Shuffling the OL
October 9th, 2017 at 2:25 PM ^
I've not seen much criticism of him and he's been nearly as bad as Ulizio. He is not moobile enough to do much besides block in a 5 foot square box and he gets beat by quicker guys.
I would have no problem with next year's starting O line going Filliaga, Bredenson, Ruiz, Hudson, Bushell-Beaty. Let Onwenu be a ke substitute on run heavy drives and short yardage situations. I want to see more quickness and mobility from the O line.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:46 PM ^
That's a reasonable projection. But 3 freshman + JBB is a pretty scary proposition.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:08 PM ^
From what I've watched Onwenu is really raw, but the problem is with Ulizio paired up on the right side, Onwenus rawness is exploited by stunts and what have you. He can definately block better, but if the defensive line throws a stunt or confuses Ulizio that often spills over into Onwenu and he's too raw to pick it up. Neither of them know which blitzer to pick up.
Im not an oline guru, but thats what I was seeing. Correct me if I'm wrong.
October 9th, 2017 at 8:02 PM ^
October 10th, 2017 at 8:21 AM ^
The zone-blocking for this of youth is mind-boggling.
Especially as we have ZERO trucking-backs, and all three speed-backs (yes, even Isaac who's 6'3" 235lbs). Iso just makes so much more sense. Zone's a much larger gamble, much more boom/bust.
Let's be honest:
De'Veon Smith covered up for a lot last year.
Butt was an outlet and always found space.
and Chesson and Darboh were 4-year starts, great blockers, and reliable.
This bailed out Speight and the O-Line A LOT.
Our current starters, last year, got to be the change-of-pace contributors and really shined in their roles. But as the main dish, they're weaknesses are showing.
We're damn young. Last year one of the oldest, this year on of the youngest.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^
If a starting O-line needs two serviceable guards and two serviceable tackles and you have something like a half dozen (depending on your definition of "serviceable" it could be less but the point is that *spoiler* it's not going to matter) guards and no tackles, how many tackles can you create out of thin air by shuffling guards around?
The answer is zero, and next week it will be zero, and it will be zero for the rest of the season. If you have no tackles, you have no tackles. We have a center doing OK playing left tackle but right tackle is not going to be fixed this season. If Michigan had a whiz-bang right tackle ready to go he'd be out there.
I share everyone's frustration in that this was a problem we knew was going to happen well over a year ago, and they didn't fix it, so it's a serious problem now. But whether the coaches are sipping cocktails or flogging themselves in the team meetings, neither is it a problem that will be fixed for at least another year, no matter who gets fired or for all the heated exchanges on MGoBlog.
If you get a flat tire 150 miles in the middle of nowhere it's a fair point to blame whoever threw out the spare to make room for more beer, but it's not like rotating the three tires you've got left serves any purpose.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:20 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:40 PM ^
He doesn't seem to have the stamina to play a whole game so we have to shuffle guards to "buy a few more miles". Fine.
But tackle is a tire we need and don't have, and a repair garage won't be available until at least 2018. You can't shuffle around three tires to make four. You're not going to make the RT situation any better, but you can certainly make the other positions worse.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:31 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:42 PM ^
I really hate this argument. Mostly because I can't really muster a compelling counter-argument.
The only thing I'd point out is that OL issues usually take more than a year to sort out. OL is, on average, the slowest developing talent group on a team - so I'm not sure it could be fixed a year ago. (That is, I don't think we realistically could have recruited game-ready freshman to fill in our porous right side of our line.)
Overall, though, your argument is spot-on: bitching about how we got here is only helpful to a point. And we're well past that point.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:40 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:13 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:18 PM ^
This, yes, definitely this....
October 9th, 2017 at 2:18 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:14 PM ^
While I understand the sentiment, making wholesale substitutions and reshuffling at this point may hurt more than it helps with lack of line cohesion.
It wouldn't surprise me, though, to see more spot duty for some of the reserves to see what they can do and get game experience. Yet, you have to think that the guys who are playing are the best we have at each position at this point, and those that give us the best chance to win today.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:52 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:14 PM ^
Its not that easy to just fix...The play calling is going to have to step up..Get the jet sweep back to help hold off the pass rush, take shots to back the safeties off..Its tough with a bad line but the staff has to figure it out
October 9th, 2017 at 2:54 PM ^
might keep the defensive line honest, and they would be perfectly camouflaged. No one would expect a screen when Ulizio biffs on another rushing defender.
