The Snowflake Thread: Offense

Submitted by LSAClassOf2000 on

This will be the snowflake thread for the offense and offensive playcalling. 

gwkrlghl

November 9th, 2013 at 6:40 PM ^

Of all the things Borges has done, the playcalling when we got the ball at Nebraska's 26 was truly the most mind-boggling. We didn't even try to get the touchdown

Unbelievable (but still so sadly believable)

sj

November 9th, 2013 at 7:37 PM ^

I'm hardly a Borges apologist, but they were getting sacked on around half their passing plays. The odds of being pushed out of FG range with a single pass attempt really were greater than the odds of getting a touchdown with aggressive play-calling.

They were good calls. That's the worst part. 

FGB

November 9th, 2013 at 6:42 PM ^

I mean really throw it away.  Every play, even when it throws it late, he's trying to squeeze something in, or over the top, or just underneath.

He's got no time, i get it.  But sometimes when you have "no time" you still have time to chuck it away.

I'd really like to know how many pure throw aways he's had since the ND game.  If someone had that stat, and an average-throwaways-per-QB stat, i would be shocked if DG wasn't in the bottom 10 in FBS.

 

JHendo

November 9th, 2013 at 6:44 PM ^

I dare any Borges supporter still left standing to open their mouth tonight. Any single word of defense for Borges just exposes you as a moron who knows nothing about football.

JHendo

November 9th, 2013 at 7:15 PM ^

The sequence after the muff was absolutely horrendous...to the point it may have made you forget how bad the rest of the game's playcalling was. Also, the OL falls under Borges' jurisdiction. His fix has been simply juggling the OL starters around. This not only is not a fix in any way, shape or form, but it destroys any unity that unit could've at least been building in the meantime. Different schemes and different plays could be drawn up to mitigate the shortcomings of our OL (our heaven forbid, coaching these guys up), but nope, Borges and Funk refuse to realize they and their "strategies" are the problem.

b-diddy

November 9th, 2013 at 6:46 PM ^

I don't hate Borges like some. The book is out on our offense. O line is porous, FItz can't pass block. Devin is majorly rattled. No playmakers to bail him out.

Granted, he hasn't fixed the problem, but not sure there is a fix this year. The high water mark of the year was beating a fringe ranked team, who would certainly beat us if it were in ND or even if they played us now.

Terrible season. So much worse than last year. Strike 2 for Hoke. Next season is everything for him.

maizenblue92

November 9th, 2013 at 6:48 PM ^

Brady Hoke, "We didn't execute...the offense. Although we did consider it. Along with Al. I mean, man, you shoulda seen Greg. He almost drowned Al in the toilet in the coaches office after this one. I almost let him."

MGoBlue24

November 9th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^

and I feel bad for the team and for Dileo on the 4th down drop. Anyone who follows Michigan football probably expected that slant to go to him.

The glib me says "damn, need to find another lucky shirt".

On the serious side, there are pieces that just don't fit on the offense. We could not capitalize on multiple Nebraska injuries and turnovers.

BlueCE

November 10th, 2013 at 12:14 AM ^

Agree last two weeks OL has been even worse (is that possible)... We are the worst offensive line in te country, and that is having lewan an Schoenfeld out there. Funk has to go. Forget experience of some of the OL, no way should a Michigan line ever be that bad.



175 total yards against one of the worst defenses in the b10 AT HOME (so not even an excuse anymore). -70 yards rushing last two weeks.

gopoohgo

November 9th, 2013 at 6:55 PM ^

Fire Funk.

The interior of the offensive line has been a tire fire.  Anyone sick of inside stunt blitzes yet?  There has been significant regression of our young lineman this year.

 

Sione's Flow

November 9th, 2013 at 6:55 PM ^

At least Butt and Funches fought for extra yards after catches and Green managed to fall forwards a few times.  But Borges not coming up with a better scheme when Nebraska was blitzing nearly every sequence made want to throw my remote through my TV.

Nosce Te Ipsum

November 9th, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^

Borges can't be fired until the end of the season but Funk can be fired now. Wisconsin fired their O Line coach mid season a few years back and if there is anyway that it is a possibility as far as a competent replacement then it needs to be done. Borges should be shown the door at the end of the season. 

LSAClassOf2000

November 9th, 2013 at 6:59 PM ^

It breaks down like this:

175 total yards, but 196 yards passing over 18 completions and 27 attempts. 

So, for passing - 10.89 yards per completion and 7.26 yards per attempt. Respectable.

Rushing...36 attempts, -21 yards, which -0.58 yards per carry

Yards per snap? That comes out to 175 yards over 63 plays, 0r 2.78 yards per play. Yeah. 

MichiganMan_24_

November 9th, 2013 at 6:59 PM ^

I know calling players by name is frowned upon but i cant sugar coat it...Im sure Devin Gardner is a great kid and he seems like he really is..As a football player he needs to understand he is a WR, not a QB..he is an awful QB...Holds the ball too long, cant see the blitz, cant read coverage, is very poor with accuracy

kb

November 9th, 2013 at 7:03 PM ^

realize how shitty their game plan is and their effort reflects that they haven't bought into it. Hell, if I played on a team that had an offensive game plan like this I would quit on the coaches too.

kb

November 9th, 2013 at 7:06 PM ^

all the time so they blitz on runs. The play action drop backs take too long and they refuse to abandon them. It also doesn't help that Gardner holds on to the ball too long.

Krakhead

November 9th, 2013 at 7:07 PM ^

I do not posess the insight or details on specific issues, but am generally feeling like the offense is one dimensional and quickly apprroaching zero dimensional.  In the running game I know there are O-line issues, but it feels like we are running up hill.  I feel a sense of relief when we are able to get the ball back to the line of scrimage, that is not good.  One observation comparing our running with Nebraska was that when M ran up the middle we were taken down in the middle of the pile.  Where Abdullah would get taken down while almost exiting the scrum.  This yields an extra yard or two per attempt for Nebraska, but begs the question, should M even try up the middle.  Toussant is nowhere close to breaking open a big run up the middle, and with those runs yelding less than 2 yards / attempt it is a waste of a down.  I feel similar frustration with the outside running game.  Nebraska seemed able to pick up a couple yards at will running outside while M would get caught and lose a yard.  Things just seem doomed.

 

 

Gustavo Fring

November 9th, 2013 at 7:13 PM ^

The guy is accurate, strong, and smart.  But when the offensive coordinator has you doing things like turning your back to the line of scrimmage constantly on play action (with no running game AT ALL), trying to hit guys on two-man routes, long-developing routes, repeatedly running read-option against a team that practices against a much better version of it...most of this is not on Gardner.

Borges is the worst offensive coordinator ever

buddhafrog

November 9th, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^

Your point is valid and I feel mostly correct.  I also think DG has the possibility of being lights-out fantastic if we get an offense that works.

But today, I saw a very rattled QB for parts of this game.  While we need to fire some coaches and improve play calling, etc., and while DG has had to face incredible pressures not to make a mistake as well as having no blocking, as well as having no running game, I hold DG responsible for is inability to stay focused downfield and get rid of the ball.  I'm not saying he had excellent reasons why he couldn't do these things, but I am still holding him responsible for doing that very difficult task.