2008 Season of Curiosity

Submitted by NCWolverine on

So this is what I said before week one in the
comments field of "Offense 2008: Five Questions, Five Answers" by
Brian.
  I decided to compare game results to this comment over the
course of the season (as time permits) out of curiosity to this historic year
of transition.  The more I read, the more it seemed as if no one had a
clue what to expect.  With each passing
week that will change, hopefully for the better.

"I think this offense with these players
will score on many big plays, and that will be fun to watch this year and in
the future.  The inexperience will rear its head on the 3-and-outs and
lack of long drives.  UM's time of possession will be an issue for the
defense.  Barwis.  The part that I am uncertain about is how long it
will take for the offense to gain the consistency needed to be a factor in the
Big 10 games. 

The games I am most looking forward to are Utah, Wisconsin,
and osu. 
Utah is a 'just win baby' kind of game.  The Wisconsin game opens the conference play after a bye week, against the second
best team in the conference.  The osu game is against 'the best team ever'
since like 1969 or something, and they have TP to wipe up the leftovers."

Week One: Utah 25 UM 23. 
The Good: The Special Teams were very good, aside from one shanked
punt (a forced fumble on punt coverage, one blocked extra-point, one blocked
punt, and a 50-yd FG).  The D was much more aggressive in the second half
and showed the potential to dominate.  I expect that to continue against
the next two opponents.  Barwis - The team looked like they were in great
shape, which may have resulted in a few penalties.  I thought some of the Utah OL penalties were
caused by the UM DL quickness, both off the snap and getting around the edge. Best
players: Obi Ezeh and the second-half DL.  The Bad: The offense
struggled to do anything (only scoring on one big play), but did capitalize on
the opportunities given by the D and ST.  As a unit, the O looked hesitant
and unsure of itself.  There were 6 FR/SO in the starting lineup, many at
key positions.  Summary: Aside
from the O’s complete shakiness and lack of any running game, pretty much what
I expected.  The ST was much better than
I expected, and I don’t recall a more complete ST effort (unfortunately
Utah has a fantastic K/P that had a huge effect on the
outcome of this game).  Looking to
Week Two:
The O must gain some composure and the RB/WR need to break some
tackles resulting in a few more big plays.  This game should see marked
improvement across the board, resulting in some much better rushing
productivity.  The D must play with the
intensity that they showed in the second half. 
The return game needs to step up like the rest of the ST did in game one
to help out the struggling, and young, O.

Comments

Ellipses Man

September 2nd, 2008 at 8:47 PM ^

If the O continues to struggle, the defense is going to get hurt and flat out pissed the F__ OFF! asking them to do what they did with no air or ground support is herculean and then some.