View From the Sidelines: In otherwise sloppy win, Peoples-Jones' talent was on full display
[Upchurch]
Shea Patterson’s body language spoke more than his words.
Sitting at the podium, eye black smudged all over his face, Patterson was asked about the man seated to his left — Donovan Peoples-Jones. Do they practice back-shoulder fades often? Patterson tried to keep down a smile and failed.
“That’s something we work on pretty often,” he said. “The whole fall camp after our practice, we would get about 10 to 15 back-shoulder and then just regular fade routes, just to get our chemistry and timing.”
Seems that worked out pretty well. Peoples-Jones caught a back-shoulder fade Saturday for his second of three touchdowns — the shortest (only seven yards), but also the one in which Patterson played the biggest role. That’s partly because fades are really hard to complete in a condensed space, but it’s mostly because Peoples-Jones did a lot of the work on his own for the other two.
Five-star receivers, it turns out, are talented.
[After THE JUMP: More great insights like this]
Aided by play-action (and some truly baffling stuff from Sonny Dykes, but that’s a different column), Peoples-Jones flew across the field unabated earlier in the game for a 35-yard score. Later on, he simply ran by SMU’s entire defense on a post-corner route. The throws from Patterson were there, but Peoples-Jones did the brunt of the work.
Peoples-Jones was put in front of the media earlier this week. He said nothing, with purpose. Even Saturday, after his performance helped propel Michigan to a 45-20, closer-than-it-looked victory over the Mustangs, Peoples-Jones was effusive to the point of evasion.
“I just got a lot of teammates that make my job easy,” Peoples-Jones said. “The o-line did a great job, Shea’s out here delivering beautiful balls that make it very catchable, very easy to catch the ball and run.”
So, let Patterson and Jim Harbaugh tell you about him instead.
“The post that Donovan ran from the slot, terrific route,” Harbaugh said. “As much separation as you can get, and a really good lay by Shea. Right on the money. Good protection again on that one. Just like you drew it up.”
“He’s a freak athlete,” added Patterson. “… Very smart, very fast. Very football-savvy as well. I know if I throw it up, I just gotta put it in his vicinity. There’s a lot of trust in him.”
Patterson did better than throw it up, but on two of those three touchdowns, he could have gotten away with doing so. It’s odd to say about a 45-20 non-conference win that was set in stone before a ball was kicked, but Peoples-Jones was the one of few unvarnished positives about the Wolverines on Saturday.
There were defensive penalties upon penalties. The run game was south of three yards per carry until the fourth quarter, when the game was out of hand. The pass-protection wasn’t Notre Dame-bad, but Patterson was forced to break the pocket enough that you started to wonder if an injury is inevitable at some point this year.
Michigan got some massive help with Dykes blowing all of his timeouts for no reason, and randomly sacrificing field position with a squib kick, and picking up a 15-yard penalty for protesting a call he probably could’ve gotten reviewed had he not blown all his timeouts minutes earlier, and forgetting how onside kicks work, and — sorry, that was supposed to be a different column.
Even Patterson, still very much delivering on the hype, was picked off early and had another ball go off a defender’s hands. This was a weird game.
“It seemed like we were a lot more confident in the way the game went last week,” Chase Winovich said, “in terms of just positivity and just, I don’t know — I don’t want to say that we were like, ‘Gee, oh my god, this is amazing.’ But we were definitely more optimistic, just the way things had gone as in, total unity, we held them to three points. Our offense was clicking, special teams, we were firing on all cylinders.
“This week, it just felt like had a lot of mistakes and stuff that we need to address. And that was kind of the attitude. Especially in our minds, now are shifted to Nebraska, Big Ten play. There’s both of those coming into play. We’re not getting too high on this win.”
That about sums it up, but Peoples-Jones was a cut above. Patterson wasn’t the only player to describe him as an athletic freak — Zach Gentry used the same phrasing. It’s not hard to see why.
We heard all offseason about the potential this offense has, mostly from the standpoint of Patterson. It’s clear now, headed into Big Ten play, that it at least has that — potential. And Patterson is far from the only reason why.
September 16th, 2018 at 3:23 PM ^
Not shocked our 5 star QB and our 5 star WR are making plays.
September 17th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^
Then you have not been watching "our" 5* players for very many years!
September 16th, 2018 at 3:34 PM ^
I was not so quick to jump on the Patterson hype train as it left the station. I was more "Let's wait and see what this guy has got." Man, this guy has got a lot. I have been extremely impressed with how well he is playing.
September 16th, 2018 at 3:48 PM ^
If the OL can just get to average ish I think the passing game will be quite good. Shea is a clear improvement and he and the receivers are getting more comfortable.
September 16th, 2018 at 5:37 PM ^
Absolutely.
I know it was a blown coverage, but that TD to DPJ at 1:25 in the 3rd quarter was a thing of beauty. It was thrown from about the 50 yard line, but if we were on our own 10 or 20 yard line, it still would have been a TD. Just placed perfectly to hit DPJ in stride so he could break away and pick up massive YACs had he not actually been in the end zone.
