It wasn't just the OTs—the RBs also failed in pass protection
MGoVideo's excellent breakdown of all of Shea's (Sheet's?) passing snaps revealed something somewhat surprising to me: it wasn't just the tackles botching pass protection. The RBs whiffing on blocks, especially Higdon, were a huge problem. On Shea's INT, Ruiz and especially Higdon were the turnstiles, creating a pass rush up the gut. In the two-minute drill, Chris Evans took a fake handoff, and actively *avoided* the blitzer, as if he were carrying the ball.
So, by all means, let's complain about the tackle play, but pass protection from the RB spot in was mostly terrible as well.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:37 AM ^
We almost need our ball carriers to spot their own ball. That ref ran back once he was flipped the ball. It’s outrageous this is something that is a problem with modern technology.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
Seriously. The entire field is being watched by dozens of cameras and thousands of people. It boggles the mind how mistakes are made in that environment.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
I did notice that when Notre Dame had a close spot on offense there were roughly 32 dozen angles shown.
Meanwhile during the OSU game in 2016, it was almost impossible to find a different angle of the spot.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
“Mistakes”? You might be being generous. Makes you wonder.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
I thought it was a good spot. Remember, it's where they begin the slide and not when they're touched in the NCAA.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
Come on man. I give people the benefit of the doubt and you may not be a "troll," but there is a really thin line between being a troll and just being super-contrarian about everything just because.
The spot was about a full yard behind where the ball was when his knee first touched the ground.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:47 PM ^
I don’t know, man. I thought the spots were bullshit all night long. Seemed like ND gained an extra yard every play by default; and we kept getting screwed out of a yard per play. However, I think the Shea slide spot was correct. As I understand it, in the NCAA it is marked where he began sliding, not when the knee touches the ground. This is because once you initiate a slide, defenders aren’t allowed to hit you.
I thought the personal fouls were slanted too (targeting, roughing the passer, late hits).
It is clear that this fan base is reeling, because 5 years ago coming out of this game, the officiating would have gotten 100% of our gripes. Instead now it’s all O’Line with a sprinkle of the defense blew a couple plays.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^
Big surprise, the troll thinks it was a good spot.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
Higdon needs to show more want to in the pass blocking. He should be embarrassed. He needs to watch some Vincent Smith video who is half his size.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
Didn't he pack on 10-15 lbs? Seems like that would lend itself to picking up a blitz.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:49 AM ^
I'm quite certain the NFL has noticed HIgdon's reluctance to block.
September 4th, 2018 at 2:06 PM ^
Higdon was fantastic in pass blocking for most of the game. There was one bad block where Ruiz basically whiffed and Higdon only belatedly realized he wasn't getting to him; in virtually every other circumstance Higdon was fantastic when called upon to block.
Just to give one example, because it's easier to watch: On that 2nd-and-goal sack, JBB's man went 10 yards upfield and JBB lost him. Runyan got burnt crispy at the LOS and his man was charging straight at Shea, who had no options.
But Higdon was out there on an island to the left, one-on-one with a blitzer, and stoned him with a cutblock. There were two guys one-on-one with tackles that were closer to Shea than Higdon's man.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:37 AM ^
I would've never expected a Harbaugh coached team to have poor blocking at any position. Blocking is a fundamental of the game. It's as old school as it gets. Harbaugh is supposed to be an old school coach cut from Bo's mold, right? How he would allow that bullcrap onto the field is bewildering. smh
September 4th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
Agree. This is now his 4th year here and there is no excuse for this amount of bad blocking across the position groups. Either Harbaugh is letting his standards slip or he's delegating all of the blocking to assistants and not demanding accountability.
September 4th, 2018 at 8:00 PM ^
"Either Harbaugh is letting his standards slip or he's delegating all of the blocking to assistants and not demanding accountability."
Both- it would appear
September 4th, 2018 at 11:37 AM ^
I think Quinn Nordin was the best blocker all game.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^
He's a football player first and foremost. And, he did pack on some muscle.
September 4th, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^
I thought this in the moment; instead of stopping and giving Hart an exasperated look or otherwise giving up, he immediately turns and lays down a great block. Shitty situation but good to see that effort (or at least that he took his frustration out in a productive way). Too bad he can't play LT.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:47 AM ^
I've only watched the first half snaps so far, and only focused on Runyan, but...he didn't seem that bad? There was one play where someone got a free run off his edge, but that looked like more of a line communication thing, where it looked like everyone on the line shifted blocking to the right, so he was still blocking someone. I haven't looked at the second half yet, but I was surprised that Runyan actually looked OK for the first half.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
In the fourth quarter, I saw a sequence where he got beat by a speed rush, a power/bull rush, and a spin move. Three plays in a row, three pressures. Maybe he got worn out from the humidity. I agree with what Brian said in the podcast. He has short arms and he's undersized to play tackle.
