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Unverified Voracity Has Great Big Not Pointy Teeth
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My God, the teeth. Spencer Hall is right. Michigan cannot lose to this jaunty-ass helmet:
There is intimidation, and then there is "you lost to a cartoon gopher":
At least Alabama gives you the courtesy of just losing to a color and a number. This? This is horror, a beating served with an adorable smile on its face. This is potentially taking a beating from a cartoon rodent that only wants to serve you hot dish, and then crack the casserole over your head. Don’t lose to Minnesota when they’re wearing these helmets, is what we’re saying. The psychological damage alone could take years of therapy to undo.
Minnesota's ground and pound offense only makes this worse. Rodney Smith bounces off tackles. A lot of tackles. If he breaks your tackle and grabs a first down on carry #30 and pops up to yell "spew" you might disassociate from your body from sheer embarrassment.
Connelly brings numbers to the offense. It's not great:
Michigan has snapped the ball 88 times on first down. The Wolverines are averaging a not-completely-awful 5.3 yards per play, but of their 464 total yards gained, 211 have come on five plays. They have gained one yard or fewer 43 times. Success rate: 33 percent — 27 percent rushing and a much healthier 46 percent passing.
It gets even worse when the Wolverines generate scoring chances. Yards per play on first downs in the red zone: 1.1. They’ve gained zero or fewer yards in eight of 12 instances.
There's a lot of pointing and going THAT about Michigan's offense, which is fine in a post like Connelly's that is a stat post drawing some high-level contours.
To date I've seen little or nothing that goes any deeper about Michigan's redzone issues, if those even exist. "Redzone efficiency" clearly does not exist separate from general efficiency at the NFL level:
We went back and looked at the past five years to compare how teams did in the red zone during the first seven weeks of the season with how they played overall. Let's call this "red zone advantage." ...
The correlation of total offensive DVOA in the first seven weeks to total offensive DVOA in the final 10 weeks is .64. That makes plenty of sense: Teams that play well on offense early in the season are likely to play well on offense late in the season. The same correlation for defense is .48, a little lower but still fairly significant.
However, the correlation for "red zone advantage" is practically nil: .01, to be exact, on both offense and defense. During the past five seasons, at least, "red zone advantage" has done nothing to project how well a team will play in the red zone during the second half of the year.
College might be different if running QBs are a real advantage, and I'd buy that.
But unless you've got a magic potion that gives Wilton Speight dreads and a 4.4 40, talking about Michigan's "redzone issues" is a waste of time. The redzone offense being bad is just the stuff that makes the offense bad in general. There's nothing about Harbaugh's approach that makes Michigan inherently bad at scoring touchdowns—Michigan was 17th in S&P+'s "finishing drives" metric a year ago if you want a number—so this is just bad QB play and bad blocking, which are problems anywhere. There's no magic bullet other than getting better at footballing.
Sharks, like would-be credit card scammers at Florida, are not smooth. Florida's many suspended players might be done for if this comes to fruition:
The nine University of Florida Football players who are facing allegations of having misused school funds, could be arrested as early as the end of this week, sources have told The Read Optional.
Antonio Callaway, Jordan Smith, and one other player are likely to be arrested on charges of felony grand theft, with the possibility of further misdemeanor charges being tagged on, according to a lawyer representing one of the players. It’s anticipated that the other six players will also be arrested, but only three players have hired legal counsel thus far.
At the very least they would be suspended until those charges are resolved, a process that might last for the duration of the season. Compounding matters:
The nine University of Florida football players who have been suspended indefinitely by the school for misuse of school funds, are also under investigation for credit card fraud, by two separate police departments in the Gainesville area, relating to an additional credit card fraud allegation.
Jordan Smith, a freshman defensive end, was suspended from all team activates after a report from The Read Optional that Smith had used stolen credit card information to pay rent at an apartment complex — around $1,000 dollars. ...
The link between the misuse of funds investigation and apartment fraud investigation is now clear: Several of the players had the same stolen credit card information; the same victim.
It appears Florida's about as good at criminal offense as regular offense. McElwain's recruiting has given off a distinct whiff of desperation at times, with Florida picking up a lot of the highly-touted guys other schools back off of because of red flags. You may remember Guy Who Got Busted For Pot On An Official Visit To OSU; James Robinson signed with Florida. He was suspended against Michigan for... I mean, you can probably guess.
