Michigan 34, Miami (NTM) 10
WITH AUTHORITY [Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog]
The gulf between box score and eye test is vast this evening.
The box score says Michigan gave hapless Miami their 19th straight loss with authority, outgaining the RedHawks 460-198, moving the ball well on the ground (6.1 YPC) and through the air (8.4 YPA), and ultimately cruising to a 24-point victory.
My eyes saw Michigan cough up three turnovers in the second quarter, allowing Hapless Miami to tie the game at ten apiece and hang around for a while.
The box score shows that Miami scored ten points against the Wolverine defense, but the eyes know those should be charged against Michigan's offense, as those scoring drives covered all of 26 and 21 yards following U-M turnovers.
The box score doesn't contain a giant red "WTF" flag. My eyes saw this at the end of the first half:
You can click to enlarge that picture, or I can just tell you that Michigan ran a four-minute drill with zero urgency or effectiveness. After Michigan tried to run a quick play on fourth-and-1, only for Miami to call a timeout before the snap, Brady Hoke decided to punt on 4th-and-6 from the Miami 37 when the Wolverines took a delay of game penalty coming out of that timeout. The decison to punt was so surprising Miami didn't put out a returner, then called a timeout of the "you can't be serious" variety. Finally, U-M took another delay of game to give Will Hagerup more room to boom a punt that hit the end zone on the fly.* Insert giant red "WTF" flag here.
The box score shows Devin Gardner had an efficient 184 yards and two TDs on 20 attempts, with one lone interception blemishing his stat line. The eyes saw his mechanics, which are all over the place, and at least two should-be interceptions hit the turf or, in the case of Jake Butt's first catch, get rescued by a great effort on the receiver's part. In fairness to Gardner, the box score also doesn't show that his interception was tipped at the line.
A crease, that. [Upchurch]
The box score and eye test agree on a couple things, at least. The offensive line did a fine job opening up holes after Miami stopped packing the box with eight defenders; when the RedHawks had to adjust to account for Michigan's wide-open receivers, Derrick Green went off, finishing the game with 137 yards and a pair of scoring runs on 22 carries. Green showed off patience, vision, and the decisive cuts necessary for success in a zone running scheme, and the numbers say as much.
Amara Darboh also looked good as he stepped into a starting role with Devin Funchess in street clothes; the redshirt sophomore caught six passes for 88 yards and Michigan's first touchdown—when he caught a quick slant and powered through a tackle to poke the ball across the plane—though he did lose a fumble during that stressful second quarter. Jake Butt looked healthy after playing sparingly against Notre Dame, finishing with three catches for 59 yards and a score on a clever fake screen called by Doug Nussmeier.
The defense thoroughly dominated Miami. RedHawks QB Andrew Hendrix could only muster 165 yards with one TD and one INT on 26 passes. The Miami passing game fared a whole lot better than their running game, which managed a paltry 33 yards on 24 attempts. The defensive front looked great, and even without starters Ray Taylor and Jarrod Wilson, the secondary held strong. Jourdan Lewis recorded his first career interception with a leaping grab on the sideline, while Jabrill Peppers impressed with his physical man coverage, forcing throw after throw to sail into the sideline.
The box score, which must be taken into account—our lyin' eyes being what they are—says Michigan turned in a dominant performance, with the final score a bit deceiving thanks to those turnovers. While it took longer than anyone hoped or expected, the Wolverines ultimately dispatched a bad team with relative ease.
On my drive home, however, I'll remember the groans that accompanied Hagerup's ill-fated punt, and the boos that followed the team into the tunnel, and I'll wonder what that kind of first-half performance would result in next week, when a plucky Utah squad coming off a bye week visits the Big House. The mental image isn't a pleasant one.
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*Apologies for initially screwing up this sequence of events; now edited for accuracy, though the general "WTF" feeling stands, of course. This was horrible clock management and an infuriatingly conservative call in a one-score game against an overmatched opponent.
September 13th, 2014 at 9:53 PM ^
I'm beginning to come around to this view. I think Gardner gives us the greatest upside,which is why I thought the idea of a QB controversy in the preseason was silly. But the longer this season goes on the less I'm convinced that Gardner can reach that upside again in his time at Michigan. He just looks mentally shot. Meanwhile, we're not even really using Gardner's athletic upside in the offense. Given all that, Morris might give us a better typical QB performance from week to week. Plus, if a QB is going to give us turnovers week-in and week-out, I'd rather have the guy that can learn from them and build towards the future.
I'd give Gardner one more week, maybe two, to see if he can pull it back together. Otherwise we need to give Morris at least one start before the trip to East Lansing.
September 13th, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^
I think that's why Nussmeier is limiting his use as a true dual threat guy, which is a bit of a shame.
I was wondering about that myself, but I figured, as you did, that Nussmeier might be trying to protect Gardner. But I don't know if that's sustainable - if Gardner's going to be the starter (and I think he still should be at this point ), the team may need to maximize use of his talents and make him more of a dual threat.
September 13th, 2014 at 10:09 PM ^
September 14th, 2014 at 12:11 AM ^
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September 14th, 2014 at 12:20 AM ^
I don't know about you but I would MUCH rather be complaining about Lloyd Carr and his team's not getting up for these games (but winning 8-11 games every year) than whatever we are going through right now...
