Man-Ball vs. Denard-Ball?
Identity crisis? I think Man-Ball is going to have to wait at least one more season. We need to run the zone read more often! I think Al Borges knows it and soon, so will all other competent teams. Ofcourse we'll still sprinkle in the stretch, the pulls, but when we need to safely move the ball on the ground when all else has failed, including the confidence of our passer, (screens, staying in the pocket, stepping into throws) we will go back to the zone read. Why? Because it works and we have perhaps an even more competent QB to run this than we have in the last 4 years. I mean, he was the top rated dual threat QB coming out of HS.
Maybe this is best for us! Perhaps we need to be who we really are, instead of who we want to be. At least, for one more year, when our highly rated O-line and RB classes mature.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 1:47 PM ^
Oh for the love of fuck this god damn fanbase.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:49 PM ^
But I couldn't agree more...
September 16th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 3:47 PM ^
for saying somethin' like that!
September 16th, 2013 at 1:56 PM ^
I have never agreed with anything more in my life.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:56 PM ^
You get a bad rap on this board. You're alright in my book
September 16th, 2013 at 2:02 PM ^
Agreed. I like his posting and his avatar.
It seems like there are some in this fanbase who are more concerned about the identify of the Michigan fan base than winning. I've heard so many comments along the lines of "Denard is a great kid but I can't wait until Michigan has a prototypical QB back there again". I wonder how much of that attitude is attributable to us not winning a whole lot vs. people really wanting to see man ball. Persoanlly, I don't care -- just win baby.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^
You just don't get it. Everything about Saturday can be scientificially prooven as a fluke. The following is proof:
Akron is actualy really good team, might win MAC this year,
Our play calling was not geared towards the talent we had on the field. Borges will learn and start dialing up the right plays, we'll be perfect.
Notre Dame was worn out from us. If they were fresh, they would have crushed Purdue.
Purdue is actually a sleeper to win B10, they're really good.
The Bama's, Oregons, LSU's of the world actually know how to take a game off like we did with Akron, we're just getting used to how to do it with a little less drama.
Actually, this game is a sign that we are a national championship caliber team. I'm more excited than ever.
September 16th, 2013 at 3:54 PM ^
Where the hell were you Saturday -->Monday afternoon? I've been freaking out. Now I can relax. Logging onto expedia to book my flight to the Title Game right now.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:30 PM ^
but honestly, His Dudeness is Spot ON!! Time to up your meds, people!
September 16th, 2013 at 2:35 PM ^
I know, right?
September 16th, 2013 at 7:37 PM ^
Come on man, people haven't had a chance to vent yet. And really, this is a super-interesting take on a topic that is never discussed in these circles.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
Oops. I mean...yawn!
September 16th, 2013 at 1:56 PM ^
1. Win-ball
2. Son of Win-ball
3. Win-ball 3 "Balls Deep"
4. Spread Win-ball
5. Man Win-ball
6. EVERYTHING FUCKING ELSE!!!
7. losing.
moving on to UConn
September 16th, 2013 at 1:58 PM ^
about the bubble screens?!
To the contrary, I think we need to run the ball up the middle until the offensive line is forced to be competent.
In all seriousness, and this may be a thread jack so I am sorry Denard-ball, but, and I am really asking this (I love football but I am no expert), what about Taylor Lewan makes him the really highly touted prospect that he is? I mean, if you have one guy on the line that is "the man" is that not supposed to make a difference in terms of the line as a whole? Why don't we have more success running in his direction. Once again, if this is a stupid question I apologize, but if the best player on the team is on the offensive line is that not supposed to make a difference?
September 16th, 2013 at 2:50 PM ^
We seem to be getting these in spades - primarily from the TE and interior line positions. Lewan is useless (outside of pass blocking) if the rest of the line can't work efficiently. At least we are trying to run left this year, something we couldn't do last year due to Omameh's inability to pull.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:02 PM ^
Wouldn't be the Big House without them! Lol - the OP does have a point, though.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:02 PM ^
7 days ago Borges was a genius...a god amongst men. He couldn't do any wrong. ...now we suck? People get too high and people get too low. It sucked to watch but Michigan still won. Dust yourselves off and we'll all forget it by Saturday night.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:03 PM ^
What we played last week was no-balls, not man-ball.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:03 PM ^
I upvoted just because I think the OP needs it. It is a new week and I trying to feel better
September 16th, 2013 at 2:06 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^
skipped straight over "painting with broad brush strokes" to "painting random surfaces with a roller dipped in assorted mixed paints. Probably mis-tints."
September 16th, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^
I actually laughed when drinking water at this. Do you know what happens when you laugh when drinking water? Water comes out your nose, and it is just not a very pleasant thing.