Our 3 tailbacks have caught 8 passes among them in 5 games.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:14 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:15 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^
Start throwing inexperienced freshmen out there and see what happens. Do I even have to hint at how bad it'll be? We've performed this excercise with Speight and O'Korn. If you don't think this coaching staff is assembling the best collection of players they have available, you're not paying attention.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:32 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 3:09 PM ^
That side of the ball will likely remain championship caliber for the next 5 years.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:37 PM ^
Can anyone really be worse than Ulizio? He literally didn't make contact with his man half the time against MSU. "Turnstile" is usually an exaggeration, but it's accurate for Ulizio. I'm not the type of fan that watches the OL specifically, but he is just a glaring weakness. Easily the worst player on the field this year. I think we need to try anything that gets him on the bench.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^
Has his redshirt been officially burned already? I may be in the minority here but I am looking at this years recruiting class and I really think keeping his & Filagia's redshirts in tact are going to be important going forward (if its even possible) I just feel the offense is so far gone (no quick/intermediate fixes) with problems being systemic throughout the whole system. We need coordinator changes at the end of the year and get somebody that is capable of running a simpler offense that young players can thrive in & ramp up when we have the experience to do so. Our next recruiting class is shaping up to be a dissapointment at best, especially on the OL front. I remember grumbling about Hoke burning a few redshirts on a bad season too.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:36 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:46 PM ^
Yes, Ruiz's redshirt is gone. He played in (among others) the Purdue game, which is after 30% of the season has passed, so even if he had a season ending "injury", he couldn't get this year of eligibility back.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:04 PM ^
Yea then i am all for playing him in any sort of sets to see if we can shore up some of the problems (RT cough cough) that we have been experiencing.
October 9th, 2017 at 4:03 PM ^
No, the fourth game of the season is the last one you can play in. He still could get a medical RS.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:57 PM ^
I don't recall seeing him out there at all against State. Probably because Wheatley was back. Still, they ran a bunch of plays with Ruiz and Ulizio lined up together in the first 4 weeks and then didn't use any of that against State and their 244 pound walk-on defensive end.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:18 PM ^
Reference 2013: It can always get worse. Ride it out
October 9th, 2017 at 2:19 PM ^
Scrap the zone blocking scheme. From what I can tell, they're both zone blocking and gap blocking this year. They've gap blocked the previous two years - and that was going well. The small improvement in last years OL was going to level out with the new bodies this year, the adding zone blocking seems to have destroyed what progress was made. Even Cole is missing stuff...
October 9th, 2017 at 3:46 PM ^
We've got a gap-blocking OL coach (and OC) working with the interior guys, a zone-blocking OL coach (and run-game coordinator) working with the tackles and tight ends, an assistant head coach with no WR experience in charge of the passing game, and the HC's son on the second rotation of his internship. All of these overlapping job responsibilites seem counter productive.
October 10th, 2017 at 12:28 AM ^
Does anyone have any evidence in the way of inside informatiom from the team that the overlapping of coaches on the offensive line has caused any problems?
I see this trope repeated, but unless there is some more solid evidence I don't buy it.
It is quite common to have a separate interior line and Tackles & Ends coach to teach things more specific to their postions.
October 10th, 2017 at 12:30 AM ^
While you may lean more heavily on one or the other, you want to have both, and that gives you an advantage on the DL being able to read and attack too quickly.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^
I hear there's an OL coach from the pros who can come in right away....high energy type guy. Can go without sleep for days on end.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:28 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 3:38 PM ^
But can he deal with the snow in Michigan?
October 9th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^
my sources tell me he loves powder days...
October 10th, 2017 at 6:37 AM ^
October 12th, 2017 at 12:06 AM ^
I'll volunteer to be the body platter.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^
Waiting....
For deck chairs/Titanic shuffling meme...
October 9th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^
I'm surprised Runyan hasn't gotten a run at RT in a game. He's been described as the most athletic of the OL, which would seem to suite tackle more than guard.
With that said, there are ways to be fairly effective on offense with a bad OL. Have a TE stay in to help the RT or at least chip a DE before going out for a route to give the QB that much more time to make a throw.
While I don't have an explanation for run blocking (our RB still do miss some giant holes), pass blocking is not always all on the OL. QB and RB are also a major factor in overall pass protection. There were several instances O'Korn hung on to the ball too long while getting good protection or getting happy feet when his first read wasn't there and still had a good pocket.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:25 PM ^
Every crowd reacts to momentum. They start the game loud and as good things happen they get louder, bad they get get quieter. That's why the phrase "silence the crowd" or its derivatives exist.
Michigan stole its own momentum throughout the entire game Saturday. The errors took the crowd out of the game: at any point the crowd started to come back in, there was another error. Evenly spaced throughout the entire game. The crowd noise was fine given this.
If Isaac doesn't fumble, breaks off a good run, and Michigan takes it down the field for even a FG, the noise on Sparty's next posession would have been deafening. That's it. There's no problem with the crowd.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:51 PM ^
I look forward to your OL shuffling comments in the crowd noise thread.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:54 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:54 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:57 PM ^
wrong place dawg
October 9th, 2017 at 2:59 PM ^
was the killer in that game, we were moving the ball, then the fumble and then the MSU touchdown swung the momentum over to them and we didn't start to get it back until the storm blew in which sapped it away again...
Just goes to show that you gotta take care of the football....