Watched the Game Again

Submitted by DirkMcGurk on
I watched the game again on my DVR and went back a few time consent rating on the lines, RB and linebackers. A few points. 1. Miller was good in pass protection, but seemed to get pushed back a half yard when it was a run. Seems we will be going left or right most times. 2. I wasn't overly impressed with the FB's they seemed slow to find their guy to block and had Kerridge got his guy a few runs could have gone for big gets gains. 3. Fitz needs to be more instinctive. He seems to get the ball and start looking for cut backs. This has always been a beef with me about him. 4. Ross had issues when linemen got to him. We all sort of knee this could be a issue and it showed. 5. Clark needs to read runs better because he is caught up field too often. 6. Linebackers need to be more under control. Too many times they rushed to fast and missed a TFL because of it. Overall the team looked good for the first game against another team. I am sure Hoke had a list of 30 things or more. Go Blue
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TheVictors

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^

I've watched the game ....three times. Plain vanilla defense ....incredible display of depth on both sides and classic first game jitters/mistakes in a fifty point victory. Best M victory in a week one game in a long, long time. Team looks great in so many areas - young, but great.

Joined: 09/16/2009

MGoPoints: 349

UMich87

September 2nd, 2013 at 1:10 PM ^

This is the most prepared team I have seen in an opener in a long time.  They didn't take a full quarter or more to settle down.  The youngsters seemed to know where to go for the most part, and when they didn't, the penalties were minor and fixable.  Bodes well for this Saturday.

Joined: 09/07/2009

MGoPoints: 4142

maize-blue

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:49 AM ^

I agree with regards to Fitz in that he can jump around to much rather than just hitting a hole. Sometimes this works out and he finds a cut back lane to make a good gain but other times he can get caught and the play looks bad.

If I had to nit pick, there were a few missed tackles in the game and it seemed the D didn't  swarm on a few plays with only one or two guys getting to the receiver or runner.

Overall, I think there was roughness even though we won by 50. I didn't like what seemed to be an above average amount of penalties.

The run game, I think, didn't really look good until the second half. But the coaches I'm sure had a distinct game plan for the 1st and 2nd halves. And they probably didn't show much with ND this coming weekend.

 

Joined: 01/10/2013

MGoPoints: 44662

Bodogblog

September 2nd, 2013 at 12:13 PM ^

The entire offensive line was outstanding.  So much better than anyone could have expected them to be.  Cannot speak highly enough of their play.  They got push, they combo'd extremely well, they put a hat on a hat and opened holes.  Our biggest problem yesterday was an unblocked safety filling the alley, but that's a real good problem to have (and Fitz missing an enormo hole on a draw play).  CMU has a bad DL, based on one game sample, yada yada, but we should be very good in B1G play.  So encouraging if they can keep this up and even improve.  

Expectations went up significantly based on yesterday, again provided it wasn't a fluke.  And it didn't look like it.  Glasgow was damn good. 

Joined: 06/08/2010

MGoPoints: 26674

switch26

September 2nd, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^

After re-watching im nervous about our WR and RB's thru the rest of the year..  Don't think our offense will move the ball much against ND, but we'll see.

Joined: 02/04/2010

MGoPoints: 8309

YaterSalad

September 2nd, 2013 at 12:39 PM ^

Can you elaborate on why you feel this way? I saw young WRs making catches and older WRs finding space to help DG out - Dileo on the roll-out and Gallon coming back in the endzone. I also saw Fitz look tentative in finding the hole but exploding through well. Green and Smith showcased some good cuts and carrying tacklers for extra yardage. Remember - we have a lot of freshman playing their first game. They aren't exactly going to look like seasoned vets. They held their own very well.

Joined: 03/29/2010

MGoPoints: 1122

robmorren2

September 2nd, 2013 at 12:31 PM ^

My biggest "concern" was the pistol type formation that Borges was running. I didn't think Gardner looked comfortable with it, and the called runs out of that formation was a nightmare. It's probably a formation that you want to have solid C play to run effectively. What I loved ... any pass play that moved the pocket, especially playaction rollouts. Gardner is MONEY on rollout passes. He's nearly unstoppable because he's got an option to keep rolling and take off if no receivers are available. It's also a very TE friendly play, because you can drag them across the field (a staple of Carr-era offenses). It obviously helps the run game as well, by keeping everyone in the back 7 stay true. Lastly, Michigan didn't run any screens that I recall. Expect some nice screen plays ready for ND (see Vincent Smith in UTL1).

