Where and what is to blame? Not Jon Runyan Jr.
It's become clear that blame, by some individuals, has been put on Jon Runyan Jr. for the loss on Saturday Night.
But, that's just wrong. And wrong in more ways than one.
Look at the big picture: the team didn't come out on fire. Notre Dame DID come out o fire! And they knocked Michigan back on their heels. I was stunned watching it. There just looked like there was no fire in the team. Who's to blame for that? That's on the coaching, not the players. The coaches needed to get the players in the right frame of mind to come out firing on all eight, with hot fire, in all areas of the game, going into the first moment of the game.
It's true Runyan could have done better. I bet he would say it himself. But Michigan didn't lose because of him. There were things throughout the coaching staff, and team, that could have been better. No one can say they did the best they could have in all areas. Everyone, coaches and players, can look at their overall game, and see things they could have done better.
If you want to look at the offensive line for how it played, you have to look first at the coaching, not the players. And by coaches, I mean Jim Harbaugh and Ed Warinner. Like Jim Harbaugh said in his message to Braylon Edwards, "Come after me." And he's right. It starts with the coaches. Ed Warinner is new to the job. This game is his biggest piece of proving ground he'll probably have all year. He probably won't learn as much from any game for the rest of the season as he will from this one. Things are not going to be the same from now on. Ed Warinner will change things. He is the kind of guy who will not let things stay the same. And Jim Harbaugh is not the kind of guy to let things stay the same either. Together, they, and the rest of the coaches, WILL make the team better.
I am looking forward to improvement in all areas from now on. I especially want to see the offense have cadence, modulation, eleven players looking like a team with focus. That firstly, to me, will give a real spark of hope that the team is heading upward, like they say, that "the arrow is up!" Will I see it?
Photos: Mike Mulholland/MLive Brandon Brown
September 4th, 2018 at 9:41 PM ^
Thanks for the best laugh I had all day
September 4th, 2018 at 10:50 PM ^
This is why I can't watch Michigan football with certain die-hard family members.
September 5th, 2018 at 4:07 AM ^
Gee ... I didn't think I was talking that much.
Sorry.
September 5th, 2018 at 7:41 AM ^
See, I was just going to call his commentary tedious and uninformed. You did a much better job.
September 5th, 2018 at 8:26 AM ^
Spot. On.
September 5th, 2018 at 9:48 AM ^
Damn you nailed it...
September 4th, 2018 at 9:13 PM ^
Me thinks the UFR will disagree with you.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:14 PM ^
Trolling, trolling, trolling, keep those hot takes trolling, RAWHIDE!
September 4th, 2018 at 9:16 PM ^
hey, I have an idea, why don't you share some of your thoughts?
September 4th, 2018 at 9:16 PM ^
"the team did not look like they were on fire" is meaningless. It's lazy crap that people say whenever we lose.
FSU looked pretty "pumped up" when the game started against VT. Look how that turned out for them. I can agree that some things need to be corrected with coaching, but please stop saying the "players didn't want to be there" or weren't jacked up enough or any variation of that lazy trope.
I can pretty much guarantee you the team was pumped up for a night game against a rival in week 1.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:43 PM ^
So where did I say the players didn't want to be there?
September 4th, 2018 at 10:18 PM ^
And BTW, I watched that entire game. Va Tech completely dominated FSU at the beginning. They were far more on fire. When the fire wore off, FSU got momentum, and moved the ball, though they didn't score.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:29 PM ^
on fire, the fire wore off.. yea you sound like you know your football.
do us a favor and delete your account
September 5th, 2018 at 5:55 AM ^
Yes, they did some out on fire. Did you see the game? Emotion does play a part in college football. It's easy to see.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:17 PM ^
OK, Jon Runyan Sr.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:03 PM ^
So you blame Jon Runyan Jr for the loss?
September 4th, 2018 at 10:25 PM ^
lol not one person is blaming only Runyan for the loss
However, people will obviously criticize a player who gave up 3 sacks and 8 QB hurries like Runyan did.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:35 PM ^
He's probably criticizing himself.
