Mlive: Nuss, DG, and the O-line.
August 31st, 2014 at 9:07 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 10:40 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
You can probably move on now.
August 31st, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 9:08 AM ^
Thanks for the link. I hope Devin has that same comfortable look and feel next week in South Bend.
August 31st, 2014 at 9:14 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
August 31st, 2014 at 9:17 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
Especially at night. There have not been a lot of them - '82', '88, '90, '12 that I recall - but we've never won there at night.
August 31st, 2014 at 9:20 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^
September 1st, 2014 at 8:11 AM ^
A run check is exactly what Michigania thought it might be. It is when the offense shows a personel package and formation, the defense shows their hand as to what they are doing in response, and then the offense audibles, while keeping their formation and personel, into a run that they think will be successful against that particular defensive allignment.
August 31st, 2014 at 9:24 AM ^
"Michigan showed spread formations, I-formations and double-tight end looks. But at the end of the day, everything was based on simply taking what was there -- rather than forcing something that wasn't."
This might have been the most visible difference, and it was nice to see. You saw checks into other plays, decisions being made right in the formation, things that were virtually absent last year. Most importantly, that run check mentioned in the article came on one of the many plays where Gardner did indeed "MIKE before the hike", and it worked out quite nicely. I really do like Nussmeier's presence on the sideline - trying to study his players and see how they are doing in realtime and coaching them on the spot. It seems to make a huge difference with this offense.
August 31st, 2014 at 9:26 AM ^
"I feel like (Nussmeier) is simplifying everything, and making it so I can understand (what's going on) and help the younger guys."
August 31st, 2014 at 9:31 AM ^
"He got the most excited when I (made) a run check," Gardner laughed after Michigan's convincing 52-14 win over Appalachian State on Saturday. "He was screaming at me, and I was like 'what, did I do it wrong?'
"He was so hyped ... he said that was the best play I made all day."
This makes me very happy
August 31st, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
Damn chess match, that is. No thank you.
Good day sir.
August 31st, 2014 at 10:01 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^
If Michigan had beaten the Buckeyes last year, and the team had finished 8-5, and the offense did what it did in that game in comparison to the rest of the year, would there have been as much as an outcry for Borges firing? Maybe, maybe not.
I rewatched the game against the Buckeyes yesterday before App State, and Michigan's failure to execute certain calls that fooled the Buckeyes, would have made the difference. In fact, it was the defense, not the offense, that gave up big play after big play and couldn't stop Miller and Hyde that doomed the team in that loss.
I have no qualms about what has transpired and the changing of OCs. I think yesterday checked all the question mark boxes going in. The efficiency was there, obviously, in the run and pass game. The defense was pretty much as advertised with the exception of some mental breakdowns on run gap coverage.
I like this team period and its direction. It will be fun of they can carry on this development to greater heights through the season.
August 31st, 2014 at 10:46 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 11:47 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 5:39 PM ^
I think that this is true, and bears remembering. However, it also bears remembering that Borges consistently denied that the scheme that couldn't be executed was partly at fault for the failure to execute. I simply don't think that Borges was compensating adequately for the youth of the offense. I thionk a young offense, especially one young on the line, simply needs to be drilled in the base plays until they can adequate;y execute them, before adding the wrinkles. Maybe Borges simply hadn't had to deal with that before, and so couldn't see it.
August 31st, 2014 at 10:44 AM ^
I don't think that Borges's coaching style was the problem when Michigan went 10-2 and then won the Sugar Bowl. It took two years of failure for Hoke to realize that, which is about what you would expect.
Remember that one of Borges's problems was that he was, like Hoke, in love with manball. He didn't have team that could play manball, though, and didn't adjust. Most of Borges's failure was on him, but part of it was on Hoke for encouraging the whole "this is Michigan, we play manball here" approach that Borges couldn't get done.
So, nothing particularly scary about how long it took to realize that Borges was the problem, and no real loss to player development except in that the line wasn't able to gel around a single concept and single identity. Given how young the line was, that's not as big a loss as it might seem; they were still getting college-best strength and conditioning coaching,
August 31st, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
Molk was a much better zone-blocking center than a man-blocking center.
August 31st, 2014 at 3:06 PM ^
Borges was not "in love with MANBALL." Hoke described him as a "mad scientist" when he first got here. DB is in love with MANBALL and apparently mandates it to the coaching staff.
Anyway, I am tired of seeing people bitch about former coaches who came here, did there best and represented the University with class. Have some class and try not to turn MGB into RCMB.
