LSU is what M was supposed to be
• Transfer QB in his 2nd year making huge improvements
• 1st year OC
• Shift to a more open, explosive offense
• Changing the narrative on who the best team in their conf is
LSU has accomplished exactly what Michigan set out (and was expected) to do this year.
All that being said, I love Michigan's improvement throughout the year, and I do have hopes for a great ending to the season. I think Michigan will continue to improve.
I just thought those parallels were interesting.
November 9th, 2019 at 6:59 PM ^
They have a NFL QB who can make every throw that’s basically the difference
November 9th, 2019 at 7:03 PM ^
I think Shea can make all the throws, he just has zero pocket awareness.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:06 PM ^
And a coach who is afraid to open up the offense.
OSU’s backup QB came in and went 8/11 for 103 yards and a TD.
There is some thing wrong with UM football and Harbaugh is the one constant
November 9th, 2019 at 7:40 PM ^
I'll admit that by year 5 of Harbaugh I expected at least 1 B1G title and a playoff bearth. (Yes I realize that ref fuckery cost Michigan this in 2016) But if UM cans Harbaugh, who in their right mind would work there? After axing the Alum, All American, hometown kid the specter of doom would be around anyone who subsequently arrived.
November 9th, 2019 at 8:12 PM ^
P.J. Fleck, that's who
November 9th, 2019 at 9:20 PM ^
Agreed. With PJ you know players won’t come out like zombies on the road every game.
November 10th, 2019 at 12:02 AM ^
your coaching staff lost the 2016 game. Start with the Speight TD pass to Malik Hooker and go from there.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:50 PM ^
Go away GOMBLOG and you also realblue. Not real blue. Just a troll. Get a life.
November 9th, 2019 at 9:06 PM ^
The Harbaugh narrative this year would be a lot different if they didn’t get screwed by the refs in a white out a couple weeks ago
November 9th, 2019 at 9:19 PM ^
I think GOMBLOG is a troll...
November 9th, 2019 at 10:10 PM ^
I think GOMBLOG is a troll...
November 9th, 2019 at 7:30 PM ^
And doesn't have the balls to throw guys open
November 9th, 2019 at 7:41 PM ^
I’m not sure but even when he has a clean pocket he’s not very accurate ,his timing is off and can’t throw a deep ball for anything ..
November 9th, 2019 at 7:46 PM ^
Considering shea led the conference in throwing deep balls last year I'd say the problem is the offense.
Shea didnt magically become terrible at passing.. maybe it's the fact he had 4 offenses to learn since he started college
November 9th, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^
So, having to "learn 4 offenses" (like they are fucking Sanskrit) means he can't throw a receiver open?
The problem isn't that its his 4th, it's that it's being taught badly, with conflicting influences, likely less than full buy-in, and relies on everything being executed perfectly.
So yes, its mostly the offense. I'd put about 25% of the problem squarely on Shae.
November 10th, 2019 at 12:56 PM ^
Shea did not lead the conference in throwing deep balls, Haskins did. Shea was the leading returning starter in deep balls, which is a fucking stupid and pointless stat in the grand scheme of things.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:43 PM ^
I've noticed through the season that Shea's throw's are slow, they don't have a lot of zip. They get there because he's accurate - to a point. The biggest thing about him is that he cannot throw a deep ball. Anything downfield more than ~35 yards is going to be late arriving. This is why Collins has so many dumb balls - everything deep turns into a jump ball because the ball is always late and short. Put the WR in the 20-30 yd range, and Shea can be deadly. But anything deeper is not going to be a good throw. And his decision making, defense reading, and pocket presence are somewhat less than ideal.
November 9th, 2019 at 9:15 PM ^
and he is bad at the read option. other than all those negatives, he's ok i guess. despite the OL losses, this offense will be better next year with a different QB.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:50 PM ^
He is 50 to 60 pct accuracy
November 10th, 2019 at 2:01 AM ^
Shea cannot make all the throws
He's reasonably accurate in say <15 yards. He is pretty inaccurate downfield and Collins' Megatron act is the only reason Shea has any completions downfield. He also lacks arm strength. Everything looks slow or flops like a duck if it's deep. I like Shea and want him to succeed, but he's an average QB. Minnesota's QB looked light years ahead of Shea today
November 10th, 2019 at 8:12 PM ^
You should think about making an appt. with an eye doctor.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:04 PM ^
But it begs the question why do none of our QBs ever seem to be able to put it together? Burrow wasn’t some phenom out of high school. He was very good, but not crazy crazy elite.
247 had him rated as the 8th best dual threat QB in his class, four star prospect, and the 280th rated player nationally. So it’s not like he was crazy better than anything we’ve had.
Something doesn’t seem like it’s quite right with our QB development.
November 10th, 2019 at 12:13 AM ^
So you're comparing Mi quarterbacks to one guy whose performance belies his ranking. Who could very well be an outlier. How are the other 7 guys ranked ahead of Burrow doing? That seems like a fairer comparison.
November 10th, 2019 at 11:03 AM ^
Kyler Murray and Sam Darnold were ranked ahead of Burrow, they seem to have done well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
November 10th, 2019 at 1:03 AM ^
You are incredibly misinformed and simply going off recruiting rankings. Burrow was a monster in high school. He had over 13,000 total yards and 184(!!!) TDs.
He also was a winner, taking a school that had never won a playoff game to 7 victories in the playoffs. He won Mr. Football in Ohio too.
November 10th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
The 2016 QB recruit rankings.