But there are some blaming him for the loss. What about the botched FG? What about the missed batted down pass that was a ND TD. What about the high praise the interior defensive players got the past few weeks, who in an actual game, were pushed around? Where was the chaos in the ND backfield that the Michigan defense is known for? The team was not prepared. That is on the coaching.
The only moments in the game that looked promising, were when Dylan McCaffrey was in. There was crispness in the whole offense. And he looked great.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:17 PM ^
This feels like a comment that decided to become a post.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
How do feel about the 1 sentence posts?
September 4th, 2018 at 10:29 PM ^
Not the length, the content.
But to answer the question I like my posts like Goldilocks: not to long, not too short but just right.
Ok my twisted mind just interpreted that comment in a whole new way. But I’ll post it anyway... I hate myself sometimes
September 4th, 2018 at 9:19 PM ^
Did people really think Warriner would turn thing around in one off season? As the season goes on we’ll get better on the O Line, but next year and the year after is when Warriner will really start making a difference with a dominant Line.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:46 PM ^
Assuming he's here that long...
September 5th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
The year OSU lost to va tech but then won the nation championship I understand that the OL was horrible the first few games.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:19 PM ^
That game was one of those instances where home field advantage and good breaks went together. ND got some breaks, mainly from Michigan taking bad penalties early on. Then 14-0 was apparently too much to overcome. The overcoming part is what needs to change from this point forward. The offense needs to bail the team out every once in, umm, 10 years.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:21 PM ^
I actually think the opposite. The DL over pursued or aggressive on so many plays early that they took stupid penalties and let key 3rd down conversions happen. I say the coaches over hyped it and should have cooled their heels in the 1st qtr.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:30 PM ^
We wouldn’t be having this conversation if the staff would just close on high profile tackle recruits
September 4th, 2018 at 9:51 PM ^
Or any tackle recruits at all. Over a two year period we got Nolan Ulizio and nobody else IIRC.
September 5th, 2018 at 7:28 AM ^
That is depressing
September 4th, 2018 at 9:30 PM ^
You're making it worse dude.
The offensive tackle situation is dire.
Yes, this weakness in the Michigan Death Star can be mitigated more directly and aggressively in games going forward. But a few more quarterbacks will have to die in the process.
This is a recruiting and injury issue. Not enough bodies. Lack of competition and just youth.
It's not going to get better this season.
If Newsome were healthy, the issue would be less stark. But we are Michigan fans, so even with a healthy Newsome back at LT, we'd find something else to complain and wave our fists at the sky about.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:37 PM ^
I still think it can get better, but probably not good. If Warriner can get the mental breakdowns mostly eliminated, we can live with the physical limitations as long as we have a good running game. It's also possible that at least one of the freshmen could become viable by the end of the season.
But yeah, the likelihood of the line becoming straight up good is low.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:31 PM ^
I'm really tired of your hot takes. You started out posting a bunch of relevant info, if it was a bit much, also. But now? Now, you're just another hot take pusher of feelings...
September 4th, 2018 at 9:32 PM ^
Something about a horse and beating.
September 5th, 2018 at 4:10 AM ^
Yeah, stop beating off the horse!
Wait, that's not it ...
September 4th, 2018 at 9:34 PM ^
This team is probably going to be worse than last years team. They lost their best defensive player and their only decent offensive lineman, and it showed. The only position they’re better at is QB but may not be enough to offset the regression elsewhere.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:38 PM ^
Hell yeah.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:40 PM ^
The coaches needed to get the players in the right frame of mind to come out firing on all eight, with hot fire, in all areas of the game, going into the first moment of the game.
Firing on all eight what now? What if it is a four-banger?
