Game plan and play calling cost us the game...
That was a hell of a game first of all! Tate was a beast out there in the 4th quarter. He really led us on not two but three scoring drives in the 4th quarter if Stoney doesn't cough up that ball. Props to Roundtree, Tay Odoms, and the second half defense too.
But I just have to say, the game plan, play calling and player subs cost us that game more than anything (O-line and dropped balls hurt us badly too).
How do we not run Minor up the middle or off tackle during that game a lot more, especially when Brown isn't getting it done around the end or off tackle? Unless he was really hurt, that was crazy. And would it have killed them to throw a couple HB screens in key situations.
That fake punt was one of the worst calls I have ever seen in my life. Whoever called that play should be fined 10K. We inside our own 20! And MSU was obviously ready for it when they came to the line.
And the substitution of Denard for Tate in the 4th quarter. That is just blasphemy against the 4th quarter God that is Mr. Forcier. I wanted Denard to come in for some time at QB in the 3rd quarter. But we were down 14 when he came in, and were in a mandatory passing situation. I know Tate wasn't moving the team down the field the first three quarters (some of that was because of drops), but we have seen him come alive in the 4th twice already. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That was stupid. Unless Tate was hurt and asked to be taken out, that was a horrible move.
The team showed great heart. It was an awesome game! We didn't deserve to be in it at the end, but almost pulled out. I just wanted to rant a little.
Can't wait til next week. I just hope the coaches have a better game plan.
Addendum: These are just my criticisms of the game. It doesn't mean I think the coaches suck. I think RichRod has been the best coach in the country this year (even including this game).
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:52 PM ^
Thank you for picking me apart. I should have stated that first.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:57 PM ^
I'm drunk and angry. And unlike MSU fans, I like my couch too much to set it on fire.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:07 PM ^
I'm pissed as well. And Drunk. And like you, I respect the Davenport. Now lets watch ND lose to Washigton.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:32 PM ^
IMO, CM called a terrible game. get the RB's involved. nothing inside the hasmarks, both runs and passes,everything went outside. i'd also like to call out the oline. they were absolutely horrible.
defense i thought played well other than the inexcusable qb scrambles we allowed all game. where in the heck are mouton and ezeh? they've been equally bad all year.
it's looking more like we're heading to 5-3 after the psu game. i can't see us beating iowa next week with the way our oline is being dominated.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:46 PM ^
The offensive and defensive gameplan going into the game was horrible. Worse, the coaches failed to adjust during the first half. They did do a decent job adjusting after halftime and in the 4th quarter. Is it just me or does this seem to be a trend: bad gameplan/scouting, good adjustments later on?
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:01 PM ^
were good on D, for most part. I do think the game plan going in was destined for difficulty. Sparty has a good run D. They suck in the secondary. We did not take advantage.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:51 PM ^
I consider myself about as far away from a fair-weather fan as one could get and have no reservations in saying that up until the final drive this was without a doubt one of the poorest overall team efforts I've ever witnessed as a Michigan fan. Aside from Tate's incredible last drive, BG (and Stevie Brown to a lesser extent) was the only player who showed up for this rivalry (for the second year in a row).
I find it hard to fault Greg Robinson considering the current defensive personnel and the second half was coached very well defensively. However, the scheme on the first MSU touchdown drive was unacceptable, giving up 130 yards including a 2nd and 26, 2nd and 15, and multiple third down conversions. The quarterback scrambles were for the most part good decisions by Cousins and Ezeh could simply not catch him in the open field.
The offensive play-calling was incredibly stubborn since it was clear from the first play of the game that Dantonio had decided to make Tate beat him and the only success we had today was through the air - we did not abandon the run nearly soon enough. The O-line was dominated in both run-blocking and pass protection by a front 7 with only 2 competent players (Jones and Trevor Anderson) and the 2 bad snaps from Moosman were once again very costly. The two first-half redzone trips were poorly executed and overly conservative, resulting in only 6 points. The Stonum fumble and other dropped passes were also clearly an issue.
