Monday Presser Transcript 10-14-13: Brady Hoke Comment Count

Heiko

Bullets:

  • Taylor Lewan will play Saturday against Indiana. He had a "hip deal" or something like that. Maybe something else too, but more the hip.
  • Hoke was pretty defensive about the coaches and the players. Attributes most of the problems on the offensive line to youth. There could be some changes this week, though. Maybe. Wouldn't really commit to anything.
  • Running Devin more is "unwise" because of the lack of quarterback depth.
  • Play-calling at the end of the game wasn't conservative, per se. Hoke went with the high-percentage strategy. Delay of game penalty was a big mistake, however, and Hoke accepted full responsibility.
  • Channing Stribling played the last drive and was told to go for interceptions. He had been doing that in practice a lot. 

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Podium

Opening remarks:

“It’s obviously disappointing to lose. You don’t play to lose. It is disappointing. Need to execute in multiple areas better. When the opportunity comes, you have to take advantage of it and you’ve got to make plays when you need to make plays. We didn’t do that throughout the game. There’s also an awful lot of good things that our football team did. I can tell you I was pleased with the physical effort that they put through. Tom Gordon played 91 plays and played a fast 91 physical plays. So did Jarrod Wilson. Both of them are key elements in our punt team. I’m just talking about those two guys, but you watch Jeremy Gallon, and you watch our team play, the physical effort was very good.

"Now let’s go back to the mental effort, because it takes both. Mentally we had some things that we need to do better from the standpoint of your targeting the line of scrimmage and blocking or finishing a little better on blocks with the angles or if you’re playing a coverage, making sure that we’re playing the coverage out. If you’re the nose tackle, you have to make sure we’re stepping with the proper foot there. We need to execute there better, and we will. I like our football team. There’s elements of it that need to produce a little more, need to have a little more urgency to how we’re playing. But I like our team and we’ve got Indiana coming in here this weekend. They’re a good football team. Kevin [Wilson’s] done a nice job offensively. They’ve got a lot of skill sets that they use. Defensively they’re more athletic than they’ve been the last couple of years.”

Can you update us on Taylor Lewan’s status?

“He’ll be fine. I think he got really two things a little bit. A little bit of a hip deal. Probably was most of it.”

You played Joey Burzynski and some other guys. Could we see a different starting lineup against Indiana? Could Schofield move inside to guard?

“Uh, probably not. The one thing – Mike Schofield in that football game I thought really, because he was asked to do a lot. When Taylor went out, with some of the unbalanced stuff, the shifting, he orchestrated all that with those guys. One time I think there were three redshirt freshmen, redshirt sophomore and Schofield in there. He did really a nice job. He played well but he also did a nice job of organizing those five guys. We had Chris Bryant come out and Burzynski come in. He did a nice job.”

Could we see a different starting lineup against Indiana though?

“We’ll go through Tuesday and Wednesday and see.”

MGoQuestion: It seems like the offensive line has had decreasing production over the last three years. The lack of depth has been well documented, but the talent does seem to be there. At what point do you start getting concerned about the coaching?

“Well the talent’s there. It’s young talent. I mean, redshirt freshmen playing, and they have a long ways to go.”

MGoFollowup: Are you concerned with the way they’re being coached at all?

“No, not at all.”

What can and has to get better now, especially with the young guys?

“I think when you look at it, they’ve been hit and miss a little bit. There’s times when they played well, and there’s times when they haven’t played as well. Now. You have to look at their preparation and talk to them about it. We had good preparation all week. We were physical, we were – watching the things we do against each other, I thought they were really good. Now we just have to keep taking them further.

Have you thought about reverting to the spread?

“Well, I think there’s times when we have still done that. The problem is Devin ran the ball I think 27 times the other day. Most of them, a lot of them were called runs. Not scramble runs. You worry about how many hits he’s taking. We’ve got to get production from the back end. The running back.”

Looking back, do you think the play-calling at the end of the game was too conservative?

