Mailbag: Wardrobe Malfunction, Offer Clarity, I Am Not Craig From Being John Malkovich Comment Count

Brian

It is possible that there have been MSU players with these names.

I can't believe this is real but a great friend who is an MSU grad is sure bent out of shape over it:

image

Love the site and Go Blue,

Ray

The worst thing about shirts like this is the five seconds where you think you should get it to troll someone and then remember that the #1 person being trolled in that situation is yourself.

Lessons from decommit central last year

While reading the latest Recruiting Overview I saw you mention forced decommitts. It seemed like a lot of those from last year, except for the most prominent one, were summer camp offers/commits. I am wondering if the coaching staff will lay off those sorts of camp offers this year due to the backlash from last year? Perhaps they will adjust how the offer is made, such as "We like you Mr Under The Radar Recruit and think you could have a potential bright future with our team. Here is an uncommittable offer than could become committable later this year if you keep your grades up/keep getting better on the field/the math at the end of the recruiting cycle works in your favor." Could we see something like this or will offers go flying out every which way again (that's how it appeared from a layman's POV) this summer?

Thanks,
Jon

It does appear that Michigan has altered their approach after The Swenson Incident. A number of different recruits have been on commit watch without a payoff: AL S AJ Harris and AL OL Toryque Bateman come to mind. Harris had a huge crystal ball surge for Michigan and a bunch of insiders predicting a commit. He was apparently held off and ended up committing to Ole Miss recently. Bateman came up saying it was 50/50 he would pull the trigger—which is more like 90/10 in recruit-speak—and left without doing so; it now seems like he'll be headed elsewhere. Last year both of those guys might have committed and then been let go late in the cycle.

Michigan does have a few guys they've been less than cautious with and I do expect they'll suffer/encourage decommits over the next six months. The number should be greatly reduced from last year's double-digits.

It's impossible to know exactly what conversations are going on between coaches and "offered" players but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Michigan's offers are conditional in some way, whether it's grades or guys higher on Michigan's board going elsewhere. I'd assume Michigan is being a lot more explicit about this, so guys aren't jumping on the future decommit train. Michigan offered MO DE Anthony Payne and FL DE Donovan Winter, sort of. They did so after Corey Malone-Hatcher and Luiji Vilain committed, so I doubt those were actual committable offers; both guys went off the board to other schools in short order. 

Michigan is continuing the offer cannon approach. They're being much more clear about which offers are "offers." Probably.

[After the JUMP: a jerk i tell you what]

Jerky tempo response

Brian,

There is an unbeatable defense against getting Tempo'd by the likes of Indiana and OSU, but it's not macho by any means.  It was invented as far as I know by Les Miles and John Chavis for the LSU-Oregon game back in 2011, played in Texas.

It wasn't written about or commented on during the game, and I'm not sure it's named anything.  So, I refer to this bulletproof tactic as "All the fat guys fall down 'injured'". It was disappointing to watch, but after about every 2nd or 3rd snap, one, two and sometimes even three LSU defenders would stay down or just flop down after the play, and the refs would be forced to hold up play by rule.

These seemed to be pre-arranged substitutions.  After about 20-30 seconds getting checked out, they would ease upright and stagger off the field.  Three plays later, the next round would drop injured, and those earlier guys would buzz right back onto the field.

So, LSU effectively neutralized Oregon's tempo with no football strategy whatsoever.  They just faked injury throughout the entire first half and it worked.  I've seen this tactic deployed on occasion elsewhere but never correctly observed by the commenters or written about post-game.  LSU won handily.

Setting aside ego and two deep D-Lines that don't include overmatched benchwarmers, what is stopping Michigan from using this tactic to get out of a jam induced by Tempo?

Brad

There's nothing that can prevent this in the rules, and it's a bit more common than just that one game. Bret Bielema (surprise!) has also deployed this strategy. So, yes, it is effective. You can even get away with it a couple times without anyone cocking an eyebrow. If Uruguay played college football they would do this on 50% of snaps.

So, yes, setting aside propriety Michigan could do this. It doesn't seem like something Harbaugh's particularly interested in.

Targeting fixes. Or not fixes. 

The MSU game is on ESPNU right now, and I was wondering if Michigan ever got any formal clarification/apology on the Bolden targeting ejection. It occurred to me that maybe the only reviewable aspect of the play is if contact to the head occurred (instead of say the shoulder), and the shove from the OL is irrelevant to the review process. Obviously this is just my speculation, and I'd bet there wasn't any clarification, given Harbaugh changing QB sliding technique, but I was wondering if you had any info or ideas (and apologies if you've already covered these aspects).

