Passing Attack through 2 games.

Submitted by MichiganMan14 on
It's very easy to beat on Wilton at the moment. Not going to do that but let's look at the stats. 51% completion rate with 400 yards 3 TDs 2 picks and a fumble thus far. Suprising regression from a Senior but does this have more of a tie to Pep Hamilton than we are accrediting? Wilton faded in the last 3 games last year but was pretty solid up until that point. I'm a little surprised that with the ground success seen thus far, the emphasis on passing has been so direct. This game Saturday will be a good chance to see which direction the offense is going. This is key because Penn state....Wisconsin and Ohio state are all beatable this year and Michigan likley has a Playoff defense. We just need to get to the root of the problem with this passing attack. Heaping it all on Wilton isn't neccessarily fair. After watching Baker light up the shoe it is a tad frustrating to not have a playmaker in that mold...or to not be playing one of we do have him. I think there is still some time to get this fixed but all involved in the passing game to include backs/receivers/coaches need to own up and get this right. This is a Playoff year for Michigan if the passing attack gets fixed.
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tjohn7

September 12th, 2017 at 11:51 AM ^

It's not so much that it's upsetting it just makes it really hard to read and makes it seem like everything is one idea and that can be confusing when you're trying to lay out an argument about why you think our passing game needs to improve and, I mean, sometimes it's nice to break things up so it feels like a well-thought out idea and not just a stream of concisousness I mean that is just my opinion but I certainly think an occasional paragraph break could be helpful.

Joined: 09/29/2014

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Everyone Murders

September 12th, 2017 at 3:00 PM ^

Take a look at BronxBlue's (excellent) Best and Worst diary, and you'll see where he's coming from.  He spends the first half debunking this notion floating around that Speight is somehow a subpar quarterback.  I've looked at both your argument and his, and found his compelling.

You seem to largely be defending your position for the sake of defending it, rather than taking contrary information into account (you don't make a compelling statistical case, IMO).  I think that's where the ire is coming from.

Joined: 12/14/2010

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bronxblue

September 12th, 2017 at 3:03 PM ^

I just take issue with a post that perpetuates the notion that all of the problems with this offense are because of a QB who is perfectly fine.  And the logic here just seemed so reactionary.  And I guess I just wish someone with insider-ish access wouldn't perpetuate this stuff, because it feels like crapping on a guy who is playing fine because it's easy.  Leave that to use losers in our basement.

Joined: 11/22/2008

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DrMantisToboggan

September 12th, 2017 at 11:35 AM ^

We will have the blowout this week that we expected last week. Don Brown has been prepping for Air Force since February. On D, AF plays very aggressively. We will hit some screens and some deep passes and Wilt have a great day. 

 

I agree that a non-zero amount of Wilton not taking off from the jump this year is probably attributable to not being familiar with Pep and some new receivers. He is much more comfortable throwing to Grant and Kekoa. He really just needs to fix his footwork and get some reps in with the new receivers to feel more comfortable. 

 

We will be ready by the time we go down to State College.

Joined: 11/26/2014

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Mike Damone

September 12th, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^

is a terrific post and right on the mark.

Air Force, Purdue and Sparty will not be pushovers - but I think we can beat all three without playing our absolute best.  The key is to have Speight work out his technical footwork and overthrow issues and get a rhythm with the receivers over the next few games.  Continued improvement by the young receivers/tight ends and the right side of the offensive line is also critical.  Can't think of a better college coaching staff than ours to make this happen.

If we see these fixes and improvements, we should be ready for a great game and hopefully a big W at Penn State, and we will be in great shape for the other tough games later in the season.

Going to be fun and interesting to watch. GO BLUE!!!

Joined: 09/02/2017

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DrMantisToboggan

September 12th, 2017 at 2:38 PM ^

I'm not sure why anyone would have been worried about Penn State's D this year. They were mediocre last year (they gave up 31 points to a putrid Wisconsin offense) and lost some extremely valuable players (their 2 best DL, best CB). We will be able to score on PSU. Up to our D to seal that victory.

Joined: 11/26/2014

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HHW

September 12th, 2017 at 11:35 AM ^

Inside the Numbers?  You give us 4 generic stats with no in depth analysis.  There's not even a scatter plot, what the hell are we supposed to do with this?

Joined: 10/26/2008

MGoPoints: 7777

Prince_of_Nachos

September 12th, 2017 at 11:53 AM ^

Could it be that, you know, more than half of the pass catchers out there just played in their second college football game ever?