“No. At the end of regulation we put ourselves in position to kick the 52-yard field goal with 20 seconds left. Could have just taken a knee and played for overtime. So I would say no.”

Is this team having a hard time understanding exactly what kind of team they want to be?

“Heh. If they are, then I haven’t done a good enough job of expressing what kind of team we need to be and want to be. Physical at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”

But it seems like you’re trying to make this team be something they’re not yet. Shouldn’t you consider doing what works instead of what you want them to be?

“Yeah, and I think we do that weekly as we look at the opponents you’re going to play. We played a lot of snaps last week out of a nickel defense. And because of number one how we kind of thought we stood up to them with their passing game, I think there were some pretty good things about it. We hit the quarterback 18 times, sacked him 4, two interceptions. From an offensive perspective, point of attack blocking has to be better. I know it can be better. Our fullbacks are pretty good lead blockers when we’re in 21 [personnel]. There’s times when everything’s blocked play-side, which were blocked really well, and a guy slipping off the backside because we weren’t doing a good enough job at cutting off. I think every week you have to look at what gives your guys the best chance to win. I think we look at that and make evaluations. Now did we think we could run the ball more effectively? I don’t think there was a doubt. Did we? No. Well then you have to change a little bit, and I think Al did that over the course of the game.”

When Devin lost his helmet, did you think about taking a timeout?

“Did. Thought about it, but it was the second half. It was that kind of game. I don’t know anybody who didn’t think it would be a game that went down to the wire. I certainly did, so I didn’t want to use the timeout then. ”

Delay of game at the end of the game?

“That’s me. Totally. Totally. That’s my fault. I have to help [Devin], and I let him down.”

What’s the process? Is there someone that gives you a heads up that the clock is running down?

“Yeah … yes. Yep.”

You put the headset on sometimes. When does that help you?

“End of game. End of half. Greg [Mattison] and I talk all the time, so I don’t have to, because we’re standing next to each other. I talk to Al [Borges] before halftime about what we wanted to do at halftime. What his thoughts were. What we wanted to change a little bit. Talked in there. And talked at the end of the half, end of the game. Do you take the knee with 20 seconds and play for overtime and try to throw it down the field with the possibility of fumbling it or them intercepting it, or do you take the chance of completing it and moving forward?”

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Roundtable

Why was Channing Stribling on the field at the end?

“Strib’s coming on. He’s come on. If there’s anybody I would want back there, I’ll be real honest, in the secondary to make the interception, it would be Strib. I would still do this day, because of his skill level and his ball skills are really realy good. I watch him every practice. He’s going to take two or three balls. We wanted to get him in the game because of exactly what we asked him to do.”

He was in position both times.

“Yeah, but there’s a lot of tough lessons in life, you know?”

Why didn’t you play him earlier in the game?

“He might. He might play more.”

Any changes going forward?

“Could. Could.”

No issues about bringing him in cold?

“Well he plays on all the special teams almost, and he’s getting experience.”

Concerns about the kicking game?

“Well, he was 23 for 23 at 40 yards coming in. He hit the ground on the first one with his toe. Obviously it was low. He pushed the other one. He nailed a 40-yarder down at the other end and 52-yarder was right there at the limit.”

No concerns about the mental aspect of his game?

“I think you could have killed the guy if I had switched kickers. I know one thing: he won the Sugar Bowl for us. Made a kick here at home to beat Michigan State. I have a lot of faith in that guy.”

With how good he’s been, does it change how you play offense in overtime?

“I don’t think so. You have all kinds of positives and negatives. I think every game, your strategy because of how the game goes has a lot to do with it. I mean, Bill Belichik called three timeouts yesterday. How they manufactured that win, at the end of the day it was guys making plays.”

What did you see from Erik Magnuson?

“I was happy enough with Magnuson for once, let’s put it that way. He did some good things in there. It was kind of up and down.”

What about Jake Ryan in his first game?

“I thought he got around pretty well. I don’t think there were any ill effects. I think he ended up playing 31 or 32 plays. It was great to have him out there. I think he brings something to our team.”