Finally, the coaching mistakes made were beyond inexcusable. I really dont care who called the fake punt or whether Zoltan had an option, RR must know what is going on and take control of the situation. That play worked to perfection twice last season and those tapes dont simply disappear when the next season arrives. Dantonio had it completely sniffed out, not to mention that it was about 4 inches and had they wanted to go a sneak would have been a much higher percentage play. Secondly, although it did not come back to haunt us, the wasted timeout on the Stonum fumble was a terrible mess-up. Whoever was looking upstairs needed only one look at that replay to know it had no chance of being overturned - challenging simply because the game is slipping out of your hands is unacceptable. Finally, after picking up the first first down in OT, the playcalling went back to what had failed the entire day and left an exhausted Tate with a more difficult 3rd down and he finally made a mistake.
The season is far from shot but this could be an incredibly damaging loss, Im hopeful they will respond adequately next week.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:05 PM ^
...with the fact that parts of the running game should have been thrown out the door once it was clear they were stacking the line. But Minor is a beast. He should have been the one trying to take it up the middle. Even if they do stack the line against Minor, he can usually break tackles, punish the D-Line and pick up solid yards.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:05 PM ^
all said above. I did think that the Stonum play wasn't a fumble and that they should challenge -- until I saw the fourth replay with the angle across and from end zone it was pretty clear. If they saw that replay and still challenged, it was unacceptable. If they didn't, and I was giving benefit of the doubt, then I didn't really have a problem with it.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:52 PM ^
The offensive play-calling was incredibly stubborn since it was clear from the first play of the game that Dantonio had decided to make Tate beat him and the only success we had today was through the air - we did not abandon the run nearly soon enough.
And Magnus above makes the exact opposite complaint. Goes to show how easy it is to complain about coaching when the play turns out poorly.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:07 PM ^
Easy for me and others to be arm-chair quarterbacks at home and criticize the play-calling but I think the directly opposing complaints come more from a disagreement on the best way to win football games rather than outrageous and unsupported observations. In this case I respectfully disagree with the contention that we should have tried to run even more than we did considering how poorly the o-line was playing. Most posters today have agreed considering the ineptitude of the MSU secondary as demonstrated on our two 4th quarter TD drives
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:09 PM ^
Our gameplan was bvious. Ignopre the run which had gotten us to 4-0. Drop wide-open passes for easy first downs. Ignore easy blitz pick ups. And most importnatly on defense...get stops on first and second downs and let them get 3rd and long conversions. Based on this, I think we executed the gameplan brilliantly.
Seriously, today showed the youth of our team. Nothing to do with gameplan. Our young guys missed tons of opportunities to execute and their youth shined through.
I hate to lose to Sparty because they are 2-3 and act like they are Rose Bowl champs but until we beat them on the field, we have to deal with it.
We did not execute the fundamentals today (blocking, tackling, catching, and running). Game-set-match. We were lucky to have even sent that game to overtime. We were dominated.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:26 PM ^
It was clear who wanted it more, which is what every writer and talking head said all week.
Despite that, we were in it until the bitter end. I choose to look at the positives.
With a year or two under his belt, Forcier's going to be a monster.
With an average defense, this team is really good. I'm as excited as ever about the future of the program.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:30 PM ^
It's not "who wanted it more", it's "who played better". And it was them.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:40 PM ^
and that was the key to their win.
/Rod Marinelli
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:03 PM ^
You are a dumb ass
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:53 PM ^
I would love to comment intelligently on this thread. However, I sat in Section 16 at the Pisshole that is Spartan Stadium. I sat surrounded by a bunch of camo-wearing toothless "Deliverance Extras " that felt it was OK to rain F-Bombs and Scream "First Down Bitch" despite the presence of a bunch of young Spartan kids and women. There is ONE SCOREBOARD with replays, directly behind my seat. Questionable plays were never replayed, whenever I turned around. Statistics were rarely if ever displayed.