Nebraska Snowflakes - The Offense
September 22nd, 2018 at 4:25 PM ^
Pep is a genius.
September 22nd, 2018 at 5:07 PM ^
Having a guy that can sling the ball like Shea is a huge advantage for a play designer. I think any OC/play designer/etc would have been in the fan doghouse last season with our collective efforts at QB.
September 22nd, 2018 at 4:27 PM ^
Offensive line looked really good
September 22nd, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
Christian Turner doesnt look as fast as our starters, but he lays the wood when he makes contact.
September 22nd, 2018 at 9:23 PM ^
Turner has real RB skills ..and not just a great athlete playing RB. He dusted a few guys who has him wrapped up... He's gonna be very good.
September 22nd, 2018 at 10:35 PM ^
He looked fast to me. Has a nice burst on his cuts. I’d like to see him get a pass in some open space. Pretty clear why there was camp buzz about him.
September 22nd, 2018 at 4:53 PM ^
The OL is getting better and it’s not just the level of competition. NU night not be good but their front 4 aren’t worse than WMU’s or SMU’s. Our guys are playing smarter and more disciplined every week. They absolutely dominated the LoS—something we haven’t seen much of since the mid-00s. This is what we want—need—to see going forward.
Are we good enough to beat OSU on the road? Maybe, though still seems like a stretch to me. But are we good enough to beat any *other* team in the conference? I think we are.
Doesn’t mean we will, granted (I still think we’ll roll into Columbus 9-2, as I did preseason). But it certainly looks possible now, and it wasn’t that long ago that it simply did not.
September 22nd, 2018 at 4:54 PM ^
The team is starting to build talented depth. RB, QB, WR, defense. Only need to get some OL depth and we are well on the way to a year in year out well oiled machine.
September 22nd, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
I thought Christian Turner looked good.
September 22nd, 2018 at 5:03 PM ^
A few missed blocks and dorfs by the OL led to a couple TFL's and one Shea sack. Other than that I think the OL acquitted themselves very nicely. Looks like they're improving but the competition will get tougher. Two obvious PI's missed by the refs but I think the refs felt sorry for Nebraska anyway. Big shout out to the RB's who are picking up blitzers and extra rushers. Another strong rushing performance by Higdon and really all the backs. Great win. I didn't expect Michigan to dominate like that. It gives me a ton more hope on the remainder of the season.
Good performance by Shea who once again didn't need to contribute much, which is a nice thing. He's dropping dimes out there and I have a lot of confidence he will be even better when we need him.
September 22nd, 2018 at 5:21 PM ^
The future at QB is bright, best QB situation we’ve had in a while. We are a consistent OLine away from making playoff noise.
September 22nd, 2018 at 5:21 PM ^
Christian Turner runs the ball like he's pissed off at the world. Even with 3 guys riding him out of bounds he refuses to go down.
Samuels looking a lot better this year, too. Hope Evans is OK, but RB depth for the future looks awesome, with more guys still coming in!
September 22nd, 2018 at 5:33 PM ^
Takeaways:
- OL is improving each week and looked very good today. TEs and WRs were excellent in run blocking as well
- Really likes the use of jet motion and arc blocking today. FB arcing to backside was particularly effective.
- Ronnie Bell looks like a player
- Christian Turner has amazing patience, vision, and balance. Quick through the hole as well. With Wilson and Samuels, and with Charbonnet and Gray coming in, it feels like we are back to having an embarrassment of riches at RB for the first time in nearly 20 years. Turner could be a great one.
- Easy to forget about the defense, but damn, Don Brown had them ready. 14 TFLs and no room to breathe for Nebraska at all. Great performances by several players. Hope Paye is okay. He and Hutchinson look like three have bright futures.
September 22nd, 2018 at 5:52 PM ^
So very happy to eat crow! Gotta maintain this kind of effort week- in and week- out if M is going to win the BIG. Much easier said than Done.
September 22nd, 2018 at 6:12 PM ^
Shea Patterson leaving after this season is an absurd notion. He appears to be about 5'9, is not fast, and is really not the most accurate thrower and does not have the touch needed at the NFL level. I know this is not a popular opinion, but he is a good college QB, who will not flourish in the professional league.
