What do you think will be the game plan?
Since I just read that once again Minor may not be healthy for the game, what do you think they will do? Last week, running went absolutely nowhere. And I know this is a run happy offense, but I think they should just go pass happy. Am I right? Passing worked like a charm against Wisconsin, I don't understand why they didn't do it even more than they did. They were converting 3rd and even 4th and longs a lot. Since running did no good against Wisconsin, and the #1 back is banged up, I can't imagine it will work against osu. Passing is their only shot.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:04 PM ^
I know Minor is banged up, but I do not think there is anything that can keep him out of this game
November 17th, 2009 at 9:09 PM ^
Probably not. I hope he's really pumped to fuck. shit. up
November 17th, 2009 at 9:25 PM ^
and knows how to Do Work!
November 17th, 2009 at 9:56 PM ^
Unfortunately, having him in the game doesn't automatically equate to him being effective.
If he isn't his usual self, then there's not point in trotting him out there. (Actually, we might be forced to play him anyways, since we may not have any healthy RBs other than Smith)
November 17th, 2009 at 9:08 PM ^
I hope the gameplan is not the one they used the past 4 weeks.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:19 PM ^
i think we will see a lot of short passes a la purdue, especially the swing pass to vincent smith, and that touchdown pass to roundtree, only downside is they used that last week, i hope they try a couple swing/screen passes to denard but that just may be wishful thinking
November 17th, 2009 at 9:20 PM ^
score the most points
November 17th, 2009 at 9:22 PM ^
Defensively they are going to breakout the Cover Somebody
November 17th, 2009 at 9:57 PM ^
Actually I think you are right on this one, although I do appreciate the humor. I expect a lot of press man coverage and sell out blitzes most of the game. Our base defense has shown little to no ability to slow anyone down as of late, we might as well make big plays and give up big plays. A 15 play drive and a 5 play drive still yields seven points. If we go balls out and rattle Pryor a bit he may have a Purdue kind of day and that could give us an edge.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:25 PM ^
this just came to me and i should have included it in my first post, maybe a little triple option like navy but from the shotgun, they tried to do it against purdue and showed a little rust maybe they practiced that with denard last week when he was getting all the reps
November 17th, 2009 at 9:29 PM ^
Whatever it is: let's hope it is a GAMEplan and not a FIRSTHALFplan.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:31 PM ^
Just my opinion, but I think we are going to live and die by the blitz on Saturday. We are obviously overmatched, but turnovers are the great equalizer, and QB pressure = turnovers. It would be irresponsible for Rod to run the boys out against OSU and say "our best 11 vs. your best 11, may the best team win" because (obviously) we are not the better team.
I want to see the kind of game on Saturday where we force OSU to beat us. Force them to do something well. Don't let them sit back and play Tresselball and hope our inferior talent wins the game. I'd take "gamble and probably lose" over "don't gamble and certainly lose" any day.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:36 PM ^
Love it. I want to see us send Brandon Smith on every freaking play.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:59 PM ^
Blitz Blitz Blitz. Our LBs have shown little ability to cover anyway, might as well send them across the line to cause chaos.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:34 PM ^
I liked the passing game last week. We need to start out
doing that.
Bring the house often on D. I don't think we can stop
OSU's passing game, we couldn't stop Wisc, so we should take some chances, we can't fare any worse.
This is going to have to be a barn burner for us to win.
We're going to have to keep up with toSU.
We need 45+ points.
As UMx stated, hopefully Minor is ready to F#$k.Sh!t.UP!!
November 17th, 2009 at 9:38 PM ^
Minor is a superhero but sprained ankles are his Kryptonite. If we have Minor running wild and crazed, I think we can make it competitive. Nothing against the others guys, but Minor is the one back on our offense that equalizes the "likes" of OSU, PSU, and Iowa.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:39 PM ^
adversevillain (author of a new cheer for Saturday's game)
November 17th, 2009 at 9:48 PM ^
Honestly, I can't think of a good game plan. We can't let them grind out long drives. Objectively speaking, I think their weakness is forcing Pryor to throw ... often. Except that's a problem for us, since we can't cover anybody.
Nonetheless, the best way to get them to throw is to turn this into a barn burner - we'll need a defensive touchdown and/or special teams touchdown, at the very least. But the problem with barn burners is this: we're not very enthusiastic about ball security.
So on one hand we wanna force TP into a shoot out, but on the other hand, we can't risk turnovers.