Pot is the most minor of all offenses, but if you're getting busted for it on a college campus while hanging out with a crew of folks who collectively can only be football players that's something else. Twice is another level of something else. I mean... Michigan's had some guys who were super into pot. But never citation-level. I imagine that among the very very bad credit card scammers are a couple guys Florida knew they probably shouldn't take but did anyway.
Florida's collected a large number of Malik McDowells because their head coach can't really recruit and felt the pressure. This bodes unwell for Michigan's strength of schedule. Also McElwain.
How much of a problem is a football coach being a dick? A serious question. The Indianapolis Star gets the story of former IU WR Coray Keel, who left Indiana after one year mostly because Kevin Wilson was a dick:
“It became kind of like a pride thing, once I started lining up, to be key players for the opposing team every week, when I would hear coaches come up to me and tell me I’m not (crap), I’m not this and that. It was Kevin Wilson and position coaches, but mostly Kevin Wilson,” Keel said. “Every day, it was a constant reminder of how much I wasn’t doing good, and how I was doing more harm as a scout-team player, not giving the team the right looks. I was the reason we were losing, the reason why we were not doing good.”
“As my time at IU extended, it got worse,” Keel said. “To the point where it made just being there uncomfortable. It made the overall experience of it, it was to the point where I didn’t want to wake up and go to practice.”
Keel says he wasn't forced out and that Wilson tried to convince him to stay when he decided to transfer. Keel transferred to a JUCO and gave up football after one more year. The Star cites several other players with similar issues.
All football coaches are dicks. At what point does it cross the line? Mark Mangino: over the line, I think everyone can agree. Mike Rosenberg thought Rich Rodriguez was over the line, partly because of Greg Frey, and now everyone's fine with Greg Frey because Harbaugh. Wilson's hiring at Ohio State was immediately after he got fired, and nobody seems to care.
Etc.: Simone Biles was at the Michigan game, in case you saw a five-foot-tall person who looked vaguely familiar. Sure, I'll link to an NFL sucks article. Baumgardner on stuff. Toys R Us goes bankrupt, although it looks like Brandon was just the fall guy, not the cause. Improvement! Holdin' the Rope. Georgetown's basketball schedule is really something. Baseball recruiting really well.
2017 Week 3 CFB Bullets
--- A pivotal early-season SEC East matchup came down to the wire, as FLORIDA escaped with a 26-20 win over TENNESSEE following a Hail Mary pass from Feleipe Franks to Tyrie Cleveland as time expired. The game – featuring two embattled coaches in Jim McElwain and Butch Jones – was predictably a slog through three quarters, and the Gators led 6-3 before a short pick-six that caromed off a receiver’s hands gave them a two-score lead early in the fourth. The Vols missed a field goal (one of three on the game) on the following drive; Florida followed that up with a long Malik Davis run – a 74-yard scamper that ended with him fumbling the ball out of the back of the end zone for a touchback. Tennessee’s offense woke up immediately after that: the Vols scored a John Kelly rushing touchdown on the ensuing, fairly quick drive to make the score 13-10. Cleveland had a nice kick return to set up a Florida touchdown, and the Gators led by ten with five minutes left.
The Vols went 75 yards in two plays to pull the score back to 20-17: a long completion to Kelly put them in range, and Quinten Dormady dropped in a beautiful touchdown pass to Ethan Wolf between defenders. Franks threw an interception in his own territory on the next Florida drive – another pick that went through a receiver’s hands. Tennessee got the ball down to the nine-yard line but didn’t run the ball with Kelly – who had 237 total yards of offense on the game – and had to settle for a field goal after three straight incompletions. That left enough time on the clock for Franks and Florida: it looked as if the game was headed to overtime until he uncorked a bomb to Cleveland after scrambling from the pocket; Cleveland had roasted the safety on a deep post route and made a diving catch as the clock hit zero.
It wasn’t exactly a battle of wits between McElwain and Jones, but Florida held on for a crucial win in their first game since the embarrassing season opening loss to Michigan. It was a fittingly sloppy game – and one that gave the Gators a leg up in the SEC East race early on.
