SMU Snowflakes - The Offense
September 15th, 2018 at 9:57 PM ^
I just could not see us losing to Troy like Nebraska did. Nebraska will not be able to get past our defense. No way. If we lose this game, pack it in, we our going to have a shitty season.
I believe we are going to trounce Nebraska and actually, I think we can beat Wisconsin as well. Our defense gave up some points today, however, most of that was against SMU's talented mobile QB. I have faith in our team.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:23 PM ^
Well done Tru Wilson. Well done DPJ. Well done Shea Patterson.
I always appreciate a QB who doesn’t slide every time he keeps the ball.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:57 PM ^
There was a time late in the 3rd I believe when Shea slid and someone made contact with his helmet. I was surprised it didnt bring out a penalty or review. Broadcast didnt even replay it.
September 18th, 2018 at 9:26 AM ^
i mean, i understand why QBs slide and why they are instructed to do so. getting injured on a keeper play can ruin the whole season, so i get it. I just don't like it. If you are going to keep the ball, go get every inch you can, you'd expect your backs and receivers to do that, you should too.
i'm not a coach and probably the QB should slide once they get their first down, but i just happen to appreciate it when they don't.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:38 PM ^
I was at the game - why was Higdon out?
September 15th, 2018 at 8:58 PM ^
Some sort of leg injury. They showed his during warm ups and seemed to have difficulty making cuts, and he was wincing a little.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:38 PM ^
My frustration is on the coaching staff being stubborn to adapt to what defense will give you. SMU ran many run stunts on D and the play action pass was there all game long. Unfortunately, rather than take what the D would give you, they kept call plays right into the run stunts. The Oline is not yet good enough to impose their will against even a weak D. Very frustrating game plan.
September 16th, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^
I don't think we watched the same game. The gameplan was to run it down SMU's goddamn throat (41 attempts) and occasionally mix in pass to keep them off balance. If running it 11 out of 13 plays over the last two two drives (7 straight at the end) isn't imposing your will, I don't know what is.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:50 PM ^
This fan base is lost in a paralysis of baseless negativity.
Draw all the conclusions you want based on basically nothing. Because today was that.
And it was a blow out.
Which tends to tell us even less.
This was a comfortable win at home against an also ran.
Prediction: Michigan will win every game where it wins the most match ups each play and makes the least mistakes over the whole game. We'll know at the end of each game whether those things happened.
There is enough talent here to win any game on the schedule.
Well have to see how it goes each week.
September 16th, 2018 at 3:15 PM ^
Agreed. This team is better than this board thinks, and getting better every week.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:51 PM ^
Thumbs up: DPJ, Patterson, Wilson, Gentry...
I still would love to see a few more targets for Eubanks and Collins downfield
September 15th, 2018 at 9:03 PM ^
Question on the int. On the replay it looked like maybe McKeon gets a finger on the ball while his foot is out of bounds. If that happened, should the int stood?
September 15th, 2018 at 9:18 PM ^
Seems like Hudson and mayfield are still a ways away from starting. Biggest pass blocking problem was Evans (might be nice to get an actual rb coach to teach him) but the ol still didn’t look great.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:28 PM ^
I'm surprised that Evans started today. He doesn't run hard and is a huge liability in pass pro. He's great when he has space but I'd rather have Tru in there on passing downs.
September 15th, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^
Sorry to disagree , respectfully of course. I think Evans is extremely talented and a very hard runner. He has "big legs" and at most times is very shifty out of the hole.
Just my opinion. I like Evans running between tackles, but I like Higdon better in the open field. Tru has established himself as a decent pass blocker. Definitely looks good at times.
I enjoyed seeing Samuels running the ball a little today too.
September 15th, 2018 at 11:30 PM ^
Evans doesn't like to follow his FB, always cut back. sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
September 16th, 2018 at 9:34 AM ^
Evans runs quite well,has good vision. He's not a battering ram, that's not his game.
I digress. How is Mason at blocking? If he's the best why not operate a shotgun with Mason in backfield? That's what Id do, because our Rbs don't block well.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:30 PM ^
For folks that know much more about football than I, why on earth does Michigan not run quick little slant plays into the slot and let Perry / Martin / someone try to make a play?
September 16th, 2018 at 1:09 AM ^
I've kinda wondered if maybe that's a throw Shea isn't comfortable making He's a pretty short guy, think that might be tough if you can't see over your tackles easily.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:33 PM ^
Jim McElwain---receivers finding all kinds of open spaces!!
September 15th, 2018 at 10:06 PM ^
A few takeaways for me on the offense:
1. our line is still struggling. too many qb hurries. too many times the point of contact for a RB was at or behind the LOS. We won't beat good teams like this.
