[Patrick Barron]

Wisconsin 35, Michigan 14 Comment Count

Ace September 21st, 2019 at 3:50 PM

That felt like a game of a bygone era, and not the one Jim Harbaugh constantly evokes. Michigan lost to Wisconsin in a start-to-finish debacle that'll shake even the most steadfast optimist's confidence in the program, at the very least until they can play on a big stage without getting stunted on.

Nothing went right. For the third straight game, Michigan lost a fumble on their opening drive, this time Ben Mason deep in Badger territory. There was no running game. Dylan McCaffrey replaced an ineffective Shea Patterson at quarterback until getting knocked out of the game by a dirty hit to the head. Wisconsin back Jonathan Taylor hit the century mark before the first quarter ended. Their quarterback, Jack Coan, completed 13 of his 16 pass attempts.

The rumored walking wounded, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Zach Charbonnet, suited up but made little impact until well into garbage time. Even on the shutout-breaking touchdown, Sean McKeon appeared to hurt his knee after landing in the end zone. A desperation Wolverine touchdown was overturned just before yet another lost fumble.

This was coming off a bye week.

Okay, I slightly overstated things. The onside kick was lovely, even if it failed to provide the final score with an unearned veneer of respectability. Patterson's pitch to Jon Runyan Jr. provided a much-needed moment of levity. The late eff-it bombs to Nico Collins and Tarik Black provided a blueprint for what this offense should have been doing all along, for the love of all things sacred and holy.

Sorry.

203 yards on 23 carries. [Bryan Fuller]

A disaster of this magnitude brings with it major questions, the most pressing of which is: where is the offense we were promised in the offseason? And there are so many others. How do we distribute the blame for the offense's performance? When (if?) both quarterbacks are healthy, who starts? What the hell happened to the offensive line? What defensive alignment can be effective with this set of personnel? What the hell happened to those guys, too?

When does this stop? If it doesn't, when do we ask The Big Question that it's still too soon to ask no matter what's said on sports talk radio this week?

I certainly don't have the answers. Jim Harbaugh, Josh Gattis, and Don Brown are going to need to come up with some.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]

Comments

MRunner73

September 22nd, 2019 at 9:29 AM ^

Your last sentence hits the nail on the head; attendance dropping off. Seems destined after this Wisc debacle. This will really be noticed if and when Michigan losses to IA on Oct 5th, Homecoming. 

I dread to think how many Ohio State fans will invade Michigan Stadium again. I may have to just leave town and not see this replay again. I can only hope not.

Kevin13

September 21st, 2019 at 10:22 PM ^

It’s very obvious Patterson is not the answer or QB everyone hoped he would be. If Harbaugh doesn’t start Dylan then he will go down with this ship by years end and this program will drop into disarray. There is too much talent on this team to play this poorly. I’m also tired of hearing how great Don Brown is our defense is not very good and good teams just shred it

TrueBlue2003

September 21st, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^

Yeah, they have the personnel to have the exact identity they wanted.  But they hired the wrong coach to do it.  Total whiff.  Not surprising either.  35-year-old WR coach that rode other guys coattails.  Why would we think that's a good idea? It could have worked out, but had a very good chance of not working out so it's a totally unnecessary risk, given the amount of money we have to throw at people.

I don't get why it's so hard.  Hire a guy that is in charge of an offense (or an entire team but who was recently in charge of an offense), punching above his weight/talent class and putting up video game like numbers at a lower level.  There are guys out there that are far lower risk.

Hit the Don Brown hire.  Missed on this one.

DairyQueen

September 22nd, 2019 at 3:53 AM ^

It's possible that OCs are hesitant to come in as an OC w/ Harbaugh, he may have a reputation as not really giving control.

I mean, a former college QB, NFL QB, NFL HC, I'm not sure how many up-and-coming ambitious OC"s are going to feel like they'll have the freedom/respect/creativity that they could possibly get elsewhere.

 

DrewForBlue

September 21st, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^

I have defended him at every turn, but this is the kind of game that tips the scales the wrong way.  Probably the beginning of the end for JH, even if it takes 2 years to get there.  

Teddy Bonkers

September 21st, 2019 at 5:15 PM ^

First three games do not inspire much confidence in the offense and Gattis. Seems like Gattis isn't a polished play caller like I was hoping for at the start of the season. That kind of effort after a bye week is depressing. I'm holding on to hold he gets the hang of the job over the next three weeks and the second half of season we see a top 20 caliber team. 

SHub'68

September 21st, 2019 at 8:48 PM ^

I really don't know about the play-calling, but the constant mistakes are ridiculous. Everything from missed assignments to tripping over each other. It could be that the play-calls are terrible, but the actual play is so bad, how can you tell? I got nothing on this one. It looks like a team that doesn't practice very well. From the 10 or so minutes of game I actually watched, they looked down right confused at times. The other two games, too. This is a terrible bunch of coaching we're witnessing, here. It's reminiscent of Threet-Sheridan. And what in the hell is Don Brown doing?

