September 13th, 2016 at 10:17 AM ^
They're just late to the party!
September 13th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^
They've been as high on Michigan as anybody, I wouldn't say they're late to the party. It's just the way headlines are written these days.
September 13th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
They have been very high on us from the outset.
September 14th, 2016 at 8:28 AM ^
That's kinda new and exciting
September 13th, 2016 at 10:21 AM ^
how are we #1 in rushing defense after last week?
September 13th, 2016 at 10:22 AM ^
I'm guessing PFF does not include QB scrambles on broken plays in their calculations.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:23 AM ^
I mean, seeing how we have to play JT Barrett later this year, I think they should kind of count
September 13th, 2016 at 10:29 AM ^
Keep in mind that a QB scramble is different than a keeper on a read option. It's not a designed run play.
But I agree with you, it's part of the defense but I would assume they factor it in somewhere else. Not entirely sure though.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:30 AM ^
That's true. I guess i'm just concerned that an unremarkable QB was able to do that against us
September 13th, 2016 at 10:32 AM ^
Maybe they exclude long runs that were the result of obvious holding???
September 13th, 2016 at 10:56 AM ^
And in 2013, they won the FIesta Bowl. Just because their coach quit in the middle of 2015, that doesn't mean we didn't beat a decent team.
If Holman is healthy enough to play effectively against Maryland, they will put a scare into the Terps IMO. Same goes for when they play Houston at the end of October.
September 13th, 2016 at 11:43 AM ^
in the same way that sacks are.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:43 AM ^
to November without getting injured? Especially with them keeping him in for the whole game?
Doubt it. Who is their 2nd string QB this year anyway?
September 13th, 2016 at 10:52 AM ^
Joe Burrow is their backup. Basically a poor man's John Brantley.
September 13th, 2016 at 3:55 PM ^
Ive always though of John Brantley as a rich mans Joe Burrow. Six of one half dozen of the other.
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September 13th, 2016 at 10:52 AM ^
some dude that will finish in the top 5 for the Heisman. Behind JT.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
Are you expecting that Barrett will not play against UM? I'll bet he does... In any case, nobody should expect a backup to start against us. It just doesn't make sense to project injuries...
September 13th, 2016 at 10:59 AM ^
They won a national championship the last time Barrett went down. I don't know if that will happen again, but if any team can overcome a significant injury, sadly, it's OSU.
September 13th, 2016 at 11:11 AM ^
I think we should fire the Michigan money cannon at lobbyists who can make QB runs illegal in college football before November
Something something player safety
September 13th, 2016 at 2:54 PM ^
They're not saying that scramble yards "don't count," but they might be assigning them to the pass defense instead of the run defense.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:32 AM ^
IMO. Yards are yards, no matter how they are earned. Some of these metrics just get way too specific.
Couldn't we also say that big rushing plays can occasionally have a "busted" component to it?
And maybe it's just my selective imagination talking, but I have felt that Michigan has been unable to deal with scrambling QBs since I've had teeth. It just seems to be a massive achilles heel that no Michigan coach has ever been able to contain.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:39 AM ^
Gary and Winovich have three starts between them. I think Taco would have been a huge step up in keeping the quarterback contained, and those kids will learn as the season goes on.
September 13th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^
Has Gary started at all yet? I think Gary and Winovich have one start between them.
September 14th, 2016 at 8:32 AM ^
against Hawaii? And I thought he started this week too.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:41 AM ^
True a couple of 40+ yard scrambles don't accurately reflect how well a team can stop the run in the same way that racking up a lot of sacks wouldn't either. If they are included in the passing numbers that would make more sense and I'm guessing that's what they do.
September 13th, 2016 at 11:00 AM ^
You are correct. I was a freshman in 1969, Bo's first year; and even his great defenses had trouble with mobile QBs, such as Cornelius Green and Art Schlichter, who were few and far between back then. But, with the proliferation of the dual threat QB in the last two decades -- I can remember Donovan McNab torching us in '98, along with many others -- one would think we might eventually adjust. The problem is, we don't usually have the personnel to effectively simulate these QBs and read option offenses in practice; so when we see them in games we're unprepared.
