Game Thoughts

Submitted by BlueVoix on

First, some caveats:

-Our offense needs more than one year to come together, especially when the two primary QBs are freshmen.

-When is it going to stop raining?

-Boneheaded plays are not always the fault of coaches. Sometimes, a stupid play is just a stupid play.

Now for some way-too-soon, probably overly pessimistic, and vaguely angry thoughts:

-Rodriguez's historical second year turn around may not apply in the Big Ten. I know, I know, he had lesser talent on his other teams, but this specific Michigan team looks lost 75% of the time. It may be a lot easier when you're playing far worse teams than PSU, Ohio State, MSU, Wisco, and Iowa.

-The offense is always one or two plays from being in the thick of things. Think about how drastically different this game may have been without those two Koger drops. Drops, broken routes, and freshman mistakes may be the very definition of this team.

-This defense is bad. We're talking really bad. And yes, part of the problem is talent. But I wish that was the only problem. We all have to admit that Robinson's play calling has been less than desirable. Yes, walk-on-safety, no corner depth, no line depth admitted, but at some point during that wonderful TE-covered-by-Ezeh pass play, didn't you kind of wonder what play was given to the defense?

At some point, we may have to finally look at what "Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician" said:

"First one to a Champs Sports Bowl wins!"

I wonder if they maybe knew something we didn't know.

-I'm terrified of the post-Zoltan era.

-I feel for all the recent alums that made the trip back for this game. What an embarrassment in terms of football. Now, for those that graduated this last year, it may have given off the warm and fuzzys of their senior year, but still, what a yech performance.

kevin0353

October 24th, 2009 at 7:07 PM ^

That game was a catastrofuck. The defense is like swiss cheese and the offense couldn't execute today. Offense beats the Western Michigans and Delaware States of the world, but defense wins Big Ten championships, and it will be a while before we have one.

Jimbo Slice

October 24th, 2009 at 7:08 PM ^

The fact that when Rich Rod has something good going like the first drive and doesn't go back to the play calling that worked on top of the dumb ass lineman Moosman has to snap the ball with out listening. He was not prepared and will never be prepared hello 5-7. Take points off but from what I saw today is that Brandon Graham is the only one that gives a shit and thats the honest truth

GoBlue65

October 24th, 2009 at 7:19 PM ^

Ya, I'm sure that nobody else on the team cares...
You're telling me that minor doesn't care. Mathews doesn't care.
Today was a bad game. Every team has a bad game, ours just came against a more talented team and combined with some bad luck to create a bad situation for everyone out there.
we did try to go back to why we did on the first drive, but it's tough without your best lineman.
And don't be calling a player a dumbass for a mistake on the field. He's under a lot of pressure at a position that isn't natural for him. Center is one of the toughest positions on the field

This negativity is killing me

BrayBray1

October 24th, 2009 at 7:11 PM ^

-The freshmen looked like, well...freshmen.
-Molk injured, line play sucked after that.
-D was the worst we've seen all year...Brandon Graham seemed like the only one who showed up.
-Our LBs are playing awful.
-Safties, once again, wtf. Mike Williams looks terrible.
-Turnovers...enough said.

Although we looked like shit today, I still think we finish with 7-8 wins. We have Illinois next week, thankfully....Hopefully we can work out some of these kinks-on both sides of the ball. Lets not give up on the season- yes it was a tough loss, yes we need vast improvement on D, but we have a tough team and we WILL rebound.

bacon

October 24th, 2009 at 7:12 PM ^

We got outplayed by a better team. The defense isn't ready to face an offense like that. I don't know much about football, but I could spot the bad angles the safeties and LBs were taking. When you hit guys in the backfield and they bounce off and gain 2-3 yards, it's not good. Offense can't lose the turnover battle every game and expect not to get killed. Mostly, I'm shocked that PSU lost to Iowa.

Illinois next week. We better get ready so we don't make Juice Williams look like a heisman candidate. God, charlie weis is fat.

BlueVoix

October 24th, 2009 at 7:16 PM ^

Yes, true, PSU is definitely the better team. I don't think there is any real doubt about that.

My biggest concern is the points you brought up after about the bad angles and poor tackling. In the first few games, you may excuse that as inexperience. At this point, I'm left wondering if it is something more.

