Week Zero Takeaways?
What did week zero teach you?
Notre Dame dominated Navy, a team they beat by only 3 a year ago. Hartman was very efficient and might be the missing piece for their offense. Their matchup against OSU got a little more interesting for me.
The USC boxscore looks about as expected… lots of offense with minimal defense. Still not sold on them yet.
What did you see?
August 27th, 2023 at 9:43 AM ^
Hartman looked really good. I know it was against Navy so of course the jury is still out but I too am excited to watch OSU play at ND. I couldn't find the Pac 12 network so couldn't watch USC but I agree with you that the highlights and boxscore look about as expected. Their defense really needs to step up if they are going to make hay. Meanwhile, as a macro comment, can we just acknowledge that the college game is sort of all about offense?
August 27th, 2023 at 11:16 AM ^
Notre Dame v Navy was a physical mismatch. The line gaps presnap by Navy seemed hard to fathom how it hoped to defend against a deep and talented stable of ND running backs. And, of course, it couldn't.
Lots of defense played in the evening matchup between Ohio and SDSU. In fact, all the key plays were on the defensive side of scrimmage as Brady Hoke's team managed a 20-13 win with some questionable clock management in the Aztecs final possession, failing to run out the clock and giving the Bobcats a fighting chance to tie at the end.
I thought the refereeing in that contest really sucked. They let SDSU db's and OL hold and grab all game long without a call until late in the game when a qb late hit allowed Ohio to make a belated comeback attempt. Lots of hard qb hits in the game.
The biggest takeaway for me is how elimination of the first down clock until the final minutes of the half hastens the pace of the game. There will be less scoring this year across the board because of that rule change. Especially for running teams like Michigan.
August 27th, 2023 at 11:42 AM ^
The biggest takeaway for me is how elimination of the first down clock until the final minutes of the half hastens the pace of the game. There will be less scoring this year across the board because of that rule change. Especially for running teams like Michigan.
about 10% fewer plays and 1% less game length. The truth is, the game is being taken out from under our feet and being replaced with more commercials. Late stage capitalism at its finest.
August 27th, 2023 at 4:20 PM ^
Anytime the solution is less plays someone needs to be fired. 30 minutes of previews at the movies? No worries we will just cut a few scenes out no biggie. With commercials and now this is there anything the college football fan wont stand for?
August 27th, 2023 at 6:37 PM ^
I mean ... movies have famously gotten much much longer in recent years, not shorter. God, if only they were shorter.
(I'm not saying your point is wrong -- just that movies may not be the best example of it. And certainly not because of previews.)
August 27th, 2023 at 8:45 PM ^
My point is movie goers would lose their god damned minds if a studio exec said they were cutting scenes because the previews and adds take too long.
If it sounded far fetched that was the point.
August 27th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
Its an awful rule.
It takes away our advantage of wearing teams down. I'm actually concerned at how fast the game were over.
It really hurts teams like Tennessee too. Nick Saban no doubt is happy.
August 27th, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
I worry less about the time clock change once teams adapt to it; a Michigan team that likes to control possession and wear teams down probably doesn't mind a running clock, especially if they're up, while the team trailing is more likely to get aggressive because they're running out of time to get the ball back. Think OSU in the second half but not just because they can't defend the run but also because they need the ball back. Sure fewer plays increase variance of outcomes a bit but yesterday the average score of all FBS games was 33-19, and that included some really bad offenses like Navy and SDSU.
August 27th, 2023 at 12:35 PM ^
the average score of all FBS games was 33-19
I think having only 7 games to create your average, with 2 of those being top 15 teams vs cupcakes, makes this data fairly worthless.
a Michigan team that likes to control possession and wear teams down probably doesn't mind a running clock
Why would it be advantageous for a team that relies on more possessions to wear teams down, to suddenly have fewer possessions to wear teams down? We did really well in the 2nd half last year as other teams faded, so now there will be fewer possessions and fewer plays so those teams will remain fresher. I'm not sure how we're spinning this to be a good thing for Michigan.