The problem with playing tackle is they have to be perfect. Make one mistake and you get your QB sacked. Folks are saying he was responsible for 3 sacks. JBB can get away with being a poor pass protector because the QB can see the rusher coming. (It would be nice if the interior held up a little better so there was a pocket to step into.) Runyan doesn't have that luxury. He has to be perfect otherwise everyone is going to see his mistakes and worst-case, his mistakes lead to a strip-sack.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:32 PM ^
After the game I rewatched ever snap while focusing on the offensive line, particularly Runyan. He struggled mightily. You can tell that he has a major strength problem. He struggled multiple times with anchoring and getting pushed back. You could tell he recognized that as well and tried making an adjustment to get into his set and anchor early. The problem was that it opened him up to stunts and inside moves because it would result in him to overset and chase his man.
Runyan has a size and strength problem. He’s not a tackle. He’s a guard trying to play tackle. I fully expect Mayfield to get run at LT this week.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:03 PM ^
These conditions? Like, 80 and super-humid? Players were cramping up in every game played in the mid-west this weekend. It was not just us. The air was incredibly heavy.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^
Not to mention that Notre Dame's players were coming off the field for injuries/cramping with greater frequency than ours were.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
Those are the same conditions Jordan McNair died in of heat stroke and horrendous medical treatment.
Disgustingly humid will destroy a person doing physical activity. Its also the first real game of the year, cramps always happen more in those situations to every team.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
Short of mandating IV fluids dripped through a Camelpak, what else is the coaching and S&C staff supposed to do? I'm sure they lectured everyone on staying properly hydrated. I'm certain they reminded everyone to stay hydrated during the game. Should we blame this on the AD for having the gall to schedule a football game during 70 degree dew point conditions?
September 4th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
I actually want to see how the team does the rest of the year. Cramps do happen on days like this, and you don't like to see it; it happened to some of our key players. OTOH Michael Onwenu was on the field most of the second half, has been known to be a liability in conditioning, and performed well down the stretch.
I'm anxious about one thing: Herbert has jacked these guys up. It's really cool looking. The camp chatter swears up and down that they haven't lost any speed. But is it true? Hill maybe have been victimized by a pushoff on that PI call and maybe he and Long had a weird day. But I'll be watching closely against top receivers, because if they've lost agility to gain some strength that could be a problem. I wonder about Bush as well. TBD, though, it's just one game on the road at night against a good team.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
I am not being "defensive." It is just a bad take.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
It's a good thing we have a seasoned RB coach and not someone who was gifted the position.
Just think if the heart surgeons at UM Hospital were able to slide their kids into those slots instead of hiring the best available. #completebullshit
September 4th, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
Tell me, what university do you study to be a football coach at? What degree qualifies you to coach football?
September 4th, 2018 at 2:03 PM ^
Your comment might be one of the dumbest I’ve ever read on this message board. Just sayin.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^
Shea Patterson is a dream come true.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
No. A dream come true would be a quarterback who can win us games.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:59 AM ^
From what i saw Chris Evans played pretty well. When given the chance he got us some yards and I actually saw him make decent blocks. I guess I’ll have to watch again to see if the backs were whiffing.
I actually liked Evans a bit more than Higdon in this game. I saw Higdon miss easy holes. He runs into the linemen's backs when there might be a 40 yard run if he bounced it. Idk the coaches might be coaching that though.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
I've said this before, but the OL needs to master the art of holding without getting penalized. All teams do it, but Michigan seemingly hasn't caught on.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
Because we would get penalized for it.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:13 PM ^
Its almost as if we have a nepotism hire and not a rb coach or something. Which would be fine if he was also an elite recruiter like Partridge but he isn't that either.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^
Yea nepotism!!
September 4th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
Snowflake threads need to be left up during holiday weekends it appears.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:23 PM ^
I have to politely disagree, CF. You identify two potentially problematic plays. The interception in particular is odd, but I believe that is mostly on Ruiz. It's possible that Higdon was supposed to do more, but Ruiz (just a true sophomore) flat got cooked there. I'm less sure about the Evans play--there's a play I remember that might be the same one, but I cannot search for it right now, so I'm unwilling to comment.
