times a week, you're going to have to make room for me on that bridge.
November 12th, 2013 at 7:03 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 7:05 PM ^
Not all coaches who work their way up are capable of winning at a major college program. This is where your AD has to have done his homework to pick the right guy for your program. We won't be able to judge Hoke and staff for another 3 seasons. We'll see at the end of 2016. I don't like the trend. It looks like players are not developing and he is getting out coached but that could all change once his players are seniors.
November 12th, 2013 at 8:04 PM ^
Wrong. The coaches are able to be judged as soon as they walk in the door. You are being too fair. They have underachieved severely, especially on offense, and the defense hasn't made up for it.
November 12th, 2013 at 11:36 PM ^
where do you get the idea that it takes 5-6 years to judge a coach? RichRod was gone in 3. Urban is in his second seasson, after taking over a .500 team.......and he has yet to lose.
Would you feel confident about judging what kind of coach Urban is right now?
November 12th, 2013 at 7:06 PM ^
I suppose I don't understand how people forget that The Fort is being well-maintained, so reading much of anything into what is said at these pressers is going to quickly lead people to strange and unlikely conclusions. Even if Hoke or one of the coordinators was not pleased with someone, the answers regarding who and why will not be in these pressers, nor should you expect them to be really.
Criticisms - rightly so - will be made where you will not be able to hear them if indeed they are made, so I wouldn't just assume, for example, that Hoke is 100% on board with where the offense is headed. He may very well not be, and perhaps he's made that clear to Borges, but you will not know until some action - or inaction - occurs in the offseason perhaps, if anything does happen.
For now, it's probably better that we refrain from saying "excuses" or making a really strange comparison of this staff to its far less media-savvy presdecessor. Actually, try not to read much into them right now - this would be my advice.
November 12th, 2013 at 7:22 PM ^
Stop using logic LSA, logic is no longer welcome around here. Internet gonna internet.
November 12th, 2013 at 7:26 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 7:59 PM ^
I think that is what he is saying -- they're not going to tell you the whole truth or share their "real feelings" at these things. It could only do harm. They're not going to go into specifics on gameplanning, call out specific player personnel changes or publicly question the long-term viability of some of the coaches. What do you want to hear?
November 12th, 2013 at 8:06 PM ^
You may be right, but unfortunately from my vantage point, the lack of improvement or, IMO, creativity offensively backs up what is said at pressers. Whether that is just an incorrect linking of two things or the fact that Hoke is indeed on board with the offense may never truly be known.
November 12th, 2013 at 7:09 PM ^
I wish this coaching crew would stop protecting the real culprit in all of this: adidas.
November 12th, 2013 at 7:14 PM ^
Hey, fun observation on Borges' press conference:
Borges offensive philsophy and baldness pattern cover the same regions of the field.
Go figure.
November 12th, 2013 at 7:15 PM ^
is a Borges move.
November 12th, 2013 at 7:33 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 7:52 PM ^
See, I LIKE Borges. I think he's a cool guy. Even during that press conference I enjoyed listening to him speak. I just wish he was a better coach.
November 13th, 2013 at 6:49 AM ^
When he talks, he doesn't give the impression of being clueless (frankly I get that from Hoke a bit more). The problem is that his smooth voice and intelligence don't seem to be translating to on the field performance very well...
November 12th, 2013 at 7:55 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 9:29 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 8:01 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 8:47 PM ^
Absurd comment. All we heard last year was how the offense was struggling because ole number 16 wasn't the right quarterback for Borges' system. Borges sucks and there's no other explanation for this mess we currently find the offense in.
November 12th, 2013 at 8:57 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 8:22 PM ^
Why would anyone hope to hear anything of substance in a coach's presser?
November 12th, 2013 at 8:23 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 9:23 PM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 10:16 PM ^