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Brian

10/8/2016 – Michigan 78, Rutgers 0 – 6-0, 3-0 Big Ten

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A first down is gained [Patrick Barron]

Like many a mysterious drifter who's spent the past seven years wondering whether to drink whiskey or bleach, I don't really want to linger on the past. But when Michigan plays at Rutgers and a play by play guy desperate to inject any intrigue into a man-versus-printer situation keeps bringing up the 2014 game, it's hard to get away. And when you're already inclined to think about the radical shift in Michigan's fortunes, running across an article titled "Brady Hoke discusses monumental loss" is game over, man. There's nothing for it.

So let's talk about it.

Entering week six in 2016, Michigan was 5-0, favored by 30, coached by Jim Harbaugh and athletically directed by Warde Manuel. Manuel has probably been about as visible as your average athletic director; in the aftermath of Dave Brandon he feels like a ninja with an invisibility cloak since I haven't thought about him much outside of a few interviews and the resumption of the Notre Dame series.

Exiting week six Michigan is a top five team that just beat Rutgers so badly that they're causing existential crises amongst Cable Subscribers fans. The Daily's Jacob Gase caught up with the stragglers in the student section and got a quote for the ages:

“I like these kinds of games where we’re losing by a lot,” Kasia said, “because if we get a touchdown in the last four minutes, everyone is so happy to have anything that it’s really exciting.”

Rutgers only got a touchdown briefly. When the referees took it away it was a sign that the cosmos itself had decided that they were emphasizing the "win with cruelty" bit of Jim Harbaugh's favorite dichotomy. Everything about a blowout so epic it broke records set just before the University of Chicago decided football wasn't for them was expected.

Two years ago Michigan left for Rutgers after a week of incompetence so sheer that there was a well-attended rally on the Diag demanding Dave Brandon's ouster. Shane Morris had just been probably mildly concussed, the coverup was worse than the crime, and Brandon's "my personality is to the best of my ability" media blitz ended with this:

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A phalanx of athletic department staffers dragooned into wishing the team well as they departed. Brandon was front and center, naturally.

Upon arriving in Piscataway a person named Gary Nova bombed a secondary featuring Jourdan Lewis and NFL draft pick Blake Countess, a reigning first-team All Big Ten corner, for 404 passing yards. Michigan's featured pass rushers were current NFL stalwarts Jake Ryan and Frank Clark.

Brady Hoke had his cornerbacks coach install a press man system before the 2014 season. The minor flaw with this plan is that the cornerbacks coach was a linebacker who had never coached corners. This is how you lose to Rutgers.

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

I no longer know how you lose to Rutgers. There was no combination of parlous events that sees this game end up competitive, even vaguely so. The first time Rutgers crossed the first down line their quarterback was immediately crushed by Delano Hill, fumbling back behind the line to gain. The second time Rutgers crossed the first down line, deep into the fourth quarter, a Rutgers fan hugged it out with a Michigan fan. Various people on twitter bemusedly reported that ESPN's live win percentage tracker was stuck on 99.9%. My "harbaugh class" search started garnering hits early in the second quarter.

This was a blowout so comprehensive it went from boring to notable. And, yes, since two years ago this week I was posting The Kids In The Hall "Each Day We Work" sketch with the "there is no time off until I am crushed by the black hand" line and generally mooning about, it's worth noting that this is not that and that these are the rewards of finally getting some people in charge of things for a reason.

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there is no time off until Rutgers scores [Barron]

Michigan's cornerbacks coach is now a guy who played safety in the NFL for a decade, their athletic director has athletically directed at two other schools prior to this stop, and Jim Harbaugh is the head coach. Reasons veritably abound.

College programs can be steady for decades at a time as long as the core remains, and then lurch wildly about when that thing no longer suffices. See post-Bear 'Bama, the current situation at Texas,—which is playing out exactly like Lloyd Carr/RichRod—the last 20 years of Notre Dame football, etc. Michigan is no different. (Ohio State was incredibly lucky that when Jim Tressel got himself fired, Urban Meyer just happened to be waiting around.)

