September 9th, 2017 at 3:41 PM ^
Offensive play calling left a lot to be desired. Cinci's LBs were playing very aggressive and we didn't throw a single HB screen?
Speight not only continued to overthrow a bunch of passes, but also threw a couple passes to Black that were obviously covered that should have went to his second or third read.
The beginning drive with Isaac up the middle over and over followed by play action was a thing of beauty, yet we never really went back to that. I would have been happier if Isaac got 30 carries rather than letting Speight sling inaccurate passes all 2nd quarter.
It did seem like Speight settled in at the end of the 3rd quarter, but we are going to need four quarters of solid QB play to beat the stronger teams in the Big Ten.
Lastly, Brock Huard is Great Value Kirk Herbstreit and one of the most annoying color guys I've heard call a game this season.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:02 PM ^
I don't expect us to blow our good play calling on Cinci. That said, I am officially out of Team Speight. I thought late last year may have been injury, and gave him a game this year. This was the one that made me think that this is who he is. Michigan needs a QB.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:05 PM ^
but thanks guys.
September 9th, 2017 at 6:31 PM ^
no its not. they couldn't recruit a qb and harbaugh can't wisper anymore.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:10 PM ^
I agree on Speight. I've been thinking he's better than he's been playing, but he's not. O'Korn isn't the answer either, but I'm disappointed we never got a big enough lead for Peters to get some game experience.
September 9th, 2017 at 9:07 PM ^
That speight is the best QB we have right now. Our offense is limited with him. I really hope one of the younger guys can develop next year
September 9th, 2017 at 4:19 PM ^
He was 17 for 29 with 2 TD's and no INT. He was fine. I am far more worried about the line.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:23 PM ^
continues to throw the ball high, didn't extend plays when he could, etc. box score doesn't demonstrate how bad wilton was
September 9th, 2017 at 4:32 PM ^
He wasn't THAT bad. He had the two fumbles, couple of bad throws (like to Black in double coverage) and then probably 5-6 passes that were overthrown. He also had a couple of clutch 3rd and 4th down passes.
Could it have been better? Sure. But it's not like it was atrocious. It was an above average performance by an above average QB. It just is what it is with him. He's likely never going to be elite, and it's going to be a bit until Michigan has someone that can dethrone him.
And then we can complain about that guy.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:40 PM ^
I think above average is a little strong when you consider the opponent. He wasn't the disaster some are making him out to be, but his accuracy left a lot to be desired.
Bottom line is O'Korn isn't the answer, if Peters can't beat out O'Korn then he's definitely not ready, so we can bitch all we want, there's nobody else.
September 9th, 2017 at 5:04 PM ^
Suppose it depends on what you're comparing him to. For the Big Ten, he's easily one of the top 5 QBs -- that's above average. And that's what I was thinking of when I said that. But if you're looking at the teams in the Top 25? Ehh...he's probably in the bottom 10 for QBs.
But yeah...O'Korn certainly isn't any better, and there's clearly a reason they aren't playing Peters so we just have to ride or die with Speight and his 20/32, 2TD/1INT type of games.
September 9th, 2017 at 5:31 PM ^
There's a guy named Malzone that I suspect is a Griese clone..maybe, wish we would get a blowout so we can see what he can do
September 9th, 2017 at 5:57 PM ^
Thought I read somewhere McCaffrey passed Peters.
Not saying we should burn his redshirt to ride the pine.
Was just curious if anyone else heard that.
Asking for future reference.
September 9th, 2017 at 6:59 PM ^
yes that's the rumor
September 9th, 2017 at 7:35 PM ^
Yes, I'd rate it above a rumor. I'd rate it as insider information. UMBig11 stated it definitively.
September 9th, 2017 at 10:39 PM ^
I'd rate it as a motivational ploy by the coaches.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:40 PM ^
Plus he once again had a nice improv throw to Crawford taken away by a crap call.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:36 PM ^
I have no idea what happened with the first fumble. Just one of those things.
The handoff was on Crawford. He took off too early and got their hair earlier than he should have been.
The boxscore is pretty accurate on the day that Speight had which was mediocre (a couple of beautiful throws, several high misses, good pocket presence).
People around here make it sound like other QB's never miss any throws. Most QB's have a hard time getting above 60% in completions.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:44 PM ^
Speight makes his receivers work for routine throws.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:51 PM ^
And that is different from most college QB's, how?
Look at Brian's pass charts, Speight is better than average UM QB's he has charted.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:46 PM ^
That's fair, but a lot of other college QBs offer you mobility or something on the ground. Speight has good movement in the pocket, but if he's not passing efficiently he really doesn't offer much else.
He needs to be in the 60% range for the offense to be consistnetly effective.
September 9th, 2017 at 5:24 PM ^
Reverse on speight not Crawford, u learn in junior high when handing off the RB takes ball from u. Speight threw it in his gut
September 10th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
"Most QB's have a hard time getting above 60% in completions."
There were 53 QBS in FBS with over 60% completion rates last season. It's not a very high bar in college football these days.
September 9th, 2017 at 7:18 PM ^
He did make a couple nice throws, but they seemed more exception than rule.
And I know that in today's "Fantasy Football" world, we judge disproportionally by stats, but I cannot fathom how someone could have watched today's game and written of Speight, "He was fine" but someone who didn't watch the game and just looked at a box score.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:10 PM ^
While I agree on the surface it would have been nice to see much more Isaac and power run game.
I believe (will have to see in UFR) Cinci was playing a ton of loaded boxes with single high. Basically daring us to throw the football.
