Al Borges Appreciation?

Submitted by Decatur Jack on

248 yards rushing

503 yards passing

751 yards of total offense

Devin Gardner breaks record for passing yards in one game (also, throws No INTs)

Jeremy Gallon breaks record for receiving yards in one game (yes, that was Braylon's record previously)

Fitz Toussaint had four rushing touchdowns

63 points

THIS OFFENSE BORES ME

ChopBlock

October 19th, 2013 at 8:39 PM ^

Yeah. I'd personally like to see him hang a million points on somebody like, say, Notre Dame. Oh wait.

 

Borges isn't as bad as he looked against PSU, and not as good as he looked against ND or Indiana. Not as bad as he looked against Iowa 2011 or OSU 2012, and not as good as Nebraska 2011 or OSU 2011. He's a mix of all of those.

Uper73

October 19th, 2013 at 8:23 PM ^

I will give him props for today. He put his offense in the position to win all day. Big momentum change after that turnover on the opening drive of the half. That ignited IU. Our defense had done ok up till then, but after that they were woefully beat up by IU till the interception at the end.



But, Borges let his guys loose to keep pace and they really hit the accelerator. No matter what we think of IUs defense, our O line gave DG protection all day. They can build off this.



Mr. Yost

October 19th, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^

Borges and his play calling blew a game for us. We could still be undefeated.

Call it what you want, but it's true.

Going H.A.M. on the worst defense in the B1G doesn't change a thing. Do half of this vs. MSU and I'd be more impressed. WAY more impressed.

The only thing Borges should get credit for is finally learning that his best change is from the spread.

jblaze

October 19th, 2013 at 8:28 PM ^

So, not yet. However, I do appreciate the diversity of his play calling. Very nice Big Al.



If he calls a game like this in November, then sign me up for the appreciation thread.



At the very least, he's making adjustments, which is awesome.

charblue.

October 19th, 2013 at 8:29 PM ^

was incredibly frustrating, the game comes down to execution of the play-calls. And there were different guys in today on the Oline plus a full game from Lewan. And Gardner was outstanding, even if he did try to make something out of impossible situations, which is not Al's fault. 

Critics can't have it both ways. You can acknowledge the competition and say yeah,MSU scored 42 points on these guys, but this was a record-setting performance for this school with some great history. And pretending we should barely acknowledge it because it was against Indiana is the ultimate in arrogant contentiousness. 

 

 

 

GotBlueOnMyMind

October 19th, 2013 at 8:29 PM ^

Although I do think this game only further proves his strategy against PSU was horrible, as he was willing to run more from Shotgun than under center in this game to great success, I also think that people seem to forget how fickle offense can be. Even Baylor had a bad offensive output last week. Not to mention the fact that Al Borges' predecessor, whose offense many here have put on a marble pedestal, led us to offensive efforts that put up 17, 7 and 14 against MSU, OSU and Miss St respectively in his final year. The fact is that offense is far more fickle than is defense. That doesn't absolve Borges of blame for many of his play-calling blunders, but this is why I prefer having a defensive minded coach. This is also why the defense's performance is what I am focused on, as the defensive talent level (greatly attributable to youth) was simply not there today.

7words

October 19th, 2013 at 8:30 PM ^

Appreciation?  Nah.  For a guy that makes that much and thinks he's an offensive genius, finally making the adjustments 4 weeks later than when us armchair quarterbacks on here were calling for them, doesn't earn him a pass from me.  That and the fact that its Indiana, and you should go into the game basically assuming to gain at least 500 yards against them.  

Dallas Walmart…

October 19th, 2013 at 8:36 PM ^

There were a ton of posters claiming after PSU that we would lose to IU.  Then we beat IU, primarily due to a great offensive performance, and all they can say is that they're not willing to appreciate what Al did today because it was IU.  Doesn't the win mean that Al already exceeded your expectations?  Give credit where it's due.  He called  a great game today, and the players executed it.  Yes, Indiana is terrible at defense, but how many other teams have hung 63 on them (or 750 yards)?

M-Wolverine

October 19th, 2013 at 10:08 PM ^

An "Everyone who said we'd lose to Indiana Stand Up and be a Man" thread, but it'd probably be a short one for the latter part of the title, not the former. One cat even said we'd never lead vs. Indiana.

Zok

October 19th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^

By passing on 1st down. That was the difference . IU not much worse than Akron or Uconn... This game plan was just superior bc we set out to score from the get go. Lots more 1st down passing. Gave Gardner easy completions. Basically what the blog has called for all year.

aiglick

October 19th, 2013 at 9:52 PM ^

He called a terrible game last week. This week his game plan (and execution) won the game. As another poster said this is a performance to build on and for that I'm appreciative. If he reverts to power in one of our bigger games of the year it will undo all of this. They have a bye week to get better and maybe get the biggest win in the Hoke Era to date. I'm pulling for them as is I'm sure most of the board.

IPFW_Wolverines

October 19th, 2013 at 8:59 PM ^

So who thought ten years or so ago that there would be people in the future using Indiana football as a measuring stick for Michigan?

Lac55

October 19th, 2013 at 9:24 PM ^

hear so much moaning when the O put up 60+, broke records, and even Fitz put up numbers. Most of you are so fire Borges crazy that you can't see Gmatt's D gave up 47 points and over 500 yds of O.

Bend don't brake. Inside and in front right?

Ty Butterfield

October 19th, 2013 at 9:04 PM ^

Well it would be nice to see him keep this against MSU. My biggest is fear is that Al doesn't open up the playbook against MSU when this is the only chance Michigan has to win. But yes I was happy with the game he called today.

Louie C

October 19th, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^

My biggest fear is that he actually does open the playbook, but shitty protection from the line, and execution errors result in plays getting blown up or  turnovers which in turn could make a sound strategy like that look like absolute shit. But even then, it is still on Al to adapt too, and he has shown that he can be stubborn. 

JHendo

October 19th, 2013 at 9:09 PM ^

It was simply a case of an extremely talented offense against a really bad defense. Why does it take going up against a defense we don't really need to worry about after a loss for Borges to come up with a game plan that makes at least some sense? There's no way I can not be happy about our production tonight, but I'm not retracting my negative opinion of Borges. It shouldn't have taken this long to get the offense going and who knows how quickly our offense will revert back to ineffective predictability.

snarling wolverine

October 19th, 2013 at 9:09 PM ^

It's ridiculous to downvote a thread praising our offensive coordinator after our O set a school record for yardage and scored 63 points.   The internet seems to make people do dumb things.