Today is a fine time to reflect on the bad old days, as we stand amidst a fine red mist that used to be the Rutgers football program, and appreciate that they got fixed. "Each day we work" has a different meaning now. So too does having an average weekend. It means the other team averages 18 inches a play.

HIGHLIGHTS

WD:

parkinggod:

More at MGoVideo.

AWARDS

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[Barron]

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Known Friends And Trusted Agents Of The Week

you're the man now, dog

#1 (tie) Taco Charlton, Ben Gedeon, and Chris Wormley were first amongst equals on defense. Charlton had two insta-sacks. Gedeon ran over a running back for a sack of his own and had a Don Brown special TFL on which he crushed a guy five yards in the backfield. Wormley continues to crush all tight ends and had a sack that should not be possible.

#2 Jabrill Peppers did some defense things. He also should have had a punt return touchdown. He did have a 63-yard run on a broken play and two very easy wildcat touchdowns, one of which was supposed to be a throw. 

#3 Devin Asiasi popped out on a cursory rewatch as an absolutely mauling blocker; virtually very big run Evans had was facilitated by Asiasi blowing one or two dudes out.

Honorable mention: everybody!

KFaTAotW Standings.

7: Jabrill Peppers(T2, Hawaii; #3 UCF, #1 Colorado, #2 Rutgers)
5: Ryan Glasgow(#2 UCF, #1 UW).
3: Mike McCray(#1, Hawaii), Wilton Speight (#1 UCF), Ben Gedeon(#3 Colorado, #3 PSU, three-way T1 Rutgers).
2: Jake Butt(#2 Colorado), Kyle Kalis (#2 UW), Chris Wormley (three-way T1, PSU, same vs Rutgers), Taco Charlton(three-way T1, PSU, same vs Rutgers).
1: Delano Hill (T2, Hawaii), Chris Evans (T3, Hawaii, four-way T2, PSU),  Maurice Hurst (three-way T1, PSU), Jourdan Lewis (#3 UW), Devin Asiasi(#3 Rutgers).
0.5: Mason Cole(T3, Hawaii), De'Veon Smith (four-way T2, PSU), Ty Isaac (four-way T2, PSU), Karan Higdon(four-way T2, PSU).

Who's Got It Better Than Us Of The Week

This week's best thing ever.

Peppers takes off for the huge run that opened the floodgates.

Honorable mention: Everything that happened after the first seven minutes.

WGIBTUs Past.

Hawaii: Laughter-inducing Peppers punt return.
UCF: Speight opens his Rex Grossman account.
Colorado: Peppers cashes it in.
PSU: Wormley's sack establishes a theme.
UW: Darboh puts Michigan ahead for good.
Rutgers: Peppers presses "on".

imageMARCUS HALL EPIC DOUBLE BIRD OF THE WEEK.

This week's worst thing ever.

A bonkers Jabrill Peppers punt return is called back for an extremely dubious block in the back penalty. I mean, for real. They never give a number because in their great shame they forget everything including the name, but the only thing that seems even slightly plausible is Delano Hill putting one hand (one hand!) on a punt returner who falls over in sheer awe of Peppers:

The only appropriate statement in that situation is "sorry sorry I'm trying to delete it."

Honorable mention: N/A.

PREVIOUS EPIC DOUBLE BIRDs

Hawaii: Not Mone again.
UCF: Uh, Dymonte, you may want to either tackle or at least lightly brush that guy.
Colorado: Speight blindsided.
PSU: Clark's noncontact ACL injury.
UW: Newsome joins the ranks of the injured.
Rutgers: you can't call back the Mona Lisa of punt returns, man.

[After THE JUMP: winning with cruelty]

OFFENSE

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[Paul Sherman]

A mauling ground game. Michigan farted around for half of the first quarter and then unleashed hell on Rutgers. De'Veon Smith saw his playing time limited after a fumble, so the main guys until quittin' time were Isaac and Evans. Isaac again impressed with his ability to cut through traffic and stiffarm a DB to pick up chunks. I had literally just complained to the friends I was watching the game with that Evans never broke any tackles when he burst through the line and broke three on a 40-yard run that ended up just short of the goal line.

