Best thing you saw: Week 9
What an incredible day of college football. This week, cutting to the chase(ish)…
Non-M: The number of great catches today was astounding – and that’s just in the games I saw. PSU, ND, NC St, Utah and TT all had great plays. A Wiscy OL gets a TD on a long hand-off. Barkley did THAT on the opening kick (and the game was an all-timer despite the participants). ISU knocked off another top 5. MD-IN and NE-Purdon’t both went to the wire. All that, and I haven’t even mentioned the Wildcats of NW (or of AZ who are beating WSU at the moment). Brohm ran a play I’ve been waiting to see for countless years – have the punter throw a long pass rather than kick and have a gunner catch it or get a DPI (Purdue drew the DPI). Hard to choose this week. I think I’m going to pick Dabo Swinney. Something I saw when he coached up a young player after a fumble in the monsoon in Clemson. He didn’t yell, didn’t yank the kid’s jersey – he coached, mentored. Did what good leaders do. Hard to believe he’s been at Clemson 10 years now (and didn’t become truly relevant until year 7). And I see why he gets recruits. Feeling like these kids get molded into responsible men makes me like the game more.
M: Harbaugh will be questioned as to why it didn’t happen sooner, right or wrong. Regardless, he played the position, and has coached it far longer than I ever will. I trust he knows better than I when a player is ready to take the field in that position. That said, and channeling my inner Mad Hatter, the best thing I saw was…THE INSERTION OF PETERS! Who’s with me?!
What you got?
October 28th, 2017 at 11:23 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^
When do we start poaching UCLA recruits?
October 28th, 2017 at 11:25 PM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^
I always enjoy the strong, emotional, exciting insertion of peters.
Was there a game today?
October 29th, 2017 at 3:40 AM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:43 AM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 1:00 AM ^
Did not say it was my own.
October 29th, 2017 at 12:41 PM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:27 PM ^
Blendin Lemurs
October 28th, 2017 at 11:28 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 8:10 AM ^
Michigan ran for well over 300 yards, and Northwestern beat MSU.
October 28th, 2017 at 11:29 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 12:06 AM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 12:52 AM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:29 PM ^
The fanz in the stanz clapping when Peters came in. Even the defense said they felt inspired or some shit like that. Awesome!
October 29th, 2017 at 12:37 AM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 12:37 AM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 7:24 AM ^
I would add screaming and jumping around, tears of joy sprinkled in...
October 28th, 2017 at 11:31 PM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:31 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
Especially when they are Rutgers defemders.
October 28th, 2017 at 11:43 PM ^
M: Harbaugh will be questioned as to why it didn’t happen sooner, right or wrong.
Well, putting aside the question of whether or not Peters was ready to go earlier...
O'Korn looked very good against Purdue, so he was the obvious choice to start against MSU.
He did not look good against Sparty, but half the game was played in a rainstorm, so whether that was sufficient cause for him to lose his job is debatable. Usually a starting QB gets another shot to redeem himself.
He again looked poor against IU. At this point, you'd probably think of benching him . . . except that the next game was at PSU. Do you throw Peters to the wolves there?
Rutgers was the most logical time.
October 28th, 2017 at 11:45 PM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:50 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 12:19 AM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 12:24 AM ^
What are you suggesting - that he should have been benched in favor of Peters for the MSU game, since it was "only Purdue?"
Strangely enough, no one seemed to be making that argument at the time.
October 29th, 2017 at 12:37 AM ^
I think O"Korn looked good against Purdue because he came off the bench with no warning and had no time to overthink it. It was all muscle memory.
But then when he knew he was the starter, he got the yips. It's a mental issue.
If he knew a week in advance that he was going to be the starter at Purdue, I think he would have looked like he did against MSU / IU, / PSU / Rutgers.
At least with Peters, he knew he was going to play today. So it was not a surprise. We won't see a completely different Peters next week.
October 29th, 2017 at 10:48 AM ^
And yesterday we played Rutgers. What's your point?