--- The biggest game of the weekend didn’t wind up being much of a contest, as CLEMSON went to LOUISVILLE and won handily, 47-21. This may have been the most impressive win of the young season: the Tiger defense largely held reigning Heisman winner Lamar Jackson in check until garbage time (he still threw for over 300 yards and had three passing touchdowns), but Clemson’s offense may have been even more impressive. Quarterback Kelly Bryant shined in his first road start and outplayed Jackson; Clemson gained 613 yards of total offense split almost evenly between passing and rushing; they didn’t turn it over once. The game was effectively over in the third quarter: Dorian O’Daniel scored on a pick-six off of Jackson on Louisville’s first drive of the second half; the Cardinals went three-and-out on the next drive and Clemson had a methodical touchdown drive to make it 33-7.
They won a slugfest the week before against Auburn, but on Saturday, Clemson indicated that they may have a playoff-caliber offense to pair with their fantastic defense. In two weeks, the Tigers travel to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech – quite possibly the best team in the ACC Coastal – in what will be a huge matchup. Clemson hosts Florida State in November. As for Louisville, they’ve had poor defensive performances in all three of their games and while the schedule gets much easier in the short-term, it seems as if they won’t be able to challenge Clemson or Florida State for the ACC Atlantic title.
[More after the JUMP]
Monday Presser 9-18-17: Jim Harbaugh
[Upchurch]
Can you talk about what you get from Eddie McDoom on special teams and on offense?
“He’s been a contributor this year, last year. Fast, smart, fundamentally-sound football player.”
Purdue’s off to a good start. Can you talk about what you see out of them that has your attention?
“Yeah, the team’s done a tremendous job. Coaching staff would be an early favorite for coach of the year. They’re doing a nice job. The entire team is.”
With Mason Cole, to know that you’ve got a dependable left tackle with a starting streak and production, what kind of comfort does that give you as a coach?
“I would say he’s our most valuable offensive lineman.”
Does Quinn Nordin have sort of an unusual mentality for a kicker? Seems like a pretty confident and outspoken kid.
“Uh, no. I find nothing unusual about Quinn.”
WIth Rashan and Chase and those guys up front, did you see their presence and with Rashan especially, did you see him making impact plays in his first couple weeks here?
“Yes.”
What about him has stood out to you?
“Running to the football, playing physical, tackling very well. High effort, high talent.”
[Injury updates after THE JUMP]
Report: Exit Football Drake Harris, Hello Hoops Drake Harris
[Left: Patrick Barron; Right: MLive]
Michigan wide receiver Drake Harris may soon become Michigan guard Drake Harris, and this has nothing to do with a massive weight gain. A Scout user spotted Harris posting clips playing basketball on his Snapchat a few days ago, and now The Wolverine's Chris Balas is reporting that Harris plans to suit up for John Beilein:
We've heard Michigan redshirt junior wide receiver Drake Harris will be pursuing basketball now ... yes, at Michigan. Head coach John Beilein will take him in a heartbeat if the football coaches approve (we've heard Harris met with the coach yesterday), and we believe they will (and probably already have).
As a recruit at Grand Rapids Christian, Harris initially committed to Michigan State as a two-sport athlete. Basketball, in fact, was his primary focus until his spectacular junior football season, and the recruiting services regarded him as a composite top-100 basketball recruit before he chose the gridiron—at one point Rivals had him ranked as high as #46 overall in the 2014 class. He earned first-team all-state honors on the hardwood as both a sophomore and junior; he didn't play his senior season because he enrolled early at Michigan. ESPN liked his potential when the evaluated him as a junior despite being the low outlier among his basketball rankings:
Strengths:
Drake is smooth scoring wing who is a solid shooter out to 20 feet. He can score from all over the floor: long range, mid-range and he can get to the rim. He has real good size for a 2 guard at his age. Pretty good defender.Weaknesses:
Drake needs more consistency with his effort. He can disappear at times.Bottom Line:
Drake is a real up and coming talent in the 2014 class. Drake is a solid athlete and has plenty of upside. When he is assertive he is one of he better scorers in the class. It'll be interesting to see how he progresses.
He certainly asserted himself for most of his junior season, averaged 24.2 points per game and leading Grand Rapids Christian to the Class A state semifinals, where he went out with a bang.
