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The obvious conclusion is…

The obvious conclusion is that replay is stupid and causes more problems than it solves.

I confess to wondering…

I confess to wondering briefly during this game if the defense had returned to the bad old days of seeming to believe the QB keeping the ball and running was illegal. Then that stopped and I was happy.

Why despite the apparent…

Why despite the apparent domination is Michigan not scoring more points, is a good question. They scored in the 50s in every non-conference game last year. So offensive structure does not appear to be an obvious culprit.

There are several factors at play.  The clock rules are clearly limiting Michigan possessions. I wonder if there isn't money to be made betting against these very long lines before the market corrects. But PSU put up 63 on Delaware so. What?

I think you have to divide the game into halves because it is clear Michigan is not as interested in scoring in the second half of these games. And also, are not lucking into them as a result of a wilting disinterest opponent. For comparison, Michigan scored TDs on 3/4 first half possessions. PSU scored TDs on 5/6 first half possessions. One of the reasons PSU had 2 more possessions was because Delaware was not using up the clock at all. Delaware had the ball for about 5 minutes of the first half. Michigan was just as successful at stopping UNLV but UNLV did manage to run clock. These very high scores are also aided by lots of opponent turnovers. But Michigan has only got one TO in the first two games. No help there.

But having explained all of that. Something does feel weird about the offense. Clearly, the running game isn't working as well as it did last year. A concern. Maybe just a minor one. This means that JJ has to convert a lot of third downs with his arm. Which is great! But, so many third downs. If JJ wasn't perfect it feels like the drives would end. You can't expect your QB to be perfect every week. Right now, Michigan isn't making offense look easy. They are moving down the field converting 3rd downs not ripping off giant chunks on early downs with lots of run after catch. Somehow, it feels like the defenses have contrived to take away the run game and also keep their safeties back to avoid giant plays. I don't know why or how.

So it is weird. And I feel Bill Connelly's concerns. I just don't quite know if they are legitimate.

The 1994 team was absolutely…

The 1994 team was absolutely worthy of those high hopes and expectations. They proved it on the field. They played 3 top 10 teams in 5 weeks. They beat #3 on the road. They had #7 beat at home before a historic stroke of bad luck. Most impressively they played #3 PSU close 3 weeks later. That PSU team was stacked with future NFL players. They beat OSU 63-14. Imagine that. At the end of that gauntlet of games (that included MSU) Michigan played PSU to a coin flip. And lost. Again. This is the danger of playing such a tough schedule. It is so hard to win them all. It is very hard to win them all against an easier schedule. And there are/were only 4 teams that make the CFP.

This is why we have to enjoy and appreciate the last two seasons despite the final losses. Those teams lived up to and exceeded expectations. Taking down very good OSU teams in the process. Nothing is guaranteed. Sometimes Byrant Westbrook outjumps Ty Law on the final play and it is someone else's day. But sometimes. He doesn't.

After watching the Huskie…

After watching the Huskie defensive line, lead by Steve Emtman, eat the Michigan offense alive the previous season, this game was a huge surprise.

Reading Ed Davis' name made me chuckle. I would become very outrage in the stands whenever they'd sit Wheatley and put in Ed Davis. I would continually yell "Ed Davis sucks give it to Wheatley." In subsequent years, I shortened that to just "give it to Wheatley." I kept yelling that long after Wheatley was gone and I was surrounded by undergraduates who likely had no idea who Wheatley was. One of the benefits of graduate school is getting to stay in the student section for 6-7 years. Pete Elezovic was another guy I did not like. I have no idea if the stats bear this out but he started my hate of FGs because it seemed like he missed enough that going for it was the better option most of the time. I would literally turn around in the stands so as not to watch any Elezovic FG attempt.

As someone who lived through the 94 season this seemed like an offensive understatement as an epithet for the season.

"Four rather narrow defeats did Michigan in that season,"

The Kordell Stewart Hail Mary was certainly a "narrow defeat." Michigan also lost at home to a historically stacked 94 PSU squad. Against all hope, Michigan had the ball late with a chance to tie but the drive died around midfield on an unsuccessful run by Tim Biakabatuka. After 1995, no one would ever complain about handing off to Biakabatuka but that season was Wheatley's year. It should have been him with the ball. 

