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After watching this debacle and how ineffective our offense is again once we play better competition, hoe do you see the rest of the season?
This may be the best defense we face all season, credit MSU with that, but thew playt calling and execution by Michigan's offense has been atrocious today. Where do we see Michigan now that we have been brought back down to earth?
We may go 10-2, but the offensive execution must improve and Denard needs to be on the field whenever we have the ball.
It's one loss regroup and we still have a favorable schedule the rest of the way
We'll see how good Illinois is tonight.
Nebraska is good, but it's a home game.
And Ohio State sucks, has no QB ... and is simply blah.
After seeing the performance in this game, I wonder if the guys were just too tight and may react similarly against Ohio State. They feel the pressure, the losing streaks, all of it.
OSU may not have any solid QB, but they're a dangerous team. It's going to be pretty much the same thing as it was today, a solid defense with big guys up front. They'll have Herron back and he'll have half a season under his belt so he won't be coming into us cold. While this loss shouldn't break our season, we still need to regroup and get everything together or else we'll get torn apart again
+2
I think we'll still have a decent record at the end of the season, although my dreams of a two loss season just took a big hit.
took a hit, but my guess at a 2 loss season is still looking pretty good. We still have a pretty good chance of making the first ever B1G Championship game because Sparty will lose BIG to Wisconsin next week, and then probably lose @ Nebraska the week after so even if we drop another close game we're still a 2 loss team while Sparty is likely to lose 3. Nebraska is the clinching game for us.
Illinois lost to OSU and didn't look that good against NW or WMU either. Nebraska is Nebraska - a scary team but with clear holes. And with Crick out for the year, that could be a completely different team than even the one we saw earlier in the year. OSU is a rivalry game at the end of the year, so who knows - at least it is at home, which should make it interesting.
We only go on the road to Illinois and Iowa, both being winnable game IMHO (Illinois looks to be a more difficult). And we get to play Purdue, Nebraska and TSIO in our own house (Nebraska will be tough, but i think we should beat Ohio). I could see us winning out, we would have to be very lucky though. I think we likely win most of our remaining games, and 9-3 and maybe 10-2.
But i tend to be over optomistic. So we'll see.
are you?
There was 0 offensive execution today on off, def looked lost....
Our whole team looked like utter shit today. Especially our defensive line against their supposed 'god awful offensive line' that they have.
Agreed. Our D-line got destroyed. I'm getting a Penn St. game feeling, please don't let this start a tailspin.
Hell we didn't even try to run a power I when the sweeps/option was getting blown up in the backfield, that's what I don't understand. You don't try to throw the ball 20+ times with the wind blowing at 30+mph when our QB isn't the most accurate passer. I'm just confused about the play calling today it was horrid.
def did what it had too. offence was horid
I didn't think the D played badly...333 yards is pretty good and only 21 points. It wasn't the D, it was the O and until we can pass we will see this, although from lesser D's, every week.
I thought our play calling was the worst to date. Hope Denard is OK.
I didn't think the D played badly...333 yards is pretty good and only 21 points. It wasn't the D, it was the O and until we can pass we will see this, although from lesser D's, every week.
I thought our play calling was the worst to date. They took away our running game, which everyone else will also until we figure out how to pass. Hope Denard is OK.
I didn't think the D played badly...333 yards is pretty good and only 21 points. It wasn't the D, it was the O and until we can pass we will see this, although from lesser D's, every week.
I thought our play calling was the worst to date. They took away our running game, which everyone else will also until we figure out how to pass. Hope Denard is OK.
Beat Ohio.
borges blew that, if we run the ball we would of had a chance, but you can't put the game on denard arm unless you have to.
I just wish we could get a coach that understood our key rivalries. UMich's loss today is clear evidence that Hoke doesn't get it.
/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s/s ...
i think hoke totally gets it. but hoke cant play the game. this is one of 2 games he has preached about all year! we just dont have the big boys to play the physical game that he expects us to play and the type we have to play to win the B1G.
WHOOOOOSH
I'd like to neg you, but I appreciate the gallows humor.
Double; sorry.
Take the loss, learn from it, and put it behind you. The team has a week off to rest up and get some more coaching. Then they get a gimmie at home for the homecoming game and then have to buckle down for a tough 4-game slate to end the year, with an eye on that last game. If we beat OSU, I won't even remember the game today.
