Radish Talk
10/28/2017 – Michigan 35, Rutgers 14 – 6-2, 3-2 Big Ten
LET RAIN MAN BALL [Marc-Gregor Campredon]
Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate is doing this:
Last 4 games:
— Football Perspective (@fbgchase) October 30, 2017
Khalil Tate has 743 yards and is averaging 12.8 yards/play on pass plays and 840 yards and is 14.2 yards/play on run plays.
Arizona is ranked for the first time in a minute after four straight Pac-12 wins. Tate watched Arizona's first four games from the sideline. Last year he completed 40% of his 45 passes and rushed for under 5 yards a carry.
A bit further north in that same conference, Stanford barely escaped an awful Oregon State team as QB Keller Chryst averaged 4.3 yards an attempt. Sophomore KJ Costello played the vast majority of previous high-scoring wins over UCLA and Arizona State. Twitter was rife with bitching about Chryst and stupefaction at what it would take for Costello to enter the game as the Cardinal labored towards a win over the 1-7 Beavers. You may remember that Michigan's first choice at QB two years ago was Costello; it was only after he committed to Stanford that Michigan started looking around.
A bit further south in that same conference, Sam Darnold watched USC start 1-2 under Max Browne last year before emerging as a 67%, 3000-yard, 31-9 TD-INT flamethrower and Rose Bowl winner.
A bit closer to home, Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke spent most of the 2016 season watching Tyler O'Connor bork it before getting a chance midway through the year. A few years back MSU also spent a brief, wonderful period as the worst offense on the planet under Andrew Maxwell before pulling the trigger on the Connor Cook era. Wisconsin left Alex Hornibrook, the conference's #2 QB by passer rating, on the bench early last year, and then benched him for their final two games.
Nobody knows! Even coaches. Coaches think things. They have the limited amount of data that practice provides, and then there is game data, and all of this information pales in comparison to a giant, looming Fear Of The Unknown. Some decisions make themselves; others have to wait until there's literally no way a second-year player is worse.
There is a moment when even if the backup sometimes seems like a semi-sentient radish in a human suit, he's the man, man. Welcome to that moment.
----------------------------------------
John O'Korn's struggles after Purdue sent the Michigan internet down a fairly appalling rabbit hole of speculation about Brandon Peters. "Promising young player stuck on bench for bad reasons" is such a trope that everyone knows the name of an otherwise obscure baseball player who Lou Gehrig replaced: Wally Pipp. The hundred-year persistence of this pattern was not good enough.
Nor were a plethora of recent examples at Michigan itself: Mike Hart behind David Underwood. Ben Gedeon behind Joe Bolden. Heck, even this very year Michigan went with Nolan Ulizio despite the fact Juwann Bushell-Beatty is older and apparently better. Sometimes the wrong guy is playing.
None of this mattered. O'Korn was bad so something had to be wrong with his backup.
So the last few weeks you couldn't throw a rock on a Michigan message board without hitting someone either implying or directly stating that Peters was a weird aspie with a fidget spinner and no future, Rain Man in a helmet. It's one thing when this comes from anonymous insider wannabes and entirely another when Rivals's Chris Balas calls a redshirt freshman a "big recruiting mistake" and says he "wouldn't be surprised" if Peters transferred.
Gasoline on the whisper fire, based on nothing. And this the second time Rivals has fueled baseless Peters transfer rumors that had to be debunked. The first time it was by Peters's father. This time Peters did it himself.
----------------------
easy [Campredon]
It turns out Brandon Peters is at least as plausible a second-year quarterback as anyone else suspected of being a sentient radish. Never in the history of Michigan Stadium has a soft toss in the flat or a fullback checkdown been met with more rapture, because everyone was worried that there was a good reason Peters was behind O'Korn, and that meant doom both now and later. Rutgers guys were annoyed at it, for some reason:
"It seemed like the crowd was kind of obnoxiously cheering," Rutgers redshirt senior Dorian Miller said with a smile. "(Peters) completed a 10-yard ball and the crowd belted out. Football is football, so I'm sure you could apply that to any team and the fans would respond like that. It's not a knock on them."
