MGoPodcast 11.14: I'm Here to Serve
1 hour and 39 minutes
The Sponsors
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1. The Game
starts at 1:00
One of the most frustrating things about this Game is the guys making the mistakes were the upperclassmen who dominated in their roles all season. Why have a defense? Sad field goals? Ain't gonna fire Jim Harbaugh because he's going to keep putting out S&P+ top ten teams. Ain't gonna fire Don Brown because he's one of the best. Josh Gattis looks like a keeper. Jon Runyan survived against Jon Runyan. We're never going to beat Ohio State until the system changes. Pay the damn players already.
2. The Battle for Atlantis: ISU and UNC
starts at 13:15
They should not play in this tournament again; surprised nobody got hurt when there's random water appearing all over the place. Are long twos good, because Michigan is forcing its opponents to take all of them. ISU: Wagner looks like another big out there, shot looks good. UNC: A beating, even with Michigan's two biggest stars fouling out with over 5 minutes left. Michigan's turnover-forced rate is terrible because they're forcing teams to dribble into two range then shoot. Also this was the Eli game (24 points on 16 shot equivalents). NBA thinking: if you have an isolation advantage go get it.
3. The Battle for Atlantis: Gonzaga
starts at 36:55
House money until they get a five-point lead and then it's on. X has changed his shot so it gets out quicker and he's still making them. Changes the offense that he can go to the paint either way too. Multiple times this year we've been furious about turnovers and then they put up a graphic and Michigan's above average. Wish we had redshirted him so we could see what he'd develop next year. Tired Teske: logged a lot of minutes and still managed to play good defense. Wagner's length was a huge problem for the Zags. Also he's as expressive as his brother when he gets a bad call.
Refs: Zaga was fine until the flagrant that wasn't. UNC was getting calls on flops; the one on DDJ when Cole Anthony jumped under him was atrocious.
Brooks was 1 of 6 from two but they were decent late-clock shots and a runner. Best case scenario for this season was DDJ or Brooks is starter-caliber and they both are. Brooks: still acts like a role player, just his role is assassin. Haven't seen Juwan's team increase ORebs from Beilein, suspect the 2-3 zone was from Phil Martelli.
4. Hot Takes and the Big Ten.
starts at 1:05:33
Going into the season it looked like MSU and the field. Michigan could beat Louisville and be #1 in the AP, not that rankings matter. Ohio State are also playing like contenders. Maryland is not. Purdue is too weird. In both of MSU's losses they doubled Winston until he gets the ball to Tillman and make him shoot outside. Rocket Watts: terrible start, Foster Loyer is unplayable. IU resurgence: not worried if their best player can be matched by Teske. Wisconsin is looking like what we thought Wisconsin would, and Reuvers is trying to do the Happ thing. Rutgers is a top 75 team; they're not good but they're not going to be the worst in the conference by far. Speaking of: Nebraska is abject. Northwestern too, but beat Providence. Louisville: terrifying on paper, blew out some barely top-100 teams. Juwan Howard: so…
MUSIC:
- "If This Tour Doesn't Kill You, I Will"—PUP
- "NBA On NBC Theme"
- "Basketball"–Kurtis Blow
- “Space Jam Theme Song”—Quad City DJs
THE USUAL LINKS:
- Helpful iTunes subscribe link
- General podcast feed link
- Direct download link
- What's with the theme music?
It feels like a program.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:26 AM ^
I was dissappointed in the lack of discussion about what went wrong in the OSU/Michigan game portion of the podcast. Specifically, I want to hear exactly what went wrong with the defense. Was it just failure of execution by the players? Failure of Don Brown's play calls/schemes? Combination of both? I mean, that was an awful performance, maybe even worse than last year.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:51 AM ^
Because it’s easier to whine about “pay the players” and ignore the obvious than to justify why Penn State, with similar recruiting rankings and a supposed bozo as a head coach, has a -10 point differential against OSU since 2016 and Michigan is at -66 over the same time frame.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:00 AM ^
bUt tHe TaLenT gAp iS ToO WidE!
