9/4/2021 – Michigan 47, Western Michigan 14 – 1-0

I've got a spreadsheet now. I put it together a month ago when the idea of doing something, anything at all, was appalling. It has columns and if I do the thing in the column I get to bold it. Some columns are daily, or at least they're daily without the extraordinary intervention that causes the "shruggie" column to get bolded. Others are, uh, less daily. Kind of got knocked off a thing I wrote about in a column this March.

please come weed my backyard

The idea is that as we go along more things get bolded. Just two things are currently getting hit 90% of the time: walking, and people. I get to bold "people" when I undertake an activity (that does not count as another activity) in which I interact with another human, socially. Not usually 110,000 of them.

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Being in Michigan Stadium was an experience bifurcated into competing feelings. One was a sense of unreality that this was actually happening. Carl Grapentine's "good afternoon" was met with a roar unlike any other "good afternoon" to date. Before the formal pre-game festivities were initiated it was just… nice? To sit in the stands as people filed in and the team went through its pregame warmups was nice. These days people use the word "nice" to mean "not nice" when describing an experience. Here I am saying that there was a real, mild pleasure derived from sitting in a place and doing a thing I used to do and then did not do as part and parcel of massive society-wide problems. It felt strange, like amnesia lifting.

The other was a sense that life had finally, truly resumed. Like the last year was about to be dumped out of the movie, replaced by a smash cut to kickoff. There was a guy with bad jokes on a microphone narrating three guys parachuting into the stadium.

we gotta talk about the smoke color though [Barron]

The band came out. I was vexed by first-quarter playcalling against a MAC opponent. A man holding a toddler was incensed enough to stand up and berate an official.

those are daddy's sports words, kiddo [Barron]

This was undoubtedly after the Bell OPI call and was thus justified. It was all very normal.

For a window on a fall Saturday you could believe that 2020 was a bad dream. I have to admit that I was not much moved by the game itself—I'm spending this fall's emotional capital on things closer to home—but even I, person about ready to drop-kick college football into the next town, could do nothing but see a real college football season as a ribbon-cutting ceremony for something called Real Life.

We can talk about whether all of the above was, you know, wise*. Even outside of the context where young men hurl their heads at each other for our entertainment and now the occasional sliver of NIL money, what with a pandemic on. But we can all admit that even in the depths of our collective malaise, sitting with our people and experiencing our thing together felt better than it had any right to.

There were some preteen kids sitting behind me who predicted a screen, and then a punt, on a third and long. (They were wrong, but correct spiritually.) They were possessed of a world-weary cynicism that made me wonder if the thing actually oozed from pores in the stadium concrete and seeped its way into our bodies, the environment guiding us into a common way of being. COVID was probably the less transmissible thing in that stadium Saturday. That just goes in your lungs. Michigan goes in your bones.

That's why we're all still here, in whatever capacities we are. Not hope or fun or desire, but a giant "we." A community, one that may be loosely bound but is nonetheless real. I felt that when I posted The Story and got hundreds of comments, DMs, emails, and texts expressing support, asking if there was anything they could do. The answer is both no, and also you've already done it. I bolded my people box Saturday, continuing the thing that's letting me climb out. Hopefully it meant something to you, too.

*[For me the combination of vaccinations, open air, and the fact that vaccinated people apparently don't transmit Delta readily if asymptomatic is makes me comfortable with the situation, though I'd prefer Michigan require proof of vaccination to attend games.]

AWARDS

Known Friends and Trusted Agents Of The Week

[Barron]

you're the man now, dog

#1 Ronnie Bell (RIP). Well... crap. Bell had the catch of the year taken off the board by John O'Neill Crew Hijinks, scored a long touchdown, and ripped off an impact punt return... on which he was lost for the season. This set off a firestorm on Michigan twitter, which is addressed later.

#2 Blake Corum. Corum had the most touches of anyone on offense with 14 rushes and two catches; he had two TDs and averaged 7.9 yards per carry. He also had a 79-yard kickoff return. That eases him out in front of Hassan Haskins. The two guys will likely continue splitting carries right down the middle, and that's fine by me.