Best,
Alex Laird

I don't think Michigan received a formal apology, for whatever little that would have been worth. It does appear that the Bolden incident, amongst other targeting debacles, was the impetus for change. Unfortunately, half that change is bonkers:

The panel, which met Tuesday via conference call, agreed to allow the instant replay official to stop the game and create a targeting foul in situations where an egregious action occurred and was missed by on-field officials. Instant replay officials also are required to review all aspects of targeting fouls called by an on-field official.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee believes players were incorrectly disqualified from games in a small number of cases last season. The elements of targeting that replay officials will watch for include launching and forcible contact to the head, among other factors.

I'd guess the "launching" part would cover Bolden's issue, since he was launched by an opposition offensive lineman. But who knows? Nobody knows. The data the NCAA provided on changes is so vague that it could mean anything, which is perfect for targeting.

There has been a change in the rule regarding sliding that may see Michigan go back to the traditional baseball slide: if you blow up a QB who gives himself up you will get a 15 yard flag. You may have thought this was already a rule. Apparently not. I still prefer the forward slide since it gets your head under the area where the tackler generally puts his.

This is not good, reader. This is not good.

Every time I see a photo of you, I think you look like John Cusack's character, Craig, in Being John Malkovich, and it really flavors my impressions of you. Do you think you have any similarities to that character? Do you secretly like puppets? (I know you have a great affection for Muppets, which is a kind of puppet.) And more importantly, if you found a portal into another person, say Jim Harbaugh, would you want to live in his skin and see what he sees? Would the prospect frighten you, ethically? It would, admittedly, be a very odd thing, supernatural for lack of a better word. It raises all sorts of philosophical questions about the nature of self, about the existence of the soul. Are you, Brian, you? Is Harbaugh Harbaugh? Was the Buddha right: is duality an illusion? Are we all just cum on the mirror, reflections be dampened?

Also, I think it would be cool if we took advantage of that 13th game rule and played at Hawaii at least once every 5 years. Every player would be guaranteed a trip to Hawaii at least once in their tenure which is a cool recruiting chip, and its probably budget neutral when you consider we could schedule an 8th or 9th home game that year. What do you think about it? 

Thanks for your consideration,

JClay

JClay, I do not like this comparison. Craig in Being John Malkovich is a desperate and wheedling man. He has no positive character traits and cannot love or be loved. This is not a good comparison to make to a person.

I would like to emphasize the many differences between Craig and myself by answering your questions. No, I have no similarities to Craig. I do not secretly like puppets and we should be specific here: there are marionettes and there are puppets; Craig uses marionettes. Muppets are only somewhat related to the maximally-arty pretension puppets deployed by Craig.

I would not use a portal into Jim Harbaugh's mind. I doubt that anyone could come out of that with a modicum of sanity. I would probably stay up for 72 straight hours typing motivational slogans into a word document afterwards. I would print this document out and fashion clothing out of it, then go coach up the squirrels in the back yard. Whatever lingering glints of lucidity remained to me would be used only to evaluate what I had become and despair. This is why I would not use a portal into Jim Harbaugh's mind.

Also yes it is an unethical thing. But here we strike on the fundamental difference in character between Craig and myself: Craig wants to be anyone else because he cannot love or be loved. I am not in straits so dire. However, it does not actually raise questions about the nature of the soul since it does not exist except in Being John Malkovich and subtly rude emails concerning same.

I am opposed to the Hawaii idea. Michigan has to keep the Big Ten championship game weekend open, so an extra game in Hawaii requires them to turn what would otherwise be a bye week into a cross-Pacific slog that offers few benefits.

Comments

JClay

August 22nd, 2016 at 1:58 PM ^

I sincerely thank you for addressing my most important of queries. I am sorry the experience of answering the question does not appear to have been as enjoyable for you as writing it was for me.

I will go throw some money into Beveled Guilt now.

yossarians tree

August 22nd, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^

Muppets are a fun 20th century phenomenon that recalls wistful memories of watching television and eating popcorn in your childhood. Puppets are frightening and macabre and cause children to have nightmares. Puppets are a horrible remindeer of The Time Before Television when there were people dying of tuberculosis in the street and your only toy was a sock with a button sewed into it. These are just a few of the differences.

Hail-Storm

August 22nd, 2016 at 2:27 PM ^

was the weirdest movie I have ever seen.  I have no idea how it got green lit, but glad movies like that are able to be made. Not because I really understood it or liked it, but because it means people are making movies that aren't made just to make money.