Things continued from there, and continued continuing, until Karan Higdon was again taking one of those offset draws that ends up with an insultingly easy touchdown. Higdon jogged the last ten yards and barely bothered to celebrate. It was that kind of game.

As mentioned above, the guy who stuck out on a cursory rewatch was Devin Asiasi. When he made contact with someone they found themselves blown yards from where they wanted to be. Two of Evans's runs were mainly his blocks: on one double iso he clobbered the NT, and on a cutback run he hit a DE slanting away from him and then had the wherewithal and power to redirect to the second level and get yards of push on a DB.

Does this mean anything? Eh, probably not. I mean, it's better than the alternative. I think the main backs averaging 5.1 YPC* last week is a much more encouraging sign than this romp.

*[clock-killing time excluded]

Speight issues. There were only two players who turned in worrying performances. One was the quarterback, and that's a downer. While Speight did hit a very tough wheel route to Chesson while moving up in the pocket, every other throw was somewhere between routine and WTF. The farting around period early was almost entirely due to Speight airmailing a ton of throws. (A bad cut or two from the RBs and one Darboh drop were the rest.)

It was raining pretty hard during the portion of the contest where Michigan bothered to throw, so that may be a mitigating factor. Still, I'm getting the impression that the UCF game is the outlier and this is closer to the guy Michigan is going to roll with.

That's fine, I guess. Speight's numbers are still good, and he's far from the worst new starter that I've seen. I still must admit that I was hoping the second half would be an extended John O'Korn demo tape, just in case. I feel much better about the OSU game after the resurgent IU defense was able to put some clamps on their offense (under 400 yards!), but I still think Michigan's going to need QB play better than they've been getting so far to beat the Buckeyes.

The other dodgy spot. That would be left tackle, where Juwann Bushell-Beatty had some early struggles in pass protection. While we mentioned before the game that Rutgers actually has a decent defensive line per PFF, almost all of the positives are run-based. They don't have any quality pass rushers on the edge. JBB giving up a couple of pressures is not a great sign as we add to our slim collection of information on him.

FWIW, Bruce Feldman has an article in which former Notre Dame OL Aaron Taylor talks about the Michigan OL. Taylor apparently still watches a ton of tape, and his take on JBB is considerably more optimistic than mine:

“Watching the game tape, I thought they were rotating left tackles because he came in and there was no noticeable drop off,” Taylor said. "I liked that he was aggressive and it was clear that he knew what he was supposed to do. One of the first things I saw was a high level of play for a backup. He came in and dug out a defensive lineman who had an advantageous inside alignment in a short-yardage situation, meaning the D-lineman was already where he needed to be pre-snap ... so Bushell-Beatty had to cut the guy off. In football jargon, it’s a 'backside cutoff versus a 4i technique.' That’s not easy to do, and if he hadn’t, they likely wouldn’t have converted. I call those situations, 'Gotta Have Its,' and he did. That really speaks to coaching, technique and 'want to.'"

That's Taylor looking at a play from Wisconsin, not Rutgers. Whole thing's worth a read. Taylor never came off that well as an analyst but after reading this article my assumption is that the producers were dumbing him down.

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[Barron]

Helping their dude out. Amara Darboh had the aforementioned drop. He also had an excellent downfield adjustment on a post route that Speight wasn't entirely precise on. That's just fine—it's hard to throw deep. I'd been hoping that Michigan's WRs could help their QB out and in this game they did. In addition to that post route, Chesson hauled in that improvised wheel by laying out, as above.

We didn't get to see much of either guy for Rutgers reasons; they do seem to be more efficient than they were early in the season.

Peppers, the nightmare. Michigan expanded their Pepcat formation with a bonafide rollout throw that Peppers turned into a touchdown and a counter pin-and-pull that Peppers also turned into a touchdown.