Having lived through Braylon…

Having lived through Braylon's Michigan tenure rather than watched it on in highlights films, this game was a good example of the exasperating way Braylon could give but also take away. The early fumble was totally bad Braylon. He also had a tendency to drop passes. Like the long early TD he dropped that would have changed the complexion of the 2004 Rose Bowl against USC. He also dropped a 4th down pass against OSU in the Troy Smith game.

Interesting that you just glossed over the decision to kick the FG to go down 13-27 pretty late in the 4th. I guess Carr did that knowing he was going to do the onsides kick but it was pretty exasperating in real time.

I love the optimism but I…

I love the optimism but I don't think there is any chance Roman Wilson gets enough action to be an MVP or even nationally known. He may be good enough but there will be too much Edwards and Corum and Loveland for Wilson to get the ball enough. Every season, this site picks a new WR to hype but the game planning never cooperates. Managing expectations based on past results is the key to enjoyment here. Michigan has got the best OL and two of the best RB in the nation. They are going to run the damn football.

The only thing I've heard…

The only thing I've heard from Moore in the off season is that Michigan will run more than the fans want them to in 2023. So. Set expectations accordingly. There will be on 500 yard passing games. No 400 yard passing games. And very few 300 yard passing games.

But OTOH, the alternative is to be like Brian Kelly and Ryan Day. The run game looks good but when push comes to shove everyone knows they'll be passing. 

I just wish the play calling could be less risk averse and more varied sooner and when the situation called for it. Even against OSU, they nearly fell way behind before going with plan B. And they didn't run JJ until the 2nd half. Against TCU there is at most 1 game left. Run JJ now.

But, for my part, keep beating OSU and do whatever you want afterwards. Playing with house money at that point. 

So weird. Vick was a…

So weird. Vick was a prolific runner at VT and a 1000 yard rusher in the NFL. Legal issues aside, how is Stroud playing like him?

My biggest question was what…

My biggest question was what did Georgia do so well that the Michigan D didn't?

Then again. Michigan stopped OSU better than Georgia did. So. Match ups?

While it is interesting,…

While it is interesting, particularly given Gollum's self serving stories about the Ring, to ponder if Bombadil was made up by Frodo, the idea is rather implausible. Both Gandalf and Elrond directly reference Bombadil in statements. Aragorn also appears more indirectly to be familiar with Bombadil. Certainly, Frodo could be fabricating all of that but that would be embellishing to a completely unnecessary extent about a lie that he more likely would have preferred not to continually remind everyone of. 

As such a passionate student of history, I am sure that Seth would agree that getting name checked by contemporaries is good evidence that someone existed. 

As for the luck factor of the basketball team. I think in this case luck is a placeholder word for something that clearly exists but cannot be easily measured in the statistics. I would not be surprised for Michigan to have a greatly improved W-L record next year but without improving commensurately in other season statistics. Call it luck or just note that whatever the problem was, that is difficult to measure statistically, got fixed. 

I wonder why they are…

I wonder why they are recruiting a dual threat QB?

 

 

If you look at basically…

If you look at basically every other game of the season, after the first drive the offense started off slow on the scoreboard. Except PSU. And in every game, except PSU but including OSU, McCarthy did not run until the second--if he ran at all. Michigan could very easily have been down 21-3 OSU before they started getting things going. Just like they DID end up down 21-3 against TCU. 

Then, in basically every game, except Illinois, the offense blew the opponent's doors off in the second half. The same was true in this case. Except they were losing 21-3. 

Why was it this way? That is a good question. But that is the way it was. TCU just managed to put 7 ups while Michigan was plunging into the line "setting up their second half offense." 

In the end, it almost worked. It would have worked. If Michigan had played like they played all year rather than making uncharacteristic mistakes. But the biggest mystery is why they didn't use McCarthy's legs earlier--especially given how well it worked out against PSU. The only time they did it in the first half. 