Did it help you get into the backfield more?

“I think it was a combination of guys. Chris Wormley and Jibreel [Black]. We hit the quarterback five times. Frank [Clark] did some good things. I think Cam Gordon at times was good. It was just good to have Jake back out on the field.”

How many plays could Jake play against Indiana? How do you use all three SAM linebackers?

“Well, the tempo this week will be as high as it’s going to be all year, between them and Northwestern. We’re going to need bodies to come in and out. I think that’s fine. And then when you get in sub groups, it changes a little bit. But the more depth, the better you’re going to be. And you can see that. You can see Chris Wormley is a better player than he was four weeks ago because he’s been playing football. I could go through that whole group of redshirt freshmen. Willie Henry’s better than he was four weeks ago. And I think that’s part of it because we’ve had some depth.”

Now that Jake is back on the field, can you share the history of his recovery? How hard did he work?

“Well, since the day he had surgery and came back to Schembechler Hall, he’s worked tirelessly with the rehab specialist, the docs, the trainers, the strength staff. I don’t think there was any doubt in my mind that he would be back about this time. Just because, John, what he’s done – he gets voted captain on a football team by his peers because they’ve watched him and what he’s done from that leadership standpoint and example standpoint.”

You traveled with Kyle Bosch but he didn’t play. Is he up for that spot?

“Well I think the left guard spot, yeah. Does Bosch have a chance? Sure he does. We traveled him for a reason, and it wasn’t to feed him.”

You mentioned running back production. Is it blocking? Vision?

“We never got the running backs started. We never got him started. He had a 13 yard run? 12? Early in the game. Guess what? We got him started at the line of scrimmage. I mean, they had 11 tackles for loss. That’s not getting him started at the line of scrimmage.”

How do you fix that?

“Number one as a coach, you have to look and see, ‘Am I coaching it the way we should coach it?’ We are. What are we doing in practice to make sure we’re giving them the looks that they need? Am I motivating them to knock somebody off the football?”

You talked about the progress of your young defensive linemen and how quickly they’ve moved along. Do offensive linemen just take longer?

“It’s definitely a more encompassing position from a mental standpoint than defensive line. Defensive linemen, you’ve got certain things, there’s always fundamental parts of it. But there’s not the checks at the line of scrimmage as much. Do we have that? Yes. But not as much defensively. And protections. We’ve cut down on protections, believe me, because of the youth. And the different schemes you want to run, the different fronts you’re going to see and the movement of the defense and how that affects you. Does it take a little longer? I believe that does.”

To the outside observer, it appeared like you were scared to let Devin make a play with his arm. Was there any fear about turnovers? If so, is that a lack of confidence in your quarterback?

“Not at all. We wanted them to have to use their three timeouts. I think we started the drive six minutes and seven seconds. We take the drive all the way down to 52 seconds left on the clock, right? We have one penalty in there that hurts us a little bit because it stops the clock. Took all their timeouts, called a quarterback draw. We never took the ball completely out of his hands. I would expect our defense [to make the stop] if we had to make somebody go 80 yards in 52 seconds to make the stop. ”

If your best playmaker is your quarterback, shouldn’t you put him in positions to make plays instead of milking the clock?

“I think again, you have to look at the percentages. You have to look at what is the benefit of the team and the benefit of what the percentages are. How much time are you going to give them and where are you going to give them the ball? If I had no confidence in our quarterback, with the interceptions that we’ve had, he wouldn’t be our quarterback. I have all the confidence in the world in Devin Gardner. I have confidence in our offensive line getting better.”

So he’s not a short leash?

“No.”

You talked about the power plays and managing the hits Devin takes. How do you balance QB runs and RB runs? Should Devin get more carries?

“I don’t think that’s wise to have Devin take more hits.”

Even if that’s the only thing that’s working?

“Who’s going to play quarterback if he takes all those hits?”

Shane Morris?

