August 30th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^
Did everyone notice how WELL EXECUTED our bubble screens were? How our receivers were dropping back a step or two and then Gardner was putting the ball just a step or so in front of them so that they could catch the ball with forward momentum and just take off down the field?
THAT is good coaching. I don't think I had seen Michigan execute a bubble screen that well in a long time. Which of course makes sense given that Borges hated them. But the detail on the execution was evident. They weren't just running a bubble screen. They were running it with precision.
Add that to our ability to finally RUN the f***ing football and I'm estatic. Who cares that it was just App St. We haven't been able to run the football against ANYONE lately.
Also, what a concept, we have a 6' 5" guy who can catch, so let's THROW HIM THE BALL IN THE RED ZONE. Amazing--we are actually doing things that make sense, rather than running the smallest guy on our roster up the middle for no gain repeatedly.
Obvioulsy I will temper all expectations until I see us play against a real team next weekend, but I don't see how I could be any more pleased with the early returns.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^
Nuss on sideline I think is very important for this very young offense. Maybe in other years he prefers the box but this year I think its important to be on the sideline. Like his energy.
First team defense did well. Bad opponent obviously. I think Mattison purposely did not get exotic in the 2nd half with the defense because he wanted to evaluate players not schemes. Just watching how guys do 1 v 1.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^
I might be wrong about this, but wasn't the first play of the game a bubble screen to Funchess?
If so, that was some epic trolling by Nussmeier.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
Don't remember if it went to Funchess or not. I was thinking the same thing, though I don't know that Nussmeyer really needs to troll Borges. I mean, he's got a job and Borges doesn't. But it definitely was funny.
August 30th, 2014 at 7:43 PM ^
I think it was a rhetorical question meant as a joke :)
August 30th, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
August 30th, 2014 at 10:10 PM ^
Rewatching the game now. It was Funchess.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:47 PM ^
it finally dawned on me Nussmeier looks like Novac Djokovic
that is all.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
August 30th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
August 30th, 2014 at 3:54 PM ^
Square Peg in Square Hole, Round Peg in Round Hole. Too bad Borges never thought of that.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:59 PM ^
Nuss is a huge upgrade. No questionable play calls I can recall. Being on the sideline and engaged with Devin feels 110% better than last year. Mattison stayed pretty vanilla after we had a lead, but early on he seemed to call an aggressive game. Special teams A+ just because block + TD.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^
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August 31st, 2014 at 2:25 AM ^
You got Alabama's OC over San Diego State's OC!
The move of getting Nuss will probably end up saving Hoke's job. I'm glad we have Nuss!
August 30th, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^
August 30th, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^
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August 30th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
August 30th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
August 30th, 2014 at 6:14 PM ^
for knowing what your getting at
August 30th, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^
August 30th, 2014 at 4:12 PM ^
until I see how the team grows from week to week. The biggest indicator of poor coaching last year was stagnation/regression, especially at O-line and running back.
I like Nuss's play calling better than Borges's, but that's a pretty low bar.
I liked Mattison's aggressiveness and the long runs didn't bother me too much, because I think those kinks can get worked out with time and practice.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
I wouldn't want to challenge that if time outs were important. Maybe Hoke just wanted to make a statement that he's still involved and defending his players. I don't know. For what it's worth, I though you could see the ball between the legs of the A-State lineman and it seemed to me a good call. Recall a few years ago, when someone on MgoBlog did a scientific study of angles and whether Fitz scored a TD, and his conclusin was no. I think we're talking about a similar angle.
I didn't like running DG late, but whatever.
I'm fine with Shane playing. He needs the practice.
I wish we had a second-team o-line that we could feel comfortable wouldn't be unfair to the second-string QB. Those guys got one play.
II have a half-cocked eyebrow towards the special teams. Coverage wasn't great, and the offsides kick didn't work because of anything we did.
I was surprised Hollowell got so much run vs. Stribbling. I'm not at practice, so I'm not complaining, just observing.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^
Kick off coverage is still weak, and we were caught completely off guard by the on side kick.
Punt coverage seemed better (though still using the old outdated style)
August 30th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
August 30th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
The waggle came out a little too much, but he showed a willingness to use the bubble screen and quick pass. Good job!
August 30th, 2014 at 4:38 PM ^
I loved the simplicity of the O playcalling. No complex reactions à la Gorgeous Al. I doubt we bust three 60+ yard runs against the Irish, but things look much more promising than they did yesterday.
August 30th, 2014 at 6:47 PM ^
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August 30th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
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August 30th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
Nuss's offense had more effective plays in the first game than Al's offense had all last season. Now our future opponents, including Ohio, can prepare to play a good team. This can't bode well! Fire Nuss!!
August 30th, 2014 at 5:10 PM ^
Coaching was good. I thought overall it was a good gameplan on both sides of the ball. The only call i wasn't crazy about was the draw play on 3rd and forever but thats about it. I liked that the offense was vanilla don't want to show to much and they didn't have to against this inferior opponent.
August 30th, 2014 at 5:44 PM ^
On the draw play, I think Gardner checked into it, so we don't necessarily know what the coaches called there.
August 30th, 2014 at 11:34 PM ^
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August 30th, 2014 at 5:18 PM ^
August 30th, 2014 at 6:16 PM ^
The resume of our special teams/TE coach would suggest he has had more success and focus on coaching the TE position than special teams.
August 30th, 2014 at 6:22 PM ^
Other than missing a long FG, what was wrong with ST today? We blocked a punt and returned it for a TD while we didn't have any significant breakdowns in coverage - that's a big net victory.
August 30th, 2014 at 7:06 PM ^
Thought we were fine on ST. We had a 46 yd net punt. Covered all kickoffs to the 25yard line when we didn't kick it deep in the endzone. Norfleet had a pretty good return on a KO. We had a blocked punt. About the only thing to complain about was punt return, but their punter didn't make things easy by bouncing it all over the place. It was a solid if not spectacular showing, which I'll take every time.
August 30th, 2014 at 5:39 PM ^
Hoke wasn't wearing his Beats by Dre audio receivers.
August 30th, 2014 at 6:18 PM ^
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August 30th, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^
Good play-calling, good D, special teams coverage needs to improve, but it's week one. Looked like a well coached team.
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August 30th, 2014 at 9:11 PM ^