This game, unfortunately, has "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" written all over it. I suspect we might be able to hang for one or two quarters, perhaps enough to declare moral victory. But by the 3rd Q, I think our deficiencies will be inescapable, and the 4th Q won't be worth watching.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:50 PM ^
Someone turns the corner this game. These games people just seem to step up and champions and legends are made. Hopefully it will be one of the cornerbacks because a pick six in this game could swing the momentum our way and that could be huge!
November 17th, 2009 at 9:55 PM ^
TP's favorite pass is the long bomb, i hope we do something to prevent that.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:02 PM ^
He cant throw the long ball with Graham looking down on him after Graham knocks the sh*t out of him. BLITZ and STUNT and kill. If we dont have at least 2 ruffing the passer calls we simply didnt do this enough. We have to rattle his cage...
November 17th, 2009 at 10:10 PM ^
I forgot, getting a few "ruffing" the passer calls is also critical to our success. Nothing like a few 15 yard penalties to keep the drive going.
It worked well for Crable in 2006, we ought to get back to what works, right?
[EDIT - Were you being sarcastic? If you were, then I'm quite embarassed for misunderestimating!]
November 18th, 2009 at 8:26 AM ^
I'm just saying when you are going full tilt QB hunting, there will be times when you hit him that the refs will say was too late. Im OK with a couple of penalties if it is due to extraordinary effort. Rattling Pryor will pay off in yardage saved and turnovers well in excess of what 30 yards in penalties will cost....I hope. Aggressive play often results in the occasional penalty....its a price one has to pay.
Sorry about the ruffing, my HS team were the DAWGS and we put everything in terms of such....nothing like a crowd of 7 thousand fans, a quarter of which have 3ft rawhide bones swinging in the air....
November 17th, 2009 at 11:09 PM ^
Offense: wrinkles, wrinkles, wrinkles. Keep them off-balance w/1st down play action throws. Time to bring out the sprint draw, too (MSU embarrassed us w/this in '04). Otherwise, do what you do to keep ahead of the chains, make 1st downs, and keep the clock moving. Play Tresselball with Tressel; i.e., play field position and clock management. Don't be conservative, however.
Defense: Stack the run, and make Pryor beat us, but with underneath throws. Make him read coverage and hit receivers in windows in the underneath part of zones. Keep things as simple as possible in order to limit MAs.
Special Teams: CATCH THE DAMN BALL! If our defense forces a punt, embrace that by setting up a return. Only go after a punt block if desperate.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:12 PM ^
For absolutely no lucid or rational reason, I am hoping and praying RR just simply pulls out everything he possibly can from the "shits and giggles" bag. I want to see everyone having fun, trying crazy shit, and just playing the most improbably exciting game ever.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:13 AM ^
If ever Tate can't afford to be running for his life, it's this week against this front 4. If he starts taking hits, this thing's over. sacks, fumbles, ints and injuries are all likely this week.
Tate has got to get the ball out quickly and accurately. I honestly think this might be a 'pass to set up the run' kind of game. Call me crazy, but (especially if Minor is limited) i think Tate's going to throw more than he has all season. We're looking at 35+ pass attempts. Quick passes. Hopefully fewer quarterback runs.
I think the results will be mixed... Tate puts up career highs in completions, attempts and yards. Count on a couple of turnovers mixed in with some nice drives.
OSU wins in a game a lot closer than people think. I can't see our defense magically stopping OSU. Pryor will probably make some poor plays but his athleticism, alone, should be good for a couple of back-breaking scores.
38-27 OSU (20-17 UM at half)
Forcier: 25/40, 270yds, 2 TD's, 2 INTS
Denard breaks a big play TD run in some capacity.
I think we can pull the upset, but it's going to take one hell of an effort: a lot of focus, determination and fight. We'll be able to tell early whether we've got a shot in this one. I fully expect OSU to come out flat and uninspired, thinking they can sleep walk their way to a big win. Whether we can take advantage of that will be key.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:31 AM ^
30-28 Michigan....I have to believe in a win otherwise its not worth the 5 hour drive to come to the game. Boren has a holding penalty called on him on the first play from scrimmage to call back a long run by his brother. They get in a bitch slapping contest and Justin runs off the field crying to be consoled by a pint of Ben and Jerry's. Go Blue
November 18th, 2009 at 11:08 AM ^
BLITZ, BLITZ, BLITZ EVERYONE except the safety's keep them 20 yards down field. After TP runs for a 1st down RR should sucker punch him in the throat, maybe that will slow him down.