The broken play that kicked off Michigan's route was also a new item: Poggi arc blocked. "Arc blocking" means that the fullback heads to the backside DE and then avoids him so he can go get a guy on the second level; Peppers's pull was by design. The running back not even entering the mesh point was not so much by design, but Poggi got enough of the edge guy for Peppers to make it work anyway.

But wait, there's more than just vulturing touchdowns. Khalid Hill impresses again as both a receiver and a blocker. Like Asiasi, guys he contacted got thunked back. He's turning into an impact fullback, which is so Harbaugh.

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it was cool that he scored though [Barron]

I have to have a complaint and this is it. The Henderson fullback trap was not something Michigan had put on film this year; ditto the second Peppers touchdown, which was a pin and pull counter to the usually zone stuff. I'd prefer they kept those things in the barn until they're facing MSU.

DEFENSE

The numbers are now bonkers. A piquant selection:

The management would like to apologize for the editing oversight that let that last one slip in there. That last one is not about the Michigan defense at all and should have been removed during one of the multiple copy-editing processes MGoBlog posts undergo before publishing in an effort to keep quality up. This does not meet our standards, and we will strive to do better, just as Michigan State strives to make the Motor City Bowl.

Anyway. Bruce Feldman offers some perspective on the third down numbers:

The Wolverines are holding opponents to a nation-leading 12.2 percent on third down tries (10-for-82), which is far and away No. 1. Of course, it’s still relatively early in the season and the Wolverines' toughest opponents remain ahead on the schedule. But keep in mind that no defense in the past decade has been under 20 percent on this stat. Boston College’s 24.1 percent last year ranked No. 1 in the country and was the best in five years. That BC defense was also coached by Don Brown, who’s now running the defensive show in Ann Arbor.

Michigan's on pace to be historically good. And they have not played all meatballs so far. Colorado's around 30th in fancystats, with UCF and PSU average-ish.

I don't have that much else to say. I struggled to write the defensive sections of the game preview because this was going to be an obvious blowout because Rutgers simply could not block the Michigan front. Check.

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[Paul Sherman]

Jourdan Lewis is still good. Via PFF:

Michigan CB Jourdan Lewis has now been targeted 10 times on the season, allowing two catches for seven yards (0.7 yards/attempt).

Dan Murphy had an excellent shade tweet at halftime:

Skillfully done.

Lewis also made another couple of excellent plays on edge runs where he read run and came off receivers to cut off the runs Michigan had so much trouble against late last year.

Revisiting Gedeon. Gedeon's now got three Known Friend And Trusted Agent Points; in this game he had an impressive sack where he turned Rutgers's running back into Fitz Toussaint (senior edition) and another TFL that, while mostly Don Brown conjuring up an evil response to an inverted veer, featured him zipping upfield like he was Jake Ryan. These linebackers seem like an upgrade.

While we're on the topic, you'd better believe that seeing Michigan crush an Ohio State staple play with a schemed run blitz has my attention.

Hello Mr. Metellus. Six tackles in mop-up time for Metellus, a couple of them of the violent-yet-legal sort. Metellus was credited with a sack when he came up on a scrambling QB and blasted him out of bounds, and gave an early indication that Devin Bush Sr.'s insistence that Metellus was super underrated is correct.

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Mo Hurst: technically second-string [Sherman]

Other second string impressions: scanty. It was difficult for any of the other second-stringers to stand out because the second string DL still has Mo Hurst, Bryan Mone, and Rashan Gary on it. Which 1) hahahahaha and 2) that rather makes it difficult for the back seven to get involved.

Michigan threw Michael Onwenu and David Dawson out there as DTs late because why not. If JBB does work out land Michigan's 2017 OL haul is as epic as it projects to be I wouldn't be surprised to see Onwenu end up at NT long term.

SPECIAL TEAMS

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[Barron]

A shoutout to the other Glasgow. Jordan Glasgow has been everywhere on kick coverage this year, with six tackles and a fumble recovery on 27 returns. Never count out a Glasgow.

