November 24th, 2018 at 4:20 PM ^
They took a whipping, but soon the coaches and staff will be planning an annual team trip to Europe or some continent for the players to get some culture and education. So not to worry.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:19 PM ^
"planning an annual team trip to Europe or some continent for the players to get some culture and education"
isn't at least a little funny to you that, when talking about young people who mostly will NOT be playing football for a living, that you are saying this sarcastically?
November 24th, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^
I really hope someone asks the tough questions at the press conference
November 24th, 2018 at 4:26 PM ^
Doesn't matter, Harbaugh won't answer for shit. I expect a bunch of tired-ass "gold ol fashion resolve" type of quotes.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:49 PM ^
What questions? I wouldn't know where to start.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^
Meyer wanted Michigan to throw the ball and Harbaugh refused to do it. Meyer knew at 200 passing yards a game for UM that all he had to do was stop the run. Bravo! Meyer you truly are the better coach.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:23 PM ^
We didn’t even go up tempo down by 3 scores. I mean. Come on. We need a paradigm shift in offensive culture and mindset. I really have no explanation for the defensive shitting of the bed.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
I'm just wondering if Don Brown had a meeting, this past week, with Maryland or something. Seemed a little familiar to past years.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
Coaching? Yeah Michigan could have used some of that today. Everything was absolutely terrible, not a single positive hot take from this entire shit show.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:25 PM ^
That was the worst Michigan defensive performance in near history. What an embarrassment. Not sure I would hang that on the coaches as Haskins is NFL quality throwing to NFL caliber WRs protected by NFL pass pro. Michigan can't compete with that offense. Had you said to me Michigan would score 39 points and lose ? Not a chance in hell. But OSU's athletes are that good. We are far removed from OSU's offensive .
November 24th, 2018 at 4:49 PM ^
OSU's offense isn't even that complicated which makes it all the more frustrating that Michigan refuses to look around and see what the top offenses look like.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:26 PM ^
Yep. OSU finally got their shit together, and UM got its doors blown off. Someone I know who is the biggest fan I know is really sick, and this is probably their last UM game. I was so, so hoping they'd pull it out for him.
Urbz is a fantastic football coach. Maybe among the top two ever.
And I wouldn't take that slimy POS over our coach. Go Blue, and go JH!
November 24th, 2018 at 4:26 PM ^
JH/Pep get an F today. And they get a C for the season.
For the entire season, they based the offense on the two sort of mediocre position groups--RBs and o-line, and totally under utilized his best offensive player, Patterson, and best offensive position group, the WR corp.
That just scratches the surface of what is wrong with the JH/Pep offense. But it sort of get the most important idea across.
Higdon, the rest of the RBs and the o-line are not bad, really. But they are not elite. They are not even the best position groups on Michigan's offense. So why have an offense that is premised on those two groups being able to carry the load?
Why think that against the best d-lines they will be able to get 6 YPC on predictable 1st and 2nd down runs?
Michigan's D, plus the fact that PSU, Wisc, and MSU are not great offenses this year, papered over Michigan's nonsense offense.
But when Michigan had to play the best d-line they have faced all year...JH/Pep did not adjust one bit.
JH has got to learn that he needs an offense based on (1) using his best weapons in space, and (2) relies a most on his best position groups, and (3) can win a high scoring shoot out game against OSU.
If JH does not get rid of Pep and let an elite college OC run the offense, he will never beat OSU.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:56 PM ^
Tell me what top OC will come here knowing they will get blamed for everything eventhough Harbaugh is the real OC? Harbaugh is not giving up control of the offense because he still believes his philosophy works
November 24th, 2018 at 6:11 PM ^
Curious if you asked yourself if they had any choice? Like maybe the truth is our current oline is super one dimensional and decent at run blocking but terrible at pass protect?
Which sure easy auto response is that's on coaching too but you play this season with what you have and maybe that's exactly what they had.
Cheers.
November 24th, 2018 at 7:04 PM ^
No. The o-line is not elite. But it is pretty good this year, both at run and pass blocking. Plus not every pass play needs to be a thing where the o-line needs to hold their blocks for a full 7 seconds.
OSU (and Purdue and many others) have a short and medium passing game that does not require an elite o-line. OSU's o-line this year is not elite.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:27 PM ^
Michigan's offense needs more punch and more willingness to go downfield in all circumstances.