 

It was weird how "everyone"…

It was weird how "everyone" noted all week how run heavy Michigan was in the red zone and how they needed to pass more. Then. The next... big bunch of red zone plays were all runs. Straight up the middle. No passing until the game was already over. It worked in that they scored the TDs but "the problem" was not solved. As Jansen said, "it looked like Harbaugh wanted to send a message. Although I have no idea what the message was." The message is Jim Harbaugh is more stubborn than you.

With regards to the passing game, I think that we've been the victim of Seth's admirable over-enthusiasm for the WR room (and Michigan players in general.) He's been pumping up Cornelius Johnson since the days he tried to coin the nickname Corn Joe. Yet, the guy has only had 2 100 yard receiving games in his career--against Indiana and NIU in 2021. Roman Wilson, for all the times he's been wide open deep, has yet to have a 100 yard receiving game. Anthony went from unknown to a huge day against MSU in 2021 back to unknown. Probably had more yards in that one game than in all the others combined. In fact, the only WR with a 100 yard game in 2022 is Bell. 

Until they put up stats on the field. Everyone but Bell is just guy. And JJ is throwing to the TEs because they are the open guys that catch the ball. I'll be happy to change my mind when it happens on the field. Until then, the endless break out expectation for this or that guy is over for me.

Regarding Xavier Worthy, you…

Regarding Xavier Worthy, you answered your own question. Anyone viewing football as their career would rather be a superstar on a high profile 10-10 team than a perplexing afterthought on a 20-2 team. I assume Worthy will get drafted high and be paid. Which is much better than endless message board speculation about why Xavier Worthy isn't getting thrown the ball at Michigan regardless of how much they win.

Michigan is winning and that…

Michigan is winning and that is good. And. If somehow Michigan has found a way to win at football without excellent WR that's fine. The assumption is that this WR room right now is very good. But, it is just common sense that if they don't use the WR then it will be almost impossible to continue recruiting great WR regardless of the winning.

The coaches have to know this. Yet, in his media availability yesterday, when Weiss was asked if they wanted to involve the WR more, he got a little defensive and noted how good the offense was doing and how efficient it is. Which was a little concerning. Although, I assume he just didn't want to admit any deficiencies rather than truly believing they don't need to use the WR for recruiting purposes.

It would be really nice if at some point in the Rutgers game they stopped leaning so much on Corum and spread the love around to the WR. A team that has aspirations of beating OSU and competing in the playoff should be able to do that rather than firing their one gun over and over until the clock reads 0:00 against Rutgers.

I don't have a dog in this…

I don't have a dog in this fight but they ran Pepcat against OSU 4 times in 2016. You can see it in the stats.

Peppers had 4 rushes for a total of 4 yards. It was very dispiriting and alarming for the coaches to trot that out there without something new.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/400869650

 

I only saw the last play 2…

I only saw the last play 2 plays of regulation and OT of the Miami UVa game but wow. Miami was down 3-6 with 3rd and goal from the 7 less than 30 seconds left and ran off tackle rather than trying to score a TD. In OT, neither team could even get a first down. 3 plays and kick a FG. On 3rd and 8 Miami AGAIN ran off tackle to kick the FG and extend the game rather even try to get a first down. 

WTF is going on with Gattis? If he were to even say speed in space now he'd be laughed off the podium. He seems to be the opposite of what he purported himself to be.

Everyone watching on TV…

Everyone watching on TV thought Michigan scored in 3 seconds because they showed what was allegedly the game clock as they went to commercial after the TD and it was 14:57. I ran it back just to be sure because I couldn't figure out how. And everyone else kept saying it took 7 seconds. 

On the video from Borges'…

On the video from Borges' office, there is a to do list on the dry erase board. One of the items on the list is Upon Further Review. Which begs the question, has anyone been in a room with both Brain Cook and Al Borges? I'm guessing the answer is no. 

As a fan, I keep hearing…

As a fan, I keep hearing about how many great WR Michigan has. So many, that it will be hard to keep them all happy. We heard all off season about how explosive the new pass oriented offense would be. Given all of that it is hard not to be a little disappointed that the offense in the first game was a collection of vanilla runs and dump offs to various TEs and RBs with little hint of even any interest in explosivity or involvement from the WR outside of downfield blocking. 