Just when folks who haven't seen Peters in action started wondering if this guy's arm strength was substandard, Peters stepped up in the pocket and ripped a laser at a receiver just in front of a safety. The ball got in a half second before the safety arrived, and the absurdity of the whisper campaign really settled in.
Brandon Peters is a quarterback in 2017, which means he was scouted to death in high school. And the thing that really leapt out to both Ace and I was that slow build to a ripping throw. Peters has the natural ability to vary his throws so they're catchable when they can be and darts when they have to be. That featured in his recruiting profile:
He varies trajectory and speed based on the situation. My favorite throws in the Brownsburg game above are two high-arc, low speed passes to his tight end that are the exact right throws in those situations. That's the definition of a "catchable ball."
Peters seemed like a savant, especially in the aftermath of Shane Morris's approach to the game. He had no QB guru, like most quarterbacks do these days. He ripped through high school football. This wasn't a guy completing half his passes who might be moldable into a guy down the road. Personality issues didn't prevent Peters from impressing the entire recruiting industry and flying up rankings after a senior year ending at the Army game.
So what are we doing when we search for some personality flaw when a second year player can't get into the game just yet? Why is a mountain of evidence from across college football not enough? And so what if the dude is more engineer than prom king?
Even if Brandon Peters isn't George Clooney—and I'm not saying he is or is not—has anyone actually seen Rain Man? Placed in his element, Rain Man is a baller.
HIGHLIGHTS
AWARDS
this guy's mustache got an HM [Barron]
Known Friends And Trusted Agents Of The Week
you're the man now, dog
#1 Rashan Gary. Gary was rampant, consistently blowing around the corner to sack and/or terrify the quarterback. The Rutgers LT gets some NFL hype; Gary, and Chase Winovich to a slightly less rampant extent, made that guy look like a walk-on.
#2(t) Mason Cole and Mike Onwenu. Cole and Onwenu tentatively seemed like Michigan's most mauling OL on a rewatch, but probably I could have given this to any member of the blocking crew and not been particularly off.
#3 Sean McKeon. McKeon was able to dig out a throw low and behind him to convert a third and long; he was the only guy to pull in multiple passes. He probably would have scored on that fourth down if Peters put it on him. In addition, McKeon's blocking was excellent for a second consecutive week.
Honorable mention: That guy's mustache. Poggi, Hill, Kugler, JBB, and Bredeson all chipped in on a dominating ground game. Isaac and Higdon made the most out of the blocking. Winovich, Hurst, and Bush were all their usual selves.
KFaTAotW Standings.
8: Devin Bush (#1 Florida, T2 Cincinnati, T2 Air Force, #1 Purdue)
5: Chase Winovich(#1 Air Force, #2a Purdue), Mo Hurst (#1 MSU, #2(T), Indiana), Karan Higdon (#1 Indiana, #2 PSU), Rashan Gary(T2 Indiana, #1 Rutgers), Mason Cole (#1 Cincinnati, T2 Rutgers).
4: David Long (T3 Indiana, #1 PSU)
3: Ty Isaac (#2, Florida, #3 Cincinnati), Lavert Hill(#2 MSU, T3 Indiana))
2: Quinn Nordin (#3 Florida, #3 Air Force), John O'Korn (#2 Purdue), Khaleke Hudson (T2 Cincinnati, #3 PSU), Sean McKeon(T3 Purdue, #3 Rutgers), Mike Onwenu(T2 Rutgers).
1: Tyree Kinnel (T2 Cincinnati), Mike McCray(T2 Air Force), Zach Gentry (T3 Purdue), Brad Robbins(#3 MSU), Brandon Watson (T3 Indiana).
Who's Got It Better Than Us Of The Week
Brandon Peters completes a short waggle pass to Ty Wheatley for a first down.
Honorable mention: Peters completes another soft toss to Poggi on his next opportunity. Higdon breaks free for a game-sealing long touchdown. Kareem Walker scores. Various annihilations of the Rutgers quarterback. Various annihilations of the Rutgers front seven.