2. Our running backs didn't help our bad line by whiffing on some blocks.
3. Our coaches didn't help our line. We still aren't throwing hot enough when teams are blitzing. Whether that is on Shea missing it or on the staff not emphasizing this, i am not sure.
4. Shea made some great throws. He is more than competent and a huge step up from last year.
5. WR looking better. DPJ a great adjustment on a back shoulder. Gentry getting better. A little disturbed by the McKeon not coming back to the ball.
September 16th, 2018 at 12:28 AM ^
McKeon makes alot of bonehead plays.... I swear, that all the fanfare and notoriety they get in the pre-season from the fanbase, including the excessive glorifying praise and interviews, mentally cooks them and makes them soft. Bo was right....
September 16th, 2018 at 9:15 AM ^
I don't think the coaches agree with you.
September 16th, 2018 at 12:28 AM ^
McKeon makes alot of bonehead plays.... I swear, that all the fanfare and notoriety they get in the pre-season from the fanbase, including the excessive glorifying praise and interviews, mentally cooks them and makes them soft. Bo was right....
September 16th, 2018 at 8:55 AM ^
Agree on the hot routes. Seemed the run game was so sluggish in the first half because the linebackers were all run blitzing. Is this not when you pop a TE over their heads to keep them honest. And if a safety is crashing down, send DPJ on a post and good night Mary. I get it: with an excellent defense and against an inferior opponent, play conservative and take care of the ball, but it seemed we spent the first half dipping our toes in the water and the second half, once the O really got going, we were watching 8-minute SMU drives aided by multiple PI calls on 3rd down, targeting reviews, laundry breaks, pee breaks and why the fuck not breaks. Frustrating game on multiple levels but when the offense was kicked with the spurs they looked good.
September 15th, 2018 at 11:22 PM ^
Wilson played pretty well today. He is an upgrade in pass protection as well. I would like Mason to have more carries in short yardage. He is a beast. Compared to Wilson and Higdon, Evans seems impatient and don't follow his FB as much, not good.
TE still drop balls, Gentry, he's better today, but he need to cut down the drop ball percentage. Our WR/TE can't catch tough balls when contested. WR blocking is still slightly better, but need to improve as well.
OC (whoever he was) is still not impressived in play calling. You start to see some harbaugh ball in red zone now. I hope it's getting back to the normal. We need to power into endzone when we are in redzone.
September 16th, 2018 at 12:29 AM ^
I disagree on Evans... he improvises, and well, finds yards for instance, where Higdon never does... its as if Higdon only lifts weights and doesnt watch film. We need a real RB coach, not Jay.
September 16th, 2018 at 1:06 AM ^
No special team section so holy hell what a kick by Nordin. 45 yards and over the netting behind the endzone. That's crazy long.
September 16th, 2018 at 2:02 AM ^
meh... i was a big Harbaugh fan when he was hired, but i think all the Fort Schembechler stuff is more about Harbaugh not liking the media as opposed to any elaborate subterfuge of 'hiding' things from opponents...Because it doesn't actually turn into results that are demonstrably better than teams that are open during training camp.
Vanilla is what Harball is about... great if you have maulers on the OLine and stupefying when he doesn't... its not about not putting stuff on tape for opponents.
Other teams like Bama Osu PSU run amok with all sort of plays during the season, they don't go vanilla to prevent teams from scouting because they have lots of plays to choose from...so they don't care
Michigan needs to be more creative on offensive to beat OSU; they aren't going to manball against that DL
September 16th, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^
Not the best performance, and the OL still needs work. But it’s clear we’ve upgraded at the most important spot on the field with the QB. Shea is making the throws that O’Korn and Speight could never make, and those throws have been spot on. The receivers are playing pretty well. If the OL can just buy him some time against the better defenses we’re going to play, we’ve got a shot in every game we’re in.
As for Evans’ performance yesterday, it wasn’t great, but the guy is just not an every down back like Higdon is. Not his fault. He’s your third down change of pace back. He was playing a bigger role than he normally would’ve otherwise. But Tru Wilson played well in Higdon’s absence. I hope he gets some reps as the #1 if Higdon is out for an extended period of time.
September 16th, 2018 at 9:37 AM ^
1. WR has definitely improved. McElwain was a great hire. I took my cousin to the game, and we were discussing WR's on the way there and how it's been so long since we've seen a WR blow up and stuff the staff sheet here. DPJ sort of did that yesterday with the 3 TD's.
I was specifically impressed with his 2nd TD to put us up 28-7. Shea threw it up for him and he created space, disengaged with the defender at the perfect time, and hauled it in. That one looked like an NFL-caliber play to my eyes. Very good stuff.
