Rutgers Snowflakes - The Offense
November 10th, 2018 at 6:55 PM ^
Hot, Hot Takes
1) We won. By a large number. Looks good on paper.
2) We reduced the number of overall plays of the game with our TOP. We rotated a LOT of people in ALL game. Less plays per person in the cold, less chance of injuries, ESPECIALLY no/few hits on Patterson.
3) We won vanilla. We did not put anything special on film.
4) We practiced throwing the ball in yuck conditions on the road. It felt like a scrimmage/practice. Take more risks on throws. Air it out, see what happens. Practice throwing in a far away, cold place that has crappy wind, against a team in Red.
I will take it. It was what it needed.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:59 PM ^
Here we go yet again, “nothing special on film” what the hell does that mean? Go ahead and tell us what Harbaugh has “held back” until the OSU game in previous outings - - what was ran for the very first time? Nothing. You guys with this claim that Michigan has some super-secret successful play(s) they don’t want to “put on film” until OSU is ridiculous. Sound like a bunch of hyperhypo 12 year olds who want to appear to sound like they know how to coach let alone play football.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:23 PM ^
Exactly! Glad someone said it
November 10th, 2018 at 8:41 PM ^
We may or may not be "holding back plays", but we clearly add new plays each week (read option reverse today), so it's likely there will be a handful of plays special for OSU. Are we going to come out and run triple option or Air raid? No. We will see 5-6 new plays though.
November 11th, 2018 at 1:10 AM ^
Possibly Annexation of Puerto Rico?
November 10th, 2018 at 8:54 PM ^
Last year? How about the passing game to Chris Evans? We waited all year to see it and they finally broke it out to great effect.
November 10th, 2018 at 11:06 PM ^
I love when people say that they don't hold anything back. They have litterally put more stuff on film ever week since Wisconsin.
Early in the year they were hammering the basic stuff. Once they got it down they started doing the wrinkles and more exotic plays. They even did it this week, despite still playing very vanilla. The first pass to Martin was a RPO that attacked the outside linebacker. They put a few reverses on tape too.
Also, alot of it is subtle stuff that is set up as a tendency breaker. The problem is people like you don't have a firm enough understanding of offense I've football to notice thenew plays.
November 11th, 2018 at 1:38 AM ^
Did you watch the Ohio game last year? And the year before? Just asking
November 11th, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^
Do you ever stop to think what YOU sound like? Try it sometime.
Now that M has proven itself to be elite, the only thing that matters is Ohio State. Grind through two teams that are nowhere near us, and stay healthy for Ohio State.
This 35 point win was more or less perfect. It lacked in fireworks, which is what you're actually complaining about, and it's OK. If any game is going to be ugly, let it be the blowout win over Rutger.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:56 PM ^
Going to bump this back up, since I was ridiculed at the time for it
November 10th, 2018 at 7:04 PM ^
And you're looking for more ridicule?
November 10th, 2018 at 7:38 PM ^
It’s was 21-7 at the half. Not exactly a nail biter.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:21 PM ^
Thanks coach! Geesh!!!!
Sorry you didn't enjoy the win.
November 11th, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^
Rutgers tried to catch a Wolverine with a mouse trap.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:57 PM ^
Joe Milton seems exciting.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:01 PM ^
I really like the way he ran around like Devin Gardner trying to keep the clock running.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:13 PM ^
He's too slow to keep on the read option...
November 10th, 2018 at 7:20 PM ^
He's huge though and pretty shifty for his size. I could see a short yardage and goal line package for him.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:43 PM ^
He's fine. He's a freshman. The game is really fast for him. Not all freshmen can be JT Barrett. Most take some time to get seasoned. Like 2 or 3 seasons. He'll be fine
November 11th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^
Freshman get better.
I read that somewhere
November 10th, 2018 at 7:02 PM ^
Thought pro scouts would probably like what they saw from Shea today. Everyone a little bit pissy about the final score, but I think that's the day's biggest coup: establishing a little more of the passing game. Indiana and OSU will have to prepare for a very multi-dimensional Michigan offense.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:14 PM ^
I understand trying to limit Higdon's snaps and keeping the play calling vanilla, but I would have preferred to see them get things rolling a bit better before letting off on the gas.
Felt a bit like they were treating it like a scrimmage almost from the first snap.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:27 PM ^
Take a deep breath and chill. Rutger is a scrimmage. Game was never in doubt. UM has way bigger fish to fry. Truth be told the starters should have left mid 3rd quarter.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:44 PM ^
It was 35-7 in the 4th when they let off. Would you rather keep the starters in and get injured?
The game was over, personnel and playcalling were fine.
November 11th, 2018 at 2:09 PM ^
Plus there was a 4th & 3 at the Rutgers 43 with 55 seconds left in the 1st half with UM up 21-7.
In a competitive game (you believe the opposition has a chance), Harbaugh might choose to go for it. In a game that Rutgers' only faint hope is for a lucky combination of outcomes on a few plays, you just punt the ball and eliminate one key play.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:24 PM ^
I realize that this wasn't the domination people were expecting but honestly this game felt like Harbaugh just said "Yeah, we're gonna run the most basic shit possible, win this game and then go get some dinner". It felt a lot like a 15-0 NFL team playing their last game against the last place team in the league.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:28 PM ^
No injuries .
November 10th, 2018 at 7:29 PM ^
Milton looks the part but is he a gamer? is he heady? lets not take for granted, we are where we are now, because we have a heady QB.... without one and we lose to osu and msu (JOK).
I just see an elite athlete when Milton is in... waiting to see something else.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:11 PM ^
He is a freshman. By the time he is ready he will be polished to run the type of offense he was brought to do.
