MSU Snowflakes - The Coaching
October 20th, 2018 at 6:58 PM ^
To be fair, it felt like it ALWAYS goes this way against Sparty: we do enough to win but get sunk by ridiculous bad luck. With the rain coming down and two bad fumbles in the second half, you didn't flash back to last year at all? Even just a little?
October 20th, 2018 at 7:30 PM ^
To be fair, gotta sack up a bit. Be more Chase, be less Nordin
October 20th, 2018 at 7:32 PM ^
To be fair, gotta sack up a bit. Be more Chase, be less Nordin
October 20th, 2018 at 8:00 PM ^
You are being too charitable. Calling coaches and players garbage is beyond the pale.
October 21st, 2018 at 1:08 PM ^
I mean, we all had the flashbacks but only some of us cried on a message board like little girls
October 20th, 2018 at 4:59 PM ^
We covered. Would like to win by more than just 14 when the defense holds the other team to under 100 yards total offense (and they do need to learn how to finish drives better), but considering how dire things looked in the 3rd when State had it at midfield tied with everything seemingly coming unraveled, the team showed great perseverance. And we covered.
October 20th, 2018 at 4:59 PM ^
Remember all the "Harbaugh has to go" comments after ND? Where'd those people go?
October 20th, 2018 at 5:05 PM ^
Pretty sure they were lurking around, especially in the 1st half when M did not score on several consecutive short fields.
JH is the guy for M. But the O will have to get better at 3rd and long, and at finishing drives (especially in 1st half) to win out. O is good. Not yet great.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:05 PM ^
Harbaugh should be donating a huge chunk of his salary to the charity of Don Brown’s choice. This win happened in spite of the offensive brain trust.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:22 PM ^
Other posters are stating that Shea simply didn't throw the ball to open receiver's. Maybe it's not the coaches.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:51 PM ^
then take him out and put in D Caff.....that IS on coaches.
October 20th, 2018 at 6:50 PM ^
I wonder where I have heard the old "put in the 2nd string or 3rd string QB" line before.
October 20th, 2018 at 7:23 PM ^
That would be a good point but we have never done that here on MGoBlog. I mean NEVAH!!
/s
October 20th, 2018 at 5:10 PM ^
Check out the game thread... pages 15-45
October 20th, 2018 at 5:10 PM ^
They were all over the game thread in the third quarter. I hope they're gone again for a while.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^
Wish there was a way to flag those "fans" with a scarlet letter so they can be publicly shamed for their hot takes.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:23 PM ^
They went with the Spartans, at least for a while.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:00 PM ^
nail bitter, moments of panic and diskust, without DPJ touchdown completely different game. Bring on PSU, I think we'll do more against them!
October 20th, 2018 at 5:04 PM ^
Well, yeah, but without Evans fumble on the ten, also completely different game. They never once threatened to score except for when we set them up on that fumble.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:23 PM ^
But that’s what happens when you let inferior teams hang around. This is a productive offense with flashes of brilliance, but it is still inconsistent and flawed. Needs to improve - if our O could match our D we’d be a playoff favorite.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:38 PM ^
The last piece is Shea. Im not sure if hes a bad decision maker or he doesnt trust his eyes but hes holding the ball too long and taking bad losses with too many throwaways. Id also like to see Grant Perry used more on slants and quick hitters as an extension of the running game. It seems every route we run takes 4 seconds and then Shea doesnt throw it on time to make it worse.
October 20th, 2018 at 7:59 PM ^
If our O matched our D we’d be the number 1 offense and defense, which has never happened
October 21st, 2018 at 2:04 AM ^
If Michigan had the number 1 offense, what would you complain about?
Actually, if they did have the number 1 offense, you would still complain.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:00 PM ^
I believe this Sparty Scumsucker finally has an answer to his question:
http://www.diehardsport.com/college-football/sparty-reporter-asked-msu-…
October 20th, 2018 at 5:01 PM ^
Please stop doing a pa pass after rushing for 2 yards or less the previous play, it wasn't working and for good reason.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:43 PM ^
If you look at studies of PA passing there isnt much correlation between running success and success on PA passes. The Lions for example were one of the worst running teams ever last season but were at or near the top of the NFL in yards per PA pass. Id assume the numbers in college are similar.
October 20th, 2018 at 6:27 PM ^
Well, that may be the case but it definitely wasn't working this game 90% of the time, but I am not a coach. It's not like I don't have faith in the staff or anything but sometimes we seem to do the same thing and get the same poor results over and over, and it can be frustrating to watch.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:01 PM ^
They had them ready to murder and be petty.
Offense should gtfo with the Paul Chryst stuff punting the first half, but if Shea makes a few more plays that were there this is a hamblasting.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:15 PM ^
Why wouldn't you punt in those situations? We have been ass all year on 3rd/4th and long and MSU has a solid defense. Meanwhile, MSU's offense is complete butt against our #1 defense, and the weather sucks. The only way MSU scored was when we set them up in great field position. The right thing to do on 4th and more than 2 or 3 there is to pin them back, force the 3 and out (which they did both times) and get the ball back.