#3 Dax Hill. Hill's your new spacebacker; he deleted every attempted screen to the wide side of the field and had a PBU on slant that looked impossible about a second before he made it.

Honorable mention: Seth's likely to hand some hardware to Andrew Vastardis in UFR. AJ Henning deleted a pursuit angle on long reverse TD. Mike Sainristil blocked like a demon that's into blocking instead of torturing souls. Haskins ripped through a tackle on short yardage to score and did well otherwise. Aidan Hutchinson had a sack-strip on which the WMU QB wanted to leave the state.

KFaTAotW Standings.

(points: #1: 8, #2: 5, #3: 3, HMs one each. Ties result in somewhat arbitrary assignments.)

8: Ronnie Bell (#1 WMU)
5: Blake Corum (#2 WMU)
3: Dax Hill (#3 WMU)
1: Andrew Vastardis (HM WMU), AJ Henning (HM WMU), Mike Sainristil (HM WMU), Aidan Hutchinson (HM WMU), Hassan Haskins (HM WMU)

Who's Got It Better Than Us(?) Of The Week

[Barron]

McNamara nails Bell on his 76-yard touchdown, which followed on from the Bell catch wiped off the board and may indicate dude has a deep ball. Would be a major development.

Honorable mention: Swing pass to Corum on the first drive causes me to say "touchdown" as soon as Corum motions out. Henning and Wilson rip big gains on end-arounds. Corum's kick return.

​MARCUS HALL EPIC DOUBLE BIRD OF THE WEEK.

Bell is lost for the year. Awful.

Honorable mention: Bell's catch is taken off the board, violating every principle from "it's too cool to call back" to the actual rules dictating college football. WMU drives down the field and scores a touchdown on their first drive, resulting many "here we go" feelings in the stands.

[After THE JUMP: Baldwin is crazed]

OFFENSE

I'VE SEEN THINGS YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE" –Daylen Baldwin to former SWAC teammates [Barron]

Well then. Not often that a random garbage time touchdown is going to lead this section but this throw came more or less straight at me and I was shocked to see it keep going:

"Freshman should be seen, but not heard"

Ok.
pic.twitter.com/XMj9EAdqi0

— Due# (@JDue51) September 5, 2021

Good job by Baldwin to see where that thing was going and separate.

I'm not even going to no no no yes that one. It was third and forever, shoot your shot. It's a punt if it doesn't work out.

The rest of McCarthy's game was iffy, with several throws that are going to be marked MA or IN as they were technically catchable but often behind his receiver. Many of these went to AJ Henning—who has to be rooting for McCarthy to supplant McNamara, because then he will get 200 targets.

Meanwhile, the actual starting quarterback. McNamara was 9/11, had 10/12 taken off the board by a terrible call, and seemed generally in control of things. There was a notable desire to work him in gently to start, with a bunch of runs and short throws in the first couple drives. The training wheels didn't exactly come off—again, 9/11—but the Bell shots were taken and completed. Here's some absurdly low sample size encouragement:

Highest-graded Power Five QBs in Week 1:

1. Cade McNamara, Michigan - 93.0
2. Adrian Martinez, Nebraska - 92.3
3. Will Levis, Kentucky - 92.0
4. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh - 91.2
5. Bo Nix, Auburn - 90.1 pic.twitter.com/eeOKvTI1lq

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 5, 2021

I don't have a lot more to offer here, what with the nature of the performance.

