The Snowflake Thread: Coaching

One thing that doesn't get talked about much is how bad this team is tackling. It's pitiful watching our linebackers and DBs diving at ankles.

I gotta say borges called a good game. I know IU has crap defense but even if UM scored 30 total points he called a very good game. 

I'm sure for OSU he will go back to "up the gut" for 1st and 2nd down no matter what manball do or die

The problem is that almost nothing in this game will carry forward to the MSU game. Indiana stinks, and we can't really evaluate how good the revamped OL is for that reason. Max-protect 2-man routes aren't going to fly well against Sparty's secondary, and the running game will be flummoxed to a much larger degree.
This game was kind of a one-off relative to most of the remaining schedule. The offense was fantastic in that one-off, but it still has much to prove.
Of course, the same can be said for the defense, the other way around.

Rich Rod: puts up record yardage against poor old Delaware State.

Al: puts up record yardage against big ten competition.

I remember a few in the  Rich Rod days, despite his being an "offensive genius." It's important not to overstate the value of those bad days. Conversely, Borges is not suddenly the Second Coming of Everything Holy because we obliterated IU. That said, I feel a lot better about him today than I did yesterday, and think he called one hell of a game.So hats off to Gorgeous Al.

It's also important to note that obliterating IU at the line of scrimmage is a significant improvement on every OL performance since CMU. Akron and UCONN blew us up and today we had a lot of push.

I'd be curious to know if anyone can give a good answer for our sudden and significant OL improvement--other than "it's IU," since as mentioned above, "it's Akron/UCONN" was not sufficient grounds for a good performance from our OL.

 

You have to give credit where credit is due. Borges called a great game.. Almost as if he knew he had something to prove. Couldn't be more pleased with him. Mattison had a bear of a task on his plate this week. Sure his defense gave up ALL OF THE POINTS, but his guys stood up after that fumble on the 2 and got another TO to seal the game. They made plays to end it. Gotta love that. My favorite play was the out route to Funchess to move the chains. I would have bet Borges would have run it up two scores to kill IU's last time out but that play put the fire out on the night.

This game goes down as an RPS +1 for me. Sure, we had the best offensive output in the history of our illustrious program, but there were at least 6 plays out of the I formation that went for loss. Oh, and no bubbles.

What's your feeling about this team and coaches heading into November. Optimistic? Pessimistic?

opponents to play to our level. No easy wins from here on, but I like our chances against favored teams ie Ohio.

Mattison put players in positions to succeed. you can argue they're freshman and that's not a position in which they can succeed, but I beg to differ. At points this year they've proven they can. Execution was an issue as you'd expect sometimes. They coach them and they'll improve. these guys know what they're doing

Great to see the offense operating like it did today. It seemed like they put the players in the best position to win. Letting your guys do what they do best is good coaching.

The one thing that made no sense to me was handing the ball off on UM's last possession. IU had no timeouts and the first down snap was taken with less than 2:00 on the clock. At 40 seconds per play, all UM has to do is take a knee three times and it's over. By handing off, you introduce the possibility of a fumble or some other disaster. Also, by scoring you give IU the ball down 16. Given how quickly they were able to move the ball, it's not totally out of the question that they could have gone TD (2pt), onside, TD (2pt) and tied it. Obviously the probability of either of those things happening is tiny, but why introduce the risk? Just take the knees and get out of there with a 9 point win.

He called a great game. He also called a different game than he did last week. The run pass ratio was much more even out of the I. They ran frequently from the spread and used three receivers. Again, he called a great game. The best in M history yardage wise, and it needed to be. I think it's fair to say people overeacted a bit last week. I also think it's fair to say he called a very different game last week that may have cost M the win. The truth usually lies between the extremes. I was glad to see adjustments today. I am glad Bosch played well since I was pissed when he burned the red shirt. Good game...offensively.

Last week I said, "Bring me the head of Alfredo Borges."

Today I'm glad he kept it.

But I have no idea what to make of this team. All of that talent on offense really showed today. The playcalling was terrific.

The defense looked unprepared for the speed of Indiana's offensive play. At times they seemed on their heels. But we won't see that again this season, and next time the coaches will prepare better for it, especially because IU is in our new division.

Bottom line, it was an entertaining football game, and Michigan won. All's well that ends in a W.

Come see the University of Michigan Clown Circus in East Lansing on November 2nd! Magnificently mesmerizing!

And finally let Gardner loose with his arm. This was the Devin we saw against ND. I swear we passed more that we ran from I-form today. I think he simplified things a bit for the line, too. We'll see in the UFR, but I think Al got a message from Brady after the PSU game.

That squib kick call was stupid and if they squib against osu again and gift urban a field goal it will likely put the upset out of reach. Time management before the half and timeouts are poor throughout the last three years. With the money we are pulling in, higher mathlete to tell the coaches what to do.

I agree that they're not that far away. You nailed it when you mentioned getting the best players on the field. One of my most sour personal sports memories is from when I first played organized football as a 12 year old. I had been playing tackle football with the older kids in my neighborhood since I was nine. I was the only little kid they let play with them because I was a fearless tackler. I would attack their legs and wrap them up without equipment. I embarrassed a lot of 15 and 16 year olds by bringing them down. Then they had to hear the smack talk from their peers. My point is that I was seasoned when I joined my first organized team at 12. With a helmet and pads, I was an instant terror. I was a natural corner. Quick, fast, nasty and cocky. I enjoyed intimidating receivers. I was the best corner on the team from the first practice in pads. After one of the starters flubbed a play at practice, the coaches would insert me to show them how it should be done. But it took half a season and my dad blowing his top at the coaches for me to see the field in a game. So I am personally familiar with coaches being enamored with certain players for one reason or another and not being objective. Central point, with the level of Michigan's recruiting, there may be beasts sitting on the bench. It happens.

This second point, I really, really hate that the source is Matt Millen, and I apologize for that in advance. But damn, he nailed it. He encapsulated what I have been trying to say in this space but perhaps missing the eloquence to convey it clearly. This team simply needs to embrace a 'snatch your heart out fierceness'. In the words of Millen:

""There's a certain attitude that you have to possess, and that's what your team has to be about," says Millen, who relished the NFL's competition and savored film study and even, yes, training camp as much as playing on Sundays. He was even known to start a few scraps at 49ers practices to toughen a team sometimes criticized for having too much finesse.

"That stuff is contagious — that esprit de corps that's on some teams and missing on others. You have to have it."

Thank you IU coaches for going for 2 so early in the game.  That gave Michigan a 2 score advantage, which I know I felt a lot more comfortable with.  It relieved a little bit of pressure from the offense (which didn't really need any help today).  

I never want to say we shouldn't score, but I'm with the earlier poster about not wanting to score that last TD.  Kneel take the 9 point win and the last minute is a lot more comfortable.  The way IU was moving the ball, and the way this Murphy's Law season is going I had absolutely no confidence that we could stop the standard TD/2-pt conv/Onside Kick/TD/2-pt conv for the tie.  

Under the category of things that will never happen:  Stack the box against Sparty.  The winner of this game always rushes for more yards.  We know Fitz won't get much of anything so we need to make sure that we stop their rushing attack.  They will be able to grind out 3-4 yards a play.  Stack the box and make Cook beat us with his arm.    

Don't get mattison's defensive scheme. Many times are db's are close to 10 yards off LOS, when we blitz, why don't we go into press type coverage? I just don't get it..