What problems can be fixed and how?
After a game like last night its easy to complain and bitch and point out what went wrong, but pointing out the solution is another thing entirely. It took me a while to calm down but now that i took time away and went over the footage again (which was painful) i noticed some things i did not really think of in the moment or was too mad to stop and think and others that were obvious.
1. The Refs/Camera crew were extremely biased. More plays should have been reviewed and were not and the camera crew actually purposefully skipped the replay entirely or did not zoom in on the angle for better view. All these were in favor of ND.
2. ND was extremely lucky on a couple of plays that could have shifted momentum, specifically the muffed punt return that was recovered.
3. Our O-line wasn't as bad as it may have looked. From what i can tell they have definitely progressed as run blockers and regressed a little in pass protection.
4. The RB's either have below average vision or are being coached up and told to go always with the planned gap.
5. ND's D-line is legit and deserved the game ball.
6. Jake Ryan is being wasted at MLB it negates his abilities and Frank Clark is just average.
7. Our WR's are legit but do not get the ball, which leads to the final point.
8. DG has not progressed much. He still doesn't throw the ball away when he should and worst of all he doesn't progress in his reads or recognize the hot route pre-snap.
Obviously 1 and 2 cannot be fixed but i thought they were worth pointing out in partly explaining the lopsided results and the perfect storm that it really was last night. The rest i do not know what to think. We definitely have more talent this year but I am not sure its all being utilized correctly or being coached up the way it should be. I think Hoke has to win at least 9 games this year and either MSU or OU have to be in that 9, i hope he pulls it off and proves us wrong. Sorry for the length and formatting this is my first thread and i just had to get this off my chest.
September 7th, 2014 at 9:57 PM ^
That model worked great for Bobby Bowden at Florida State. But you have to have the ace coordinators and staff. I thought we did, but now I'm not so sure.
September 7th, 2014 at 3:41 PM ^
I haven't re-watched the tape and I don't plan on it. Man, some of you guys are real gluttons for punishment!
But to me it seemed like Gardner stepped up into trouble multiple time last night. I don't blame the guy for not feeling protected in the pocket. And yes there were many times when there was no pocket. But it seemed like I remember a few times when he didn't bail, but stepped into pressure.
Was i seeing things?
September 7th, 2014 at 4:20 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 5:30 PM ^
All of Morris's hype is based on summer camps not real football games. His HS program never relied on him compared to Gardner. When he played in all star games he looked bad and his ratings dropped. When he played in the bowl game he looked completely overwhelmed. He may work out. There is more to QB play than having a rocket arm.
September 7th, 2014 at 5:45 PM ^
I firmly believe Nussmeier is a very good QB developer judging on AJ McCarron. Gardner thru no fault of his own, has been "developed" by three different staffs, and also "developed" into a wide receiver.
Morris, on the other hand, things maintaining status quo, will get an entire developmental season with Nuss and hopefully some junk game time to perfect his skills. I do believe that Nuss will raise Morris' play from what we see now. To sum up what I see from Morris his confidence in his arm strength is actually overconfidence in trying to fit the ball into tight windows well downfield....which...results in interceptions. He threw some very nice touch passes in the fall scrimmage, which was sort of an eye opener for me. I think he will continue to grow and be ready when its his time.
September 7th, 2014 at 8:03 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 10:07 PM ^
Our current OLine will get Shane killed faster than Devin.
We will get to see the Morris experiment plenty next year, whether we want to or not.
The answer this year is to let Devin be Devin. Devin is not a pocket QB, especially with this OLine. Devin needs to move to be effective.
Let him run some zone read plays. Roll him out some. Let him run some designed QB runs. Let him run some option keep/pitch plays. Keep the defense honest so they can't just tee off and try to kill him.
If you can find a way to mix some of that in without getting him hurt, you can have a reasonably effective 2014 offense.
Might as well use Devin's strenghts while we have them, because it won't be an option next year.
September 8th, 2014 at 12:28 AM ^
One of Devin's assets is his legs. You don't want him to get pounded like he did last year, but you at least need to utilize his legs some.
September 8th, 2014 at 7:59 AM ^
Would it be better now to reinstall most of the offfense that worked for Denard Robinson and then hope that Devin Gardner working primarily as a running quarterback who can make some quick slant passes would be more effective than trying to turn Gardner into a pocket passer?
September 7th, 2014 at 5:01 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 5:15 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 6:50 PM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 5:35 PM ^
I thought that we played OK in the first half on offense. We ran successfully, we dinked and dunked some passes but thats OK. The drives stalled but the FG misses were heartbreakers. That we allowed a quick TD with no timeouts right before halftime doubled or more the size of the mental hole we had to climb out of because at that point 21-0 means 4 unanswered scores to win. Make it 14-6 at halftime and its anybody's game.
