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He also added the following:…

He also added the following:

“When we saw [Michigan] beat Marquette 106-101 [in a secret scrimmage] in 12-minute quarters, and then watched them in their two games, we knew that they were one of the best shooting teams in the country,” Pitino said.

“What we didn’t expect is to get dominated by their point guard the way he dominated us tonight, and that’s a credit to him.”

“[Michigan] was brilliant, in every phase of the game.”

Watching the ESPN3 All-22…

Watching the ESPN3 All-22 cast of the game where you can see the entire field like you were sitting in the press box and our receivers are not getting open with the exception of Loveland. Hopefully they make adjustments because this is almost over.

Not like he had a lot of…

Not like he had a lot of starting experience - he started a couple of games during probably the lowest point in Michigan Football since maybe the Rich Rod years.  He didn't have any non conference cream puffs to get adjusted and practice etc was paused during the fall. He injured his hand requiring surgery during the MSU game (the second game) but continued to play with a brace on his throwing hand. He is still raw with only a few starts so next year should give him a chance to finally have a full season.

For the season Milton was 53/82 (64.6%) 971 yards (11.8 avg) 10 TDs and 0 Ints 204.3 QB Rating

If having a Michigan degree…

If having a Michigan degree doesn't qualify you for being a Michigan man then who here is? Glad I don't feel the need to hate watch any player.

So is Cade or Eric All a Michigan man? Cause they said things leaving publicly and the Milton thing is just rumors. The difference is that Milton stayed with the team until after the season and then had surgery - the wait which could have delayed his transfer options. Oh and then he waited to graduate before choosing a destination.

Will be interesting to see who has the better year next year Milton or Cade. I hope they both have great years. 

We've seen in the past that…

We've seen in the past that Harbaugh limits the QB run when he is concerned with injuries/QB depth so I would assume yes. It would explain why JJ was handing it off on options (if there was any reads) and scrambling to throw instead of taking off.  Hopefully, Cade will be back sooner than later so Harbaugh feels more comfortable about letting JJ run. 

Both legs were rolled up on …

Both legs were rolled up on - the left leg looked worse at first but he was grabbing his right leg after spiking the ball and was limping. After watching it a couple of time it looks like the right leg was in a bad position when the UConn guy landed on him.

Hoping for the best but…

Hoping for the best but considering the injury it might have been better to get Warren some more reps in the second half since he will be the backup for at least 2 weeks.

Not going to make excuses…

Not going to make excuses for fans but booing because you want player X doesn't mean that it is a personal attack against player Y. I think people on this board are taking this harder than Cade is which is kind of weird to be honest.

I wasn't there and never heard it on the broadcast but I would be interested to know the context of the boos - like was it when Cade went in during the 2nd quarter? etc. The crowd in general wants to see the more exciting player especially when they are rolling in the first half - I very much doubt this was a personal attack at Cade because it really doesn't make it sense to boo him personally.

 

Stokes did fine with JJ…

Stokes did fine with JJ before the end of the half and with Warren at QB in the second half. 

8 carries 61 yards 7.6 avg 

Warren was much better than…

Warren was much better than Cade in the spring game too. Warren may have the best arm on the team but hadn't played since his sophomore year in HS. Most people probably know but he missed his junior year with leukemia and then missed his senior year because of the Covid restrictions. No doubt he would have been a 4 star recruit otherwise with his arm talent.

Cade had the opportunity to…

Cade had the opportunity to be the #1 QB and didn't take it, He was inaccurate in the spring game (JJ wasn't available and he got to play for both teams.. What is the excuse for that?) He was meh against CSU and was meh yesterday. If anything he has regressed since OSU. We saw what it looks like with him against elite competition against Georgia.

If he can't handle a QB competition or deal with some boos what is that saying about his mental makeup being the starting QB going forward? He is not as talented as JJ or Warren and maybe this offense can be effective without the running threat at QB but it can't be consistently effective with a QB that can't (or doesn't want to) make throws to the field side or take shots downfield.

If he transfers because of this Michigan will be fine with JJ and Warren next year.