Harris would have two seasons of eligibility remaining on the hardwood; since he began the year with the football program, his scholarship would still count against football for this year, though basketball has an open slot anyway.
While it's obviously difficult to project how a player will fare in a sport he hasn't played competitively for four years, Harris may be able to provide some depth at guard. At 6'4", 188, he's got good size, and we know he doesn't lack athleticism. In addition to providing scoring punch, he was a good passer in high school, to the point that his coach wanted him to be more selfish:
The strength of Harris' game is his ability to attack the basket off the dribble and score or find teammates for high-percentage shots.
"Defenders can't stay in front of him," Majerle said. "That is what gives him so much potential as a point guard. He has good ball skills and he is a great athlete. I also think that he has a great natural feel for the game which is what you want to see from a point guard. He is a good teammate and an unselfish basketball player. Sometimes he is unselfish to a fault."
While he wasn't known as a shooter, he could pour it on at times, and his form looks decent (albeit a bit slow on the release) on film; he also displays good court vision and some flashy passing ability.
Whether Harris plays both sports or moves full-time to baskeball, this shouldn't have a major impact on the football team. He only had eight career receptions before moving this fall to cornerback, where he hasn't seen significant playing time. He'll have to shake off some rust on the hardwood, but at the very least he's an interesting athlete to have at the end of the bench.
Beet-Red And Nude
- 2017 air force
- 3-3-5 stack
- ben mason
- chase winovich
- chase winovich well i mean chases you
- devin bush
- donovan peoples-jones
- donovan peoples-jones runs fast
- dylan crawford
- game columns
- injuries
- james foug
- josh metellus
- karan higdon
- khaleke hudson
- khalid hill
- mike mccray
- quinn nordin
- ty isaac
- wilton speight
- zach gentry
- zach gentry is zentry!
9/16/2017 – Michigan 29, Air Force 13 – 3-0
also this happened [Eric Upchurch]
I have ceased being a person who gets seriously exercised about the shortcomings, real or imagined, of Michigan's coaching staff. I will get my grouse on when it's fourth and a half yard and Michigan punts, because if I tried to hold that in I would literally die. There's some stuff later in this post about giving the ball to the Hammering Panda on short yardage and how it's dumb and stupid not to. There will always be niggling details that grate.
But I'm not going to freak out because Michigan's offense is struggling. If my mentions, or Ace's, or poor damn Nick Baumgardner's are any indication the Air Force game was HONEYMOON OVER for a healthy section of Michigan's fanbase. No doubt Sam and Ira have just completed four hours of radio where 75% of the callers were spittle-flecked, nude, and beet-red, proclaiming manifestoes about the personal embarrassment they were caused when Michigan could not score an offensive touchdown in the first 59 minutes of a game against a Mountain West team.
And... eh. I mean, nobody sane could disagree with propositions up to and including "this offense is butt and probably going to cost Michigan any chance of silverware." I wish the offense was not butt, too. In previous years I might be nude and beet-red, writing a manifesto about how I suffered personal embarrassment when Fitz Toussaint ran 27 times for 27 yards.
I am not. I'm going to see how this works out.
I'd like to think this is because I am so good at looking at football that I know that Michigan's problems under Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke were clear, severe, and systemic coaching issues while Harbaugh's are not. To some extent this is probably true: Harbaugh has not switched his base defense midseason in a panic (twice!), or decided that "tackle over" was an offense instead of a gimmick, or continued inserting a quarterback without an ulnar nerve in the second half of an Ohio State game. The worst tactical issue he's had so far was the increasingly disappointing Pepcat package last year, which is a speeding ticket compared to the grand felonies perpetrated by Michigan's last two coaching staffs. Check that: three coaching staffs.
