Tony Elliot : “We became a National Championship caliber team ...”
... when the offensive line improved.”
I said this in another thread, but it seems appropriate here — Michigan’s OL, although improved — isn’t yet championship caliber. When facing an good opposing front 7, the run game often stalled and Shea was under pressure. Unfortunately, Higdon didn’t do a whole lot of creating on his own, and Shea is still a work in process as a pocket passer
Michigan has a great OL class, and still has young elite guys who redshirted. Coach Warriner did a fantastic job, but everyone knows, football is one (and lost) in the trenches. If it took Dabo several years to get his OL and QB combo where it needed to be to compete for championships, it may be that that same dynamic is effectively limiting Michigan still.
Let me add guys, please let’s not digress into complete negativity. Yes, this season ended badly, but when we look at the OL and QB play of Alabama, Clemson, OU and ND, can we really say that Michigan is on par? ND’s were exposed today, so drop them out. Yes, play calling and schemes on both sides of the ball may need to be adjusted. But the bottom line is going into this season OL and QB were HUGE questions. They both improved, but maybe — just maybe — they remain as such.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:42 PM ^
The problem is that now we have to fix the d tackles, linebackers, and secondary on the other side of the ball. Hopefully Daxton can be a player next year.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^
we are almost at the point of just re-loading on defense
tough today without 2 1st round picks on defense
the OL needs to get to that level
RB - Zach replaces Karan, we'll be fine there
December 29th, 2018 at 10:09 PM ^
I don't think our defensive personnel will drop too much. The problem is the man-to-man-ONLY-defense. Seeing many teams used the same strategy (for example, use 4-5 WR set and run in the middle) to "caught" our defense off the guard is deeply concerning. This is not personnel issue. It's the coaching inability to adjust (not just in game, but between seasons). It's sad that our fate has been defined by the inept of our OC and DC as well as HC (who should recoginize the issue) before the season started, and no cure can be found in the past few years. Sample size is enough, don't blame the players. The coaches failed them.
December 29th, 2018 at 10:36 PM ^
Your narrative is false. Michigan ran more Cover 2 zone this year than any other year. It doesn't matter what scheme you run per se...the DT's we're just ok to good.
Michigan's OL should be and needs to be excellent next year. Michigan's offensive philosophy should look like Alabama's. Alabama is running RPO, spread concepts and two TE smash mouth concepts.
That being said, Michigan put Shea in position to make throws. He didn't throw the ball to open receivers on multiple occasions in the 2nd half. He underthrows wide open guys. It seems like he struggles with zone coverage some. That doesn't ansolve the coaches, but it's not totally their fault.
December 30th, 2018 at 1:56 AM ^
You know who else struggled with zone coverage?
Wilton Speight.
Its because our gimmick DC doesn’t ever emphasize anything else in practice I’m sure of it.
December 30th, 2018 at 6:27 AM ^
The scout team Shea faces would mimic the other teams defense, so he should be seeing their zone concepts throughout game week.
December 30th, 2018 at 9:14 AM ^
Obviously you don’t know how practices work. The 1s don’t really go head to head during game prep. The scout team will mimick the opposing team’s schemes and tendencies to prepare the team for those games. Meaning Shea and the first team offense see plenty of zone in practice considering plenty of teams incorporate zone.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:42 PM ^
I think you also need to throw in rbs, tes, and defense.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:48 PM ^
Correct. Our RB's are flat out not good enough. If Charbonnet isn't a slam dunk stud, we are stuck with three RB's that aren't gonna put fear in any DC. They are surely fine young men, but they are at best three RB that are average B10 RB's.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:50 PM ^
When the Clemson RB ripped off that long TD, I sent a text to a buddy how nice it must be to have a home run hitting RB.
I liked Higdon when he was here, and he’d take a few to the house, but not against good defenses very often. Some of that is on him, some is on the OL.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:00 PM ^
Clemson has 3 LEGIT backs. Ettienne and Feaster are ridiculous and forgetting the third.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:48 PM ^
That awkward moment when you realize Michigan could have had Weber, D Harris, AJ Dillon or Jonathan Taylor
December 29th, 2018 at 9:03 PM ^
Yes. And our bad luck with RB commits continues with Mr. NJ leaving this year and never looking up to his ranking / promise.
December 29th, 2018 at 10:32 PM ^
December 29th, 2018 at 9:55 PM ^
This is a bad take. The predictability of the offense makes life hard for RBs. Other great offenses get great RB play because the defense has to cover other options. Higdon would have been a monster moreso at Oklahoma, Ohio State, Alabama, etc. The scheme tries to do so much that it sucks against good defenses. This is the NFL pre-innovation offense. At this point either go modern no-huddle spread, or what Jimmy did at Stanford. This hybrid shit is garbage.
December 30th, 2018 at 12:56 AM ^
Iowa. Higdon would have been a monster at Iowa, too.
