Interesting observations by Nick from MLive

Interesting and MLive don't go together in my humble e-pinion. 

I think it's just DG's confidence is super shaken. I know our oline is super shaky and he probably does not have enough time to throw a deep ball but he should at least take some shots. Wasn't DG supposed to be a great deep ball thrower? I mean see one on one on the outside and let the WR make plays. Maybe connecting one some of them might keep the other team from loading the box all the time.

I mean even Shane took a few shots deep in his limited time out.

Where's all the uproar about Nuss? Hate on Hoke all you want (and a lot of it is deserved), but, it certainly seems to me that Hoke is a 'manager' type coach. He's the head coach and ultimately responsible for the direction of the program. To that end, he clearly hires people to run the offense, defense, special teams, etc and steers clear of any real direct interference (see: no headset/direct play calling influence on gameday). Hoke has a vision of what he wants and hires guys around him whom he thinks can best develop that vision.

So - doesn't Nuss get some blame here? I don't hear much ire directed his way. That's not entirely fair, IMO.

Somewhere Al Borges is saying, "Not as easy as it looks, eh?"

The 2nd and 3rd down distance is difficult for a very good offense to deal with.  Ours? Its impossible. 

I think the reason people are running Nuss out of town on a rail is that from his play calls, (in general) it seems to make sense what he is trying to do.  However, the offensive execution is just horrible because DG cannot complete a downfield pass to anyone but Funchess.

 

Yeah, he has called some running plays when we were down a bunch and we needed to be in hurry-up mode and that made some people mad, but beyond that, I thought his game-plans have been basically fine.  He's just got a QB who can't complete a pass right now.  Maybe that is his fault for having an offense that is too complicaed, but I really doubt it. 

It feels like a part of the issue is a lack of QB development from the staff, at least under Borges.  People always talk about spread-to-run QB coaches as just getting running backs and teaching them to throw the ball a bit, as if they rely on their athleticism instead of teaching them good fundamentals.  But that isn't really true; they teach these kids how to "make plays" in the offense they have constructed, and that running the ball effectively should count just the same as throwing it..  The problem with Al Borges was that he seemingly never taught Gardner and Morris any of this; he just rolled out formations and told them to throw.  So now you see the QB position look lost because they are trying to learning the current offense while forgetting the past, and without the fundamentals you get from a large number of consistent repetitions.

College football has not mandated any sort of formal consistent injury reporting so no one is ever going to tip their hands as to who will or will not play and how banged up they may be.

So, could Devin be nursing some shoulder or elbow injury? Maybe.

Two things really stick out however that suggest it may not just be a physical injury.

1. For a guy of his height and size, he should be a terrific thrower - I know that distance and strength aren't the only things - accuracy and touch also matter but just looking at his height (able to see over some players) and his reach he should be able to generate more velocity especially on the deeper throws. Yet at times his whole motion seems odd, almost as if he were pushing theball.

2. Dealing with blitzes. After last year when the blitz (especially inside blitz) was a tremendous effective weapon against the Wolverines, one would expect some better preparation against it this year - yet he and the rest of team seemed caught by surprise. The official UM report generated by the Athletic Department noted that Utah can be expected to blitz and blitz often - so no one should be surprised.

Devin Gardner seems like a great young man and has played his heart out for the team. I do believe he has not been well supported by the coaching staff - and his development as a QB was not just stunted but regressed.