MARCUS HALL EPIC DOUBLE BIRD OF THE WEEK.
Michigan misses a run fit against a wildcat formation, ceding a long touchdown that tied the score at 7. At the time it felt like that was the start of a very long day indeed. Also long wildcat touchdowns remind me of the Penn State game.
Honorable mention: O'Korn throws a pick in the direction of Gentry when he's covered by a 5'9" guy; O'Korn fumbles the snap and Michigan eats a 14 yard loss; Rutgers uses the same damn screen play MSU scored on to get down to the two.
[After the JUMP: hamblasting the hamblasted]
OFFENSE
Higdon checking the board to see if he's got a trailer [Campredon]
A hamblasting. Rutgers's rush defense has a pulse this year. They've held most opponents under the national average of 5.1 sack-adjusted YPC, with one notable exception and one weird one:
- Washington: 4.3 YPC
- EMU: 3.8 YPC
- OSU: 8.6 YPC
- Nebraska: 4.5 YPC
- Illinois: 3.5 YPC
- Purdue: 6.8 YPC
It's not great but neither is it last year's 95th-ranked outfit. So Michigan putting it on these guys is legitimately encouraging, especially given the context. Michigan had 13 yards passing a third of the way through the game when O'Korn was replaced and ran almost three-quarters of the time even when Peters was in.
To average 7.6 YPC* given the above helps redeem all the stuff I've been saying the past few weeks about the run blocking's improvement. There were far fewer One Guy plays, and many of the Zero Guy plays featured Michigan blockers hammering their opposition. On a rewatch of the game I saw McKeon, Onwenu, Cole, JBB, Bredeson, Mason, Hill, and Wheatley all rack up dominating blocks that'll probably end up being +2s in UFR. There are probably some others lurking out there as well.
A game against Rutgers isn't proof of anything but I do think Michigan's been building to this and should continue on more in this vein than the rough first half of the season. Michigan has two more weeks of iffy run defenses remaining before the stretch double-header against Wisconsin and Ohio State. Prior to this weekend Minnesota and Maryland were 89th and 50th, respectively, in S&P+ rush defense. If Michigan can approach what they did in this game the next two weeks you could maybe have some optimism heading into Madison.
*[FWIW: I deleted two John O'Korn fumbles, one Brandon Peters broken play, and the three O'Maury Samuels rushes behind the backup OL from the official box score to arrive at this number. I'm pretty sure those also won't make the S&P+ box score numbers since those omit garbage time and sacks and sack-type substances.]
New items. Michigan debuted a couple of run plays that befuddled Rutgers, including a few runs that superficially looked like power but were designed to cut back into the gap that the "pulling" guard had vacated. There was also an odd play on which the backside tackle pulled and buried himself in the line on which the POA was off tackle the other way.
Michigan managed to keep Rutgers off balance with a bunch of key-breaking reads, and I was maybe going to fuss up about how they did all this against Rutgers against Penn State before remembering that Michigan's ground game was set up for success there, too, except for One Guy.
wheel route remains undefeated [Campredon]
Preseason hype: redeemed! It only took seven games but heyyyyyy someone else got to be Mike McCray versus a wheel route. Chris Evans's touchdown looked fairly easy, as wheel routes by super quick running backs against linebackers are wont to. Evans brings sufficient run chops to not be a tip when he enters, so an expanded role for him in the passing game should remain efficient even if and when Michigan puts it on film. Let's keep doing that, it looked real good.
McKeon arrives. This is the second consecutive game in which Sean McKeon's blocking was a clear positive. I'm still slightly skeptical this will last since McKeon isn't the kind of burly terror that Wheatley promises to be, but the thing I'm skeptical of is "Sean McKeon will continue paving the opposition flat."
