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Do not worry. The pants thing is still valid. Someone tweeted me worried that he would have to be formally attired after I failed to mention it last time. This is not the case. I was just stretching my creative muscles. Last time that happens EVER, thanks twitter guy.

Matt's got a ticket offer going for a Michigan football or basketball game. If you're buying a home or refinancing, he's the right guy to call. (No pants required.)

FORMATION NOTES: Harbaugh unearthed a chestnut from the first half of the 20th century when he debuted a T formation:

After some Wikipedia reading I decided that Pro T == 1 WR, Wide T == 2 WR, and Power T == 0 WR. "Wide T" is not to be confused with "Split T," which means the OL take up crazy wide splits.

There wasn't anything too weird other than that unless you count a three wide shotgun formation as weird. Michigan spread the field much more than they did against BYU. They were still heavy; WRs got more snaps. Sometimes there were even two of them on the field at the same time.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Not much of note. Kerridge and Smith did not play. Isaac, Green, and Johnson seemed to split the RB opportunities down the middle for much of the game, with Isaac exiting permanently after his second fumble. Johnson got more playing time as the game went along.

OL was the usual, FB the usual minus Kerridge. WR was a bit more diverse than the last couple games, with Freddy Canteen and Grant Perry getting a dozen or so snaps each. Michigan spent more of this game in three-wide.

[After THE JUMP: scratching out… actually a lot more than they needed.]

I feel all kinds of gross about this and then I look at the numbers and it's like… I guess this is okay? I feel fine? I do not understand how this happened?

Michigan had 378 yards, 4.9 a pop on the ground. They averaged 5.5 YPA. You're right that this was a gross performance against a defense that appears to be poor. And yet it was nowhere near, say, last year's #M00N game. Or any of the million Hoke games on which Michigan didn't crack 200, let alone 300, yards of offense.

So how did this happen?

The good bit or the bad bit?

Let's start with the good bit.

That would be the Stanfordization stuff, then. Let's detail some small things and then revisit the larger picture just after.

The most obvious new wrinkle was the T set, which Michigan used a couple different ways. A counter iso play was successful when Isaac was not fumbling:

The two ILBs went to entirely the wrong hole, buying Michigan a free blocker, and if the Kalis block had gone a little better Isaac is one on one with the last guy for six points. Harbaugh's ability to buy back the extra defender you have to deal with when you aren't running the spread is a consistent theme so far this year; this is yet another example.

Michigan also ran a sweep out of it once; that got blown up when AJ Williams had a flashback to his performances under Brady Hoke; a trap play saw Maryland RPS Michigan by using a DT essentially as a blocker against Kalis.

There were a couple other fun tweaks that Johnson was the beneficiary of. Frankly I'd rather Michigan have kept them in the barn since the first one came out when it was 21-0 towards the end of the third quarter. But they came out so let's talk about them.

The first was a subtle rearranging of your standard draw play. On it, Cole shoves his DE upfield and then releases. The blocking is basically irrelevant after that shove, as Johnson has the edge immediately:

Michigan then settled into a lot of split zone stuff that probably should have been more successful than it was (targeting issues cropped up again) even considering the fact that Johnson hit it for a big gain by leaping over a CB:

So they run that and about four other iterations of the same play.

At this point many eyes are on the fullback because he is actually taking you to the ball. So Michigan flings him at the line of scrimmage and pulls Ben Braden around to hit the End Man On The Line Of Scrimmage:

That is so cool.

Michigan gets a freebie with the LB outside rushing upfield, unable to close down the lane he does not expect to have to deal with. They basically get freebie as a Maryland LB runs himself out of the play without getting blocked. Having Cole around to cut him off ends up being superfluous. Braden gets an excellent block on EMLOS; Johnson cuts right off his butt, and you've just popped a 20-yarder based on one good block.

That is the huge and excellent difference between this offense and Hoke offenses. Michigan is getting freebies and finding successful plays on which only a few blocks have to succeed, and this is propping up their offense even when the QB is bad, the linemen can't target, and the running backs are missing cuts. This execution would have been a grim day the whole way through under the previous regime. Under Harbaugh they find ways to make it work because the coaching staff is operating at a high level.

That's how you have the best offense in the country two years running at freaking Stanford running something that looks like neolithic swamp ball at first glance. You pair that with Andrew Luck.

So this is going to be another huge positive RPS day when the offense isn't doing much? Isn't that a bit hypocritical given your stance on Al Borges?

