Ozone Michigan Monday

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Lots of talk about intent to deceive...

The only reason this play was flagged was because Rutgers wasn't smart enough to see it happen. Basically, the "intent to deceive" flag was used to protect Rutgers from itself, and I guess for that we can't be too upset. After all, if football isn't going to protect Rutgers from being Rutgers, then who is?

Ok I laughed...

Michigan was also flagged in the fourth quarter for sending an email to Rutgers advising them that if they wired the Wolverines $1,500 they would be able to free $1,500,000 from holding in Belgian customs, which Michigan would then happily split with them. Yes, as part of the penalty, the Wolverines returned the $1,500 to Rutgers — all four times.

Michigan probably would have scored 200 points in this game if Jim Harbaugh had started shining a laser pointer on a random wall right after kickoff.

The O...good and meh

Saturday was Jake Rudock's best day as a passer possibly in his entire life. His 337 yards were a career high. He finished 18 of 25 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His QBR, which is an ESPN-created metric that rates a QB's performance from 0-100, was 99.0, which is pretty good.  The most impressive part about Rudock's day, however, wasn't in the box score, but rather it was the accuracy and decisiveness with which he threw the ball all over the field.

Michigan didn't run the ball all that well, managing 150 yards on 42 carries (3.6 ypc). For a comparison, Ohio State rushed for 281 yards against Rutgers on 49 carries (5.7 ypc) a couple of weeks ago. The 150 yards was the second-fewest the Scarlet Knights have allowed in Big Ten play, ahead of only the 122 yards rushing by the Michigan State Spartans.

The D...

(I disagree with writer a bit here on rush D as 54 yds came on 1 busted play so take that out or replace it with a 7 yd gain and it was bueno rush D. Without that run they had 31 carries for 74 yds aka 2.4 per carry.  Give him 7 yds on the play and its 2.5 per carry )

This is the second game in a row that the Wolverines have allowed over 100 yards rushing, after going six straight games without it happening at all. Granted, it's not like teams are running at will, but it's different than it was before. Opponents will see where those cracks are and work to exploit them moving forward.

The Rutgers passing game was held under 100 yards passing for the second game in a row. Quarterback Chris Laviano completed 11 of 26 passes for 97 yards, with one interception, which was a fantastic grab by safety Jarrod Wilson.

The Wolverines were led in tackles by linebackers Desmond Morgan (8) and Joe Bolden (7), but it was defensive end Chris Wormley who stole the show with two sacks and more disruption than the person in your office who is constantly asking questions during meetings to make themselves look smart.

The Pep...

Every time he is out there, the defense has to find him, and then they end up sending more resources his way than they can afford. Because of this, the Michigan offense has worked on its creativity and is taking advantage of these legal deceptions.

Massive swipe @ Sparty

What Does It All Mean?

It means that Rutgers is not equipped at this time to compete against competence, which is probably why they did so well against the Spartans.

Moar Pep

Peppers is basically like a street magician's left hand that he keeps showing you in order to get your attention, and then with his right hand he is taking your watch and your wallet and finding Jake Butt down the middle of the field for 27 yards.

Future

Barring a fluke game, I don't see Michigan running the ball very well against Penn State or Ohio State, but they do have other ways to get things done. They won't have a problem moving the ball against Indiana if Rudock plays like this on Saturday, though I am very interested to see how the Wolverines do against the Hoosiers' spread offense.