The Instrument Is Out Of Alignment Comment Count

Brian

9/19/2015 – Michigan 28, UNLV 7 – 2-1

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This is our concern, Dude [Patrick Barron]

It didn't take long for Jim Harbaugh to shift from cheerfully and convincingly explaining why Jake Rudock's play was better than it looked against Utah to… not doing that. After UNLV, a couple of post-game questions clearly designed to fill already-written stories about Rudock's grim day with quotes raised Harbaugh's ire. He deflected a couple with boilerplate ("his job is to win football games") and assertions about a swirling wind, but when a third came:

Um, I guess I’m not as concerned with statistics as you two seem to be.

I hesitate to side with the Talk About types, but I'm concerned. I'm concerned with both the statistics (123 yards against UNLV, probably half of which came on "smoke" screens) and the overall level of play the statistics crystallize.

We're working with small sample sizes, of course, but that's all we've got to project with. The projections are not ideal.

I am not buying the wind conditions being a problem. I was in that stadium. I have been in it for many games. I once had a life and death fight with a poorly designed poncho. I have seen and endured all kinds of weather, and at no point on Saturday did the wind rise to a level where it felt like a serious factor. It blew a bit; I have seen many quarterbacks deal with that and much worse.

Those quarterbacks include one Jake Rudock. Kinnick Stadium juts out of a vast unbroken expanse of plains extending to the Rocky Mountains. In February I had occasion to drive through virtually the entire state of Iowa during a blizzard; I went at highway speeds because the snow was blown over the roads in an ever-streaming mass, never settling. Only the odd copse of trees huddled around a farmhouse provided enough of a windbreak to allow snow a temporary home, and even that was more refugee shelter than citizenship.

That drive reminded me of a David Foster Wallace essay about his youth tennis career that necessarily focused on one of the overriding concerns outdoor sportsmen have when the nearest bump in the terrain is thousands of miles to the west:

The biggest single factor in Central Illinois' quality of outdoor life is wind. There are more local jokes than I can summon about bent weather vanes and leaning barns, more downstate sobriquets for kinds of wind than there are in Malamut for snow. The wind had a personality, a (poor) temper, and, apparently, agendas. The wind blew autumn leaves into intercalated lines and arcs of force so regular you could photograph them for a textbook on Cramer's Rule and the cross-products of curves in 3-space. It molded winter snow into blinding truncheons that buried stalled cars and required citizens to shovel out not only driveways but the sides of homes; a Central Illinois "blizzard" starts only when the snowfall stops and the wind begins. Most people in Philo didn't comb their hair because why bother.

Of all the things that might explain why Jake Rudock could not hit Drake Johnson on a five-yard swing pass, wind is the least believable.

----------------------------------------

So. Let us calibrate our panic. It is the first year of a new head coach handed a terrible QB situation making do; that head coach has been massively successful anywhere he's laid his head. Macro panic: nil.

Micro panic: measurable. The Big Ten looks like a bunch of goobers plus MSU and OSU and I guess maybe Northwestern is good. A team that has Michigan's salty defense and a steady, boring offense is going to win a healthy number of games. Michigan's offense has been boring; it has only managed to be steady against Oregon State.

The offense Michigan fielded on Saturday loses games Michigan fans are currently filing in the win column. While that's cause for a shrug long term thanks to the state of the QB roster, it does dent Harbaugh's early momentum. Does that matter much? The recent trajectories of high-level coaches and… well… Brady Hoke say not particularly.

But it is nice to win things. I'm busy downgrading my expectations about as fast as I'm downgrading my expectations for the rest of Michigan's schedule, which is fine, I guess. I expect a bumpy ride and then as soon as anything goes smoothly I exclaim THIS IS IT FOREVER, because I am irrational.

We've gone from hoping that we should dump Rudock's career at Iowa from our expectations to hoping it's still valid to add those games in; it probably is. The upside of escaping Greg Davis, where Iowa fans are going nuts about a guy whose completions are five yards downfield or shorter 80% of the time feels gone. We would like to lock in the low-turnover game manager if that is still available.

HIGHLIGHTS

AWARDS

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wear Jourdan Lewis #brand jackets [Patrick Barron]

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Yet To Be Named Harbaugh-Themed Guys Who Did Good Award.

you're the man now, dog

#1 Jourdan Lewis had 4(!) PBUs on the day, and those were mostly as he covered the very legit Devonte Boyd. Playing as well as any Michigan DB since… Leon Hall?

#2 Ty Isaac ripped off the 76-yard touchdown that made things comfortable at halftime. On that play he made a swift cut upfield, broke a tackle, and put on the jets. He looked solid on his other seven runs as well.

#3 Channing Stribling picked off a pass, defended another, and was able to stick to the receiver any time he was tested.

