craig_james

September 14th, 2013 at 4:00 PM ^

Our attrition and young, but talented defense reared their ugly head. We have some great players but we do not have enough great senior leadership that we can depend on in games like this.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

September 14th, 2013 at 4:00 PM ^

Here's a Devin snowflake that drives me crazy: He's good when scrambling and looking downfield and good running in space.  But when he panics he zigzags backwards, often zigging right in the arms of the defender he just zagged away from, and turns a 5-yard loss into a 15-yard loss.  When AT LEAST GO SIDEWAYS is screaming through my head, Devin is hustling backwards as fast as he can.  That's partly what caused the endzone INT against the SIr Robins and he did it, I think twice, today.

An Angelo's Addict

September 14th, 2013 at 4:01 PM ^

Coach Funk really needs to be on the hot seat. Our O-Line has regressed the past couple years and we have too much talent (albeit young) to play this awful. Even with young linemen, we should have been blowing their line off the ball and it was the complete opposite. Can't believe how close this was, it was like the Horror all over again. Terrible execution from every facet, except Fitz did the best with what he got

Zok

September 14th, 2013 at 4:01 PM ^

unless we reshuffle the OL and find something; I think UM needs to spread it out more and let Gardner do his thing. With the current group playing smash mouth is a waste of a down.

I'm watching A&M go 4 wide every play and march on Bama....I don't want to go full spread all the time but I think we need to be pass first from here on out.

Chesson flash some playmaking skill, Dileo knows how to find gaps, Gallon is Gallon, Funchess is a mismatch. There are weapons there.

 

 

maize-blue

September 14th, 2013 at 4:04 PM ^

The coaches and seniors should take responsibility for this performance.

I hope to hear no excuses on this one.

Wolverine Devotee

September 14th, 2013 at 4:04 PM ^

Has everyone learned their lesson yet? 

Breaking News: Any team can beat any team, any day of the week. It does not matter what their name is, what their record is, how big their school is, what conference they are in or what you did last week. 

People laughing at me on here for saying to not take any team lightly, despite what they have done in the past, I hoped learned. 

akron is a horrible football team. But you should have the mindset that it's the biggest game of the year going into it.

Maybe I'm just an insane fanatic (I know I am). I learned my lesson in 2008 against toledo. 

MGoBlue96

September 14th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^

as a win can possible be, however I think we need to move back from the ledge. The team and coaches both weren't prepared today, and were looking past Akron today after the big ND win. It is college football, that happens though it doesn't excuse the performance.

We know this team is much better than what they showed today, based on the first two games. Just like everybody else I am concerned about the o-lines and d-lines though, because subpar play seems like a recurring theme at those spots. I am confident it can get better though, by the time Big Ten play rolls around. Devin needing to take better care of the ball is a given, but I think people need to remember he hasn't even had a full season worth of starts in his career.

Also others have already mentioned it, but what the hell is with soft coverage they keep on showing when not blitzing? Don't know why Mattison doesn't show more confidence in his DB's even when they have a clear talent advantage. I also disagree with the amount of rotation going on the d-line, and I think that is part of the problem. Your best players need to stay on the field more. Maybe I am missing something, but I still haven't seen Glasgow make an impact play on the d-line and yet he still is getting a decent amount reps.

The positive is this game should serve as a wake up call of sorts.

VaUMWolverine

September 14th, 2013 at 4:07 PM ^

Never get too high after a win (ND) or too low after a game like this. Young team. Lots of room for improvement. Still 9 games left. Come off of the ledge. Young teams have weeks like this.

SF Wolverine

September 14th, 2013 at 4:09 PM ^

that is all.  They were a 21-point swing, at least. Now, that still makes it closer than it should have been, but we take care of the ball, and the Big House starts to empty early in the fourth quarter. 

Problem is, the normal way to teach ball security is to take it away from the offender(s).  Not an option here - we are riding Devin this year for better or for pick six, two-tirnovers-in-the-red -zone, etc.

Aspyr

September 14th, 2013 at 4:22 PM ^

Watching this again and wow just about everyone played poorly and this wasn’t RPS people didn’t make blocks, tackles etc. No excuse for this type of performance including coaches. I know we are young but this better be corrected quickly. Worst outing I have seen with Hoke has coach. Only silver lining might be that DG’s draft grade went down and maybe we will have him for another year.

 

Only thing more disappointing was that 'The Bears" fans didn't mention Ditka flying the plane during that State Farm commercial. 

ianscott1982

September 14th, 2013 at 4:10 PM ^

Was there something wrong with Gardner today? He looked like 'bad' denard out there. He had to have had an injury or illness. I can't see him ever getting mentally shook so bad that he plays like this. They even took the game out of his hands at the end by running a lot more. That being said, where the hell was our line play? We 'should' be bigger, faster, more talented than them. We should have gotten pressure on every play with a four man rush. We should have been able to run the ball with authority every single play if we chose to. Line play and Gardner were simply pathetic today.

Drbogue

September 14th, 2013 at 4:11 PM ^

I thought Jarrod Wilson shouldve gone upfield on the INT rather than the touchback. Only saw 1 Zip in front of him and that player was being blocked. Would love to know what comes of this UFR.