But I'm also extrapolating based on track record. There is an element of faith that Harbaugh engenders, because... uh... I mean, obviously? If you need numbers, here's Stanford, with Harbaugh in bold:
| Team | Year | Record | FEI | S&P | YPC | YPA | YPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford | 2006 | 1-11 | N/A | 113 | 2.1 (118th) | 6.3 | N/A |
| Stanford | 2007 | 4-8 | 61 | 83 | 3.0 (113th) | 6 | N/A |
| Stanford | 2008 | 5-7 | 48 | 31 | 4.9 (20th) | 6.4 (82nd) | 59 |
| Stanford | 2009 | 8-5 | 1 | 6 | 5.2 (7th) | 8.7 (7th) | 9 |
| Stanford | 2010 | 12-1 | 5 | 3 | 5.2 (16th) | 8.9 (10th) | 13 |
| Stanford | 2011 | 11-2 | 6 | 8 | 5.3 (13th) | 8.7 (7th) | 6 |
Harbaugh embarked on a similar project at San Francisco. The 49ers were 25th in Football Outsider's DVOA fancystat the year before his arrival. They improved to 18th in year one and then had consecutive top ten years (fifth and eighth) before a dropoff in Harbaugh's final season under Jed York. That last season is the only one in Harbaugh's pre-Michigan coaching career where the offense isn't either taking a significant step forward or an elite or near-elite unit, and it's saddled with a bunch of confounding factors. (SF got hit with a blizzard of injuries that year, oh and the owner was trying to force out a guy who'd gone to three consecutive NFC Championship games because reasons.)
At Michigan he immediately took the dead thing that was the Brady Hoke offense and made it okay, leaping from 89th to 38th in S&P+. Last year plateaued largely because the starting QB inexplicably went in the tank in Iowa and then did something nasty to his shoulder.
If the late slide a year ago and early sputters from a team that lost seven starters is enough to overthrow Harbaugh's long career of mostly great offenses in your mind, please go away. Yes, there are problems. No, this isn't Lloyd Carr turning Tom Brady, David Terrell, Anthony Thomas, and four long-term NFL starters into the 60th-best offense in the country. Bitching about Harbaugh's offense makes no sense after two years of inventive game plans, plays I have to invent terms for after a decade of doing this, and mostly solid results despite Brady Hoke's abominable late offensive recruiting*.
This feels bad man. But put your damn clothes on and stick to not sports.
--------------------------
*[Deep breaths. Ready?
The only offensive recruit to even make it to year five from the 2013 class are Patrick Kugler and the fullbacks. De'Veon Smith and Jake Butt were productive and graduated. Da'Mario Jones, Csont'e York, Jaron Dukes, Dan Samuelson, Wyatt Shallman, Chris Fox, David Dawson, Kyle Bosch, Shane Morris, and Derrick Green all burned out without making any impact.
Hoke's miserable 2014 class has Speight, the starting QB, Mason Cole, Ian Bunting, and nobody else even contributing. Moe Ways, Juwann Bushell-Beatty, Freddy Canteen, Drake Harris are all gone or benched.
And literally the only offensive recruits Hoke left Harbaugh in the transition class were Alex Malzone, John Runyan Jr, and Grant Newsome. That is three recruiting years producing four starters.]
[After THE JUMP: but hey the defense though]
The Climb, Part III: The Stop
[Ed-Seth: This being the 20th anniversary of the 1997 National Championship, Michigan historian Dr. Sap is taking us game-by-game through it.]
---------------------
Sept. 27, 1997: Michigan 21, Notre Dame 14, 3-0 (0-0 Big Ten)
Materials: WH video
[Sara Stillman/The Michigan Daily, via the UM Bentley Historical Library]
Game 3 for 1997 Michigan was way too tight for comfort against a team with nothing to lose. Notre Dame had not made good on Beano Cook’s promise to win two national championships and two Heismans for quaterback Ron Powlus, but they had all of that talent still.
This wasn’t Lou Holtz’s Fighting Irish anymore. Holtz had stepped down and ND promoted Defensive Coordinator Bob Davie to be the man in charge. To fill his old job, Davie called on his friend Greg Mattison, who’d coached DL in Davie’s Texas A&M defenses, to do the unthinkable: abandon Michigan for Notre Dame.
Mattison had been Jack Harbaugh’s DC at Western Michigan, with stints at Navy and Texas A&M before Gary Moeller, on Harbaugh’s advice, put Greg in line to perhaps one day be the head man at Michigan. When Mo had to go, Carr pegged Mattison, not linebackers/special teams coach, former Michigan player, and much longer-time assistant Jim Herrmann, as Carr’s replacement. Mattison had recruited half of this young defensive front, and designed the 4-3 under defense. Also consider important offensive pieces like Chris Floyd, Chris Howard, Jerame Tuman, and Mark Campbell, not to mention Steve Hutchinson, came to Michigan as defensive or two-way players. This betrayal did not go over well in Ann Arbor.