Honorable mention: Blake O'Neill probably would have snagged the first-ever punter mention in this section if he hadn't shanked that one. Any member of the front seven—Michigan spread 8 TFLs among 9 players. Jehu Chesson did go grab a rushing touchdown.

YTBNHTGWDGA Standings.

5: Chris Wormley(#2 Utah, #1 Oregon State)
3: Jake Butt (#1 Utah), Jourdan Lewis (#1 UNLV)
2: De'Veon Smith(#2 Oregon State), Ty Isaac(#2 UNLV)
1: Willie Henry (#3 Utah), AJ Williams (#3 Oregon State), Channing Stribling(#3 UNLV)

Who's Got It Better Than Us Of The Week

Honorable mention: Picks from Clark and Stribling. Glasgow's thunderous TFL. Blake O'Neill essentially passing the ball down to the 3, and hitting a 59-yarder without a return.

WGIBTUs Past.

Utah: Crazy #buttdown.
Oregon State: #tacopunts
UNLV: Ty Isaac's 76 yard touchdown

imageMARCUS HALL EPIC DOUBLE BIRD OF THE WEEK.

The general sentiment was to keep double bird. That was my inclination as well.

This week's worst thing ever.

Jake Rudock matches his 2014 interception total in game three by throwing one that hits a linebacker in both hands. The linebacker deflected it to a defensive back, but that was not bad luck.

Honorable mention: Rudock misses a flare route by yards. Any number of interior rushes that didn't get much. Those two Decker passes towards the end that seriously compromised Michigan's quest to keep UNLV under 200 yards.

PREVIOUS EDBs

Utah: circle route pick six.
Oregon State: Rudock fumbles after blitz bust.
UNLV: Rudock matches 2014 INT total in game 3.

I am sensing an unfortunate theme.

[After THE JUMP: corners making plays, DL emerging, run game woes explained, YIP YIP YIP YIP]

OFFENSE

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When Michigan went outside it was ridiculously easy [Upchurch]

Ground grunts. De'Veon Smith never got going in this game in large part because UNLV was willing to put the world within six yards of the line of scrimmage:

massive box

This was in contrast to Oregon State, which wasn't exactly conservative (both safeties at ten yards generally means one of them is going to be a heavy run defender) but was not exactly aggressive, either.

UNLV also virtually ignored the edges. When Jehu Chesson got a jet sweep he needed one block from Henri Poggi and one from Darboh downfield to score; most of those fullback dives featured unblocked defensive ends crashing down while no one tracked the pitch guy. The swing pass Rudock missed at the start of the second half would have gone for 30 yards and maybe a touchdown, as Drake Johnson was about to be one on one with a free safety. Any outside run on which Michigan targeted correctly was an easy chunk of yards.

Michigan did not explore this with the frequency they probably should have. This game is going to come out negative in RPS because Michigan had a lot of plays blown up by guys they weren't trying to block or didn't have the numbers to. That's irritating in the moment but with Michigan up multiple touchdowns much of the day and playing a team that barely got past midfield you can understand M going into boring, expectation-shedding mode with BYU next up.

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Rudock is not Denard [Upchurch]

Transition issues. The most alarming bit of the day in the passing game was the period in the second half where Rudock started sitting in the pocket forever and then running around because he could not find anyone to throw the ball to. One of those worked out into the world's longest eight-yard scramble; even that felt like a very bad idea Rudock got away with because he was playing UNLV.

The interception clearly sapped Rudock's confidence in what he was seeing, and the results were not pretty. Rudock's not the biggest or strongest or most likely to throw a football through a brick wall; his assets are intelligence and good, quick decisions. Remove the quick decisions and you've got a passing game that looks like Michigan's did on Saturday.

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Great catch necessarily out of bounds [Upchurch]

Wide receiver debates. There's a rift in the Michigan fanbase between folks who are piling it all on Rudock and those who are splitting the blame with the wide receivers. I'm actually more in the former camp, to my surprise. There was one pass in this game that looked bad for Amara Darboh since he turned to the inside before having to spin back outside on a deep ball that eventually fell incomplete.

[@ Right: Barron]

20925664104_425e36e30c_zThat's not great tracking of the ball; it is also a problem with Rudock since Darboh has beaten his guy solidly and expects that he'll get an opportunity to make a relatively easy catch of a ball coming over his right shoulder. Instead he is invited to execute a full Willie Mays basket catch on a ball that is much more difficult than it has to be.

Meanwhile the Harris catch above was in fact a great adjustment to a ball in flight. Unfortunately that ball gave Harris zero chance of staying in bounds. Rudock has consistently given his deep receivers little to no play on the ball. The first Chesson pass against Utah isn't even an exception. Yes, Chesson slowed up a hair. But he had beaten his man so badly that his main concern was running out of room in the endzone; Rudock overthrew a ball that he should have been putting up for a layup.