That said, this game was lost on the lines. The DL got zero pressure all game long; I thought I was watching Minnesota, not Gary and Winovich (though note that they were bad last week, too, so it's a trend). And the OL was problematic, particularly Steuber. OSU could keep a guy on Shea on those gives and still stuff Higdon and Evans on the runs.
Oh, it was lost with the secondary being unable to handle OSU's passing game, too. DL helped, but Michigan's press man game wasn't enough to stymie the crossing routes (and the counters, remember OSU had counters to Michigan's adjustments).
Oddly, Brown's offense seems well-suited to a spread offense that focuses on QB running. But spread offenses that can identify LBs and win one-on-one matchups with precision passing find room against man coverage.
The counter to that is zone stuff, which Michigan runs only as a counter. Iowa is well-suited to that in a way we are not.
People who think Pep is the problem misunderstand Harbaugh's philosophy. Harbaugh wants all of these runs, and today Michigan's OL could not make room for them. Perhaps, given more time, they could wear down OSU's DL late in the game and make room for key late 4-minute-offense drives. Maybe that could have happened. But Michigan's disastrous third quarter meant that the running game was irrelevant when that would have happened.
That was Harbaugh's plan and it didn't work, and in the third quarter we gave OSU a TD on the punt block and basically a free TD on that pick and that was that.
I would like Harbaugh to get more aggressive in the passing game. There's good stuff there and lots of talent. Let's use it. As for Brown?
Maybe work on some schemes to deal with those crossing routes when the DL doesn't get home.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:45 PM ^
You say Pep is not the problem, then go on to day we need to be more aggressive in the passing game. You do realize Pep is both the passing game coordinator and perhaps the loudest "voice" in Harbaughs headset in terms of playcalling right? Your defense of Pep is very biased. If you have ANY qualms with the passing game, that's on Pep.
November 24th, 2018 at 8:38 PM ^
He is constantly shilling for a coach whose greatest success is....being liked by Jim Harbaugh.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:06 PM ^
I'm just not really sure what Pep brings to the table. It certainly isn't creativity. Unless you think zone read is creative. They dabbled with RPO concepts but never really did anything with it.
We need a brilliant offensive mind to hold Harbaugh's ear. Obviously Harbaugh has the last word with everything, but he needs someone around to show him what things can be done with all of these weapons if he opens things up a little bit passing-wise. The days of playing conservative and relying on your D to win games are over - and today proved it. We had the #1 defense in the fucking country and it meant nothing. I hope Harbaugh learns this lesson. If he doesn't, this will forever be the result of games against high-powered offenses.
November 24th, 2018 at 6:10 PM ^
The dL was vastly overrated. We need better dt play and Gary never lives up to his hype. But only one coordinator routinely puts his side of the ball in the S&P top 5 and it ain’t fucking pep Hamilton. Modern college teams need to be able to win shootouts and Michigan can’t. Our offense puts no pressure on the opponent offense to score because even on a good day.
November 24th, 2018 at 7:30 PM ^
how about occasionally drilling those WRs on those under 5 yard routes. you just can't let them run free all game.
November 24th, 2018 at 7:44 PM ^
HOLY SHIT !!!! UM's defense got tooled by an NFL caliber offense. Our team had no chance in this game. Haskins is a 1st round QB and his WRs and OL are NFL ready. Our defense was totally tooled, not by being out coached but rather because our players did not match up.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
I think they almost tried to be Maryland with all the motion and runs and nonsense stuff and didn't stay true to their identity. The offense was just bad. The o line was bad and no one made plays.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
If the coaches last name wasn’t “Harbaugh” there wouldn’t be one person around to say he shouldn’t be fired.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:41 PM ^
I would say he wouldn't be fired. He has won 10 games 3 times. If we fire him we will probably get a second rate coach and go back to wandering in the woods hoping for 8 wins.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:42 PM ^
This is the truth so much. But no one wants to admit it.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
Didn’t prepare for a shootout.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
GO RUTGERS!!
November 24th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
Just too conservative early. “FG Harbaugh” won’t win championships especially against teams with the talent of OSU.
OSU built enough momentum and never had to get tight.
Also, Brown needs to develop a pitch other than a straight fastball. It works when UM has superior talent, but not when the opposition has more speed.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
Just absolutely speechless. This staff had no idea how to prepare for this game. With this result, there's no doubt that UM needs an identity change on offense too. Harbaugh needs to hire a young, innovative OC and get out of his way. The glory days of ground and pound just won't get it done against the elite teams now. Defense was just abysmal all game as well. If there's one thing we can learn from OSU, it's that SPEED KILLS, and we need more of it on both sides.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:30 PM ^
How's the run heavy offense working out for you Jimmy?