August 27th, 2023 at 12:49 PM ^
Yep, I feel like this rule change actually hurts Michigan overall.
August 27th, 2023 at 1:33 PM ^
100% agree this hurts Michigan, we played a lot of close games in the first half, eventually our lines beat the opponent down. Well with less snaps and a quicker game that won’t happen. I know Michigan is capable of scoring quick, but that’s not what the entire team mentality is.
The one good thing is we have a head coach that is familiar with a running clock and I’m sure it will be fine.
August 27th, 2023 at 1:18 PM ^
Exactly. This hurts a team like Michigan. And now with 10 percent fewer snaps, you cant even wear teams down. Depth is less significant now.
August 27th, 2023 at 5:44 PM ^
Sure, but a bunch of people are equally bringing out data like "13% shorter drives, 1% shorter game time" which is, again, based on 7 FBS games. For example, Ohio ran 84 plays against SDSU, including 32 runs, despite trailing the entire second half (admittedly by only a score until midway through the 4th quarter). Lat year their season average was 68 plays per game and 35 rushes. USC ran 69 plays last night, which is basically their season average from last season (70 ppg). ND ran 57 plays against an awful Navy defense, 2 more than they ran against the Midshipman last year in a 35-32 contest. It may well cut down on the number of plays a team runs but the evidence right now, as fairly worthless as it is, points to it not being a big deal to a variety of different styles.
Michigan did well in the second halves last year because they were the better team and made better adjustments as much as teams "faded". OSU hasn't had good defensive tackles for a while and the gaps that Edwards exploited in the 2nd half of that game were there in the first as well, only Stokes wasn't hitting them and Corum was hobbled. Same with PSU - the Nittany Lions didn't get tired of tackling, only Manny Diaz's one-trick aggressive style got adjusted to and they couldn't hold up. But that wasn't because their LBs seemed any more tired than they would have naturally over the course of a football game.
As for possessions, that's as much on the defense stopping the opponent as anything else. Maybe the running clock eats up a bunch of meaningful possessions over a season but I suspect in most games it would be, at most, 1 possession of overall time. It's unlikely we'll start seeing games that usually had 12-13 possessions per team go down to 7-8.
August 27th, 2023 at 8:20 PM ^
Your first comment said we won the 2nd half of games because we "wore teams down" which means they faded. Now you are arguing that we didn't wear teams down, and won based on adjustments.
I agree with your first comment that we wore teams down, and disagree with your 2nd comment that we didn't wear teams down.
August 27th, 2023 at 9:12 PM ^
My actual statement was
Michigan did well in the second halves last year because they were the better team and made better adjustments as much as teams "faded".
and you're the one who claimed UM beat teams in the 2nd half because they faded and were worn out; my reference to OSU had to do with the fact that they didn't know how to defend the run in that second half but even if you were a sounder defensive team you'd have to gamble more if the clock was running and UM could burn more clock on first down conversions.
My issue is that you presuppose that the biggest, perhaps only, reason UM won those games in the 2nd half was because they wore teams down, and I simply pushed back against the idea that physical exhaustion was the key factor there. Sure, nobody wants to get smashed in the face by Zinter another time, but I suspect that sets in pretty early in a game especially if UM is cooking. UM won in the second halves of games the past couple of years because they made superior adjustments.
For example, the first drives of the 2nd half against both PSU and OSU, after a full 20+ minutes of rest, that resulted in TDs, probably wasn't because those teams were worn down. Instead, Michigan adjusted such as by running JJ McCarthy for big first downs or both PSU and OSU putting about 8.5 guys within 5 yards of the LOS and UM adapting to that. Michigan chewed up OSU in that second half despite logging 10 carries in that first half; they led in that game because of super-quick scoring drives in the air.