All this goes back to the major weakness I thought I saw over the summer: Rudock tries to make the perfect throw every time and rarely puts up the kind of pass where his receiver gets a chance to make a play. We've seen a couple that may have been inaccuracy more than anything.

I do think a guy like Funchess would be helping out a lot, but Michigan's situation at WR is not that incredibly dire.

OL things? I don't have much to say about them yet. Pass protection was very good. The run issues came coupled with a number of mashing blocks at the point of attack that got less than you might think because of the sheer number of bodies in the area.

Strobel number roulette. Strobel donned an OL's 50 this week and tucked inside Mason Cole on a number of goofy alignment plays that Michigan did not execute particularly well on.

DEFENSE

Rather decent. In the game preview I predicted that UNLV would not get to 200 yards if their starting quarterback did not play. He played probably 2/3rds of the game and UNLV still barely scraped over that number thanks to a Purdue-Certified Make The Final Score Look Better drive and Jim Harbaugh declining a penalty on a play that ended the first half.

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[Eric Upchurch]

Corners perform. The most notable development on the day was Michigan's corners excelling all around. We expect that from Jourdan Lewis these days but every game he does is another increment on our Bayesian estimations of his ability.

We do not yet expect that from Jeremy Clark and Channing Stribling, so watching them both pick up sweet interceptions and play well in other aspects of the game was encouraging. Stribling undercut a dig route:

Yes, the ball is to the inside; very few interceptions are not aided by the offense failing to execute. The offense wins if everyone is perfect. Taking advantage of opportunities when the offense is not perfect is what defense is about.

Clark got his head around on a go route on which he'd already put the wide receiver just about on the sideline to find the ball in his chest; he caught it on the rebound.

Both guys added other instances of quality play, especially Stribling. Stribling was tested on a few downfield bombs and defended them all. He had a PBU on a crossing route that was late. Clark had a couple opportunities he did pretty well on as well. The one clear problem was a pass interference penalty Clark took on the snap before his interception; at least Clark was savvy enough to take the 15 yard hit after he knew he was in trouble.

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Godin was robbed of a sack by balance and bloody fate [Barron]

Godin coming on. Chris Wormley had a quiet day, leaving Ryan Glasgow and Matt Godin to be the most frequent backfield stormtroopers on the day. Glasgow you kind of expect at this point. My only worry with him is that he'll be unable to hold up against big OL that double him; against average and average-at-best teams he's a rock.

Godin is a pleasant surprise. He started seeing considerable playing time late last year after some injuries and the Clark dismissal opened up snaps. He did decently with them. This year he's improved enough to be a virtual fourth starter on a line featuring three very good players, and he's making an impact. Multiple times in this game he blew opposition OL back; he remains pretty good at slicing past them, especially on stunts.

The same concerns about holding up extend to Godin, but there is a reason the OR persists next to Chris Wormley's name on the depth chart. It has nothing to do with Wormley.

Henry's got to watch his legs. Henry also didn't have a big day, as UNLV tended to run away from him on zone plays and cut him. He was unfortunately susceptible to hitting the ground on those plays and was often responsible for the cutback lanes that saw the Rebels snatch a number of successful runs.

Lawrence Marshall has just escaped the doghouse. He saw time very late. That is a better indicator he's not going to live up to the spring hype just yet than not playing at all. Marshall didn't get snaps in either of Michigan's first two games; maybe that was talent, maybe it was injury, maybe it was suspension. If he's seeing the field late in a blowout he's probably healthy and obviously not suspended; I doubt we see him take on a prominent role this year.

Meanwhile Michigan's getting solid pass rush even without a major contributor at that end spot.

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I know this is a shot of Michigan's offense in the defense section but I'm talking about WR screens (shut your mouth) and we don't have any shots of UNLV screens, which is wonderful. [Upchurch]

We are a team that is bad at blocking and has QB issues and we're going to virtually ignore WR screens. That was UNLV on Saturday. I recall one WR screen, period. I may be omitting one or two; I still love that to bits. Michigan puts their corners in press man a lot, which dissuades screens, and then it seems like the word on Peppers is out. It feels super to go through two games against spread to run teams in which Michigan gave up one chunk of yards on a dumb little edge screen*. They are in fact outgaining opponents on dumb little edge screens.

*[Not counting the tunnel screen that almost went badly against Oregon State; this is about screens that don't involve the offensive line.]

The prior point leads into this one about how modern the D feels. The opener featured a play on which a (probable) scrape exchange was not made on a zone read keeper. That play drew a ton of "argh Michigan never defends the spread" ire on twitter. I thought it too. And then Michigan shut Utah's offense off, for the most part.

They followed that up with a couple of outings against teams trying various tricky tricks that have usually resulted in Michigan falling over and soiling itself; none have worked consistently. Maybe there is an instance here or there in which Michigan does not adjust to motion or gets the bejeezus held out of a critical linebacker, but given how quickly they adapted those feel like missed assignments instead of systemic problems.