MGoBlue96

September 14th, 2013 at 4:15 PM ^

I understand trying to avoid the risk of being stopped inside your own ten. There was only one or two Akron guys out there, and he had three guys in front of him who could of easily led the way as blockers.

Swazi

September 14th, 2013 at 4:13 PM ^

Here's something to make us feel better:

 

Army lost last week to Ball St. 40-14.  They lost to Stanford today 34-20.

 

Teams have off games.  At least we found a way to not lose?  I guess?

RagingBean

September 14th, 2013 at 4:14 PM ^

In the second century of the Christian era, the Empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind...

...its genius was humbled in the dust ; and armies of unknown Barbarians, issuing from the frozen regions of the North, had established their victorious reign over the fairest province of Europe and Africa.

...the vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, buries empires and cities in a common grave.

- Edward Gibbon

A win is a win is a win is a win, but that felt like death. Dust is coming for us all!

smwilliams

September 14th, 2013 at 4:23 PM ^

As other people have echoed, this 'win' doesn't negate the win last week. Did this team go from 'awesome' to 'crap' in one week? Of course not. Was it a pathetic display of football today? Absolutely. Is the continued problems on the interior OL (Schofield to an extent today as well) and DL worrying? Yes.

 

aratman

September 14th, 2013 at 4:32 PM ^

Today you all are like boooo worst team ever.  We won, played like crap but won.  No one is getting fired nor should they be.  Lines were great last week, stopping two NFL first rounders.  They have a bad day and now they suck.  They are growing, they will be better because of this win-lose.   I am sure the whole team will be a little more attentive now.  I hope all my clunkers turn out as wins and that others hold themselves to the same standard they do the football team.

imMaizeNBlu

September 14th, 2013 at 4:34 PM ^

While the OL lets us down this is the exact same OL that gave a very good ND DL a handful last game, point blank I think the entire team was still riding that emotional high from last week and started to believe their own hype.



The team as a whole looked uninterested and unmotivated simply due to the fact that they probably thought this was a cake walk and half sleep their way through. Akron by contrast has nothing to loose and momentum from Michigan mistakes that permeated late into the second half.



I don't think OL is that bad, their young and I think the got caught napping. Luckily, Akron is so bad they got away with that. This game to me was a necessary wake up that this team needed so as to not let a big game win lead to a letdown.

Muttley

September 14th, 2013 at 4:51 PM ^

But for a couple of plays, he either made good quick decisions as to where to throw the ball or scrambled to give himself time.



That could be either a good thing or a bad thing.  It would be better to have a dominant O-Line, but Gardner is capable of overcoming the disadvantage we'll have on the O-Line in big games.

Sllepy81

September 14th, 2013 at 4:37 PM ^

I don't think the dline is that bad, akron and ND are quick pass offenses, they always hurt us. Turnovers kept it from being an easy win. After UConn, as long as we don't lose to turnovers, you will think our dline is good assuming they still run the same style offense at uconn as they did last time we played. This quick pass offense kills us, as soon as we bumped the safeties up the went deep on Taylor for a cross your fingers he catches it pass.

samdrussBLUE

September 14th, 2013 at 6:08 PM ^

If they are quick pass offenses than why is the coverage so soft on receivers? Hard to get real burned on quick passes if you press and jam and have even a little safety play. I just think the lines are bad. They aren't the only units needing a lot of improvement. But lets start there

ndscott50

September 14th, 2013 at 4:44 PM ^

I am on day three of being evacuated from my house in Colorado and was out gathering some things to hopefully return home this evening. As a result I did not watch this crapfest. So that is a plus.

Mich1993

September 14th, 2013 at 4:45 PM ^

That was awful, but we didn't lose.  The team got away with taking the week off and playing vanilla offense and defense. 

Positives:  Chesson yards-after-catch looked really good.  More touches for him as teams double and triple Gallen, please.

Lots of snaps for Jourdan Lewis.  Not sure why we've played a different 3rd CB each week (Stribling-Hollowell-Lewis).  Thought Lewis looked pretty good out there.

Willie Henry played and appeared to look pretty good on first viewing.  This season, I was expecting him to be the first DT off the bench and do well. 

Prediction:  U-Conn will be very sorry we played so poorly today.

GoBlueBorderBattle

September 14th, 2013 at 4:51 PM ^

This is all part of Hokes plan. He was in full control. He was just teaching these young men a lesson. It's just part of the Hoke/Mattison strategery. I can confirm this. My uncle's bosses daughter's landscaper used to groom Hokes neighbors dog back...... So it's not just heresay.

marlon

September 14th, 2013 at 4:53 PM ^

I don't know how the conversation can revolve around anything other than the unbelievably awful line play.  Young or not, Michigan's O-line has undeniably regressed to the point where 100-yard games for RBs are a rarity--even against cupcake teams.  And the D-line can't generate an ounce of pressure when rushing four--again, even against cupcake teams.  That line play is something Hoke and Co. emphasize should stress everyone all the more.