FORMATION NOTES: I didn't find anything particularly unusual from Michigan but I need something visual so here's a gopher annoying a rich incompetent person.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Aside from Morris, the usual. Magnuson was out for this FWIW, and Green was still available.

[After THE JUMP: nothing you want to see.]

Why did you do this?

People get mad at me if I don't.

Seriously? Like… what kind of people?

Seemingly normal ones? For a given definition of normal? Who otherwise seem to make sane and hale decisions in their everyday life?

But enough about Michigan's decision to start Shane Morris.

Actually not quite enough. Here is the chart—?

chart

--for Morris, which is pretty much what you were expecting.

[* on chart == extreme version of bad event]

Shane Morris

(Also Gardner stuff:)

Devin Gardner 2013

Devin Gardner

I thought it was inexplicable to start Morris given what we'd seen and Gardner's ability to gain yards here and there, but some people disagreed. No one can disagree that Morris was left in way, way too long. Michigan put him back out there after he fumbled without anyone touching him, and then Michigan went three and out, and then they put him out there again. Without the head injury, Gardner never appears in this game, and then you start wondering about what happens the rest of the season.

Does Michigan just roll with Shane Morris because uh he's the quarterback now? You'd have to think no, but then again Michigan saw something that indicated Morris was at all plausible when he had 49 passing yards deep into the second half that was actually still competitive.

What was the issue? All things. Morris seemed to have no idea what he was looking at most of the time, opting to wildly overthrow a bracketed Funchess here instead of try the open-ish corner on the other side of the field or just dump to Hayes:

If you're going to punt it up, punt it up in an area where a catch is hypothetically possible.

Here he has a big window to hit Funchess for the first down and checks down with a ball that requires a one-handed stab:

On the rare occasions he did find an open receiver downfield he threw a few nice passes and zinged a number way off target. The thing Michigan found to work even a little were five yard outs to the slot, and even those were a dodgy proposition what with balls hammered too far outside a few times. The pick six was another one of these; you wonder if this was an instance of going back to the well on which Minnesota's DE had a high chance of deflecting a throw that was likely to come.

Morris had no business playing against Minnesota. Inserting him at all is malpractice and leaving him in past halftime is all but throwing the game.

Okay… the ground game?

This was not as bad as it was against Penn State. Most of the OL held their ground.

On the RPS: I just don't see Michigan finding things that might work and exploiting them. On this third and medium Minnesota sends two guys in motion with Funchess, indicating a bracket and man coverage all around. They have no deep safeties for anyone else; Michigan throws an out to Butt that gets jumped.

Okay. It happens. Michigan never tried to find this again, never tried to bust out an out and up here to see if you can get an easy long throw. They keep running these all-hitch/all-out five yard routes that find opponents in Michigan's shorts and have not gotten anything over the top.

It's rock paper scissors so sometimes you get got; where is Michigan getting the opponent? I mean, how many times this year has Michigan eaten big plays because opponents have IDed their obvious man coverage and run rub routes? Lots. How many times has Michigan done it? Not at all? It might be not at all. I liked Minnesota's little middle screen they broke out in this game, which was a clever call at the right time, and I again thought about how I almost never think similar thoughts about Michigan.

I mean, I did like that Michigan got a couple things from double stacks; here they get a hat for a hat in the box by spreading the WRs way outside, which demands respect when one of those guys is Funchess:

That is seven yards, not 37, though. They did come back to this, taking advantage of Minnesota's response to get a nice zone read gain from Smith despite the fact that no one bothered to check Morris:

Again, that's five yards; Michigan did not try it again to see what would happen after a Morris keep. They just don't pressure a defense effectively. With Nussmeier on the sideline this is something that Hecklinski or someone in the box needs to be on top of and attack.

They don't, and to me that's yet another sign that the program is shockingly disorganized in year four, with faint prospects for improvement.

Is this just more spread zealotry?

Oh, probably. It drives me f-ing nuts when Michigan blocks a play right for once and gets three yards because a safety is hammering down on the snap:

If you cannot punish that aggression you're doomed, and Michigan has one long play of any significance this year: the Funchess bomb on which they got lucky.

Tailbacks?

Green's done for the year of course but we did get some more information about him going forward. It was not of the nice variety. This may be his all-time worst cut:

It's less the cut than the lack of patience; he needs to be a step back so he can see which side of the block that defender ends up on. Heck, even if he is up there he should understand that Kalis's block is 90% likely to be a kickout and 100% if he jukes from outside to inside. He does that and he's getting a nice chunk. Instead it's second and ten.

Oh and this:

Huge drive by the OL that demands a cutback; worst case scenario there is that Green rams a linebacker who's being harassed by Glasgow and falls forward for five. Instead he ignores the block which almost has to be his primary key and gets a yard.

He may look like Superman but going into next season there will be serious doubts about his ability to stay in front of his competitors.

Smith showed his uncanny knack for taking hits and keeping his balance some…

…and then Michigan ran him once in the second half. They didn't have many opportunities to run him, I guess, what with the three-and-outs.

Have any examples of that thing you said on the podcast about how the guy chasing a DL to the ballcarrier is not always the guy at fault?

Mostly. Smith got snowed under on this run as Minnesota slants away. Glasgow, highlighted, sees the guy cross his face and does not so much as touch him, giving Cole a tough job:

This happens to Michigan a lot. They are bad about helping out the guys next to them when the DL does anything remotely fancy; I know this is not what Funk wants. He wants that DL to take a "shoulder spear," as he puts it in clinics, to blunt the DL's momentum without unduly hampering the guard's release. Do that and give Smith another yard to make a decision and this could be a nice gain. Instead, bupkis.

Cole needs to do better here as well; if he can shove the guy in any direction, be it down or across, Smith has the opportunity to cut back in a big hole. Instead he eats a TFL. (Does another back make this cut anyway? Maybe. Mike Hart probably does. Justice Hayes might. Smith has not shown that level of agility.)

[BONUS ZONE COMPLAINING FROM THIS PLAY: if you care to, watch the Williams/Braden block to the bottom of the screen. That doesn't make any sense, either. The double lets the DE inside and then pops Braden off to the second level; combo blocks want to get both guys on the same side of it.]

But the offensive line is so young?

I guess you can flog youth as an excuse for this kind of stuff, but when OSU is doing what it's doing with an offensive line with one more year of experience (total years on campus: 10 for M, 11 for OSU) I don't buy it.

This play was emblematic of Michigan's overall confusion. Most of the team appears to run an inside zone to the left. Kalis, though, appears to think he's running a stretch; Glasgow steps to the right instead of the left:

Or this one. Kalis gets a bit of a spear; Braden just stops blocking the guy when he should be stepping around to seal him out.

And this from Braden was…

…woof. Pulled out a –3 there.

Receivers?

[0 = uncatchable, 1 = circus catch, 2 = moderate difficulty, 3 = routine]

ROUTES: Darboh –2, Butt –1.

Not much opportunity to blow anything; I wonder if I am ever going to hand out a route plus. Wither Dileo?

Heroes?

De'Veon Smith fired off hard and didn't blow any cuts he could reasonably make. Gardner scrambled up Michigan's other TD.

Maybe not so heroic?

Whoever decided Shane Morris was viable. Green's vision is super questionable. Braden had a rough day.

What does it mean for Michigan State and the future?