A few impressions from the stands
I'd like to preface this by noting that I don't think I could ever admit to being satisfied with a loss. That said, this was a loss that leaves me with hope for the rest of the season. Granted, things started off in fairly ugly fashion, and we got plenty of help from Utah, but I left the game with the impression that the team will improve from game to game, and we could have a very satisfactory season.
A few things I noted during the game are as follows, and anyone who saw it on TV and had a better view is welcome to clarify.
- The freshmen, true and redshirt, showed a good deal of promise. McGuffie had some bright moments, and Threet made some fairly respectable throws. Considering how many players were seeing their first time on a college field, any offensive production would have been a success, and I was pleased that we were at least able to put ourselves in a position to win the game.
- The O-Line was not the unmitigated disaster that many were predicting. This isn't to say that they were good, but our QBs stayed largely upright. Creating holes for the running game is going to be something they need to work at, but I have little doubt that they will improve along with the rest of the team.
- The defense was really disappointing in the first half. For a unit that was supposed to be keeping us in games, I would have liked to see more than one punt from Utah in the first half. Keeping this in mind, I was very please with how they responded to whatever adjustments or coaching Schaeffer leveled at them during half-time. They came out in the second half with Utah's number firmly in hand. If they can start games out like that, the offense will have opportunities to put points on the board rather than watching epically long drives by our opponents from the sideline.
- Something of an addendum to the previous point, I was impressed with the fitness level we showed, particularly in the last couple of Utah drives. I might be accused of "drinking the chocolate milk," but even after spending ALOT of time on the field in the first half, the defense convincingly outplayed the Utes, who were looking pretty sluggish by the end.
- Finally, I have to say that I was impressed by the attitude and enthusiasm displayed by the crowd. Especially in the first half, it was not an easy game to get really excited about, but the crowd (in the student section at least) kept the volume pretty high. In the fourth quarter, when we were starting to come back to life, there were several times when it got quite loud. Even though this one slipped away from us, the general impression I got was that the people understood that it wasn't the end of the world, and we just have alot of growing pains we need to work out.
All in all, I know we all would have really liked a win, but I don't think we have anything to be embarrassed about in this loss. In the end, we saw alot of young players with alot of potential, and I can't wait to see how they do next week.
Go Blue!
August 30th, 2008 at 11:00 PM ^
that last TD in the 1st 1/2 was cheap. One thing the spread doesn't get you is ball control when you're trying to get out of the 1/2
we looked mortal on TV. There are worse things.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:07 PM ^
Things got pretty dead in the 2nd-most of 3rd quarters, but once we started coming back / Utah started self-destructing, the place was quite loud. I don't know if it was the steel frames (probably not since they are still mostly open space) or maybe the position of where my seats are this year is just louder, but in my personal opinion it seemed louder than last year.
Furthermore, I agree about the atmosphere after the game. Heading out of the stadium, it seemed as though people were a bit disappointed (hard not to be after the emotional roller-coaster in the 4th) but also encouraged by the improvement on both sides of the ball as the game progressed.
Personally, I think that if we build on today's second half with a solid Miami game, we may just be ready to go in to South Bend and get a win.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:24 PM ^
i agree with all of that. it did seem louder but i am 30 rows closer this year so i couldnt tell why that was.
and did it feel surreal for anyone else when you were watching the game with the scaffolding in the background while we take every snap from the gun with no one named henne or hart on the field. it was all weird
August 30th, 2008 at 11:43 PM ^
August 30th, 2008 at 11:54 PM ^
Defense was SOFT in the 1st 1/2. Especially LB's/DB's playing back. Everything went underneath and they got beat almost every play. DL looked OK, then great in the 2nd 1/2. OLB's weren't a factor.
Offensively, we have light years to travel. Both QB's looked way better on quick hitters, they stunk when primary target was covered. OL actually moved a few bodies around in the 2nd 1/2. Expected more inside slants and misdirection. Was kind of not surprised by the gadget play, more suprised Sheridan's throw was caught. At worst, the offense was stunningly putrid, at best it was, uh, kinda meh. We did a lousy job of getting our speed into space. Whether that was poor blocking or bad play calling, I'll leave that to the experts.
Lost my voice. Had a great dinner on the way home and some time for reflection, and like the previous posters said, I wasn't a bit depressed.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:41 AM ^
I generally agree with your comments. It was shocking how bad the LBs (read: Panter) and DBs (both Trent and Warren) looked. I mean, what were these guys thinking? The tackling was bad, they were 10+ yeads off the ball on 2nd and short.
Also, our safety play needs to improve. Stevie Brown had that nice hit, but I still think his angles are all off.
My biggest concern by far is that Threet is slow, I mean really slow and Sheridan has absolutely no touch on the ball. He throws a good pass <10 yards that is a straight shot, but absolutely looks horrible on longer pass attempts
Unfortunately, I don't think those 2 areas can be easily corrected.
GO BLUE!!!
August 31st, 2008 at 12:14 AM ^
One thing the spread doesn't get you is ball control when you're trying to get out of the 1/2.
I wouldn't say that. I watched Illinois kill the last 10 minutes of their game at Columbus last season with their spread attack. What matters is the ability to run the ball, not the formation.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:21 AM ^
August 31st, 2008 at 7:44 AM ^
August 31st, 2008 at 9:47 AM ^
It was like George Costanza saw Lloyd start Underwood instead of freshmen Hart and decided to do the opposite.
August 31st, 2008 at 3:59 PM ^
ESPN/Rittenberg reported that Brown has a shoulder injury, which probably explains why you didn't see him as much. They were throwing to Matthews too until he got hurt.