December 30th, 2018 at 9:27 AM ^
Higdon was a monster at Michigan. Who would argue that? Are you saying that Tru, Turner, and Evans would be Monsters at OSU or Alabama? They would certainly be better, but these guys are not on any level like the RB's that Alabama or Clemson has. Evans, Turner, and Tyler...each of them individually would be no better than 4th string on AL or Clemson's team.
December 30th, 2018 at 5:14 PM ^
Nope. Higdon would never have played at Ohio State,
December 29th, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^
Remember Brown saying this was his fastest D ever? Goodness, I don't want to see any of his slower ones. Franks looks like he runs about a 5.2 forty, and he had no trouble running it in from 20 yards plus.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:21 PM ^
Franks looked like Tom Brady running and UM couldn’t run him down.
December 29th, 2018 at 9:55 PM ^
it prob is his fastest ever, with bush, gary, solomon, etc. bush covered up a ton and allowed them to do so much.
slightly different D with gil, furbush, watson, kinnel, etc logging huge minutes. harbaugh loves those kind of tough, smart players (and i guess brown does too) but theres little room for error in that situation
December 29th, 2018 at 7:45 PM ^
Any word on why ambry only got like 2 snaps? Didn't even return kickoffs for the first time this season.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^
Hes either not very good at his position or hes not as fast as we think he is. Only reasons i can think of why he dont play.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:02 PM ^
Or he’s hurt?
December 29th, 2018 at 8:16 PM ^
Or Harbaugh doesn't like him.
December 29th, 2018 at 10:10 PM ^
He looked good on the kick-off return against Notre Dame.
December 30th, 2018 at 12:21 AM ^
More to playing CB than being fast. There's techniques on re-routing WRs, need to be able to flip hips, look for the ball when it's in the air and having good footwork to mirror WRs. Ambry probably isn't good in some of the things that is required of him to be able to play at CB.
December 29th, 2018 at 9:23 PM ^
He'd be great at receiver, but it's hard to get into the rotation with so few passes
December 29th, 2018 at 7:46 PM ^
Let's hope the improved offensive line can also play defense. God, that defense sucks.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:46 PM ^
One thing i think that would help is to play with more tempo. Stop giving the D all the time to make adjustments and get set.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^
Agree. It might be a reason to use the wide outs more while we’re at it.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:00 PM ^
Wait just a damn minute....Michigan has wideouts!
December 29th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
I saw plenty of throws to them, but for whatever reason, those WR screens don’t work well for us. You have to protect to get the ball out to those great WR’s. Shea wants to bug out as soon as there is pressure. Now it’s a scramble drill. Shea is good on the run, but you don’t base an offense on that.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:47 PM ^
I agree. The OL appears to be on the upswing, good coaching and good recruiting.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:20 PM ^
The only thing I disagree with the OP on is that the game is 'One (and lost) in the trenches' :)
December 29th, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^
Interesting style for a "What-are-you-drinking/smoking" thread, but what the hell.
Milk Of Magnesia & Vodka.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:50 PM ^
How does a true freshman 5 star QB(Trevor Lawrence) plays 1000 times better than our 5 star junior Qb??
December 29th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^
He has a functional offensive system.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:32 PM ^
I agree it is frustrating to see all this offensive talent go to waste.
December 30th, 2018 at 12:17 AM ^
And better coaches.
December 29th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^
Are you serious?
Tony Elliot said THIS was their best OL ... maybe that’s how. Same with UGA last year. OU’s OL is awesome, as is Alabama’s.
Michigan’s OL — for a variety of reasons — was broken. It stopped leaking oil this year enough to manhandle weaker front 7’s. Against ND, NW, MSU, OSU and UF, no push, poor PassPro.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:05 PM ^
The OL sucked when JBB went down. Prior to indiana we were ok to decent.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:09 PM ^
Yeah we needed him I think.
I know guys in here hate it when people point at what came before, and I won’t recount the OL issues since forever, but the Michigan OL Pipeline hasn’t been right for a long time. Teams that win championships usually have great OL’s and they got them via a great OL pipeline.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:16 PM ^
IMO you are spot on. We didn't just break the player pipeline. We broke the coaching, and the NFL bound senior leadership in the room. We broke the entire system.
December 29th, 2018 at 10:01 PM ^
When I was in school (mid 80’s) it seemed like we grew OL on trees. One might hobble off the field, another would lumber on, and there was no noticeable drop off.
When was the last time we had quality starters AND depth??
December 29th, 2018 at 8:01 PM ^
He is better.
Glad I could help.
December 29th, 2018 at 9:36 PM ^
Love the Permian helmet in your profile pic. I used to live in Midland and went to all the Lee High games back in the late 80's and early 90's...good times.
December 30th, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^
Yes sir. 80's and 90's were the good ol days for sure. Man I miss those days!
December 29th, 2018 at 8:03 PM ^
Easy. He's protected by a fantastic O line.
December 29th, 2018 at 10:03 PM ^
Did you see the nice clean pocket has was throwing from? Passing works much better when you have time to pick out the open receiver.