“You have to be conscious enough about the team. And he’s had 10 starts, right? 10 starts. He has improved every week. Even though we had two turnovers the other day. The fumble? That’s not his fault. It’s a blindside deal. One bad throw. He had no turnovers the week before. There is no short leash.”

Will Taylor Lewan play on Saturday?

“Yeah. He’ll play.”

Has the offensive line improved?

“I think it’s a bit of hit or miss. Graham, a week ago, played pretty daggone well. Not as well this week. So I think it’s a little bit of hit or miss. If you don’t have consistency, you’re not going to win. We have to be more consistent.”

Are Glasgow and Miller still competing?

“Yeah they’re still doing that.”

Do you plan to spend more time looking at the offensive line?

“I don’t need to do that. I’ve got a great offensive line coach. I’ve got a great coordinator. I’m with them enough because we go so much against each other. I don’t need to do that. That’s some coach trying to think he’s a hero. That's not me. I'm not a hero.”

Comments

M-Dog

October 14th, 2013 at 7:19 PM ^

He did answer it, though not directly.  But it's easy to piece it together:

- He want's to run Manball, even if it kills him.  Always has.

- He's afraid of Devin getting hurt.

- He's afraid of Devin throwing picks.

- He's afraid of Devin fumbling.

- He want's to run Manball, even if it kills him.  Always has.

Folks, he's given a pretty clear answer, and we're not going to like it.  If the first 27 times don't work, then godammit, we're going to run it 27 more until they get it right.  
 
There'll be no Devin-centric zone read spread or shotgun/pistol passing spread.
 
Brace yourselves, November is going to be a long, frustrating month.

Soulfire21

October 14th, 2013 at 8:47 PM ^

The common thread is turnovers.  When you turn the ball over 3-4 times a game, the other team is going to stay close, or at least significantly closer, and that's true regardless of talent differential between teams.  Eliminate turnovers and we win against Akron, UConn, and PSU by comfortable margins.

Borges at this point is slightly backed into a corner.  I'm sure he'd like to pass, but Gardner is very prone to throwing interceptions.  Gardner also fumbles the ball a lot.  So that right there is qutie a bit of incentive to not let Gardner make the plays.  What's left after that?  Our RBs and that's about it.  This doesn't absolve Borges of scrutiny, but I can't say I blame him for being so hesitant about Gardner, even if that is unpopular opinion around these parts.

Go Blue in MN

October 14th, 2013 at 9:49 PM ^

Exactly.  We get nothing running with our RBs, and turn the ball over way too often passing.  Borges is in a lose-lose situation.  That's why I put much of the blame coaching-wise at this point on Funk.  There is simply no excuse for our O-Line to perform this poorly, this inferior to our opponent's D-Line (no matter who they are), week after week after week.  I'm not expecting All-American level play from anyone except Lewan, just something approaching basic competence.

Promote RichRod

October 14th, 2013 at 5:45 PM ^

but wow - I'm shocked at how little responsibility he took, even in a vague sense.  I can't count how many times he's said "we need to get better as coaches" after a win/good half but almost nothing of the sort here...aside from the DOG penalty, which, obviously. 

"Number one as a coach, you have to look and see, ‘Am I coaching it the way we should coach it?’ We are."  That's the scariest quote in the presser.

I guess it's easier to look like you are demanding perfection of yourself and your staff when things go well.

snoopblue

October 14th, 2013 at 5:49 PM ^

I can now say with 100% certainty that whatever Borges coached Denard to do, Denard just disregarded it and said, "Ok, whatever you say coach," and then just went on the field and did his thing.

Borges only knows one type of offense, and the game has passed him by, even at the NFL level. When he tries to be creative and innovative, he fails miserably. He's better off just sticking to what he knows, even if that would neutralize Devin's running ability.

The struggles this season BETTER pay dividends next season, when Morris can step in with a complete knowledge of the offense and confidence behind an experienced and highly regarded offensive line. I understand Devin has another year left, but I am assuming Morris will beat him out of the job next season because he fits the offense Borges is trying to implement.

Also, special teams? Do our coaches practice blocking schemes on returns? Tackling?