And Minor fumbles a lot and I think they want to see what they have with all the guys, so we'll probably still see plenty of Sam and Shaw the next few games.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:32 AM ^
The get there an hour beforehand deal was a gigantic lie perpetrated by administration. It worked beautifully, I've never seen the stadium so full so early. It was full a good 10 minutes before the game started.
August 31st, 2008 at 3:10 AM ^
Actually when I was entering the stadium, they closed all the gates because "there are too many people in the concourses". I got to the gates at about 3:10 and didnt get in til like 3:25. So evidently there were some problems.
As for the crowd noise, i was fairly impressed. I was row9 student section and it could have just seeemed louder b/c i was lower than ususal, but the players running onto the field was the loudest ive ever heard it. There was definitley a great atmosphere in the stadium early on and late in the game.
Even though the Offense was junk, i enjoyed myself somewhat b/c a losss wasnt going to crush me, not with essentially zero national title hopes this year. And i know the program is in great hands going forward. I just may get annoyed at the uninformed M fans and MSM types out there that question Rodriguez
August 31st, 2008 at 9:51 AM ^
August 31st, 2008 at 10:58 AM ^
Tacopants had 15 catches for 210 yards, 2 touchdowns and a 2 pt conversion. Threet appears to have a high release on a few of his deeper/harder thrown balls. His touch passes/short dumps were knocked down once or twice as well. Sheridan throwing scares the crap out of me. It's like playing Duck Hunt on nintendo. Everything wobbles then falls dead to the ground. I do think Threet might have won the starting job already for next week. His ability to hit some of the WRs opened up more running lanes for the backs. I didn't think he was all that slow. A note from the announcers was his 6 yard run was the longest run of the game by Michigan at that point in the game (late 3rd). He wasn't quick, but he was able to scramble to the sidelines and get off a couple passes to avoid the sack. He's not ideal, but he did offer the offense some hope in the second half. Hopefully he starts nailing that "deep to mathews" play as it looks like we were willing to try it on every other series.
I thought our O-Line is worse than everyone is saying. In pass block we couldn't buy more than a three step and fire against a 4 man rush. Run blocking doesn't exist. McGuffie was wrapped up in the backfield more often than not. When Minor ran right up the gut, that was the only time we had any success, despite the fumble. I'm not sure if that's a good sign for our interior line, or just indicative of Utah's weak DTs. Everything outside was stopped before the line of scrimmage, especially when running right. I believe it was Schilling at RT, but whoever it was, they looked bad on the run. Conversely, Orttman at LT was alright in run blocking, but terrible in pass blocking.
Everyone's comments on the secondary were dead on. Michigan played virtually no press coverage until the 4th quarter. The yards per attempt for Utah couldn't have been over 7 yards. We sat back 10-12 yards back, let them make easy 5 yard completions, and in the case of Marell Evans, let them torch our first defender for another 4-7 yards after the catch.
The defensive line was horrid to start the game too. They were getting worn down because they couldnt get to Johnson on the short passes. Once the secondary started to play closer to the line, Johnson was forced into reading the defense which bought our d-line time to start laying on the hits. What worried me was Asiata at QB. Their version of the "wildcat" formation was a consistent 5yrd gainer for them. Our DTs could do nothing to stop it. VanBergman played really well, as did Johnson. Both played well in the first half despite the rest of the unit failing. Jamison kicked it up a notch late in the 3rd with the rest of the unit. I don't know who shoved a boot up all their asses, but it worked nicely. I've also got to say Ezi did play much better than I expected. He wasn't the quickest in coverage, but he played the run very well. I'd need to see the game again before I could gauge how fast his reads were, but it appeared decent to good.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:14 PM ^
Haha....I kept saying "Tacopants is having a great game!!" My wife was like "what the hell are you talking about?"
He was impressive out there yesterday.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:34 PM ^
- Passes to Tacopants
- Stupid Carson Butler penalties
- Brandon Minor fumbles
August 31st, 2008 at 4:01 PM ^
August 31st, 2008 at 2:40 PM ^
.... stuation is dire is an understatement. The O-line didn't play well, as expected. The D in the first half was abysmal. UM lost.
But, I'm not as down as I usually am after a loss. I saw a team that didn't quit. Even though they were challenged, they didn't roll over. I actually saw adjustments. I saw players that were well conditioned. A loss still stings, but they are positives.
It will come. It'll be ugly before it does, but UM's time will come.
I think a bigger disappointment was how App State got destroyed.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:53 PM ^
August 31st, 2008 at 7:43 PM ^
September 1st, 2008 at 2:42 AM ^
August 31st, 2008 at 11:48 PM ^
Was it just me or was our interior line supremely better than our two tackles? I know it seemed our line as a whole was terrible, but I'm willing to go out on a limb and say most of the pass rush and all our trouble in run blocking came from schilling/ortmann. We didn't run inside too often, but when Minor did, he was running for more than -1 yard. He was our only interior runningback that I can recall. Everything outside was met by a DE or OLB behind the line of scrimmage. I'm less surprised by pass rush coming from the DE, as that tends to be the case, but I can't recall any DTs putting pressure on the pass.
I will admit every preview of Utah I saw said the DTs would be the weak point in their defense so this could all be just bad o-line vs bad d-line, but at least we were winning the battle of who sucked less?
Open question: is sheridan left handed? I thought I remembered schilling starting as RT and ortmann at LT. This would be opposite of what I would have expected as most previous indicators would have the supposedly better schilling at LT despite being a little small in size to play LT.