The days of Bo and Woody are gone; maybe it is time to change your scheme.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:30 PM ^
We were cramping up again and OSU was not. This is 90% S&C and 10% nutrition. Never seen so many asymmetrical cramping issues in one season.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:33 PM ^
Saw somebody over at r/cfb say this was going to happen to us before the season even started. It's our S&C guy.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:30 PM ^
I admit it. Putting all off-the-field stuff aside, I admire what Ohio State does on the football field. Urban is a genius. His offense puts pressure on you at every point on the field. Up the middle. On the edge. Shallow passing. Deep ball. Everywhere. It's modern football, and game planned brilliantly. I wish it were us.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:31 PM ^
The most disturbing aspect of the game was how Harbaugh could do nothing to keep his team from imploding as the game began to unravel. Let's be honest: this was the biggest choke in the history of Michigan football.
The playcalling on offense and all that, I'm sure there will be quibbling and anger, too conservative, blah blah blah. . .but it was not the playcalling. . .it was the scared, gutless play that is so disturbing. As early as 14-6, the players looked defeated. Even the miraculous *comeback*, via the 2 TDs in 6 seconds, did nothing for the players. The defense couldn't even hold for 40 seconds, and OSU ambled down the field for a FG.
Why can't this team perform under pressure? That is the question. Don't get bogged down in the playcalling. Much bigger issues need to be addressed.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:31 PM ^
It's not a hot take and you are not a snowflake if you are complaining, "throwing shade", offended, spitting out your latte, puking up your black bean burger, or asking your wife to please change the channel to Gilmore Girls after witnessing this shit.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
OSU offensive scheme better than ours today. With the exception of DP,Nico and occasionally Higdon, OSU looked like they had better, athletes today as well. While you don't coach speed, they seemed bigger and faster on too many plays, and their offensive scheme worked better than ours.
November 25th, 2018 at 5:38 AM ^
Certainly faster
November 24th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
Shit show all the way around.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
This sucked. However, at the beginning of the season people were talking about 8-4, possibly 9-3 being “an alright result.” 10-2, with losses on the road to two top 10 teams is not “fire the head coach” material. It just hurts more that we got so close to having nice things to be reminded .... not so much just yet.
But, DAMN this burns.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:24 PM ^
You are right, I did forget about that. QB improved a lot and o-line improved some this year to raise expectations. Still need more improvement on offense. Don't know the solution to fixing the D against osu. Some d-line pressure would have been nice.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
Shit show all the way around.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
We made more mistakes and played our worst game of the year against a very talented team that was dialed in at home. Last week OSU looked flat, this week they looked more ready than we did.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:33 PM ^
2 pt conversation attempt in first half was dumb.
Not using pass to setup run - when O stacked was dumb.
Not putting Peters back in was dumb.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:34 PM ^
Worst we've been out coached in my lifetime, and I'm 61 years old! Maryland rushed for 350 yards against OSU last week and we made OSU's rush defense look good. And as for Don Brown...this is his biggest fail of his career, either no clue or no balls to bring pressure on Haskins, which was our only hope of stopping him from shredding us.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:35 PM ^
I said this in the off-season. He has to beat osu. He couldn’t. MEYER>>>>>Jim Harbaugh can go fuck himself
November 24th, 2018 at 4:36 PM ^
Outcoached by a mile across the board. There’s nothing else to say.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:36 PM ^
Team was overconfident, that falls on the head coach. Team collapsed under pressure, that falls on the head coach.
Offensive playcalling on first and second down was wretched in the first half especially, that's on both Pep/Harbaugh.
Defensive game-plan was really poor as well, didn't learn anything from last week. Though part of it was just Watson not being good enough. Our pass rush failed miserably, not sure if that's coaching or execution.
All in all, Michigan has the most overpaid coaching staff in the United States. Good, not great; paid as if they were Alabama.
November 24th, 2018 at 4:42 PM ^
I think the pass rush was and is affected by 2 things.
1. I'm pretty sure Winovich is not 100%
2. I still think Gary is not near 100% either as he has not played the same at all since his injury awhile back. Those 2 guys are "the" guys.