Michigan Monday up at "The Ozone."
Michigan Monday is up at The Ozone. As always, an interesting read, and good to get an outsider's perspective. Some interesting thoughts:
On composure of Michigan:
After having seen the Buckeyes panic with both a deficit and lead of 14 points, I couldn't help but notice that there was never any concern among the Michigan coaches and players going into the half. The players have complete faith in their coaches to put each of them in a position to succeed.
On Denard's interceptions:
The first came on a back-foot jump ball that was overthrown. The second came on a way overthrown wheel route down inside the Northwestern redzone. The third came on a throw that bore no resemblance to a pass that was intended for anybody living. It was thrown towards the sideline and had two receivers in the area, but neither close enough to be considered intended targets. It was just a terribly inaccurate throw.
On second half adjustments (regarding Denard's passing):
They made fantastic halftime adjustments. Robinson only threw the ball eight times in the second half, completing seven passes. His lone incompletion was an overthrow of an open Jeremy Gallon streaking down the sideline 50 yards downfield.
On Jeremy Gallon:
Jeremy Gallon is rounding himself into quite a valuable player. He caught five passes for 73 yards, including a 25-yard throwback screen. He has shown himself to be comfortable in the screen game and also running routes. He is not a gimmick player—he is legit.
On running back performance:
The running backs really did nothing worth any mention, though I guess their lack of doing anything is what's actually worth mentioning. Michael Shaw, Fitzgerald Toussaint and Vincent Smith combined for 23 carries for 58 yards (2.5 ypc). Northwestern set out to make sure that they stopped Robinson, and along the way they ended up stopping Michigan's average running backs as well.
The more concerning thing for the Wolverines, however, is that if the Wildcats were so intent on stopping Robinson, then why didn't the running backs have huge days? And what happens when Michigan comes up against better defenses in the coming weeks?
On the defense and Greg Mattison:
I'm not a believer in this defense yet, but I am a believer in Greg Mattison. He's only asking his defense to do what they're capable of, and in doing so, they're making plays. When you ask them to do things they can do, they go out and do it, and good things come from it.
There is a lot more there. Gerdeman (being an Ohio homer) felt that Hawthorne trapped and didn't intercept the ball cleanly, and also felt that Kovacs should have been called for a facemask penalty. Being at the game and not watching replays, I can't weigh in definitively. However, my understanding on the interception is that without conclusive evidence, they won't overturn the decision on the field. And with the non-facemask call, I don't think the official was in position to make the call, and they're not going to retroactively add a call from the replay.
Gerdeman closes with an observation made by Hoke and our own coaching staff: lack of consistency, which isn't a great harbinger of the game with MSU. This is a good place for a final blockquote:
While this offense can explode at times, it can also disappear. Yes, they threw for nearly 200 yards in the first half, but that first half also contained three interceptions. It's like showing off your new Ferrari, but stalling at a light in front of convertible full of women. What good is it if it can let you down at the most inopportune times?
And where were the running backs? They are more capable than what they showed on Saturday. The Northwestern defense was more than happy to allow them to make plays instead of Robinson, and they failed. A similar performance will not lead to a win in East Lansing next weekend.
October 11th, 2011 at 10:59 AM ^
More whinging about the pro-Michigan reffing decisions than usual. I think the refs blew both the Hawthorne and Persa calls, but they weren't nearly as obvious as Gerd makes them seem.
Plus there's a lot of the old "I'm not saying those blown calls would have completely turned the game around in NW's favor, thereby dispatching my hated rival and giving me some hope that they can be beaten when OSU plays them, I'm just sayin'..."
The air is thick with the smell of Buckeye trepidation...
October 11th, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
And if they really want to scrutinize the officiating, they could note that we were flagged for holding twice while NW never was, despite a few blatant holds that triggered big plays.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:52 PM ^
I'm too lazy to read past Michigan Mondays. But iirc, many times they have focused on the upcoming UM-Ohio game. I think he always referred to the game as "the Big One." I don't recall a single comment in his article about how their tailbacks were going to wreak havoc on our DL, or their receivers would shred our secondary, or how their DL would stuff Denard and the RB's. Yes, I think that Ohio has an underlying sense of dread at the upcoming game.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
Can we drop the belief that the Hawthorne catch wasn't an Interception? It was confirmed, not left to stand, the officials had sufficient video evidence to confirm the catch. He intercepted that ball.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:11 AM ^
Persa's helmet fell off earlier in the game during a scramble (or sack, can't remember). In that situation, it wasn't a facemask, it was just the force of a defensive player pushing the helmet at an akward angle.
