I thought Peters handled today well - optimistic poster here
DPJ was in bounds - should have had 14 points in the first half, on the road at Camp Randall
Fumble due to injured wrist - his only turnover of the year
this despite the OL not being where it needs to be
Next year we have red-shirt sophomore Peters and red-shirt freshman McCaffrey
we have transition to Harbaugh recruited QB's and I like our future
November 18th, 2017 at 4:24 PM ^
Peters was fine....OL was ummm. yea good stuff out of Peters with that OL.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:37 PM ^
Played well, under control, showed some poise, some accuracy issues but we were in the game.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:45 PM ^
Downvoted for adding your snowflake as a reply to the first comment for visibility.
November 18th, 2017 at 5:32 PM ^
Yeah cuz that never happens
November 18th, 2017 at 5:44 PM ^
They didnt really block the run well after the 1st quarter, but that was probably their best pass pro game this year?
Considering how pass heavy we went, i thought it was the best game this year by the ol considering the opponent.
The drops and bad tracking by crawford bugged me way more than the ol on the first watch.
November 18th, 2017 at 9:45 PM ^
need a real WR coach.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^
As opposed to the whiners, I'm also encouraged by what I saw today and excited for next year. What's happened this season should've been expected from one of the youngest teams in the FBS, and I'll point out again that Harbaugh has had only two full recruiting classes. The good times will get here soon.
This was a real game until Peters got hurt, on the road, against an undefeated team. Before he left, he proved that he is an actual talent, as opposed to Speight and O'Korn, and he's only going to get better. Peoples-Jones is starting to show glimpses of what he will become, Black will be back and the rest of the young tight ends and receivers will naturally get better. The O-line will be much improved next year and pretty much the entire defense will be back. Patience isn't always easy, but in this case it will be rewarded.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:35 PM ^
And so it was written.
November 18th, 2017 at 8:24 PM ^
And so it shall be...
November 18th, 2017 at 4:35 PM ^
Meyer had an extremely young team last year and you see what they did @ OSU - Harbaugh now has 9 L's in his less than 3 year tenure - soon to be 10 and possibly 11 L's in 3 years - this team is stuck in neutral at best and possibly in reverse
Harbaugh is not getting the job done
2017 is indicative of the pulse for recruits - they are staying away and for a reason - see results on the field
November 18th, 2017 at 4:40 PM ^
We've been saying "next year" for the OL for many years now. I think Peters has quite a future here. So do the RBs. However, we need new offensive coaching, IMO.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:55 PM ^
This group has been a major disappointment. Michigan will not be a serious contender until this unit begins to hold its own.
It is fantastic that Michigan had 4 pass catching TE's on the roster, but not a single one that can block.
Can the put a guy like Runyan out there as a TE? At the very least that would give Michigan a 6th blocker in an attempt to keep our QB on his feet for a change.
Maybe this would also help the running game gain yards against a defense with a pulse.
Shit, I am just frustrated at the lack of improvement by this group.
November 18th, 2017 at 5:59 PM ^
The thing makes me mad, is, this isn't the just letting Peters get sacked, he's straight up gotten DRILLED. And regularly.
I don't know if its Peters making the mistake, or the O-Line (clearly a missed block on the play) who's responsible, but Peters has gotten quite a few ringers in what, 3 games?
There's also been quite a few roughing-the-passer situations that opposing teams have gotten away with.
That was a plain as day, pick up and pile-drive, right in front of the referee.
They need to go to replay with this. The NBA has done this with fouls/technicals, etc. and it's actually been quite an improvement to the game itself (although stars can still travel and the contenders in the playoffs get every benefit of the doubt it's almost unwatchable).
I'm all for standing in the pocket and taking the shot, but not at the expense of not playing.
The NFL's smartest decision (few and far between) was to protect the QB at all costs, putting in new rules, and treating them like glass.
The game of football is ALL ABOUT the quarterback position. That's the game. Without good QBs, the games are incredibly boring. Anybody interested in the Packers right now?
The NCAA need to follow suit and do much more to protect the QBs.
The game was over the moment Peters left. The defense knew this as well.
November 18th, 2017 at 6:38 PM ^
OL is not good at pass protection, but his injury is 100% on the running back. He went out into a route on a full slide protection where he is responsible for the end man on the line.
The color guy should be fired for not pointing this out and just chalking it up to a miscommunication on the OL,
Isaac got Speight killed, and now Evans got Peters killed.
November 18th, 2017 at 7:55 PM ^
Not having Higdon or Isaac for pass protection was the biggest swing in the game as I saw it. Walker clearly isn't ready for pass protection or he would have seen more snaps.
