Appears we have a Michigan OL again...

Submitted by Alumnus93 on
Alot of talk about a star is born in Chris Evans... and the DL play and injuries..... To me the elephant in room always has been the OL below Michigan standards the past 9 years. After watching the replay, I am comfortable in saying, that we finally have a Michigan quality OL.. thank God.... Kalis, and I have been his biggest critic...looks compete now. He got great push, and pass blocked quite well. No longer a liability, but he looked like the best lineman yesterday. And Kugler! saw several pancakes. He did well. Newsome looked the part, am happy. Cole was invisible, which is good. I didn't notice Mags much. Then the backups like Bredeson , did great. Granted this is one game, and Braden didn't play...but boy, am I relieved. Braden should be sweating now, the way Kugler played. And alot of props to Evans, who reminds me of a small Dickerson, however the holes he was given by the OL were very nice Man, It feels Ive been holding my breath for years a bit...when the Michigan OL isn't dominant is like the Sun not rising in the morning. I say with confidence, that our OL IS BACK.
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MaizeMN

September 4th, 2016 at 10:45 AM ^

Was the best part of the game for me. For a true Freshman, I was impressed with his vision and patience. The run where he got on the OL's hip and waited for second level contact really cemented (for me)a maturity we've been hoping for from backs like De'Veon for a while now.

Joined: 01/28/2012

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turtleboy

September 4th, 2016 at 1:50 PM ^

Actually.. he pulled rather well, a dozen times that I saw, whiffed zero times, and did good things in space yesterday. Granted it was against an inferior opponent, it's a 1 game sample size, and he didn't set the world on fire or cover himself in glory, but he pulled well, found his men in space, pancaked, and rode his donkey around the field all afternoon. Didn't see a single negative for him. Now we just need to see it again..

Joined: 04/22/2011

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MichiganSkeptic

September 4th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^

Cal put up 51 on the Hawaii defense. The OL looked better, but I will save any real kudos until after Colo, PSU, and Wiscy. That said, Bredenson is the real deal and Onwenu will be a beast. Good to have some depth.

Joined: 09/14/2015

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MichiganSkeptic

September 4th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^

Cal put up 51 on the Hawaii defense. The OL looked better, but I will save any real kudos until after Colo, PSU, and Wiscy. That said, Bredenson is the real deal and Onwenu will be a beast. Good to have some depth.

Joined: 09/14/2015

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Mabel Pines

September 4th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^

That we need to take a wait and see approach, it is nice to see a steamrolling again of teams we should steamroll. Gone are the days of Toledo, Akron, UConn. Hopefully gone for a long time.

Joined: 10/02/2010

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turtleboy

September 4th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^

Kugler and New some started, and you wouldn't know based on the lines performance. 2nd and 3rd string linemen played whole series, and you wouldn't really know by watching the performance. Granted it was at home, granted it was in an expected blowout, but with the ghosts of tackle-over still haunting my dreams I was more excited about our 3rd string scoring drives than anything yesterday.

Joined: 04/22/2011

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turtleboy

September 4th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^

I just remember in 2014-2015 we couldn't find 5 guys to look remotely competent together. Even with a 6th lineman we had no protection, and horrible blocking. Now, we had something like 3 different lines, likely walk ons playing as well, they were all serviceable, and the discussion is: whether they are dominant yet, or not. I'm as giddy as a school girl with this.

Joined: 04/22/2011

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Farnn

September 4th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^

Agreed, I think only one can be really successful considering where they are starting and the division they play in.  While Ash may have been a better DC I think Durkin will end up being the better HC.  He's already out recruiting Ash, not latching on to his previous team for help the way Ash is with OSU, and looked much better in the opener though it was against a much worse opponent.

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1VaBlue1

September 4th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^

My bet is on Durkin. He hired a far better, and more experienced, staff. And he lead a disinterested Floriduh team as a lame duck placeholder. He will be a good head coach, and will use Maryland as a stepping g stone to a good P5 program. Ash will be okay, but won't parlay Rutgers to a top team. He'll need another step, or two.

That is my uneducated take on the two...



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Mr. Spriggets

September 4th, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^

You said, "uneducated" and you should have added "arrogant assholish"

Maryland IS a "good" P5 program--and guess what? They have won just as many national champsionships since 1948 as has Michigan.

 

The right coach WILL make Maryland a program that can measure up to your lofty standards (perennial 9-3, lose most of your bowl games, like Michigan??). The state has talent, is surrounded by states with talent, and they have a great education and beautiful campus.

So, although this is caved by our sissy point weary mods, STFU.

Joined: 09/03/2016

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UMxWolverines

September 4th, 2016 at 11:04 AM ^

We put up 52 on App State two years ago and everyone thought the offensive line was finally good. Not that I'm comparing this team to the 2014 team...but take a chill pill. 

Joined: 03/01/2009

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UMForLife

September 4th, 2016 at 11:04 AM ^

I was definitely encouraged. I understand people's sentiment about Hawaii. But last year, we pretty much had the same OL. In fact, a couple of players are missing. I don't remember us moving the DL like we did yesterday in the early cup cake games. May be my memory is shot. In a few weeks we will know for sure, but it was definitely encouraging.

Joined: 11/04/2013

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1974

September 4th, 2016 at 11:08 AM ^

OP: 9 years? How 'bout 15? 2001 or so is the last time UMich had a line kicking ass at more than a couple of positions.

Making the boundary 2007 ignores the mediocrity (Jake Long, as always, excepted) of the late Carr years and is disrespectful to guys like Molk and Lewan.

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wolverinebutt

September 4th, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^

We are moving in the right direction, but I'm also waitng for more that a scrimmage game to see how far the OL has come.  The young guys playing yesterday will help us next season.

 

   

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JonnyHintz

September 4th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^

Let's slow the roll here. We played Hawaii. Hawaii isn't exactly the best defense we will see this year. They have one (maybe two) DL who were bigger than 240 lbs. They're a VASTLY undersized defensive front. Let's take the OL with a grain of salt. They got the job done, but that's not a team to brag about beating in the trenches.

Joined: 01/11/2015

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Coach Carr Camp

September 4th, 2016 at 11:14 AM ^

Seriously? 2015 we beat App St. 52-14. 2013 we beat central Michigan 59-9. Not that we can't have a solid o-line, but you can't draw conclusions from one game against a vastly inferior opponent. 

Joined: 04/08/2014

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UofM626

September 4th, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^

About our O Line and the way they played. If you really look at the whole game yes we did good but we were blown back a few times and let way to many DL slip through early. Just saying don't get to excited just yet.

After watching a couple of the later games I still think our Lines need a lot of work. Even the D line looked sluggish compared to Bama and even with the score out of reach USC D line was quick too.

Hope we have the season we all want

Joined: 01/02/2012

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grumbler

September 4th, 2016 at 6:09 PM ^

I thought the O-line looked like shit against Appalachian State.  Yeah, Smith and Green both got lots of yards, but those came on big runs when Appy State players made mistakes, not when Michigan's O-line made great plays.  Gardner was scrambling the whole game.

I agree that we cannot reach conclusions about how good this year's line is, but not because a crappy O-line supposedly looked good in some opener in a previous year.

Joined: 08/17/2011

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Michology 101

September 4th, 2016 at 12:56 PM ^

The OL was great on that particular run play. Evans made them shine brighter because he was able to hit that hole with tremendous speed and run for a touchdown. Hawaii's defenders #21 and #31 probably would've tackled Smith coming through that hole. It would've still been good yardage gained, but no big deal. Evans can make a defense really pay when certain holes open up. He's a take it to the house type running back.

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