Watch the spring game again …

Watch the spring game again - he wasn't the best QB then either - Warren was. Cade has an average arm and has issues after the snap - either not setting his feet, locking in on his initial read and/or getting spooked and leaving the pocket early. He seems like a good guy and l hope he stays positive because we may need two QBs to get through the year.

The second half injury was…

The second half injury was to his ankle and he left the game with Michigan up by 17 and came back when Indiana was making their run and cutting it to 10. I believe he struggled (turnovers) initially because he sat for extended time not moving the ankle but then the whole offense was just discombobulated. 

Jedd Fisch didn't play…

Jedd Fisch didn't play football in HS or College. Played tennis in HS and graduated from college with a degree in criminology.

Harbaugh is a talented…

Harbaugh is a talented offensive coach when running his system - what he ran at Stanford, San Francisco, and first couple years at Michigan.

Four games in and IMO it is…

Four games in and IMO it is pretty clear what is going on here. Harbaugh's strategy was to win the games he should by being ultra conservative. Take time off the clock on offense and install a bend don't break defense. This is why he kept everything under wraps in the off season - he didn't want any tape. He knows he needs a certain number of wins to keep his job.

So he is back in control of the offense (more so than the last couple of years) - the only thing Gattis anymore is no FB and running out of the pistol etc. There is no QB runs, no speed in space just hand offs. Teams in the future are going to shut this down if there is no threat of a QB run or pass - what is the point of even being in the pistol/spread formation? - at least under center you can play action.

This is what is so frustrating - this whole strategy has everything to do with Harbaugh not wanting to make mistakes and keep his job but is doing nothing to the growth of the program - nothing towards competing at the highest level or even competing for the B1G. 

Teams are finally getting…

Teams are finally getting tape on this new D it was only a matter of time before someone figures out how to exploit it - Rutgers started doing that in the 2nd half and really shot themselves in the foot more than anything in the 4th quarter - the bad no call on the defensive holding in the end zone also helped the D.

Don't care for him as an…

Don't care for him as an announcer - I don't need to be amped up by the broadcasters I just want to watch the game with minimal distraction. If he just stayed with the play-by-play I wouldn't have a problem - but his enthusiasm feels forced and fake like Rod Allen adding a 'partner' in conversation with Mario Impemba.

I was impressed with Bowling…

I was impressed with Bowling Green for how young they are - granted Tennessee is not a good team but the amount of turnover they have had in the last year is mind boggling. Also, has there ever been more former Michigan coaches and players on a (non Michigan) coaching staff?

Not sure this is all of them but: 

Scot Loeffler
Terry Malone
Steve Morrison
Erik Campbell
Cato June
Kevin Tolbert

Milton seemed to do best in…

Milton seemed to do best in the hurry up short to mid passing game that they ran in the first quarter. was accurate - then two drops and like last year that seemed to affect him. As others have pointed out he still has to work on the long ball - should get better with more experience and familiarity with his new receivers - if they stay with him.

Looked good and decisive on planned runs but very slow (even slower than last year) on QB scrambles and in the pocket generally. Looked like he really didn't want to make a mistake so ate the ball a few times instead of trying to make something happen. Keep in mind this is a new offensive system and coach for Tennessee and Milton wasn't there for Spring practice. Next week they play Pitt. 

In other former QB news

Dylan McCaffrey and Northern Colorado play Colorado tonight

Brandon Peters returned to practice so good news for him.

 

 

Xavier Worthy is friends…

Xavier Worthy is friends with Giles Jackson (Joe Milton's best friend) - both are from California - and Jackson was one of the primary reasons he signed with Michigan.

Giles Jackson decides to enter the portal on March 29th and signed with Washington on April 11th. Rumors started almost immediately that Worthy wasn't going to be in the class and shortly afterwards he made it official.

Long story short as soon as Giles Jackson left he was gone - the two people he was closest to on the team (Milton and Jackson) were no longer there. If he wanted to be on the team he would have been - disregard all the other smoke about admissions - he signed with Texas after all.

You are suggesting that…

You are suggesting that Milton isn't good at reads but the stats show otherwise. As far as reading the defenses - don't have the time to look at that - he was inexperienced though so some of that should be expected.