Black, DPJ, Eubanks, Gentry, and McKeon had never played a meaningful college snap two weeks ago. We're talking about Kekoa Crawford like he's a grizzled vet; he had 4 RECEPTIONS last year.

On one play against Cinncinati, the announcers pointed out the Speight had to tell the receiver to line up on the line, or he would have been flagged when he went to block. We're asking Speight to make the line calls, check that all the receivers are where they're supposed to be, and then trust them to run the right routes, and anticipate ahead of time if they'll break the correct way. 

So he sailed a few throws, okay. Maybe we should give Speight and the coaches a few more games before we get too upset.

Joined: 03/28/2016

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MichiganMan14

September 12th, 2017 at 11:57 AM ^

Kids need to be spun up and know what they're doing. If they don't they shouldnt be playing. We have pass catchers on the roster in their 3rd and 4th years. Wilton is throwing high and did so last year towards the end as well. If kids don't know what they're doing.....that's on the staff. We aren't going to roll out 22 year old 5th years every season. You have to win with youth if your an elite program.

Joined: 02/21/2012

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Prince_of_Nachos

September 12th, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^

Michigan's 3rd and 4th year pass catchers have already been beaten out by 1st and 2nd year players because Hoke wasn't great at recruiting offensive talent. 

And while you certainly have to win with younger players, there's a reason many pundits were down on Michigan heading into the year. Losing 7 starters on offense and replacing it with such inexperience is difficult and will lead to growing pains.

Go watch OSU in September 2014 and tell me they looked polished. The lost to a 7-6 Va Tech team at home. Offense takes time to develop.

(Also the whole "math is for nerds" thing isn't going to play well on this site)

Joined: 03/28/2016

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MichiganMan14

September 12th, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^

Really? Butt....Chesson...Darboh...Smith....those guys all mad the league in some fashion. Michigan as a fan base needs to understand that if you want to be Elite. .you have to win with youth. The expectations need to change. There is no rebuilding and excusing on behalf of "youth". Coach the kids up and play ball. Math is what we use to over analyze. Football is played on the field and the math sounds great but cannot calculate what's most vital in terms of football.

Joined: 02/21/2012

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1VaBlue1

September 12th, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^

'Winning with youth' generally means 6-8, or so, redshirt freshmen or sophomores in the two deep.  Michigan's 2017 youth is 7 new starters on offense and 10 new starters on defense.  When 17 of the 22 starters are new, it may take some growing pains to sort out the kinks...

Now please, stop drinking and go to bed.

Joined: 01/31/2016

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MGoCarolinaBlue

September 12th, 2017 at 12:54 PM ^

At this time two years ago the board was in full panic mode because "Ruddddock can't connect on the deep throws"

Turns out that was little more than a small sample size + Rudock just having arrived on campus a couple weeks prior.

There is a lot that needs to improve with our offense currently, and I'm confident that we're going to see that improvement.

Joined: 03/19/2013

MGoPoints: 5774

MichiganMan14

September 12th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^

But since you want to be a clown.... Wilton needs to address his fundamentals and footwork. His mechanics are not good. He shot puts the ball. He needs to work screens and swing passes to the flat with our athletes. This brings safeties up and frees the long ball. The run game also needs to be used more to free up play action long ball. When safeties are playing back and people are double covered....Wilton makes the overthrown that lead to picks. Personally, OKorn should get a real look. That won't happen though barring injury. That's a start.

Joined: 02/21/2012

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mGrowOld

September 12th, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^

Your first 10-15 responses make a point of saying how much you dont want to bag on Speight yet in the response to me you say O'Korn should "get a look".  This was nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to get into the whole Speight vs anybody else discussion for the 1,000,000th time.

Well we got a look at O'Korn last year remember?  Wasnt pretty.  Oh...and those guys we pay a shit-ton of money for coaching have also gotten a look a hell of lot more frequently and have decided on Speight.

Face it - you wrote a crappy post (which surprised me cause your stuff is normally pretty damn good) and for reasons unknown you've doubled down on defending it.   

Joined: 10/04/2010

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MileHighWolverine

September 12th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^

I think the early emphasis on throwing is to get that down pat for later in the year. With two very young OL, it will get harder to run against the better D's we will face later in the year. A spread passing attack should be exactly what we need, and what was missing from last year, to make the next step. Just need to rep it now to get it where it needs to be...and Wilton needs to correct the yips.

Joined: 09/02/2008

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