Bill Plaschke thinks Denard has been "figured out"

Submitted by Swazi on
@BillPlaschke Remember Denard Robinson? Purdue held him to 3.1 yards per carry, 176 yards passing, he's been figured out, Heisman long gone Right. He lights up A top 20 Illinois defense, and has a bad game in terrible weather means he's been "figured out" as a sophomore. Shouldn't he be off talking about how the Lakers are going to crush the Bulls win record?

maxr

November 13th, 2010 at 7:20 PM ^

 

Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky took me out to go get a drink with him? We go off looking for a bar and we can't find one. Finally Brasky takes me to a vacant lot and says, "Here we are." We sat there for a year and a half and sure enough someone constructs a bar around us. The day they opened we ordered a shot, drank it, and then burned the place to the ground. Brasky yelled over the roar of the flames, "Always leave things the way you found em!"

EZMIKEP

November 13th, 2010 at 5:39 PM ^

They figured out that Denard is fast as lightning and that they can't stop him. Only he can stop himself. Bill Plascke is an idiot. 

TXmaizeNblue

November 13th, 2010 at 6:21 PM ^

Yes, the only one who stops Denard is Denard.  Unfortunately, that's happening more and more instead of less and less.  The first 6-7 weeks I was excited when he was playing, now I find myself nervous, and relieved when Tate comes in.  He's too much of a turnover machine.  It's a hate-love thing.  You love the kid's playmaking abilities, but you hate his drive-stopping abilities.  Hard knowing which one's going to show?

willywill9

November 13th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^

Would anyone else agree that this was probably the worst performance by the O-Line and by the team in general as far as blocking goes?  All credit to Purdue for stepping it up, but really I just felt like Michigan wasn't executing with blocking. 

That being said... Vince Smith still broke a few loose and had a pretty solid day.

Dreisbach1817

November 13th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^

This is worth a post? A single tweet? Really? What does stat boy think of Denard? I want to know.
<br>Maybe we can stop being so sensitive about opinions. This is freakin football.

kjs29cf

November 13th, 2010 at 6:11 PM ^

Plaschke is an awful writer who loves to preach and complain about things for the Los Angeles Times. As a West Coast M fan, I have to listen to him spew garbage about my Dodgers all the time. Never thought he would come after one of my other favorites...

Topher

November 13th, 2010 at 6:16 PM ^

He's right and he's wrong.

 

EVERY team that plays Michigan is going to have their defense configured to stop DR; in the case of option plays, that means forcing his key to give to the back. When the backs come alive like today, the strategy simply shifts who is going to beat you. When the rest of the crew is suspect, shutting down the QB can help you win the game.

But on the other hand, a player with that kind of talent is not a gimmick; as the defense "figures out" Denard, he and the offensive staff need to figure out new ways to spring him.

griesecheeks

November 13th, 2010 at 6:16 PM ^

denard did not look focused today. really kinda seemed off in another world. couple that with sloppy line-play and Kerrigan playing out of his mind, I'm just happy to be sitting at 7-3 after a sloppy 27-16 win.

But yeah, remember that discussion of Denard's outside chances of a heisman? He basically did play himself out of the discussion completely. Not that it really matters. The only way this team is going to grow into a serious championship contender is if other guys start to step up and make plays when denard or tate have games like this. Fortunately, Vince Smith and the D did exactly that today, which is cool to see. 

RE: playcalling today, it was clear that the massive Turnover issue (on both sides) made our coaching staff crawl back a little bit inside the shell. Definitely a lot of conservative calls. Today, it made sense, given the ineptitude of Purdue's offense and the weather conditions. I don't know that much of what we saw today will be applicable to our next 2 games against the big boys.

jmblue

November 13th, 2010 at 6:18 PM ^

If he would have actually bothered to read the entire stat line, he'd have seen that Denard averaged 8.4 yards per attempt, which is very good.  He just wasn't given many chances to throw.

PurpleStuff

November 13th, 2010 at 6:20 PM ^

"When it comes to college football, Los Angeles clearly belongs to the Bruins.

Not USC, not any more, not even close, and not only just this year.

This is a Bruin football town, and has been a Bruin football town, and will continue to be a Bruin football town as long as the Bruins continue running the consistent, directed program so lacking across town."

Plaschke wrote this in the middle of the 2001 football season after Pete Carroll began his tenure at USC with a 2-5 record.  SC went 95-14 over the following 8.5 years.

Bill also once said that letting them play little league baseball is one of the worst things you could ever do to your kids.  The guy is a complete nincompoop.