[After the JUMP: Lloyd does not bite his thumb at Mattison, sir]
MGoPodcast 9.3: The Human I Knew You’d Be
1 hour
[Eric Upchurch]
We recorded this podcast once again at the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown. However this time Seth wasn’t there and so nobody noticed the recorder wasn’t plugged in. The good news is this hotel in the middle of downtown Ann Arbor is so quiet inside we could still salvage everything but Jamie’s part.
We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other
We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan we’d be talking to ourselves.
Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: Peak Wealth Management, Homesure Lending, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,, Human Element, DEO Bookkeeping, and Lantana Hummus
---------------------------------
1. Florida-Tennessee
starts at 1:00
All the defenses would have been better than Cover 2. S-E-C! Jim McElwain is a sauce-selling shark sexer. Seriously: any defense.
2. The Offense
starts at 8:59
Air Force went for broke, Michigan broke them and were a bit unfortunate they didn’t have two big touchdowns early. We’re really frustrated with throwing fades out of bounds. Might have underestimated the lost of the receiver corps. Lack of very interesting things. Good at cosmetic touchdowns.
3. The Defense
starts at 30:25
James Light broke down this entire game before it happened, until Don Brown brought out the counter to the counter. Eventually AF was trying to beat Khaleke Hudson in coverage, until Hudson finally caught one. Both CBs were great in run support. McCray nice bounce-back game. Winovich is more Brandon Graham than Jake Ryan.
4. Special Teams and Feelingsball
starts at 30:20
Special Teams: Quinn Nordin is already the best kicker in Michigan history, still hasn’t gotten Ace the Wild Thing haircut. DPJ should return everything. Will Hart has to not shank punts. James Foug taunting Air Force receivers by skying them to the 1 yard line. Feelingsball: Kill Red Hat! Brian’s boycotting Dr. Pepper. Two ad breaks a quarter. Types of cars that don’t advertise on college football. Sorry to see Sumlin’s getting fired.
---------------------------------
MUSIC:
“Golden Girls Theme Song Remix” by Matthew A. Cherry (this guy)
“Across 110th Street”
THE USUAL LINKS
- Helpful iTunes subscribe link
- General podcast feed link
- Direct download link
- What's with the theme music?
Photos from Michigan vs. Air Force
This hurt (Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog)
So did this (Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog)
That poor QB is having a rough Sunday (Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog)
Zach Gentry is tall and nearly blocked this kick (Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog)
Full Gallery
Air Force Postgame Presser: Jim Harbaugh
[Upchurch]
Red zone: how much of a concern is that that you aren’t getting more touchdowns in those opportunities?
“I thought both teams played really good red zone defense today. Good. We had the right calls on at the right time, pushed them back out of the opportunities to score touchdowns and they held the line as well. Hats off to both teams for really good red zone defense.”
Talk about the challenge of having to switch gears on defense for a team like this and how your guys responded defensively.
“I thought we responded really well. For the most part, with the exception of a few drives. I thought we shut them down well and I thought we won all three phases. They play a brand of football I really like, which is you just keep jabbing away and you don’t make mistakes, you don’t turn the ball over, few penalties, and you get first downs… push the opponent back in field position. They make you go beatcha. They don’t beat themselves and it’s a good brand of football. Our team was able to make plays offensively, defensively, special teams was a huge factor in today’s ball game.
“Donovan’s punt return was fabulous. Our kickoff coverage was excellent all day, and right on down the line. Punt protection was really good as they were bringing 10; we got the all-out rush and we were able to block it up. Each phase. And the standout was Quinn Nordin and the snapper, Cheeseman, Garret Moores, the holder—that whole battery. And the field goal protection was outstanding. Tied a record, Michigan record, for most field goals in a game. Really proud of the way our special teams played. Offensively, defensively, special teams: thought we won all three phases.”
Rhythmically, where do you see the offense going and specifically with Wilton and Donovan, looked like that could be a connection. How do you assess that?
