Unverified Voracity Euthanizes Self Comment Count

Brian

CwHPSuOWAAApnuA

via SteveA

Life comes at you fast. From We Want Bama to the above in under a year. EDSBS says no, no, no, don't no not that:

YOU SEE THAT THIS IS BASICALLY A EUTHANASIA HEADLINE RIGHT? THAT MICHIGAN STATE DIDN’T LOSE THIS GAME, BUT INSTEAD GOT SOME KIND OF WASTING DISEASE AND TRIED TO MAKE IT COUNT BEFORE THEY DIED? WAS MORGAN FREEMAN ON THE SIDELINES TO ACCOMPANY MICHIGAN STATE AS THEY DID EVERYTHING THEY WANTED TO BEFORE THE GRIM END ARRIVED? OH COOL, MICHIGAN STATE, YOUR FONDEST WISH WAS TO HOLD MICHIGAN SCORELESS FOR A QUARTER BEFORE DISPLAYING A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING FOR BASIC SCORING MATH. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. WE’LL CUT THE TRAILER TO “HOLOCENE” AND RELEASE IT IN TIME FOR OSCAR CONSIDERATION.

Come for the all-caps rant, stay for the discussion of the most Michigan serial killer. I've still got HH Holmes. North Campus represent.

Life also runs away from you fast. This isn't quite a 40, but in pads at the end of a game where you played both ways it's still eyepopping:

He might test okay at the combine.

The Stribling Q. How good is he? He had a rough couple plays against MSU but the verdict still appears to be "very good." PFF just published a snapshot of their top corners as rated by NFL passer rating when targeted. Michigan's CBs are #2 and #3, nationally, behind Clemson's Mark Fields. Stats:

  • Lewis has allowed 4 completions on 17 targets for 2.9 YPA with two INTs.
  • Stribling has allowed 10 completions on 35 attempts for 4.1 YPA, one TD, and three INTs.

The only other Big Ten corners on the list are OSU's starters at #7 and #10.

Higdon on his future. Interesting quote from him in a Chengelis profile:

“It was really me looking at life after football, Football is not a promising game. You never know when your last snap or play is going to be, so you have to think about the things that’s going to build you as a person versus building you as a football player. I live with no regrets."

He said the choice between Michigan and Iowa made him "sick to his stomach"; that whole Higdon/Weber thing was balanced on a knife edge.

The Debordenberg Project. Tennessee had a moment there when they were recovering every ball that hit the turf and seemed like a top ten team if you didn't look to closely. After three straight losses, the most recent to South Carolina, not so much.

Losing to year one Will Muschamp is bad enough. Virtually photoshopping yourself into an internet meme at a press conference is worse:

“This football team’s fine,” Jones said. “This football program’s fine. I love our fan base. Everything is fine. We’re going to be just fine.”

Survey says... eh, he's probably right. Tennessee finishes the year against Tennessee Tech, Kentucky, Missouri, and Vanderbilt. They should be a deeply unsatisfying 9-3.

Meanwhile in Mike Debord Is A Coordinator For A Power 5 Program:

"South Carolina was trying to take away the long ball," DeBord told members of the Knoxville Quarterback Club at Calhoun's on the River on Monday. "They didn’t want to give up big plays and they didn’t. The other thing is what we see every week, and it’s been interesting, but what we’re seeing on film throughout the week, teams are changing it up. What you practice against is not always what you see in the game. That’s having to adjust with our players and things like that."

IS THIS A NEW CONCEPT TO YOU

AAAAARGH THIS IS HOW A TEAM WITH TOM BRADY, ANTHONY THOMAS AND LIKE FOUR NFL LINEMEN AVERAGED 3.5 YPC IN 2000

NO I'M NOT OVER THAT

no you're being unreasonable

Fine. It's not our problem any more and I should be nice to Mike DeBord even if he seems to just be cottoning on to the fact teams will try to trick you 30 years into his career. I think I called Michigan a Queensbury's Rules program under Lloyd Carr and... yep. Yep yep yep.

Basketball scrimmages Akron. Kudos to Tony Paul, who got enough about it to post an article—I don't recall Michigan's "secret scrimmage" getting any coverage before this year. Akron is a MAC favorite and in a scrimmage scenario you're going to get a lot of rotation that won't continue in competitive games; I wouldn't read much into the score. Akron "might've" won one of the halves per Paul, which rather emphasizes the lack of emphasis to put on scoring.

On the other hand this is a very nice thing to hear:

Sophomore big man Moritz Wagner, who really came on at the end of his freshman season in the postseason, had a big game against Akron and figures to be "a matchup problem" for several opposing teams, the person in attendance said.

Paul also reports that Jon Teske seemed ahead of Austin Davis in the race to be Michigan's third center, which is a mild surprise after the open practice Michigan had.