JimBobTressel

October 14th, 2013 at 6:05 PM ^

I'm sorry but this is BS. Borges came in here and called that watered-down, mildly effective spread offense you saw in 2011. He's shelved half of his playbook for 2 seasons, now he's decided "I've been patient long enough, we're going to the pro style come hell or high water." The only difference between him and RR is RR decided to do that the minute he walked through the door.

You saw how moving Devin under center last year saved the offense.

Borges is not an idiot, as much as people on here want to paint him as one. He's just old school. Which is 100% fine as me, as long as the players can execute his concepts. To suggest Denard orchestrated and designed the offense for the past 2 seasons is laughable.

xcrunner1617

October 14th, 2013 at 5:49 PM ^

So maybe Stribling getting a lot of interceptions in practice is moreso a product of the quarterback he is going up against rather than an indication of his ball-hawking abilities?

JDW

October 14th, 2013 at 5:50 PM ^

I thought he had good position the last two plays in regulation ... But both times he jumped a 1/2 a second too early on the last one he was coming down as receiver went up

xcrunner1617

October 14th, 2013 at 5:55 PM ^

I agree.  My aove post wasn't so much calling him out as it was noting how intercepting passes in practice may not be all that rare...The kid should be a good one down the line though. 

gwkrlghl

October 14th, 2013 at 6:10 PM ^

I'd agree. I think he likely had some freshman jitters out there. Fast forward 1-3 years and Stribling probably picks or at least breaks up those passes. He may be making them in practice now but not yet on the field under pressure

Maaly

October 14th, 2013 at 5:53 PM ^

Great direct question about the offensive line.

These pressers mean absolutely nothing to me anymore, we have yet to put together a complete game (4 qtrs)  worth of good football this year. I find it very odd that there has been no real noticeable progression with this team so far. I don't want to hear about what we "need to do better" . At this point I just want results, something that I can see with my own eyes on Saturday.

michgoblue2005

October 14th, 2013 at 11:17 PM ^

I thought the Minnesota game was a good game for all ( 4 qtrs ). The D didnt play good the first quarter but they adjusted and looked better the rest of the game. I really think that this team will be a good team for the next couple of years and if Hoke & Company can keep recruiting the way they have then they could be good for decades. I just think alot of Michigan fans feel like this team should be the greatest team we have ever had but they are very young at alot of key positions which has been a problem but I think that only time will tell. I also think that Hokes first season here was probably the worst thing that could've happen to him it put him and his staff on a pedestal that  was way too high for them to stay there. If everybody sits back and thinks about it the coaches are still trying to get their players and scheme in place. The players they do have in place are still young. I am just as guilty as most of us here I want to see a great team every year.  I want my favorite team to be in contention for a B1G Ten championship and a National Championship every year but if we all look at the Alabama's and the Oregan's of the world we would see that it takes time. Its NOT going to happen over night or over 3 years for that matter. I have faith in Hoke and company but if the team doesn't show improvement within the next 3 years( IF he last that long) than I think its time for a change.

Indiana Blue

October 14th, 2013 at 8:33 PM ^

like he's calling an audible.  Comes up from center and taps his head or makes another gesture ... but no way is he calling audibles.  Who would call for a run when he sees man coverage to the outside and the CB'c 12 yards off the LOS???   That's what happened the entire last drive and OTs.  There was even one time that we put the 2 wideouts on the same side and PSU still had just 1 defender on two receivers!

Easily the worst Michigan game I have ever witnessed in person, and I've been going to games for over 50 years.

michgoblue2005

October 14th, 2013 at 11:31 PM ^

I think what you seen was him calling for an O-line protection audible not a play audible. Which with 8-9 in the box and man coverage should be a slant or hitch-n-go but he has to get some air under the ball. I was wondering (after seeing his 2nd interception) if he can make that touch throw that is needed to get a WR open instead of gunning it into tight coverage.

dragonchild

October 15th, 2013 at 9:55 AM ^

I know I've seen him do it, and when he does it's usually the right call.  DG is light-years ahead of even senior Denard in this aspect.

