Gary and Onwenu at the snap
I think Onwenu had a consistently impactful game. Gary's positives were even more-so. But, in rewatching right now, something strange keeps happening. They are consistently the last on their line to move after the snap. I want to give the benefit of the doubt because it's so frequent as to seem deliberate. Is there any good football reason for one to "read his opponent's 1st move" before taking one's first step? The canons I thought I knew say no, but I'm open to being wrong.
I'm not, however, open to the possibility that chronology is meaningless and Gary's and Onwenu's games versus Florida should be called fast-off-the-line. They were unmistakably the last to move on the majority of snaps. The paradox is that I think they played great despite it.
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:02 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:03 PM ^
flibbertigibbet?
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:02 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:38 PM ^
With Onwenu it's just he's thinkin about food so there's a slight delay before he realizes he's playing football right now
September 4th, 2017 at 1:56 AM ^
September 4th, 2017 at 8:38 AM ^
Michael OnMenu?
September 4th, 2017 at 11:43 AM ^
September 11th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
no, just looks like you sympathyze with thinking of food, based on your avatar and username.
September 4th, 2017 at 8:12 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:03 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:22 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:22 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:23 PM ^
September 4th, 2017 at 2:02 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:29 PM ^
if Gary shoots off the ball the opponent can guess correctly and negate him. If he pauses and sees what his opponent does, then he can use his talent advantage to counter.
However, I do have lots of theories that don't pan out.
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:31 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 7:21 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:30 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:40 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:14 PM ^
I just think hurst has special get off, and Gary is farther from the ball.
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:33 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 7:24 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:42 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:45 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:54 PM ^
People said the same thing about Taco last year.
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:02 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:54 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:55 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 7:21 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:01 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:05 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:09 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:08 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:51 PM ^
+1 for "tyro".
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:02 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:12 PM ^
Can't make a thread, so I'm stealing yours. There have been a lot of people commenting on Gary's performance. I have seen several posts saying that Gary was dominant because he was fighting off double or even triple teams every play. I didn't see this during the game, so rewatched the game, focused exclusively on Gary, and recorded what happened to him every play.
Some quick obervations:
Gary was doubleteamed 6 times. Twice he had no opportunity to make a play due to it being run away from him or it being a quick pass. Twice he was blown off the ball by the double. And twice he pushed the doubleteam into the backfield.
Florida did not really have anyone chipping him all game. I only saw it once.
Florida only did 13 designed runs while Gary was in the game. 3 were toward Gary's side, 4 were away, and 3 were inside. They ran 3 read option plays. Gary was the read man twice and played with proper technique both times. He made the play one time and was juked by Zaire the other time. That data does not indicate that Florida was purposely running away from Gary's side of the field.
Gary lined up on the strong side of the field (by my own analysis, I don't know how Michigan defines strong side) 25 plays. He lined up on the weak side for 15 plays. They are obviously trying to avoid being predictable with their alignments.
Gary sat out only 9 plays before garbage time. I wasn't specifically watching for Winovich, but I don't ever remember seeing him be taken out.
My conclusion? He played fine. He was not the weapon of mass destruction that many people who watched the game claimed he was, but he was a productive role player who did his job and contributed to the win.
If you are interested in seeing my play by play notes, let me know. I would be happy to post them. I also did this same thing for Ulizio. If you would like my breakdown on him as well, also let me know.
Edit: Also, Jim was right when he complained that the clock was wrong when Michigan received a delay of game call. There were only 29 seconds between the end of the previous play and the clock hitting zero.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:42 PM ^
This seems like a good topic for a post. Perhaps if you provide your notes and they are somewhat cogent/followable, and this gets enough attention, someone else will create a thread for you
September 4th, 2017 at 2:09 AM ^
September 4th, 2017 at 8:33 AM ^
I would be interested in your play by play notes for Ulizio. Sounds good.
September 4th, 2017 at 12:51 AM ^
I vividly remember observing Rashan Gary doing this when I was at the Maryland game last year. Glad you brought it to attention again because it is an interesting question!
I think it's simply is a combination of Gary wanting to get a quick read, and the fact that he has such a fast d-line around him.
September 4th, 2017 at 1:49 AM ^
It is possible Hurst and Winovich are just faster off the snap than Gary. WE know Hurst as elite quick twich ability, and winovich is very quick as well. I know people observed Gary being slow off the ball last year as well.
September 4th, 2017 at 2:57 AM ^
That's why we are using so many qualifiers.
September 4th, 2017 at 5:08 PM ^