BrayBray1

October 24th, 2009 at 7:14 PM ^

I also think we should have come out running the ball, one-two punch with Minor and Brown to open up the passing game. I feel that would have been much more effective against a D-Line that was giving our young QBs fits all day.

enlightenedbum

October 24th, 2009 at 7:17 PM ^

I was a bit annoyed we didn't give the ball to Minor more. I like Carlos but we need consistency before we go for the home run. Brown is more a home run or just 2 or 3 yards kind of guy. Minor will get through the line and hit somebody and wear out a defense and make it easier for everybody else.

And yeah, wish we could have had Molk healthy all year.

Beat Illinois, beat Purdue, get to the 7-5 we all expected and the extra weeks of practice from a bowl. Hopefully with another class of talent and a year with Barwis for the guys who will still be here, we can have a functional defense.

noshesnot

October 24th, 2009 at 7:16 PM ^

Honest question:
What deficiency do we have that leaves us susceptible to Tight End Big Playes (TEBPs)? Iowa, PSU, Indiana...
Is it safety play? LB play? Combo?

enlightenedbum

October 24th, 2009 at 7:19 PM ^

We're not good at LB or S and don't have a nickel back so when teams go 3 wide with a TE we leave Stevie on the slot guy (which didn't go well, unfortunately) and need to cover an all Big Ten TE with someone who's not good. Fortunately Wisconsin's the only one of the four that has the TE to exploit it, I think.

blue_shift

October 24th, 2009 at 7:22 PM ^

I'm pissed at the way we played today - it was absolutely amateurish and pathetic. But the uncomfortable truth is that we are going to continue to be a mediocre team until we manage to field a solid defense. Maybe in the other conferences high-powered offenses can consistently win on their own, but that shit's just not gonna fly in the Big Ten. You absolutely must have a solid defense to win.

On days like today, when the offense starts to suck, a good defense can bail you out. Plus, if you have a defense that can create turnovers, then you have an even bigger asset. Which brings me to a question - outside of the Stanzi interception, when was the last time this defense created a turnover against a GOOD team?

I think we can improve on defense - but we have to keep GERG and his system in place. Consistency is key - if we get yet another defensive coordinator all of our experience from this year will be lost. We also have to start focusing more on defensive talent in our recruiting. I know we already do, but I think now that our offense is decent, we should have a breakdown of 65% defense-oriented recruiting, 35% offense-oriented.

Offense wins games, defense wins championships. Cliched as hell, but undeniably true.

littlebrownjug

October 24th, 2009 at 7:24 PM ^

1. Graham played his butt off today. What a leader.
2. Tate and Denard both played like freshmen, which was bound to happen when we started to play against better talent. The one thing that I like about Denard is that he rarely looks tentative, which makes it easier to stomach some of his mistakes.
3. Penn State owned both lines, and their QB played as well as I ever seen him play.
4. Penn State wore out the smash route, and I have a feeling that we will see that for the rest of the year in the red zone.
5. I loved the first drive, and I will miss how physically Minor runs next year.
6. The weather was lousy, but we dropped too many balls.
7. Obi and Mouton continue to regress.
8. I was surprised how well Penn State returned the ball given how weak their numbers were coming in.
9. The better team won.
10. Thank God we have Illinois next week. We should win and qualify for a bowl game, which would be quite an accomplishment given last year.
11. It's too bad that Minnesota and Northwestern are off the schedule.
12. There are lots of correctable mistakes, but our lack of talent on D is glaring.

jml969

October 24th, 2009 at 8:03 PM ^

how on the first drive of the game Mich marches down the field 70 yards and then looks absolutely inept the rest of the game. Did PSU make a huge adjustment on our second series that I missed? When we lost vs. Iowa I didn't feel bad at all but today is a different story.

RagingBean

October 25th, 2009 at 12:03 AM ^

I think it's worth pointing out that by the time RichRod left WVU their defense was one of the best scoring D's in the country. So he knows full well how important good defense is, and I really think with some stability at the DC position and some smart recruiting that unit will get back on track.

I'm not at all worried about the offense. Yes, they were bad after that first series, but that's what happens when you have Freshman QB's, injuries robbing you of your best O-Line, and receivers who keep having cases of the dropsies. Last week definitely proved that this offense can light up the scoreboard like the big boys. We just have to let the program get there. In the meantime, I think we beat Illinois and Purdue, probably fall to Wisconsin, and maybe, oh God, let it happen, knock off the Buckeyes.