Seriously, what play would you have run? Or would you have Nordin, who looked terrible last week and in warmups today, go for a 50+ yard FG on a windy day that has a good chance of getting blocked? I know look at those punts like it's "dinosaur football," but when you're in a dinosaur football game, you have to make dinosaur decisions.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:54 PM ^
I get doing some dinosaur stuff but to me the 4th and 5 from the 38 was indefensible and they paid for it on the touchback. If they dinosaured the others but went for it there I'd feel better about it.
Any number of short passing plays can get you 5 (or 10 on the other) and it's just bad football math based on the risk/reward. A good defense is another reason to go for it, too.
October 20th, 2018 at 6:34 PM ^
Yeah when they got that one to 4th and 5 I thought that was for sure a set up to go for it. Dinosaur move there.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:27 PM ^
would have been nice if we had a good kicker
October 20th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
We seem to play more conservatively in the first half, and to work on softening the other team up, then open it up in the second half. I wonder if Patterson was programmed not to pull the ball in the first half so State would be stunned when he started to do it in the second half. Sure worked when he did keep it.
October 20th, 2018 at 6:27 PM ^
That's exactly it. A large portion of the "slow starts" on offense are actually a result of Michigan attempting to wear down the defense. You saw the results in the fourth quarter last week, and you saw the results in the fourth quarter again this week.
Give MSU some credit -- their defense was actually very good. Remember last year's Michigan defense, when they'd eventually wear down because the offense couldn't move the ball? That's what Michigan is doing to other teams this year.
This isn't going to change -- it's a philosophical thing. Shea has clearly been told to avoid mistakes early in the game; Michigan intends to win the games late.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:25 PM ^
And it's working. I do want Shea to stop being so gun-shy early in games..but I'd much rather have that than game-changing turnovers.
For however all-too-familiar bleakness we all felt during that 3rd quarter, the defense was still not allowing anything besides that one trick play.
And despite the 2 fumbles and crappy weather, Michigan won the game pulling away. Sure, they could have scored more earlier, but it's also easy to be conservative when you have the #1 defense in the country. Turnovers are the only reason MSU was in the game in the 2nd half.
And despite all that, Michigan asserted themselves late in the game. Their run game started producing more yards against the best run D in the country. It was not stellar, but it was productive enough. And the run game got them an insurance TD late in the game. Considering our past futilities against MSU on the ground, that's a huge positive.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
Hard to complain when M beats Sparty.
But...man it still seems like the offensive game plans are not quite there yet.
Can't say it was a bad game plan and/or situational play calling.
But, there has to be a better way to avoid so many 3rd and longs against good Ds, and also some better plays for the 3rd and 8 situations.
Hopefully they can add a couple of things in the bye week, because this is the main thing that keeps the O from being really top level.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:04 PM ^
I was frustrated we squandered those second half opportunities, too. But that's mostly on Shea and Nordin, honestly. Shea passed up open receivers, including that clear opportunity to hit DPJ for a TD the same way Shea was rolling out.
Michigan ran the ball well and got open receivers with regularity. I've raised the idea that Harbaugh's QB coaching may leave his QBs tentative, so that's a possible coaching nit to pick, but the plays were, for the most part, there.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:15 PM ^
True, Shea did miss DJP.
Still, where is the slant or Perry (or that sort of concept) to deal with 2nd or 3d and 8ish?
They tried one that would have worked today, but it was batted down at the line. Patterson not tall enough to make that work regularly? Not sure.
The Nordin miss was off of a bad snap. Holder did a good job to even get the ball down, but it threw off Nordin.
October 20th, 2018 at 7:06 PM ^
Or more screens? The one they ran to the tight end worked brilliantly, so if you want to play on some hyper-aggressive linebackers, that would seem to be a decent idea.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:05 PM ^
C'mon man use your head. Of course there's gonna be more third and longs against good defenses that's why they're good defenses. Gotta find ways to convert them but against good d's they will happen.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:07 PM ^
Good D's are good for a reason...UM got 400 yards on Sparty in EL today that's a big fucking win by the Coaching staff and Offense not to even mention the D's mastery.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:16 PM ^
I felt the opposite. Seemed like the game plan was perfect, and there were just some missed opportunities from the players. Shea not seeing DPJ for a wide open TD (or just not throwing it) changed the entire complexion of the game for a while. Him passing up the earlier keeper also wasn't guaranteed points but would have changed things too. Great scheming, and overall solid execution from the offense I thought.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:54 PM ^
It was. People just react emotionally to the outcome.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
Got it Done.
Go Blue
October 20th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
We finished the football game by running the ball and the #1 rushing defense couldn’t do anything to stop us. One of the most satisfying games I have watched in well over a decade.
Go Blue!
October 20th, 2018 at 5:08 PM ^
Former number one team against the run.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
It has been 5 minutes since Michigan beat a ranked team on the road.
October 20th, 2018 at 5:06 PM ^
Can we talk about Michigan State now that we...you know...
October 20th, 2018 at 5:34 PM ^
They’re not going to be ranked any more this year. Hahahaha
October 20th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
Game plan seemed good, execution at times wasn’t so good.
We changed nothing, just executed better. People have to hop off Harbaughs nuts HES A GOOD COACH AND HE CALLED A GREAT GAME