And now let us revisit Borges. Al Borges was multiple. Al Borges loved all kinds of formations. Al Borges liked manball and rather disdained the spread. Al Borges was relentlessly hammered in these columns. What's the difference?

Two things. While Borges did manage to pop open guys deep from time to time—he defended himself after the 27 for 27 game by pointing to the long balls Michigan hit—the sacrifices on the ground were immense. Until the chicken-with-its-head-cut-off phase, Michigan generally ran the same stuff over and over. Plays on which Michigan put a linebacker in the wrong gap for free simply did not exist.

Second, neither did this:

I've already waxed rhapsodic about this play but it sounds like fun to do it again, so: hooo man do I love that. I love that anyone who watches football saw the double run fake in that way and thought "now they will attempt to throw a bomb," including and especially the Maryland secondary. I love the half-assedness of the play action. I love that after the play action you can see six different guys head for the hills; the guy who covers Chesson out of the backfield is so convinced this is a pass that when Butt saunters by 30 seconds later he is just realizing something is amiss.

Michigan did hit throwback screens that inexplicably never stopped working under Borges but not to the extent that Michigan hit massive RPS plays in this game. This was +3, the other screen was +2, the frustrating deep incompletion to start was +2, the jet sweep was +2. That latter was not quite the free touchdown that it was against UNLV, but I can't remember a single instance during the Hoke era during which a run was this blitheringly wide open:

There were a ton of plays in this game in which Maryland's defense was defeated mentally. The previous staff didn't get those hits nearly as frequently and didn't buy a period of RPS stalemate with their run game. This is why Jim Harbaugh is Jim Harbaugh and Al Borges is at San Jose State.

Yes, at some point Michigan was working with miserable personnel. At other points they had upperclass Denard Robinson, and they still turned in ridiculous turds on the regular.

Okay but so if the coaching staff is Ric Flair doesn't that mean we should panic about the level of play elsewhere?

can you just be happy for one single second

Nah.

I mean, okay, you're not wrong. This was a frustrating performance all around. One thing it was not: a physical stalemate. Michigan moved a lot of guys off the ball. They rarely got much to show for it because this game saw a severe regression in Michigan's ability to ID who they should block. I'm not sure who got this one wrong but Kalis hits a gap inside, taking out a linebacker who is trying to shoot a gap; Poggi also release in search of a LB. Result is an unfettered DB on a play that is otherwise a physical win for M:

There were also a couple plays on which short pulls were not traps. I am still trying to figure out how this is ever going to work:

I can only assume that Braden missed an assignment there since the rest of the line appears to be blocking down on a conventional power play.

Here Braden does pull to an actual hole, whereupon he runs by a linebacker:

Woof. Those other plays can be missed assignments; the latter is Braden just running by the very dude he should be hitting.

So that sucks but it's more fixable than the other potential problem, which is being too weak/small/bad to blow people up. When Michigan did actually target everyone right they frequently caved players in. Ngakoue was the victim a few times, but often you couldn't tell. On this one you could.

The Braden goof just above is another example. The rest of that play consists of the playside DL getting clubbed. When Michigan blocked it right things looked really good. They didn't do enough of that.

The good news is that the previous two games saw Michigan do a good job in that department, and a bounce-back is reasonable to expect.

I feel like our weekly complaint about cuts is about to hit.

Am I that predictable?

Yes.

It is getting pretty frustrating watching the two or three plays a game on which guys with the ball set 10+ yards on fire by making cuts more doomed than Randy Edsall after a players-only meeting he wasn't informed about. At least this week we had some variety in perpetrator. The first snap of the game was actually set up for great success until Freddy Canteen turned this…

THERE'S EVEN A BIG ARROW TELLING YOU WHICH WAY TO GO

…into a bounce into an unblocked Will Likely for zero yards.

Later Ty Isaac would have the exact opposite problem, except insofar as "ARGH LOOK AT THINGS WITH YOUR FACE" applies to both:

"Follow the fullback" says Matt Millen for the millionth time. Nobody does. Not Maryland, not Ty Isaac. I know we all hate him because the Lions but this is a little much.

So… you can get away with that if you miraculously pop out of the pile and carry a defensive for 20 yards before you drop him off at child protective services. If you don't you get viciously negged on the internet. Neg: deployed. At least this seems like an aberration for Isaac. In his limited opportunities I have felt he makes the most reliably good cuts of any of the backs.