Why did they go for two? They must have seen it on film and put it in. Rutgers had a massive overload to the left of their line:

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Dollars to donuts that conversation went something like:

"Uh... are we going to run this?"
"I mean, sure, we practiced it."
"Okay, it has to be now because if we do it up a gorillion people are really going to lose their minds."

On the one hand, totally unnecessary. On the other, Michigan is detailed enough to see an issue with the Rutgers XP block and has something to exploit it.

Orin Incandenza punt of the week. I'd like to believe this is repeatable:

I'm dubious. But that was still pretty awesome.

Still angry about the Peppers return. How do you throw that flag? Do you run around smashing Ming vases? How many times have you watched that "I felt like destroying something beautiful" scene from Fight Club? I hope the ref who threw that flag is thinking very hard about what he's done.

Field goals! Ask again later.

MISCELLANEOUS

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MULTIBALL [Barron]

The perpetually entertaining Peppers. Two items:

He also decided to terrify the Rutgers punt cover team for no reason:

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He's like Norfleet if Norfleet was the best player in the country.

This guy! Lot to unpack here.

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[Barron]

HERE

Best And Worst:

Best:  No Mercy

I know I just listed a bunch of stats about the dominance on both sides of the ball by Michigan, but this probably takes the cake:  Rutgers punted for 609 yards on 16 punts.  That’s longer than the height of the Sears Tower, the Empire State Building, and the Eiffel Tower.  It’s 6 football fields worth of surrender.

Michigan had 13 TFLs, including 4 sacks, on only 54 plays by Rutgers, meaning they lost yards a good quarter of the time they ran a play.  Remember 2013 against MSUwhen the Wolverines rushed for –48 yards and everyone felt terrible about themselves?  MSU recorded 11 TFLs on 59 plays by UM in that game.  This was a terrifying display by a defensive unit that chewed up other decent offenses in Colorado and Penn State, and one that will probably replicate similar performances against the mediocre offenses that are coming up on the schedule.

The State of Our Open Threads:

It is important to note that "f---" was not the most used word among the tracked words this time around - it was "Harbaugh". We were excited that Harbaugh laid a Harbaugh on a team that would dare marginalize the accomplishments of Harbaugh. Indeed, there was some talk about Chris Ash maybe even weeping a little bit at the realization that he gets to experience this Harbaugh for several years now. He may not have really, but it is fun to think of it that way.

ELSEWHERE

The Big House Report has the most Jersey Shore focused recap of the game that you will find. MGoGirl is meanwhile RECOVERING FROM A DAY OF BLOODLUST.

Maize and Blue Nation:

In the post-game presser, Harbaugh had a hard time holding back his thoughts on #5.

Gosh, if there’s a better player in the country, I don’t know who it is. I know there’s a lot of great players out there, but this guy, to be able to coach a guy like Jabrill Peppers is a real joy. There’s so much more. There’s nothing he can’t do. It’s the darndest thing I’ve ever seen. My humble opinion is we are looking for a Heisman trophy winner, candidate.”

He's not going to get any disagreement from this blogger.

TTB:

The broadcast was atrocious. There were numerous shots of Chris Ash on the Rutgers sideline for virtually no reason at all. He hasn’t done anything as a head coach, and the more interesting things are happening on the field, where 11 football players actively dominated 11 other football players, down after down after down. Early in the game, the announcers were talking up Chris Ash, the new attitude he brought to Piscataway, the strength and conditioning staff, the Ohio State connection, the talent they’ve been bringing in, the playmaking two-sport star Jawuan Harris, etc. The talent level doesn’t look any different, and Harris was averaging over 17 yards/catch . . . with most of his yards coming against Howard and New Mexico. He had 4 touches for -3 yards against Michigan, and he averaged 11 yards/catch against Ohio State. I guess that’s what happens when you play a night game in New Jersey on ESPN2.