He's established himself as a good blocker, and his receiving chops—while still in the low sample size realm—are also likely to be a B or B+ or worse. PFF details:
McKeon's 83.0 grade was tops on the team at the tight end spot and he continues to pace the other players at the position in the run block category (82.2) was nearly in the "elite" category. Zach Gentry is the other tight end who is seeing a ton of snaps (McKeon 34, Gentry 36), with McKeon consistently looking like the top all-around player at the position this year.
McKeon is a redshirt freshman out of who-dat ball in New England. Jim Harbaugh could take a broken toaster at tight end and I'd be like "this is probably fine." Luke Schoonmaker, who's a quarterback in Massachusetts? I'm in.
Peters set up fullback YAC [Campredon]
Assets and liabilities. Peters went 10/14. The four incompletions:
- Throws a fade at DPJ out of bounds on a questionable read; DPJ was already in the sideline, more or less, and Gentry was breaking open elsewhere.
- Near-INT immediately before the Evans wheel route. Peters has Perry open on a slant on a three step drop but hesitates a beat; if that's in rhythm it's a completion.
- Slightly overthrows Wheatley on a deep crossing route; Wheatley has a shot but it's high and hard and goes through his hands.
- Fourth down pass to McKeon that's well short.
In addition there were two running plays on which things looked goofy. On one Peters failed to make a handoff and just slid to the ground near the LOS; on the second he did successful get the ball to Evans but it was a near thing.
Against those negatives: 8.6 yards an attempt with a long of just 20 and a lot of successful handoffs. Like the run game it's not proof of anything but it's a solid start.
also easy [Barron]
Walker scores. Kareem Walker looked like a pretty tough out on his half-dozen carries, except for the one pictured above where he ripped into t the endzone untouched. The team's reaction to this was touching. Walker was very publicly on the edge of transferring because of early academic issues, and the team went nuts in response to his first touchdown. He's clearly a popular guy who everyone is glad to have around.
Collins contributed. It was just a hitch but he's playing and targeted so sure let's run him out there. At this juncture the next three years is way more important than a hypothetical fourth for the WR corps. Strange that of all the receivers the one guy who appears headed for a voluntary redshirt is Oliver Martin.
DEFENSE
poor damn Insert Quarterback Here [Barron]
Back to the usual. Michigan once again had a tense fourth quarter drive were they were trying to keep the opposition under 200 yards. They succeeded.
This performance wasn't quite to the previous standard, as Michigan only faced 10 Rutgers drives instead of the 14 or 15 previous (non-PSU) games had required to get across the finish line. Nor did any of the Rutgers points come on a short field; the Cable Subscribers' best field position was their own 31.
It was still more or less what you'd expect an elite defense to do against a very bad offense, give or take a big ol' bust. That bust came on the long Janarion Grant touchdown, which was a wildcat play on which Kinnel started booking for the outside as Hudson close it off; I haven't taken a detailed look yet but I am a bit cheesed off at Kinnel's starting position against a wildcat. Sliding him down into the 8-10 yard range changes the complexion of that play dramatically, and should be a relatively easy adjustment.
Other than that it was a parade of three-and-outs leavened by the occasional first down, and one legitimate, 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Kinnel featured there too, but in a freshman Jourdan Lewis fashion: he was in excellent coverage and removed one of the WRs hands from the equation; it was just his luck that that dude only needed the one available.
poor damn Insert Wildcat Quarterback Here [Barron]
Solomon emerging. Freshman Aubrey Solomon got a majority of Michigan's bonus DT snaps in this game, somewhat supplanting Bryan Mone. 247 is now utilizing PFF data—I hope this clears up that situation, BTW—and had him for 30 snaps in which he did well:
Solomon scored out at a 81.4 on Saturday. This was a season high for him and was also sixth overall on the defense and fourth on the defensive line as the Wolverines dominated up front.
That was almost triple his previous high of 11 snaps.
Mone had a bit of a rough go against Penn State and Solomon offers a lot more upside against anything except short yardage. There's not a ton of separation in their play right now and he's obviously going to improve more quickly as a true freshman.
a fan favorite [Barron]
Jump up and down. Mike Dwumfour picked up a late sack and hoo boy Rashan Gary, his childhood friend, and Mo Hurst, his mentor, were excited. I glanced over to the sideline and both those guys were way too far off the ground for gentlemen of their size.
