Michigan Vs. Florida: Offensive Snowflakes

Submitted by LSAClassOf2000 on

This shall be the thread for your thoughts on the offense in our game vs. Florida

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GoBlueBrooklyn

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^

that it is mental with Speight. He gets big eyes on open routes and even though he hangs in the pocket, when pressure is imminent, he panics. I don't get the feeling the game has slowed down for his mind because he is so amped up and he loses his touch. he is always fired up, and could really use a much more mentally relaxed approach to competing.

The two corner fades -- if you're going to throw that ball and run that play, put it up for your guy to grab it. He is rarely capable of making that throw.  It was unconscionable to miss Crawford on the sideline throw. On the other hand, he has a gun deep over the middle and is great into the flat, especially to the TE, but he doesn't have enough command of his toolset to just slow down and hit things in the middle range near the boundary. The throw to Eubanks, further down the field, was outstanding; dropped it into his hands between two defenders who were on time (great catch, too). Another great piece of work was the throw to Crawford on the "inelligble receiver" TD (forever in quotes), where things broke down and he made a great play-- that happens with him, too. 

One other, minor thing he needs to work on is his body language on play action. It's the same every time and it doesn't ever look like he's actually going to make a hand off-- there's no deception. That said, he is a very good reader of the pocket for a college player and gets out of trouble with his feet quite well for his size, only for his panic/ competitive frenzy to sometimes let him down (you're out of the pocket, play is broken, you're leading and in the red zone, throw it away). Mixed bag for sure, frustrating for efficency, especially because Time of Possession should often be ours and you need to finish drives when you own the ball. First drive of the 3Q was the most promising thing on offense on the day. That should be all day. 

 

 

Joined: 06/30/2009

MGoPoints: 415

ColeIsCorky

September 2nd, 2017 at 8:00 PM ^

I don't know man. I loved Higdon in this game. He is a tough guy to get down. Evans is elite at finding holes and juking guys out of their shoes, but he isn't near as strong as the other guys in staying upright and breaking through tough tackles. Isaac was dominant. He doesn't have the Denard in him like Evans, but that was the best he has ever looked by far in breaking arm tackles. He had some big holes but he also hit them quick and required really good tackle form to even remotely go down. Different player. In my opinion Isaac should at least be the main guy against big teams with excellent front 7's. As long as he can keep that up, I think it should be difficult to keep him off the field. Loved what I saw from all three. And I think the OL did better than expected after the first quarter or so.

Joined: 11/15/2016

MGoPoints: 4627

bamf16

September 2nd, 2017 at 10:15 PM ^

Agreed on just about all counts.

Isaac was the best back today. Higdon showed some good things, but I think at times he and Evans went down a bit too easily.

I can see arguments for both Higdon and Evans being the 2nd best back on the day behind Isaac, but I think I'd give the nod to Higdon. Hope to have some time this week to go back through and watch again to see how right/wrong my first impressions were.

Joined: 01/05/2014

MGoPoints: -100000

stephenrjking

September 2nd, 2017 at 9:54 PM ^

Agree here about his block. He played the game of his life--every time we had a crucial down he ran for like 20 yards. And that might have been the second-best RB block I've ever seen (behind Maurice Jones-Drew destroying a guy when he played for Jacksonville). 

I'm not sure if he's our best back--we have three good ones, and he was getting the ball at times where there is more space--but he was awesome at the stuff he was asked to do and this is a different looking game if he isn't executing those runs. Offensive player of the game.

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20144025

SAMgO

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:13 PM ^

Just stop before you bitch about Speight. He was very solid besides two throws. The Crawford overthrow was out of his hand before the CB was picked so he had to throw it as if there was coverage.

Joined: 07/15/2013

MGoPoints: 18745

ColeIsCorky

September 2nd, 2017 at 8:06 PM ^

Where I saw the improvement and consistency was in the short to intermediate throws that weren't lobbed. If he gets that lob pass down or uses it only when appropriate then I think we will end the year very pleased with Speight as our QB. He clearly made some mistakes, but we shouldn't discount the strength of Florida's defense when we complain about the amount of FG's. And don't forget one TD was taken off the board. Speight will be good. I think the UFR will look better than most expect when it comes to % of negative throws.

