Line Play: We know nothing till ND

Should we conclude that USC is not that good. Syracuse is giving them a game? So early in the season. Survive and advance.

That we know NOTHING?? We know they can't hang with the big boys like Bama, and we know they are having trouble with containing on the end. I would venture to say that is something.

This appears to be the first of many panic threads, as predicted in the game thread about an hour ago.

But I could argue that we don't know until Purdue or Illinois. ND isn't a great run team and are easily a pass first/run to keep you honost team. I think by ND we will know how our D-line will play against spread teams, but we won't know until probably Illinois how Michigan plays against a somewhat down hill team.

And will continue to be until we punish teams for putting 8-10 people in the box to stop us by hitting it over the top consistently. We are starting to do so... But that is the "stop Denard plan" every team is going against us. I will become truly concerned when teams are only rushing 4 and crushing our running game / getting pressure.


On that note...I am excited to see the emergence of #19 and #12. Their size and speed could give opposing teams serious issues.

I hate threads like this. If I want to freak out, I will.

DO NOT TAKE ANY TEAM LIGHTLY!!!!

I knew the triple option would cause some trouble. But I sure didn't expect this. I'm not too pleased but I'll take the win. Always will take the win.

Demens was benched because he is terrible. Don't know at what point he was benched but he was unless out there. Couldnt get off a block to save his life. If a lineman dove within 5 yds of his feet he fell down. He was the missing person on all those 15 yd options plays in the first half

On the plus side: we seem to get good pass rush through the two games

     The seniors we had last year were recruited to play the style  Hoke wants to play on both sidesof the ball.  The current players were recruited to play a much different style of line - that is fact --- that is an issue - we lost experience and as a result we will also see the freshmen playing (more inexperience) -- We will get better as all of them get more experience --the coaches are coaching them and Wellman is getting them bigger - This team will be better this year - the next couple of weeks will be helpful- we will be ready for the B1G conference games

enough with excuses. Sure Bama is light years ahead of us...

But Air Force didn't just use trickery on us. They had there way with the DL every way possible. I think our DE's will be OK against pro O's bc they can rush the QB... but we are so weak up the middle. DT's and ILB's...weak weak. AF marched ALL game long. You would think just with the size advantage UM could force a few punts here and there but nothing the whole game practically. The entire front seven had to overcompensate for there play all game long.

Also, there is a reason TRUE FROSH were in when it mattered even against this "hard to play against offense". If you are a sr there is no reason a frosh should be taking your spot at LB. Not after you have been coached by mattison for a year...how can these frosh grasp the D better than Sr or returning players? They were playing HS ball last year

Also, changing the style of O we face isn't going to suddenly make Mogran faster, the guys is slow and plays even slower.

 

all of that and I'm not even talking about the OL....we have learned a lot. 

How much more do you need to see? The D-line got exposed by a between the tackles offensive line last week. They couldn't get any penetration against an option offense on 1-1 matchups despite having 20-30 lbs on each offensive lineman. The fact is you can pull the sheet over your eyes as much as you like, but we are being exposed. Our line is getting stood-up at the line of scrimage and can't get any penetration. This D-line is NOT good. Losing RVB and Martin was huge. Will Campbell - 2 holding calls in 1 game? seriously? If the basic technique of staying low and pushing doesn't get remedied, look for Levon Bell to run for 250 yds against us.

the biggest issue on D. The play on the edge was the major issue, I lost count of how many times the pitch man was unaccounted for. Playing a team like Air Force will show you where you are in terms of executing your assignments on defense, and there was way too many busted assignments on D to be successful today. That was a major issue against Bama as well. The good thing about blown assignments is that they are correctable, and I don't think the players making the mistakes lack the physical talent to play better. For what it's worth, I thought the pass rush was somewhat effective the first two games, so at least that's a positive.

As far as the o-line it was a mixed bag. They clearly got push and opened up lanes on Denard's runs, not so much on RB runs. However, 8 carries for the RB's is a small sample size compared to the amount of times Denard ran it. At the end of the day they still averaged 7 yards per carry, so I am not going to freak out about the o-line. Pass protection was also okay for the most part.

I don't think we know nothing. Obviously there should be some level of concern, but full blown panic is a bit much. If both lines don't look good against ND, than full on  panic might be warrented at that point.

 

 

 

 

In process of getting replaced by James Ross.

I watched the game with what I feel we're a bunch of idiots. It was one of those rooms where ignorance was the new intelligence. Anyway, could I please get some support from the intelligent fans on the board, that a Triple Option team is difficult to prepare for, and that teams do avoid teams like air force? Thanks.

A bigger concern: Raymon Taylor was getting owned in run support for the most part.  But freshman, so what do we expect I suppose?

" Light years ahead of us, or really about 3 if we keep recruiting the way we have."

3 light years? That's a really long distance. I guess recruiting isn't going very well... 

I agree.  The offense won't be as good as they were today, but they won't be as bad defensively either.  These first three weeks feel like weird exhibition games.  UM will probably go 2-1 heading into ND, when the first "real" game of UM's season starts.  

I am a little concerned with the lines.  Notre Dame is really big on both sides of the ball.  Their O-line goes 304, 309, 310, 295, 304 and all are 6'3" plus.  Their entire defense is big too.  The front 7 are all really good sized, even the DBs are decent sized, although I'm too worried about them.  Their D-line goes 306, 303, and 326 all over 6'3".  Their LBs go 240, 250, 255, 240 and all 6'2" plus.  So, the smallest guy on either of their offensive or defensive line is 6'3" 295, everyone else is 300 plus.  That is concerning.

 

Our O-line seems to pass block much better than they run block, unfortunately Denard running is our best weapon...not throwing.  So, when we play teams with big D-lines (Bama, ND, MSU, OSU) it is a little concerning as to whether or not we can move the ball on offense if they shut down D-Rob from running.  I hope we develop that a little more as time goes on.  As you can see having Fitz back didn't really matter since we don't run block well.  

 

I do like our freshman defenders (Pipkins, Ross, Bolden)...they need to start ASAP so they can develop because they are simply better options than the older guys.  I think the bigger more physical teams will give us some trouble, but hopefully we can improve as time goes on.  I was happy we got a win today, Denard put some numbers, we got stops when we needed them, Gardner and Funchess looked good, and our freshman defenders are improving.