The perfect cornerback game. Tackles between Hill, Watson, and Long: zero. They do not show in the box score at all. When they do show up on the field PFF has Hill performing at an All-American level:
With Hill, he's currently mislabeled as a safety, but his 89.4 season grade would be good for 7th in the country at the cornerback position and his 92.4 cover grade would be good for fifth. It's funny to look back at the worries regarding the cornerback spot during the spring and summer knowing now it's another strength of this team, led by Hill.
Mike Zordich should say more things are bad and watch them magically become not bad at all.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Got away with one. Janarion Grant was an ankle tackle away from a monster kickoff return, as James "Doug" Foug did not quite warrant a fake Dean Koontz novel title in this one.
Merph. Quinn Nordin missed a 37-yarder, which followed on from a missed XP last week. Allen Trieu is reporting that Nordin is injured and might miss some time coming up, which is Not Great. At least Michigan's backups here showed well in spring. 70 yarders are probably out of their reckoning.
MISCELLANEOUS
So there were some guys hangin' around. Patrick got some environment shots that are rather doozies. Meet Khalid Hill's immediate family:
[Campredon]
And these guys with their uncanny Harbaugh impressions:
[Barron]
And drum major Kevin Zhang:
[Barron]
I COUNTED. Between 1:03 left in the third quarter and 5:46 left in the fourth quarter there were SIX commercial breaks. SIX. More than one per every two minutes of game time. At one point there was a timeout before a Michigan drive, during it, and after it.
Where was the halftime show? Y'all can celebrate the 200th anniversary of Michigan's founding next week against Minnesota. At homecoming, if I don't get War Chant and Temptation baby gets into rattle-throwing mode. At least there were a bunch of awesome old guys.
[Barron]
But seriously War Chant/Temptation are not optional.
HERE
Worst: Pumping the Brakes...Again
I'm going to crib a lot of my earlier comments when it came to O'Korn's great performance against Purdue and how, well, everybody should maybe take a step back before proclaiming it a repeatable performance. Against Purdue I noted:
And let it be noted that Purdue had, by far, the worst defense Michigan has played this year. Coming into the game, they had a defensive efficiency of 60th; Florida was 42nd, Cincy 29th, and Air Force at 21, and in the case of Florida, that number is a bit depressed because they had only played 2 teams (Michigan and Tennessee). Last year, Purdue's defense was ranked well into the 100's in both fancy stats and raw defensive numbers. It is not a good defense, even if they are more aggressive and (I'm assuming) getting coached up by whatever screaming ball of blood vessels and sunburn that was tromping along that sideline...This is a long-winded way of saying that some of Michigan's improvements offensively are opponent-dependent.
Well, Rutgers and Purdue are ranked 33rd and 34th, respectively, in defensive S&P ratings at the time I wrote this diary. Both are inexplicably decent at stopping the pass despite having sack rates in the 100s, and both are middling in terms of creating turnovers. But, and this is so weird to say when talking about either of these clubs, they are both competent enough against the pass that you can't totally discount both O'Korn's and Peters's performances against them out of hand. Given the context, both of them played very well against defenses that weren't the 2016 vintage we all expected. At the same time, I'd argue that neither opponent probably spent much time preparing for either guy at QB, and at least Minnesota has a frisky enough defense that Peters will be tested by a unit capable of game planning for him. Still, this is slightly more encouraging than I expected.
Wolverines in Japan. Fan satisfaction index.
ELSEWHERE
[Barron]
It has long been the opinion of many that follow the program closely (myself included) that Peters is the most talented quarterback on Michigan’s roster. No other Maize & Blue signal caller possesses his combination of size, mobility, and arm strength. But the best talent doesn’t always equate to the most ready. That was the case for Peters who Jim Harbaugh said needed to improve his “command.”
