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 9:03 PM ^
Odd post
September 5th, 2018 at 8:18 AM ^
agreed - WAY too much data.
September 5th, 2018 at 9:15 AM ^
Well, I guess we can shut the board down and forever stop analyzing football.
Regardless of what happens, it's all on the coaching.
Bad play? It's the playcall.
Failure to make a play? It's player development.
For a base that seems to pride itself on the academic reputation of its school and fan engagement of its program, this fan base is pretty effing stupid.
September 6th, 2018 at 9:42 AM ^
Odd that u think harbaugh will change from this game, he didn’t change anything from last year
September 4th, 2018 at 9:03 PM ^
Omg just stop. Let’s just move on.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:48 PM ^
How many accounts do you have? I suppose not everyone realizes that you're also MineralKing, SkyPanther, and others. (That would account for some of your up votes.)
September 4th, 2018 at 10:19 PM ^
He has my account?
September 5th, 2018 at 5:44 AM ^
I asked, he has my account?
Lot of strange comments going around about other people having my account. Even a commeter posing as me.
This place has some strangeness too it. There's Ohio St or Michigan St trolls causing problems here?
September 4th, 2018 at 10:08 PM ^
They didn’t play well. Week 2 is next. Ruminating will get us nowhere
September 4th, 2018 at 9:04 PM ^
How do you quantify fire?
This seems like a lackluster argument, and wholly unneeded.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:54 PM ^
Not to mention he completely left out Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And now poor Cedric is dead.
September 5th, 2018 at 2:00 AM ^
Totally not circular
September 5th, 2018 at 7:43 AM ^
You can't, which is why his particular brand of McNugget wisdom is being met with such enmity.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:05 PM ^
You can’t blame warinner for there only being two warm bodies at tackle, that goes to Harbaugh and hokes recruiting but certainly not warinner
September 4th, 2018 at 10:37 PM ^
I'm not blaming him for that. It wasn't just the OT's that didn't have bad moments. There were moment when everywhere on the line didn't look good, even with players that are considered good players before Warinner got here. I'm not going to blame the players for that.
September 5th, 2018 at 7:26 AM ^
Not saying Hoke didn't do a horrible job with the offensive line, but it's year 4--any deficiencies with the offensive line lies solely on Harbaugh at this point.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^
"Will I see it?"
I'd hope, it's fucking year 4.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^
It is the start of year fucking 4–and they didn’t play some damn cupcake team or team with no defense. They played a damn good team with players who is made of players Harbaugh wanted at UM. A team that finished last year as Citrus Bowl winners.
The fans who get so angry act like they care more than the coach and players. How dar Michigan lose and ruin your fun!
September 4th, 2018 at 10:25 PM ^
Did it feel like the game was close?
September 4th, 2018 at 10:30 PM ^
When we had the ball with 2 minutes left and a chance to tie the game? Yes, it felt close.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:38 PM ^
How well did that go?
September 4th, 2018 at 11:23 PM ^
Sir, and I mean this sincerely, go fuck yourself.
Do you enjoy basking in outrage? This fun for you??
September 5th, 2018 at 5:28 AM ^
Very coherent comment.
September 5th, 2018 at 9:52 AM ^
SkyPanther,
wow....troll much? If you aren't here to enjoy college football, then why are you here?
September 4th, 2018 at 9:07 PM ^
This sucks
September 4th, 2018 at 9:08 PM ^
You really think the coaches need to get the players fired up for ND? We'll just have to agree to disagree.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:27 PM ^
Well, something was overlooked.
September 5th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
which account are we replying to today? im curious, do you log into 4 different devices to talk to yourself or just use one. im mean there are two of you on the this thread right now
September 5th, 2018 at 1:17 AM ^
It's not that they weren't "fired up", it's that they definitely looked shakey and a bit jittery.
Which is the common cause for miscues, over-playing, and not just focusing on your own job.
That was what was the surprise. I don't even think it was the fact that we lost.