But they didn't want Milton running with the ball after MSU and if you go back and look at the UFR you will see that when it was actually part of the game plan Milton was good at it - much better than Patterson - though that is not saying much.

Minnesota: 2/2 RPOs 2/2, Zone Read
MSU: 7/8 on RPOs, 6/8 Zone Read
Indiana: - No designed QB runs, No RPOs or reads charted (may have been 1)

The reason they started with the zone reads again against Rutgers is because they had a healthy McNamara - at least they did for a while... The reason they stopped after MSU was because Milton was injured.

McNamara Rutgers: 4/4 RPOs, 1/3 Zone Read

Tennessee coaches have noticed several bad habits that Milton developed to compensate for the injury - he started holding the ball lower for instance. He had trouble gripping the ball as you could imagine especially the colder it got.

He tore ligaments in his…

He tore ligaments in his thumb on his throwing hand in the MSU game - wore a brace for the rest of the season and had surgery immediately after the season.

Anyway that makes two (with…

Anyway that makes two (with Shea) QBs in a row who mysteriously stopped making zone reads, or just pretended to and handed off no matter what the optioned guy does

So you noticed that they stopped making zone reads when two QBs previously got injured and then Milton was 2/2 on RPOs, 2/2 on zone reads against Minnesota and 7/8 on RPOs, 6/8 on zone reads against MSU and then they shelved all the reads after that (0 against Indiana) until McNamara came in against Rutgers.

At this point I have to assume that Joe Milton is terrible at executing reads.

Hmm seems like Milton was pretty good at it until he got injured against MSU. 

FFS

 

I should clarify I don't…

I should clarify I don't mean the alignment but the overall complexity and individual player responsibility that is necessary to run such systems. Pro defenses are designed and modified to combat pro offenses - of which change every year.  Take a successful pro system and then remove the complexity because college players don't have the talent or time to learn it leaves you with what?

Also, you need to have certain kind of physical talent (See AK47s post) - pro offenses for instance generally don't try and attack the outside on running plays because pro defenses are too fast - and this is what really worries me about this years defense - opponents attacking outside. 

I am skeptical about any pro…

I am skeptical about any pro scheme working at the college level for many reasons but we will get a good idea in less than a week. 

If Cade has led Michigan to…

If Cade has led Michigan to 5-1 and is still healthy then you absolutely go with him the rest of the way. Harbaugh's job is on the line he is not going to experiment with a freshman QB midseason.

It is set up for him to…

It is set up for him to succeed - best OL in a couple of years, experienced and capable RBs and WRs - only TEs are a question mark.

Another photo

Another photo

Milton has alluded to this…

Milton has alluded to this in interviews - 1) He says he paid too much attention to what people were writing about him and 2) He did what Harbaugh wanted and played through the injury and when it did affect his performance Harbaugh never gave him cover and by the end of the year he was pretty negative about the whole situation - which he says he now has grown from it.

This is the thing that people here need to realize when being negative towards players - they read comments and blogs. This situation also directly affected another player to transfer and a certain recruit not to sign.

He was wearing a brace it was black you can see it in this image:

Alabama -18.5 vs Miami (FL)…

Alabama -18.5 vs Miami (FL) Neutral Site

If I was a betting man this would be tempting. Miami returning a lot of their starters and almost all their production and Alabama replacing a lot.

He tore ligaments in his…

He tore ligaments in his thumb on his throwing hand in the MSU game (The 2nd game) - wore a brace for the rest of the season and had surgery immediately after the season which is now healed. There was only one game that he had a healthy hand least season - Minnesota. He then came in to a crowded QB room at Tennessee without the advantage of spring practice and won the job.

I just don't understand why people bring up the performance and not the injury - they will with Cade but not Milton. Either people here don't want to acknowledge the injury, are unaware of the injury or for some reason think that having torn ligaments in your thumb shouldn't affect your performance.

 

 

People here like to look…

People here like to look down on the RCMB but they would have known this guy (ezekiels creatures) was a troll from post 1.