I’ve come (a long way) since camp,” said Peters. “As far as communication goes to the O-line to all the players on the team. The biggest step I made was my communication so far.”
“I’ve definitely gotten a lot better at it,” he later added. “That’s something I’ve really focused on. It’s been my weakness ever since I’ve gotten to Michigan. I’ve really focused on it. And it makes a big difference for sure.”
Peters has a quiet, unassuming way. Those that don’t know him often mistake his temperament for stoicism for aloofness. Those that do know him know he is nothing if not a competitor. His teammates have taken note of that. They’ve witnessed the significant growth in his command of the playbook and his communication on the field.
“Brandon is a quiet guy, but as you (saw) today, once he gets going he starts talking,” Rashan Gary said. “He was like, can you get me back the ball?! When we were all about to go out on defense…’can I get the ball back?’ Once he got in his groove everybody was like, ‘alright BP, let’s go!’”
“From spring ball to now it’s two completely different quarterbacks,” Gary later added. “You see it in practice. He is talking more (and) checking down more. It’s crazy to see. (From) not seeing that too much in spring ball to now checking things down and making good passes. It’s unbelievable.”
It’s pretty clear that the recent rumors of Peters being a malcontent, the recurring rumors about him being a likely transfer, and the talk that he had already been passed up by freshman Dylan McCaffrey were all unfair and unfounded. (A topic which we focused on a few weeks ago). It appears that many fans were willing to believe those things because they found those explanations more palatable than the one being offered by Jim Harbaugh.
Long excerpt because I think it's important to get this across. Stop talking personal shit about someone you don't know, especially if you purport to be a journalist.
more mashing [Barron]
U-M, by my unofficial count, created 210 yards for its ball carriers (and that includes John O'Korn's two lost fumbles) before contact Saturday, good for an average of 4.2 yards before contact per rushing attempt.
It's as simple as it sounds: On average, Michigan's backs were rushing four yards before getting hit Saturday. Karan Higdon, Ty Isaac, Kareem Walker and Chris Evans all did a fine job of finishing their runs and hitting proper cut lanes. But the offensive line was the star of the day.
Also on Peters. Brad Hawkins is now a viper. Speight's father says there's a "good chance" he can return this year. Maize N Brew. Maize and Blue Nation. MGoFish.
HSR:
Homecoming is an odd duck when you attend football games on the regular with your college roommate is that it should feel like a chance to be nostalgic, but, I mean, literally, I'm sitting with the same person I sat with for four years of games as a student. We have all the same in-jokes, all the same reference points, and so on. It's not a blast from the past, it's Season 21 of the same show (and like The Simpsons the first 11 seasons were much more fondly remembered by the masses.)
Sap:
DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – We all know that Maurice Hurst is a beast up front and his quickness is amazing, so…should we start talking about #73 as the best player in country? I know he just ate an under-manned Rutgers O-Line for lunch (Get in my Belly!), but this is not the first or second time Mo Hurst has been THE dominant player on the field. So, should Hurst get an invite to NYC come the first week of December? I think so!
Michigan opens –14.5 versus Minnesota.
October 30th, 2017 at 4:04 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 6:32 PM ^
about football think it doesn't matter who is playing QB? It's the most important position on the field! Of course it matters who is playing QB.
October 30th, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^
It doesn't matter how much practice film coaches have, their track record, etc. etc. etc. A coach makes a calculated decision, and it is either right or wrong. Things that are 90% likely to be right can still be wrong. It isn't a knock on them, per se, it just happens. Just like last year was THE YEAR, but we were snake bit. It happens.
October 30th, 2017 at 7:55 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 9:25 PM ^
Harbaugh himself said that Peters greatly exceeded expectations.
And Peters looked like a guy who didn't totally know the playbook. He botched a couple hand offs, had to have the calls verbally given to him.
But he also showed that not knowing the whole playbook isn't as important as being able to execute basic plays. Again, there's no way to know whether or not Peters would have performed better had he been given a shot earlier. I just can't imagine a scenario where he would have done as bad as O'Korn.