Kickers on Kenny Allen. Andrew Kahn talks to Kickin' Compentency Lopata and Garrett Rivas about Kenny Allen's workload. Some really interesting inside baseball therein:

“As great as special teams coaches are, I think most of them don’t know the mechanics of kicking and punting,” Lopata said. “In terms of making a change or what’s actually going on with kicks and punts, the vast majority of players rely on other kickers on the team, a personal coach, and themselves. One of the biggest things I try to instill in the players I coach is self-correction—being able to give yourself objective feedback regarding your mechanics.”

That is not to say U-M’s coaches aren’t paying attention. A couple of weeks ago, Harbaugh said he’d noticed that Allen was rushing some of his kicks. “You want to be in that 1.25, 1.3 [second] operation time and he was getting down there one time where he was 1.1.”

Lopata watches games very closely and liked what he saw last Saturday from Allen. “He’s doing a lot of great things with his body positioning—keeping his chest up and having a smooth and fluid follow-through. The biggest tell is what’s happening with the ball. Although PATs are short, judging from the ball rotation and how high up on the net it is, I can tell he’s back to striking the ball flush.

“You want to see an end-over-end rotation and the ball rotating at the right speed—not too fast or too slow; just at that nice, correct pace, which you only know if you see it.”

Article was posted Friday and Allen made good on Lopata's observations, going 3/3 and hitting a 44-yarder. Whole thing recommended.

Hayden Lavigne's backstory. Zach Shaw on Michigan's #1 or #2 or #3 goaltender:

In 2013, Lavigne committed to the Wolverines when he was 17. It was supposed to be a simple story of a talented Canadian taking his game to Michigan before advancing to the pros, but that got shot to hell.

In the fragile position of goaltending, Lavigne became shattered goods in the United States Hockey League. Cut twice in two years in the league, his career was in jeopardy, and Michigan passed on taking him in two years in a row.

But as Lavigne shifted, lunged, batted, swung at and stopped all 31 shots Union peppered at him in his first college game earlier this month, it was clear that he had put the pieces together.

Goalies are weird.

Lavigne figures to get a lot of opportunities to prove his worth over the course of the season: Michigan got swept last weekend by bad teams and massively outshot. They've managed to defy possession, Corsi, and plain old shot totals en route to a decent start, but they're starting to come back to earth. Unless they radically improve their level of play they won't be in the tournament, or anywhere near it. They were outshot 42-21 by Vermont. They are probably the worst team Red Berenson has fielded since the very beginning of his tenure.

Etc.: if you were confused about Pat Narduzzi to Purdue twitter yesterday, the Crimson Quarry explains. Kinda. Playoff rankings tonight, will be anticlimactic. Glasgows gonna Glasgow. Josh Rosen's out for the year, which might help Michigan in some UCLA/M recruiting battles as the Bruins go 4-8 and Jim Mora goes Brian Kelly on the sideline a bunch. The money's got to go somewhere. Hinton on Peppers's Heisman chances.

Comments

schreibee

November 1st, 2016 at 1:36 PM ^

I just jumped straight to comments after the Brady in 2000 diatribe. I knew someone would point out quickly that TB wasn't there in 2000, but I wasn't sure about the rushing stats cited.

I recall '99 when Brady was there as being one of the best offenses we've ever had (I believe going from memory we allowed over or very close to 40 pts in both our 2 losses, and scored nearly that many as well.)

And '00 I think of as being explosive when Henson played, less so under Navarre. 

OK, back to finish UV

1974

November 1st, 2016 at 1:48 PM ^

I work outside of Michigan and have had quite a few conversations with fans from other Big Ten teams. They (understandably) have a hard time seeing why anyone would be dissatisfied with Lloyd Carr.

I get it. Viewed from the bottom line, Lloyd was a very good coach. If you look at the players he had available, though (as an excellent recruiter), expecting a few more top ten finishes doesn't seem unreasonable.

jmblue

November 1st, 2016 at 3:07 PM ^

Lloyd was a good coach.  He was not a great coach, though, and the things that held him back from being great seemed very correctable to us fans - use the "scoring offense" more often, take more chances on 4th down, etc.  Hence the frustration.  

(Many fans also had the sense, at the time, that Michigan's program was basically on autopilot and any old coach could win 9 games a year.  Whoops.)

 

stephenrjking

November 1st, 2016 at 2:10 PM ^

The 2000 season was statistically better than the 1999 season, particularly on the ground. Surprisingly to me, the defense was actually statistically better on a points-per-game basis (~19 in 2000, vs. ~20 in 1999, per sports reference) which doesn't fit with my memory of that defense in 2000 spitting the bit in key moments throughout the year.

Stats like that never really translated into anything in the later Carr era. No matter how good the offense and defense were, they would lose games that they shouldn't lose. 