2. Like many others have stated, it appeared as if we were trying to get away with just keeping it stupid simple, but our OL play wasn't strong enough to do so. This was interesting as it forced the coaches to open things up, which gave us more of a taste of what's to come and what the offense is truly capable of.
3. Pass protection is still very shaky, but Shea is more than capable of carving up a defense with his arm. SMU really brought it yesterday and I feel like we'd have been sweating this one out with last year's QB situation. I'd love to see what he can do with, say, last year's gameplan vs. OSU.
4. Apparently Higdon was hurt? He'd have helped tremendously in the early stages of this game where it looked like we were struggling to get anything going. IMO, we needed someone to punch the defense in the mouth to open things up more for Evans.
5. McKeon... man. It seemed like he just stopped and let the defender pick that one off near the endzone. This throw seemed similar to the one to DPJ where it was thrown up for him and he needed to box out, create space, then go get it. Instead, he just kind of stopped as if he was wanting to let it come to him, when he needed to go after it himself. The defender won the fight for said space and hopped on it. Gotta take the initiative there.
September 16th, 2018 at 9:41 AM ^
These slow starts are frustrating. 3 games and 3 painfully slow starts. It was our downfall in week 1 and now that we're in B1G play it can't continue to happen. Prepare better, adapt quicker.
September 16th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
Didn't we drop 21 on Western in the first quarter? First drive was bad but after that it wasn't slow
September 16th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
I guess you're right but western was clearly our worst opponent so far. And that first drive wasn't bad, it was an epic disaster. Elect to receive followed by 2 penalties and a 3 & out.
September 16th, 2018 at 9:43 AM ^
Obviously, there is a lot of season to be played but I’ve seen mentioned repeatedly that Patterson is going to be one and done. Is that based on anything more than speculation?
September 16th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
I have to appreciate the improvement in WR and QB play this year, which obviously go hand in hand. Big shout to Coach McElwain and Shea. The deep pass to DPJ was really something, ~48 yards through the air and hit DPJ in stride. It has been a long time since we had a QB who could make throws like that.
I remember Brian mentioned last year that DPJ was often running free behind defenses, but our QBs were incapable of finding him. That must have been so frustrating for DPJ.
September 16th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
Was at the Wisconsin game last year. Everyone was running free behind defenses. DPJ was wide open the whole game. I think that with Patterson we should see our passing game have an up tick in big ten play compared to last year. The main concern is that the line won't be able to give him time to step up and make the throws.
DPJ looks better each week. The back shoulder catch was a great route and play on the ball.
September 16th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^
The running game missed a spark having Higdon out. Evans has some nice skill but I’m not sure he is as reliable when we just need three yards. I am also glad that the coaching staff didn’t just lock into running up the guy all day and decided to take their little new Patterson for a spin. DPJ seemed to be someone that can make plays. Hopefully this is the beginning of a functional passing game (assuming) pass protection can hold up against better defenses.
September 16th, 2018 at 2:52 PM ^
On the rewatch, this was a massacre. Michigan's working out the kinks for sure, but they're gonna wreck some people with the ground game this year. The jury's still out on if they can do it against better teams, but this was very reminiscent of when Stanford was at their peak and just running it down lesser opponents throats. Go back and watch the second half if you wanna see a running game clinic. The last drive finished with seven straight runs. The RBs seemed to hit the linebacker level just about every attempt. SMU was toast by the end of the game. O-line was creating some lanes, yo.
On top of that, Patterson is for real. He #MadePlays when he needed to, was accurate under pressure, and hit open receivers. The back shoulder fade to DPJ was unstoppable. If he can get a little more pass protection out of the tackles, Patterson plus this WR/TE group is as good as advertised.
By drive:
- 3 plays, 7 yards, punt.
- 5 plays, 23 yards, punt.
- 12 plays, 73 yards, INT (at the goaline).
- 11 plays, 57 yards, TD
- 5 plays, 60 yards, TD
- 8 plays, 62 yards, TD
- 2 plays, 41 yards, TD
- 6 plays, 48 yards, FG
- 8 plays, 68 yards, TD
All together Michigan had 18 passing attempts, to 41(!) rushing attempts (4.8 ypc) according to ESPN's team stats. JH wants to run the football and counter with the passing game. Against SMU that was overwhelming.
This team's weakness is still pass protection, and good coaches coach around their weakness. A ball control, running based attack--paired with a Don Brown defense-- will wear down defenses, limit the hits on Shea, churn out yards, and likely create big pass plays over the top, as defenses bring down extra run support.
My hot take? JH knows what he's doing. Some of y'all need to embrace the #Manball.