I don't think we are good enough to call any game a "gimme".
Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention but I didn't see any kind of screen against the blitzing spartan front all day. The playcalling was down right hideous, play action on 4th and inches come on, pound the rock.....
Denard Choked..Hoke Choked...hard to say but this was Embarassing..VVERY diszppointed in Hoke and coaching staff..seem very unpreprared and outcoached
Denard Choked..Hoke Choked...hard to say but this was Embarassing..VVERY diszppointed in Hoke and coaching staff..seem very unpreprared and outcoached
Today was a fail on three fronts...offense, coaching, and reffing. The reffing didn't cost us a game, and I wouldn't even say was biased against us, it was just generally terrible. How you let a guy that has had two personal fouls as dirty as the two that Gholston did and not eject him, I'll never know. How you run a play action from the I-form on 4th and 1 I'll never know. Totally let down by the play calling today. Just have to regroup and take a week to scheme and recover and get it back against Purdon't.
Ya the second 4th and 1 call was a killer.
You have to let Denard keep it in that situation and get the first down. I mean maybe they stop Denard anyway. But I'd much rather go down trying to do what we do best.
The problem with the PA on that play is that the entire defense is already keying on Denard. They know he is getting the ball. So to have him turn his back to the defense is just not smart.
I just have no idea why we felt like we had to go for it all right there. It may have cost us the game.
But with that being said, I think Borges has made a lot of calls this season that have worked out for us really well. Sometimes you make a bad one. I'm sure he realizes it as well and feel horrible.
We just have to move on from this one. I don't think we'll play a better defense all season, and we definitely won't play a more motivated one that this Sparty team.
Get healthy the next two weeks. Beat Purdue. And then go into Iowa City and show us all that this is not 2009 or 2010.
That will be the next big test IMO. If we lose to Iowa, the bad feelings from the past three years will be back.
Iz silly. I'm drunk and that doesn't even make sense.
an abortion of offensive football. The defense looked okay, enough to win the game, But the offense couldn't snap, Denard looks dumbfounded with blitz packages, and the O-line looked like they couldn't stop anyone.
Not to mention all of the veers were suspect and if Devin is going to play qb more, then transition him and robinson only when things are running smoothly. By replacing devin with denard, they were essentially playing a 2 down drive even 10 yards. Ridiculous!
is 10-2 but we lose to ohio in a similarly embarassing fashion, what will your opinion of the season be?
Inept and miserable but gets the job done. Rebuilding for the next year.
My outlook after today isn't too great. Not only because we lost, but because the coaches looked like they were in way over their head. Just an awful game by Hoke and Borges. No redeeming qualities whatsoever. That doesn't make me feel too great about the rest of the season.
I still think we'll be fine, but if it wasn't obvious before, it is now. we're not a top 10 team
I feel like Michigan was trying to be cute in everything today. The uniform switch right before the opening kickoff, the constant Denard/ Devin formations, and the 4th and inches call in the 4th quarter. Michigan seemed to be less focused on just executing plays properly today, and more interested in trying to be tricky and cute. Hopefully the focus will return in two weeks.
I agree with the general theme of this post. The only thing I'd argue, and I don't have numbers to back this up, is the Devin+Denard formations. I really thought those were more of the positive offensive plays we had.
Calm Down.
This sucks. But this is not the end. We have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, and should win 3 more games. Denard will have better days, the O line will have better days, and this team will have better days.
This sucks. This really sucks. And it hurts a lot. But there is a still a lot to play for. Don't forget that.
Purdue.
I don't think we have another game other than that on the schedule that we "should" win.
It sucks to lose to MSU, but the last five game line up pretty well for us. As far as the conference schedule goes, from a balance standpoint, I think we just saw the best team. I think 3-2 is totally doable from here onwards.
Punting from the ~35yard line of you opponent multiple times from 4th and short will not win you football games. When did Carr decided he was going to return to coach?
not scoring in the 2nd quarter really hurt us.....there were a couple of times when I thought we should go for it rather than pooch punt.
MSU turned the ball over twice and had 124 penalty yards. They tried to give Michigan the game, Michigan just wouldn't take it.