Gardner's criticism of Cade that the explosive WR plays are there but he's not throwing them for whatever reason is sounding more and more believable to me this year.

If McCarthy is throwing to open receivers down the field today, even if he doesn't hit them, that will be an important data point. If it is more dump offs and TE heavy sets but with QB runs. Well. That will be something else.

I'll have to see a Harbaugh team really focus on getting the ball to the WR before I believe it will happen.

Cade played badly. When he…

Cade played badly. When he does that it looks like McCarthy time. If it continues, the competition is over. But we've got a whole season of good Cade. A season as the Big Ten champion. Until we've seen McCarthy throw a bunch of passes, we don't know anything we didn't already know. The running is exciting but Michigan can't base their offense on QB runs and read options. We've seen that before. Looks unstoppable against bad teams but good teams can stop it (and it gets your QB battered.) At some point, the QB will need to complete hard passes without throwing INTs. We've seen Cade do it. We haven't seen McCarthy do it yet. 

It was generally cold. Plus…

It was generally cold. Plus I have found running to also cause shrinkage. No man looked good. It took real courage.

The key was to be decisive and run early so you could actually run. Run fast. Before the crowds descended and the run slowed to a walk. I sprinted by lots of people I worked with who didn't realize until I was past. I hope they enjoyed my bare ass. 

I've been to two Michigan…

I've been to two Michigan OSU football games in Columbus. I had similar experiences to what you describe. People yelled at me. If you ignore them or respond calmly (wave, say hi, etc.) nothing more has ever happened to me. I have no doubt that if you got aggressive with people yelling at you that you could get into trouble but that is true any where.

I personally would not wear my Michigan gear to anything but the game itself because I don't need the hassle of people yelling at me when I am just trying to eat but its not like it is dangerous to do so. 

Just be calm and avoid confrontation and everything will be fine. No one wants to miss the game sitting in a police station. 

I had heard that Georgia…

I had heard that Georgia liked to establish the run and blah blah. Here are some numbers from the first 4 drives after which Georgia's offensive approach probably changed to a more conservative kill the clock mode.

First down runs 3

First down passes 11

Second down runs 1

Second down passes 7

I am going to assume the massive tilt towards early down passes took the Michigan D by surprise and led to the favorable, for Georgia, matchups against the LB etc. I don't know how else to explain Bowers being so open down the field like he was. For what it is worth (maybe not much), when Georgia went more run heavy later in the game, maybe like Michigan had originally expected the defense preformed much better.

Michigan, OTOH, played it much more by the book--basically alternating runs and passes on first and second down. Their first 3 first downs were called passes (Cade scrambled on one.) Followed by 2nd down runs. After that they were 4:1 runs to passes on 1st down and 0:3 run:pass on 2nd. 

That looks to me like one of the coaching staffs came out super aggressive and responsive to the defense while the other came out and ran their usual stuff regardless of the defense. 

One thing I've learned over…

One thing I've learned over the years, even if Ferentz tries to punt his way to victory and kick FGs on first down every other week on the schedule--including OSU--Madden Teen Ferentz will coach against Michigan. 

Suddenly, Ferentz will be going for it in positions he would punt every other game and eschewing FGs to go for the TD. Bank on it.

Agreed. Although, I think…

Agreed. Although, I think the "we got them so confused they're firing on the third gun" was lifted from Band of Brothers. Unless there is evidence that the real Lt. Winters actually said that. I was surprised to see that quote because I figured it was pretty obscure.

The "let's go inland and get murdered there" quote is one of my favorites. That and the famous prayer from Anzio.

"God, help us! You come yourself. Don't send Jesus. This is no place for children."

On this one, I can finally…

On this one, I can finally confirm that Henning did step out short of the first down marker.

https://twitter.com/brdispatch/status/1465482332425576463?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1465482332425576463%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dispatch.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2F2021%2F11%2F30%2Fdvr-review-dissects-ohio-states-deficiencies-loss-michigan%2F8811536002%2F

 

Just FYI. The first time…

Just FYI. The first time Seth "sword of Damonocles" which was what I think caused the confusion more than the exact pronunciation. 