1. She Patterson
6. Brandon Peters
8. Dwayne Haskins
13. Jalen Hurts
* Dylan McCaffery was #9 for 2017
UM had 2 of the top 6 QB’s on the roster and still have shaky QB play. While some try, it’s hard to look at this any other way than a coaching and development issue.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:05 PM ^
But they do throw it. Harbaugh forces us to do do endless “what if” speculation exercises by not doing so. can’t prove a negative.
yet one can examine actual results.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:27 PM ^
Anyone who agrees with this fool and thinks that outside of Burrow vs Patterson there is no difference between LSU and Michigan is also as blasphemous of a fool.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:00 PM ^
They are who you thought we were
November 9th, 2019 at 7:06 PM ^
Michigan is no where close to having the athletes that LSU has and that matters. Also, Harbaugh played for Bo and coaches like Bo. Win 8 or more games per year and fuck the bowl game mentality. Harbaugh also played QB and is a QB perfectionist. Must be tough to play for him
November 9th, 2019 at 7:16 PM ^
Michigan's wide receivers--especially Collins and DPJ--are better than LSU's.The duo of Charbonnet and Haskins are commensurate with LSU's backs. Their oline may be a touch better. The difference is at qb. Burrow is way better than Patterson. I don't care what the high school rankings say. Burrow's passes are sharp, direct, and allow for YAC. He is scarily accurate on long throws. He's effective on reading the defense which helps him find the check downs. He knows when to bail on a pocket. These are all the things that Patterson struggles with.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:18 PM ^
I think you’re undervaluing LSU wideouts
November 9th, 2019 at 7:31 PM ^
You're undervaluing Michigan's wideouts. And, perhaps, overvaluing Patterson.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:48 PM ^
Our wrs can rarely get behind coverage.. we have to throw up 40 yard jump balls to get things downfield
November 9th, 2019 at 10:34 PM ^
Deep shots are hard to hit for anyone. It's not as simple as "getting behind coverage." Deep zones exist.Throwing it up to a double covered Collins is the wrong read, even if he's good enough to make the play.
Michigan is attacking zones and matchups like anyone else. Shea is good at a lot of things, but there's also some pretty damn good defenders and coordinators out there playing against him.
Some of y'all seem to think football is simple.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:57 PM ^
Double post.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:57 PM ^
I did not put a value on them, but I don’t think they are clearly better than LSU’s guys. I certainly do not value Shea.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:29 PM ^
LOL what?
November 9th, 2019 at 8:49 PM ^
You are not watching the same LSU that I am. Stay deluded my friend.
November 9th, 2019 at 11:03 PM ^
What I'm seeing is Burrow hitting tight windows without much separation. Which Patterson has been unable to do. Seriously people, read the fucking UFRs. They confirm what I see. Our receivers get open, and either Patterson does not see them, or he throws off target--a weak duck or over their heads.
November 10th, 2019 at 12:17 AM ^
Yeah, sometimes I see our WR wide open down field when Shea bails the pocket. Other times I see our WR waltzing down field in uninspired patterns since they know the play is not to them.
November 10th, 2019 at 2:43 AM ^
THEN WHY THE FUCK IS SHEA THE STARTER?!??!
WHY
Harbaughs failure to recruit a competent QB since Andrew Luck is pathetic. PATHETIC.
November 10th, 2019 at 12:23 AM ^
That LSU rb, Edwards-Helaire, is ridiculous. That guy should win the Heisman after today’s game. He’s better than Najee.
November 10th, 2019 at 2:05 AM ^
The most disappointing thing to me about the roster under Harbaugh is that it's Year 5 and we don't have a good QB apparently. If Shea is the best we have, then the best we have is basically an average P5 QB. Shea is not good and Dylan is apparently worse. I don't know how that happens
November 10th, 2019 at 2:51 AM ^
We can absolutely question Harbaugh's rep as a quarterback guru. But I do believe that McCaffrey would've replaced Patterson weeks ago if he hadn't gotten concussed. I think the coaches were moving that way. We know Gattis was pissed by Patterson's lack of focus on working on the offense and with his receivers in the offseason. I think the offense will look better next year with McCaffrey, or even Milton, running it. Both have better arms--Milton has a freakin howitzer attached to his shoulder. Both provide more credible running threats: at least a willingness to tuck and run when the read calls for that. Milton may not be ready today but McCaffrey provides a better shot at beating OSU. I absolutely believe that.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:09 PM ^
Are we just going to compare every elite team/offense to Michigan when they have success? I'm not really directing this at the OP either. I just keep seeing this lately.
Minnesota is what Michigan is supposed to be. LSU is what Michigan is supposed to be. Clemson is what Michigan is supposed to be. OSU is what Michigan is supposed to be...
November 9th, 2019 at 7:18 PM ^
Probably. When we are supposed to have one of the best coaches currently in the game and yet our program continually underwhelms and does less with more, yeah...we’re gonna continue to see these kind of comparisons. Especially when a no name like Ed Orgeron (who few took seriously) cranks out a program capable of taking down the great Saban and Bama machine.
Cause everyone keeps trying to rationalize why it’s not possible for UM to make the leap and beat OSU cause they’re just on another level than we are and it’s not realistic to expect to match their level. Yet we see other programs rise up from mediocrity to greatness. So I think these are fair points and observations to make of other programs around the country when trying to rationalize our own deficiencies.
November 9th, 2019 at 7:26 PM ^
Harbaugh is fringe top 10 coach. It is what it is.
It’s time to stop making fun of coaches on this blog bc they all end up outperforming expectations. (See Fleck, Franklin and Coach O)
November 9th, 2019 at 7:32 PM ^
Agreed