My point is there's nuance in determining the impact on the potential changes this rule change will have on the game and simply saying "teams that run == hurt by clock change" can't be proven either way. But in Michigan's case it feels a bit like when people (including myself, I'll admit) thought Barwis would make UM players "tougher" in the 4th quarters of games because he trained them better and they still got rocked because they weren't talented or schematically sound enough to win, not because they got gassed.
August 27th, 2023 at 11:38 PM ^
I'm not reading all that. Happy for you tho. Or sorry that happened.
August 27th, 2023 at 8:49 PM ^
I love when a rule like "let the clock run on first downs" is up for discussion on whether it eliminates plays. I got to ask - how the hell could it not? Take a collection of 10 first downs and times it by 15 seconds. Would you run more than 0 plays in that time frame. I dont need to wait for the research.
August 27th, 2023 at 8:47 PM ^
ND scored 42 points and scored (td’s) on every possession except for a missed FG and when they ran the clock out. - So game play is at least somewhat shorter, but it felt like they just added more commercials.
August 27th, 2023 at 12:18 PM ^
I can't find anyone who likes less football and this rule change. Wouldn't surprise me to see it reversed next year.
August 27th, 2023 at 12:44 PM ^
I'd be flabbergasted if the changes are undone. Why would those in charge of CFB, the TV execs, decrease commercial time? When CFB broadcasting increases revenues 15%, those execs will be getting $2M bonuses. Don't worry, tho - in 20 years the games will be down to 3 hrs. And 45 plays per team.
August 27th, 2023 at 12:55 PM ^
It’s also hard to tell what Notre Dame is on defense because the ncaa basically legislated Navy’s offense out of effectiveness and Navy just seems too stubborn to change it. I don’t know how you run that flexbone without wing backs being allowed to cut, and apparently neither did Army’s coach because they’ve changed their offense.
August 27th, 2023 at 1:18 PM ^
It's past time the service academies dropped to Div 1-AA. Have Army and Navy join those leagues with Princeton and the like. You don't want or need 300 pound 6 foot 5 guys in the service and without them you can't compete.
August 27th, 2023 at 9:03 PM ^
Agreed. They will never compete for a national title again. If they dropped down to FCS they could potentially compete at the highest level. It’s not even fair to ask these guys to try and compete with Michigan and Notre Dame.
-msu might want to consider it as well (at least in football) because they won’t be competing for a national title anytime soon either.
August 27th, 2023 at 9:44 AM ^
Excited to see the OSU/ND matchup. USC is a paper tiger as always.
August 27th, 2023 at 12:07 PM ^
So, ND is going to be visible this season - home games against OSU, USC, and on the road at Clemson will draw a lot of eyes.
August 27th, 2023 at 2:10 PM ^
Keep in mind they (ND) beat Navy by more than they did last year, but last year Navy finished 4-8, after going 4-8 the previous year. Yeah yeah Never Schedule Service Acadmies TM but this is a particularly bad version of Navy by all accounts.
August 27th, 2023 at 6:40 PM ^
I'm pretty sure that "never schedule service academies" rule only applies to Michigan. And good God our play-calling in that last game against Army was so pathetic I find it difficult to blame anything else for that game.
August 27th, 2023 at 9:49 AM ^
I hope OSU destroys ND. Get ND out of the playoff conversation now. They don’t have a conference I don’t want to hear about them.
USC hype is exactly that hype. They will be fine in PAC12 because most don’t play defense.
August 27th, 2023 at 10:00 AM ^
Oregon State plays D, and it would be so great if they're the champions as one of the left behinds. GO BEAVERS!
August 27th, 2023 at 10:19 AM ^
It’s brutal to have to want an OSU win but the sooner ND becomes irrelevant the better.
August 27th, 2023 at 11:56 AM ^
ND isn’t getting through OSU, USC, and Clemson unscathed. But if they somehow do, then they deserve the playoffs.
August 27th, 2023 at 4:25 PM ^
Every preseason we debate which of the undefeated teams will get in.
Every post regular- season we discuss which of the 1 loss teams will get in.
The unscathed will be very few (1-2 max). The scathed will be many.