Watching the first half of the OSU game followed by the Michigan game it struck me how it must be impossible for Michigan to recruit WR against OSU. Because Michigan doesn’t want to pass. They would prefer to run, even when the run isn’t working and the pass is working, because that is there “identity.” Michigan only passes when they are forced to pass. And even then they "don't trust their QB."

OSU on the other hand does what will work and ends up running and passing well.

Michigans best WR season of the Gattis era, Ronnie Bell 2019, would be the 4th WR by yards on OSU right now with games left to play. Bell 2019 would have been the 3rd WR by yardage on OSU in last year’s abridged season. How is Michigan supposed to recruit with that kind of obvious disadvantage? Come to Michigan! We might throw you a couple passes but only if we have to!!

The different approaches to the MSU game couldn’t have been more stark. MSU is terrible at pass defense. This is known. Every QB has their career day against them. Because it is their “identity” Michigan still wasted down after down demonstrating how dedicated they are to running. Unsuccessfully. Then asked the passing game to bail them out on 3rd down. And then lost. OSU more or less ignored the run and went pass happy against MSU until they were up by a million. Does anyone doubt that if OSU decided running was their option that they couldn’t do that also?

On Saturday, Michigan has got to be efficient to even stay in the game. They don’t have the luxury of running into stacked boxes unsuccessfully because it is their identity like they did in East Lansing. They will have to play to score. If not trusting your QB means not passing then they will lose badly. If Michigan only has 10 or fewer points at half like they did at Washington or PSU the second half won’t matter.

For sure.
Best case scenario…

For sure.

Best case scenario is another very boring game.

Worst case scenario. Not a very boring game.

Winning is of course the goal. It would be nice if it could at least be a little entertaining but that is pretty much the state of college football and for Michigan doubly so. It will be entertaining watching the DE wreck fools.

Seems like a really good…

Seems like a really good opportunity to get Edwards some first half time. If he is what they say he is and the MD defense is what they say it is. Should be OK.

It would be really nice to have JJ get some regular offense drives in the 2nd half also. But you've got to win the game first.

It's been a fun season. My…

It's been a fun season. My skepticism, particularly regarding the OSU game, is we've seen this all before and I don't see much reason to believe this is different.

Michigan brought in Gattis to run a modern offense with RPOs and fast players running in the open field. But rather than transforming the Michigan offense. Instead, the Michigan offense has transformed Gattis. Establishing the run into stacked boxes and relying on execution to make predictable plays work. If one is going to argue that 4th and 2 play "could or should have worked" then I’m not listening because with that logic any play “should” work. How likely is it to work? How easy is it to make it work? If all that has to happen is everyone beat their man then every play works. All plays work. Play calling or play design make no difference. So that is a pointless analysis.

But. This offense does work most of the time. Michigan has a long history of winning lots of games. But what happens when you need to score lots. When spending the first quarter running probing plays to see how you can beat them in the 4th only means the game is over long before the 4th. That’s why Michigan brought in Gattis. Or so we all thought.

It is seems to be just accepted that any penalty will wreck any given drive. And with apologies to Craig Ross, I do not agree that a procedure penalty is going to stop OSU’s offense at all. OSU, and other modern offenses, rips off chunks. The down and distance hardly matter much because their good plays eat up yards. That is if you can even get them to third down.

So. We’ve seen this story for most of this decade. Michigan appears to be staged to go into the game with an offense that has to creep down the field with no penalties and perfect execution. Needing to convert 3rd down after 3rd down. While the OSU offense plays with their hair on fire scoring in fast increments of 7. Again.

And if history is any guide, by halftime it will be obvious that while the Michigan offense is well conceived it just can’t keep up on the scoreboard. Michigan will slam Haskins into stacked boxes and wonder why it isn’t working.

If you look. You’ll see that the only team to score 30+ beat Michigan. Nebraska got 29 and came damn close to winning. Can Michigan hold OSU to less than 30? I certainly hope they can but don’t think that is the bet they should be making.

I keep hearing Brown saying that he thought the D was just good enough to shove and go toe to toe with OSU. Harbaugh saying they brought all the good plays, inside zone and the standard running plays. Both mystified why it didn’t work.