I wonder what Hoke's comments will be on the dirty plays?
If he says anything a lot of people will see it as "Michigan whining again"
Long-term projection for the season is RR sucks. Not enough talent. Poorly suited for this league. Manball or death.
Yeah, it's the fault of that stupid Rodriguez that we had so few RS senior linemen out there today. Why didn't he recruit more than four in '07?
Oh, wait ...
Mack, remember that Lloyd shares responsibility for the '08 class, too.
You can RichRod for plenty of other things (like several recruiting areas), but he's not the only one at fault here.
Punting from the ~35yard line of you opponent multiple times from 4th and short will not win you football games. When did Carr decided he was going to return to coach?
I thought 9 wins for this squad would be fantastic. But I knew there was no way we were suddenly going to become as good as sparty, Wisc, ohio, etc. Our ranking was laughable.
Still hold to it. We should be able to beat everyone except Nebraska, and win one of Illinois or Iowa.
Christ though Dernard cannot pass. And Borges was terrible today. That 4th and inches was a pathetic call. When Dernard lined up under Molk I actually thought we were going to win the game. We had all the momentum.
You think Brandon has the sense now to burn those bumblebee unis?
The seniors. Borges called a terrible game, and our receivers cant read a blitz worth a damn.
Worst of all the thugs and thier king now can confidently say they own us.
They do? Last I checked they're still a little behind in the all-time standings. First year with a new staff and we were bound to stumble at some point, too bad it had to be against Sparty. We're still in need of a talent upgrade though, even if the execution was better, if we want to return to our rightful place.
4 years in a row. Only one of which was competitive. Sorry MSU owns us and we all have to deal with the Brah-tastic consequences. Not the game to have a choker by either the players and the coaching staff and saying "calm down" after we've all watched the tailspin start after the MSU game the past two years is a message going to deaf ears.
I think there's a sentence in there. They own the last 4 years, but in the big picture they're still just Sparty to me. I know, it sucks these last several years, but I'm confident the dark days are coming to an end soon despite today's outcome.
Go back over the last 10 years. We have won six , they have won four. They need to win next year to get to even over the last decade.
There were a lot of issues with dropped balls early, but the biggest issue there was the proverbial battle in the trenches. I thought Denard did pretty well considering the pass protection issues. The really puzzling thing was how poor our defensive line played.
I think we were all expecting a few losses at some point, so I am not super surprised by this. After any loss, it is easy to look at negatives and mistakes, but I still think this is a 9 win team, based on overall season performance to date. Morbid though it may seem, I am sort of excited to see how Hoke and company bounce back after a defeat.
MSU turned the ball over twice and had 124 penalty yards. They tried to give Michigan the game, Michigan just wouldn't take it.
I wonder what Hoke's comments will be on the dirty plays?
Lots of blame to go around. Its tough to watch us not take advantage of the other teams undisciplined play. Thats the best way to punish them is to beat them b/c of it. Really disappointed in that aspect of the game.
Those that are blaming the defense, there were some bad tackles and missed plays, but overall I thought the defense did their job. We had many chances with short fields to score and the O couldn't get it done due to play calling, QB decision making and poor offensive line play. I think there is a lot of blame to go around.
Hopefully we regroup, beat Purdue soundly, and get ready for the stretch run. We still have a solid chance at the division due to not having to play Wisco and beating ND. Overall record is high up on the tie-breaker chart.
No need to go into panick mode. I actually see this loss on the coaches. How in hell do you run a power-look play action on fourth and inches when you've completed 10% of your passes and all you needed to do was let Denard run it pass the marker??? The offensive play calling was atrocious, but the defense actually looked better than I thought they would.
Plus, little brother plays dirty. Should we do the same next year. I mean, can't drop 5 straight. Right?
I believe this is the coaching staff's fault. Yes, the execution by the offense wasn't great but we were there at the end. The coaches a la Al Borges horrible call on 4 and inches! If they kick the field goal or sneak it then its a completely different ball game. There was also some missed calls from the refs. I think we regroup and really see what we are made of in a big win against Purdue!