Michigan has a couple of simple checks (the flappy bird thing they do) they run constantly when offenses try to unbalance them with motion; they will interchange safety and corner when that makes sense. They are a nickel base D.

None of these teams are that good on offense, even Utah, but there are many Michigan teams of the past whose defenses would have massively underperformed expectations when faced with offenses that did not match up with the manball offenses they went up against in practice. DJ Durkin's defenses have not done so yet.

MISCELLANEOUS

YAAARGH. Hell of a shot from Eric:

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[Upchurch]

Hello. The tubes have been replaced by Yips.

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YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP [Patrick Barron]

Some excellent side-eye from the lady on the far left of this picture.

Puntin'. So this is how Blake O'Neill's doing this year.

bryan [1:47 PM] Are we grading O'Neil punts on a scale of Zoolander poses yet?

From La Tigra to Magnum?

ace [1:48 PM] that was definitely a Magnum

(phrasing)

That was after O'Neill blasted a rugby kick 59 yards with no return. That punt was on a line but hit so hard that the returner ended up standing in an incorrect place with insufficient time to correct that error.

Before that, O'Neill had one of his delayed kicks that he dropped at the three yard line for Channing Stribling to fair catch. His shank was really the only thing standing between him and the kind of post game praise we've never seen issued to a punter around these parts.

Returnin'. Michigan went from a series of all-out block attempts against Oregon State to a series of return attempts that didn't go quite as well as Michigan hoped. The spectacular Peppers return was indeed spectacular, but it wasn't particularly assisted by blocking until Peppers had whizzed past three befuddled Rebels.

I'm okay with that. I liked the fact that Michigan was trying something. On these returns they would line up with a few guys off the edge and then make a call to scoot guys around, presumably in an effort to get UNLV gunners releasing directly into guys who suddenly show up where they were not. It's a good idea, and one that demonstrates the effort and creativity Michigan is putting into special teams this year. That and the Aussie punter.

Orin Incandenza game theory changes. I'm going to bug the Mathlete about this, but that punt down to the three made me wonder if a world in which touchbacks don't happen or are at least very rare is one in which punting is the optimal strategy in a lot of situations where the conventional wisdom is to go for it after pointing and laughing at Rod Gilmore. I went from irritated before the delayed punt to shrugging, because sure put them at the three.

Peppers is going to be fun. This is not information.

Dadrock subplot. Oregon State music was split about 50/50 between Special K's usual playlist and Harbaugh's first generation iPod. That split went away, replaced with nothing but WCSX's greatest hits. Even the Kid Rock songs that made it were the Kid Rock songs on which he does his Bob Seger impression.

This was funny and generally diverted me from the fact that there was absolutely no let-up in the music from the Brandon era. That lasted about two and a half quarters, and then I was psychologically beaten down by it. We are still filling every available space with blaring music like Michigan fans are infants that need a rattle in front of their face 99% of the time. But when the crowd responds like this I guess you have to continue:

Hackett talked about toning it down; I haven't seen any evidence of it yet.

HERE

Best And Worst:

Best:  Neapolitan Without Chocolate and You Hate Strawberry or
Worst:  Vanilla Ice Cream topped with Vanilla Extract Mixed with Vanilla Sorbet

One of the most derisive terms you hear on the internet (coined by legendary champion/male stripper Kevin Nash) to describe a professional wrestler is that he’s a “vanilla midget”.  The term has a number of meanings and, in certain contexts, can almost be a backhanded compliment, but in general it refers to a wrestler who is good at “wrestling” but not so good at the “sports entertainment” part of it; it typically means he’s short, bad on the mic, a bit weird/generic looking, etc.  Despite its evocative nature of a particular type of guy, it’s been applied to wrestlers of all stripes, usually in a way to trivialize their real accomplishments and reduce them to a trite tableau of unmet cosmetic expectations.

I noticed during this game how many people became discouraged that UM’s utter dominance of UNLV wasn’t “more” than it was.  Outside of the one Isaac run, this was basically UM spending a half methodically walking up and down the field with minimal resistance from the Rebels, running the same basic plays effectively but without much flair.  Yes, part of that was due to Jake Rudock’s continued inability to consistently throw the ball farther than 10 yards downfield, but UM was going to play this game as close to the vest as possible.  If this was an NES game, UM just went full Tecmo on the playbook.

Inside The Box Score:

The Two Jakes
* I thought I was going to have to rename this section The One Jake. Rudock finally threw a ball to Butt in the second half. Jake B. ended up with two catches for 14 yards. If they are saving him for BYU and the bigger B1G games, I understand.
* In the now weekly battle between Jake Rudock and ST3-defined efficient QB play, Rudock was 14 for 22 (64%, check,) with only one interception (check,) but he only averaged 5.6 yards per attempt. Ugh.