Joined: 06/04/2011

MGoPoints: 2486

Greg McMurtry

September 2nd, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^

I saw the same thing with Fitz. OP's trying to have discussion on the CMU game. Debate his viewpoints and stop crying about what he has to say.

There were comments about Ross' lack of production--I think he overran plays which can be easily fixed. If he can attack the ball, then gather his momentum, he'll be more effective.

Joined: 02/25/2009

MGoPoints: 135415

snarling wolverine

September 2nd, 2013 at 2:30 PM ^

My only issue with Fitz was that I felt like he went down too easily.  A lot of times he had a lane if he just could get past one guy trying to arm-tackle him.  Maybe that's not surprising, though, given that it was his first game back from a nasty injury.  Part of the challenge of coming back is losing the fear of re-injury.

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 97906

MSHOT92

September 2nd, 2013 at 2:38 PM ^

a home opener with a newish QB offenseive game plan. I saw a number of good things, I saw some young players show up and make big plays. I saw an aggressive defense pressure a pretty good CMU line and force their hand. I saw a QB who played most of last year at wideout make some early mistakes but overall kept the team moving. A young freshman QB get some mop up time and look OK. I saw a young running back who is big and likely will get smaller, leaner, and tougher with Wellman do pretty well. I saw special teams improve a lot..

Overall it's tough to be critical of a 50 point romp considering we lost to Appalachian State with the likes of Mike Hart and the 'legendary' Llllloyd Carr coaching a team who probably made a case for national title contention just a few months prior... And a team that lost to Toledo as well...things are improving. The offense made mistakes but practice is no match for LIVE gameplay particularly with a lot of new faces in particularly critical positions. Do they have stuff to work on? Oh HECK yes...rewatching the game shows a lot of those little things, but that's why they have film study...it will continue to improve providing we stay healthy.

Joined: 02/07/2011

MGoPoints: 400

RedGreene

September 2nd, 2013 at 3:48 PM ^

1) I think if the oline opens more holes, more holes will be open.

2) I guarantee that starting next week Green will get 50% of the carries -  unless he gets more, or less.

3) Scoring more points in the 1st qaurter will only add to our point total.

 

Joined: 07/02/2009

MGoPoints: -109

LabattsBleu

September 2nd, 2013 at 3:56 PM ^

i saw a lot of times that DG had to pull down the ball to run it after failing to find an open receiver. Now that could have been for a variety of reasons, as I wasn't at the game; it could have been a reluctance to throw against a cover 2...but it could also be our WRs not getting any separation.

Throws within the offense were really limited to Gallon's TD and Reynolds bomb...Looking at the boxscore, the ypc weren't big numbers and Dileo's yards were from a broken play...

Now this may be growing pains...but it could also be that our WRs are average and that there is no deep threat.

I think it bears watching during ND, cause they are going to focus on stopping the run...so we'll see where our WR corp stands after that test.

Joined: 10/06/2012

MGoPoints: 16413

Space Coyote

September 2nd, 2013 at 5:07 PM ^

It's a little different look coming out of a 4-2-5, and I think DG saw some coverages out of pre-snap positions that he wasn't expecting. This confused some of his reads a bit. I don't know for sure, haven't rewatched the game and you can't see a lot of the coverage on TV, but that is my assumption based on how he looked trying to make reads.

Joined: 06/18/2009

MGoPoints: 38962

LabattsBleu

September 2nd, 2013 at 5:31 PM ^

its probably part of it i would imagine...DG was probably playing it safe...

At the same time, it's CMU...if it was a problem of getting separation, that's going to be the case all year...

On the plus side, we have Devin...and he reminded me a lot of Vince Young - a glider who can still make throws on broken plays...a very, very dangerous combination

Joined: 10/06/2012

MGoPoints: 16413

Prince Lover

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:38 PM ^

I worked during the game and don't have any way of recording games either. I was wondering what else everyone else saw that I missed from listening to the radio call. My biggest question I wanted to ask was why I didn't hear Ross's named called more often. I will be working most of the other games too so keep these threads coming please.

Joined: 07/01/2013

MGoPoints: 13070