The writers on this site seem to always act like petulant children when it comes to Ohio State. No one is ever willing to criticize Harbaugh for these putrid performances, no one is willing to point out what the problems are, and no one is willing to discuss it. This is the kind of shit that drives me insane about Michigan fans- the defeatist and apathetic attitude we have about Ohio State.
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:10 AM ^
"No one is ever willing to criticize Harbaugh for these putrid performances, no one is willing to point out what the problems are, and no one is willing to discuss it. This is the kind of shit that drives me insane about Michigan fans- the defeatist and apathetic attitude we have about Ohio State."
Sounds like a petulant child.
December 4th, 2019 at 1:24 AM ^
I’m not a writer for this site but I’ll give it a shot:
1). To beat Ohio state or any power spread team you need to be two deep at defensive tackle and the tackles need to be able to two gap to eliminate the possibility of cut backs. This allows linebackers to set the edge and fill gaps correctly. The last two years we have not had that so we can’t stop the run which allows them to frankly be multiple on offense which is death. The two years prior to that we did have that depth and therefore we had answers to their power spread. Losing Mattison hurts here the most - OSU definitely knows that.
2). There isn’t a talent gap but rather a depth gap. It’s really striking at tackles and at corner/safety. We have depth on offense but not on defense which shows.
3). We need to recruit Ohio much harder than we are. The reasons are obvious.
The above is solvable. You can see it on offense. OSU basically gave us any opportunity to run in the second half we wanted by literally playing zone and covering the hash marks. We were too far behind to take advantage. But it tells you something if they have to adjust scheme to manage something we are doing. That’s a step in the right direction.
now for the systemic things we can’t solve...
They recruit in ways we haven’t done and likely never will. Urban Meyer knows how to recruit and who to recruit. He left Florida with a litany of institutional issues but he won so no one cared. In that environment you can do a lot that we can’t do at Michigan. They go to play football not school and this is true at every football power. There won’t be PEDs at Michigan or online courses or someone else taking your test. It is what it is....
I’m not sure how you catch up if you won’t bend the rules but I believe if you have quality depth that can be system agnostic you can win these games. But that depth is the key...without it you will have exploitable gaps and that’s when talent deficiencies become obvious. Defense needs more quality depth - tackles and safeties. We are missing size in the middle and speed on the edge. You get that - you can become multiple on defense and then you can start making it competitive....
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:08 AM ^
Right. Shit is a losers mentality. Name another blue blood fanbase that’s okay with having a DC that will shit the bed against the 3 best teams he plays year after year. Don Brown is a has been, a fad that has been figured out. Next.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:14 AM ^
Brown has an OSU problem. The other games are just...losses. Sometimes other teams play better, or a couple of plays are missed. It's lazy to assume everything bad that happens is because someone is incompetent at his job.
Also, on the good chance Brown is gone and Michigan replaces him with someone else, I assume they'll also get scored on by OSU and you'll trot out this line again.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:23 AM ^
I’ll gladly trot it out if it becomes a pattern.
Brown has shown time and time again that he will not rotate younger players to give them experience. After 3 years, he has gotten his doors blown off by PSU twice, Wisconsin twice, ND maybe and OSU twice. Throw in Florida, FSU and USCjr and you prolly should start looking at a younger guy who actually recruits well while maintaining that level or close to it.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:33 AM ^
Bronx,
You are wasting time. These are OSU trolls. They cannot be reasoned with. That is what they get to go to that community college.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
"Also, on the good chance Brown is gone and Michigan replaces him with someone else, I assume they'll also get scored on by OSU and you'll trot out this line again."
Yeah. It's lazy thinking. I get tired of it. It's 'UNACCEPTABLE' for a rational fan base. :-)
Again, want to fire X coach or X coordinator, come up with someone to replace that person and reasons why that person will succeed at Michigan.