BoCanHam15

September 21st, 2019 at 6:06 PM ^

I have a serious question for you.  I love Michigan everything and I’ve been at a lot of games bla bla bla.  But do you think that Gattis called a defensive end over to the offensive side call a timeout after inserting him and then handing it off to him in the redzone?  If you do I have some land I want to sell you in my backyard with a guarantee of striking GOLD.  Sorry my friend Gattis is NOT calling plays.

1VaBlue1

September 21st, 2019 at 7:57 PM ^

Gattis did not insert a FB into his offense.  He told us, point blank, that there was no FB in his offense.  Putting Mason at FB, in the middle of the season, was all Harbaugh in response to failed 4th downs against Army.

Harbaugh is driving a lot of the offense.  Mason proves it.

Gattis isn't a savant, but the offense we see is a weird hybrid Harbaugh power and some spread passing stuff.  Were there any zone reads today?  RPO's?  This offense is as out of sync as it ever was last year.

OwenGoBlue

September 21st, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^

They still haven’t had a fullback on the field. Mason lined up as a single back in the gun. 

Harbaugh’s run games have always, at the least, made sense. Too many runs and too many runs into stacked boxes, but he was quick to toss plays that didn’t work and always had run game counters. The run game design this year is absolute nonsense.

It all falls on Harbaugh anyway but I don’t know how anyone watches these games and thinks “that offense looks like Harbaugh” in any way other than being mad at it. 

jblaze

September 21st, 2019 at 8:44 PM ^

Here is my serious answer. I think they realized Zach was limited, Tru was out BVS fumbled/ is in the dog house and wanted a big power back.

So, Mason probably played some RB during the last 2 weeks and was at least somewhat successful in practice against the D. Gattis or Harbaugh aren't giving a handoff to a dude who hasn't practiced in 9 months.

justthinking

September 22nd, 2019 at 4:55 AM ^

Mason had no idea where to even line up. 2nd play of the game they call a time out just to get the proper formation set. Shea overthrows a touchdown on a Mason fake dive. 

When the cameras zoomed in before the next play, it was just as disorganized in the backfield and Shea had to explain where Mason had to stand, probably telling him he is actually getting the ball this time. 

I wasn’t surprised that Mason was getting the ball on the next play, and neither was Wisconsin. And, I wasn’t surprised he fumbled.

He should only have been on that field for 3rd or 4th and 1-2 yards and just to bull rush it to the goal line.

Doubtful thise plays were practiced with the actual personnel on the field.   

Coaching.

 

ERdocLSA2004

September 22nd, 2019 at 1:29 AM ^

I’m not ready to give up on Gattis yet.  We have seen glimpses of an offense that can be effective and move the ball.

our problem isn’t an offense that is being run perfectly but just failing, our problem is errors, turnovers, uninspiring and undisciplined play.  This isn’t the first game we have seen it, hell it isn’t even the first season we have seen it.  I see an uninspired shell of team without any confidence.  Thats a ceo problem.

Page

September 22nd, 2019 at 8:40 AM ^

was i the only one screaming at the tv for gattis to quickly call a play after the long r bell rac?  the o line was begging for a play to be called while the mojo was there to strike.  time out; wisconsin regroups and them we give a ball to a guy (who we like) but we’re told spent the past spring summer and fall camps playing defense.  fumble number 7 and the whole team deflates.  all because we don’t or can’t make a play call in 35 seconds?  not the kids’ fault.

Erik_in_Dayton

September 21st, 2019 at 3:58 PM ^

I can imagine Michigan cleaning up the fumbles, penalties, and passing miscues as the season goes on. But the OL and DL problems seem to be deeper than mere sloppiness. And Patterson is at best a good QB but not the type to pull a team up to a higher level. 

I'll defend the defense a little bit here: it's very hard not to be demoralized when the offense is giving you so little. The first half time of possession was roughly 24:6. That's partly on the defense, but that's not much help from the offense!

Don_Cornelius

September 21st, 2019 at 4:15 PM ^

How long are we going to flog the past for more than it's worth? 

His HS and Ole Miss stats aren't worth the pixels they're posted with, when his performance on the field tells a different story. 

It's like the pre-game WINNINGEST PROGRAM IN HISTORY hype reel. That's great. But when's the last time they played like it? 

TrueBlue2003

September 21st, 2019 at 4:24 PM ^

He had all day in the first half before Wisconsin could just pin their ears back.  He missed reads and throws.

The game plan was rough though.  Didn't bother to even run the ball (likely because Charbonnet was less than 100%), didn't bother to threaten QBs runs.  So then Shea trying to pick apart a zone defense with no threat of a run?  Ha, good luck.