That being said, you question hurt my engineering head. 

UM Fan from Sydney

August 22nd, 2016 at 1:51 PM ^

I rarely understand jokes (I have a very....picky....sense of humor), so someone will have to explain that shirt to me and why it's funny to MSU or UM fans.

Salinger

August 22nd, 2016 at 3:06 PM ^

I can foresee 1 instance where said shirt would be cool (for a Michigan fan).

Lets say you are a Michigan fan with a family full of Michigan State fans who troll you incessently, especially these last few years when MSU has seemed to have Michigan's number. And lets say one of your MSU loving relatives who knows you are a Michigan fan but generally a good sport about their harassment and generally a good college football fan invites you to a Michigan State game which, b/c they are family, you decide to attend. And lets say for once you want to get your family member's goat but also don't want to be harassed by every MSU fan in the stadium. By and large, a quick glance at the shirt will show only the Sparty logo. Closer review would reveal the rub.

This is the only circumstance I could foresee where wearing this shirt would be plausable. After that, it gets cut up and used for rags when home brewing.

This is NOT a story from real life.

The End.

The FannMan

August 22nd, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^

it appears that you think this was intentional.  It may well be an accident of globalization where some person in China or Vietnam or wherever was tasked with creating these T-shirts for various colleges.  He/she was likley given the list of names, and told to use the Internet to find the right logo.  They then got Michigan and Michigan State confused because they had absolutely no knowledge of NCAA football - and didn't care. The same thing could happen if someone in the US was asked to produce a shirt with great cricket players.

Now, it may be that some clever OSU person produced this as a way of commenting our recent struggles (its Sparty's logo that people now associate with titles) while simultaneously making fun of MSU's past struggles (all the past greats are Wolverines).  However, I think this rests on a pretty obviously false assumption.

hisurfernmi

August 22nd, 2016 at 1:59 PM ^

Can I buy this shirt for my wife (MSU grad) who doesn't know anything about football nor anyones name? The look on her face when her family (many are State grads) called her out for the shirt could be priceless.

LKLIII

August 22nd, 2016 at 2:10 PM ^

Faking injury aside, do we have a strategy to counter the up tempo this upcoming season? The half dozen times I saw it being used against us last year seemed to be very effective. Does Brown's defensive philosophy have a counter prepared for a tempo offense?




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

huntmich

August 22nd, 2016 at 3:01 PM ^

I would say our depth at D line would be a major advantage this year.  We mainly got torched last year by tempo after Glasgow went down for the season.  Put him back in, add Mone and Gary, and suddenly you can have nearly 2 deep of elite players on the line, rotating out regularly to stay fresh.  Last year, you had replacements who were significantly overmatched, so starting linemen stayed in longer, were tired by the second half, and then got rolled.

Farnn

August 22nd, 2016 at 3:11 PM ^

Yes, don't let them get a first down.  Up tempo fizzles when you hold them to short drives to prevent the defese from wearing down.  So get a sack or TFL on the first snap to keep them behind the chains and don't let them dig their way out.

The FannMan

August 22nd, 2016 at 3:29 PM ^

The problem last year were the injuries to Mone and Galscow.  This pressed 3rd or 4th string guys into the regular rotation on the DL.  OSU and IU waited for those guys, and then used tempo to mercilessly isolate them on very talented NLF caliber OL.   This will not be a problem given the DL depth this year.  

Besides that, the secondary - who is less likley to get trapped on the field by tempo - has more responsibility in the run game under Brown.  

micheal honcho

August 22nd, 2016 at 2:43 PM ^

sorry but we(rules folks) went ahead and set aside propriety when they began letting offense's get away with murder in these tempo systems.

1. QB picks up his foot as he's looking to the sideline-not set, LB's should attack and draw flag.

2. LG rocks out of his stance, followed by RG and RT looking back at the QB for instructions that aforementioned QB is awaiting from the sidelines-Whole D line should/could fire out and draw flag

3. At least 2 of the outside ninja's are not on the LOS and are not "set" prior to the snap-illegal procedure flag should be thrown every time.

 

Point being, traditional rules for what constitutes 'set" prior to the snap have been largely ignored or outright revised in the tempo era which has allowed them(tempo teams) to get away with murder on the LOS. Start calling the infractions as the book is written and I'd discourage the teams from fiegning injury to exert some control over tempo. Otherwise I'll not frown whatsoever on those using whatever they can vs. tempo teams.