I'll grant you that you have to consider setting examples for your team and the like. I just think the whole meritocracy rabble is feelingsball rabble. Meyer has done perfectly fine taking a different approach.
October 30th, 2017 at 9:27 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 9:38 PM ^
that anything changed in terms of Peters "readiness." The only thing that definitively changed was Harbaugh's willingness to trot out Peters. That could be because Peters "earned" it, or because there was no defensible reason to keep playing O'Korn. I'm giving my opinion that it should have been done earlier, you're giving your opinion that it was done at the earliest possible point.
October 30th, 2017 at 10:03 PM ^
I'm with you on this. The "readiness" argument never made sense. O'Korn sucked and there just wasn't any more legitimate reason(s) to keep BP off the field. And he showed he was plenty "ready" as Brian said.
October 30th, 2017 at 10:24 PM ^
Didn't make sense to who? To you?
I'm going with the judgment, skill, experience and expertise of the coaching staff.
October 31st, 2017 at 12:30 AM ^
October 31st, 2017 at 11:56 AM ^
from Harbaugh and Gary saying that Peters' performance exceeded their expectations is more evidence to my points, that 1) the coaches overestimated the importance of totally knowing the playbook and underestimated the importance of being to execute basic plays and 2) that his readiness didn't really change all that much, as they still didn't expect that much out of him.
I will admit I'm biased, because I've been calling for Peters to play since after the Air Force game. And I'm also not sold on the idea of this meritocracy being anything more than feelingsball. Urban Meyer is an elite coach, and we all know how he babies top talent. Sometimes you just have to give the talented players the chance to prove themselves on the field, and tell them put up or shut up. I frankly don't give a damn about practice warriors. Hoke spoiled that whole notion for me.
And I feel like this summarizes your general argument: "The point remains — Peters wasn’t ready until he was."
So you're saying that something changed in his readiness and his preparation to earn it.
I will grant you that he is probably more ready now than earlier in the season after getting several reps as the #2 QB rather than disinterested #3. I don't think it is a huge change, as evidenced by quotes from the coaches and teammates. And I still just don't think there is any evidence to say he earned anything. Harbaugh said "it was time." To me, that could simply mean there is no defensible way to keep playing O'Korn and killing our team's chances of winning games.
October 31st, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 10:00 PM ^
You're right though. You don't know if Peters wasn't giving it his all. But you probably do know that some players are gamers, those who rise to the occasion when under pressure because they are cool under fire. Sometimes those players aren't the greatest in practice.
October 30th, 2017 at 10:04 PM ^
October 31st, 2017 at 12:25 AM ^
October 31st, 2017 at 11:09 AM ^
October 31st, 2017 at 12:12 PM ^
October 31st, 2017 at 3:27 PM ^
November 1st, 2017 at 10:15 AM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 11:51 PM ^
was that Peters wasn't practicing the way he needed to practice to win the job.
I don't think that necessarily means he wasn't giving it his all in terms of effort but that he wasn't showing enough command and communicating the way he needed to (which is what all comments from the coaches indicated in fall camp).
Gary said he has become a different quarterback than he was in the spring, and I think that's what changed: his command of the offense and his ability to make check downs, etc. The leadership and cerebral parts of the game.
And to your point about setting examples, I think that focus on communicating is what the coaches needed to see before giving him the job because they wanted that carrot out there, and wanted him to earn it, not just fall into the job based on talent.
I didn't buy for a second that he was a malcontent or had attitude issues or that he wasn't supremely talented (we've seen the kinds of throws he can make, and who mobile he is).
October 31st, 2017 at 12:36 AM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 1:16 PM ^
That about sums up so called journalism nowadays.
October 30th, 2017 at 1:20 PM ^
there are a few bowl projections that have us going against Arizona
Intrigued? I have to say, I 'm not sure what to think of it
October 30th, 2017 at 1:22 PM ^
Too bad none of this really mattress.
