Dropped Passes

Remember when he had the best YPA and QB rating in the B1G? That wasn't that long ago. It's not Gardner's fault he's regressed to this point. It's not the receiver's fault we won't be playing in a bowl. The team has fallen apart due to lack of accountability on sooo many levels. This is just flat out a bad team coached by a bad coach.

I don't understand why Funchess is our primary target on 4th downs.  He may (on paper) be our best receiver, but don't you want your most sure-handed guy on the most critical of downs?  In 2012 and '13 we regularly went to Dileo on 4th down even though we had Gallon. This year I'd rather see us target Darboh or Butt on those plays.  

 

Really hope Funchess gets Donovan Warren'ed and is out of the league in a few years. Doesn't deserve it.

Throw to #35 ...that dude can catch the ball. When is the last time we have thrown a deep ball??

funchess has no business wearing the #1 jersey.  he is, as noted above, a prima donna with poor hands and worse work habits.  if he decides to go early i suspect he'll end up washing cars for a living.   can't stand talented head-cases.

 

Try and imagine this game with Dileo and Gallon as the go-to receivers and a big part of the problem becomes obvious.  Gardner isn't perfect but these receivers have to be able to make some plays.  The drops on easy chances are game killers.

Butt is horridly underutilized.  Right now he is the best pass catcher on the team with the best hands - I can count 2 drops all year off memory. That's a good half for Funchess.  Was nice to see him actually get 4ish targets today - should have been a primary target from game 4 this year.  Usually a QB goes to his TE to get bailed out.  His sideline catch today was one of the best in the Big 10 this year and got lost in this shitfest.

I agree with the guy above about Funchess.  The guy does not have "dawg" in him.  He is facing subpar athletes most weeks that he should be dominating - I mean Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers type defensive players.  He is not separating even from them.  He is not playing SEC type DBs or hell OSU and MSU every week.   Yes Devin is not a great thrower but he seems to have checked out to the NFL post the Utah game.  He does not  have 1 elite skill - not super fast, not a super route runner, not a super catcher, and a very bad blocker.   So I am not sure what he is going to do in the NFL - he will be a slow WR (I dont care what his 40 time is, watch the game) vs elite NFL CB speed or a TE who wants zero to do with blocking and has alligator arms in the middle of the field.   Don't want to wreck the kid because I feel like I am but if I didnt see the mocks and just watched him this year I'd have a 7th round type of view of him, and it would all be based on taking a chance based on him due to height and hoping he was so ruiined by his college coaching that a jewel is hiding underneath there.

I am sure some team will take him high due to measurables but you put Chris Spielman's heart and moxie into Funchess and you have a beast.  But you don't and I am worried for his NFL future.  He seemed an unwilling blocker from day 1 and that speaks to something - UM WRs used to be renown for blocking.

Funchess is the most overrated and overhyped player I have ever seen play for us. He is mind blowingly lazy and gave up on this team a long time ago. I hope he goes pro so we don't have to deal with it anymore

Needs to come back next year to redeem himself, because as was stated above, he really hasn't shown he's anything near an elite receiver. Drops way too many balls and seems way too casual about balls near him. Hasn't fought for a catch since Sept. I just don't see someone that is going to get drafted in the early rounds. Otherwise, some team is going to take a big risk on him and that's rare in the NFL where job security is much more tenuous than college. Blame Gardner all you want, but if the ball is near you, good receivers find a way to make a catch. Case in point...Jeremy Gallon.

Time to take the oven mitts off.

Once kerridge managed to not score on that fake punt with 3 blockers and one defender and then we got only a field goal out of it I knew this was going to be an ugly game.  Not shocked at all by all the drops, its happened all year long, between a qb who rarely throws an accurate pass and receivers who drop half of the, how can we move the ball?  I was momentarily happy when Norfleet finally got his return touchdown to put us up by two touchdowns and let us run away with the game but ... nope ... and nope.  What a depressing game.

Its gonna be really interesting to see if any outgoing players blame things or if existing players blame it on the outgoing ones, much like they did on Borges and lewan

Watching live it seemed many throws were behind receivers.

These problems are all small indicators of a bigger overall problem.

This team, especially the offense, is poorly coached, extremely undisciplined, and consistently shoots itself in the foot. The team beats itself, and commits turnovers at a rate that'd make you think the ball is covered in plague.

It figures that the one time Norfleet finally takes a ball to the house, it's called back for a penalty. Couldn't be a better indicator of how our season has gone. I feel bad for our guys, but they're just not a fun team to watch at all.

A coach catch a ball or make a tackle will be the first. Players need to take responsibility

Its seems like Funchess has checked out since the MSU game. Ever since then he seems to drop a lot of catachable passes 

Unlike in the NFL which selects out only the best of the college players there is a lot more inconsistency in college performance. Emotion plays a much bigger role.

1. We beat a Northwestern team that looked flat and lifeless - in an awful game.

2. Northwestern gets way pumped up and beats Notre Dame.

3. Notre Dame now reeling falls to not great Louisville team and will probably come out flat against USC who after being dominated by UCLA may also come out flat as a pancake.

That first drop when it was a sure TD really hurt them emotionally - not getting that TD after the fake punt. Getting the punt return TD called back was another hit. The whole team seemed down.

Emotion is an important factor if your team has some basic competence.

The far more important problem for Michigan is that the whole team just isn't very good at any phase of the game, and frequently is downright horrible. Getting jacked up sky-high isn't going to make our receivers catch the ball more reliably.

Devin didnt play an amazing game, but he did get the ball to the receivers in some critical situations and the wrs just dropped the ball. This loss honestly did come down to them.