No run reads. We did not see a QB keeper off the mesh and I'm dubious there's actually an option for that to happen given how the mesh went—fast—and where the QB was looking—not always at an unblocked guy. I don't think that's a one-off for a MAC team, I think that's just the way it is. If they're in a game against Washington we'll see if the QB's legs enter the equation at all.

calling it [Fuller]

The chosen one. Blake Corum is it. Blake Corum is the guy who is going to meet the Fred Jackson Hype Standard. From his recruiting profile:

Ten years ago, Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson said recruit Fitzgerald Toussaint had "Michael Hart ability with speed," which was quickly memed into "Mike Hart, but fast!" and became Jackson's tombstone quote. A decade later, there is another:

[St Frances head coach Biff] Poggi frequently referred to Corum as the “complete player” and likened him to former Michigan back Mike Hart, the program’s all-time leading rusher from 2004-07.

Corum has an electronic 4.4 40 and a rep as one of the fastest functional speed guys in the country. Mike Hart + fast = "Mike Hart, but fast!" God help us.

By God, that's what I saw on Saturday. Corum is low to the ground, changes directions in a flash, reads his blocks, falls forward, and also looks like he's shot out of a cannon. He has that je ne sais quoi.

Wide open Wilson. One McNamara oof that didn't show up in the box score: Wilson was hand-wavingly wide open for a TD on an early drive on a 15 yard post; he checked down to a guy who got nailed at the LOS.

Run game improves after safeties get backed off. Not a coincidence that the run game felt pretty moribund until Michigan hit two deep shots to Bell and Western decided to die 10 yards at a time instead of 70. The WMU safeties were much more frequently pass oriented after that, and Michigan was able to carve out lanes.

In search of a prospectin' name. This photo from Patrick makes me feel better about the OL situation and virtually demands that we start calling Andrew Vastardis Ol' Something Or Other:

[Barron]

Wasn't he going to Old Dominion before accepting the walk-on spot? Is Ol' Dominion that much of a slam dunk?

DEFENSE

Better than expected. Michigan's rough start against the WMU passing game was largely two things: Gemon Green getting freshman Jourdan Lewis'd when a ball went about an inch over his hand for a chunk play, and flats flats flats flats. Michigan stopped going so heavy cover 3 and the flats went away; an opposing quarterback was swamped with indecision for reasons other than "all of Michigan's corners are better man to man than your receivers."

Brendan Roose:

“I thought (Macdonald) did a great job mixing the coverages,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Right before the second half, (he) started going to more of a two-high shell as we were stopping the run and playing more coverage, which made their quarterback hold the ball a little bit longer, and we were able to apply some pressure.”

Those adjustments made an immediate impact. After forfeiting 89 yards and 8-for-12 passing in the first quarter, Michigan held Western Michigan to just one completion for no gain on six attempts in the second quarter. In total, the Wolverines allowed 11 completions for 102 yards in the final three quarters.

There were some hiccups where guys popped open on bad drops—most of the completions after the adjustment period were not challenged or tight windows. Those numbers are part fortune. Even so, that went a lot better than I expected.

Base nickel. If you squint the composition of this defense isn't actually much different than last year's: Dax Hill is a reasonable viper facsimile and with two DE/DT types in the line was basically an anchor-shaped person (Hutchinson), a couple DTs, and a DE. It plays a lot different because Hill is removed from the box much more often than vipers were, because he is an elite safety and not actually much of a hybrid.

[Fuller]

Pass rush: iffy? I was hoping that we'd get more organic rush out of Michigan's ends. We know what to expect from Hutchinson; his main problem was Michigan deciding to rotate a ton. I imagine he'll get the lion's share of snaps next weekend. Hutchinson did ole the tackle on that sack-strip, though that looked like… uh… not great technique from the OL.

Ojabo didn't have a ton of impact to my eye, and it doesn't seem like any of the DTs are going to be impact rushers. This is a spot where UFR will reveal more.

[Fuller]

Hill-Green debuts. The above is Hill-Green missing a tackle on one of the better WMU runs of the day; just before this he ran up to whack the running back in the hole for a 0-YAC tackle that was impressive. He seemed instinctive for a redshirt freshman in his first start; when he made contact it was close to the LOS. Promising start.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Great Controversy. In the aftermath of the Bell injury there was a lot of yelling both ways about whether it was reasonable to have your best wide receiver out there. The pro camp mentioned that Donovan Peoples-Jones and Jabrill Peppers both returned punts, which is fairly compelling. The con camp gestured wildly at Poor Damn Ronnie Bell's damaged limb, also fairly compelling.