October 30th, 2017 at 2:28 PM ^
certainly in comparison to the Purple prose of last week
October 30th, 2017 at 1:22 PM ^
Rashan Gary seems almost too fast off the ball, around his blocker when he's on. It's happened here and there but several times, this week, that Rescigno moved to his right, instinctively towards Gary, that Gary was already slightly past him, unable to make the play. Though whenever he moved out to the left, away from Gary, he was right there, able to pounce, either for a big hit or to disrupt the pass.
It's going to be interesting when they play Wisconsin and Ohio State to see how that translates if against a better blocker, he meets Hornibrook or Barrett in the backfield, instead of his speed taking himself out of position.
October 30th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 1:23 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 1:25 PM ^
cautiously optimistic about the offense after Saturday's game. I'm allowing myself to think we'll beat OSU this year...
October 30th, 2017 at 1:33 PM ^
I don't care how much our offense improved with Peters, I can't bring myself to think we'll stay within 2 TDs.
October 30th, 2017 at 5:00 PM ^
The MSU-OSU game will be telling. If OSU sludgefarts their way to a win against the Spartans for the second year in a row (or, loses), I'll feel okay.
October 30th, 2017 at 5:13 PM ^
then just whooped the hell out of them for most of the game. The O-line that we couldn't penetrate, OSU's d-line got consistent pressure. OSU got over 500 yards of offense on them. They are just a frickin juggernaut.
I'm hoping we can get some breaks, take advantage of them, and stay in the vicinity, a la the Devin Gardner game. Maybe unlike last year, the final break goes our way. In my heart, I'm hoping for it, in my head, I can't see it.
Rob
October 30th, 2017 at 2:49 PM ^
At a certain point, this team is due some luck (at least I keep telling myself that). Since Tressel's first year, Ohio State is 7-1 against Michigan in one score games. Could also throw in 2007 and 2009 as games where there were odd circumstances that allowed them to win 11 point games (Michigan's entire offense being injured in the 14-3 loss...then of course exploding for 40+ against Florida in the bowl game, Tate Forcier's turnover fest).
October 30th, 2017 at 4:10 PM ^
were total Tressellball performances by OSU. Once he got the double digit leads and could see the UM offenses weren't going to do anything Tressell shut it down. I'm not saying the score those two years could have been absolute blow outs but the margin of victory could have been worse from the UM perspective if Tressell hadn't down shifted gears with OSU's offense.
October 30th, 2017 at 4:34 PM ^
I have no belief we'll keep it within 20. Hope I'm wrong
October 30th, 2017 at 4:38 PM ^
right but damnit I'm tired of being on the wrong end of the rivalry and need to keep myself positive for the rest of the season.
October 30th, 2017 at 1:26 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 1:30 PM ^
but I'd bet some of those exchanges are a doozy. Any particularly good ones?
October 30th, 2017 at 1:58 PM ^
Nothing of note, he just keeps denying that he ever said Peters was a bust and wants to transfer. Most of his replies are along the lines of "I never said that". He has resorted to lying.
October 30th, 2017 at 4:56 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 10:05 PM ^
Yup. He's definitely resorted to lying about it multiple times now.
October 30th, 2017 at 2:10 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^
The negative repercussions are that everyone will start ignoring him. I view this as a huge credibility hit that is difficult to overcome when your business model is based on attention and interest from fans.
October 30th, 2017 at 2:01 PM ^
Spot on. The only accountability to be had is for people to stop buying his shit.
October 30th, 2017 at 1:38 PM ^
from Rivals and Balas with a grain of salt. They are clueless over there and Balas has a huge ego even though he misses on most of what he predicts. Balas won't ever admit he said that and it was obviously wrong.
October 30th, 2017 at 1:32 PM ^
Thats awesome. I'm more of a Bush guy though.
But hey, 'Merica!
Michigan found their Peters...go find yours (its there somwhere...)
October 30th, 2017 at 10:07 PM ^
Come on. We know you were delighted with the Peters insertion.
October 30th, 2017 at 1:28 PM ^
"someone either implying or directly stating that Peters was a weird aspie with a fidget spinner and no future, Rain Man in a helmet"
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