Rabbit21

November 1st, 2016 at 12:47 PM ^

UCLA is a "End of Brady Hoke at Michigan" level tire fire this year and it looks to just be getting worse.  Smart move by Rosen to call himself out for the year and let the O-Line for UCLA develop.

Bottom line for Michigan, the only competitive recruiting battles M will fight against UCLA until Mora is fired are going to be for California kids who just want to stay home.  And given that Mora has a $15M buyout, I'd say we can go ahead and not worry about UCLA for some time to come.

Mattb_22

November 1st, 2016 at 3:00 PM ^

My brother is a UCLA fan, and your comparison between Hoke and Mora is pretty apt, right down to the way Mora insisted that UCLA would be tougher this year without acutally doing anything to get tougher. The funny thing is I thought Mora was a great hire at the time, and he certainly started out decently. Now, his Pac-12 record is basically the same as Karl Dorrell's. 

SagNasty

November 1st, 2016 at 12:52 PM ^

I actually had an Msu fan at work tell me today that Msu lost because,
1. The refs screwed Msu
2. Their freshman qb should have started.
He then went on to tell me they were rebuilding and next year would be different.
After I laughed in his face he left the room telling me Harbaugh would be leaving for the NFL soon anyways.
It was glorious.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Everyone Murders

November 1st, 2016 at 2:25 PM ^

I can assure you that numerous green-clad folks at Spartan Stadium were also decrying the "unfair reffing" in real time.  "Call it even refs!"  "Oh, NOW you're calling pass interference!"  "These refs are giving the game to Michigan"  Etc.  It was hilarious then, and hilarious now.

Forecast for tomorrow?  Still hilarious.

robpollard

November 1st, 2016 at 1:41 PM ^

I *think* I would give a slight edge to Pitt, but only slight.



- Both teams have big trouble filling up their stadium (Pitt's stadium, the Steelers' Heinz Field, is not on campus; Ross-Ade is old and hasn't been renovated in close to two decades).

- Both haven't been very good, with any consistency, for quite some time (Pitt's glory years were the 1970s; Purdue's were the 1960s)

- Both play in the weaker division in their conference (ACC -- Coastal does not have Clemson, Louisville or FSU; B1G -- West doesn't have Ohio State, Michigan or Michigan State).

I guess I would give Pitt the edge b/c of Western PA recruiting, but any standout recruits can stay "home" (or close to it) by going to Ohio State, Penn State or even Michigan.

So I would think it would come down to the quality of the AD and whether Narduzzi wants to get back into the B1G. But my guess is he'd stay at Pitt.

Sambojangles

November 1st, 2016 at 2:48 PM ^

B1G has more money than ACC. Not sure how much and whether that makes a difference to the HC at Purdue. Unless Clemson makes it back to the NC game this year the B1G is probably a higher prestige overall, though again that doesn't necessarily apply to Purdue.

It's a toss up, so I don't know why he would leave two years in to go to at best an equal position.

Mr Miggle

November 1st, 2016 at 4:45 PM ^

on football than the ACC. When has Purdue ever shown a desire to spend it? Have they ever shown a commitment to becoming a good football program? That's not a criticism. It makes sense to put your resources where they'll do the most good. They'll never be a worldbeater in football. It's such a tough place to recruit. They should aim to be mediocre first. I don't think it's job is close to Pitt, even as a stepping stone.

lhglrkwg

November 1st, 2016 at 4:04 PM ^

Purdue seems almost unwinnable. It's not a 'brand name' and struggles to even be the 2nd most popular team in their own state. Pitt at least has a good fanbase (though not for football) and fertile recruiting grounds in Ohio & Western PA. I'd give it to Pitt, though not by as much as one might think initially

True Blue in CO

November 1st, 2016 at 12:57 PM ^

Fully support the idea of Peppers to be a Heisman winner and candidate.  However Jabrill is going to need more spectacular plays in the next 3 weeks to move him up in national awareness.  This means either more success with the PepCat Formation and/or new plays.  If our Offensive Coaching Trio of Harbaugh/Drevno/Fisch want to make Peppers for Heisman a thing, then they have to show OSU more plays they might be able to plan a defense against.  Trust the coaches but this is going to be one of the biggest story lines to watch between now and November 26.

RyGuy

November 1st, 2016 at 1:32 PM ^

What Peppers needs to win the Heisman is gaudy stats. The coaching staff is going to use him in the way that he contributes the most to the team. However he can help us in, that is how he will be used. Those ways he is used might not necessarily rack up those stats.

CoverZero

November 1st, 2016 at 12:59 PM ^

Actually it was Drew Henson and 5 NFL Linemen with A Train as the RB, Chris Perry as his Back up and BJ Askew as the FB in 2000.  Most of those guys were there with TB in 1999 though so...yeah... I am still not over it either.