I mean hell, if Shea doesn't fumble and we score at the end, successfully go for 2, or win in OT, we aren't all on here the next day talking about how great the O-line is, or how the defense didn't over-blitz and maintained gap positions well, and we spied the QB well and he never got loose, etc.
We looked rough, win or loss. That's what people are so antsy about.
We didn't look as buttoned up and confident and all about our business as we would come to expect in year 4, with this squad, this talent, etc.
September 5th, 2018 at 5:31 AM ^
"buttoned up"
That's a good way to put it!
September 5th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
What people are having a hard time with is all the improvement hype leading up to the game. There was a lot of confidence coming from Schembechler Hall including from Harbaugh. 5 minutes before the game started you had Harbaugh telling Bernie Smilovitz that we’re going to be “tough to beat”
And then to come out like we did and get punched in the mouth and commit one error after another and all the bad penalties.
My faith in the program definitely took a hit, but we can still do great things this year.
September 5th, 2018 at 11:24 AM ^
Coaches need to get the players ready for the game. Team captains need to get the players fired up.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:10 PM ^
I look forward to the feature of being able to see who wrote a post before you open it. The diaries have it, so it shouldn’t be hard to add to the board.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:38 PM ^
Version 2.0 had that. And a bunch of other features that made the board easier to read and more fun to use.
let's just go back to that version for the board side of the site.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:48 PM ^
I miss the ability to see that as well as the number of votes they have. Like, I thought for a second this might be some video analysis about how Runyan was bad but also let down by poor interior line blocking, Patterson maybe running away from the blocking scheme, somebody else not pitching in, etc. Instead, it's all "Notre Dame wanted it MORE, you guyz".
Bring on WMU, at least that'll be something different.
September 5th, 2018 at 1:03 AM ^
No joke. Talk about a let-down.
September 5th, 2018 at 5:50 AM ^
I will look for your post where you show what you expected to see in this post.
Show me how it was supposed to be done. I will follow your example.
September 5th, 2018 at 5:49 AM ^
I never said Notre Dame wanted it more.
I said the coaching didn't have the team prepared.
September 5th, 2018 at 7:36 AM ^
Actually, no, you didn't say that. You explicitly stated that Notre Dame was more "fired up" than we were, which anecdotally aligns with the concept of "wanting it more". At no point in your OP did you outline how the coaching staff didn't have the team prepared beyond observing that you felt the team came out flat.
September 5th, 2018 at 11:00 AM ^
If you want to quibble about the semantics of what "Notre Dame DID come out o fire!" then go for it.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:10 PM ^
This is a hot take. A HOT FIRE take! Ugh... it was a football game where we played like shit and lost by a TD. This Saturday we will win by 4 TDs. Either way, Monday morning will come and you’ll have to go back to work. Enjoy football season while it lasts and don’t take this shit so seriously!
September 4th, 2018 at 9:21 PM ^
Hopefully 4 TDs and a FG because I got money on that bitch.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:40 PM ^
To really feel good moving forward, it needs to be more than 4tds. How many people would feel like the ship is sailing in the right direction if Michigan wins 28 0? This game needs to 56-3 or something along those lines. Need to pour it on.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:46 PM ^
There was a better feeling about the offense the year they beat Rutgers 78-0 than there has been going back to the beginning of last year. It wasn't just the blow out numbers. The offense had a groove then. Where is that groove?
September 5th, 2018 at 2:11 AM ^
Ask Stella, and then stfu.
September 5th, 2018 at 5:45 AM ^
Very well thought out.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:10 PM ^
What even like is a SkyPanther anyway??
September 4th, 2018 at 9:56 PM ^
A HUEL employee
September 4th, 2018 at 9:12 PM ^
Is SkyPanther the commenter who is 12 years old?
September 4th, 2018 at 9:27 PM ^
Worse yet he's clearly a 12 year old dumb-ass.
He reminds of the guy sitting next to you at a bar when you're trying to watch a game who knows absolutely NOTHING about football but insists on talking the whole damn game. And every comment he makes just reinforces his absolute lack of knowledge but HE WONT FUCKING SHUT UP cause he's the only guy in the bar that doesnt realize just how stupid he sounds.