August 31st, 2013 at 5:15 PM ^
Stripling is a feisty little bastard.. Me likey
August 31st, 2013 at 5:15 PM ^
Yay we actually play kick coverage this year
August 31st, 2013 at 5:15 PM ^
Man is Devin smooth on the run. He looks like he's settling in nicely now.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:15 PM ^
The kick coverage is always meeting the ball carrier just before the 20, you have to love that.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:16 PM ^
End of 2nd, 35-6 Michigan.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:18 PM ^
Nobody ever executes well the first game.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:21 PM ^
board is over the top at times. The excecution has definatly been sloppy and mutiple things have got to cleaned up before Big Ten play, but I think it says something about this team's talent level when performing badly equates to a 35-6 halftime lead regardless of the opponent.
Relax, the talent is clearly there to win the Big Ten, execution can be fixed. This is the most talented Michigan team since the Carr Era.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:22 PM ^
There's something about the internet that seems to do that to people. Every team's game threads are always pretty negative.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:19 PM ^
Obviously a great result. The two concerns I have is Devin's 2 picks vs. a MAC squad . And lack of domination from the O Line. Minor gripes , but that's what you get when it's 35 - 6 at half . Wish I would have bet that -31.5
August 31st, 2013 at 5:20 PM ^
So, it has been going well - 243 yards of offense for Michigan on 33 plays, good for 7.36 yards per carry. That makes sense - 7.7 YPA passing and 7.2 YPC rushing.
Devin Gradner and Fitz are leading the game on the ground - 96 of our 143 yards rushing come from those two. Devin is 8/13 for 100 yards, and as expected, the favorite targets are Jeremy Gallon and Drew Dileo.
We've given up 139 yards to CMU on 35 plays, or a hair under 4 yards per play.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:20 PM ^
Well so far Gardner is not the next Vince Young and Clark isn't Clowney 2.0. I'd like to see the O-line play a bit better and the LBs get off blocks a little more. Corners are hit and miss, big plays to go with a few not as good. Safeties actually mostly OK, Gallon awesome. Hard to be too angry when we look better than ohio did today. I mean, right now we look like the best team in the Big 10. Not best in the SEC or PAC 10, but best in Big 10, or at least 1A 1B with ohio. Certainly better than sparty
August 31st, 2013 at 5:26 PM ^
Agreed on the Clark criticism. So much for the ever elusive four-man rush. Still doesnt look like we have an impact player on the DL.
I actually think Devin looks pretty darn good. Two INTs were kind of flukey/jittery. He's put some balls in tight spots and looks fantastic running.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:22 PM ^
---You shouldn't feel bad for feeling kind of "meh" even though we're up 35-6. There hasn't been much flow and we're far too sloppy on offense.
---Devin doesn't seem comfortable at all. I'm interested to see if we keep him in for long to find rhythm or if we take him out to prevent injury/hits.
He's running the ball great, however, he doesn't have any consistency when throwing the ball. I think we need to give him more run/pass options.
---Running the ball I think we look solid. We need to run left more, I wish Borges would have just a tad of the OC's during the Carr era in him. When we had Mike Hart, we didn't care what was going on, it was run left...period. We've had some success running left with Fitz and Johnson, but he keeps going away from it.
---WRs have potential, I'll need a larger sample size.
---TE's are going to be VERY good this year, next and the year after.
---I don't think the OL has been in sync, but part of it is the playcalling. Just line up and run and establish the line of scrimmage, then try these more complex things.
---DL - The bright spot, IMO. They're earning the right to rush 4. They're my favorite part of this game, very fun to watch.
---The LBs are talented and flying around, but need to wrap up!
--DBs are better, but like WR, I need more of a sample size. Plus Avery and Gordon are out so I take it with a grain of salt.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:31 PM ^
What have you seen from the DL? I'm seeing no pressure from four. Just that rush from Black (which was actually a three-man front).
August 31st, 2013 at 5:35 PM ^
Just because they're not getting sacks doesn't mean they're not getting pressure. They've done a very solid job of getting pressure on the QBs. Maybe half of those times the QB still makes a play, but that's not their fault.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:40 PM ^
6 different pressures/QB hurries by the d-line on three and four man rushes. I wouldn't say any one player has stood out, but as a whole the pass rush looks improved so far. Pressure does not always have to end in a sack.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:23 PM ^
Run the ball down hill!! Moar man ball. Fire Al Borges
August 31st, 2013 at 5:27 PM ^
The Fire Borges should get you banned though. We're up what, 29 at halftime?