November 18th, 2017 at 9:46 PM ^
Pretty sure it was Kuglers job to protect A gap on stunt.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:59 PM ^
I think the OL is substantially better than it was at the start of the season. The fact that we couldn't run against Wisco doesn't necessarily say we have a bad OL. Wisconsin has the #1 defense in America for a reason.
November 18th, 2017 at 5:19 PM ^
Chunkums, when was the last time Michigan ran the ball against a good defense? I did not expect 300
Yards against Wisconsin, but maybe better than 1.6 yards per attempt. You can not win football games against good teams if you are averaging 1.6 yards per attempt.
Pass blocking? The same mistakes are being made today vs 11 weeks ago.
Don't be fooled by good games against Minnesota, Rutgers, Indiana etc. This offensive line is not good and it shows against a decent defense. It gets destroyed against good defenses.
2.5 per attempt vs PSU
2.6 per attempt vs MSU
November 18th, 2017 at 5:21 PM ^
Isaac out, Higdon on one leg might have had something to do with run issues. Further, it was evident the plan was to rely on the pass more than the run today. It was going OK until Peters got hurt. Anyway, half-full here while you may take a different view.
November 18th, 2017 at 5:40 PM ^
26 passing attempts vs 37 rushing attempts.
Am I the only person here that sees the fact that Michigan can't run the football? Everyone on this board would admit that the Michigan defense is very good, yet in all three losses Michigan lost the rushing battle.
All three losses last year, you guessed it, they lost the rushing battle. The facts are the facts, Michigan struggles on the ground have directly impacted the results against good teams.
Please stop with this glass half full nonsense. This is big boy football and they are not getting it done against quality opponents.
November 18th, 2017 at 7:07 PM ^
The whole "...actually our O-Line runs the ball well...", where they leave out the, "...against poor competition...", is eerily similar to the delusional statements during the Hoke/RichRod years.
Under RichRod: "...actually we have a Top-10 Offense...", without including "...which gets completely stopped in it's track by any defense with a pulse..."
and
Under Hoke: "...We're going to get better just give it time and get Hoke's players in there..." without adding, "...we're literally getting softer and softer and squeaking out wins against Toldeo, -48 yards @ MSU, etc..."
Getting great yardage against subpar teams is a great start, but it's only just that, a start, our run outfit is still nowhere close to where it needs to be.
And I absolutley believe it will get there.
But let's call a spade a spade until otherwise.
November 18th, 2017 at 8:07 PM ^
100% agree with you. Well said.
November 18th, 2017 at 7:59 PM ^
Michigan has failed since Harbaugh arrived at running the football against good teams. 35 attempts, 57 yards speaks for itself. I'm hopeful that somehow this gets turned around next year, but it's year three and you could argue that every loss in the Harbaugh era has a lot to do with the inability to run the football.
Today's effort on the ground might have been the worst. At some point today I figured they would just abandon it altogether because every attempt was so putrid but God Bless them for being persistent.
The pump never gave today...looking at you Drevno :)
November 18th, 2017 at 5:32 PM ^
I don't know if you recall, but we couldn't run the ball against anyone at the start of the year. Even when we didn't have a passing threat, we were still able to run the ball against the teams on the back end of our schedule other than Wisconsin. Is our offensive line elite? Not even close. Is it substantially better? Absolutely.
November 18th, 2017 at 5:47 PM ^
We should be happy Michigan can beat the below average teams in the Big Ten. My god, Minnesota, Rutgers, Indiana are terrible football teams. Let's stop acting like they did something spectacular.
The facts don't lie, this offense can't run the ball against good teams. I am not making this stuff up, go check out the game logs. Hell, simply watch the games. Sorry if a harsh reality bothers folks here.
November 18th, 2017 at 6:38 PM ^
My god. Indiana is the 30th ranked s&p+ defense. Minnesota was the 31 before today. Rutgers is 41th.
I'm sorry you definition of terrible defense is shit. Are these teams elite? No. Are they decent to good? Yes.
Wisconsin has an elite defense that sold out to stop the run and did. But don't act as if Michigan was not moving the ball on that defense until Peters went down.
November 18th, 2017 at 8:15 PM ^
Just stop with that. Those teams are not good. Michigan has superior talent vs those teams. When Michigan plays a team with actual talent, they can't run the football. Jesus, the numbers show this time and time again.
Michigan is measured by what they do against MSU, OSU, PSU. Stop lying to yourself with beating up on lesser opponents and then pounding your chest like they have done something.
I'll say it again, Iowa, OSU, FSU, MSU, PSU, Wisconsin. These are the last 6 losses. In each of those losses the Michigan offensive line was pushed around.
