Esterhaus

August 11th, 2017 at 2:08 PM ^

Speak of the greatest embarrassment to befall Armenians? Have you no decency sir. I've actually met Kanye in a business context - he's both highly intelligent and polite in person. Clearly not above pulling stunts to attract publicity, and all publicity is beneficial. As for the giant billboard referenced I offer no comment.

Esterhaus

August 11th, 2017 at 4:06 PM ^

Exculpated murder in passion is big business. He'll do fine unless the Goldmans place a successful hit job. Pedo and mass murder, well, there you have a point because that's pretty terrible publicity typically. Although Podesta and The Clintons may disagree given Libya and Pizzagate, who knows what might show up eventually on the WikiLeaks. (shudders)

Logan88

August 11th, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^

I know you were primarily going for the laugh, but are people still blaming Funk for UM's offensive line struggles at this point? Is it really possible for him to have that effect several years removed?

Basically, I'm asking: is it impossible for offensive linemen to "unlearn what they have learned" (apologies to Yoda) ? Drevno had the outgoing guys for two years and they never seemed to make any significant improvement which is really strange because you would think they would automatically improve just by maturing from sophomores to seniors.

Michology 101

August 11th, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^

The poster was going for the laugh. I mean, it was clearly proven after a couple of seasons with Harbaugh and his staff that our upperclassmen OL guys just weren't very good.

They were just decent to average and that wasn't enough against some of the better defenses we faced last season.

reshp1

August 11th, 2017 at 3:34 PM ^

I thought he really hit his transformation near the end of 2015, but yeah, totally different player. No more waist bending, no more just leaning on dudes, no more driving with his head down, just all and all a total transformation. 

Reader71

August 11th, 2017 at 3:51 PM ^

In the old days, Michigan always seemed to have one 5th year guy who came out of nowhere to have a nice season. Bit those were usually guys who hadn't played much because they were stuck behind good players. What makes Braden's play so shocking was that he had started for years already.

I'm a strange person who only watches the OL during games, and I've never seen anything like it. It wasn't just that he the as a much better player than he had been, it was that he was such a different player.

Blue in Paradise

August 11th, 2017 at 1:59 PM ^

but I can't argue with you on those toss sweeps against FSU last year.  He looked like he was running in 6 inches of mud...

Sorry to state the obvious because I love this coaching staff but those were not good play / personnel calls.  You have to get Chris Evans in there if you want to run that play.  Look what he did when he got the ball in his hands in the 4th quarter.

M-Dog

August 11th, 2017 at 3:50 PM ^

Whoo Boy.

OK, I'll say it . . . 

I'm not convinced that our offensive staff is up to the same level as our defensive staff.

I'm not seeing Don Brown-level coaching on offense. Yes, that's a very high standard, but shouldn't it be?   

Maybe Pep will help change that perception. 

 

reshp1

August 11th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^

Also the go ahead TD against Colorado last year was a toss sweep to Smith too. If it's called at the right time against the right defense, and blocked well, it could still be effective. Other backs might be better suited at it, but you can't tip your plays based on personel tendencies either.

Reader71

August 11th, 2017 at 3:37 PM ^

Everyone loves unpredictability until it doesn't work. Then they want you to telegraph the play, until that doesn't work.

Criticizing individual play-calls is the stupidest thing football fans could ever possibly do. It's also the most common. I'm not sure what that's says about us.

bcnihao

August 11th, 2017 at 8:34 PM ^

I remember a couple of instances.  One was the botched fake punt against Oregon, at Oregon.  The other was the game at MSU when UM featured Chris Perry run after Chris Perry run after Chris Perry run  . . . and then finally changed it up with a naked bootleg and the QB fumbled while trying to throw, resulting in TD for MSU.

M Ascending

August 11th, 2017 at 4:46 PM ^

Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm more excited to see what Higdon can do this year than Evans. Higdon has a nose for the hole, has some power and tackle breaking ability, and can be effective both inside and outside. When given a chance last year, I think he showed as much promise as anyone.

BuckNekked

August 11th, 2017 at 5:52 PM ^

Because of one run? Evans did nothing other than the TD. Ive never seen a player get more hype out of one run and a couple good games against bad teams. I like Evans and he had a nice freshman year but did nothing to deserve this second coming stuff that seems to be the consensus of posters on MGoBlog.

dipshit moron

August 11th, 2017 at 6:50 PM ^

you see no way he improves based on what you saw last year? no potential to becoming a great back? i think he has the ability to be special, if he makes normal improvement from a true freshman. i really believe ty isaac will do great things this year. i think michigan will be one of, if not the best overall rushing attack in the conference.

Blue in Paradise

August 11th, 2017 at 7:18 PM ^

The guy makes an unbelievable clutch run for a 30 yard TD with less than 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter to put UM in the lead against a top 10 team in a NY6 bowl game.  Isn't this exactly the kind of play the team lacked in big moments for the last decade or so???  Didn't he step up when everyone else was struggling against a strong defense???

Also, you say he did nothing the rest of the game.  Did you see the play right before the TD run?  The one that put FSU back on their heels?  The guy had 8 touches and 2 of them led to what should have been the game winning TD (if not for the fluke KR).

Not his fault he didn't get more touches.  He may or may not be the "second coming" but I love the fact that a true freshman put the team on his back in a big moment in a big game.  And yes, that gets me very excited about his potential the next 2 seasons.

ST3

August 11th, 2017 at 2:37 PM ^

Brian blamed this play on Bredeson (or Cole's line call) in the UFR, but watch the play. There are 8 or 9 Hawkeyes in the backfield when the tackle is made. This play had no chance of working even if we had the Dallas Cowboys offensive line. Toss sweep against an all-out run blitz? RPS -3!

Yes, Bredeson pulled, identified no one and blocked no one, but even if he executes a block, that means there are only 4 hawkeyes ready to make the tackle instead of 5.

That was in the 4th quarter, 3rd and 1. If we convert there, we have a chance to score a TD and make things really tough for Iowa (they weren't scoring a TD on our defense.) Instead, we  settled for the FG and allowed them to win the game late with a FG.

dipshit moron

August 11th, 2017 at 3:21 PM ^

don`t know much about football do you? first off, higdon is the running back, this was a good play right then because iowa over played inside. at the pitch there is only one iowa player in position to make the play. the problem is that 4 blocks where missed. nothing is wrong with the play call, but there is a little thing called execution that is missing from this play.

Gulogulo37

August 11th, 2017 at 10:51 PM ^

2 guys on the backside weren't even blocked at all because of the playcall (I assume). That also adds to the large numbers of Hawkeyes in the backfield.

BuckNekked

August 11th, 2017 at 5:59 PM ^

Hopefully Pep can be the guy that helps Harbaugh and Drevno break tendencies. Im sitting here looking at that first frame counting 10 men in the box. You think Iowa didnt know what was coming? Even if they were guessing inside by blitzing the ILBers  they had the corners covered with their alignment and bringing the cbs up to the line. Perfect time for a PA.

corundum

August 11th, 2017 at 6:31 PM ^

I'm just not a fan of pitch plays in a third and short situation regardless. Too many things can go wrong and all the momentum begins as a lateral movement. If a north/south run gets blown up you are probably only losing a yard or getting back to the line of scrimmage. Then on 4th down you still have options if the field position isn't terrible.