Upon Further Review: Offense Versus OSU

A day (even more) late, because when I had finished the spreadsheet and closed it I must have hit "no" when it asked me to save the thing... when I opened it up I was faced with the first three drives of the game and no more; thus I relived the horror a third time. Yea, I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, twice. (Yes, it has gotten rather biblical around these parts of late... strange.)

< td>Run

Where was that guy wearing #7 all year?

I KNOW!

Er... maybe some more, you know... analysis and stuff?

Okay. Table:

In a word, magnificent. The four TAs and one BA were all due to pressure yielded right up the middle by the guards; none of these were instances of Henne sitting in the pocket way too long. OSU covered his first read and got to him before he could find a second or third receiver. Removing that you have two instances of bad play: the Ecker overthrow in the endzone and the throw to Ecker at the end of the game (not enough time to check down, there, just risk the INT). If you want to be harsh you can add the Avant corner route that was too far inside and thus batted down by Salley and the fourth and one slant that was fired past an interfered-with Avant, but those throws were at least okay. This was Henne's best performance of his career... to be that effective against that defense and with that revolving door of grimly futile interior blockers is incredible.

If the guy who showed up against OSU had played all year, Michigan beats both UW and Minnesota with ease and probably beats Notre Dame, Jason Avant is a Belitnikoff finalist, and Joey isn't planning on hanging himself.

Well, then, why couldn't we score?

Our chronic weakness at guard (and center without Adam Kraus) blew up something fierce. I don't want to be too harsh on Henige--his football career is over and he'll be walking with a limp the rest of his life after playing on the functional equivalent of Mr. Garrison's testicles the last three years--but he just couldn't block anyone. Lentz was little better, and Bihl didn't do much. Ohio State got interior pass rush with infuriating frequency and there was hardly a running play that didn't end up with six Buckeyes gang tackling the running back at the LOS. Things only got worse when Lentz was dinged and Massaquoi went out.

The complete inability to rely on the line turned the running game into a keep-em-honest sideshow and thwarted Michigan's efforts to go deep--Henne could not sit in the pocket and let the throws develop--forcing us into long, grinding marches based entirely on the short passing game. Ohio State's D is too good to let you score on fifteen-play, 80 yard drives, so our scoring was limited to instances when we were given short fields.

And thus, the playcalling...

I thought it was great given the limitations provided. Michigan acknowledged the impossibility of running early, coming out with a clever, tendency-defying ope ning drive heavily featuring the passing game that ended on fourth and one after an uncalled penalty. Throughout the game Michigan tried to get its playmakers involved on the perimeter, avoided plays that were likely zeroes, and generally operated as efficiently as possible given the offensive line's complete absence.

I do question the weird trick play outburst against IU. I would rather have wasted plays trying wacky stuff like the diamond transcontinental against the Buckeyes than running futilely into the line. It didn't slow OSU down one bit and given the situation outlined above where Michigan's chances of getting a big play became vanishingly small because of the offensive line's sieve impression, a high-risk, high-reward trick play or four could have helped immensely. We didn't pull out so much as a reverse.

But what about that last (real) drive?

I hate that Grady pitch on first and ten, especially with freshman Mike Massey in the game. Massey ignored the charging corner, who hit Grady immediately. Look at the chart above... see any effective runs other than the "who's the Smurf?" counter draw? We essentially blew a down in that situation and asked our freshman tailback and freshman tight end to make a play instead of trying to get red-hot Henne to hook up with Breaston (on fire Breaston) and Avant. Henige's failed block on second down (and a holding call declined by Tressell) left Michigan in third and ten, at which point they run a screen that appeared to be setting up a makeable fourth down in my mind. I mean, if you're going to punt you have to run a play that has a good chance of getting the first down, even if it leaves you in fourth and ten.

Then... punt. We've been over this before. A disaster that only served to rob Michigan of the time it needed to respond after the OSU touchdown drive. After all that, after going for it on your own 40, after watching any team that really needed a late game score get it all year... I just don't understand.

Well, I guess I do. The story of Carr (and the story of Michigan) this year was an attempt that fell short. Carr did adapt his strategy to deal with the altered reality of college football, but when the pressure ratcheted up to its migrane-inducing peak he reverted to his basest instincts--a totally human, understandable reaction--and thus Punt, Lloyd, Punt. It bit him every time, but old habits die hard... very hard.

What does it mean for next year?

We need to rebuild the offensive line entirely. We need Hart back and healthy. We should have plenty of options in the passing game...

But you and I know that it comes down to #7. Against OSU we saw the reason we were so damn excited about him in the first place, the reason we nearly upset Texas in the Rose Bowl; the reason all that preseason top 5 stuff happened. Is it a mirage, or was this season a bad dream? We won't know until the Notre Dame game next year, if then. To borrow from horrible action movies everywhere:

Nervous woman prone to screaming and passing out: What... what do we do?

Grizzled man probably chomping a cigar: We... pray. We... pray.