What positives can we take away from the Alabama game?

Submitted by UMgradMSUdad on

The game was not pretty; it was a beat down.  I do, however, see some areas for hope.

Dennis Norfleet looks to be an emerging star on kick off returns.

The team fought to the end.  

We got this loss in our first game, and it's the most talented team on our schedule.

Any other positives you can think of?

 

DrueDown

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:03 AM ^

Send your punter to the showers, not the field.



Never give the ball away yourselves, make the ref, or your QB hand it over.



Hopefully Hoke & Co. remember this.



Just a little tip from your Uncle Lar.

(Google it kids)

Perkis-Size Me

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:11 AM ^

We are, without question, not the only team Bama is going to give an ass-kicking to this year. We just happened to be the first ones in line.



Other than LSU, I could easily see Bama beating the crap out of every other team on its schedule. No other team aside from LSU comes even close to their talent level on both sides of the ball. As Bama goes through its schedule, this game will be forgotten.



Will MSU and OSU fans trash talk us? Absolutely. I know I would if I were in their position. But they'd do well to remember that we had the balls to put them on our schedule, and there are very, very few teams in the country who could go toe-to-toe with Bama, much less beat them.

jlim

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:13 AM ^

was good. I thought that  was a good sign of things to come then the rest of the game happened.

Norfleet was the only bright spot I can think of  right now.

TallyWolverine

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:23 AM ^

What positives can I take away? Hmmmmm....

1) Hopefully we wont see the Three Stooges x2 officiating any more Michigan games. 

2) I will personally ignore any ESPN conversations about the SEC because I am officially tired of listening to them perform fellatio on the SEC.

3) Al Borges has hopefully decided to stop running dive plays on every first down when trailing by 20 in the 2nd half.

4) Our defensive front cant possibly be pushed around that bad again.

5) Taylor Lewan will now start to look like the All-Big Ten first round selection he is predicted to be.

6) The defense might actually absorb the importance of WRAPPING UP when tackling.

7) Should I go on?....Oh yes, Pipkins looked pretty good at the end, and Norfleet was impressive in his 50 kickoff returns Thats really the only thing positive i took from this massacre.

8) Denard has learned his lesson about leading with his throwing shoulder  when tackling somebody out of frustration.

9) I now see Herbstreit's true colors showing in how he polished the knobs of anything in crimson. "Hey herbstreit!! You-a like-a the way the dick-a taste-a?"

 By the way, I dont know if I have given the impression that I'm not happy, but uh, I'm not happy.

goblue81

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:14 AM ^



My list of positives:

  • Norfleet looks to be our best returner since Breaston (maybe even better).
  • Pipkins looks like a man - didn't get to watch him much, but he has the "eye test" wow factor
  • BWC looked better - against Bama's O-line "looked better than last year" is probably worth nothing
  • Gardner is raw at WR - needs a little coaching on finishing routes, but the raw talent looks great
  • Hagerup bombed some punts (maybe even out-kicked his coverage)
  • Gallon - Papa Smurf needs some love - great hands and works hard

THE BIGGEST POSITIVE of all is... we just played the defending national champions and quite possibly the best team in all the land.  They have NFL talent everywhere. Yes, we got pasted, but if you want to be the best, you have to play the best.   We'll learn more from this game than Bama will.  We'll be a better team for playing this game.

readyourguard

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:17 AM ^

I'll tell you what positive I take from this:



The coaches and players will go to work right away, fixing problems, finding the right players for the right positions, and getting the best 22 on the field. No better way to get focused than after an utter beat down.



I'll bet the line gets shook up a little. Freshmen will get even longer looks. Our OL was atrocious but I bet it gets straightened out ASAP



Gorgeous Al has now used the same game plan against Bama, MSU, and Iowa. If he doesn't acknowledge that we don't have a deep threat qb, we're screwed. He needs to be more accountable.

DonAZ

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:29 AM ^

"If he [Borges] doesn't acknowledge that we don't have a deep threat qb, we're screwed."

I've tried very hard to maintain my unquestioning loyalty to Borges, but I'm really starting to wonder.  I can't for the life of me understand the use of Vincent Smith like we saw tonight.  It simply wasn't working and it wasn't going to work.  And as you say, Robinson is simply not a reliable deep-threat passer. 

jmblue

September 2nd, 2012 at 1:17 AM ^

I thought Smith actually looked decent (all things considered) when he wasn't losing his footing - there were about three plays where he made a cut and then slipped, allowing the defenders to get to him.  He had a nice run on a sweep for a first down; we may want to try that more often.

As for the deep ball, you can't give up on that if you're Borges.   That got us our two TDs.   I'd probably focus more on Gallon and Gardner as the deep threats over Roundtree, though.  

NoMoPincherBug

September 2nd, 2012 at 6:08 AM ^

DonAZ who the fuck else is Borges going to use?  Rawls runs slower than I do and Im 20 years older jk...fuck he must be injured cause he was running 5.0s out there.  So what the fuck is Borges suposed to go to?  Hayes??  Johnson?

Michigan needs some serious RB Recruits to come in...cause that is not a deep lineup after Fitz.

DonAZ

September 2nd, 2012 at 9:30 AM ^

It's not simply the use of Smith ... it was how Smith was used.