WHAT ARE THOSE?
* The WHAT ARE THOSE? award goes to the BTN cameramen. Those people running around on the field in stylishly matching outfits are football players. It's generally a good idea to keep your electronic moving picture taking box pointed at those players, especially the one that has the ball in his hands. But don't get too close lest the rest feel left out.

I have availed myself of the camerawork and can report that it was real bad. At least when the camera guy is trying to express his avant-garde truth it was generally followed by a replay that indicated what the hell happened. This does not help people watching live but should prevent me from ragequitting UFR.

ELSEWHERE

Sap's decals:

DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – Channing Stribling’s interception on UNLV’s first drive set the tone for the Michigan Defense. If the opponent wants to take the football to start the game, Durkin’s D has to let them know that they will not be able to move the ball and that’s what #8 did. The INT was emotionally charging for Michigan and emotionally deflating for UNLV.

Hoover Street Rag goes on a Killers kick. Maize and Blue Nation:

But there were a lot of things to be satisfied happy about. The offensive line did what they were supposed to do to an outmanned front...holes were made and QB's were protected. UNLV got only 2 TFL's and no sacks. Ty Isaac ran the ball better and more effectively then he ever has in the Michigan uniform. The defense played outstanding as usual. Special teams were solid and Michigan's punter Blake O'neill booted 4 of his 5 aussie-style punts inside the 20. All in all, it was a business as usual type of game...which is something you haven't really been able to say around Ann Arbor that much recently.

MLive grades. Marcus Ray on Rudock. The BTN's intro was actually good, if nothing else was. Jourdan Lewis is good. Touch The Banner. Recruit reacts. Maize and Brew.

Comments

Fifthcollier

September 21st, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^

One thing I have learned is football is a funny game. You can't just assume stats are gonna be off the charts because teams are poor on paper. That UNLV team was well coached and fought hard. Combine that with maybe a little bit of letdown in intensity on our players parts and you get what you got. Is our qb perfect? No, but there is no question he is the best on roster and I for one feel like we actually have a qb that knows how to manage and win games. My bet is he gets better as games get bigger.

bjk

September 21st, 2015 at 1:37 PM ^

I see the Harbaugh-era restored maize, I am very happy.

For me, watching M eventually win consistently while wearing real maize will be like being 12 again, but in a good way.

Bumble-bee jerseys and 27-27 were just a bad dream, after all.

B1G_Fan

September 21st, 2015 at 1:42 PM ^

 The thing I been thinking about is, if you take Peppers off the defense, it's still a good defense. If you add Peppers to the offense he's a homerun threat at RB and if he can catch(?) at WR. He'd be the biggest threat on the offensive side of the ball. I wonder if they are saving that for later.

Durham Blue

September 21st, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^

"Swirling wind" is akin to "crowned field".  Two bad excuses used by Michigan coaches to defend mediocre to poor QB play.  Harbaugh will never throw his players under the bus publicly, which is a great thing.  But the important thing is Harbaugh and Rudock both know that things need to get better at that position.

growler4

September 21st, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^

Wow. The quarterback is not living up to your expectations. Maybe they were unrealistic. I realize that Kirk Ferentz and Greg Davis know very little in your estimation and that the appearance of Harbaugh on our sideline will magically transform all of our players into world beaters ... Eh, maybe not.

It's a transition year. You'll be a lot more satisfied with realistic expectations. Hopefully we'll win the games we should win, at least look respectable in the ones that are highly doubtful against quality opponents, and maybe steal 1 along the way.

As for the music, I'm just puzzled by your obsession with it. The volume, the song selection...Who cares? It's ok. Not so big of a deal. A lot of people seem to enjoy it.

CLord

September 21st, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^

Brian expresses my mood exactly.  

All the people defending Rudock aren't getting it.  His play is causing every D coordinator on the rest of our schedule to happily prepare a scheme that will put 8.5 in the box to fill gaps, stuff the run and apply crazy pressure on Jake  because there is just zero fear of getting beat over the top.  They'll take their chances with man coverage, crash safeties, crash dbs from the edges, etc., etc. and we may see another Hoke-like offensive state line or two, especially vs PSU and MSU.

We might be in store for some very ugly losses quite soon unless Rudock can gain some respect downfield to keep defenses honest.  I mean, why even bother with a safety over the top when your QB can't even hit an open receiver downfield with minimal pressure?  Crash that safety on a bliz and let's see how funny it will be to watch Rudock hit those same open receivers except with a ton of pressure.  Might... be... ugly...

If Hoke were our coach I'd already throw in the towel knowing what's coming, but with Harbaugh, I hold out hope he can do some QB whispering and some scheme preparation for what we all know is coming from PSU, MSU and others who are seeing Rudock as wounded prey as they circle the waters.