Also TTB:

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Josh Metellus. I’ve heard good things about Metellus coming out of practice, and he came out to lead the team in tackles with 6. He also got credit for a sack. That’s not bad for a freshman that nobody was fond of except ESPN. Granted, he was playing with the backups and against Rutgers late in a blowout, but he came up strong in run support and had a couple good hits. Saturday’s performance should earn him a few more reps going forward, even if only in certain game situations.

Hoover Street Rag:

In the fourth quarter, not counting the two end of game kneel downs, Michigan averaged, averaged 10.64 yards per carry from that point, and scored three touchdowns, all from backups.  Michigan did not so much call off the dogs as told the dogs to go out and have fun and don't get hurt and still put up 21 points.  There can be one conclusion from this: Rutgers 2016 is not a good football team.  I suspect one day in the near future they may be; especially if (and this is a big if) they can keep some of that local talent at home, but for now, Michigan honored the 100th anniversary the infamous Georgia Tech 222, Cumberland 0 shutout, by burning down a divisional foe.

Sap's Decals:

COACHING CHAMPION – Whenever you drop the third highest point total in program history on your hapless opponent, you know there is some good coaching going on for the Maize and Blue. Gonna give one helmet sticker to the ENTIRE COACHING STAFF because that was the most impressive, thorough and dominant victory I have witnessed in a long, long time – maybe even better than the Gator Bowl whupping Michigan laid on Ole Miss back in 1990.

MVictors:

The Bo Store.  The latest UGP/Moe’s venture is killing it – with stuff like The Nap, The Nap, The Nap and this Bo retro sideline jacket:

bo-jacket

Baumgardner. Wenzel explores where the game ranks in Michigan and Big Ten blowout history.

Upwards of 200 recruits attended the game, but there's a silver lining for Rutgers: statistically at least a few of them are masochists. Or history buffs: this was the worst Rutgers loss since 1888. Michigan-Rutgers features rather heavily in Bill Connelly's box score superlatives.

20 years of Corso headgear.

Comments

socalwolverine1

October 10th, 2016 at 1:46 PM ^

Onwenu was on the field for more than a quarter straight, playing both ways, and still was playing at a high level in the middle of the fourth quarter despite all the snaps.  Watch the replay, the kid was a beast both as a OL guard and a nose tackle.  I actually thought he was more effective on offense, including just mauling guys, blowing open big holes, and stuffing double teams.  He was a pulling guard on at least two plays, one for a big gain where the RB ran through the hole he opened, and on another, he pulled and opened a huge hole on the left side with Bredeson sealing off the inside, but then Isaac, who with one easy cut would have had an open field for a TD, ran into the pile on the right side for a short gain.  Ulizio (#70) also did some nice work and looks ready to step in if needed.  Dawson was decent at RT when paired with Onwenu, but was overrun when he was plugged in at nose tackle near the end of the game. 

reshp1

October 10th, 2016 at 1:52 PM ^

I thought JBB did ok on a cursory rewatch. Many of the run plays went between him and Braden, as he repeatedly sealed the end and then pushed him yards away from the play. He's probably going to be limited in pass pro due to his lack of elite agility, but his length helps him at least delay guys or direct them upfield. He also went out with an injury that the commentators were saying was an ongoing thing, so maybe that limits his mobility a bit too. Hard to tell since he missed pretty much the competitive portion of the game and came back when Michigan started going into run run run mode.  

dragonchild

October 10th, 2016 at 2:05 PM ^

Early returns are a little encouraging.  He is very much a backup LT, not a good tackle or else he'd be starting, but as far as backup tackles go he's been more of a nuisance to DEs than a ghost.  I survived 2013*; I'll take it.

But egads, he got away with a few blatant holds and eventually got called for one.  He can't keep doing that and it sure as hell can't be inexperience at this point.  Speight can mitigate some of the pressure because he's hard to bring down but holding penalties are drive-killers.

*Yes I know tackles were not our problem then; you should know what I mean without me bringing up those tortured memories

Ecky Pting

October 10th, 2016 at 2:03 PM ^

One of the things I remember most from having attended the debacle that was Michigan's previous trip to Piscataway was the PA & video screen cheer "...and THAT is another RUTGERZZZZ first dowwwwn!" It was laughable that such a thing would be so hyped, until it wasn't so laughable. So payback is sweet in knowing that by the time it was played against M this time around, there was no self-respecting RU fan left in the stadium to hear it!