Most people just want change for changes sake and have a vague hope that some other coach can come in and instantly improve; thinking a coaching change has no costs and no negative impacts. We've seen different.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:40 AM ^
(Michigan's not a blue blood program)
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:12 AM ^
A good point, but an OSU turnovers kept PSU in the game. Only Big10 team that can come close to beating an OSU is an OSU.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:10 AM ^
Yeah, I don't get why the mentality of this blog is either "everything is GREAT" (i.e. predicting a top 5 offense in SP, number 1 defense, playoff contender) and if that doesn't work out then everything is pure shit. This blog has a borderline personality disorder I swear.
Harbaugh tried to win with one method in his first few years, and it didn't work. So he changed his offense, changed the way he recruits, and now he's trying again. We are lucky to have that instead of a stubborn Lloyd Carr 2.0
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:16 AM ^
Thia blog takes on the character of the loudest members/writers, and since basically Army the theme has been "we're fucked and welcome to BPONE". It's weird reading about football other places and seeing (a) how every fanbase is equally reactionary, but also (b) how things can be bad without it being a referendum on everyone.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:27 AM ^
Don Brown is the Russell Westbrook of defensive coordinators. His defenses look flashy and exciting and put up stats, but never actually accomplish anything that matters and falls flat on the big stage against big boy competition.
December 3rd, 2019 at 5:11 PM ^
I thought our defense outperformed the other two units. Given the lost personnel from the 2018 team and the quality of tOSU's rushing and passing attacks, I think the defense performed better than any other tOSU faced. My disappointment in special teams is primarily the silly "trick formation" on the PAT and the carelessness on the 4th and 4 punt rush.
I thought our offense could have produced much, much more. There was business to be done rushing up the middle. The wide rushes were wasted downs we couldn't afford. If our rushing attack was producing near its potential then our passing attack would have carried the day. I can sum up every Michigan offense for the past 50 years: "Just let me call the plays."
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:32 AM ^
I would have liked to have heard more about the game as well. I wouldn't use a Twitter poll in the heat of the moment as the most accurate representation of reality.
That said, most Michigan fans kind of saw what happened. Michigan needs to have Smith and Hinton hit since they don't have defensive tackles. I know Michigan looked at getting faster, but I'd say the biggest weakness of this defense was right up the middle, and it hurt them in the Wisconsin and Ohio State game. I think defensive tackle, after watching Hurst, Glasgow etc, is the most important position on the field.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:34 AM ^
I am happy to admit I was very wrong about Eli Brooks. He's always been a good defender but his jump this year offensively has been both unexpected and fantastic.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:27 AM ^
The fact that this blog just quits when Michigan loses a game and laughs it off like well time for basketball is garbage. We beat MSU, Illinois, Mid Tennessee State and you give actual commentary and knowledge and then when we lose a game its like "Well, theres always next year" or "Well how about basketball" like come on.
As someone who listens and reads a lot of the MgoPodcasts, WTKA roundtable, etc. Pods like this are really, really annoying.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:36 AM ^
The only thing I can say to justify it is that we’ve seen this song and dance for what... 17 of 20 years?
OSU is always more innovative, talented and better coached. We’re going on 2 decades now. People my age have only seen 1 W over them while cognizant of what is happening, 3 if you include 2000 and 2003.
Even paying players outright doesn’t solve shit if those players shit themselves in crunch time like they did this last game and every game before it. It’s a lazy excuse, but at this point every topic has been covered at least 5 times.
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:04 PM ^
"Pay the players" might be a lazy excuse, but so is "fire Brown, fire Harbaugh, fire everyone, and hire the guy I just saw on TV win a game today."
And then there's "hire Matt Rhule" because he had a good (and 2011-Hoke-ianly lucky) season.
