Interesting notes from a non U of M observer on the MIchigan Sideline during OSU game

Submitted by Rdog on

A good friend who is an OSU fan and who is also related to Mark Dantonio was on the Michigan sideline during the OSU/Michigan game.  I spoke with him today and he had a lot of interesting comments.

1)  From the sideline he said it was very easy to tell that Barett was short on the 1st down spot.

2)  He was very impressed with Harbaugh and his enthusiasm and said that he is now a Harbaugh fan.  Harbaugh was honoring an in-laws father and he was very impressed with how caring Harbaugh is.

3)  He was impressed with how the players listened to the coaches.  He said that there was a lot less showboating compared to what he has seen at some other programs.

4)  He said he's never seen the level of intensity pasion that Harbaugh showed before and during the game.  Said that Harbaugh has super intense from well before the game until the end of the game.

5)  Felt that Michigan was winning in the trenches throughout the game.   He really felt that Michigan was killing OSU.

 

 

 

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karpodiem

December 4th, 2016 at 5:20 PM ^

Steel in the spine. The future is ours - I don't give a damn how many 5 stars OSU has, give me a young man willing to work, a coaching staff with this intensity and a desire to improve/modify their game plan, and this program will be the best in the country. Bank on it.

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FrankMurphy

December 4th, 2016 at 6:10 PM ^

Since then, we've had a coach who was incapable of fielding a halfway decent defense, a coach who had nothing on his resume to suggest he was qualified to run an elite program, and a coach who turned around two awful teams in the blink of an eye and came within inches of winning a Super Bowl. Which of these three is not like the other two?

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jmblue

December 4th, 2016 at 6:03 PM ^

Actually he sounds like he would be a biased observer - against us.  Interesting to hear this from someone like that.

How did he get to go on our sideline?

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StephenRKass

December 4th, 2016 at 5:42 PM ^

I'm happy for the future, and disappointed in the past. But the past is gone. Harbaugh has largely been working with Hoke recruits, and has done a great job. As he brings in his guys, and they get with the program from the beginning, it is only going to bring good things.

  • Harbaugh was a pro, and brings professionalism to the program. This is a great thing.
  • He is bringing in a higher caliber of player, and I believe this will only continue.
  • He has an incredible coaching staff. Mattison, Drevno, Brown, Zordich, I just don't see weak links in the assistant coaching staff right now.
  • The facilities are coming up to the level they should be at.

While I wouldn't be surprised at "the spot," I just don't think that reflects well. Nor too much complaining about the refs. You can't blame losses on things like that. Take it out of the refs hands.

I also have my doubts about the trenches in one area:  the run game. The stats suggest that pass protection was there, and the defense was fine. But I don't think the OL was helping the run game. When that improves, and we have a couple of fully functioning, healthy QB's, we'll be in a good place.

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M-Dog

December 4th, 2016 at 8:54 PM ^

Gotta get that fixed.  Say what you want about Bo's and Lloyd's less than dynamic offenses, but when they needed to run to get a first down to kill off a game, they could get it done.

Two prime examples come to mind:  Bo - Illinois 1989 for the Big Ten lead, Lloyd - Ohio State 1996.

 

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dakotapalm

December 4th, 2016 at 11:15 PM ^

Seriously?

Outscored by 10 in the 4th and 32 rushing yards:

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2005-11-19-michigan.html

Outscored by 10 in the 4th:

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2005-09-24-wisconsin.html

Outscored 21-8 in the fourth and less than 2 yard per rush:

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2004-09-11-notre-dame.html

had the lead and lost with 74 rushing yards:

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2003-10-04-iowa.html

Shutout in the 4th, 94 yards rushing:

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2005-10-08-michigan.html

Shutout in the 4th, 56 yards rushing:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/scores96/96314/96314339.htm

Even the Rose Bowl win vs. Wazzu, we couldn't run the clock out with the running game and we had to punt the ball back to Ryan Leaf which prompted the 2 second spike controversy. If Lloyd's offense runs out the clock, that's never an issue.

 

 

There was plenty of this with Lloyd and was one of my biggest frustrations.

 

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ST3

December 4th, 2016 at 6:21 PM ^

You can't take it out of the refs hands when your opponents are allowed to interfere with your receivers with impunity. Have you ever tried to catch a football with a guy draped on your back, holding one of your arms, while swatting at the ball? Or tackled like Darboh was?

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grumbler

December 4th, 2016 at 9:44 PM ^

I agree with almost all of this, but Ithink you underestimate the power of the refs to change the outcome of the game.  Mochigan can't make more first downs when passes are impossible to complete because the defender is literally gripping the receivers arms to prevent him from moving his arms forward to catch the ball.  If one team can commit any foul it wants (holding, pass interference, unsportsmanlike conduct) telling the other team to just "take it out of the ref's hands" is naive.  There was no way Michigan could have won the OSU game.

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1VaBlue1

December 4th, 2016 at 5:43 PM ^

Too bad Speight was injured.  I really think he was just getting more sore as the game went along.  I remember thinking early how well Harbaugh was protecting his shoulder with the play calling.  I thought the game plan was magnificent for an injured QB.  Maybe someday we'll be able to take them on full strength, and official neutral....

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BlueFaninCincy

December 4th, 2016 at 6:10 PM ^

I'm really super duper sick of guys on this board referring to Harbaugh accomplishing so much in his first two years "with Hoke's recruits". It's insulting to the seniors who have had a fantastic last two years of their run at Michigan. I get that Harbaugh has gotten them to places Hoke wouldn't have. But the "Hoke's recruits" qualifier is a slap to J Lewis and Taco and Wormley, et al.



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