The OL is in a bad Funk
While everyone is debating the job Borges is doing, why isn't anyone talking about the absolute tire fire that is our offensive line performance? The OSU game was as bad as anything I've seen all year.
Our guys aren't undersized anymore, and are "Wellman-ized," so they aren't weak. So those memes no longer hold true.
I rewatched all of the run plays again in slo-mo to see exactly why we couldn't get even a few meager critical yards when necessary. It jumped out at me time and time again.
Missed blocks, confused linemen linemen not even engaging anyone, while the ballcarrier behind them was getting tackled. The fullbacks were bad, too.
With all the mental errors, it looked like a really poorly coached unit.
So incredibly, my biggest fear going forward isn't Borges. It's the offensive line play. Charlie Weiss proved that even with superior talent, if the guys aren't properly coached up it won't matter how many blue chippers you've got.
I hope to God what we're seeing is a product of the coaching change. But as far as I'm concerned, Darrell Funk just joined Spain as officially On Notice with me!
November 25th, 2012 at 5:41 PM ^
Between barnum/Mealer, one of them wouldn't have seen the field if Chris Bryant didn't get hurt. What perplexes me though is that I thought Barnum was supposed to be the Center, but then they trot Mealer out there on opening day.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:50 PM ^
The center position thing was odd, especially as Borges was raving about what a great fit Barnum was for that spot up until the opening game. Since most of the issues in the run game had to do with not knowing who to block or when, that whole situation may have foreshadowed some non-physical issues on the interior that hurt the team all year.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:52 PM ^
I think that for whatever reason, Barnum didn't pan out at center. We had guys who had been around for a long time, but not ones who were ideal starters, then they got shuffled around as well. Maybe it is just wishful thinking, but damn, I sure hope they're more consistant as a unit next year.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:53 PM ^
Supposedly Mealer's snaps were better than Barnum's. And I do have to say that I don't remember a single bad snap from Mealer all year long. His blocking was suspect, but his snaps were as reliable as they come.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:57 PM ^
Why didn't they give Miller a shot? Still too undersized at that point?
November 25th, 2012 at 6:03 PM ^
Undersized and inexperienced. Mealer's significantly larger and, obviously, a fifth year senior.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:57 PM ^
I just looked at the depth chat specs, yeah, Miller was underweight, but he should be alright next season. Kalis though, he could've gone immediately if needed.
November 25th, 2012 at 8:25 PM ^
Miller undersized and inexperienced? I'm sick of the negativity you've been slinging around here. Nothing but critcisms with 80 to 90% of your posts.
/S
Or
/BOOM...Ghost-of-Yost'ed!
November 25th, 2012 at 6:46 PM ^
What I never understood was the deal with Rocko Khoury. Wasn't he supposed to be Molk's replacement? Why did he leave?
November 25th, 2012 at 6:53 PM ^
I'm not entirely sure. From what I understand, the coaches told him that he still probably wouldn't play, so he got upset, took his degree, and headed into the real world. Obviously, I don't know if that's true or not because I wasn't there in the room, but that's the word on the street.
November 25th, 2012 at 7:23 PM ^
That seems so odd. He goes from starting the Sugar Bowl (though admittedly quickly pulled) to being told he won't play? Strange.
November 25th, 2012 at 7:33 PM ^
Yeah, I guess they thought Barnum was the answer at center...
I always thought Khoury was a capable player, and I thought he was a better blocker than Mealer. At the very least, we could have used him for depth at guard, because he had played both center and guard.
November 25th, 2012 at 9:26 PM ^
There were some premium rumblings that the coaches regretted not bringing Khoury back during fall camp.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:42 PM ^
most blaring of all was Lewan getting pwned by Freshman defensive ends. I don't care how good A Washington is, that should never happen.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:54 PM ^
The LT can play an excellent game on every play but one or two, and that's what will be remembered. It still sucks that it happened, but it happens.
November 26th, 2012 at 12:25 AM ^
I suspect Lewan has been playing hurt all year, FWIW.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:44 PM ^
when the O Line is that good at pass blocking, and that piss poor at run blocking, some of the blame has to go on the running backs
November 25th, 2012 at 5:54 PM ^
Or defenses were just playing contain when Robinson was in and the O Line proved to not be really that good at pass protection when a more traditional pocket passer like Gardner came in.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:48 PM ^
November 25th, 2012 at 6:52 PM ^
I think it's fair to question their talent, but they had fairly substantial technique problems, no? If anything's fixable, that should be.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:49 PM ^
I think our O-Line was made up of mostly average to below average big ten linemen. Take out Lewan and the rest of them just are not that good.