Look at the pattern here of…

Look at the pattern here of these various accounts... Anyone that thinks that Haskins was not the best RB last year clearly didn't watch the games. Not only was he the best RB but he was our best offensive player last year and really the only guy that was giving 100% throughout the year.

If you are a real Michigan fan you don't care about his speed, what position he played, his perceived talent and recruiting stars you only care about the productivity and effort and throughout that shitfest of a season this man was one of the few bright spots.

He is definitely an OSU…

He is definitely an OSU troll - he tends to post negative things about current players and coaches, puff pieces about recruits we will never get and former players and coaches (Jedd Fisch) that have left on this or his other obvious account.

His world view is Ohio-based and he has limited knowledge and bad takes about actual Michigan players and football in general. He puts together all this source material for posts because he doesn't have the same intrinsic knowledge that an actual fan has. 

It's the worst kind of troll really - he is dedicated though - has been here for at least 5 years.

My take on this is that -

1…

My take on this is that -

1) If the mascot is a Native American tribe or nation name and that tribe is officially ok with the use then it should be fine with the sports team using it though I would recommend that the tribe get monetary compensation for the use.

2) The use of political or military terms of Native American tribes should be ok e.g. chiefs, tribe, etc. However, use of the term 'Indians' refers to people/race (wrongly) and in the case of Cleveland they coupled this with an offensive caricature.

3) If the mascot is a racial epithet of a people for instance 'Redskins' then it should be replaced.

Finally, I don't think the use of a leprechaun should be offensive as it doesn't represent a people but an old mythological belief. If the mascot was a redheaded drunken caricature of Irish people then that would be different - especially if this was back in the 19th century.

 

This was doomed to failure…

This was doomed to failure as soon as they included the ACC into the talks - should have just kept it B1G and Pac-12 - they both have expiring broadcast contracts whereas the ACC just signed with ESPN through 2034. 

Tim Drevno was the Offensive…

Tim Drevno was the Offensive Coordinator from 2015 through 2017 but regardless it was Jim Harbaugh's pro-style offense not the Jedd Fisch offense...

We have 2-3 really talented…

We have 2-3 really talented guys that have experience and then the rest of the talent is potential (young/inexperienced). So yeah losing 8 guys to the NFL draft will drain your talent level but most of those draft picks either didn't play last year or were injured at some point.

Now comparing the 2019 team to this team is where you see a big difference in NFL talent.

Team (Ranking or Prediction)…

Team (Ranking or Prediction) [Last year result]

WMU (Good MAC Team)
Washington (21)
Northern Ill (Avg MAC Team)
Rutgers [W OT]
@ Wisconsin (15) [L]
@ Nebraska
NW (27)
@ MSU [L]
Indiana (17) [L]
@ PSU (20)
@ Maryland
OSU (4)

Of non ranked B1G teams - Rutgers, Maryland and MSU should be better than last year. Northwestern should take a step back and who knows when it comes to Nebraska.

WMU with a very good MAC offense should be a a good test right out of the blocks.

 

Cade is better than Speight…

Cade is better than Speight based on what? We don't even know if he will be the starter.

Chris Partridge, Brown and…

Chris Partridge, Brown and Mattison all shared D recruiting in 17 & 18 and this was Brown's defense starting in 2016 so he was looking to add the guys he wanted to make it work. Still the talent was there in 2017 (5th ranked class) but less so in 2018 - Hutchinson, Welschof and Upshaw were the only DL recruits.

Mattison was also the reason for the DL success during the Hoke years - which carried over to the first two years of Harbaugh. When Harbaugh took over in 2015 he went from the DC to the DL coach only so that decision is on Harbaugh. 

 

Everyone here forgets that…

Everyone here forgets that he injured his thumb on his throwing hand bad enough in the MSU game that he had to have surgery right after the season. He didn't complain, didn't complain when Cade came in etc. The hate this young man gets here is unbelievable - best of luck to him at Tennessee will be interesting to see how he does as well as Dylan playing for his dad @ Northern Colorado.