October 28th, 2017 at 11:36 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 12:10 AM ^
Speaking of which, does the board feel that we still need a "real" RB coach or can Jay keep his job?
October 29th, 2017 at 1:28 AM ^
id still like jay to go back to TE or ST... mainly because i think Frey can handle the oline and we can get a better total package OC (playcalling/recruiting/developer) than drevno
plus feels like skills positions especially should be taught by someone thats played them
October 29th, 2017 at 8:26 AM ^
I can't disagree that the skill positions need some experience in coaching - the WRs are point #1 for me, not so much the RBs. But the OC... You won't see some OC like Moorehead come waltzing in here to take over everything. That won't happen because Harbaugh. The HC is the defacto OC - its his offense, and it'll be run the way he wants it run. That's just the way he runs his program, has been at every stop. (Think Rich Rod's OC, ... uh, whatever his name was - Tony something. Gibson? Tony Gibson?)
I think Drevno has that title as a means to the paycheck he's earned throughout his career. JH believes in setting up plays and runs a complicated pro set offense. He needs someone like Drevno, who's been in the pros and with JH forever, to bounce ideas off. Drevno knows him inside and out, and they get along well. He's a good fit for what JH needs right now, with a very young team - experienced help that knows what he wants without description.
I know its not the sexy answer, but I hope nobody was expecting an exotic, college type offense that looks like a combo of Meyer, Moorehead, and Rich Rod.
October 29th, 2017 at 11:08 AM ^
We do have a guy with NFL experience in Alfonso Smith, who is an assistant RB coach. He seems to handle a lot of the nuts and bolts of the position.
Jay's job title allows him to go on the road and recruit, which by all accounts he is good at doing.
October 29th, 2017 at 1:27 AM ^
i will give credit that the oline appears to at least progressed in run blocking this season
October 28th, 2017 at 11:36 PM ^
was the best thing I saw today. Saw parts of a great game in Columbus with two heavyweights taking it right down to the wire. But, and a large part of it is the fan base is once again excited and positive; at least temporarily as a result of Peters and I think it'll energize the team for the remainder of the season.
October 28th, 2017 at 11:45 PM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:38 PM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:39 PM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:52 PM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:43 PM ^
Up to this point I did not believe such a thing existed. Sure, the elders talked about it, told wild stories of Michigan throwing for 300 yards and multiple touchdowns a game. But we dismissed it as old wives' tales, as the kind of stories you tell little kids. Today I saw it with my own eyes.
October 29th, 2017 at 12:17 AM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 8:32 AM ^
Yes, see - the stories the wet nurses tell are true!
October 29th, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^
I will fully believe once again when I see a perfectly thrown 25 yard square-in over the middle to someone who closely resembles David Terrell.
October 28th, 2017 at 11:46 PM ^
and for free: because they didn't think he was ready. Speight emerged as the best QB. O'Korn was erratic but had practice moments when he shone as a gunner. Peters demo'd promise but was shy and being nurtured along.
Speight went down and O'Korn did great against Purdue--he had earned the MSU start. The MSU slopfest never offered the possibility. Meanwhile, Peters is getting more and more confident and the coaches are saying, "We need to find the moment to insert him." Indiana--maybe he should have obtained PT, but all these games are dicey enough that the first order of business is to WIN them. Getting Peters killed against PSU might have meant PTSD for the kid, set him back weeks months whatever.
This isn't a conspiracy against Peters, friends; this is Occam's Razor, slicing its way along. Today O'Korn was clearly mucking things up, poor guy, and we were going to beat Rutgers anyway. Voila.
Another thing I'll betcha--O'Korn was pretty okay in practice. I'm sure coaches were consternated he just played so tentative come game time.
October 28th, 2017 at 11:50 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
October 28th, 2017 at 11:56 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 12:33 AM ^
In O'Korn's defense, at least he didn't sling a hail mary on second down that got intercepted to lose the game after he recovered that fumble, which was the best thing I saw on Saturday.