Before Smith finally got off the 30+ yard run, he was 10 carries for 9 yards.  If memory serves, they all appeared to be really slow-developing plays in the backfield.  It appeared like perhaps they were read plays where Robinson's "read" was hesitant, and Smith got the ball a half-tick too late against a defense like Alabama's.

So it's not Smith per se ... it's any running back used in a way that gives a defense like Alabama enough time to see what's coming and shut it down.

maizenbluedevil

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:26 AM ^

The uniformz actually weren't as bad on TV as they were seeing them on that Youtube video, IMO.  I won't be buying one by any means, but, after thinking they were hideous, my reaction to them on TV was neutral.  Wouldn't wanna see them on a regular basis but as a one-off thing, ok.  

As others have said, Norfleet was awesome.  Hopefully they get him on the field on offense as an RB or in the slot, that kid is on a whole other level as far as quickness.  Wow.

Gallon - best reciever.  They need to give him more looks.  

turtleboy

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:36 AM ^

Our makeshift D line got quite a few good stops/sacks against the best Oline in the country. If our linebackers had been a little more ready we wouldve better limited their rush attack. Also, we put up quite a few yards against the best defence in the country on game 1of the season.

BawseWeeks

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:38 AM ^

Michigan scored more points than most teams that played Alabama these past couple of seasons. I think the team will improve and do well in the B1G. Hopefully, the injured players recover soon because it's on to the next opponent. No use dwelling on this game. The Wolverines will be ready for Alabama in a few years.

bluenectarine

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:39 AM ^

Positives

1) Gallon - he is the only guy on the team that looked like he belonged playing against BAMA

2) Shane Morris is on the way - football is about QB QB QB QB QB QB!!!

3) Countess is THAT GOOD!!!

4) ummm, yeah BWC I guess

 

Negatives

1) #44 is the worst linebacker I have ever seen

2) horrible tackling

3) Denard's "throwing"

4) Vincent Smith's and Rawls running

5) Mr Penalty Taylor Lewan

 

Perkis-Size Me

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:39 AM ^

It's important to remember too that Saban did not rebuild Alabama in one year. He went 6-7 his first year and lost to some crappy teams.



Did we get an ass kicking tonight? Absolutely. But Saban has had the benefit of building this team up for 6 years. Hoke is in his 2nd year. Hoke only has one class of "his guys" on the team right now. Building a championship team takes time. I know that we at UM are a rather impatient bunch, but we need to have patience. I have all the confidence in the world in Hoke. He's bringing in top talent, especially on the lines. Football games are won in the trenches. Hoke knows that.



Bottom line: we're going to be just fine. We're in good hands.

Slim_Hype

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:44 AM ^

The defense. We were still gashed by some relitevely large runs from time to time but we only gave up what? 13 points? in the second half. Happy about that. Desmond Morgan wa just terrible. James Ross is going to take that spot if he doesnt step up.

 

Devin Gardner is LEGIT, needs to refine his routes but overall hes going to be a monster this year. Roy needs to be in the slot. 

 

We just played better in the second half, just like most games last year. Excited for the rest of the season and Denard didnt look bad to me at all. He the picks are obviously not acceptable but he impressed me still with his throwing motion and how he managed the pocket.

jmblue

September 2nd, 2012 at 1:00 AM ^

They actually had 10 points in the second half.  Three came on a drive of about 15 yards (after we'd turned it over on downs at midfield) and the other seven came on the drive that had two questionable 15-yard penalties called on us.  I'll give the guys some credit for hanging in there and playing hard to the end after a first half in which every possible thing went wrong.

 

94-99

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:47 AM ^

Denard has not learned to throw in 4 years although he will still tear up crappy competition.  Our defense is both slow and small.  It is odd to be both.  Devin Gardner can get open, but has trouble catching the ball.  Vincent Smith is a third down back.  He should never carry it all game long.  The season is not in disaster, but this team is a 8-4 type of team.  I know all of you thought Hoke was the second comg of Yost, but he has a lot to learn himself.  

Puget Sound Blue

September 2nd, 2012 at 12:59 AM ^

It's hard for me to see much positive from this game. Sure, it takes time to rebuild, and it was probably too much to expect Michigan to win this game, but not too much to expect them to be at least competitive. It wasn't even close. The game was pretty much over in the first quarter.

Some folks may not like me to say this, and I will be more than happy to be proven wrong later in the season, but I just wasn't impressed by Denard Robinson. Yes, he can be electrifying on certain plays, but his passing still isn't where it needs to be and he's a senior now. Teams can just stack the box and make him throw. I think he's a placekeeper until next season.

Wolverman

September 2nd, 2012 at 1:08 AM ^

 Nah teams don't have to stack the box because now Denard won't run. Alabama gets a lot of credit in that game for some Michigan mistakes. They shut down the Vincent smith up the middle which we ran the same play 20+ times and a few Denard over/ under throws allowed Bamas DB to get back in the play.

 I've not seen the Borges Genius I keep hearing about. Atleast the defense just got ran over and was physically dominated. The Offense beat themselves running the same play over and over and having Denard play like John Montana instead of Denard Robinson.... Yea I said John it's Joes brother