Outcoached

Submitted by Rufus X on

My anger is only beginning to subside.  Every time I think I am ready to move on, I get another text from some Sparty for the first time in a year, who most assuredly can't even name three of MSU's opponents so far this year, lighting up my phone.  Ugh...

I hate to admit it, but we were outcoached on Saturday.  The 4th down play was only a small part of it.  I don't mind the call, really - it was somewhat reminiscent of the Desmond catch against ND, only with monumentally opposite results.  But that's part of the game - you make a risky call and when it works out you're a genius and when it doesn't you're an idiot.  That's OK with me.

HOWEVA' -

This game was about the MSU blitz and/or pressure and our inability to do any thing about it. 

Conventional wisdom says that with a dilithium quarterback, blitzing is a risky endeavor.   You will hit him a few times, but he'll get loose a few times and go for uberyards.  That never happened this week, despite Dantonio's obvious decision to blitz and blitz and blitz.  And blitz.  We did an OK job at times picking it up, but they got through a LOT.  And when they did, Denard.... froze.  Stayed in there and did his best Ryan Mallet imitation, except without the 6' - 6" frame or flamethrower arm.

Two ways to counter this "strategy" would have been to: (1) have hot routes or (2) turn the man loose, roll him out, sprint him out, and let his legs, in all their glory, work their magic.  We did neither, and we didn't seem to do much of anything in response.

And the punt in the 4th quarter in MSU territory.  In the name of all that is holy, go for it. m How can you make the ballsy 4th down play call and then punt it from their side of the field in the 4th quarter when you're behind?  Doesn't make any sense to me.

And - Yes Ghoul-ston is a thug.  And yes, the entire MSU team has a nasty, dirty, thugness about it that should make their alumni repulsed.  But it's a man's game for a reason.  We didn't respond, and I do NOT mean with similar thugness but some old fashioned toughness, nastiness, within the rules of the game would have been welcome.  I never expected Richrod's teams to have that edge, but I hoped Brady's would. 

Tater

October 16th, 2011 at 11:35 PM ^

Maybe the point threshold needs to be upped to 500 during football season.  Why are these 300-point idiots bitching about the coaching staff already?  

We went through three years of fuckheads bitching about the coaching staff.  Now, they have a new staff and they are bitching after one fucking loss?  Brady Hoke is the coach now, and he deserves your support.  Period.  

Your RCMB-style micromanagement of the coaching staff is duly noted.  I'm sure you could have gone 12-0 if you were behind the bench.

clarkiefromcanada

October 16th, 2011 at 11:48 PM ^

I haven't laughed in a day now...until I read the following statement:

"why are these 300 hundred point idiots bitching about the coaching staff already"

This would also make an excellent tagline.

FTW, Tater, FTW. I think you get a pass on the "first rule of MGoBlog" when you use the points to describe idiocy.

Whoever downvoted you is clearly a "300 point idiot"

wesq

October 17th, 2011 at 8:44 AM ^

In that case you might not want to read the blog this week, judging by his twitter comments I have a feeling that Brian is going to skewer Borges for this loss.  I think most people enjoy this blog for its analysis from a passionate fans and not rah, rah BS.  There is a reason this is by far the most popular Michigan blog, and its certainly not blind loyalty to the coaches.  

Rufus X

October 17th, 2011 at 8:51 AM ^

I think Hoke is a very good coach, and the coordinators are outstanding.  Not looking for a coaching change.  Just analyzing the game, and making a case that we were outcoached in one game.  So settle down and take your 7000 MGoBlog points and take them to the counter at Chuck E Cheese and get yourself a rubber tomohawk.

Or you could actaully refute the points I made.

 

turtleboy

October 16th, 2011 at 11:41 PM ^

Sparty only played slightly less sloppy and failed to execute a little less than Michigan did. Michigan played poorly because they've only been practicing with our much, much better coaches for maybe 4 months. In other words, this is a load of barnacles.