WolverineHistorian

October 10th, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^

My main memories from that game, besides the Darboh catch that was ruled not a catch, was the amount of jubilation from the Rutgers players every time they forced us to punt. They were skipping and prancing to the sidelines every time. They looked like 12 year olds on the last day of school. It was sickening how happy we made those guys.




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Cranky Dave

October 10th, 2016 at 2:04 PM ^

there was a thread on here about a HS team near Seattle that forfeited because the next team on the schedule was bigger, faster, and injuries were a possibility.  I wonder now why Rutgers didn't follow that precedent.

Just to add my own very special opinion I have been impressed with Asiasi all season.  Great blocker and likely to get more targets next year without Butt. 

maize-blue

October 10th, 2016 at 2:07 PM ^

Metellus jumped out to me. He closes very fast on tackles and brings the lumber. Gonna be a sleeper I think.

InterM

October 10th, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^

Jim Tressel was not fired, he resigned.  I anxiously await this important correction to an otherwise fine post.

Also, are things not on the field eligible for the Marcus Hall award?  If so, the TV broadcast is certainly worth an "honorable" mention, if not the top prize.  At least it gave Twitter something to discuss -- which was worse, announcers or camera work?

JudgeMart

October 10th, 2016 at 2:17 PM ^

My favorite comment came from a Rutgers fan who attended the game and said: Every time I squint real hard, I look on the back of our uniforms and all I can see is "Chico's Bail Bonds".

 

Chico's Bail Bonds.

Let Freedom Ring.

Tim

October 10th, 2016 at 2:19 PM ^

I didn't realize how bad the block in the back call was until seeing it described here. The broadcast commentary guessed it was on Lewis (which was certainly not the case, except inasmuch as it wasn't legitimately on anybody, so it could be illegitimately on everybody), but even assuming the Hill block is what was called, the force isn't enough to be why that dude fell down, and it was close enough to the side that a reasonable official doesn't call it.

caliblue70

October 10th, 2016 at 2:19 PM ^

With Asiasi becoming such a manimal as a thumping TE, I wonder if next season Wheatley might move to the DL to give us some more depth, as well as give him more of an opportunity. Going to be fun to watch Asiasi the next few years.

Blue Balls Afire

October 10th, 2016 at 2:20 PM ^

I think it was around this point in the season last year that I was as troubled by Rudock's play as I am with Speight's this year, and then the Harbaugh magic dust began to bear fruit.  Please repeat.  Please, please please.  Special season is in the balance.  No pressure, though, kid.  Just thousands of people without a fraction of your ability counting on you to bring meaning to their lives after their no-good, cheating, whore of a wife left them for the dentist when all they've ever done is love her and provide for her only to have it all taken away.  What were we talking about again?

WolverineHistorian

October 10th, 2016 at 2:28 PM ^

Watching the game on TV, there were a couple times in the second half where replays showed glimpses of Michigan fans in the stands looking extremely bored. I made the comment in the game thread that our fans look pretty subdued for being up 64-0.

I thought it was kind of funny.




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AZBlue

October 10th, 2016 at 2:43 PM ^

Watching that first touchdown I keep wondering how big the minus will be for Butt. He just watches a guy fly by him. Against better competition that might be a TFL. At least there is stuff to focus on over the bye week.

ESNY

October 10th, 2016 at 2:51 PM ^

Of the 15 or so incompletions thrown by Rutgers, I'm curious how many were actually thrown at receivers vs. thrown OOB to avoid a sack.   I thought Allen generally did a good job throwing the ball away to avoid a sack (not that it mattered) but don't recall him actually throwing to a receiver except for that one bubble screen/swing pass.

FrankMurphy

October 10th, 2016 at 3:03 PM ^

Great write-up, Brian. 