But more to the point, there are a number of plays where Higdon's blocks were absolutely terrific. He straight manned up a couple of times and a number of other times threw terrific cut blocks. He was a different guy from last year. Evans served mostly as a pass option out of the backfield, but maybe I'm missing a few plays.
I think Higdon's blocking was a big plus against ND. I think he is partly responsible for that one pressure, but not wholly, and in a number of other cases he was one-on-one with a rushing defender and did everything you want a blocking RB to do.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:40 PM ^
Thanks Comrade -- will look at it again. I only saw Higdon pick up an unblocked DL on one occasion. Brian's UFR will be interesting for sure.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:33 PM ^
The more I watch these every snap videos, the more encouraged I get about the rest of the year. Outside of a couple plays, Shea is a MAJOR upgrade at QB. He is going to win us a game or two, and he is the perfect antidote for a lot of the OL issues we have. Speaking of, I predict that the OL issues will get A LOT better over the course of the season. The breakdowns that I see after watching this several times are the types of issues that a guy like Warriner can mitigate.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
ND did what every team is going to do, which is attack our weakness by blitzing like crazy, under the assumption that our line is so turnstile that they will get to the QB fast enough to overcome any compromise the blitz creates in terms of a depleted second level. I expect to see this relentlessly all year.
We will win a number of games due to the talent level at all other positions, but against the big boys who will drop 30-40 on Don Brown's D, especially now with a few years of familiarity with it - I don't see our offense keeping up. Hope I'm wrong.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:22 PM ^
Eh, not so fast. We saw a lot of success on Saturday with those quick pop passes that mitigated OL protection issues and/or neutralized the blitz. In fact, Shea was so effective that that stuff (combined with the rollouts) that ND was forced to counter with some more conservative schemes that only rushed 4 - thankfully, we handled the non-stunting DL rush pretty well.
If we establish that competency, opponents will be forced to respect it.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:29 PM ^
Biggest thing for me is coaching and play calling.
The one play where Gentry has to play LT makes no fucking sense and it seems like that was by design. It is alarming that the guy who looked like he had that most juice to do anything on offense (Chris Evans) wasn't part of the gameplay til desperation.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
There were definitely some very strange play designs; cases where the most dangerous defender is left unblocked - dependent on that player following the play action I guess? I'm not sure if these were RPS issues, busts on someone's part, underestimating athleticism of the ND front, or just baaaad schemes.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:56 PM ^
I think with the obvious weaknesses at tackle, Michigan might consider keeping in Ben Mason and another TE to block while alternating Higdon and Evans, which Michigan does anyway.
Also, having two "turnstiles" at offensive tackle with a mobile QB versus a seething defensive line opens up all kinds of opportunities with screen plays and draws.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^
Runyon got beat like a rented mule all night , all 3 sacks, 8 qb pressures.
Ruiz wasn't a whole lot better on pass blocking.
I'm all for seeing what Mayfield has to offer at the left tackle or move SPanellis to guard and put Big Ben outside , but not sure if hes built for that tackle spot. If Mayfield is ready , than do it once Big ten Play starts.
I also liked Spanellis I thought he had some good snaps and is versatile.
we needed to run the ball more and being down fast in a hurry took away from that
Would like to see more screens to the running back
Shea has to be able to adapt under center
way I see it is this as the key plays of the games
2nd and goal at the 2--keep running it rather than play action and get sacked - most likely took 4 pts off the board.
Botched FG snap - 3 pts probably gone
BOMB for TD Hawkins should of had- 7 pts ( thought Hawkins played pretty good besides that beginners error, at least he is close to the ball compared to Metellius)
3 points instead of 7 if Winovich does not get roughing the passer = 4 pts
4 + 3 = 7 for good guys
14-4 = - -10 for the bad guys
24-14 should of been the final score for us, but it wasn't
I think had we played ND the 2nd game of the season and seen how 1 diminseional WInbush is Poor mans JT barrett, all he can do is run the ball, and throw it deep basically for the most part)
those were the 4 key plays of the game
September 4th, 2018 at 4:46 PM ^
Would we have noticed the RB, WR, and TE blocking as being anything outside of the norm if the OT blocking had been average?
September 4th, 2018 at 5:57 PM ^
Fucking cluster fuck:
Yes, RB blocking was piss poor but you can’t expect them to make up for the OTs for crying out loud.
September 5th, 2018 at 8:54 AM ^
The entire team sucks at blocking. This was the case last year and the coaching staff supposedly made it a priority in the offseason. Yet, we got horrible blocking all game.