A healthy Speight likely makes that throw, but we haven't seen that kind of QB play since early-mid 2016.
September 16th, 2018 at 10:34 PM ^
Agreed. Off the top of my head I dont recall Shea missing any throws when he has had time. He places it right on the money with more "zip" than Peter's or OKorn showed last year.
My only knocks on Shea is sometimes it feels like he holds onto the ball just a second too long. Also, sometimes he tries too hard to make plays, resulting in bad plays. I think Oline problems cause the latter.
September 17th, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^
Okay. You do not get to throw crap like this against the wall without some sort of call out. Clearly, and I do mean CLEARLY, you do not have any concept of playing the position. Patterson is playing lights out and you complain that he is trying too hard to make plays...OMG a million times over!!!
September 16th, 2018 at 3:53 PM ^
Go ahead, double up on DPJ to slow him down. That only frees up Collins, or a TE, or Evans out of the backfield. Of course, if you don't double him, or shade the safety over pre-snap, SMU will be happy to tell you what happens next.
This is the offensive promise we were looking forward to...
September 16th, 2018 at 4:15 PM ^
Closer than it looked? Two of their touchdowns were gifts from the refs!
SMU played way better than Western did, but let's not kid ourselves, this was not a close game despite the defense having an off day.
September 16th, 2018 at 5:54 PM ^
I was a disheartening win IMO. It showed all of the exact same weaknesses as last year, against an inferior opponent. The QB and WR's are better, no doubt. But the jury is out on the rest of the team, particularly the o-line.
September 16th, 2018 at 6:21 PM ^
I agree the jury is still out. But the reality is this that SMU would probably be on par with Northwestern, if not better, this year, and despite the crappy start and absolute shit refs, the team still pulled out a W that wasn't ever seriously in doubt after half-time. I'm not sure we win this game last year, if so it's close. So yes, jury still out, but there's signs of progress even in the midst of the legitimate frustrations.
September 16th, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^
Take the win....
September 16th, 2018 at 10:28 PM ^
William Brown was good--that SMU offense got much tougher to stop when he came in and started hitting Proche. But they had a LOT of help from the refs yesterday.
September 16th, 2018 at 7:58 PM ^
It felt worse because of the 18 media timeouts
September 16th, 2018 at 9:47 PM ^
I agree that it wasn't a "close game." I disagree with the puzzlement over the characterization of the game as "closer than it looked," which is an altogether different matter.
If you would have told me before the game that we would win 45-20, I would have guessed that we jumped out to an early lead, coasted a bit, didn't score much in the second half with our second unit, and gave up a late TD with our second-string defense.
Instead, we didn't score until over halfway through the second quarter, were tied with three minutes to go in the first half, and were in danger of going into halftime tied or up 14-10 until Metellus' INT return with time expiring. And we scored a cherry-on-top TD with a minute to go in the game.
As for the officiating, I agree that there were multiple bad calls, but perhaps the most pivotal questionable call of the game went our way: Evans gets a generous spot on fourth down late in the first half, so instead of it being 7-7 with SMU ball at midfield, we score a TD (after an unsportsmanlike penalty on Dykes that would have been irksome if called on Harbaugh) to make it 14-7. I thought that the Kinnel PI where the ball was uncatchable was the wrong call, as was the PI on (I believe) Ross, who barely touched the WR while he fell trying to adjust to the ball. Even so, I would have rather been the beneficiary of the Evans call when the game was close.
TLDR version: the very fact that we had to keep our starters in all game, despite the final 25-point margin, makes the above point more succinctly. Solid victory; lots of room for improvement. Go blue.
September 16th, 2018 at 11:01 PM ^
I have seen more than one poster state the Evans spot was generous/a gift but from what I saw he was stopped short initially before surging ahead and getting the line with his second effort. The refs were horrifying but that seemed like the right call.
September 16th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
Harbaugh got 10 win seasons with Jake Rudock and Speight at QB. Patterson ceiling is above both..and maybe by a lot. The overall talent on this team could be as good or better than those teams....
Should be a fun ride the rest of this season with UM having a legit shot at another 10+ win season and the conference title.
September 16th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
We have much to improve upon.
September 16th, 2018 at 5:27 PM ^
Most of the penalties were BS—the pass interference calls in particular. SMU basically should have only scored 7 points (the first touchdown on the busted coverage).
September 16th, 2018 at 6:40 PM ^
Guess who was refereeing yesterday... >:(
https://mgoblue.com/boxscore.aspx?id=12082
- Big Ten Conference: James E. Delany:
Commissioner
1500 West Higgins Road
Park Ridge, IL 60068-6300
(847) 696-1010
Fax numbers:
Admin. (847) 696-1150
Comm. (847) 696-1110
1500 Higgins Rd Park Ridge, Illinois 60068
(847)696-1186
September 16th, 2018 at 9:16 PM ^
They're not the only bad crew out there, but we all know, they are a crew that hates Michigan and so thank you for the proof that the ref calls were all kinds of BS yesterday. They may have been trying to up their game, I wish they would try to up their game, just not seeing much evidence.