August 27th, 2023 at 11:10 AM ^
Nope, nope, nope. There are no circumstances where I would ever root for OSU. They could be playing the Satanic Legions of Hell and I’d root for the Dark Angels.
Or would that be considered an intrasquad scrimmage?
August 27th, 2023 at 12:57 PM ^
Everybody knows Satan’s favorite color is red, also known as scarlet.
Coincidence? I think not.
August 27th, 2023 at 9:34 PM ^
You never have to root for OSU. However, don’t be D’antoni: if OSU winning helps Michigan, then simply root against their opponent.
In this case, ND winning helps Michigan less than OSU winning does, so root against ND.
August 27th, 2023 at 11:44 AM ^
Much like the Big 12 (which most of the rest of the PAC 12 is joining).
August 27th, 2023 at 11:50 AM ^
I root for every team playing against OSU... OSU losing is always an excellent thing for Michigan.
August 27th, 2023 at 1:42 PM ^
I typically would have to go OSU over MSU.
I can’t stand the thought of MSU fans thinking they have a good football team.
Its the order of things.
August 27th, 2023 at 4:28 PM ^
MSU takes that as a bye week. Check out the last 5 years its true. They bring no heart to that game as it doesnt matter and their fans dont care. Their second favorite win is OSU over UM. They get the shit team/results they deserve with totally checking out of games and parts of their season.
August 27th, 2023 at 11:31 PM ^
Deep down they really are OSU fans.
I never thought about it but maybe that’s why they play so flat against OSU.
August 27th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
I'm here in the bay area in the middle of pac-10 country and it's not like they don't play defense, they typically put their best players on offense, so if a HS recruit could be a really good WR or CB, they would put those kids at WR. USC was ready to take that 4th spot last year until Caleb Williams got hurt in the title game and they ended up losing to Utah.
August 27th, 2023 at 4:30 PM ^
Watched them go toe to toe with AZ on a replay last week. That AZ squad is completely undersized and almost won. Id say Arizona would be like a Northwestern or worse squad. Maybe a solid MAC team. They do have a good offensive mind in Fisch. Georgia wouldve throttled them.
August 27th, 2023 at 4:38 PM ^
I would agree -- the defensive performance USC put together in the PAC12 title game last year, with a playoff berth on the line, was a disgrace. Reminded me of late-stage RichRod defenses here (apologies if too soon). They were exposed and humiliated, nothing less. They have a lot to prove on the defensive side this year if they expect to make the playoff.
August 27th, 2023 at 6:42 PM ^
You're not wrong, but they were dominating (albeit early on) before Caleb Williams got injured. Once he was made immobile and in pain, their offense was not only seriously weakened, but also taken off the field much more quickly than normal.
Damn, I lost $200 on that game. The rule: Betting on games where a serious injury can change everything is dumb.
August 27th, 2023 at 7:23 PM ^
Caleb Williams is really good. He also holds onto the ball forever. He gets away with it most of the time with his athleticism, but he probably takes more hits than he needs to.
August 27th, 2023 at 2:45 PM ^
There are no happy victories when ND and OSU play.
August 27th, 2023 at 4:32 PM ^
Let ND beat OSU then lose 3 other games. Nobody in the Big Ten plays OSU tough. They all cower in the corner. If you want OSUs wheels to fall off we are going to need help.
August 27th, 2023 at 10:02 AM ^
UMass did not look like the worst team in FBS, at times they were actually competent!
Tell your friends and family about 1-0 UMass.
August 27th, 2023 at 10:03 AM ^
8% fewer plays, 1% shorter game times.
August 27th, 2023 at 10:11 AM ^
I watched a small fraction of ND game, (ND was up 14-0, navy had ball and I was curious if they looked like they could keep it competitive). For the brief time I watched it seemed like I saw two commercials for every down played.
I used to like watching college football all day Saturday, I expect most weeks i will only watch Michigan and check out extended highlights on YouTube for any other game that sounds interesting.