In the season preview podcast I mentioned that I didn't like putting Bell there because I prefer to spread out injury risk as far as is possible, but if the first guy off the bench is Caden Kolesar, a walk-on safety, maybe there weren't reasonable options other than Bell. You'd hope that someone like AJ Henning or Donovan Edwards was up to the task; Kolesar's existence suggests that there was a lot of Keystone Kops activity when folks other than Bell attempted to snag balls. In that case I get it.

how [Barron]

Other than that, though. Michigan special teams has been a tremendous strength even as the program waddles aimlessly and there aren't any signs of a dropoff. In one game, Michigan…

• blocked a field goal
• should have blocked a punt but barely missed
• got an impact kickoff return
• got an impact punt return
• made a couple short field goals
• tackled both returned kickoffs inside the 25
• averaged 44 yards a punt and gave up zero return yards, because there were zero returns.

Punt return may suddenly be a weak spot because of injury, but that can't be helped. It may be time to regard Jay Harbaugh as just a pretty good coach and not his father's son. Look at him!

[Fuller]

Studious.

MISCELLANEOUS

Mike Smith wears a hat! Everything you ever hoped for from this moment and more:

[Barron]

End of half: meh? Michigan took a half-ending drive to the opposition two yard line, where they kicked a 20-yard field goal on fourth and one. I was fine with the decision to kick. You're up 17 in a game you're highly favored in, and one of the main factors pushing go-for-it decisions once you get down that far—the opposition's field position on the ensuing possession if you happen to fail—does not apply. Taking the low-variance route to a few more points is probably the right move.

Some people were testy about the clock management at the tail end of the drive, and I can see an argument that one of those three downs before the FG should have been a throw to give yourselves some more options. But also the scenario where the time was relevant—a first down inside the one—is pretty uncommon when you start from the 11.

The schedule: far less intimidating. Washington lost to FCS Montana, yeah. Also Indiana--who I gave the kiss of death to by proclaiming them the only interesting team in the Big Ten--got bonked by Iowa. PFF on that:

Every piece of the Indiana offense was out of sync. The offensive line surrendered one of the five highest pressure rates in the Power Five, the receivers couldn’t haul in Michael Penix Jr.’s best throws and the quarterback was inaccurate and indecisive. Penix finished with four turnover-worthy plays and a sub-40.0 passing grade. He has a rocket for an arm but couldn’t put any touch on the ball. It was just a nightmare day for the Hoosier state.

And PFF on Wisconsin:

Mertz was one of the five lowest-graded Power Five quarterbacks of Week 1 and tied for the most turnover-worthy plays among that group, with four. He led the Badgers to -0.32 EPA per pass play in a slugfest loss to the Nittany Lions, the fifth-worst mark in the Power Five.

The hope that was there with Mertz is virtually gone. At this point, the Big Ten West looks like it’s Iowa’s to lose.

Meanwhile Jack Coan put up numbers for Notre Dame in a win over FSU. No sit-out transfers are weird.

HERE

Alex's game column:

Hassan Haskins was his usual self, too. 13 carries for 70 yards and a TD, which he scored on a 22-yard run. Michigan's OL was only occasionally able to regularly open holes (their best moments were on the last possession of the first half), but most of the time, it didn't matter. Haskins' strength and Corum's speed allowed both guys to generate yards on the ground with ease.

Ben Mathis-Lilley on the vibes:

The vibes were fine, even bordering on good.

The vibes have not been fine. For my own record-keeping purposes I put together a list on Saturday night of fourteen distinct events, situations, and developments in the last calendar year—none of which were actual football games—that have induced or manifested feelings of despair, disappointment, and bitter, recriminatory message-board rage-arguing among at least some portion of the extended Michigan football community.