I'm sorry but what is everyone talking about. We absolutely played very poorly but to act like this was a blowout or something is just false. How many drives did we to the MSU's 35? We had two turnovers on their side of the field. This boils down to lack of execution by the offense. The defense had some bad drives but only gave up 21 and took it away twice (should have been 3).
The rest of the season is going to be about execution, if we do we have a shot in every game we play. If we don't we can lose to any team on the scedule.
You've got to make aggresive defenses pay for over pursuing. Where were the screens we ran in the first 5 games? How about adjustments in our blocking scheme since they kepy blitzing untouched LBs up the middle? No Diamond of Death formation either. Who calls for a pass from under center with 4th and inches in the red zone when you have Denard at QB? And what was up with the QB rotation - when Denard's in we can pass, handoff, or draw well. Gardner - its a pass. Everytime. Last year we were all frustrated with how predictable our offense was against good competition - here we are again. There is no bread and butter offense- the Spartans have sacked our grainery and stolen our milk churns.
I'm convinced that Mattison is wringing every ounce of potential he can out of our defense but Borges needs a reality check in what his team does well and what it doesn't do well. I'll be watching anxiously to see how Borges adjusts going forward.
This team wasn't going undefeated, and this was a game that looked like a loss at the beginning of the year. MSU's defense isn't top-10, but it is good. The weather screwed up both teams, and MSU just played better at times. They still struggled to throw the ball, and the running game was solid but not other-worldly. This UM offense needs to grow up, but one loss does not change my outlook on this team finishing with 9 or 10 wins, which would be good enough by any standards.
D is outstanding, especially the line. They are big and fast as hell. I was skeptical coming into this game based on who they had played. They're for real. Will be interesting to see Wisconsin's power running game against this D next week.
Per my list of recent posts, 4 minutes apart. Must be that space-time distortion I am passing through.
9-3 with loses to Illinois, Ohio State, and Nebraska. What a crappy game Michigan played overall like shit
Losses to those 3 would make us 8-4 boss.
8-4? 9-4 with a bowl win?
.
With losses to State, Illi, and Neb.
Our D-line is bad. Mike Martin is overrated. Lets face it. Everybody else I cant even call decent aside from Ryan. Then again MSU is just the flat out better team honestly.
so the real question. Would RR have beat state this year with a new DC?
Flamebait.
That's not the real question. The real question is how are we going to react/respond to this over the next month of games? It doesn't matter what RR would have done, he's not here anymore and it's all just pointless conjecture when people say what RR might have done. Let's just let it go and move forward, stop the comparisons
its disappointing because we did not play our best game. I hate to say this, but we kind of choked against good competition. The dropped snaps, fancy play action on fourth and inches when the a gaps were open for a few inches, and maddening incompletions to open receivers. I figured state would make some plays on D, but way too many missed opportunities and unforced errors. I also thought there were too many deep routes. Let the rb slip out and take the place of the two backers blitzing A gaps. Give Huyge some help on #28 blitzing, because he obviously could not handle him one on one. Do something to stop them from blitzing. I personally did not like taking Denard out of the game as much as they did. I don't know if that didn't allow him to get into the rythm of the game. We saw some glimpses of Devin's talent, but his involvement was too sporadic, and he just wasn't seeing what msu was doing. Now I'm writing half drunk run on sentences. This one is going to hurt, but they have to regroup and play better in two weeks. They still have a chance to win the division.
the outlook for the season isn't that dire. every game left on the schedule is winnable if the team plays to their capabilities. i didn't liek some of the offensive playcalling today but really what proof was there that rushing the ball more would have done something? the playcall on 4th and one was by far the worst of the game. i actually didn't think the defense played that bad outside of msu's first drive. this was eaisly denard's worst game at qb since he's been with the program. it was comically bad out there. i'm not gonna pull the bench him card but the passing game needs to be scaled back dramatically. screens, hitch's slants,qb play action pass. anything deep down field needs to be removed unless it's desperation time.
i'm not happy about a lot of things that happened today but i'm not gonna pile on the defense or hoke too much. also for all the complaining about punting inside the msu 40, yeah they should have went for it at least once on one of those but the offense was so ineffective how many of them really would have been picked up? my guess is none. also for the epople saying the offense faltered against a better defense yes it did but it really falls on the qb's shoulders both of them. wide open receivers were missed all day. so don't blame the system it's on the players. borges i think deserves a chunk of the blame as his playcalling wasn't up to par but again the players especially the qb's didn't execute. take the bye to regroup go out there smash purdue. then take that into iowa in a very winnable game. the iowa game right now is the most important game ont he schedule going forward in terms of knowing where this team really is. also for the peopel complaining about the msu cheap shots and personal fouls, did you really expect anything other than that?