B1G broadcasting deal ends…

B1G broadcasting deal ends 2023
Pac-12 broadcasting deal ends 2024
They could negotiate a Huge combined deal with Fox Sports, CBS and ESPN

B1G has more money, great exposure, better managed and has a profitable B1G network.
Pac-12 has great potential, large viewer base and some great academic schools.

Makes sense and the timing is perfect for this to happen - whether it is a full merge or an alliance

 

True and the SEC already has…

True and the SEC already has a lot of schools in small market areas. I just can't see the SEC adding anymore teams unless they can renegotiate the contract with ESPN they signed for 2024-2034. That new contract was already for less than what the B1G was getting on their soon expiring contract and it was before adding Texas and Oklahoma.

ESPN also owns the SEC Network so they own cable and the streaming platform. They also have the exclusive contract for ACC football and basketball so I doubt they (ESPN) would be for any teams jumping from the ACC.

ESPN has the ACC and SEC…

ESPN has the ACC and SEC locked up but I doubt they won't also want a part of possible shared rights deal with the B1G and/or Pac-12 who's contracts are up in 2023 and 2024.

The Big 12 is probably DOA but I would imagine that Fox Sports wants to stay involved in college sports as they own the majority of the B1G network. Does CBS now get more involved with B1G football now that they lost the SEC contract? Does NBC or other media network make a play? 

We'll probably know sooner than later.

One thing to consider is…

One thing to consider is that both the B1G (2023) and the Pac-12 (2024) broadcasting deals are up in the next couple of years and negotiations probably have already started. The SEC already signed an exclusive (football/basketball) deal with ESPN that will run from 2024 to 2034 and this is before they added Texas and Oklahoma so ESPN has to be thrilled they outbid everyone. The SEC deal is for around $330 million per year - the previous deal with CBS was $55 million per year. For comparison, the B1G deal which ends in 2024 is roughly $440 ( ESPN $190, Fox $240, CBS $10 ) million per year.

With the probable collapse of the Big 12 who like the B1G shared rights with ESPN and Fox Sports the timing couldn't be better for the B1G to negotiate a new blockbuster deal. The B1G doesn't need to do anything if this is going to be a financial decision to expand. 

But if they are going to expand then I think they should just have the Pac-12 schools join the B1G. Some of the problems the Pac-12 conference is facing are:

1) Pac-12 Network (100% owned by the Pac-12) has been a disaster 
2) Lack of exposure 
3) Overall bad management and expenses

A merge with the B1G could alleviate these issues by:

1) B1G Network takes over the Pac-12 Network
2) Pac-12 teams playing in prime time on the east coast and vice versa
3) Removing redundant management and other expenses

Some of the benefits for the B1G would be:

Add at least 50% more homes to the B1G Network and the overall media footprint would add to it's already impressive coverage (# 2021 DMA rankings):

Los Angeles (#2)
Bay Area (S.F., Oakland) (#6)
Phoenix (#11)
Seattle-Tacoma (#12)
Denver (#16)
Sacramento (#20)
Portland (#21)
Salt Lake City (#30)

This would put the new B1G/PAC 12 in a position to demand a huge broadcast deal and the overall reach would be much, much larger than the SEC.
 

PAC12 teams leaving their…

PAC12 teams leaving their traditional rivals to join a conference (B1G) that is on the other side of the country - in some cases a 3 hour time difference is not the same as teams from a merged Southwest/Big 8 (Big 12) conference bolting to the SEC. Missouri and Arkansas had already left for the SEC before Texas A&M did. I like to think that the PAC12 and the B1G have more concern for their member schools than these other conferences - but I could be wrong.

 

Your not going to break up…

Your not going to break up the Pac-12 that way. Stanford without Cal, Washington without WSU, Oregon without OSU...  Arizona and ASU have to just f off..The only way this would work is if the B1G and Pac-12 just merged - not that I want that but I would rather have that then taking on all these leftover schools that the ACC/SEC doesn't want.

We also almost lost Bob …

We also almost lost Bob "Saul Goodman" Odenkirk yesterday who collapsed on the set of Better Call Saul with an apparent heart attack. Latest news is he is going to recover.