Quick look at statistics and implications

Submitted by Generic MGoBlogger on

Sorry for adding to the already overflowing board, but I'm still fuming and need time to reflect publicly.

This was just bad, and Heiko predicted well that this would be another atrocious hangover game offensively. That being said, the statistics say we played a very strong game defensively allowing only 206 total yards... The defensive line kept the run game honest allowing 47 yards rushing on an average of 1.9 yds per carry. D-line also did a great job in the second half of being able to apply pressure to Whitmer. Linebackers played a decent game, and secondary wasn't bad either except for a couple of coverage lapses. Not utilizing bend not break throughout the game seemed to work.

Offense was a different story... Only compiling 284 yards against a team like UCONN is cause for for concern. The biggest concern has to be the turnovers.  One was the miscue on special teams, but the other three are directly linked to DG and his lack of ball security throwing and running. Offensive line was REALLY bad... I'm not surprised that we ended up with 174 yards on the ground mainly because DG was constantly being flushed from the pocket and they were running Fitz to the left throughout the second half.

What this game says is that we are still a VERY young team mainly on the O-Line... This is a much needed bye week, and hopefully it will not be taken for granted.  Coaching definitely has to do a better job of preparation and really needs to come down harder on these guys. More emphasis on ball security and addressing the offensive line issues...

I still believe this is a team that can go 10-2 and make the trip to Indy, but A LOT has to change. Youth needs to be overcome, and I think it will by the time we reach November.  Plus, Jake Ryan returns giving us a leader on defense. Self inflicted mistakes will keep us from accomplishing goals in the long run, though.

Thoughts?

EnoughAlready

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:18 AM ^

Michigan is not "very young" on the OL.  They have 2 5th year seniors, for god's sake.  They have 2 Rs Sophmores and 1 Rs Freshman.  That's not young.  Rather, they just look bad.  Bad is not young.

mejunglechop

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:56 AM ^

Every team in the country is younger than they'd like to be somewhere. One of my only rays of hope is this staff's oft repeated line "the expectation is for the position" and Hoke's repeated criticism of the offensive line these past two years. It takes some balls to fire a guy on your staff, but I think Hoke has them.

ca_prophet

September 22nd, 2013 at 4:36 AM ^

Who on the OL is playing beneath expectations?  Lewan is Lewan but hurt, Schofield is playing about as well as last year, Kalis is alternating crush-kill-destroy-blocks with oops-my-bad-freshman-derps.  Glasgow appears to be doing what the coaches tell him and occasionally leveling a linebacker.  Miller is underweight; neither he nor Glasgow were heavily hyped, so we're getting what we should have expected from them (perhaps even a little more from Glasgow).

Borges seems to be adjusting where possible (and someone put a bug in Fitz' ear about following his blocks).  Our biggest issue is that the one guy we need to be awesome is giving the ball away at an unprecedented rate.  Some part of that is coaching, but most of it is on Gardner.

We will live with Gardner and die with him this year.  Better opponents will require him to step up, or they'll make us step off.

 

mejunglechop

September 22nd, 2013 at 6:40 AM ^

Really all of them should be better. Lewan hasn't improved much in the last two years. Schofield was getting beat in pass pro and does not seem to have improved either. Miller constistently stands straight up after the snap lets tackles get underneath him and drive him into the backfield. Glasgow's footwork isn't good enough. Kalis should be more consistent at this point.

maizenbluenc

September 22nd, 2013 at 8:34 AM ^

http://mgoblog.com/content/preview-michigan-state-2011

They had a bunch of who dat noobs on OL. By the time we rolled into East Lansing they had become an effective line.

To me that is the measuring stick - if we can't getvthese guys coached up by October, then we have a coaching problem.

As for DG and Denard the turnover boys ... other teams have QB coaches ... even defensively focused Lloyd Carr teams.

