UCF Snowflakes: General Observations

Submitted by LSAClassOf2000 on

This thread will be the repository for any thoughts which defy clear categorization but are still definitely hot take-ish regarding today's game. 

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Sten Carlson

September 10th, 2016 at 3:42 PM ^

I think a lot of people are discounting UCF, forgetting their coach quit mid year last year. They've got some Florida talent, and a good coach. Am I pleased we couldn't get much push from the OL? No. But, it was obviously UCF wasn't going to let us run it down their throats. Fortunately, we didn't see an offensive staff just bang it's head against the wall. The film from this game will go a long way toward scaring opposing DC's from loading the box against us in the future. Nobody knew if Speight could win the game with his arm. I think that question is closer to being answered.

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Sten Carlson

September 10th, 2016 at 4:03 PM ^

Yep!  I was commenting to a friend how nice it was to see Harbaugh and Drevno try to run into the stacked box, see the results, and IMMEDIATELY start running play action on first down.  They have to keep the defense honest and run a bit, but the adaptability the offensive staff showed was great to see!

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Danwillhor

September 10th, 2016 at 3:44 PM ^

it's that we faced a tiny front and UCF absolutely handed our OL it's ass. We're starting to see that the offense may be in vanilla mode right now but the point of attack isn't any better than the last few years and might be worse than last year. We're seeing that Kalis doesn't seem to be turning on, Braden is either dinged, rusty or not improved at all, Smith shouldn't be a HB and Speight has numbers but looks as if he may not translate against talented opponents. It's not so much the game but a seeming lack of improvement in the area that will keep us from being elite. We won't run the conference table with this run game, forget playoffs.

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Sten Carlson

September 10th, 2016 at 3:59 PM ^

How about 25/37 for 312 yards @ 8.4 yards per completion and 4 TD's?

What about that performance DID NOT look like it would translate to tougher competion?  He looked perfectly in command, comforatble, and several very athletic and heady tosses to the FB when pressured.  Remember too, Butt drop two easy catches, so those stats would have been even better.

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Danwillhor

September 10th, 2016 at 4:12 PM ^

I'm not saying it's him (I cleared that up immediately in the edit) but the appearance of the vanilla offense. Against these teams you can stare guys down, throw a bit late at times, etc. That may be due to having ran 10 plays total in 2 games (ha). We'll see and we have to hope he can transition to looking off defenders, being on time all of the time, etc.

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Leonhall

September 10th, 2016 at 3:49 PM ^

Sloppy. Need to run better. I'm not sure deveon is the guy for this line. Seems to take forever to find the hole. Defensively we look okay but not great. First time we saw why some called don Brown's defense as high risk. Granted, we have some injuries but i wasn't real impressed. Gives jimmy something to improve with them. Early in the year, have to keep getting better to win the B1G



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Danwillhor

September 10th, 2016 at 3:54 PM ^

Some edge guys need to learn how to blitz. I mean thst almost literally as we run ourselves out of the play and contain a lot so far. Stunts are finding our own guys running into each other and delays are choosing the wrong hole to attack, none at all or coming too soon. I'll wait until fully healthy to really make an assessment.

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Danwillhor

September 10th, 2016 at 4:08 PM ^

it feels out of control and kinda weird haha. When they send the house it's glorious and efficient. When we sent 1-2, edge rush and/or stunt it fails most of the time and appears very unorganized. We're allowing a TE/T to sweep wide and track guys like Peppers out of the play without attacking the giant hole left by said TE/T. It seems completely unorganized lol

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Don

September 10th, 2016 at 3:52 PM ^

to find a Michigan team that has scored more points in the first two games of the season than the 2016 team has.

1892: First two game total: 142

1902: 136

1914: 127

2016: 114

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MGoPoints: 148407

The Mad Hatter

September 10th, 2016 at 3:54 PM ^

I know it doesn't seem like a Harbaugh thing to do, but it seems like the team in general just wasn't trying very hard on a lot of plays. Maybe it's a strategic decision? Last year we went balls out in every game, while OSU basically was sleepwalking through the entire season. Yes, it bit them in the ass against MSU, but we were banged up with injuries and tired as fuck by the time The Game was played. Maybe this year we're going to preserve our health and strength for the games we're actually in danger of losing? Or we suck again. Either way, it's vodka rocks time in my house.

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dennisblundon

September 10th, 2016 at 3:54 PM ^

Good win in a game that is tough to get up for emotionally. O -line has work to do but its early. Defense is fast, Gary blew some gap responsibility today that cost us some chunk plays. That's why you play cupcakes early in order to work out the kinks.

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realfootballfan

September 10th, 2016 at 3:55 PM ^

Look around the country. Everybody is slipping today. Last week was touted as THE GREATEST WEEKEND OF FOOTBALL EVER IN THE HISTORY OF TIME AND SPACE™. This is the hangover. They didn't look great today but they didn't look like complete ass either. We won. I'm happy.



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michfan23

September 10th, 2016 at 3:56 PM ^

I'd complain about the bad, but 2-0 is a great feeling. I know they can be sharper, but it has got to be hard to get up for a game against UCF.
Let's also not forget that Michigan was without mone, taco, and Lewis.



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Danwillhor

September 10th, 2016 at 3:57 PM ^

can we pull Peppers when up by 21+ in the 4th quarter? 40+ in the 3rd? He's truly an irreplaceable guy and he's 99.99% going pro anyway. Don't risk it for pride of winning by 30 instead of 37. He was in while up by a billion last week. Forget the shutout as you'll wish you didn't care if he gets hurt.

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Sten Carlson

September 10th, 2016 at 4:40 PM ^

To me, on both sides of the ball, I think Michigan was pretty basic with very little major adjustment except basically going all pass on offense.  UCF was moving the ball in fits and starts, but never really threatened to score much Michigan was already way up.  The long TD run was a bust on a guy with elite speed.  Ok, fine.  The two long QB runs were bad contain.  Ok fine.  Both coachable moments.  Harbaugh and Drevno didn't do anything creative with the running game.  They handed off into a stacked box, and then essentially flipped the play book to the passing section, and only used the run to keep UCF in the box/honest.  We saw very little/no formation shifts nor any of the shenanagins Harbaugh's power run game is known for.  To put it simply (IMO), Harbaugh was more interested in see what he has in his QB than his OL and RB's given UCF's stubborn dedication to loading the box even AFTER they were getting torched through the air.

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Sten Carlson

September 10th, 2016 at 4:59 PM ^

Get better every day, and don't forget, don't show the opposition anything.  Harbaugh showed opposing coaches very little, but showed that Speight could win the game if they stack the box.  That is very important.

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