September 14th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
From NC and Rose Bowls, to last in the B1G, back to....
That would be great. I would absolutely love to come full circle.
September 13th, 2014 at 7:56 PM ^
Overall it looked good enough to me - the team is improving and they got the W. At the end of the day that's what we need to see.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:16 PM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 8:18 PM ^
Michigan makes a pretty good MAC team?
September 13th, 2014 at 8:21 PM ^
We needed to see a blowout against a very bad team. The game should have been out of reach early in the 3rd so the backups could get playing time.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:37 PM ^
Turn back one turnover and it's 41-3. The doom and gloom that everyone has is ridiculous at this point. No, the team is not great, but they're not the worst team in history like people want to portray them as.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:49 PM ^
Oh wait, Jake butt saved the offense from adding another turnover.
September 13th, 2014 at 9:18 PM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 11:36 PM ^
Did Chesson also catch a TD pass thrown by Morris? Well hell's bells, three turnovers, a dropped TD pass....that's at least 21 points. Final score was really 55-10....right?
September 13th, 2014 at 8:32 PM ^
Outside of the offensive line, I'm not sure I've observed any meaningful improvement in this team compared to last. JMO
September 13th, 2014 at 8:47 PM ^
Seriously? The defensive line has actually gotten good, running backs are able to gain yards, receivers are better overall...
September 13th, 2014 at 7:56 PM ^
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September 13th, 2014 at 7:57 PM ^
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September 13th, 2014 at 11:41 PM ^
To be fair, you don't know either.
September 14th, 2014 at 2:49 AM ^
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September 13th, 2014 at 7:57 PM ^
I will say our defense looked great and every big play it seemed was executed or read perfectly, example being the Peppers blitz. The offense looked like they wanted to run vanilla stuff all game, which this team can't do.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:03 PM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 7:58 PM ^
with some here who say the game was closer than it looked. By no stretch of the imagination was Michigan's offense setting the world on fire but Miami's offense was never going to keep scoring on us. The defense for Michigan was pretty damn impressive.
September 13th, 2014 at 11:44 PM ^
Half of the doom and gloom is hangover from last year's Akron game. If that never happened, this would have just been an annoying first half where a couple bad breaks and opponent sneaking one by us bit us in the ass. Michigan has played a ton of these kinds of games.
But, since Akron happened, everyone (including myself) was like "shit, here we go again."
It's amazing how much better I feel about the game watching it a second time knowing the outcome. At no point did our team not feel like the dominant team. We just had a couple of shitty things happen all at once.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:00 PM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 9:21 PM ^
HAHAHAHA You don't understand football. You're funny.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:04 PM ^
I only see one game a year live & in-person. Totally agree with Ace's assessment. They were not dominating in any category and they did not play inspired in any category. Lloyd ball. This team will be lucky to win 7 games. BTW, the new museum at Schembechler Hall is a must-see!
GO BLUE!
September 13th, 2014 at 8:17 PM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 8:04 PM ^
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September 13th, 2014 at 8:08 PM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 8:19 PM ^
the receivers don't know how to catch passes from Morris. As evidenced with drops by Chesson and Heitzman....the Chesson drop being an easy TD.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:30 PM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 9:14 PM ^
DG will never be a good QB.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:59 PM ^
You racist fuck.
Gandalf can fuck off, too.
September 13th, 2014 at 10:33 PM ^
September 14th, 2014 at 12:00 AM ^
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September 14th, 2014 at 8:51 AM ^
September 14th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
September 14th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
The dude has 4 tds to 5 interceptions. He's a perfect example that a good quarterback can still look bad behind a porous OL.
It's not like Devin had a bad game, his worst throw all day was a completion. Not his problem that a ball gets tipped AND goes right through the receivers hands.
September 14th, 2014 at 12:42 AM ^
at the guy with the negative one million mgo points and not you.
He didn't get there by being negged.
The second line probably was directed at you, though.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:38 PM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 8:54 PM ^
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September 13th, 2014 at 11:56 PM ^
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September 13th, 2014 at 11:56 PM ^
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September 14th, 2014 at 1:09 AM ^
Nussmeier is an OC with a great deal of autonomy. He can create his own philosophy, standards and whatnot.
September 14th, 2014 at 7:26 AM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 8:19 PM ^
Brady Hoke used headphones 3Q. Possibly to shut out the obnoxious stadium rawk music but it's still a good omen.
We're not playing Michigan Football yet but there were encouraging signs. Funch and his health status not being one of those signs - he won't play against Utah. 0.02
Edit: What matters is who won the MGoBlog poster contest. Wasn't yours truly.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:07 PM ^
September 13th, 2014 at 8:20 PM ^
so they have that going for them.
September 13th, 2014 at 8:25 PM ^
I saw Green look at holes, change direction, and run into crowds several times again today. On two occassions he was saved by shoddy tackling, and on several others, not so much. He seems to only be comfortable if he sees a 5 yard wide gap with no LB or DB looming anywhere.
Bummed to see Heitzman and Darboh drop nice passes from Morris, but I'm not in the "Morris should be our QB" camp.
Games against teams of this caliber seem like no-win to me. I'd rather see us play a good team and be more ready for conference play, though after the showings by Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota today, maybe Utah is our toughest remaining game before sparty. Thank you Delaney for proving, once again, that bigger isn't always better.
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