I don't know if outlook needs to be changed necessarily and doing so right after a loss is never usually sensible.
It was a bad game against a good team (who also didn't play that well IMO) and we lost. Happens from time to time. We have a bye week and then Purdue @ home. Best to just get healthy and move on.
Last year I thought that Tate brought out dimensions of our offense that were hidden or non-existent when Denard was playing. (Wow! We do have recievers! Our tailbacks aren't THAT bad.)
Likewise, when Gardener was in at QB today, our passing game showed signs of life. Denard is a fantastic weapon, but perhaps it is at the cost of our overall offensive efficiency?
I susspect that the coaches are thinking much the same with how they are going out of the way to feature Gardener, even at times it seems silly or counterproductive to do so.
When you add up the number of quarters of good football Denard has played this year, it may be less than the number of poor performance quarters (excluding games VS MAC or Minnesota which is worse than a MAC team).
The coaches have some thinking to do in the bye week. I doubt they will pull Denard as starter (unless he is injured) but I do think we will see Gardener more at QB in non-gymic play situations.
Al Borges might need to be told how to run this offense. 4th and 1 with 6-7 minutes left was the turning point. Run an f'n qb sneak. Why get so fancy with play action? Dumb in my opinion. As for the season, this team needs to play to its strengths better. As much as Denard needs to stay healthy, he needs to be out out in some space. He's been so trained to stay in the pocket and throw that he now neglects easy 8 yard runs. Tuck, run and slide.
Like the commentators said, that play left receivers wide open in the endzone. If the offensive line had picked up the blitz, that was a touchdown and Borges is a hero. Hindsight is always 20/20.
I guess it depends, with 4th and short and the game do we want a sure 1st down (hand off to Toussaint in the A Gap) or try something that would tie the game? Hindsight is always 20/20 but from my perspective I would have preferred to get a 1st down and go from there
A lot of the shimmer came off of Hoke and Borges today (I thought Mattison did decent given what he has to work with and the offense not really helping out much at all). The team looked unprepared and the seemingly random insertion of Devin into the game kept the offense from getting any sort of rhythm.
The entire team, coaches included, need to use this bye week to figure out an offensive system that can actually work against the decent-to-good defense we'll see the rest of the way. Notre Dame and Northwestern provided the template of how to attack us, and Michigan State worked that to perfection against us. I think, unless the coaches and players actually use this game to learn what went wrong, we lose to Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio State.
4 losses is the worst I can see us doing. 1 or 2 is realistic.
It starts and ends with the lines. We didn't get any push from the o-line, and we didn't get any pressure from the d-line most of the game. There's a reason we're recruiting so many linemen, and we saw it first hand today.
If a few things go differently the game could have been ours. On top of that, I saw this game as a toss up. Therefore, no. I still see about a 9-10 win team.
Granted todays game was an awful showing on almost all fronts but, if any Michigan fan would have been asked before the season started, "Would you take a 6-1 record into the bye week getting ready to host Purdue?" I dont think anyone would have said no no no, we'll take our chances with a good Western team, a well thought of Notre Dame, a good SDSU team, and on the road at Northwestern and MSU back to back.
Gotta slow down on the coach hate though. I agree with the fact that playaction on 4th and inches was poor playcalling but face the facts, Denard sucked today. Even the TD to Roundtree was lucky because his footwork was horrible. Possibly the reason they continued to use DG was because Denard was horribly inaccurate, and injured several times. Hoke and company will be the first to tell us that they as well as the kids didnt perform well. I know it sucks to have to listen to another year of Sparty snapping its suspenders, but it will get better. We were actually in the game, unlike last year, and if we would have played just a little better we win.