Danwillhor

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^

in a reply recently. when we played msua couple years ago they started 2 walk ons (due to injury) and a converted DT that week (!), all of which had zero passing time before then. You'd have thought they played together for a couple years. I think the issue/difference is they were all interior guys (iirc) and very large so all they had to do was get in the way for a sec when they threw their never ending 5 yard everything's and push the man in front on runs. They just gave them pee-wee coaching and it worked. Again, football is not hard. My only constant criticism of this staff has been their seeming inability to keep things simple. If a team puts 8 in the box, trust the overwhelming odds that the WR will win. If you can't run, line up wide packages and throw "5 yard everything's" until they back off. Basically, everything trash teams do to us to make us angry and almost beat us........do that but with talent! lol.....football is not hard. oh, and eventually someone is going to realize the second pass we throw every single game under Borges is the PA under to Gallon and take it for 6 as Denard and Gardner literally threw/throw the ball before looking it's so forced.

Danwillhor

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:34 AM ^

Been surprised that they put Kalis at RG when he is by far the best OL in the middle. Moving him to LG gives you a decent tandem in Lewan and himself. Bounce Glasgow inside to center and put Bryant at RG. Anyway, sure, if we clean up mistakes and get Gardner to quit trying to be superman and just take what's given/have faith in a WR other than Gallon we'll be better. Sure, limit the stupid turnovers and create more. Sure, get more pressure with 4-5, etc. The issue is actually doing it and after all that talk I said on here wouldn't work or change anything, it changed nothing. Eventually you have to look at coaches. Not calling for heads but what is so hard about using scheme that is basic football? Take what is given on offense. Tell Devin to trust others again or his job is no guarantee. On defense, get our best defender (outside of Ryan) on each teams best WR and let Taylor inside as he has gotten torched all year, even on uconn's last play! Line speed rushers wider, trust the lbs against a team with an offense like that, etc. I get the talent gap but why I'd it so easy for bama, lsu and even scrub teams to get this basic concept but we exclusively bull rush?!? You almost have to hope the coaches asked themselves if they could go 4-0 while showing a minute party of the playbooks/schemes because it's bad when you have a DL HC and GMatt and you can't get pressure on possibly the two worst teams in cfb.

Danwillhor

September 22nd, 2013 at 1:46 AM ^

because it was uconn and the hangover from the first three games. no snark. I feel like 4 sacks against uconn is par, at worst. So, not disagreeing or saying you're wrong, etc but saying that we still had way to many plays against a bad OL where we crumbled into a ball a second after the snap our bull rushed to zero pressure.

Danwillhor

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:45 AM ^

Miller is the weak link. If the 3, Kalis is the best and Glasgow could play center. Miller is center or backup center, lol. So, toss in Bryant given this time off, slide Kyle over to LG and Glasgow to center. I think Kyle at rg is the staff saying that Glasgow/Lewan is equal to Kalis/Schofield. Well, if so, that's due to Miller. So, remove him and give Bryant a shot. It cannot get worse as I'm sorry but Miller is playing SO BAD.

ThadMattasagoblin

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:18 AM ^

agree.  To me the season comes down to Devin not turning the ball over and moving it like he did against CMU and ND.  I believe that once Jake Ryan comes back, our D will be great if our DL plays at the level they did today.

Nosce Te Ipsum

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:58 AM ^

That was one of the worst teams in college football. If you missed them saying it during the broadcast here is a link with their team stats http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/41/connecticut-huskies We do not know anything about how well Michigan will perform throughout this year after the first four games. For the drinkers I suppose that means more drinking. For the pot heads more pot. For the rest of us I guess we'll just experience all of it, unyielding.

Sllepy81

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:20 AM ^

Is killing us the most, Glasgow and Kalis are having to take a beating from fans because of it. Just based on what I'm seeing. Not sure if there is an answer but I think they are trying to ride them out so they can become familiar with each other. #53 might be great on UConn but he made jack block air sometimes and it killed us.

jmblue

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:32 AM ^

I hate to rag on the guy, but I really don't think he's the answer at center.  I don't know exactly who is, but we've got to fix that position if we want to have a functional tailback-based running game.  Toussaint is having to dodge DTs as soon as he gets the ball and it seems like it's affecting his confidence as a runner at times - he's stopping and starting all the time, even when it seems like there's an alley for him to pick up 4-5 yards.

Fortunately we have a bye week to try something out.  