September 13th, 2016 at 12:34 PM ^
Offenses in the 70's and 80's were mostly QB option concepts. They were all mobile, but only a few could throw effectively.
September 13th, 2016 at 11:59 AM ^
Would that 87 yard run have been any better or worse if they'd been on the 50 yard line? The play was over after 20 yards, so I think that's part of the logic. A defense that stones the run game on 40 attempts and gives up 3 or 4 chunk plays looks very different from one that consistently gives up 5 yards a snap.
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September 13th, 2016 at 10:46 AM ^
Basically what you have to keep in mind is that PFF is an individual grading system, not an advanced stat. Under PFF, the defense isn't punished as a whole for giving up an 84 yard run, Dymonte Thomas is just given a -1.5 or -2 for taking a bad angle.
September 13th, 2016 at 5:42 PM ^
I mean.. everything past the first quarter of that game was garbage time...
September 13th, 2016 at 10:22 AM ^
I, too, like our team.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:22 AM ^
Our guys are looking great, and lots of kids will go pro. I'm just excited to watch good football once again. Now let's focus on getting better as we head full-steam ahead towards B10 season!
September 13th, 2016 at 10:32 AM ^
Telling us what we already know but their fluffery is happily accepted
September 13th, 2016 at 10:45 AM ^
But Bleacher Report often does a nice job of fondling our maize and blue balls too.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:33 AM ^
am very optimistic, though I remain admittedly mystified by the glowing reviews of the O-line's run blocking. Ah well. I guess I will just take their word for it at this point. Clearly, we rule.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:34 AM ^
More O line praise, especially Kalis. Really curious to see the UFR on this.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:42 AM ^
Early indications are that the O-Line itself was fairly good, but that the glaring weaknesses in blocking was the ancillary blockers we use when there's a blitz or when the D stacks the box with a bunch of extra players--TE, RB, Fullback, etc.
Time for the Kaiju Package to grow up in a hurry!
September 13th, 2016 at 10:46 AM ^
It's not entirely surprising they graded well. When you're running at an eight man box, your five OL can execute perfectly on every play and still get sabotoged by blocky/catchy types.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^
We are under doctor’s orders to not get excited again until we beat MSU and OSU.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
"Doesn't have prototypical arm strength" *posts gif of ball flicked 50 yards in the air*...
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September 13th, 2016 at 11:00 AM ^
That's not really what people mean when they say arm strength.
They're talking about the velocity of the ball on the shorter stuff, which is the important thing in the NFL, where just about every throw is contested and QBs have to fit the ball in tight windows before an underneath defender jumps it.
September 13th, 2016 at 12:16 PM ^
But I'd be interested to see some stats about his Velocity. I wonder if it just seems like he's throwing change-ups because his throwing motion looks like it should result in the ball popping up in the air and landing two yards ahead of him. I don't remember a single short-or-intermediate pass that made me think, "Man, imagine if he REALLY fired it in there."
September 13th, 2016 at 3:25 PM ^
I think his arm strength is fine for college and would be right around average in the NFL. I think arm strength is a threshold issue -- you need to have enough to get the job done, but a ton of it isn't necessarily a benefit.
For what it's worth, which I think is next to nothing, I think our QBs arm strength rankings would be Morris, O'Korn, Speight. Interesting that our depth chart is in reverse order.
September 13th, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^
PFF: UM Offense looks improved. Defense is as expected. Could be title contenders.
Us: Whatever. UCF had those long runs which negates everything else. We'll never improve by OSU week.
September 13th, 2016 at 1:04 PM ^
Can't it be both?
It's awesome that we've played 128 defensive snaps this season and essentially dominated our opponent on all but five of them. It's concerning that those five - all zone reads or QB scrambles - are exactly the kind of plays that OSU will try to beat us with.
September 13th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^
I agree with all the hype but find it hard to disregard all the QB scrambles we let up last week. Seems like PFF doesn't really account for that properly. We'll get through almost all of our games without having to worry about that but JT Barrett is going to gut us if we don't have a good plan for it going forward
September 13th, 2016 at 12:23 PM ^
Michigan will have a good plan going forward. Week two defense will not be the same as OSU defense.