That doesn't definitively explain the "helmet play (or gate)," as Kovacs probably hooked the bottom part of the helmet, but it's not impossible to knock a brain bucket off without full-on grabbing the helmet.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:47 PM ^
To me, it looked like his forearm got caught under the side of the helmet. I never saw the facemask grab. I would have been pissed if he got flagged for that play because he was going in for a clean hit nowhere near the facemask. Persa ducked and put himself in danger, which is fine, but complaining about it afterward is like suing a vending machine company after it falls over on you because you tilted it.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
Maybe I missed something but I didn't see where Kovacs had his facemask. He had his arm extended and when Persa ducked he ended up on the helmet rather than his shoulder - when a quarterback ducks to avoid a sack that is to be expected.
No way they could have overturned Hawthorne's interception. We were fortunate the initial call was in our favor because the replay wasn't conclusive either way. Personally I thought it was a good catch - he got he hand under the ball just as it reached the ground.
The fact that Denard can improve his passing during the course of a game is a testament to his coachability as well as the coaches themselves. The writer of course will not acknowledge that.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:31 PM ^
...grab the facemask (unintentional) with the fingertips on his left hand. It was very hard to see, even in slow motion/freeze frame in HD, but it happened. That said, there was no way the official could have seen the grasp, as he was blocked from that angle and was the only one wathcing the QB at that instant.
I have to agree on both of your other points. Good stuff.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:13 AM ^
I didn't get a chance to watch the game(damn weddings during football season) but to me it seemed like NW's intent was to stop the run and make Denard beat them with his arm not stop Denard. Problem with that is with Denard he is just such a playmaker something that our running backs are not.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^
about the RBs, for the most part I thought they had nowhere to run. I know there was a time or two I saw a missed cutback lane or something but overall I thought NW sold out on the run. Just my two cents.
October 11th, 2011 at 2:03 PM ^
I think that you are right. Not only did they try to stop Denard, but they were selling on stopping our inside running game all together.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:15 AM ^
I thought Hawthorne trapped it, and I was rooting for M.
On the no facemask call, it looked to me like Kovacs' forearm got under the jaw of the helmet and pulled it up from that area. It probably didn't help Persa's cause that he had lost his helmet a time or two earlier. That makes me think the chinstrap was loose, making it easier to pop the helmet off.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:33 AM ^
I do believe that the call could have been overturned, but I don't really consider this a trap. Hawthorne really didn't use the ground to his advantage, as is indicative of a trap. In fact, if anything, the ground got in the way of the INT, forcing the ball that was clearly in Hawthorne's possession to pop up into his chest while he was falling.
It's an interesting scenario, and IME these sorts of situations should be like the fumble rule where the ground cannot cause a fumble. If a player has control of the ball while falling, then should the ground not be cause for losing the interception as well?
October 12th, 2011 at 12:20 AM ^
Incomplete PassSee NCAA Publications Football Rules A little more vague than I expected, but it sure seems to me that officials have been requiring players to maintain control at and beyond the moment of impact with the ground.
ARTICLE 7. a. Any forward pass is incomplete if the ball is out of bounds by rule or if it touches the ground when not firmly controlled by a player.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:17 AM ^
Merely a tip:
I'd block-quote less of his post. If you did this to something of mine at my site, I'd be pissed off.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
You would be pissed off, until you remembered that intellectual property, like all private property rights, are bourgeois prerogatives that would wither away in a socialist utopia.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^
Will refrain from extensive block quoting in the future. kind of wondered at that myself. That's why I chopped it up, and gave attribution and the link at the very beginning. I suppose I could go into the OP and edit it down by cutting out a bunch of the quotes. I will say, I really like Michigan Monday a lot, and think he gives some of the best full game analysis out there.
I'm also curious, Wolverine Liberation Army: how come your signature isn't a link to your blog (like Magnus TTB link, for instance.) However, just to put your mind at rest, I've never linked to your blog or quoted it, and will refrain from doing so, per your implicit request. Glad to oblige.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^
Isnt the link in the "Michigan Monday" opening line?
October 11th, 2011 at 11:28 AM ^
If you are going to do a lot of block quote, definitely add the link to the site.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:00 PM ^
It might be a lot of blockquoting but he has the link. The first two words, "Michigan Monday" are a link.