August 31st, 2013 at 5:23 PM ^
Watching highlights of OSU and ND and I got a sudden jolt of panic regarding our secondary. Anybody else feel uneasy about our secondary? Im hoping Im being irrational not considering the relative youth.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:27 PM ^
Tommy Rees.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:35 PM ^
He actually torched us every time he played us. If he did not give up a few turnovers, he would be 2-0 against us going away.
August 31st, 2013 at 6:08 PM ^
Turnovers :: Tommy Rees
A. coals :: Newcastle
B. green:: grass
C. little green apples::God
D. manure::cows
August 31st, 2013 at 5:28 PM ^
OSU is 11 games away...plenty of time for experience. Oh and we're missing our 2 starting safties who are also 2 of the most experienced players on the entire team. Why should we be panicked?
August 31st, 2013 at 5:23 PM ^
Penn State up 6-3 at halftime... not sure where their offense is going to come from against us because Syracuse is not good. I'm actually moderately surprised that Iowa has a lead on N Illinois right now.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:23 PM ^
he had in high school. I watched hime a bunch and he looks like the same player: awesome runner but will make you pull your hair out on some throws.
D-line needs just a little more push, LBs physical but slow, DBs not too bad but will give up plays against better competition.
Fitz just a step slow and dancing too much.
Overall, a solid performance and I see this team winning 8 games.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:32 PM ^
on how the rest of the Big Ten has looked so far, that is just downright pessimistic. 8 games would not be a good season for this team, anything short of a an appearance in the Big Ten title game would be a dissapointment. This isn't the SEC, this is a down Big Ten where clearly Michigan and Ohio are the two most talented team. Even Ohio was less than impressive against Buffalo.
I just don't see 4-5 losses on the schedule given the state of the Big Ten.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:26 PM ^
Do you mean 8+ games, or just 8 total? The team I see out there doesn't look like a five-loss team. We're sloppy, making our share of execution errors, but the talent on this team is pretty obvious.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:26 PM ^
There's a difference between "dancing" and being patient. Fitz has looked fine. He's done a great job of trying to find the hole. My issue is that we're trying too much of this misdirection bullshit. Whatever happened to "POWER?" When did we get too good for a 4 or 5 yard run? It's like every running playcall is homerun or bust. Just line up and hit someone in the mouth and wear them now. Then throw the misdirection at them as a change of pace.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:24 PM ^
Yes or No? Not sure if it's needed, but figured I'd ask the masses.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^
Strikes again!
August 31st, 2013 at 5:31 PM ^
if you compare Michigan's first half compared to the first games for sparty and ohio...we are in great shape....yes they have made first game mistakes but i am feeling pretty good...10 wins
August 31st, 2013 at 5:43 PM ^
comments you would think that Michigan is going to be playing a top 10 team every week in Big Ten play. Still a year away from being elite, but you don't need to be a elite to win the Big Ten.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:32 PM ^
So why doesn't the liveblog appear on the ipad?
August 31st, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^
It doesn't through the mgoblog app but it works through safari browser. Maybe app needs an update.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^
A lot of young players are getting playing time. I can't wait to see even more play in the second half.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:34 PM ^
Why hasn't derrick green seen any action yet?
August 31st, 2013 at 5:36 PM ^
We haven't even gotten to Rawls and Hayes yet.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:34 PM ^
First week mental mistakes is all. Need better decisions by Gardner, fewer penalties all around and missed assignments on D.
It feels great not to be letting our lesser opponent into the game at all like numerous other B1G teams this week.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:37 PM ^
Effiecency.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:37 PM ^
Every Norfleet runback looks great for 3 seconds . . . then nothing.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:39 PM ^
What's the complaint?
August 31st, 2013 at 5:38 PM ^
Summer sausage, cheese, crackers, and more coffee (6:37am Korean time), and family still asleep. Half-time accomplished.
August 31st, 2013 at 5:38 PM ^
Thank you Borges...can we get 2 in a row? 3?
August 31st, 2013 at 5:39 PM ^
gotta think if they score here they bring in Shane, who I am excited to see what he does. I just hope he has overcome the decision making issues and consistency issues we have heard about for forever now
August 31st, 2013 at 5:40 PM ^
To get confident first
August 31st, 2013 at 5:43 PM ^
**IF the defense gets a stop. (I want to see DG drive the field without a big play).
August 31st, 2013 at 5:42 PM ^
I think Shane gets the 4th Q
August 31st, 2013 at 5:40 PM ^
Holy cow joe
August 31st, 2013 at 5:40 PM ^
That was a great fake and great concentration on the catch
August 31st, 2013 at 5:41 PM ^
Nice hands Reynolds. Nice finish Fitz!