September 22nd, 2018 at 7:06 PM ^
When you said “unpopular” you must have meant “incorrect”. Look at the SMU game for some examples of his speed. Height, accuracy, arm strength, and elusiveness all very similar to Baker Mayfield.
September 22nd, 2018 at 8:09 PM ^
I agree with the first two commenters because I think their analysis is a bit more measured. I assume you’re not saying that Patterson is as good as mayfield, rather that his play style is similar. I think we should see what Patterson does against the better teams on the schedule before we anoint him the shea-vior
September 22nd, 2018 at 7:24 PM ^
I actually agree with this. He's a ways away from being fully programmed as a QB. Makes some horrible decisions pre snap due to playing in a hairy HS offense at Ole Miss.
Additionally, he makes some great throws but also throws 3-4 ducks per game. Bad measureables and average decision maker doesn't equal 1st Round draft pick.
Probably 10-15 QB's better than him throughout the nation point in time. That being said I love that he's our QB right now and we will probably get 2 years out of him.
September 24th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
well this is interesting. It was clear that this account was created as a replacement to the banned Mineral King, MFan1984, Skypanther, SpilledMilk. Not sure if this account replaces one or more of those users, but I'm thinking this throws a wrench into the "Mineral king is shea" idea, unless this is a subtle attempt to post inside info about next year.
September 22nd, 2018 at 7:01 PM ^
These “snowflake” topics are trash. Let us (the dipshits) post whatever topics (dipshit topics) we want.
September 22nd, 2018 at 7:19 PM ^
The Ben Mason plays were hilarious. Everyone in the big house and watching on TV knew exactly what was coming and they couldn't stop it. Nebraska was helpless
September 22nd, 2018 at 7:31 PM ^
Anyone like the way Turner runs? hits the whole quickly, cuts well and seems to break tackles.
September 22nd, 2018 at 8:55 PM ^
Turner and Wilson played great.
September 22nd, 2018 at 8:29 PM ^
Can someone with some x's and o's knowledge explain how the FB dive works and why its been so successful for us? Seems like you just lose a blocker that way since the RB is lined up behind the FB. It does seem like there's an element of surprise since it seems to catch the defense offguard but arent LBs coached to watch where the FB is going anyway since that usually tells you which gap the RB is coming through?
September 22nd, 2018 at 10:24 PM ^
The use of a FB in all phases of offense makes the FB dive work.
1. If the line crashes down on FB, then PA or outside runs available. So defense cannot fully commit to the dive on goal line, for Shea likely has an audible if sees a stacked line.
2. LBs focus on RB.
3. O-line is best at run blocks when they have advantage of knowing snap count and can get off ball quickly to get leverage..
4. FB dive takes advantage of the first moments of a play when o-line has best leverage.
5. Short yardage brings in power formation lineups, which lessens the stacked line.
6. The dive works for longer runs as an element of surprise when defense shows obvious passing defense (nickel, dime, etc.)
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:10 AM ^
My fingers are crossed that Warriner is turning the O line around.
September 23rd, 2018 at 1:14 AM ^
Turner looks like the real deal. Samuels hasn't show anything yet and looks like just a guy. I would look for Turner to start stealing most of Samuels snaps unless he can show he can do something besides run straight.
September 23rd, 2018 at 2:38 AM ^
With Dylan at QB I think the '17 season plays out pretty differently. We beat ohio state AND michigan state for sure. Probably not penn state. We beat South Carolina and Wisconsin, too. We would have seen a big ten title and CFB playoff berth.
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:40 PM ^
That may be true with a McCaffrey as he is today. But with a freshmen learning the offense in his first year on campus and a years less college weight and nutrition program I dont think we would have the results you suggest.
September 23rd, 2018 at 2:45 AM ^
Whether it was level of competition or genuine improvement (as others have said, likely a bit of both), it was nice to see the OL dominate the line of scrimmage. My son was marveling at Higdon's TD run and I pointed out that he had a huge hole and a great block from a WR to spring him free (DPJ, IIRC). Lots of runs over Runyan's spot too - I will be interested to see if the improvement holds up in the UFR.
