Wolv54

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2 weeks 2 days ago I think we need to jam

the tune "Beastly" from Vulfpeck at the Stadium.  They're obviously Michigan guys with all the UM swag they're wearing in this video.  It's a cool jam. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQRV0c1KXYc 

 

 
3 weeks 23 hours ago All great leaders are flexible in their opinions

and I think he's talking about two different things; a large format playoff system and a plus-one concept on the current system.  You'd paint him as an old curmudgeon if he had one single, unwavering opinion on the subject. 

Until they level the playing field with regards to academics, admissions standards, and recruiting class sizes, the call for a playoff is a moot point.  One September 1st, we'll see one college football team and one semi-pro football team compete against each other under the veil of amatuerism and tradition.
30 weeks 1 day ago So you're asserting that at the snap, Hawthorne should

immediately flow against the direction of the slant?  Basically, this play is a counter.  It is not a play that just develops and the RB cuts back.  It looks real time like a little delay counter action.  Get the D Line flowing with the OL and then counter action pits the RB against LBs who are each targeted for blocks by FBs and pulling OL.  This is the part of the game you refer to as rock paper scissors insomuch as they out executed us on the play.

It is plausible that during film study EMU saw that our LBs were slow to diagnose run direction and late to flow to the ball; some refer to this as a false step, which is all it can take sometimes to trun right into a block versus beating it to a spot.  With experience, this becomes less and less of a problem.

You're not wrong in isolating this play, but you've got to keep in mind that these 3 guys are relatively young with regards to experience and that is a major factor in this.  It is not that we've somehow recruited LBs who all cannot act like 5th senior robots or are incapable of performing like other LBs on other teams.  When I listen to Hoke and Mattison talk about the defense, they allude to a lof of these issues when they speak of consistency.  They want guys to take a read step and go, not step, think, go, stop, go, eat a block, etc. 

I think this play highlights a couple failures all around and one of poor execution.  I would like to see one DL get some penetration and disrupt that pull action or create traffic in the backfield, but it seems to me that they are content in just slanting without reacting to the OL's moves.  If I'm in the 3 tech and my guard of center pulls out, I am going upfield in a hurry.
30 weeks 5 days ago My point was that

you don't know what the LBs keys were and MM is there and his job is not to just destroy the center.  Demens and Hawthorne do need to close those gaps down, 

It's hard to take one play and dissect it to the point that you can make a determination about players...the comparison to MSU is like comparing apples to oranges in that MSU's linebackers were pretty much on autopilot as far as read steps in that they were either coming downhill at the A gaps or were not.

I don't know about you, man, but this is night and day different than anything under RR the last two years and I'm loving it, even when they are not at their best, it's still more fundamentally sound.
30 weeks 6 days ago You're wrong on Martin,

Touch the Banner is more correct; you're not exactly wrong.  MM is guilty of playing with bad technique as he lets the blocker get too much into his body and is unable to shed and tackle.

I doubt you're afraid to criticize anyone, but I think it's a matter of having intimate knowledge of DL play.  The LBs keys might be different than what you think they should be and using the MSU strategy of blitzing the A gaps with reckless abandon.  Our LBs have to be aware of the PA pass and keep their depth a little longer; MSU doesn't respect our passing game and there is not PA to speak of, so they are attacking the mesh point and causing denard to get happy feet.

My guess is that Narduzzi and company wanted to attack the mesh point between Denard and the RB with a combination of edge pressure and the double barrel blitz on the A gaps.  The wind was a factor in the pass game, so the thinking is to keep denard uncomfortable and make him make decisions in a compressed timeframe which leads to rushed throws and poor mechanics.  At least that is what the film had shown on us thus far into the season.
30 weeks 6 days ago You're right and you're wrong

First of all, you don't know what their keys were, so you're assuming that all MLBs should react the same way.  You show the MSU still picture as a contrast to what our guys are doing, but that's not correct.  MSU probably does a lot more play action than UM, so there keys were not to blirz up the A gaps upon the snap.  It two very different types of offenses.

 

Secondly, the real problem is the two DL not disengaging from their blocks and making the plays in the backfield.  That gets compounded by the LBs holding in the middle and then taking bad angles to close the holes.  I agree they should be closing in to close down the holes, but the DL needs to play with better technique and not let those blockers get into their bodies so much they cannot disengage and tackle in the backfield.

 
31 weeks 1 day ago Bielema

Bielema could rescue baby seals from a raging inferno and it would not lessen my disdain for him, but I will say that I hope he beats the snot out of MSU this weekend...between the whistles.

That probably speaks more to my shortcomings than to his.
31 weeks 3 days ago Run the football

I too screamed run the football, but it was much earlier in the game.  However, after the initial shock and disappoint wore off, I rewatched the game and I can't say that Borges was totally wrong in his approach even in 30MPH swirling winds. 

MSU routinely had 9 in the box and was bringing a mix of edge pressure and blitzing the A gap(s) the entire game.  Our offensive line was getting no push at the LOS and MSU was basically conceding the pass because they knew the wind was a factor and that Denard's kryptonite can be his passing/accuracy/footwork.  As a defensive coach, I would attack UM with edge pressure and attack the mesh point of the read option plays to put denard on the defensive.  Our WRs don't scare me, the OL does not scare me, and the RBs don't scare me, so I would focus totally on Denard and make him beat me with his arm in bad wind conditions with underneath throws.  That is what MSU's game plan was and they executed.  I think Borges was forced to go after what the defense was allowing and that was the pass more often than not.

I think the anxiety came from not seeing our OL knock them off the ball like they did to us when they had the ball.  We're stuck in this limbo between spread and shred and Manball. 

It was a disappointing day, but one that very quickly became apparent that it was going to take some fortunate bounces to go our way to win.  When the other team wins the battle in the trenches, then you need some intangibles to go your way.  We got two turnovers and a boatload of "derp" from MSU, but it wasn't enough to overcome their dominance at the LOS on both sides of the ball.
35 weeks 2 days ago Say what you will about BWC

But in the very limited time I've watched his snaps, he has held up well against doubles and made some plays.  Even though interior DL don't have tell-tale stats, BWC has played low and has gotten some push up the middle, which allows LBs to read and react to their gaps as opposed to dealing with blockers. 

At this point in the season, I still say that our best combination, even though it almost never on the field at the same time, is WDE of Roh/Black, MM, BWC, and then using RVB at the SDE.  Yes, RVB packed on some #'s, but I think he's got the body of a DE not a DT.
47 weeks 6 days ago Look at who's offering their opinions

Not to be negative myself, but on the occassion I got to watch a Michigan game with Tim, I realized he doesn't know how to scout players or assess football; he's not a coach and never has been, so I don't take any of his write-ups as anything more than a regurgitation of a bunch of these scout profiles, other's opinions, etc.  One of the reasons a kid might be under the radar is that they don't hit the camp circuit heavily and are relying on their HS staff to get the word out, which has varying effectiveness.  It's obvious that the kid is a project, but that the coaches say something there that they liked and thought could turn into a performer.  It's akin to a kid getting all the hype, a 5-star rating, and all of the accolades of a future star while in HS, but they had already hit there ceiling in the 12th grade and they go to college and are mediocre players because they had no more room to develop.  A kid that grew 4 inches last year has still not filled out his frame.
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