The problem is that because they're in the huddle, during away games once all the confusion's worked out they're lining up with 5-6 seconds left on the clock; at home games there will often be ten seconds or more.  The difference is HUGE; when you have to snap just to get the play off then you have to deal with whatever the defense is throwing at you.

They just weren't given enough time to call audibles.  As it is the team still got late delay of game penalties anyway.

michiganman01

October 14th, 2013 at 6:04 PM ^

And Hoke and Borges just turned away from him and went to 1 yd a carry in OT. Now I know he threw 2 picks earlier and has 10 for the season but he was 7/11 134 yds 2 TD and had 11 carries for 67 yds in the second half. When you have momentum ride it. At least call a read option, the only working runnning play all game. Or maybe the playaction screen to gallon (the best play borges had ever created) when they had like 8 in the box. You arent going to turn it over on those (95% of the time) and you are going to get more then 3 yds. (90% of the time). Much better then wasting plays. 

Moonlight Graham

October 14th, 2013 at 6:05 PM ^

Coach Hoke not wearing a headset has always bothered me, right from the start. I'm afraid I need to give it the "in this day and age" routine. Does he think that NOT wearing a headset is the secret that NO ONE ELSE has thought of to winning the B1G championship or national title? Because if it's not that specific reason, then WEAR A HEADSET! 

I came to a fearful realization after the Penn State game that even if Coach Hoke did wear a headset, he wouldn't know what to do or say. "So ... who's on this thing? Hello? Alright, let's go through this slowly the first couple times while I get the hang of this." 

Maaly

October 14th, 2013 at 6:16 PM ^

It has bothered me to. In theory it would seem that he's not communicating with the staff as much as he needs to be. Every HC around cfb is muttering something to their coordinators all through the game. I mean it can't possibly hurt?

McSomething

October 14th, 2013 at 6:34 PM ^

That would be one thing, but he's in the booth. So Hoke never looks like he has a direct line of communication with the guy calling the plays. So when we continue to run plays that, effectively, have almost a zero percent chance of success and Hoke is still just standing there saying nothing to noone. Doesn't exactly scream leadership.

M-Dog

October 14th, 2013 at 7:29 PM ^

His "I'm not trying to be a hero" comment (by interfering with the offesnive coaching) tells you that he realizes he is not an offensive coach.  

He sets the tone, like "We're going to run it downhill if it kills us" (unfortunately), and then watches to see what happens.

I suppose it's better than RR interfering with the D by forcing a 3-3-5 on his D coordinator, but it leaves everthing in the hands of the OC.

 

dragonchild

October 15th, 2013 at 9:58 AM ^

That makes the problem easier to fix, if not for politics.

During RR's tenure there was no way Michigan was going to have a competent defense.  Hoke likes to delegate the offense, so fixing the playcalling is as simple as getting an OC that isn't stupider than Field Marshal Haig.  The problem is that Hoke likes Borges a lot.  If anyone fires him, it'll have to be Dave Brandon.

charblue.

October 14th, 2013 at 6:21 PM ^

in what was obviously his toughest presser of the season, a genuine frustration with the Oline progress. Regardless of the type of offense he wants to run, which is obviously physical, he deflected a lot of questions or just played them off with one word parries that characterize his typical responses. What was clear, however, is that he remains true to his convictions. 

But let's be clear, making plays is about trust and forgiveness. And as much as forgetting the results of Saturday to make progress this Saturday, is the same as forgetting the results of percentage moves and going for broke to win. And players know this, and they execute with greater focus when they realize they are both trusted and need to be accountable. 

The only accountability from Hoke for clock management was about not calling a timeout to aavoid the delay call which would have offered the chance to win by kicking a field goal instead of defending the last 80 yards in under a minute. 

We know this scenario can be accomplished in less time on fewer plays because we witnessed it under his coordinator and coaching without a headset. 