Despite all the suggestions…

Despite all the suggestions that the WR are good and Cade is doing so well. I think the weakness of this offense is getting the ball to the WR. 

Maybe part of that is because the RPOs are basically gone. Except, it seems, they came back during the JJ portions of the game. Just not particularly successfully. 

Super weird because that was Gattis' thing when he was hired and Cade seemed to do it so well last season. That was the modern part of the offense and now it is gone. 

LOL. Why yes I do watch…

LOL. Why yes I do watch football.

But what I am perplexed by is your strange hostility and random massaging of the stats.

Accepting your statistical presentation (ignoring the odd subtraction of Purdue's best WR's stats because the main point of my post was that I am not excited about any of the healthy Michigan WR), on Cade's career day against a rival the Michigan passing attack was still 20% worse than Purdue's passing offense. And you seem to think that is just fine. In fact, worth defending with maximum derision. That strikes me as an odd opinion.

And let us not forget that in addition to gaining more passing yards, the Purdue offense scored more points. 

I think that is bad. I was pointing out that this offense hasn't really ever produced a WR with stats comparable to David Bell. At least, we agree on that.

I just can't get excited…

I just can't get excited about any WR with this coaching staff. They either aren't interested in using the WR or don't know how to get the ball to them consistently. At the beginning of the season it felt like Bell might have a season. Then he got hurt. Last week, I got the impression they wanted to feed Anthony but that hasn't materialized yet. Johnson has some nice plays but hasn't strung anything together.

It feels like the coaches know how to get the ball to the TEs really well but when it comes to the WR they don't know how to make it easy. They expect the QB to hit an NFL window on a passing down and every mistake ends a drive. There seems to be some disconnect getting the ball to the WR. 

That might also explain the issue with QBs. This staff doesn't give them much that is easy and expects perfect reads and NFL windows on 3rd and long. When it doesn't work, Devin Gardner says it is the QB's fault for not hitting the tiny window the play call got him.

It also explains why every penalty and mistake ends a drive. If you can't pass to your WR consistently being behind the chains is death.

Purdue's QB just shredded the MSU secondary. I'm going to guess it looked a lot easier than what Cade had to go a week ago.

After the 4th and 1 timeout…

After the 4th and 1 timeout thing, it looked like Cade was yelling at Harbaugh on the sideline until a random assistant guy came over and calmed Cade down. Harbaugh was ignoring Cade. The broadcast never went back to it though.

The framing of this story…

The framing of this story makes no sense. UCSB can take $200 million from this guy to build his $1.5 billion dorm or they can build nothing.

How does that make sense?

If they've got or can raise the extra $1.3 billion for this building then they can tell Munger to get bent and spend that on a building they design.

The offense felt like the…

The offense felt like the offense against OSU in 2019. Lots of yards but not enough points to go with them. In 2019, that was a reason for optimism. In 2021, it is a reason for concern.

The lack of much new or special was particularly depressing. Particularly given the week upon week of vanilla head to wall approaches that spawned now irrational hope that the offensive coaches were saving something. 

Previously we all said if only we got decent QB play. Now we get great QB play and say we need even better QB play. Maybe Shae Patterson, Joe Milton, and Cade McNamarra are not the ones to blame but rather the common demoninators on the coaching staff.

Watching football without a…

Watching football without a DVR is just not possible for me any more. When the game starts do something that takes an hour or two. Start late and skip commercials. This also presents a good strategy for Michigan fans to avoid killing your entire day being tortured by watching the slo-mo self destruction complete with commercial breaks. Once I get that here we go again feeling. Stop watching but keep DVRing. Wait until the game has been over for 30-45 minutes and then check mgoblog. If the site is down. Michigan lost and you can erase the recording. If not you can watch and enjoy.

Now, clearly this robs you of the joy of the miracle win. But how many of those do we get these days? Most recent miracle wins were just relief at avoidance of total fall apart and not any kind of sublime moment. There are virtually no sublime moments for Michigan football any more. In terms of joy lost versus pain avoided, this strategy puts very much on the good side thse days. 

The only way these two teams…

The only way these two teams are similar is that they both like to run the ball and ask their QBs to do very little in the passing game. That’s it unless you want to add that both teams have/had good FG kickers.