“Yeah, it was good to see Donovan go and make a big play offensively. Made the big play special teams-wise, so great to see him a factor in the third game of his freshman year. Just terrific. Like Tarik has done, one of those freshmen that are playing in their third ballgame and are huge factors in where we are, 3-0, and the ballgame we had today.”
[After THE JUMP: getting RPS’d, the kicking battery, jamming it in in the red zone, and how to use DPJ]
Michigan 29, Air Force 13
Quinn Nordin got his second school record in three games. [Eric Upchurch]
Michigan had their J. Walter Weatherman game today.
You could practically hear "...and that's why you don't schedule Air Force" echoing through the stadium as early as the first quarter, when the Falcons somehow used 6:13 of game clock to drive 24 yards in 12 plays for a field goal to knot the game at three apiece.
While Michigan's defense played up to their lofty standard, Air Force lingered in a contracted game that featured only 11 full drives from each team. The Wolverines could only move the ball in fits and spurts, generally going in the right direction until they hit the red zone, where all-too-familiar problems from the season's first two games cropped up again. Whether it was blown blocks, conservative playcalling, or missed opportunities, those problems forced Michigan to settle for field goals on all four of their trips to the red zone.
"They were doing a really good of disguising coverages, disguising blitzes," quarterback Wilton Speight said, noting Air Force did a particularly good job in the red zone.
"They had a better call than we had most of the time down there in the red zone," said Jim Harbaugh. "We'd like to score more touchdowns in the red zone. I think that'll come. We're moving the ball."
Speight finished an underwhelming 14-of-23 for 169 yards in what's become a typically uneven performance. He had a few excellent throws and lost some yardage to drops—most notably on a third-down pass that clanged off Kekoa Crawford's hands in the fourth quarter—but also missed a couple open receivers and couldn't lead the offense to a touchdown until the game's waning minutes.
DPJ couldn't be stopped once he got his eyes on the end zone. [Upchurch]
Fortunately for Michigan, while the offense found their footing, the other two units were rock solid. Quinn Nordin tied a program record with five field goals in five attempts, including a 49-yarder with room to spare to give Michigan a 9-6 halftime lead.
After the defense forced a three-and-out on the opening possession of the second half, it looked like Michigan would finally break the game open. Donovan Peoples-Jones fielded a Charlie Scott punt that outdistanced the coverage, sprinted past the first wave, reversed field, and then tightroped the sideline for a 79-yard touchdown, the first of his Michigan career.
"My punt return team did a great job of blocking," Peoples-Jones said. "It made my job very easy. It just opened up like the Red Sea."
"I feel like great things are going to happen for Donovan Peoples-Jones," said Harbaugh.
Air Force countered with a rare explosive play, however, as receiver Ronald Cleveland got a step on Tyree Kinnel and took at third-down slant 64 yards to the house only four plays later.
That proved to be Air Force's only completion of the afternoon.
Somewhere in there is Air Force's quarterback. [Upchurch]
The defense, and the defensive line in particular, controlled this game. Against an offense that avoids negative plays at all costs, Michigan recorded nine tackles for loss and had three sacks on just 12 Air Force dropbacks. The three-man line of Rashan Gary, Mo Hurst, and Chase Winovich controlled the A- and B-gaps, allowing the back seven—led by Devin Bush and Mike McCray, who both finished with a team-high 11 tackles—to flow to the ball unencumbered.
By the second half, they were kicking the Falcons off the field with ruthless efficiency. Gary damn near beheaded quarterback Arion Worthman while forcing a third-quarter fumble the Falcons were fortunate to recover, inducing a roar of bloodlust from a previously stagnant crowd.
Their dominance meant two more field goal drives, plus a miss from Air Force's kicker, were enough to all but put the game away. Michigan was in clock-killing mode when Karan Higdon broke down the left sideline for a 36-yard touchdown with 1:02 to play.
"They play a brand of football that I really like, which is keep jabbing away," Harbaugh said. "They make you go beat them. They don't beat themselves."
That held true in this game. Frustratingly, it took the offense far too long to put the game away and still have fans feel comfortable heading into Big Ten play. Next week's trip to Purdue, a reinvigorated program under first-year coach Jeff Brohm, is looking far more perilous than it did a few weeks ago.
"We'll keep forging ahead, keep making improvements," said Harbaugh. "I like where this team is at right now."