First game overreactions from Steven King (not that Stephen King):

I feel a little uncomfortable with this next point, because it's exactly the same kind of play I highlighted last season with Joe Milton against Minnesota, but maaaybe this year things will be different: but Michigan's combination of perimeter swing passes and athletes has real potential. Here's a capture from the very next play after the 4th and 1, Cade's swing to Corum.

Cade's pass hits Corum perfectly in the hands, and Corum is running at full speed. Corum angles outside, attacking the perimeter, easily slicing past the defenders near the line, not encountering a serious tackling threat until he was 8 yards down the field. We all know how that encounter went, and Blake scores Michigan's first touchdown.

It is a perfectly executed play, gaining easy yards and putting a talented player in a position to make plays. We absolutely have reason to be optimistic about what Corum brings to the table this year. Yeah, Western is a MAC team, but Corum looks like a gamebreaker.

Best and Worst:

And WMU’s offense is legitimately pretty good; coming into the year they had the #2 MAC offense per SP+ led by Kaleb Eleby, the most efficient returning QB in the nation.  But after that first TD WMU’s offense proceeded to do the following:

1. 10 plays, 51 yards, punt
2. 3 plays, 5 yards, punt
3. 3 plays, 1 yard, punt
4. 6 plays, 11 yards, punt
5. 9 plays, 20 yards, punt
6. 9 plays, 45 yards, blocked 40-yard FG
7. 6 plays, 23 yards, punt
8. 3 plays, 8 yards, punt
9. 10 plays, 75 yards, TD

That’s a tidy 3.4 ypp on those 8 drives before the final TD, and half of those yards on the 51-yard drive came when Josh Ross busted coverage on a crossing route that is just a hat tip to the WMU offense.  For the game Michigan gave up under 200 yards passing on 37 attempts, picking up 6 PBUs, 1 sack, and 6 more QB hits along the way.

The state of our open threads:

In any case, there are a few little things to mention regarding the WMU open thread - we did manage a reasonably healthy 131 fucks, although for context, about half of these came at the moment of Bell's injury. I was at the game and contributed multiple fucks to the verbal foray myself, just as most of the people around me did.

ELSEWHERE

Wouldn't put too much on this but PFF has a fancy passing number that came out well for M:

The "vs" on all of those teams should indicate this is currently a stat for teams that scheduled well and played well. But it's nice to see Michigan hit some deep balls.

Grimace dot emoji from BYCTOM:

With Texas and Oklahoma set to join the SEC, there are few other teams left out of that conference that have any playoff resonance. There is Clemson, of course, and then Florida State and maybe Miami, there is a rusted Notre Dame still held aloft by enough load-bearing red-faced midwestern uncles, and maybe the desiccated husk of USC if they want to consider the west coast television markets. And then there is the big one, Ohio State, currently idling in a Big Ten with no actual challengers after rendering its rival Michigan into a pitiable program that mainly excels at sending strongly-worded letters. The Big Ten, ACC, and PAC 12 are attempting to fight off the SEC’s power grab by forming a hilariously gossamer alliance in a stunning exhibition of cunning and skullduggery in torchlit zoom sessions where they all banded together and vowed that they would hold a vague press conference.

The times continue to change. Single-game mementos are getting scarce on the ground:

Speaking of Programs: The century+ old tradition of issuing an individual game program ended, I assume for good. While not as widely sought after as ticket stubs, programs were a cornerstone of many collections and personal game keepsakes. I get it, it’s a digital age, it’s costly to produce, and you don’t want or need to lug one around on gameday. Thanks a lot, Steve Jobs.

As a consolation, #1000SSS issued a “yearbook” this season, which contains the static content that appeared in each individual game program [$10 at M-Den].

Here’s to hoping paper tickets last at least several more years!

As a person with a ticket board with historically interesting games I've gone to I'm not real happy with Michigan discontinuing paper tickets for everything except football.

Statler and Waldorf are retiring after this season. Dan Dickerson please.