I really don't feel great about the OL next year either. OL is the hardest position group to build depth in and I think it will take a a few more years. Next year we will have to rely on DG's ability to scramble out of the pocket.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:56 PM ^
Barnum was a 4-star guy with offers from Florida and South Carolina (both pretty good right now). Mealer was a top-250 recruit with multiple Big Ten offers (MSU, Northwestern, Purdue) who may have had more if he hadn't committed to us super early. Schofield was a top-250 recruit with offers from ND (pretty good right now) and Iowa (if they know one thing it is o-linemen). Lewan we all know about. And Omameh has played better earlier in his career in a system he was more comfortable in. All have been on campus at least 4 years.
Acting like this is some group of scrubs is just silly.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:07 PM ^
Amazing how at the beginning of the season, we are incredibly worried about the lack of talent on defense, yet the coaching from Mattison and Hoke always seems to turn underperforming players into overperforming players.
When the opposite happens on the OL -- highly ranked upperclassmen regress -- we start blaming the lack of talent, and say that Borges and Funk will need four years to get their players and system in place. Of course, Borges and Funk have never had success in year four anywhere, but let's not let facts and history get in the way of blind hope.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:18 PM ^
I don't completely disagree, but...
1. Using the job that Mattison (& Hoke) & co. have done with the defense as a benchmark for what's reasonable to expect is unfair. It's absolutely crazy how quickly they turned around that unit. You almost never see that kind of turnaround even from outstanding coaches.
2. Keeping bad coaches isn't good, but constant turnover isn't good either. I'd like to get a little more data on whether Borges and Funk can do this, and I'd like for some of the data to come from an offense with players they've recruited. I think the jury is still out. The day after an OSU loss, everything seems horrible, but remember that the offense far exceeded expectations in 2011 (considering the gaps between the types of players we had and the types of players we believe the coaches would prefer).
3. In another thread, you made Borges's lack of recruiting a central part of your case for why we don't want him. Well, to the extent that Funk has been involved in offensive line recruiting, it's hard to find someone on staff who has done a better job of attracting talent to his position.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:12 PM ^
November 25th, 2012 at 6:41 PM ^
What is your basis for saying that? You honestly think we have the second-best OL in the conference?
November 25th, 2012 at 6:51 PM ^
OL recruiting is not an exact science. Most OL recruits are men among boys going up against their HS competition, so it can be tricky to evaluate them, and on top of that, they often need to add some additional bulk before they can play in college. Omameh was better in the spread, and Schofield will look better when he returns to guard, but Barnum and Mealer frankly look like guys who just were overrated as recruits. The fact that Mealer never played before this year was a pretty big red flag.
November 25th, 2012 at 9:10 PM ^
November 25th, 2012 at 8:02 PM ^
recruits, it's a major causation fail to use recruiting ratings as an indication these guys are good linemen.
Where is the hardware from these players; All Conference selections, award watch lists, etc.?
November 25th, 2012 at 5:52 PM ^
Just didn't function all year.. They all looked lost most of the time. Even Lewan. I'll give him a lot of credit for putting an end to all the dumb stuff he did. The 4th down play where Denard got stuffed there were two lineman just standing there. The guys were big and they were athlectic. i want to put some of the blame on the coaching. They didn't get the line to jell, ever. You know you are in trouble when you have to roll out a guy that's been there 5 years and couldn't make the lineup but then he is thrown into the starting lineup because of injuries.
November 25th, 2012 at 5:57 PM ^
We didn't really have a choice in who played OL this year. It was them, or true freshmen, or walk-ons. We had 3 solid starters last year, one great one, and one dominant one. Now we have one good one, one solid one, and 3 questionable starters all lined up next to each other. It's not surprising they aren't playing well. It feels like Omameh has taken a step back from last year, or maybe being lined up between a dominant Center and a solid Tackle made his job easier last year. They are being asked to do alot, though, maybe even more than last years line was.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:15 PM ^
If Kalis or any of the young guys was as good as advertised and the guys starting actually weren't capable of playing the position I don't think you see redshirts across the board. When 5th year guys don't know what's going on, a young guy probably doesn't have a shot. It is also probably a sign that you are trying to do too much.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:00 PM ^
Mentioned, but not discussed, is the fullback play. Two plays stood out. One time Hopkins ran to the hole and stopped. The running back ran into his back, then the pursuit tackled him for no gain. If Hopkins runs through the hole, even if he doesn't put a hat on anyone, the running back makes positive yardage, probably 5-6 yards. The other play was a sweep with Denard. With two pulling lineman in front of Denard, Hopkins fails to peel off and take the linebacker who made the tackle for about an 8 yard gain. The two linemen obliterated two OSU DBs. If Hopkins puts a hat on the linebacker that play was going for 15, 20, maybe a TD.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:07 PM ^
November 25th, 2012 at 6:03 PM ^
November 25th, 2012 at 8:12 PM ^
The depth chart for the game on Saturday, at least at right tackle, was listed as Schofield, then Gunderson, then Braden - this is actually unchanged across a fair portion of the season, as I recall. It is something of an illustration of the relative lack of experienced options here - after Schofield, you have a redshirt junior with limited action in nine games, and a freshman that hasn't seen the field to date. After Bryant was injured in August, the discussion may have ended for practical reasons, although I will say that at 6'4" and 340-ish pounds, I can see him being a pretty good OG (he was contending to be a primary backup at OG anyway, according to some reports) in a power blocking scheme.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:09 PM ^
Just look at this guy. LOOK AT HIM. I will doubt our viking OL coach after the guys he and his staff recriuted don't pan out.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:25 PM ^
If Lewan stays I think we should then move Schofield back to left guard, maybe it would make for a better combination.