Anyway: this kind of stuff is so basic and happening so frequently with so many different people (Smith and Johnson both had –3 cuts against BYU, and Derrick Green is Derrick Green) that I have to believe it's a Brady Hoke/Fred Jackson hangover that will take some time to work through—and possibly some new personnel. I would not be at all surprised to find out that Michigan considered little other than size, speed, and whether Fred Jackson knows your people when recruiting tailbacks under Hoke.

I do hope someone yells at them about cutting upfield of obvious force situations. If we can just fix that I'll be happy.

But seriously goodbye Ty Isaac, oh soft person you.

I saw "soft" tossed around about Isaac a ton on message boards this week; we also fielded a call on MGoRadio to that effect. I don't think that's the problem here. Isaac generally falls forward. He's got a nice stiffarm; I think he's pretty good at getting through tackle attempts.

To me Isaac's issues have been mental sloppiness. He's missed blitz pickups by picking the wrong guy, and both of his fumbles Saturday were terrible. On neither is he actually holding the ball to his body while creasing the LOS.

I actually like that run a lot up until he puts the ball on the ground. The planned gap is jammed up; Isaac picks around that and then finds some yards; he grinds through a tackle to salvage what's otherwise a zero yard run. He just forgets something on the way.

The second fumble was even worse, raked out by a dainty touch from a passing lineman. That is a lack of consistency to me. He's not getting worn down or blown up. He's just holding the football like it's a foot-tall Hitler clone someone is making him babysit. Don't do that. Hold the football like it's a foot-tall Denard clone. Hold it so tight you hurt your heart a little.

Isaac has to work his way back up the depth chart after those, no question. I don't think they say anything about him long term, and I've liked his skillset so far. I'm hoping he fixes his issues and re-emerges.

Before we get into any serious

CHART

I guess I am that predictable

You're the Al Borges of having charts.

BRUTAL

Anyway. Before we get into any line talk, run chart:

The blocking probably feels high, at least in the run game. I think Michigan left a number of yards on the field. If Isaac doesn't fumble he probably tacks on ten yards, and he blew a potential big gain. Also Michigan got about five or six points on the screens, and those were very important. The Johnson one was particularly well blocked.

And I should remind you that running back is supposed to be a MAKE PLAYS position on which coming in at zero means you added zero yards of your own. Johnson contributed bonus yards as a tailback should; the other 13 RB carries did not.

Cole got a bit of a negative against Ngakoue.

I haven't had much to say about individual offensive linemen this year because they're mostly average. Cole and Glasgow are a step above the other guys, I think, but neither is a Molk or Lewan-like star yet. While they've posted good numbers the competition has a lot to do with that.

Cole's competition took a major step up in this game and he was somewhat exposed. Yannick Ngakoue is quickly rounding into one of the nation's most dangerous pass rushers, and he often had his way.

This wasn't a total blowout. There were a large number of snaps on which Cole defeated Ngakoue decisively, and even when he was beat sometimes it's because Rudock was holding on to the ball too dang long and Ngakoue got to pull out different sized wrenches until he found the one that unscrewed Cole's head:

That was a –1 for him instead of the –2 that I usually extend for a block that gets your dude sacked; that ball should be gone.

That mild defense aside, Cole picked up his first serious collection of pass-blocking minuses this year. We should re-calibrate our expectations from potentially elite guy to much improved and still very promising… but in need of some TE chips against Calhoun and Bosa and their ilk. Not that there's many of their ilk.

Cole did beat 'em up on the ground at least.

That's a lot of swing for Braden.

Yes. He's not falling over much any more, or falling off blocks much. That is real progress. I guess it's good that a lot of his minuses (6, in fact) game on three separate plays where he blocked the wrong guy instead of plays where the guy he was taking on blew him up. I mean, right?

In addition to the two addressed above in the "targeting" section he targeted a guy who stepped away from him as Michigan ran a stretch, which allowed a linebacker to shoot the gap.

You can do that if the linebackers aren't there—because if they aren't that it usually means you're catching a slant.

When not biffing mentally he was pretty good. Pretty good at what's probably lousy competition, yes. Northwestern is going to be an interesting test.

So this was gross and the blocking was okay and they ran okay YOU LIED TO ME ABOUT JAKE RUDOCK

I'm never going to be optimistic about another Michigan quarterback preseason.

THANK YOU

Until next year probably.

WHAT

I mean, Harbaugh's track record and several attractive options knife-fighting each other for the spot… whoever emerges should be pretty good.

ACTUALLY SOUNDS REASONA—WAIT A MINUTE YOU ARE A QB LIAR

Guilty as charged. Chart:

Jake Rudock 2014

Jake Rudock 2015

That's not at all what I saw last year and five games in time for serious improvement is running short.