Love Office Space. Timeless movie. And totally apt analogy. 

I watched about 10 seconds of that Brady Hoke interview on Oregon's performance against Washington and had to turn it off. The complete and utter cluelessness combined with the "Welp"-like lack of urgency was way too familiar. This is a man who will build his empire on buyout clauses. 

On the Henderson TD and whether or not they should have kept that play in the barn: the thought of what they might actually be keeping in the barn for MSU or OSU is giggle-inducing. 

Rabbit21

October 10th, 2016 at 3:01 PM ^

What an unbelievable mauling, I also believe that if the weather had stayed bad they would have adjusted and the game would not have been as much of a blowout but still impressive.

Also, I watch as many Air Force games as I can and since they tend to be on CBSSports, I get to hear Aaron Taylor quite a bit.  I've always found him knowledgable and pleasant, so maybe he's grown into the role.  As a native Nevadan, I also love that he pitches shit at  his broadcast partners whenever this mis-pronounce the name of my state.

kstevens26

October 10th, 2016 at 3:11 PM ^

People are down on Speight a bit, but let us not forget. The weather conditions were atrocious for this game. He's 6 games into the season and he's 6-0. He's got an 11-2 TD/INT ratio and he's thrown for almost 1,200 yards.

Any gave me his stats alone before the season began and I'd be ecstatic. He's a great study and will be fine.

Also Asiasi and Onwenu are MONSTERS. No wonder Harbs loves this freshman class. Full of dudes!

nappa18

October 10th, 2016 at 3:59 PM ^

Let's be honest, so far, opponents, weather conditions, he's been merely adequate. To win the biggest games, QB's need to step up. Lots of poor throws over 6 games. Still good nough to win most games, but not all.

The Man Down T…

October 10th, 2016 at 3:24 PM ^

I chuckle at that 20% stat on making a bowl game, but I really really want to see them wanting to hug us after their first first down late in the 4th but it never comes.  They never get their hug for their first first down...  I want 60-0 or more.  I want a fucking blood orgy with squirrely the squirrel humping Dantonio's ear...

AFWolverine

October 10th, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^

Don Brown's control of the defense as the coordinator is in no way to be underestimated, but we absolutely need to give credit to Greg Mattison's coaching of the defensive line. They are the linchpin of this entire operation.

Peterman

October 10th, 2016 at 4:14 PM ^

I did the exact same thing - complained about Evans not breaking tackles after he got lightly tripped up only to eat my words the very next play. It feels good that we can associate first world problems with Michigan football again, and even better that they're really not problems at all.

Yeoman

October 10th, 2016 at 6:20 PM ^

  • Michigan has already scored more points than it scored in the entire 2014 season.
  • Michigan has still conceded fewer points than it gave up to Illinois in 2010.

MGoBender

October 10th, 2016 at 7:00 PM ^

 

The management would like to apologize for the editing oversight that let that last one slip in there. That last one is not about the Michigan defense at all and should have been removed during one of the multiple copy-editing processes MGoBlog posts undergo before publishing in an effort to keep quality up. This does not meet our standards, and we will strive to do better, just as Michigan State strives to make the Motor City Bowl.

 

/slowclap.gif

Why we read MGoBlog.

Amutnal

October 10th, 2016 at 7:42 PM ^

http://youtu.be/xfDEJzrkMS8

And another point of contrast. He STILL believes he's winning the practice championship. Maybe he should Rethink how he assesses the quality of practice. Don't want to pile on, but how in the heck did this guy even sniff Michigan's head coaching position. I really dislike Dave Brandon.




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michfn2

October 10th, 2016 at 8:38 PM ^

This team reminds me a lot of the Ravens team when they won their first Super Bowl. Defense oriented and game manager QB, that said can a QB like Speight beat Ohio State? Or would someone like O'Korn be better suited?




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Bando Calrissian

October 10th, 2016 at 8:58 PM ^

I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I have an Enthusiasm Unknown to Mankind over that Bo throwback jacket. I've been finding myself constantly going to the Bo Store site to just stare at it...