October 11th, 2011 at 2:05 PM ^
Good catch. I didn't even see that. I was just about to post that he should provide a link. You have saved me from looking like an ass.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:29 AM ^
If NWs corner had intercepted a pass just as Hawthorne did, O would have thought it was an INT, even with the replay. He caught the ball solidly.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:45 AM ^
Ohio fans probably think Sparty is great because they defeated their beloved Buckeyes. In reality, though, Sparty is no better than NW, and NW's offense is superior to Sparty's, even with inferior personnel.
Michigan probably won't score 42 points against Sparty's defense, but Sparty won't put up 24 against Michigan, either. MSU likes to push people around and run predictable plays. When they run into a team they can't push around, they always look terrible. Saturday will be one of those times for Sparty.
34-17 sounds about right.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:06 PM ^
MSU's offense scares me far more than NU's did. NU has no playmakers. MSU has Cunningham and Baker. Cousins is a solid QB. He is not as dynamic as Psrsa, but he is an effective passer.
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<br>MSU's defense is superior to NU's in most measures. Better speed, size, and depth of talent.
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<br>Your analysis is just plain terrible. I don't think any other person who watches college football would write what you wrote,
October 11th, 2011 at 1:58 PM ^
"NW's offense is superior to Sparty's, even with inferior personnel."
Is that really that inconsistent with what you said? He's saying that NW's offense is less talented than MSU's but more effective (presumably because of scheme), and you're saying that MSU is more talented.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
but if NW was selling out the run to stop Denard, wouldn't they also stop our RBs? I mean, 8 men on/ near the LOS makes it difficult for any RB to run.
Also, I don't think our OL run blocking is that good, but that's just my opinion.
October 11th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
I would argue that Michigan's problems have occurred at the most opportune times all season: in the 1st half. This means that they have time to correct them, and it reassures us fans that the team is not getting lucky, it's figuring the opponent out as the game progresses. The 6-0 record supports my argument.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^
but didn't Denard rush for 117 yards and 2 TDs? How is that shutting him down on the ground, as the end of the "Running Back Performance" quote's first paragraph suggests. I am more than happy with Denard being "held" to "just" 117 and 2.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
but NW was attempting to shut him down by stacking the box. It just didn't work as NW didnt have enough defensive playmakers to actually shut him down. I think the running backs got shut down due to this.
I would actually expect this all season. If you let Denard run, you are likely going to lose for sure. So you might as well stack the box and take your chances with the pass.
The real question is if State's d-line is good enough to shut Denard down. While we had a lot of passing yards, the running yards were important too. State did a pretty good job last year but hopefully we do better this year.
Go Blue!
October 11th, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^
more things to worry about at home on Mondays than Michigan.
October 11th, 2011 at 12:33 PM ^
They were MIA in this game, and that's not good.
Northwestern's DL did a fine job all things considered.
They couldn't stop Denard, but they did hold him to 117 yrds rushing.
What O-zone.net failed to recognize where the huge pass plays for large chunks of real estate that undermined NW's defensive effort and deflated their morale.
Eventually Borges will get Shaw and Toussaint involved in the passing/ screen passing game too, which could yield some big plays also.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:49 PM ^
I think the point is that a better defense turns those 3 picks into 5 or 6 and returns at least a couple for TDs, in addition to stuffing the run game. In that scenario our chances of winning the game look considerably more bleak. I expect State to largely replicate NW's defensive gameplan, only with better execution and superior talent.
As much as I don't want to, I'm already preparing for the aftermath of a 4th straight loss to MSU.
October 11th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^
your a Spartan troll posing as Michigan fan or just an incrediably negative Michigan fan. Not sure what you have seen out of the two teams far to chalk this game up as an almost certain loss. What exactly has MSU done this year to warrant that level of respect? They beat a poor OSU team in ugly fashion, have racked some defensive numbers against horrible offenses and lost by 18 to the one common opponent between the two teams.
I agree that the offense, specifically Denard, will have to do a better job of cutting down the mistakes in this game if they want to win on the road against a better defense than NW. However the level of respect your giving State is unwarranted given how the two teams have looked so far this season, and the fact that both teams haven't been tested sigficantly yet.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^
give some credit to NW's front seven. They're not as athletic as what we'll see from MSU or TSIO, but they're not bad. They're put in bad positions because they have so many problems in their secondary.