 

InDee

October 16th, 2011 at 11:59 PM ^

The team was out-coached.. but the coach himself was realistic.. In every post-game press-conference Hoke's been saying that the team is over-rated.. He wants his players to keep their head down, work hard and earn respect rather than act like they own it in legacy. I like Hoke.

rockediny

October 17th, 2011 at 12:10 AM ^

Can we stfu with all the useless complaining? If we had made that 4th down and scored, it could've changed the game completely. It's not like we were blown out like last year. I mean, it's all right if you're pointing out something new we could have done better, but bitching about   shit others have already bitched about (which was fine then because the game just ended and they were pissed) is just getting ridiculous. No, we are not going to replace Denard, the staff is fine, they'll adjust, and we all know msu is dirty so stfu.

this is me bitching about everyone bitch, i know, stfu. 

uminks

October 17th, 2011 at 2:19 AM ^

I'm sure there were a combination of problems, just not bad coaching. We'll see how good the coaches are in improving our players through the remainder of the season. I'm happy with the improvements I see on defense and being 6-1, and look forward to playing Purdue at home in less than 2 weeks. The team should just play hard and take one game at a time. Don't take any B1G team for granted!

mphillip49

October 17th, 2011 at 3:02 AM ^

We were outcoached and outplayed in every part of the game. The good news is that all of the problems we had can be resolved from coaching. We have good coaches. I support our coaching staff 100%. I may not agree with every call they make, but that is why I am not making the big dollar that they do. I am sure that Purdue will try to use the same tactic against us that MSU did. We will see how our guys respond.

I admit that it hurt a lot losing the game the way we did. I am just not ready to give up after one game. Not many teams can go undefeated through a whole season. We should just move on and concentrate on the next game which is in two weeks. I hope Michigan comes out ready for Purdue and makes a statement that Michigan will not fold.

LSAClassOf2000

October 17th, 2011 at 6:09 AM ^

"I hate to admit it, but we were outcoached on Saturday."

Hoke said as much during the presser, but one thing that is apparent is that he has coached this team with a class and composure that Mark Dantonio would be incapable of doing. The decisions on the field have been second-guessed, third-guessed and so on in the span of about 40 hours now, so there is little need to contribute more. All I will say is something I know has been said by several people already - many of these plays that you mention actually work...with different personnel in strategic locations. The coaches are doing just fine with what they have though. 

It's been said,  of course, but Hoke gets it - we lose to MSU,  but there are five winnable games left. You fix what you can and move on. Our opponent on Saturday only has this game, at  least pstchologically, and even if they win it, they will neither get nor deserve that respect that they crave. 

Nacho Mama

October 17th, 2011 at 7:36 AM ^

Yes we were outcoached, but Hoke admitted it. And 2 things.  One, MSU had an extra week to prepare for us.  Two, we still are getting the Big 10 bodies to once again play Big 10 football.  A lot went wrong, but we almost won.  Beginning of the season, I thought we had no chance in East Lansing.  We are improving.  We need to calm down.  

iam4blue

October 17th, 2011 at 7:43 AM ^

I read every day, but post very infrequently. If I could vote you up, I would give you five points for this one. Any idiot that thinks a Rich Rod coached team could've won that game shouldn't be allowed on the board.

2730murphy

October 17th, 2011 at 8:04 AM ^

If Rich Rod were still coaching we would be average. The problem is with Hoke as our coach...we are still average. I didn't like the choice for Hoke when they first made it. He is not ready to make the big calls. He is currently out of his league. He does not have the ability to lead us to a Big Ten championship much less a National Championship. We will again be looking for a new coach in 4-5 years or be content to be average as long as Hoke is there.

Mr. Brownstone

October 17th, 2011 at 8:27 AM ^

It's time to move on. Let it be a lesson of what "toughness" really means and keep improving. I think having a week off to let this loss sting a little will hopefully bring a new attitude about what it takes to compete in the Big Ten. Lots of season left.

Don

October 17th, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^

But I would like to hear their explanation for the lack of response to MSU's timing of our snap count. It should have been clear by halftime that they were successfully anticipating the snap, and I would think that changing the count would have been a relatively easy thing to do.

bronxblue

October 17th, 2011 at 9:08 AM ^

I have no idea how people define toughness, but playing to the end against a good team that committed an unusual number of personal fouls without really retaliating, holding them to 21 points, and being within a couple of plays of at least squaring the game at the end is pretty tough to me.  And as some people noted, RR's teams were just as tough, they just sucked on defense because of inexperience, talent, and horrible coordinators.  This team may have been outplayed AND outcoached this week, but they lost for reasons beyond a single coordinator or play call.  Sometimes you just lose.

chitownblue2

October 17th, 2011 at 9:11 AM ^

Somtimes teams are just better. Their DL demolished our OL. Their OL handled our DL. They were just a better team. End of story.

GetSumBlue

October 17th, 2011 at 11:43 AM ^

I've had it with these jerk posters that feel the need to critique every single post made by someone. The guy has an opinion that is coherent and valid and we berate them? Real classy guys, REAL classy.