Clarett and Ross didn’t really split time like Haskins and Corum do. At the start of the season, Ross started because Clarett was a freshman and had to work his way into the lineup. Then it became obvious that Clarett was much better than Ross. Then Clarett got hurt and started to break down so Ross got more carries.

The QBs are/were also used differently. Krenzel ran a lot. He was the leading rusher in the championship game. For either team. He had 19 carries. Cade runs more or less never.

Michigans defense is fine. Much better than last year or was expected. But OSUs defense was an all time great defense with NFL players at virtually every position. Michigans defense is not that yet.

In conclusion, 2002 OSU was a great team that beat a Miami team that was being called the greatest team ever, were the defending national champs, and had won 33 games in a row.

Michigan 2021 has been fun but so far their best win is… 3-5 Nebraska, 4-3 Wisconsin, 3-4 Washington?

Let’s just try to stay grounded just a tiny little bit here.

Until that 4th and 2 and…

Until that 4th and 2 and subsequent TD, I was basically counting the minutes until they pulled him for JJ. Such a rough beginning. Cade's form on that first and inaccurate throw was super cringey.  Although, I thought the receivers weren't doing Cade any favors either. After watching the every offensive snap video, Cade was pretty rough all day. Too many inaccurate passes or passes to no where. But he doesn't throw INTs and is reasonably accurate on the deep ball which is so nice after 2-3 seasons of the Michigan QB not being able to hit those. 

I think that long one that Wilson managed to come down with was huge in the game. It led to Michigan going up by two scores again and really put WI behind the 8 ball.

It really looks like Cade's time is limited though. He is a nice base to have though. 

I really enjoy listening to…

I really enjoy listening to Gardner and clearly he is an expert and I am not.

Having said that we all agree that the second half of the Rutgers game was ugly. Why was it ugly?  If it wasn't the play calling then it must be execution. And if the offense gets ultra conservative because they don't trust the QB then I am left to wonder when they will have a QB they can trust? Every QB under Gattis has ended up having the same problems Cade is having now. This is the third QB that can't seem to make reads or throw accurate passes consistently. When you go 0-3 on QBs it is time to start blaming something else. It also seems like they can make as endless mistakes in the running game without "hamstringing" the OC but one mistake in the passing game can get it shelved for the day. That is an absurdly conservative approach. Punt and play defense as a week to week strategy is totally out dated.

Harbaugh said they wanted to average around 25 passes a game and 40 runs. Through 4 games Michigan is averaging 16 passes a game. They can deny it all they want but even by their own estimation, they aren't even close to their own very conservative numbers. 

Next Saturday, the rubber meets the road. Unless the coaches are fine with losing, it is likely not going to matter how much confidence they have in the QB. They are going to need to try to pass more than 16 times.

Clearly, Gardner can diagnose what is wrong and I cannot but something is wrong. When the same wrong thing keeps happening with multiple players that never seems to go right, the real problem is no longer execution.

Putting that aside, if Gattis loses all confidence in Cade as soon as he throws an incomplete pass then it is time for JJ. I'm not calling for that. I'm just saying you can't run offense when one mistake kills your confidence.

It feels to me like Cade has been put in an impossible situation and being left to just dangle there. And that is a serious coaching issue.

This is a season to enjoy…

This is a season to enjoy one game at a time. Which is, unfortunately, not how college football fandom trends towards. Particularly for Michigan fans given how the schedule is structured. But it also a problem for all of college football.

I cannot recall a Michigan offense doing what this one is doing. Running through teams at will. Passing just because. But only occasionally. The homerun threat in the running game is also a rarity. Not since Denard and then Wheatley can I recall players with this explosive potential in the running game. I don’t recall anything like this in the Carr or Hoke era. As a result, these pavings feel different from the pavings of recent decades.

I am concerned that this appears to be a Harbaugh offense not a Gattis offense. It seems that Harbaugh has converted Gattis rather than Gattis modernizing Harbaugh.

On the one hand, we had thought from long experience that run first teams would run into trouble in the important games. Even Alabama modernized their offense. But on the other hand, the Saints went to the Super Bowl with a wacky run heavy offense. Maybe this offense is wacky and different enough to pull it off. Certainly, as long as you score with high efficiency, it does not matter how you are doing it.