Wolverine In Exile

September 21st, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^

He needs to be able to hit that 15-20 yard pass in between the LBs who are crashing the run / run fakes and the safeties who will be staying back to prevent Chesson / Harris from going super deep. We haven't seen this portion of the offense really yet. I imagine we'll start to see it against BYU and maybe Maryland. And with our running scheme, all you need is to hold those LBs in place a split second to let the first double team block work, and then Deveon goes to work with first contact at LOS + 3 yards. If teams want to start pushing 8 guys in the box, that just opens up the outsides for pitches / sweeps / WR screens that put our guys in one on one matchups with DBs. Based on what I've seen from Darboh and now Issac, I'm good with that.

 

Also, I'm really encouraged by what I saw out of Issac. Its been a while since I saw a Michigan RB actually make a guy miss.

 

 

Soulfire21

September 21st, 2015 at 1:53 PM ^

If I were just reading the comments on MGoBlog with no knowledge of the score, I'd have thought Michigan lost.

After wandering around the college football desert for 8 years it seems like we're not in much of a place to be pissy about wins.

Honk if Ufer M…

September 22nd, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^

Soulfire, that's like if every day your house stood without falling was considered a "win" and you sat there watching termites eat the house from the inside, but it hadn't fallen yet, so you ignore the termites and what problems their behavior and actions are about to cause and wonder why anyone would complain about the termites! Hey, we just won, the house is standing, why are you pissy?

oriental andrew

September 21st, 2015 at 1:55 PM ^

What was up with that one sideline camera with the blurry lens? You'd think someone would've told him to wipe the darn thing. It bugged me every time they cut to that camera and it looked like foggy glasses. 

charblue.

September 21st, 2015 at 1:58 PM ^

And when our blog mogul asserts that that cause is deserving it sort of raises a red flag to a situation the coach is attempting to alibi with wind in his face. Sort of like the crown of the field argument that once bit John Navarre in the ass against Oregon. Thank God, Rudock didn't have whatever was afflicting Jones and Barrett on Saturday when Ohio State had to rely on its secondary for offense and its pass rush to secure a win over a team it was supposed to wallop by 34 points and barely beat by a TD. 

One could argue that performance doesn't bode well for future success against upcoming opponents people were already expecting. But that is the nature of fandom to worry about unexperienced things that may or may not go bump in the night. 

When Lloyd Carr played his first game against Virginia and Michigan recorded its then greatest come-from-behind victory with 18 fourth quarter points, the outcome never secured the future of the man who led that unlikely win, Scott Dreisbach. 

And he battled guys like Brian Griese, a walk-on qb who won a championship in his fifth year when no one thought much of his ability to throw accurately, deep or run away from trouble when pressured. And, of course, all he did was win and defy all the critics who claimed he couldn't get beyond the Michigan starting job and go to the NFL despite his dad's pro pedigree. 

C'mon we've seen this movie before. Michigan coaches have been defending Michigan starting qbs for decades against angry, all-knowing fans and critics who claim what they see is more than what the coaches see. I get it, the numbers suck for Rudock. The wind was swirling, his receivers are young, their timing is off, they can't get separation, he's not getting the ball to them on time, he's making misreads, he's running around like chicken little without a clue. Why puncture a balloon you are trying to pump up with helium? 

Before we make Rudock the bullseye for everything that isn't right with Michigan's passing game, can we give him time to justify that indictment before executing him for failure to meet our expectations. 

When it comes time for him to win a game when it's on the line and you need a drive to get it done, then you can judge him and the coach's reaction to his ability to deliver. Until then, it's just speculation in a swirling wind, that may or may not satisfy your need to feel better about the road ahead. 

 

marti221

September 21st, 2015 at 6:07 PM ^

To be fair, there were plenty of people calling for Tom Brady to get more playing time as well. The coaches aren't always right. Not saying they're wrong in this case, but it's not impossible to think there may be someone else out of our 6 QBs that can execute these throws that are consistently being missed. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with emphasis Harbaugh places on experience and many other factors, but I don't blame people for questioning whether we have a better option. At the end of the day, we're just going to have to trust our head coach, just like any other fan base. I'm sure glad our head coach is Jim MF Harbaugh.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Honk if Ufer M…

September 22nd, 2015 at 1:44 PM ^

 

"Before we make Rudock the bullseye for everything that isn't right with Michigan's passing game, can we give him time to justify that indictment before executing him for failure to meet our expectations."

 

He's now had more time/snaps than Morris has had, except that he's had them with the full support of the coaches and had them in contiguous and continuous stretches of games with time to get comfortable, get a rhythm, get in a groove and work the kinks out, none of which he's done.

Morris was being executed after his first game and after every play since even though his only continuous stretch of time was in his first game. He's never been allowed a chance to play through his nerves and get comfortable and get it going.

