SDSU: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good:
1. The Run Offense, especially Denard in the first half. Fitz and Smith both showed some good moves as well. It wasn't all good though...we stunk in the 3rd quarter and Hopkins, really, shouldn't be considered a serious option at this point.
2. The Run Defense. We stuffed a great running attack today, and the D-Line was fantastic...this is a huge improvement over last year.
3. The Freshmen. Morgan, Ryan and Countess all impressed me, Countess more than anyone. These are real players who are going to be major stars for years to come.
The Bad:
1. The Pass Offense. Tacopants is still the 12th Man. While blame for that falls largely on Denard--who is consistently overthrowing our receivers--I also have a problem with the playcalling. If your QB isn't throwing accurately, why not add more high percentage pass plays? More screens (including bubble screens), hitches, curls, waggles, checkdowns and drags would be good. Sure, these aren't plays aren't big yard getters, but what we need right now is more completions for positive yardage. If we rely on our running game to get us out of every mess, we'll end up with the same problems we had last year against Big 10 defenses. This is what I hoped to get from Borges, and still hope to get. But I'm starting to lose confidence that it will happen...
2. The Pass Defense. While still better than last year, we're just not good covering the middle of the field. About a dozen times, Lindley had guys open, and either threw a bad pass or had his receivers botch an easy catch. Unnerving.
The Ugly:
1. Consistency on Offense. We still can't play 4 consistent quarters on offense. This is a problem that goes back to 2009, and has not--apparently--been solved by the new coaching staff. If we don't find a way to move the ball for an entire game, we're going to have problems in conference play.
September 24th, 2011 at 4:31 PM ^
we have to throw the ball downfield. borges is right to make those play calls... denard has made those throws in the past he just has to execute. passing near the line of scrimmage just allows the defense to pack the box.
we throw the ball to stretch the defense. it just needs to get executed.
September 24th, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^
Looks like Ellerbe is Yoda won the yardage contest.
Stats: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/092411aaa.html
Proof: http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/moegocontest-amaizeingblue-winner-email-me-…
September 24th, 2011 at 4:42 PM ^
More option plays with Denard, and less power runs with Denard. The option gives the defense another wrinkle in the offense to worry about and is one bad defensive read from Denard breaking into the open.
September 24th, 2011 at 4:54 PM ^
I think a Big Ten++ team is more likely to err on the side of covering Denard and leaving the pitch man open.
September 24th, 2011 at 6:11 PM ^
September 24th, 2011 at 4:44 PM ^
So, let me get this straight. MIchigan gets a 28-7 victory over a team that knows their entire offensive playbook, and we're still worried about Borges' playcalling? My opinion is the same as it was three years ago; you have to trust the coaching staff to know what is going on and make the correct decisions.
I'm enjoying the fact that MIchigan is now 4-0, and will move up in the rankings another slot or two as teams ahead of them lose.
Does anyone even remember that some thought Michigan could easily lose this game? Or that they not only covered the spread, but doubled it? Congrats to Hoke, Mattison, and Borges on another excellent coaching job today.
September 24th, 2011 at 5:03 PM ^
Despite the fumble I'm loving me some Vincent Smith. On his touchdown run, should have been down at the three but managed to power his way into the end zone. Quickly becoming one of my favorite players.
September 24th, 2011 at 5:17 PM ^
September 24th, 2011 at 5:22 PM ^
We all knew coming into this game that stopping ronnie hillman was the main focus for our defense. Selling out to slow down hillman opened up the passing game and they took advantage of it. The biggest reason we won this game was turnovers, I know it only counts as 3 but if you count the failed 4th down attempts they turned it over 6 times.
September 24th, 2011 at 5:28 PM ^
The Good:
Offensive Playcalling 1st half. The coaches are learning. We suck with I formations and Denard under center. They didn 't break them out full time until the second half with a 3 TD lead.
Speed Option (!) Possibly the first ever Michigan speed option play gets taken to the house by Denard. They brought it out again and Denard pitched it for a first down. Correct reads both times.
Deffensive pressure on Lindley. From the preview, SDSU was supposed to have a pretty good offensive line. The D only got one sack, but alot of the bad throws were force by pressure on the QB.
Red Zone offense: Still perfect, fantastic fake handoff TD run by Denard and great run by Smith to seal the game
The Bad
Denard passing. Regressed Mechanics, lack of experience in the pocket, new reads? All of the above? He did alright with the short routes and screens though.
Offensive Playcalling second half. Lloydball until SDSU scored the TD. I get that they want to work on the new stuff and probably didn't want to run up the score on their old team, but couldn't this have waited until the fourth quarter? This game was a fumble recovery away from being a one score game with tons of time left.
Hopkins. Rember when all our kick returners kept dropping the ball and inexplicably didn't lose their job? It seems like Hopkins is the new guy that can't hold onto the ball but inexplicably gets playing time.
Koger's hands. Tried to catch the ball with his chest twice today. Resulted in a dropped 1st down conversion and a deflection that was intercepted.
Field goal kicking. Still crap from beyond 25 yards until it proves otherwise.
September 24th, 2011 at 5:31 PM ^
Cam Gordon, Brandon Herron still no play? =(
September 24th, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^
I was surprised Cam didn't play more. I expected Ryan to get most of the snaps, but I thought Cam would be worked in some.
September 24th, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^
Denard wasn't great, but it's amazing how people don't mention the lack of help his receivers (Koger) aren't giving him much help when he has made some throws.
September 24th, 2011 at 6:11 PM ^
After fumbling today, I think Hopkins is done. For him to see the field on offense its going to have to be as a blocking fullback. Any carries will come in garbage time if the game is out of hand.
The missed field goal...AARRRRGGHHH!!!!
I'm erasing the 2nd half from memory and only remembering the 1st half. A win is a win and so its a great weekend to be a Wolverine.