It was another frustrating day from Rudock, one kicked off by another deep ball that was way long:

That one is especially grating since there is nobody underneath for ten yards. The window here is massive, and it's right in the center of the field. Deep balls don't come much easier than that. Yeah, the wind, I guess.

Rudock's day was up and down from there. His indecision and inability to see the field was prominent. On the fourth and two he probably has Darboh for the first down if he throws the ball immediately, and he definitely has Chesson breaking open by a good two or three steps on a wheel route. He doesn't see Darboh fast enough and never even considers Chesson. Instead he starts scrambling around and fumbles. It is fourth down; throw the ball.

Similar was a third and nineteen at the beginning of the second quarter. Rudock immediately checked down to a Jake Butt quick out that set up a 47-yard field goal in miserable conditions. Picking up ten or 15, which Maryland was just about conceding, greatly helps your attempt to score points. This in the second half was all of the problems at once:

Butt's not open, and Maryland's CB leaves Darboh alone on a bust. Rudock throws to Butt anyway, and attempts to throw a ball that is perfect in a world where Butt is not covered. He does not see that the LB is over the top and try to back-shoulder it for his 6'6" pogo-stick TE.

Add that on to an alarming lack of accuracy for a guy for whom that is supposed to be his calling card and you've got a recipe for a 3.8 YPA day once the two huge screens are removed. This is a 6'7" tight end against a dude a half foot shorter than him.

That ball is behind and low and there is no help for this guy to the outside; Bunting had a step and is enormous and just gah. And when Rudock''s taking guys off their feet on five yard throws his efficiency drops off a cliff. This left 3-5 yards of YAC on the ground:

That is not a Rudock you can win big games with.

But despite the DSR above and the ugly numbers, this wasn't as bad as UNLV. Rudock had significantly more pressure to deal with in this game, and from time to time demonstrated the kind of cool, chain-moving steadiness that characterized his tenure at Iowa:

There are still hints of Iowa dude in there:

And he coulda shoulda had one of those long completions on a ball I think was absolutely pinpoint until Chesson didn't adjust to it in the air well enough.

Later he was thwarted on another excellent throw when Maryland didn't bite on the ol' screen-and-blocker-goes. The DB got over to shield Canteen out of bounds and the ball fell just barely out of his reach two yards from the back of the endzone. I also appreciated that he tried a back shoulder throw on a seam that Harris didn't adjust to particularly well. Hopefully he settles down and provides more of the latter over the course of the season. His learning curve is basically the season.

Maybe Rudock should stop throwing to Chesson so much?

Now that we're actually going to talk about receivers, here are some receiver numbers:

[0 = uncatchable, 1 = circus catch, 2 = moderate difficulty, 3 = routine]

He's their speed guy, and the jet sweeps are plenty of evidence that he's very much a plus player in that department. Actual drops from him have not been frequent. Open routes have been. You have to keep trying to hit the guy who is really open when he is really open.

While the continued failure to complete deep balls grates, Chesson did have a couple of catches on which he broke open in front of Likely and secured the ball despite taking a hit.

Sometimes the hit came before the actual catch.

That is an encouraging development. He gets more room than Darboh because teams are justifiably afraid of his deep speed. If he can become a reliable underneath guy he's just a QB away from a breakout senior year.

I've compared him to Darryl Stonum quite a bit; a few more catches like that and I say we upgrade his receiving skills comparison to Steve Breaston. Also helpful in this department is the ability to ghost past a safety and then outrun a dude to the pylon, which we may have seen once or twice.

Heroes?

Harbaugh and whoever else came up with the big chunk plays mostly attributable to RPS. Glasgow. Johnson.

Maybe not so heroic?

Isaac, Rudock, maybe Canteen and Magnuson a little.

What does it mean for Northwestern and the future?

Rudock needs to improve on the easy stuff. Throw it accurately up to about 20 yards and give your receivers a chance on longer stuff even if it's short. That's about all I want to see at this point.

Johnson is second in the pecking order at RB. He and Smith make a good thunder and lightning combo as long as they aren't doing the bad cuts thing; Isaac is at the back of the line for a bit after the fumbles; Green is Green.

Chesson may be developing a bit here. Very solid game for him minus the somewhat tough deep ball he couldn't bring in.

They have the physical ability to overpower the weak. Northwestern and MSU will test them against the not so weak.

Harbaugh is good at football. Harbaugh!