It is certainly best to assume that the defense will eventually be eviscerated and the running game stoned. Those things are unquestionably likely to happen against OSU. But hopefully, we can enjoy the season up to and despite that certain outcome.

It is like the UDub coaching…

It is like the UDub coaching staff watched tape of MSU stoning the Michigan offense in recent years. And then decided to do the opposite.

It's almost like the UDub coaching staff has more confidence in Cade than the Michigan staff.

Very strange.

Brett is Blaine Gabbert's…

Brett is Blaine Gabbert's younger brother. I am really quite shocked and amazed that apparently none of you watched the excited 2019 Lending Tree Bowl that Brett started as a freshman for Miami. I figured at least jamie would have had a bet on it. There innumerable mentions of Brett's more famous brother during the broadcast. 

I know Devin Gardner claimed…

I know Devin Gardner claimed these were all reads. He even presented pretty good evidence with how hard Bell was blocking on the fake read bubbles. 

But there is zero chance that hand off at the end of the first half was a read. The DE is practically past Cade on his way to Haskins when Cade gives it.

I'll believe the fake bubbles are reads when they throw one. Which they will at some point. But the only explanation for now is they aren't really reads and the coaches don't care. They must figure when they need them all this will make the read work that much better. 

Even still, there weren't that many plays that looked like they even had fake reads built in. Fewer than in 2019 it seems.

Which then makes one wonder why you brought in an RPO wizard and then convinced him not to run RPOs. Mgoblog should buy Gattis' video and see if it explains why you would build and package RPOs and then not use them?

https://www.championshipproductions.com/cgi-bin/champ/p/Football/Michigan-Football-Series-How-to-Build-Package-RPOs_FD-05567N.html

I am seeing a lot of the…

I am seeing a lot of the same RPO slant stuff that Gattis was doing so much when he first came to Michigan. That was one of the main plays he was running in that terrible Army game. It just looks like the Louisville defense is awful. For whatever reason, those same plays do not work like that for Michigan. Maybe Ole Miss is able to run the ball effectively enough to get those LB to jump the run. Maybe they move at a much faster faster pace. Maybe the Michigan QB can't make the right reads. I don't know. But Michigan has run that play. It just doesn't work as well.

I can see saving plays and…

I can see saving plays and permutations for bigger games. Even though years of experience have demonstrated that to be a false assumption. 

What I saw was a vanilla run game with a very few vanilla passing plays. I didn't see any RPOs or real option plays. Wouldn't you want a new QB to practice those complicated concepts before unveiling them on the big stage.

In the previous two seasons, we assumed the RPOs and options weren't used because the QB couldn't make the correct reads. Now, we've got the QB who apparently can make the reads and still we don't see them. 

Time will tell, of course. And you can only beat the opponent you play on any given week. Michigan won big so that is good. But I am not sure what to make of the future from that game. This looked like the same thinking that killed the offense against MSU last year (a game you would certainly want to bring your "real" offense) and that is a concern to me.

I really liked how that they…

I really liked how that they could run plays quickly. They might actually be able to tempo teams this year. It was also nice to have a QB that could give the WR a chance on the long ball. 

What I didn't see were any RPOs or plays where they are optioning anything. I also did not notice any of the innovative frippery we had hoped to see from Gattis. There were some misdirection plays to All but even those seemed very old school. Even Bo threw surprise passes to the TE. The end arounds mixed with the inside running seemed more Wisconsin-like than what we had hoped to get from Gattis.

The much talked about Villari package seems pretty silly. Wildcat with the third string QB. Amazing.

It was great that they could run against WMU but to me that offense looks like the old days of running against inferior teams and then into a brick wall against good teams. I did notice any of the innovative, modern stuff that we had expected from Gattis.

 

Why are the students singing…

Why are the students singing Mr. Brightside?

It is a catchy, if decade plus old, pop song... Does it capture collective emo outlook of the student section these days or am I missing something? Is this the new Sweet Caroline, Take on Me, sing along song sweeping stadiums these days?