So no, Michigan "fans" have set the standard, if Morris deserves the hate and it's acceptable to the fans, which it seems to be, then a fucking 5th year senior, 2.25 year starter and promised anti-turnover machine/game manager gets no breaks!

 

"When it comes time for him to win a game when it's on the line and you need a drive to get it done, then you can judge him and the coach's reaction to his ability to deliver. Until then, it's just speculation in a swirling wind, that may or may not satisfy your need to feel better about the road ahead."

 

I don't understand how someone who didn't bother to watch the season opener and the Harbaugh opener is fit to comment? If you had started watching this team ALL THE WAY BACK at the beginning of the season you'd realize you've already given us permission to judge him and the coaches reaction to his ability to deliver.

If you've been in a coma and missed it all, that's fine, but don't pretend like you haven't been.

chickenpotpie

September 21st, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^

I think patience and perspective are the names of the game here.

First, patience: In order for a QB to connect consistently with his receivers (especially when running complicated offensive schemes like Harbaugh favors), he needs to have his receivers' routes and paces burned into his soul. Those receivers also need to know their routes and run at a predictable pace. Both the receivers and the QB also need to be able to adapt to changing game conditions and various opponents. Virtually no one would be able to get all of that working with the amount of time Rudock and the team have had to prepare.

 

Second, perspective: In recent years, we've had to worry about squeaking by against Akron and Connecticut. We had to worry about losing to App State. This year, we're sitting here after two convincing wins, one close game, 6 shutout quarters, and a beastly defense, and complaining about the fact that our QB doesn't totally have his game down yet.

We will get there. The journey to "there" will be much less painful if we try to stay patient and maintain perspective.

 

alnigoblue

September 21st, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^

How about Darboh's game?  I thought he brought the manball, with some very hard-fought YAC and that righteous block on the Chesson run.  I think Long even commented at one point on how stong the Michigan receivers looked, after another Darboh catch-and-drag.  Hope he at least gets a sticker or two out of it.

jdizzle

September 21st, 2015 at 2:42 PM ^

Anyone think our punt return strategy changed Saturday due to Brian Cole not playing? He was the one getting the near block every time last Saturday. Maybe we switched to return over block due to his absence?

BlueGoM

September 21st, 2015 at 2:44 PM ^

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was underwhelmed by the offense in this game.  There's still a long ways to go for this team.  We've gone from a dominating program to one that can barely hang with the bottom of the top 25, if that.   Harbaugh has a lot of work to do.

People clamoring for Morris - sorry, I don't get it.  What has he shown on the field?  And now his what, 3rd season, with a 3rd O-coordinator, right?  Let him redshirt. 

Michigan Fan L…

September 21st, 2015 at 3:18 PM ^

I think a redshirt would be good for Morris.  I don't think he will ever start for Michigan but at least if he transfers next year he'll have 2 seasons of eligibility left.  He is not going to beat out these other quarterbacks (current or future).

I also think 2 or 3 of our other quarterbacks will transfer.  I can't name names, but I guarantee they are not all going to stay and try to compete. 

CompleteLunacy

September 21st, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^

This is the sort of thing that completely justified Bacon's saying, "Michigan fans aren't happy unless they're unhappy".



Look, I was annoyed at the offense and our lack of passing too. But people. The sky is not falling. Try and keep perspective. Harbaugh took over a bad underperforming team with a deplorable offense who also lost its two most talented players (both Devins). Rudock has had 3 games and one training camp to learn the system and his new teammates and coaches...one bad day later and we're all jumping off the ship now? What out of the last 8 years has justified this level of entitlement out of our fans? Let's let the coach, the potentially elite-caliber coach who is also a QB guru, have a little more than 3 weeks with his new QB before we all write him off as a lost cause. Please.



This is what a 7,8 win team looks like. The struggle. Sometimes against bad teams. Just try and keep that perspective and remember that at least at no point on Saturday was the outcome even close to in doubt (in stark contrast to some games we've seen last 2 years)

marti221

September 21st, 2015 at 5:56 PM ^

Do you not think there's some sort of correlation between the way our football team plays and our happiness? We are the same as EVERY other sports fan base in that regard. After a game in which we played pretty well, we were happier than we are following a bad performance against a shit team by our QB. Shocking!




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pescadero

September 21st, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^

Rudock has had 3 games and one training camp to learn the system and his new teammates and coaches...one bad day later and we're all jumping off the ship now?

 

I think Rudock is far and away the best QB we have - but we're not talking "one bad day". He has played poorly in all three games.

GoBlue2001

September 22nd, 2015 at 1:30 PM ^

This is the sort of thing that completely justified Bacon's saying, "Michigan fans aren't happy unless they're unhappy".

I love that quote from JUB because it's 100% true. If Rudock was doing well, I'm sure we would find something else to complain about. It only took 3 games, but people are even complaining about Harbaugh defending his QB. Nothing surprises me... I remember when fans booed Chad Henne when he got injured in the 2007 Oregon game. There will always be idiots in our fanbase.