September 4th, 2018 at 9:42 PM ^
We were firing on 8 cylinders...problem is UofM has a V12
September 4th, 2018 at 9:41 PM ^
I dont see many blaming Runyan. I see most blaming tye coaches for poor recruiting at the OT position, and for placing Runyan in a position he could not adequately perform.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:42 PM ^
Even though it isn't his fault personally, it is definitely the fault of that position. This post is bad.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:44 PM ^
O-lines usually take a long time to recruit and develop. Warriner has been here for what, 5 months? It's not his fault that the only non-freshman tackles on the roster are Ulizio, JBB, and Runyan (who doesn't have a tackle's build). A lot of that falls on Harbaugh and Drevno whiffing, some falls on dumb recruiting luck, and some falls on Hoke's final recruiting classes.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:08 PM ^
So you're not expecting any improvement from Ed Warinner's work this year, even though he said when he took over Ohio Sts offensive line, it was in bad condition, and he got great improvement in 1 year, even with converting a 3rd string TE to an OT?
September 4th, 2018 at 10:33 PM ^
When did I say that? I expect Warriner to make a big impact this year, but it was literally the first game of the season. Warriner's 2014 OL got massacred by Virginia Tech before they were jamming the ball down Alabama's throats at the end of the year. Do I think we'll see that kind of improvement? Probably not, but we'll grow. I think blaming Warriner at this stage is moronic.
Edit: I guess I didn't originally read your weird post closely. I see you're predicting the OL to improve under Warriner. I agree.
Still, weird post.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:53 PM ^
Yeah, I think a lot of people didn't read it closely.
But, how could you miss that point?
September 5th, 2018 at 8:40 AM ^
Last year I was expecting improvement throughout the season because the team was young and the coaching staff was supposedly top tier. We saw little if any improvement throughout the season.
I am not expecting improvement as this season progresses because I've simply lost all faith in this coaching staff. At times this game looked like Hoke 2.0.
September 5th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
But last year's line did get a lot better. We went from not being able to run on anyone to having a top-20 S&P rushing offense. Last year we had a freshman and Sheridan 2.0 throwing to freshmen and had the same problem at one of the tackle spots because there's only so much you can do with a dearth of tackles. There was the same cavernous gap at tackle on the depth chart, which is why we played our best interior lineman at tackle.
Seriously, Harbaugh/Drevno's early tackle recruiting is killing us right now, and that's compounded by poor recruiting at the end of the Hoke era and the misfortune of losing LTT and Newsome. We're recruiting plenty of tackles now, but they're all freshmen and high schoolers.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:45 PM ^
Weaknesses are well known - OL is below average, WRs are still developing, DTs are unknown but hyped (but not Mo Hurst), safeties are vulnerable up the middle and in coverage. Positive is Shea is as billed and will get better. Coaches need to develop better game plans as the season unfolds to emphasize strengths and minimize weaknesses. Less stubborn stuff like last year and at ND. Let's adapt to what we have and win f-ing ball games.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:51 PM ^
Coaching is by far and away #1. Nobody was prepared for this game. And quite frankly we’re lucky we didn’t get blown out. Harbaugh and Pep are 1A and 1B if we’re playing the blame game.
As far as who is second, it’s Runyan. That was one of, if not the worst performances I’ve ever seen from a starting Tackle. I’ve watched some gifs of him getting blown past and overpowered and it almost looks fake. The defender did it with such ease. You can lump(albeit to a lesser degree) the rest of the OL in with him.
Third I’ll say the defense. Mostly the interior DL and DB. Only because they put our crappy offense in a major deficit early. Then again you can only blame them so much. ND only scored 24 points.
As much as I hate piling on the OL and especially the Tackles, I don’t really have a choice. Their poor play derailed our entire offense. Patterson had barely two seconds at most before ND was all over him. That essentially eliminates half the playbook.
We can survive the third reason I gave. But the first two reasons must be fixed. Or we are in for another 7/8 win season.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:53 PM ^
Fuck you!
September 4th, 2018 at 9:53 PM ^
Nah
This does not compute. Cute idea but let's see how the UFR plays out.