November 10th, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^
The guy's name 18 year old true freshman.
November 11th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
Of course you do.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:40 PM ^
Overall, solid despite conservative playcalling.
Great to see Shea so confident and patient in the passing gone. Gentry and DPJ are a force. Oliver botched a TD and made also made a great snag for a TD. Tru’s high energy and tough running were a real boost.
Hopefully the right guys rested and the OL worked on a few more areas to prepare for a OSU pounding.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:51 PM ^
Joe Milton is big, strong, fast, and hard to tackle.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:05 PM ^
More fades to Nico! That just looked to easy.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:26 PM ^
Mason taking a 3 and 1 to first and 10 and walking it back 4th and 1 on one play was not expected.
3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 should go to fullback and/or Mason. 4th and 1 should go to bigger back set
November 10th, 2018 at 9:14 PM ^
I’d like to hear a rules expert on that Mason play. I don’t think he ever really broke free of the defender, I’m wondering if he should have gotten forward progress.
November 10th, 2018 at 11:19 PM ^
You act like they haven't picked up a bunch of 3rd and fourth down with single back formation without Mason as the single back. They have picked up several short yardage first downs by running zone reads with higdon or by getting in 13 personal a d running higdon. It was stopped today because the DB made a good play, and probably a little because they didn't have to fear shea keeping.
Simply put, they have been good picking up short yardage in 12 and 13 personnel using higdon.
November 11th, 2018 at 10:21 AM ^
I think the issue, here and on defense, was that everybody was going for the big play instead of just taking what they play design gave. You saw DPJ do the same thing in the same drive - give up yards to try to YAC his way to a TD.
I don’t think the issue was not being “up” for the game, if anything it was a case of being too cocky and assuming they were so much better than Rutgers that they could do Madden stuff and pad their highlight reels.
November 11th, 2018 at 2:02 PM ^
It's a learning experience.
He got past the line to gain, got knocked back while still on his feet, and continued to try to find a way to go forward. The instinctive play.
What he should have done, and it's not really instinctive, is to fall down as he was being knocked backwards.
I have no problem with Bench giving it 100% physical effort. Next time, he'll play it a little smarter.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:33 PM ^
M and Rutger ended with the exact same rushing yds. - 193. 80 or their total was on 1 play as well as 60 of ours were on Evans TD run.
Outgained them 260 - 59 through the air with 1/3rd of their total on one play. They were 9/20 passing despite 0 sacks.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:51 PM ^
Tru Wilson has such good vision at the line of scrimmage to see tiny holes and cracks in the defense. He always seems to break through the first line of defense, and get to the second level for positive yards.
He’s never gonna be the running back with breakaway speed to take it to the house all the time or run dudes over. But he is a perfect running back to get you 4-10 yards each carry to keep the chains moving.
November 10th, 2018 at 9:04 PM ^
Come on, no need for snowflake threads after beating Rutgers by 35. Pretty confident there wouldn't be enough hot take threads to overwhelm the board. Following normal protocol just gives undue respect to those buffoons.
November 10th, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
Did Tarik Black play today?
November 10th, 2018 at 11:04 PM ^
Shea played really well but with the Rutger caveat. Seemed like we were keeping it vanilla because Rutger and obvious win. OL whiffed on a few blocks that would've probably yielded a spread cover. But whatever. Game balls go to Shea, DPJ and Collins with Tru as third star. Higdon got the TD's after long drives which is great. A little disappointed Tarik didn't get more (any?) touches. Maybe the most boring 42-7 win in the history of Michigan football.
November 10th, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^
Why is everyone so laser focused on Milton and the red shirt?
Listen, yes it would be great to get him a red shirt and have him for 5 years. It’s always great to have solid QB depth. He might turn out to be a good player and contributor, but we are 2-3 years away from him being a key contributor. People here are acting like we expect him to be the starter in 2020.
November 11th, 2018 at 8:24 AM ^
He's the shiny new toy therefore the best QB on the roster.
November 11th, 2018 at 8:33 AM ^
I have no idea. Next year will be Cade McNamara. 2020 will have another top rated passer because Harbaugh is taking a QB every year. At some point, if we continue on this trajectory, we'll probably add a 5-star QB.
And everybody here is losing their shit because we may or may not have Joe Milton for the 2022 season? Reading this stuff is exhausting sometimes.
November 11th, 2018 at 9:46 AM ^
I agree with you, but busting a RS just for handoffs and QB sneaks doesn’t make sense. Milton hasn’t even thrown a pass.
November 11th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
Didn’t you hear? The fact that Milton came in 3rd and didn’t attempt to pass is clearly because he’s the “real” backup and Peters is a soft checked out scrub.
/s
It’s really funny to me how the whole board loves to rag on the announcers, but then eagerly flogs to death whatever dumb talking point the announcers pick to harp on for the day (in this case the “backup QB controversy”)
November 11th, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^
I think that James Laurinaitis gave away that the he and Kugler were just looking for an angle to keep viewers watching with his inconsistency.
First, he and Kugler talked up the significance of which backup would come in first, ignoring the obvious insignificance of the signal in garbage time.
Next, he expressed shock that Milton would be put in the game, using up one of his three-remaining non-redshirt blowing appearances.
I think the significance of Milton's appearance is that Peters is the backup for genuine competitive situations. Otherwise, I don't think Harbaugh would blow one of those three on handoff plays.
Also, of note is that Milton changed numbers from 5 to 3. With both wearing #5, Milton and Wangler couldn't be in the game at the same time. Even if Milton is the #3 QB, the need and/or desire for Milton and Wangler to be in the game at the same time was sufficient for Harbaugh to have Milton switch numbers.