It's nice to think we were in the game, but that's just not true. Not with the way both lines got dominated, this was a VERY bad sign for the rest of the year.
inside the 20 down by 7 with 5 minutes remaining. That whole stadium was soiling themselves because they weren't moving the ball into the wind. We score I like our chances at stealing that one.
That was the single worst play call of the season, I hope.
Agreed. I don't know what his definition of in the game is, but down one score in the red zone with minutes left in the 4th quarter is in the game.
This is what it is all about. DR is the best running QB in college football. He may also be the worst passer in college football. If it's in the best interest to switch positions and put DR in a slot or running back than so be it. He is too short to see over huge linemen so he is always throwing high or overthrowing the ball. He usually only get thru his first progression and then it's off to the races. Because of this the WR's get complacent or give up on routes. DR is NOT a passer so get someone in the QB position that throws the ball better. Devin Gardner should be the QB. DR should play every snap but play in a different spot. He will get his touches but the passing game will improve. Hell with the Heisman talk, All American crap, 1st Team All Big Ten, I want this TEAM to win. Coaches coach and players play. Al Borges cant throw the ball for DR. He cant look thru all the progressions for DR. He is a great kid, exciting runner, but a horrific passer. Time to groom the new QB. The Team, the Team, the Team.
I'm still sticking with 9-3 for the regular season.
about a Michigan team by how they play vs State. They simply don't play with any f'ing emotion and that has bothered me since the beginning of my M fandom.
There were a lot of danger signs today, but only one team will be as 'up' to play Michigan the rest of the year and thats OSU. Maybe not even that 'UP'.
Damn it SOMEONE from Michigan fire these kids up to play MSU for once.
Some things that I noticed watching the game.
The O-Line was definatly not ready for the blitz. Protections broke down all over the place.
Check down opportunities were missed that would have given us open throws or 1on1 chances.
Denard is not a good touch thrower, period. Whoever is responsible for coaching him individually is doing a very poor job. In all honesty, last years staff had him throwing a better ball than this years staff. I dont know if anyone else has noticed that he is actually a worse passer this year, but his mechanics and footwork are awful.
Play calling on offense was fine, kept us in the game, i really think given the pass rush that they had, we could have had a couple of pick 6's against us. The 4th and 1 play that we needed to get should have been a dive play right up the gut, but hindsight is 20/20.
Defense played well enough to win. again, they bent but didnt break.
With all the turnovers, personal fouls, sloppy MSU play, we could have won this game. But IF they had come ready to play, we would have easily lost by alot more.
Now what do we do. This is the point in the last 3 seasons that we totally tanked. Will our players still have the intensity to come out against purdue and play hard
Am I the only one seeing an 8-4 season after the performance today? Im not feeling good about the OSU, NEB, and ILL games. And the @Iowa game has potential of being the Penn State from last year.
What were your expectations at the start of the season? Did anyone have us undefeated? Or 10-2? I had this year's team 7-5 with losses to: either ND or SDSU, MSU, @ Iowa, Nebraska, OSU.
Well, we are still one game ahead of my expectations. Iowa looks winnable, but Illinois is better than I thought. OSU looks shaky and I really don't know how good Nebraska is. So my season outlook is that we will do better than I thought and end up with 8-4 or maybe even 9-3. For this year, that is fine with me. We are moving in the right direction and 10 wins appears reasonable for next year.
I think it is a mistake to reset your expections based on wins we expected and a miracle against ND. There is just no way in hell that we were the 11th best team in the nation.
If we go 10-2 this year, it will be an awesome accomplishment give recent years, the transition, etc. But you shouldn't expect it. We are going in the right direction, and Hoke will get us there, but not this year. Freaking out becuase we lost a game that we all expected to lose is a bit crazy.
is due to poor play calling and an O-Line that couldn't stay on the field with MSU's defense. Denard and the backs had no time to make any kind of move. We were out manned in many places and unfortunately Denard is proving that he just can't pass the ball well at all. He doesn't handle the pressure well and continues to make poor decisions. He got lucky, he should have had three ints today.
I think we can rebound from this, but I wonder if the recruiting by the previous staff is affecting the Oline, they don't seem big enough or strong enough to handle a defense like MSU or Ohio State. 10-2 might be a stretch.
OSU is looking much better with Herron and they still have a good defense. We might be in for more disappointments later in the season.