One of the deep passes featured two blitzers up the the middle and the RB (Tru Wilson, I think?) correctly ID'd the first one and stoned him, which was long enough for Patterson to get the pass off before the safety got to him.
Both our lines were keys to the win.
September 23rd, 2018 at 8:12 AM ^
It wasn’t Tru. That play was Karan Higdon. That’s the great thing about competition — seeing the other guy do something well may motivate you to do the same thing.
September 23rd, 2018 at 7:17 AM ^
I think Ed Warinner is making a huge difference. I remember last year after losing to MSU, Dantonio chuckled about how complex the UM offense was. (to the point of not being able to execute) Now we are seeing quotes about how the offensive line schemes have been simplified, allowing the guys to focus on getting better at executing fewer maneuvers.
It is a work in progress, and will require better O.L. recruiting, but it appears that Harbaugh identified the problem and addressed it by firing his friend Drevno & hiring Warinner.
He has set the O.L. up for major improvement going forward. It goes without saying that Harbaugh is a running game guy, and he knows how important the O.L. is.
September 23rd, 2018 at 8:16 AM ^
It's nice that this team was in garbage time with 7 minutes left in the first half.
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:08 AM ^
This is the best I have felt about the qb position and its future since Henne was starting with mallet backing him up as a freshman.
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
We have weapons and the game plan showed it. If the O-Line continues to gel and grow, watch out. We have a QB (two in fact), Higdon is a very good back (and we have depth at the position), Mason is legit (he's going to see more carries as the season goes on), Gentry and McKeon at TE, and the WRs are growing up quickly. Add in Ambry and even Ronnie Bell...this could be a very scary offense by the time we get to the Wisconsin, MSU, PSU stretch.
Offensively, I thought the Nebraska game plan and play calling should be the starting point moving forward. I think some of the early game plans (ie: ND), were designed that way because the o-line needed more time to play in games. We are very close to it all coming together.
Again, the O-Line needs to continue to show improvement, but I think they do it. Still dont know how we will fare against OSU, but I could see this year's game be an all-time classic.
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:34 PM ^
http://www.pressmask.com/michigans-ol-showed-signs-of-growth-pushing-nebraska-around/
"Michigan’s OL confirmed indicators of development pushing Nebraska round."
"As a substitute, the Wolverines’ entrance 5 pushed their first Large Ten opponent round with out a lot problem."
“We had been feeling good concerning the holes that we had been making, and the backs had been ending them,” stated beginning left guard Ben Bredeson. “We had been completely satisfied about that.”
"No. 19 Michigan turned to its floor sport early."
"Jim Harbaugh and the teaching employees dialed up the exact same play Higdon broke his first lengthy play on — a zone-read to the left facet, this time for a 44-yard landing run."
"By the tip of the primary quarter, not solely had the Wolverines constructed a 20-Zero lead, however they did it on 131 yards dashing."
“It was unimaginable,” stated Higdon, who rushed a game-high 12 occasions for 136 yardsand a landing.
"Nebraska (0-3, 0-1 Large Ten)"
"So, what’s gone into the obvious enchancment? "
“We had been in a position to transfer them round as a gaggle,” Bredeson stated.
"Quarterback Shea Patterson performed a comparatively clear sport, finishing 15 of his 22 passes for 120 yards and a landing."
"I’ve stated it from the start, they’re enhancing,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh stated. "
"The 19th-ranked Wolverines have eclipsed scoring 45 factors in every of the final three video games, whereas dashing for a mixed 787 yards throughout that span."
“Clearly I am not learning the offensive line, however I might say in my 5 years right here, that is most likely the very best I’ve ever seen,” defensive finish Chase Winovich stated. “That is most likely a daring assertion — I do not imply for it to return off as (one) — however that is most likely the very best I’ve ever seen Michigan look from a complete standpoint.
“Offense, protection, particular groups. It was only a nice feeling.”
September 24th, 2018 at 12:15 AM ^
2nd watch and there was some damn fine hitting going on by Michigan's offense. Even impressive sometimes.
Take a look at DPJ's crack block on Higdon's TD run down the far sideline. +3 quality.
September 24th, 2018 at 11:26 AM ^
I actually feel bad for Peters. To come in the game and immediately throw an INT. Those things happen but that's not a good break for him.