But they load the box. Yeah, they load the box against OSU and Alabama also...and they still get the job done
November 19th, 2017 at 1:17 AM ^
I disagree. Michigan rushing yards first three games: Florida - 215 yards rushing. Cincinnati - 193 yards rushing. Air Force - 190 yards rushing. I'm not saying those are eye popping numbers, but they're not horrendous numbers either. And we had much better balance statistically between the run and pass in those games with Speight at the helm. I'll give you Michigan had some success running the ball against Indiana, Rutgers, and Minnesota, but in all of those games the QB play was either inept or just inexperienced and developing. Therefore, Michigan leaned more on the run game instead of striving for balance. The run game has gotten a little better,but a lot of it has been circumstantial and today against Wisconsin certainly suggests that it truly isn't all that much better. Whether a team stacks the box or not, 1.6 ypc is pathetic.
November 18th, 2017 at 7:02 PM ^
Opposing teams load the box when you can't throw the ball, we haven't had a QB since Henne but Peters is showing us something and making D's defend against the pass then O Korn comes in and it's load the box again that makes it tough for any team.
November 18th, 2017 at 7:04 PM ^
Whiskey didn't light it up on the ground against us until Peters went out and we were right back to 3 and out offense
November 19th, 2017 at 1:54 AM ^
Not dissing our OL, but Wisconsin is extremely overrated. Who have they beaten? OSU will roll them.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:38 PM ^
Next year’s schedule is HARD.
November 18th, 2017 at 5:00 PM ^
Meh. Every year in the B1G east is going to be hard. If you're gonna wait for an easy one you're gonna have a bad time.
November 18th, 2017 at 6:49 PM ^
I'm sure they have some talent coming up but it won't be as experienced as our youngsters will be after gaining experience all this year. Now, about the tackles...
November 18th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^
Team looks a lot better with a QB. Shame the line, backs and te's can't make simple blocks and know the kid has a concussion. This shit should hsve been fixed several games ago. Really pisses me off. Don't know who is to blame, but I hope Harbaugh fixes the problem before Peters is seriously fucked up by fuckin idiots who can't block the right people. JBB block the guy on the end. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh I will just let him right past and double the tackle. Who got Peters hurt because I did not see the end of the game. Good fuckin job!!.
November 18th, 2017 at 6:45 PM ^
Dude, the line blocked well in pass pro today. Peters was not hit much because of the line messing up.
They got through on 2 twist that I can remember one was the chrapshot driving peters into the ground and after he released the ball. You really can't ask to much more from a line when going against a team that us as good at blitzing as Wisconsin is. It would be like Wisconsin fans getting mad at their line for allowing their qb to get hit by our dl a few times.
November 19th, 2017 at 1:30 AM ^
The problem is that completely missing on two twists is a really big deal. It allows a linebacker or lineman to have an absolutely free shot at the QB with a running start. And it's a mental issue rather than a talent issue. And it's been happening all year. At least if you just get beat one on one you might fend a guy off for a second or two and he's not going to be able to pile drive the QB into the ground. I think an offensive line would say that if the guy they are supposed to protect gets carted off the field then it was not a good day in pass protection.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^
It would also be cool if our WRs and TEs could catch anything that wasn't completely routine.
November 18th, 2017 at 5:14 PM ^
sometimes they don't even catch the routine balls.
November 18th, 2017 at 6:47 PM ^
It is so weird. Before Peters came in they had like 4 drops a game. Then he came in and they stopped dropping passes almost altogether.
Peters gets hurt and they drop 3 passes in a little over a quarter.
So weird.
November 19th, 2017 at 1:33 AM ^
It is weird for sure.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^
Yeah. I hope this is not a controversial finding.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^
I agree...thought Peters played pretty well all things considered. Next years QB battle between him, McCaffery, and speight is the only sliver of optimism i currently have left. Ughh I'm gonna go get another beer.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:30 PM ^
Speight complicates things, but I guess all competition is good. With the exception of heated slap fights between QBs.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:30 PM ^
if Malzone grad-transfers as expected, we only have Peters and McCaffrey and true freshman if Speight leaves too
November 18th, 2017 at 5:01 PM ^
graduate this year.
November 18th, 2017 at 5:11 PM ^
He will not be granted a fifth year. There is absolutely no reason to grant him one. He has contributed zero in four years. Poor use of a scholarship.
November 18th, 2017 at 5:16 PM ^
has guys who never see he field over the course of their 4 years.
November 18th, 2017 at 6:50 PM ^
I think I heard he is getting his degree in 3 years.
November 18th, 2017 at 4:27 PM ^
I hope he is alright.