After Wisconsin I saw "hire Mike Leach" when he was piling up a big lead -- until an hour later when he gave up 50 second half points to a corpse of a UCLA team.
Then whenever Michigan had a bad quarter it was "hire PJ Fleck, at least he's going to win a division."
"Pay Matt Rhule / PJ Fleck / Brent Venables whatever he wants" is the 2019 version of
"pay Kevin Sumlin whatever he wants" (2013)
"pay Al Golden whatever he wants" (2010)
"pay RichRod whatever he wants" (2007)
Good thing we don't hire and fire via message board or we'd be on our 9th coach of the season by now.
December 2nd, 2019 at 4:10 PM ^
That's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. I'd rather hear about the basketball program wildly exceeding expectations that the football program doing . . . well . . . the opposite.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:35 AM ^
Michigan did well: they beat the snot out of ND, MSU and almost took out PSU (they outplayed them). It was good.
OSU...still working on it. Keep at it. I trust Harbaugh can now look at defense and try to improve that like he did offense. Offense improved this year (SP+ 20). That is progress. I like. Continue.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:52 AM ^
Put me in the Don Brown needs to stay camp. We didn’t have defensive tackles this year and he still cobbled together a top defense, one that could beat most teams except those that ran down hill (Wisconsin) or are physically dominant enough to run down hill when they want (OSU). When our biggest weakness is matched up against JK Dobbins and a blue chip offensive line, you get The Game. There’s no way to scheme around that. Then you have players thinking they need to help the run defense and end up out of position trying to do too much.
If the lack of viable DTs this year is Don Brown’s fault in recruiting, then maybe there’s an argument to get rid of him, but I don’t think MI recruiting works that way. (Coaches recruit a region, right?, and not specific position group?) Also, defensive line is the hardest position to recruit and we’re not giving “loans” to the Chase Youngs of the world. All in all, I think Don Brown did the best he could with what he had.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:55 AM ^
Not having defense tackles is Don Browns fault.
December 2nd, 2019 at 2:16 PM ^
No, it's not %100 his fault
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:55 AM ^
Don Brown should be fired, his defense does not work against good teams. I have 119 reasons why.
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:13 AM ^
I feel like anyone disappointed there wasn't more analysis of the game doesn't pay attention to this blog.
More importantly, this better not be the end of the Michigan Replay song on the podcast! OK. Maybe it's some one-off thing this time, but that song needs to stay. I don't bitch about Pitbull, BPONE, etc., but I'll be upset if I never hear that song here again unless there's actually some copyright problem that has come up.
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:28 AM ^
The game-plan was there to play well with OSU Saturday. It felt like once a few things started going wrong, several of the typically strong players started pressing and trying to make big-plays vs. playing their own responsibilities, especially on defense.
Mettellus, Hudson, etc both made mistakes and it just felt like they were pressing and trying to hard which led to mistakes, losing contain, running into another M player and getting picked, two big mental errors with receivers behind the safety.....
When it comes to areas where M was flatly outplayed, the Dline and having a talented and large size differential was creating some real challenges were OSU was simply better and getting 5yds a pop + on every run with Dobbins.
The drops and mental errors - dropping a snap, etc were maddening as those could have easily kept M in the game. You can't drop as many balls as the receivers did and fumble inside the 20, and honestly "turnover" the ball back to OSU on a mental error on a punt and expect to win.
OSU has a great team and they made M pay on every single error.
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:37 PM ^
What the hell was Seth's "sexy raspy voice" commercial? I don't buy the "I yelled at the game" excuse. I think he's trying to move into nighttime romance hotline host. Especially with the jazzy make love music in the background.
December 2nd, 2019 at 4:44 PM ^
I'm disappointed there wasn't more football analysis.
Meanwhile, posters like 'TheCube' said they were done with football and moving on to basketball season after the Penn State game -- yet here they are -- so I guess we are blessed with bonus content of their incisive analysis.
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