Please be more considerate when posting and try to be less funny.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:16 PM ^
wtf are mis-tints? that's a thing?
September 16th, 2013 at 2:21 PM ^
If someone buys paint and has the store tint it, but it turns out to be the wrong color or they return it, the store will often re-sell it at a discount. If you aren't real picky about color, it's usually a great deal, because stores have a hard time selling other peoples' custom colors.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^
Can't they just de-tint them?
September 16th, 2013 at 3:01 PM ^
to just add invisible.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^
WinByAnyMeansNecessary-Ball will be the route go forward.
October 13th, 2014 at 12:37 AM ^
give the ball to #36 most plays wide open or hand off for 5 yds.
^^^this is why you log out of your account, so your parents don't start posting on mgoblog under your username
smh
September 16th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^
As a new member I would like to say 4 things:
1. GO BLUE!
2. Ohio SUCKS
3. Ohio SUCKS
4. We won the game.
Overall the trajectory of this program is headed in a positive direction. I personally appreciate the culture of character that has been re-established by Hoke and his staff. With that in mind, I take comfort in knowing the Akron game was a low-cost, highly valuable experience for a young team.
GO BLUE!
September 16th, 2013 at 2:31 PM ^
what??? we WON???????
September 16th, 2013 at 2:10 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^
It was a shit game. We are lucky Gardner is mobile, but a lot of the spread shit worked because Akron game planned for man ball.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^
Lost in the shuffle.... or should I say, "lost in the DEFCON 2" shuffle, was Jehu Chesson's first touchdown catch!!! Congrats to Jehu! Finally got his first TD! :)
September 16th, 2013 at 2:13 PM ^
Not sure how long this thread will last. I suppose we shall see.
That being said, it is important to note - if we're going to talk about the running game and make this comparison - that we did average 208 yards per game through the career of Denard Robinson. Three games into the 2013 season, we're averaging 195 yars per game, so I have to think that doing an about-face on the trend of the playcalling is a little reactionary and premature.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^
As a regular poster, I love these threads. They crack me up. The responses to them are usually pretty darn witty and fun (see Bryan Mac above). Nothing like a good snowflake thread, if you ask me! Must suck to be a moderator. Hahaha.
September 16th, 2013 at 3:05 PM ^
What is a snowflake thread?
September 16th, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^
It began last year, but the "Snowflake Thread" is the postgame repository for the collective thoughts and opinions of the board regarding team performance. Rather than have what would have been in upwards of 30 or so individual threads after Akron, for example, many of them with overlapping concerns, the unified thread makes things much easier to moderate and manage.
This coming week, based on some board feedback, we may introduce some rapid experimentation and have offense and defense snowflake threads and see if this mitigates the need for dozen of people to post their thoughts individually. Always striving to make it a fun, manageable environment.
September 16th, 2013 at 3:37 PM ^
Thank you. I've been wondering what the heck these snowflake threads were. And now I know. Knowledge is power. Reading is fundamental. And whatnot.
September 16th, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 2:55 PM ^
It absolutely amazes me how this happens like clockwork after a loss or, in this case, an ugly win. Board gets littered with "here are my thoughts on things" threads which get absofuckinglutely blasted with downvotes. Board gets less and less "here are my thoughts on things" threads as the days go on but still appear...still get downvoted hard.
And yet, days later, somebody (like the OP obviously) thinks to himself "I think the board needs to know what I think about things" and puts yet another one up. Gets downvoted and wonders why.
I'm waiting for the arrival of the "you know guys this really is a GOOD thing" thread. Those usually start appearing about the time the "here are my thoughts on things" threads start going away altogether. We should be getting one pretty soon now as a matter of fact......
September 16th, 2013 at 3:06 PM ^
It's not the scheme, it's the execution.
Crappy OL play, poor pass defense, zero DL pressure, and 4 turnovers by the QB makes 28-24 UM over Akron still seem like an impossible outcome. But that's what happened.
What's failing to register around here is that even with all of that craptastic OL and defensive play, Michigan STILLl should have won 38-17 or something like that, perhaps by more.
And now we have people saying "Oh that, that was an aberration. It'll be different for UConn next week!"
Jesus Christ.
Sure Michigan probably will knock out UConn next week on the road. And it will leave us exactly where we are now, not knowing anything more about this banged up, schizoid favorite football team of ours.
The last 4 games of Michigan's season are going to be the most telling, but that's like 7 weeks away.
Help us Jake Ryan. You're our only hope.
September 16th, 2013 at 3:08 PM ^
same thing man.
September 16th, 2013 at 3:08 PM ^
Feelings-Ball?
September 16th, 2013 at 3:26 PM ^