ClearEyesFullHart

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:35 AM ^

Getting blown back 10 times is way better than putting the ball on the turf in my estimation. He'll get stronger, but I think you guys are missing on the importance of Devin getting the ball where he wants it.

Lokee11_GoBlue

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:49 AM ^

This is so true, sorry but he has been absolutely terrible, the last 2 games.  I'll admit I did not watch the center spot closely against ND but I have the last games and the coaches have to replace Miller or do some extreme coaching through the bye week.  I am actually beside myself after what the coaches had to have seen last week, that he was in there to start tonight.   Miller cannot get any movement, cannot even get a stalemate with any nose they put on him - he is blown back off the LOS on every play, looks like he has never executed a successful cut in his life, often puts his head down and completely whiffs on the defender, I'm sorry but he is terrible right now, they have to have a better option there. I know you want that chemistry and cohesiveness with your line but, Miller has not shown that he can do the job he needs to.

 

I hope if they fix it one way or another -

 

- Go Blue ][\/][

 

 

 

denardogasm

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:21 AM ^

I'm not even really angry like I was last week. I've just accepted that this team was waaay overhyped and are just not that good. I'm just so confused regarding the way the coaches were talking them up and loving fall camp. It makes no sense. I will be upset if the same Oline is starting in 2 weeks. I don't care what's goin on in practice and who's having the best week. There's got to be more of a gamer in the reserve group than what we've gotten so far. To give up that many sacks against a D that had no sacks in 3 games against poor competition is truly embarrassing.

JTrain

September 22nd, 2013 at 8:12 AM ^

It makes sense if you look at the first two games. We looked like I expected us to look. DG played good the last few games of 2012. I expected him to build on that. Which, after two games, it looked like he had.

Along comes Akron. I'm thinking....ok, lets show the little guys how to play man ball. Run it down their throats. NOPE.

All the sudden Michigan, it awesome offensive line recruiting (I realize most of them haven't seen the field, but c'mon) can't put a body on a body and get a push. Not even 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Fitz is always shuffling left or right down the line. Every play. There's no hole to run through.

So now...NOW...teams figure out WE CAN'T RUN THE BALL. Lets make the quarterback beat us with his arm. In the process figure out if we put a little pressure on him the recipe for disaster all works even better. He always turns his back and runs with the ball in one hand out to the side.....starts to force passes.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I get the sense the whole team is in a tailspin. Hoke looks scared. Our oline coach should be scared. Everyone just thinks jake Ryan is going to come in and play superman after tearing his acl. I wouldn't hang your hat on that.

I'm not sure what the answer is but I think it might involve Chris Bryant. We may need to start over with game planning. We are going NOWHERE. Very frustrating to watch.

Naked Bootlegger

September 22nd, 2013 at 9:59 AM ^

Hoke looks scared

Scared? Like "I'm going to tuck into the fetal position and suck on my binky" scared? He looked the same on UConn's sideline to me as any previous game, and that's what I like about the guy. Not sure how you came to this conclusion based on a television broadcast.

Bodogblog

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:22 AM ^

4 TO's 

One tipped ball. Behind the WR a little bit?  Sure, but not due to lack of ball security. 

Jump ball for Chesson.  Great play by defender, young WR didn't take that ball.  One-on-one coverage, you're OK to throw that ball.  TO not due to lack of security. 

Kerridge stips the ball from Gardner.  Not great ball security by Devin, but to be fair, he cannot expect that his fullback has been running stip drills with the DBs. 

Punt miscue, not due to Gardner lack of security 

He got weirded out, and that's not great.  But they came back and won on the road.  Yes terrible team, but they came back after a nightmarish set of plays. 

Bodogblog

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:39 AM ^

You're wallowing in drama. 

Look at all of the games today - no QB makes every throw perfect.  And when they miss and a ball is tipped, most of the time it doesn't fall into a DBs arms. 

The throw to Chesson was a little short, but it should have been caught.  Part of that is a great defensive play, part of that is a young receiver not taking what he wants. 

Sure, hold the ball in traffic.  But if Kerridge doesn't actively knock it out, there is no fumble. 