Honk if Ufer M…

September 22nd, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^

 

"It only took 3 games, but people are even complaining about Harbaugh defending his QB. Nothing surprises me... I remember when fans booed Chad Henne when he got injured in the 2007 Oregon game. There will always be idiots in our fanbase."

 

People that are awake and aware, people that are intelligent and observant, people that have their own minds & think critically will see what's in front of them and express their views. People that think those people are idiots are too idiotic to recognize their own idiocy.

People that expect or want blind loyalty & blind obedience, or expect people to admire the emperor's new clothes, are far worse than idiotic.

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

September 21st, 2015 at 2:50 PM ^

We will certainly know a lot more about Rudock, rushing O and pass D - probably in that order of significance - after Saturday. QBR anywhere close to 39 again will support 2015 panic.

I suspect Rudock plays well and UM looks very aggressive on both sides on Sat.

Michigan Fan L…

September 21st, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^

I re-watched the game and felt a little better about our performance, but only because I ignored the score and removed the emotion of live game action.  The offense actually showed signs of a ball-control offense.  The defense still missed tackles the second time around.  And as Richard Sherman would say, "That's unfortunate." 

On the other hand Ty Isaac played a lot better than I thought.  During and after the game I just gave him credit for the long run.  But it turns out he was consistently good.  And so was Drake Johnson.  Unfortunately I saw 3 or 4 Deveon Smith TFL runs.  I don't know what's up with that. 

I watched the press conference today and noticed that, when asked a question about his starting quarterback, Coach Harbaugh reacted as if a "roughing the kicker" flag had just been thrown.  Memo to press people: Don't ask anymore quarterback questions.  LOL.  Harbaugh had the same look on his face that Nick Saban had when he was asked for a comment about his "unauthorized" biography.  (Of course I had to go read the book after seeing his reaction.)

The next reporter who even mentions the word "Jake" at a press conference is going to be in for a conniption fit, the likes of which have not been seen in Ann Arbor since the days of Bo.  From this point forward I will refer to the aforementioned as JR. 

I don't want to make excuses for JR because I too am very concerned with his inability to connect on the long ball (I'll refrain from quoting Dennis Green at this time).  But I will keep in mind that JR has only had 6 weeks of tutelage from Coach Harbaugh.  And this is a new offense.  So for now I will remain positive and hopeful that the quarterback whisperer can work his magic with JR (hopefully before the Spartans and Buckeyes come to town).

Go Blue!!!!!!

lorrra76526

September 21st, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^

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JFW

September 21st, 2015 at 3:25 PM ^

Quote:

"I expect a bumpy ride and then as soon as anything goes smoothly I exclaim THIS IS IT FOREVER, because I am irrational."

Defines most of us. High after Oregon State. Despair now. 

I think we'll be fine. Maybe we only win 7-8 this year. But I believe we'll see constant improvement. The more time these guys have in Harbaugh's system the better they'll be. 

Rudock may not be the guy we thought he was, but is he worse than a PTSD Gardner last year? I personally don't think so (and no disrespect to Gardner). I also think that as time goes on he will improve. But the upside may just be a satisfied 'Hmmm' over a disappointed 'Meh'. 

We'll get there. 

marti221

September 21st, 2015 at 5:25 PM ^

The thing is, he's not dealing with the defensive pressure that Gardner was. I think Gardner had been sacked something like 20 (!!!) times at the same time last year. Rudock has been sacked once, and not much pressure besides that. He has to be able to step up and make the throws that need to be made, consistently. The downfield stuff will come and go, that's Rudock, but we really need him to make these easy underneath throws he's missing.




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JFW

September 22nd, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^

I had thought the O line was better in pass pro last year, but I my memory is faulty. So far Rudock has been relatively untouched. We'll see how that holds up when State and other teams with mean defensive lines come up, but so far its much better. 

 

I didn't mean to harsh on Gardner. More trying to say our play has been generally elevated. 

I have all the respect in the world for Gardner. He stayed when he could have transferred. He got his degree and his Masters while playing football. He switched to wideout when asked. He looks like a genuinely nice guy. 

 

UofM Die Hard …

September 21st, 2015 at 4:01 PM ^

some harsh critics on JR. Not the greatest we have seen but he will win us games.  I thought JRs responnse after the pics in Utah were solid...made a mistake..move on. I am not seeing this lack of confidence you are all talking about.

 

SteelBrad

September 21st, 2015 at 4:26 PM ^

There were people who though Rudock could be Connor Cook in this offense. Sadly, he is more Andrew Maxwell.

This Michigan team will be similar to the 2012 MSU team. Great defense with an ok offense that sputters most of the time. It doesn't mean it will all be bad.




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