Apparently they still all have their jobs, which is probably not surprising because Delany also hates Michigan. Whatever Bo did to insult his ego was never forgotten.
Michigan does have influence however. So here is the question. If we had to see this crew this year no matter what, was it better to get that out of the way for the SMU game?
EDIT: After watching the WD/WH highlight reel, which is always helpful, I have to modify my comment. This ref crew did up their game. They actually called penalties on the other coach and team, which is a major upgrade.
September 16th, 2018 at 9:49 PM ^
true, but it was also a major recruiting weekend, which will ultimately be integral in future outcomes. Too bad it wasn't western...
September 17th, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^
I never want a referee from Ohio, or in any way affiliated with Ohio State or Michigan State Universities, to officiate at a University of Michigan football game again. I don't want homer refs. I just want NEUTRAL ones who aren't trying to fuck our team in the ass. If our guy screws up, makes a dumb mistake, throw the flag. Just keep it FAIR, keep it consistent.
September 16th, 2018 at 6:50 PM ^
It was really nice to see DPJ have a great game.
The thing that disturbs me is the penalties. A few bad calls yes but where’s the discipline on this team?
September 16th, 2018 at 8:19 PM ^
To some,degree, this is a consequence of when you “ solve problems with aggression.” You’re going to get some penalty.
September 16th, 2018 at 7:40 PM ^
Notable that DPJ scored his two long TDs out of the slot. I think we may have found that MSU quarters murderer we've needed for so long.
September 16th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
5 star QB to 5 star WR. Nice combo to build on ... and then 5 star QB is going to hit Gentry, Perry, McKeon, Collins, Martin ... shit we have so many weapons. By the end of the season, we will be a Power-I + West Coast juggernaut. Mark it down. Unstoppable attack coming in the pass game with a run attack that is also going to chunk yards from power. OL is getting pass pro down and RBs picking up the blitz. Defense needs to settle a bit and cut the penalties, but I am going to say the best is yet to come from this defense. Just high on our overall team ceiling. Super excited for the remaining season.
B1G title is the goal. Time to get it done. Go Blue !!!
September 16th, 2018 at 9:54 PM ^
Imagine what the offense could be like if we had a healthy Newsome as our LT, maybe LTT as our RT, and Black on the field with DPJ. You have to think at some the football gods will treat us well again. Then again, we may have to keep watching OSU dominate until the end of time :/
September 16th, 2018 at 10:39 PM ^
i think DPJ's development has to be tied to having two position coaches as opposed to zero last year (and of course a quarterback).
i find most of the criticisms of harbaugh to be bullshit, but among the legitimate ones is the fact that michigan's best crop of incoming wide receivers arguably ever didn't get coached up like they should have been for their entire first year.
side thought: maybe coach lionel hutz is fishing the best out of DPJ, but i choose believe it's all because of roy roundtree.
September 17th, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
Didn't watch live for reasons. I don't even want to talk about. Saturday was a day from hell. Anyways, I just speed watched it on YouTube and get the feeling that the injuries, penalties, reviews and commercials that slowed the game down so much made this game unwatchable. I felt pretty good about the game just breezing thru it and skipping that garbage.
My takeaways:
- Team missed Higdon for sure, especially on short runs in the beginning of the game.
- Otherwise, the offense was on fire. Scored on every single possession from 2nd quarter onward.
- Evans hamstring issue was unlucky. He would have scored a TD that play, and rushing yards eclipse 225 easily.
- Offensively, I don't get where the grumbling about play calling in this one comes from. Seemed like a solid gameplan. Early failures looked like execution issues more than anything.
- Defense needs to be better. Definite room for improvement, BUT! It wasn't as bad as you think. 3 scoring drives went as follow.
- Chunk play, chunk play, coverage bust by Hawkins/Hill on the best WR on SMU.
- Horrible PI extends drive on third down. Debatable targeting tacked on another 15 yards. Dink, dunk, PI, WR picks TD.
- Terrible drive by the defense here. Two 4th downs coverted, and a 25 yard QB scramble given up on 3rd and 16.
- Otherwise, the defense was clean and even contributed 7 points to the scoreboard.
- {edit} I want to add that about half the PI calls seemed soft to me, with Kinnel's being the worst offense. Kinnel won that route, and the ball is 4 yards OOB. In addition, it seemed like half the rub routes were illegal as well.
Room for improvement as always, and three more weeks till Wisconsin to get it in order. Onward and Go Blue!
September 17th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
Are we still doing “phrasing”?
“As much separation as you can get, and a really good lay by Shea. Right on the money. Good protection again on that one. Just like you drew it up.”
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