Joined: 11/15/2016

MGoPoints: 4627

turtleboy

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:42 PM ^

Sorry, but he made numerous absolutely terrible throws. Only 2 of them turned into points for the other team, directly, but those were the last two of a string of similar bad throws that could've eventually cost us, and did. He missed several wide open players with no pressure, and took a couple sacks we're used to seeing him avoid as well. He was also responsible for very good throws, and got back into the game after single handedly digging the team into a  hole, so props to him for shaking it off and leading us back to a big win on a big stage. No idea how well he practices to earn the starting spot, but he remains very bipolar on the field.

Joined: 04/22/2011

MGoPoints: 35130

TheCool

September 2nd, 2017 at 9:05 PM ^

He missed throws and he made bad decisions on who to throw to. He missed Eubanks late on a post when Speight took a sack and he missed Crawford I think when he threw to Perry on the corner route. After the latter mistake Harbaugh had a talk with him about it, I'm assuming.

Joined: 07/13/2011

MGoPoints: 7155

Alumnus93

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:21 PM ^

Speights pocket escapability is exceptional... But every end zone ball or deep ball he'd throw I'd be saying to myself don't overthrow it again. Dammit he has to get that fixed...that isn't clutch. Especially the Crawford wide open and he throws it out of bounds. Harbaugh will nail him on these. The score should have been over 50 and so many points left on board. Ulizio made a ton of errors but this is first start let's see if the jitters are gone.

Joined: 09/10/2009

MGoPoints: 9684

m_go_T

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:14 PM ^

Six weeks is a long time to figure out the OLine. They won't face a front four like that until OSU. I like the offense. Sp8 will figure it out. if he does, wooo boy there are a lot of players running free. Black is a star. Isaac seems to be our best back.

Joined: 11/04/2010

MGoPoints: 5453

ckersh74

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:14 PM ^

2 things:

1) Take away the defensive scores, and if Speight hits that pass to Crawford early in the 4th, this is a 33-3 game.

2) Speight cannot hit a fade pattern, especially on 3rd down, to save his ass. 

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 41637

stephenrjking

September 2nd, 2017 at 9:59 PM ^

This is also a different score game if we don't get that bogus formation call early.

I'm not a hater like many; Speight is decent, and can make plays, but is a bit inconsistent. But you saying this crystalizes for me that sideline throws downfield of various kinds are a real achilles heel for him. I recall several deep balls last year that, had they been precisely on the sideline, would have been good passes, but were instead poor and occasionally near-disasters. 

Just not quite accurate enough for that kind of throw. At least, not yet.

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20144025

Michigan Arrogance

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:14 PM ^

drops by the WRs in the 1st half. 2 bad throws by speight and the refs understanding what an eligible receiver is gets us to like 45pts.

young team, opening at a neutral site against a solid UF team - this was a good performance.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 35515

Couzen Rick's

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:17 PM ^

Overall good minus the obvious. We settled for FGs far too often imo, and we probably need to be more efficient in the red zone. Need TDs. Speight played well to bounce back from the INTs, especially loved his touch on the deep balls. Ty Isaac was awesome, Higdon and Evans were pretty good as well.

Joined: 12/22/2014

MGoPoints: 16041

kb

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:16 PM ^

but Speight has to play better for this team to take the next step. Two pick sixes (one on him, one partly on him) is bad. It cost us in our most important game of the year in 2016 and he made the same mistakes today (as well as some accuracy problems). I give him a pass because this is the first week against a decent team, but he needs to step up this season. He could be the only thing holding us back.

Joined: 10/31/2009

MGoPoints: 7151

kb

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:16 PM ^

but Speight has to play better for this team to take the next step. Two pick sixes (one on him, one partly on him) is bad. It cost us in our most important game of the year in 2016 and he made the same mistakes today (as well as some accuracy problems). I give him a pass because this is the first week against a decent team, but he needs to step up this season. He could be the only thing holding us back.

Joined: 10/31/2009

MGoPoints: 7151