However, he was home against ND with 110,000-plus fueling the effort. The percentanges were not increased by defending the goal 80 yards away if you get a first down, go for TD or get closer to kicking a field goal. If you get a first down or score the game is over. And the time on the clock is irrelevant. 

Yes, Michigan demonstrated its desire to score at the end, which didn't reflect conservative play-calling, but only reinforced the unwillingess to become more aggressive in ending the game before giving PSU a chance to tie. So, you get no brownie points for that. It only clarifies the failure to go for the jugular. Why worry about defense if you are in scoring position? That mystifies me. You are on their 27 yard line and we're indecisive and we have a 7 point lead. How do you explain that? I don't understand the mindset of playing to not lose, which is what that capitulation was. And saving the timeout for what, exactly? When it was used, it ultimately benefitted the opposition. 

So, after they score, and Michigan gets in position to kick a field goal, with a great looking kick by Gibbons, which I thought was good but fell short, the folly of judgment about the final minute was the result of poor clock management and Hoke should own up to that. 

M-Dog

October 14th, 2013 at 7:35 PM ^

The only accountability from Hoke for clock management was about not calling a timeout to aavoid the delay call which would have offered the chance to win by kicking a field goal instead of defending the last 80 yards in under a minute. 

He took the "blame" for the delay of game only in the sense that it stopped the clock.  He never said that the issue was that it cost us yardage to try a FG.  I think he had no intent to ever try a FG.  He was going to put it all on the D to make a stop no matter what.  He pretty much said so.

EverybodyMurders

October 15th, 2013 at 7:50 AM ^

I'm not sure where this was inferred, but it makes absolutely no sense. The delay of game ran off literally as much time as possible pre-3rd down, stopping the clock in that situation hurts nothing. The yardage however is an entirely different story...I would be highly highly disappointed if we had a mid-40s FG attempt and still decided to pouch in that situation

McSomething

October 14th, 2013 at 6:22 PM ^

The coachspeak and dodged questions is not. That was to be expected.
What is also alarming is the tendency to stubbornly stick with what is not working in crunch time at the expense of what got the lead built up in the first place. Use what got you there. And that goes for both sides of the ball.

borninAnnArbor

October 14th, 2013 at 7:12 PM ^

I like to ask myself, is this reasonable? In overtime, just needing a field goal to win, what do we do? Play to our strenghts, run devin, maybe an easy out pattern. maybe tripple option? fake the run up the middle and pitch if necessary? ( half the field was wide open).
no. do the thing we were the worst at. run up the middle. three straight time. then loose.

We had more talent, we had more oppertunity, then we gave it away. congrats to penn state.

jsquigg

October 14th, 2013 at 6:31 PM ^

I'll tell you about percentages coach:  If you run power from the I or double tight into a nine man box for the 20, 21st 22nd, etc. time in a row, it probably will continue to get stuffed.  This presser is just an unfortunate reassurance that the coaches are determined to keep banging our RBs into a wall.  Technique isn't enough to overcome our strategical retardation against the best teams or even the average ones.

yoyo

October 14th, 2013 at 6:31 PM ^

I hate the youth excuse.  Youth wasn't a huge problem last year.  RR made the same damn excuses about the secondary and look where we ended up on that one. 

Hoke might be on the hot seat in a year if he keeps getting outcoached.

B-Nut-GoBlue

October 14th, 2013 at 6:39 PM ^

Why was Stribling being told to go for a pick?  Football strategy has always been to KNOCK that ball down.  I had that drilled into my head back when playing to do so when at the end of the half I got a Hail Mary caught over my head...(I was trying to knock it down, he just had 7 inches on me).

Stribling may have been trying to do so and obviously mistimed the jump...but if the jump was mistimed do to trying to CATCH the ball, it wasn't coached right, in my humble opinion.

M-Wolverine

October 14th, 2013 at 9:43 PM ^

It wasn't a Hail Mary, if it was incomplete they could run more plays. Heck, after they scored there was almost enough time for us to get close enough to score. The knock it down strategy is for the least play of the game. Otherwise you want the INT.