Once again, Brian shows almost no regard for Denard's dings.

Leave the QB lead draw play alone? Denard got knocked out of FOUR games last year. I don't want the lead draw. I want to see a passing offense where Denard drives defenses crazy by using his speed to scramble and pick up third-and-longs when everything else is covered.

Michigan's offense was not "insane" last year, despite overrated statistical offerings. It was a great offense between the 20s that had serious problems finishing drives and scoring points against defenses that weren't awful.

 

defense was "competition invariant"?  I think last year's offense was the polar opposite, it was hypersensitive to the level of competition (this is probably because it was turnover prone and good defenses tend to much better at capitalizing on oppportunities for turnovers).  I would not mind an offense that was more consistent, even if this meant a reduction in average PPG or YPG.    I'd rather have us beat Bowling Green by 14 and put up more than a pitiful 7 points against OSU than beat BGU by 40.   

 

 

I'd also like to point out that it if Greg M is as good as we all think he is, this year's offense should probably put up lower average PPG and YPG, because we won't have 67-65 shoot-outs.  I could some people on this site, although not Brian, bitching about how the offense is worse when it is actually a matter of the defense allowing the offense to play more conservatively.

 

The bitching about MANBALL is stupid.   I don't see how it is any different than the idiots who thought the spread wouldn't work in the Big Ten. 

 

 

When we first hired RR there was a lot of panic over the spread n' shred and what thay meant for a time that built its offensive indentity around the run game.  I remember Carr commenting  that you could run just fine in a spread n' shred, he said something to point of "You can spread them out and gash them with runs easily."  

Sounds perfect, the other team is spread out sideline to sideline to stop Denard and you hand the ball off to some big runningback.  He slams through the lightly defended middle of the field, truck along for 8-10 yards and is finally piled on by two or three DBs and taken down.  

Yet we didn't do that, we send Denard, 5' 10" Denard, up the gut which of course lead to Tate finishing games and the whole "medical redshirt" thing around Gardner.  Last year you could defend all our running plays with the same defense.  We didn't really have a powerback.  We tried to use various running backs as powerback, but of course that failed.  Other teams got speed out, they got containment and the run game ground to the halt aside from Dilthium runs.  Everything was speed and finesse (aside from failed attempts to send Smith up the gut).  Really the only reason our run game worked was because Denard is amazing.  He'd outrun the defenders whereas Shaw and Smith would get dragged down before they could get around the corner.  It was still a similiar style of play for all three though.

You give Denard a power run game and he is only going to be more effective.  He lines up and looks at the other team.  If they're in a heavy running stopping set, bunch of big LBs grouped in the center of the field, he can pass or pull a play like the WMU one where he gets around the edge and is gone.  If those LBs blitz, well then he rolls, outruns them and is gone.

If the othe team spreads out for contain, he hands off and watches someone do a hulk smash up the middle of the field for a first down.

Also we need the power-I for practice.  Remember the Wisconsin game?  Where in that second half they passed once if I recall correctly and basically just run over top of us the entire game.  Regardless of your feelings on MANBALL, lots of good teams in this conference play it so we need to prepare our teams to play against it.  That means they need to face a good MANBALL team in practice.  

Also weren't certian people screaming constantly about those Vincent Smith 3rd and 2 runs up the gut that ended setting up a 4th and 4?  Personally I'll be happy to see a functional I-Form on the field.  In the Hart or Perry era picking up a 3rd and 2 was basically automatic unless we tried to do something cute and throw it.  

I'm rambling, I blame the cough syrup, but imagine for a moment Hart and Denard on the same team (basically Denard replacing Henne).  You have to defend Hart otherwise he'll just grind down the field in 4+ yard chunks and score.  So as a DC you need a lot of beef on the field to cope with Hart running off tackle and down your throat.  You also have to worry about Denard who will easily outrun that beef and scream into the endzone at a speed just shy of MACH 1.  So how do you deploy your LBs to run stop?  No matter what you do, you open yourself up to getting burned.  Plus of course there is the entire passing game to worry about.  End of the day we're a better offense with a power run game because it means we have a speed back and a power back on the field every play and you have to set yourself up to get burned by one of them.

Need to pop more popcorn
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<br>Crunchcrunchcrunch

Jass itches.  

"Hi, I'm Kenny Rogers and this is Jackass!" My comment is that Michigan offensively will probably be just fine, despite Hoke. Borges is a good OC who mixes a lot of shit in, not all of it Manball and a good chunk of it passing to swift little running backs on oh fuck screen plays that go the distance for six. The main problem for Michigan will continue to be defense and depth issues at OL, DL and LB positions. They'll be better than the last 3 seasons to which I say, "so what, how could they not be" As for Hoke, after watching DRob cruise for 6 points on an off tackle draw he'll be checking his disdain for the shotgunat the door.

The guy who didn't throw a punch after having a beer thrown in his face doesn't like the word toughness or the idea of manball.....shocking. Ten bucks says the beer tosser looked a lot like Mr. Mustache.

come in here and enforce a litle sanity?

cuz, you know I wil.

 

don't make me brang the potato salad.

 

 

I jumped on to take a look at news while I slack off on friday and I have to tell you there are some really contradictory pieces of info on this site.  I read Brian's post and then scrolled down to watch the Spring practice video. 

I was shocked (shocked I say) to see Michigan players without their trademark leather helmets; some call them caps. I thought a return to MANBALL was propelling this program back to the stone age and while I did notice that our uniforms are slowly starting to turn black and white, well the pants anyhow but its a start, and there MAY have been some hints of sepia tone to the film that was creeping in near the end (perhaps I'm imagining that), we still fielded a teamthat was practicing hard and seemed genuinly excited about it ala RVB and Denard sniping back and forth.

It's not the end of the world that we're heading back to MANBALL just the end of a good idea and an exciting to watch offense.  We'll adapt and move on or we won't and Hoke will be fired.  At least I won't have to change channels during our Defensive series to avoid throwing objects through the TV.  

I'll take Hoke's man ball talk over Rodriguez citing failure to execute or Greek mythology encrusted missives from Jim Harbaugh any day of the week.

 

Go Blue!

Smash Ohio in the mouth!