August 31st, 2014 at 3:26 PM ^
I am not at all blaming Borges alone. He was part of the problem, whether you want to acknowledge that or not, but I specifically said that he wasn't the sole problem. He didn't have the personnel to run the scheme he wanted to run and was instructed to run (which was MANBALL), and, while he compensated for that to a large degree, it was increasingly difficult to keep the players on the same page when average player experience when down as the team entered Attrition Valley.
DB is in love with winning without scandal, and I very much doubt he cares what offensive scheme is used to get wins without scandal.
Anyway, I am sick of posters who try to tell other posters what mature, considered opinions they are and are not allowed to express. Have some class and take that petty shit to RCMB.
August 31st, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
See and I don't understand this either. 2012 wasn't a failure it wasn't even a bad year.
In the regular season we lost to 3 undefeated teams (2 of them by relatively close margins) and Nebraska when Denards arm exploded. When that season ended, especially with what Gardner did at the end of that year, I was super excited for what was being built. Even closing out with the loss to a very good SCAR team.
If Denard doesn't get hurt and we beat Neb we are playing for the BIG title and the season is a total success even if we lose to Wisky.
Last season however was a total debacle, as a great man once said. Yeah after 2013 you look back at 2012 and say maybe the offensive gameplan should have been better and maybe there should have been more improvement but realistically it was one year that got Borges the axe and was a reasonable reaction by Hoke/Brandon.
August 31st, 2014 at 11:36 AM ^
I don't know; every time Borges would obviously blow it, he would come back with an great game plan. I was livid after 2012 Ohio, but thought the Jan 2013 Outback Bowl was a brilliant offensive game plan. 2013 ND and Ohio were pretty amazing too. At the end of the day, Borges was too inconsistent and predictable, but he was occasionally brilliant. Ok, brilliant might be a stretch. Anyways, I've made a personal decision not to write, think, or speak badlly about Borges anymore, even if he mucked some things up (and he did badly enough that he should have been fired). He gave his best and it occasionally resulted in good (i.e. record breaking) production.
August 31st, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
Take what the defense gives you rather than try to force a system just to prove a point...that's my favorite thing.
Also the fact Gardner could be a QB rather than a hero ball QB. I am sure that will change in the next game but even in the CMU slaughter Devin basically looked like taller Denard out there with so many scrambles. Yesterday he could just relax and be a QB other than the busted play when Green went the wrong way. Will be interesting to see how many designed QB runs we have waiting for ND.
August 31st, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 10:57 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 11:28 AM ^
Never mind, anything else would probably be illegal. I bow to your level-headedness.
August 31st, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 10:04 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^
Let's revisit this subject after next week.
August 31st, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^
Oh yes, couldn't agree more! I mean afterall, it worked for Bo and dag nabbit it'll work for us if we just execute! It's not like the college football landscape has changed at all in the last 25 years.
August 31st, 2014 at 10:42 AM ^
I thought that early-on, when Devin either missed the handoff to Green on a zone stretch play or it was a designed run, and then Green followed that up with a run in which he basically ran up the backs of his blockers and failied to take advantage of a huge cut-back lane that would have yielded huge yardage, that he needed to come out.
And in the next possession, Smith was inserted into the game and started making a difference in the attack. So, that by the time Green came back in, he was a different runner.
The point is, the holes were there, and its the rb's job to take what they are getting in terms of openings and space and run through it. The Oline did a tremendous job of staying with blocks and there were ample examples of wideouts, especially Chesson blocking his cover 15 to 20 yards downfield on some of those long runs. Kalis blocked his man ahead of a scoring fun by Green after Green had already crossed the goal line. They finished blocks yesterday.
August 31st, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 11:32 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 11:06 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^
August 31st, 2014 at 11:42 AM ^
From my prime vantage point 500 miles away watching on TV, to me, it looks like the team (especially the offense) is 100 times more relaxed and unafraid of making mistakes. The trust that was essentially gone last year, in my opinion, between the offensive line and DG, is back, and it is reinforced by Nuss' presence on the sideline. I also think (and please correct me if I am wrong, but I'm pretty sure Funk was on the sideline), that Funk is benefitting by being on the field with Nuss too.
I know yesterday was a glorified scrimmage, and even the Notre Dame result can mislead us to either extreme about how the team really stacks up (see the past seven years). My point is that the environment for the offense is way more positive, and I can see huge strides being made in the development of the OL and the RB's specifically.
August 31st, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
[Melanie Maxell photos from the article page.]
Physicalness (translated from the vernacular): Wide receivers who tackle.
(Jehu Chesson)
Speed. Linebackers who score. (Ben Gedeon)
And teaching.
August 31st, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^
Chesson just creamed the punt returner on our one punt. It was a miracle that didn't result in a fumble.