The defense did a really good job in the second half, I thought. The pass int penalties hurt the defense mentally in the first half. And I thought the Jake Ryan penalty was silly, it was just a push...meaning it was a Viking Push but it wasn't a body or head blow on a QB.
Adding to this I think Golson was on fire in the first half. Every ball was on a line, fitted into a tight window where nobody else could make a play and the receivers didn't break stride to adjust. Giving credit where it is due, it was awesome QB play. Note they converted 3rd and 4th downs in automatic mode.
ND seemed to ratchet up the pressure on Gardner n the 2nd half. Gardner does not deal with this well (very few college QBs can...note the Bellomy Experiment and what Va Tech did to Ohio last night) turning that idiot van gorder into a bellowing neanderthal and making a simple repetitive blitz call into looking like a DC genius.
I would have liked to see some long throws in the first half, just to keep the defense thinking fly route is a possibility. They were really aggressive on the bubble screen after its early success and we had no counter for that, like no pump fake to bubble. We never seemed to find the gear of desperation, going high tempo, going semi-spread, trying to open up a dime/umbrella defense, instead it was mix run and pass, I thought at one point with about 7 minutes left in the game we were running and I was thinking is this self-induced euthanasia or what? Lloyd Carr's teams definitely had that extra gear shift. The first part beating head into wall was maddening but when they finally opened things up with no time to waste it was like a different team appeared that the opposing defense could not adjust to.
I thought Hagerup had one good punt (his first) and then sucked after that. Had he been solid then it might have changed things up if we could have turned the field over.
Kicking game needs more practice. The basic offense and defense turned in some reasonable performances and it needs usual followup and diagnosis. I think this is the complete frustration of this game. We played decent and got behind the 8 ball mentally but the final score shows a complete mud-hole stompin' ass whoopin'.
September 7th, 2014 at 6:17 PM ^
Don't want it to look like this
September 7th, 2014 at 7:55 PM ^
there are specific problems; remains to be seen if they will be fixed.
1. Several times, nobody blocked the long haired defensive end. That hurts, especially on third down. Runblocking was ok. Green needs to look for the open space.
2. One play, Gardnerhad the bubble toNorthfleet, but handed to Green for 2 yards. On the
Drop by Funchess that should have been called interference, he had chesson open. Will gardner learn, or id that time pass.
3. Cornerbacks are not there yet, unfortunately.
There is talent, but not at levels that will cover blatant mistakes.
September 7th, 2014 at 8:30 PM ^
Does it make sense to have Williams, Hill, Heitzman and Kerridge on the field? They bring more guys into the box and they cannot block them. The opponent brings in more quality athletes into the box. Until Butt comes back I think we should have four wide on most downs. Anyone agree?
September 7th, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^
Yes. I know it is not where the coaching staff wants to go, but we will still need to run the 2013 Ohio State game offense to be successful in 2014 against teams with a pulse.
We're still not going to be able to just run it straight at people and throw it deep from the pocket on third down. We're better than last year, but we're still not there.
September 7th, 2014 at 10:35 PM ^
The key issue is that our coaches seem to value the identity they want the team to have -- running from multiple TE/FB packages, etc. -- over what it seems like the team could actually do a better job with -- more of a spread out, pass-first, running QB type offense. One signature of Hoke's tenure is continuing to try to do things this team (and former iterations) just aren't well-suited to do.
September 8th, 2014 at 2:50 AM ^
Here's the problem I see coming up. To recover some of that wounded pride, Michigan will probably insist on running the ball down Miami's throats. I assume that Miami won't be able to stop them, and that athletically Michigan will be able to stifle Miami's offense.
Unfortunately, we will not see the passing game develop much at all the way it needs to,and that does not put us in good shape for the rest of the schedule.
The passing game worries me. (Frankly I liked Borges' pass offense a little better- at least more downfield shots). DG is still uncomfortable, even when he has time in the pocket. Too much reliance on a 'favorite receiver' is a risky strategy over the long-term.
DN's "simplify" will work great when M has the opponent athletically outmatched. But what happens when the talent is more evenly matched? Simplification will makes things easier for our side and theirs- much easier to game plan for.
September 8th, 2014 at 6:12 AM ^
Often the difference between a mediocre or poor team and a very good one is just a few plays here and there. The one positive is that Michigan was able to at least run the ball somewhat. There are very few QBs who are successful when constantly hurried, and Gardner is no exception. I also think working with his third OC has limited his development.