Bodogblog

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:46 AM ^

Well they may be partially correct 

But I'm not sure what that has to do with my post.  I'm not talking about dropped balls.  I'm talking about one inaccurate through that 95% of the time harmlessly falls to the ground.  And jump ball thrown a bit short that was partly a great defensive play, and partly a lack of aggression on the part of the receiver.  

247Hinsdale

September 22nd, 2013 at 1:05 AM ^

It wasn't just those throws, though. He was inaccurate the whole game, and eventually that will catch up with you.I couldn't see the BTN games, so I can't comment on those, but he was significantly more accurate against Notre Dame. I suspect Spielman is right and the turnovers are weighing on him and he's playing right. Maybe the shots he's taking are having an effect - he certainly seemed a little bit beat up at the end of this game. Maybe it was just playing on the road. The important question is which DG are we going to get moving forward.

NOLA Wolverine

September 22nd, 2013 at 1:13 AM ^

So you're just assuming his mistakes will wash out to simply blown plays in the future. It's similair in that we've watched something for four weeks now and are still just writing it off as an anomaly. Really there's nothing we've seen thus far to suggest that his poor decision making and execution will become suddenly harmless in the future. 

Bodogblog

September 22nd, 2013 at 1:27 AM ^

He was fantastic in two games (with one horrible mistake), he's made some terrible decisions and plays in two others (along with some really good plays). 

I don't think they're all going away, I didn't argue that.  4 TO's tonight were not all due to lack of ball security on Devin's part. That was the point. 

But hey boy, don't let me interrupt your wallow.  I see it a little differently, but that's what makes us all special. 

I think we have problems, I see them as possibly fixable. 

Quag77

September 22nd, 2013 at 7:45 AM ^

Drinking the Kool-Aid a bit too much dog? Calling out someone as wallowing in depair while totally ignoring the facts is....well, rediculous.  This team is not very good.  All the points raised are legit and Devin is NOT that good.  Face it,  We can want him to be the QB we want and need all day long, but the fact is he's not.  He's shown it and shown it...and against inferior talent. 

Muttley

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:26 AM ^

For the most part, ND got the better of both of our O-Line & D-Line.  Yet besides the end-zone pick six, Devin made quick, accurate throws or scrambled to keep plays alive.  I think very few QBs would have had success against that pressure.

Last week, Devin's giveaways turned what otherwise would have been a couple touchdown win into a nail-biter.  This week, he was just plain ineffective. 

It's hard to reconcile.  He can play very well (ND, South Carolina) and make us competitive against top teams.  Or he can play badly, and given our meek O-Line performances to date, when Devin's not on, we're in trouble. 

The Good Devin has to reappear.

Felix.M.Blue

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:26 AM ^

The Minn. game will be interesting just to see who gets the start along the OL.

I want JMFR back in the worst way but I hope he doesn't come back too soon.

Devin is a turnover machine and if he hasn't learned from the end of last year and the start of this one....I don't know. 

This season is going to be a grind but I think they will improve each game and I think they will be ok.

Michigan4Life

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:40 AM ^

better shore up because Minnesota has a good DT in Ra'Shede Hageman.  If he gets off low, he's hard to block.  He was named as one of the freak athlete in the country, landing him at #2 according to CBS website.  If Michigan continues to have issues at interior OL, it'd be a long day for running in between the tackles

B-Nut-GoBlue

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:28 AM ^

No problem with the post but...who the hell knows what this team is capable of.  7-5? 9-3?  i wish I could know or at least make a prediction but at this point I'm worried about Michigan coming to Iowa City.  I'm not sure how Jake Ryan alone is going to make the defense "good", though the defense isn't the bad part of the team right now.  DG is bi-polar.  It'd be nice for him to get over his issues the next two weeks before conference play but I'm not holding my breath.

Sopwith

September 22nd, 2013 at 12:31 AM ^

you might get a bit of perspective if you tune in to ESPN2 right now for the BYU-Utah game.  I know I did (after posting about 5-6 angry postgame posts).  There is a kid who is laying motionless on the field and replays showed his head/neck being driven into the turf.  I'm watching it now and I'm suddenly less concerned with the performance of Michigan.