Baumgardner: if this continues, more losses will follow, more than one

Submitted by wolverine1987 on September 30th, 2018 at 9:31 AM

Nick Baumgardner take on last night's game. Pretty fair IMO. The most "negative" quote is below, he did acknowledge all the positives (coming back, the complete shutdown, etc)

"A team with a vanilla offense and a defense that, save for about 15 plays in critical situations, is lights out. A team that plays with familiar inconsistent mental focus early away from home. What's that going to mean for this group's final record at the end of the season? 

Unless Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has better answers than he has shown, it'll mean more struggles — and more losses — against the Big Ten's best."

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2018/09/30/michigan-football-2018/1477175002/

Craptain Crunch

September 30th, 2018 at 9:34 AM ^

Read his article earlier and he's right. Michigan is going to struggle and lose games if they continue to play like they did last night. Other more skilled teams will find a way to gash Michigan's D and the O will not be able to respond. This has become a sad but predictable trend for Michigan. 

I Like Burgers

September 30th, 2018 at 9:54 AM ^

It’s the same as it was last year: they come out super flat and undisciplined in the first and third quarters and well-coached teams will take advantage. Michigan’s talent will be able to make up for it in some games, but not the big ones.

Its been going on long enough at this point I feel pretty safe saying it’s just a trademark of Harbaugh teams and ain’t changing anytime soon.

snarling wolverine

September 30th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^

 they come out super flat and undisciplined in the first and third quarters 

First, yes.  ND and NW on both sides, and SMU offensively.

Third?  Not sure about that.  We dominated the third quarter yesterday, though we didn't punch it in at the goal line.  Really, we controlled play over the last three quarters.

Leonhall

September 30th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^

It’s  a wrecking ball against a horrible offensive team like NW. if we get behind by 2 tds vs. msu, Wisconsin, psu, or osu, they will keep putting it on as the talent is either equal or they have more of it. NW is bad on offense, msu, Wisconsin, psu, and osu all would have won by double digits against us last night.

switch26

September 30th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^

Ill argue that MSU's current offense is just as bad as northwestern's..

 

Zero running game, and MSU throws it 30 plus a game...

 

The coaches seem to scheme well for the OSU game on the road and the players get up for that game under harbaugh other than DJ durkins debacle..

 

We get wisc and PSU at home where we play a hell of a lot better.. so time will tell..

Adrian

September 30th, 2018 at 9:40 AM ^

Im sure someone will go through film and let us know but what happened yesterday? Were the WRs not getting any separation? It seemed like the line was giving Shea time to throw to a certain extent but he could never get the ball into the WRs hands. Is shark rider not really having an impact? Wasnt he brought in to coach the WRs

Gentleman Squirrels

September 30th, 2018 at 9:58 AM ^

We really need to have more check down throws when our receivers are blocked. It will only be a gain of a couple yards, but a short throw to Higdon/Evans will make defenses honest and can prevent double teams. At least Patterson started running the ball more in 2nd half. Having that as an option can be a game changer.

Honker Burger

September 30th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^

It frustrates me how slow developing our plays are.

The few times we ran WR screens we typically picked up good yardage. If you watch OSU, the majority of their plays are quick slants/screens and they let their playmakers make plays.

The modern game is much more dependent on quick 2-3yard passes and letting WRs get YAC, and we seem to be way behind on that.

Larry Appleton

September 30th, 2018 at 9:40 AM ^

Two points.

First, the defense is lights out but for 15 plays in critical situations?  What critical situations is he talking about?  In the most critical situations this year, the defense has been dominant.

2) For all the talk of the vanilla offense, I actually thought they would have been better off at the beginning if they had been MORE vanilla.  First two plays: a short completion and an end-around to a speedy freshman.  Hardly a vanilla start, but it did put us in third and long right off the bat.  No touches for Higdon on the first drive, and it didn’t pay off.

McSomething

September 30th, 2018 at 11:50 AM ^

If the defense gives up yards/points then it was a critical situation. If the defense gets a quick stop it was not a critical situation. It's just like the schrodinger's opponents we have every season. If we beat them, it wasn't a big game. If we lost, it was.

RockinLoud

September 30th, 2018 at 9:42 AM ^

"If the team keeps playing bad and making mistakes at times, they're likely going to lose against the best teams."

Genius! Just, absolutely brilliant and insightful analysis there!

Squash34

September 30th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^

What is your definition of "ready to play"? Are you saying you can only be ready to play if you win? 

I thin NW was ready to play yesterday but just couldn't pull it out at the end.  This is the same for Wisconsin last year and OSU in 16. These are just two off the top of my head. 

Just because you lose on the road does t mean you were not prepared and ready to play. 

corundum

September 30th, 2018 at 9:42 AM ^

I don't think Michigan is a top 5 team, but we came out the same way against ND and only lost by a TD on the road. ND is looking like a legitimate playoff contender  so I'm not as pessimistic. This probably isn't a playoff year but things are definitely heading in the right direction.