Even though I don't know much I think this line-up would look good for next year.
Lewan..Schofield..Miller..Bryant..Kalis or Lewan..Schofield..Miller..Kalis..Braden
Does anyone think Bosch, Kugler, or Fox could play some right guard next year? I wouldn't think so since Hoke redshirted all the lineman this year, but I'm just hoping one of these guys can get some playing time.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:36 PM ^
Our OL looked better running spread option type plays and that's because that is what they were recruited for. Obviously, the Big Ten sucks so we got by running pro style sets against the garbage competition. But every game against a top tier defense we struggled.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:46 PM ^
November 25th, 2012 at 6:55 PM ^
We were very very poor at running IZ, which was one of the things these guys were recruited to run. We had to pretty much drop OZ from the playbook we were so bad at running it. There were serious problems regardless of what they were supposed to run.
November 25th, 2012 at 6:56 PM ^
when they're suffering a spiritual and existential funk...."
"Go to the zoo? Flip off the monkeys?"
"No....BUY NEW SUITS!"
November 25th, 2012 at 7:15 PM ^
for all of our OMG shirtless O-line recruits? I'm pretty sure getting rid of him now is a bad idea. And he's been here for two fucking seasons. This blog went from the last blog of defense on Rodriguez hill to the HOLY SHIT FIRE EVERYONE ON OFFENSE, i.e. RCMB, blog in a matter of two seasons. I don't get it.
November 25th, 2012 at 10:35 PM ^
November 25th, 2012 at 7:20 PM ^
OP wrote: "Our guys aren't undersized anymore, and are "Wellman-ized," so they aren't weak."
I probably shouldn't, but I'll bite: When were they weak?
November 25th, 2012 at 8:02 PM ^
While I think that the offensive line has been the biggest single problem for us this year, that doesn't lead me to equate it as being a problem with Funk. As others have pointed out, we ended up in a shakey situation at the beginning of the year, including - echo other comments here - the departure of Molk being a major issue.
November 25th, 2012 at 8:05 PM ^
I think people are over analyzing this. Beyond Lewan, no one on that line is exceptionally talented. OSU's line, including their freshman, were almost all highly recruited, highly rated. They were better, and that makes a difference as much as some people won't admit it. Coaching only goes so far.
November 25th, 2012 at 8:45 PM ^
I agree that people may be over reacting about O-Line coaching, but OL was supposed to be one of our strengths this year. I think our line does have talent besides Lewan, what has been missing is not the ability to block people once engaged. While OSU's DL is very good and probably the best we have seen all year blocking has been a consistant problem. I think that the key problem facing this unit is lack of leadership and experience. Molk was an invaluable part of our offense in his role at center. Not only was he an exceptional blocker but more importantly he was extremely intellegent and was good at recognizing pressure and communicating blocking assignments. This year the problem has been the OL knowing who to block. The most common problems have been strait up misses by the OL. Center is one of the most difficult positions to replace because if its demands regarding communication and blocking calls. We will see how our line comes together in the next few years, much of how that turns out will be on coach Funk.
November 25th, 2012 at 8:47 PM ^
I don't think the OL was supposed to be one of our strengths this year. There were several question marks, including LG and C, along with how Schofield would do at RT.
November 25th, 2012 at 11:27 PM ^
but on the other hand we also have several returning starters including an estimated first round draft pick in Lewan at LT. In addition to that we have a 4 year veteran in Omameh, Scholfield who preformed at a fairly high level at LG last year and looks the part of a tackle and Barnum who was started several games throughout his time here at Michigan despite constant nagging injuries. Our Lack of experience concerned me at the begining of the year but honestly I was more worried about our depth and not the ability of our starters. I was only really worried about center and the absense of Molk initially.
Question marks asside many people projected our OL to be one of our strengths before the beginning of the season, including a great many people on this blog. Although I was not quite so optomistic the point I was trying to make is that the potential was there. I am of the opinion that the potential seen at the beginning of the season never really went away but rather this unit has continiously had trouble with the mental aspect of OL play.