So we did, mostly unsuccessfully unfortunatley. An experienced QB with our weapons should be able to take advantage of that kind of D and hit some big plays. Just didn't happen outside of one early.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:45 PM ^
I think our receiver weapons are mostly theoretical at this point. Not great at getting separation, at least not consistently. They definitely have talent, but it's going to be awhile before they are reliable. Probably why Perry is the one getting most of the clutch throws.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:25 PM ^
Carbon copy of Florida game, just everything a little worse...
September 9th, 2017 at 5:19 PM ^
Speight inaccuracy wasn't even his worse things today. The fumbled hand off to Isaac cost a touchdown, (same kind of shit against Ohio st last year fumble in red zone which was huge in game) and the fumbled reverse to Crawford was 90% on speight. Michigan doesn't even need speight to be great, just don't turn the ball over. He's just bad, 9-3 at best with speight. I'm sure coaches know whose best qb but damn give peters a shot.
September 9th, 2017 at 5:26 PM ^
My wife of 25-years thinks I'm losing it!
September 9th, 2017 at 5:44 PM ^
Double
September 9th, 2017 at 5:43 PM ^
Best way to listen to Brock Huard is not to.
September 9th, 2017 at 7:15 PM ^
Same here. Couldn't handle it anymore.
September 9th, 2017 at 3:41 PM ^
Well, that wasn't so great
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September 9th, 2017 at 3:50 PM ^
A game like that against a bad team to me means we must adjust our expectations this year, and that reactions to Florida were overblown. Speight worries: higher. It's somewhat depressing that he is the clear leader among our QB's.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:01 PM ^
To me Speight has NFL size and NFL pocket awarness while having D3 everything else. I think the staff knows just about everyone else on the roster is a better thrower, but they also know that the line isn't the greatest at this point of the season, and the rest of the offense is uber young. Therefore, it is probably a good bet to assume a qb with good pocket awarness and with experience gives you a bette chance to win now rather than throwing out a young and inexperienced QB to the wolves.
September 9th, 2017 at 5:27 PM ^
So then what happens next year when UM returns 18 starters probably pre season top 5 and still have shitty speight, wont win elite games with him, better to play peters now get experience for next year
September 9th, 2017 at 5:35 PM ^
that's lacking charity but does he not graduate this year? I was hoping the next gen of M QB would be up next year.
September 9th, 2017 at 5:57 PM ^
He's a red shirt junior, he makes too many little mistakes. The mistakes he makes should not happen as a returning starter and will cost games against the elite teams. But harbaugh is the coach who makes all the money and he knows best and I assume speight is the best option which kinda sucks. I hope I get proven wrong tho
September 9th, 2017 at 7:31 PM ^
Well, their are a few reasons not to take your lumps all at once. For one, its probably easier to break in a new QB when he is surrounded by veterans on offense. Also, you don't want your QB to get Carr disease and become damaged goods constantly taking hits and running all the time. Also, coaches have to get wins.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:06 PM ^
I thought he was really good. Bounced when it was there. Showed some vision. He was good. Everyone else, woof. Oh, and Perry was awesome as is becoming expected.
Yes, the playcalling was vanilla by design but when it's Cincinnati, it shouldn't matter that they know you're going to run it up the gut, your guys should be able to block them and we were pretty bad at it. The o line was very bad, and that's not easily corrected.
And Speight just seems like he is what he is: mediocre.
I'm not that worried about the fumbles and miscues, though. That's easily fixed. Young guys jittery for their first home game.
September 9th, 2017 at 6:17 PM ^
Except that the fumbles didn't involve the new guys. Which is why they were particularly odd.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:34 PM ^
I'm not downgrading expectations because of Speight from that game, but I am downgrading them from the OL. That's going to be a problem for Michigan and hold the offense back all year. Against teams like Penn State and Ohio State it's going to be a big problem that they just don't have any answers for.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:42 PM ^
Speight has to stay the QB even if he's a poor thrower (and he's not THAT bad) simply because he has the best pocket awareness and composure. That's going to be the most important skill with this young line that is probably going to peak at mediocre in pass pro.
September 9th, 2017 at 5:14 PM ^
Yeah, that's why I think 9-3 was the right projection for this team preseason. Maybe even 8-4. Ohio State and Penn State feel like definite losses (like seriously...try and imagine Speight at a night game in Happy Valley) And considering their other road games are @ Purdue (who's looked great), @ Indiana (gave OSU a run and can pass), @ Maryland (has looked improved) and @ Wisconsin....its hard to see things clicking well enough in all of those to win them all.
September 9th, 2017 at 3:42 PM ^
The offense scored 6 more points than the worst team in the FCS. Terrible.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:39 PM ^
A young offense that didn't come prepared for a dogfight today. Speight was underwhelming and off, the receivers weren't getting separation, the line wasn't blowing their guys off the ball. They are capable of more. He right side of the line is not good, but they saw some new stuff today and it took a while to adapt. I'm not surprised. I think the left side was not as good as I would have expected and that I chalk up to mental lapse against an inferior opponent. Similar problem on the defense. When Gary got the targeting call, they got pissed and showed what a motivated defense should do against a team like this. I don't think we should read a ton into this performance.
September 9th, 2017 at 4:48 PM ^
But I don't think they are anywhere close to being the worst team in the FCS.
September 9th, 2017 at 5:26 PM ^
scored by Austin Peay (who has been the worst FCS team the past few seasons) last week against Cinci. We only scored 20, Austin Peay scored 14.