Damning quotes from Nebraska DE Randy Gregory

Submitted by FrankMurphy on

I've been one of Borges' staunchest defenders on this board, but this game and these quotes are the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Borges needs to go.

Gregory: "They had certain tendencies. Whatever formation they came out in, we knew what they were going to throw at us." #Huskers

— Samuel McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) November 10, 2013

Gregory on Gardner: "After the game, you could just tell: He was kind of out of it. That's what we wanted to do: Take him out of the game."

— Samuel McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) November 10, 2013

MI Expat NY

November 10th, 2013 at 7:59 AM ^

FWIW, the scouts loved him during the summer.  I wasn't nearly as convinced as others that last season's 5 game performance portended great things for him, but then he did the summer coaching/clinic tour and everyone raved.  Maybe it was that he was away from Borges for that time period.  Who knows.  But what I do know is that Gardner has QB ability.  Bringing in a freshman of questionable ability isn't going to solve anything.  Not with this line and this offensive coaching staff.

JD_UofM_90

November 10th, 2013 at 9:21 AM ^

view, we just got beat by a freshman QB and an extremely chubby walk-on Senior QB.  Agree though.  This is 75% coaching / playcalling and 25% crappy/young line play.  The low hanging fruit for improvement lies with the coaches.  They are either too proud, to ignorate or too stupid to see that is the case.  Any one of these three reasons, and you shouldn't be a major D1 football coach.

Don

November 10th, 2013 at 1:23 PM ^

The mark of a truly top-level head coach is the ability to identify, hire, and retain top-level assistants. Rich Rodriguez is a good offensive coach, but hiring Greg Robinson was an indication that he had some serious blind spots when it came to defensive assistants.

 

True Blue Grit

November 10th, 2013 at 7:43 AM ^

If even lousy defensive teams can shut us down, you know we must be telegraphing most of our plays.  Combine that with a terrible offensive line, and yesterday is what you get.  I've really been trying to give the coaches the benefit of the doubt up until yesterday.  But its crystal clear now that this is a poorly coached AND led offense.  Hoke will need to make some serious changes during the offseason.  

Magnus

November 10th, 2013 at 7:58 AM ^

I'm not going to defend the play calling, but I will say that almost every team has "tendencies." Just because Michigan has tendencies doesn't mean the OC needs to be fired.

HAIL-YEA

November 10th, 2013 at 10:28 AM ^

I agree that all teams have tendencies. Is it as easy to read all teams as it is ours though?.  I actually have a much easier time guessing what the Lions are doing based on formation then what UM is., but I am just a fan. Plus most of the time Borges does run when no logical person would run...so my heart may be interfering with my brain here.

bluebyyou

November 10th, 2013 at 8:16 AM ^

So what do you think is the problem?

Line blocking is terrible for our run game.

Fitz can't block.

Devin has lost a step or two and often holds onto the ball way too long.  Yesterday, it seemed like there were several plays where he had adequate protection but he held onto the ball way too long.

We barely beat Akron and UConn.

 

mGrowOld

November 10th, 2013 at 9:09 AM ^

Tendencies are one thing.  Out and out tipping the play call is quite another.  And based on formations and subtitution patterns we all but call out "hey other team....the play is going to be a run now and we're going to run it right over there" to the defense.

We keep playing poker with marked cards and wonder why we keep losing hands.

mGrowOld

November 10th, 2013 at 9:47 AM ^

I'm sure it was for my wife - she drove.  The capper for me was listening to the post-game presser and hearing Hoke say he saw nothing wrong in the play calling.  That was my signal to start drinking heavily as I knew that we are fucking doomed.  Not only is Borges an absolute idiot - his boss think's he's brilliant so we're doubly screwed.

I was really, REALLY hoping that Hoke (who I like) would see what every other living human who watches football even causally can see but I guess not.  It's Borges till Hoke is gone it seems and that made me very, very sad.

aiglick

November 10th, 2013 at 11:51 AM ^

We are going to have to see. I just don't think Hoke is going to fire people mid-season and at this point why would we it is almost over anyway. Let's finish out the season and maybe pull in another victory or two (although at this point doubtful) and then see what Hoke does. It is abundantly clear there is something rotten within the offensive coaching ranks and if Hoke does nothing then it will be quite sad.

Magnus

November 10th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^

There's a difference between tendencies and execution. That's where people are having an issue separating these things.

Yes, you have to break tendencies to keep a defense off balance, but then you never establish your strengths. If Gardner is good at throwing the deep ball, then you don't want to limit him to short passes. If Green is a great inside runner, you don't want to limit him to sweeps and zone stretches just to break tendency. You still have to let Gardner throw deep and let Green run inside. It's a chess match between OC and the opponent's DC to keep them off balance.

As I said above, I'm not defending Borges's play calling. Obviously, he was bested by Pat Narduzzi and somewhat by John Papuchis (although I think the Nebraska game was more about poor execution by Michigan). What I am saying is that every offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator has tendencies based on strengths, weaknesses, downs, distances, etc.

Aspyr

November 10th, 2013 at 8:04 AM ^

This could answer the question: Why was our offense good in the first two games and then struggled greatly since? (with the exception of Indiana). Teams know what we are running - to use baseball parlance we are tipping our pitches. This combined with our lack of a counter or deception (as Brian pointed out many times) coupled with inexperience on the interior of the OL line and we have what we have and that is an offense that can be stopped by even the worst defenses in college football.

UMMAN83

November 10th, 2013 at 8:29 AM ^

Go up next year. Or will they? I feel like DB stole $95 from me yesterday not including PSD that I found waiting for me at home after watching another disaster. Ohio game will be another embarrassment. Can't wait.