What (if anything) has Harbaugh done wrong in Year 1?
So many good things have happened in 1 Anno Harbaugh, the Year of Our Harbaugh, that the list of positives would fill up a series of diaries, and even then would still be incomplete.
We've discussed, and celebrated, the many good things and will continue to do more of that I'm sure. This morning, to change it up, I'm interested to hear perspectives on things you think he DIDN'T do right. Perhaps a more critical analysis from time to time will help ensure we don't turn into a PSU-like fanbase, turning the football coach into a deity that can do no wrong (even when faced with obvious evidence to the contrary)?
My list is small:
1) Waiting to unleash Jabrill on offense until mid-season. Could his dynamic playmaking abilities have won the Utah game? That game was so tight that I believe he could have been the difference maker.
2) Posing for this picture. THIS IS NOT A POWER POSE, JIM. (Credit: Melanie Maxwell - Mlive.com)
December 30th, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^
The defensive game plan/preparation for the Ohio State game was clearly inadequate.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
The defensive game plan/preparation for OSU was on Durkin. Harbaugh ditched Durkin after the OSU game and replaced him with Mattison for the Florida game. /s
December 30th, 2015 at 10:32 AM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
Since Durkin had one foot out the door already, maybe Harbaugh should have let Mattison call the game. Not like he could have done any worse.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 1:06 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 30th, 2015 at 1:12 PM ^
Speaking of convenient excuses...
Ten of OSU's other 11 opponents held them to fewer rush yards than we did. Do they all just match up better than us?
December 31st, 2015 at 6:55 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 30th, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
I feel like it's a little of all three.
1. We lost our Glasgow who was playing out of this world and absolutely blowing up the middle.
2. OSU was a sleeping giant (they annihilated the playoffs last year), and they woke up.
3. Durkin seems like he must have been in talks before the OSU game, but could have been weeks before.
4. We got exposed by Indiana and just how large Glasgow's contribution was. Also our LBs were shown to not be gamebreakers, and the blueprint was there for the taking.
oops, that's 4.
December 30th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
I really wish I could un-see that.
December 30th, 2015 at 1:02 PM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 12:11 PM ^
Has excellent splicability (memeability??) potential with Turd Ferguson. I'll defer to the experts on this one.
December 30th, 2015 at 11:10 AM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 11:48 AM ^
Actually several people have suggested it - bring up the safeties. Playing a high safety didn't do a lot of good against a team that ran the ball 60 times. This may have made us more vulnerable to the deep ball, but what we did instead just led to our death by a thousand cuts.
December 30th, 2015 at 11:24 AM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 11:55 AM ^
I can't agree with this. Our offense gained 20 first downs. We outgained OSU in the first half. We regularly moved the ball until Rudock was injured at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The offense did struggle in the red zone, and we elected to punt once from their 36, but to suggest that the offense left the defense out to dry just doesn't fly with the evidence.
What kept our defense on the field was its own inability to get stops. OSU scored TDs on six straight possessions, if we discount their one-minute drive at the end of the first half.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
Having those gunners on the punt against MSU was not smart, considering MSU had no one to recieve the punt. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20, but that hurt.
However, to even be in that position was an incredible job by Harbaugh and staff.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 30th, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^
I believe Hoke would have been blamed in the same situation. Give credit to Harbaugh for putting a renewed focus on special teams, but he's got to call timeout there and get his players ready for that play.
December 30th, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
Then again, at that point in the season the special teams looked fantastic and there probably wasn't much fear of any issues, much less the freak play that happened.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 30th, 2015 at 11:43 AM ^
Didn't MSU call two time outs in a row in that same game at the end of the first half when we unleased Peppers on O?
December 30th, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
We called our last timeout with 10 seconds left, before the play.
December 30th, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 30th, 2015 at 2:19 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 30th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
He forgot to hire me as an assistant coach.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
or Marcus?
December 30th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
teams.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 30th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 30th, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^
I can't even blame him for that, because a good snap and catch still gets the punt away and the win is sealed. They didn't block the punt, we human errored the punt.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:47 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 30th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^
I have watched that replay more times that I'd like to and I don't think they block the punt without the mishandled snap. Impossible to know for sure either way I guess, and perhaps Harbaugh could have helped make it a non-issue, but to me that is still a pilot error issue rather than a fault in design.
December 30th, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^
discussion with one of my good friends who is an MSU fan on a weekly basis. There is NO WAY that punt is blocked if he catches the ball. As it is, he drops it, takes two steps forward, picks it up and attempts to kick it again when he is finally hit. If he catches it, he takes a step to his right and its gone. Also, despite the formation, the play was blocked correctly. The three Spartans coming from his left are intentionally unblocked and every guy coming from his right is picked up. The play was designed for O'neill to step to the right and kick, and if you look there is plenty of time/room for that to happen with a clean catch. Sparty's are delusional if they think anything they did caused that play to unfold the way it did.
December 30th, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^
Yeah, this is false.
The reason Michigan lost that game boils down to a low snap and a mishandling of that snap. Nothing more, nothing less. All the talk about formations and running different plays and having Peppers behind the punter is nonsense.
December 30th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
Disagree that it is nonsense. When you have no returner, you have to be able to see that or have somebody make an adjustment. I have to believe that is the case now.
December 30th, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 1:13 PM ^
An extra two blockers may have resulted in a tackle on the fumble return vs a MSU TD. Suck ass play and suck ass result but the 1 in a million play happened and we have to live with it.
December 30th, 2015 at 1:45 PM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 4:05 PM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^
I agree that it was more simple human error than anything else.
But in hindsight, knowing that MSU's only shot was a punt block, maybe it wasn't worth punting out of a normal formation at all, with a 15-yard snap. In that stuation you don't need to get off a great punt, you just want to get it off, period. I would have liked to have left our offense out there and then had Rudock pooch it out of the shotgun, like Carr used to do with Griese, and RichRod did with Tate. Of course, I don't know if we practice that or not.
December 30th, 2015 at 4:34 PM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 11:18 AM ^
December 30th, 2015 at 3:14 PM ^
Oh, don't worry buddy. I'm sufficiently irritated, lol.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
Playing Grant Perry against Utah?
December 30th, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
ondre pipkins transfer
December 30th, 2015 at 10:29 AM ^
For the millionth time, the Michigan medical staff deemed him unhealthy and unfit to play.