MSU Snowflakes - The Coaching
October 20th, 2018 at 6:19 PM ^
Could you imagine what results we would have witnessed without the Don Brown hire? The team succeeds in spite of Harbaugh and the offensive geniuses. Time to move on. 9-3/8-4 every year wasn't good enough for Georgia with Richt and they turned out fine (bagmen jokes aside). This looks like 9-3 with a loss to a top 10 bowl team. Is 9-4 really what was hoped for in year 4?
I've seen enough to remain anti-Harbaugh, but I will admit...I like this level of "mediocrity" a lot better than the last 2 versions.
October 20th, 2018 at 6:28 PM ^
Maizen alias #125? Or 126?
October 20th, 2018 at 6:29 PM ^
SDK, did you forget the /s?
You're either joking, trolling, or not very bright.
If you're joking, not funny.
If you're trolling, well done.
If it's the last option, I'm sorry for you. Please read books.
October 20th, 2018 at 6:37 PM ^
I wouldn't say troll, since I am one of the good guys. Maybe satire? I hope people see my comments and realize how ridiculous a lot of us are being. Been watching M since I was 9 years old, so 29 years now. We got it good boys and girls. People my age remember the 90's and want that back. This is the closest we are to having that back.
Penalties need to be cleaned up, Shea needs to loosen up and toss it around a bit, and I wish the offense would move a little faster....but this is a good team and season. OSU should be worried.
That is my honest take. Thanks for calling me out!
October 20th, 2018 at 7:13 PM ^
We ALREADY have the 90's back.
10-3
10-3
7-5
7-1...
Lloyd's average win-loss record was 9-3 (technically 122-40 over 13 years). Outside of 1997, Harbaugh has picked up right where Lloyd left off. But now that we have competent quarterback and Oline play (and the defense never seems to regress), more championship runs look doable.
October 20th, 2018 at 7:15 PM ^
we were 8-5 last year fyi
October 20th, 2018 at 9:31 PM ^
The 90s when the team records were:
1990- 9-3
1991- 10-2
1992- 9-0-3
1993- 8-4
1994- 8-4
1995- 9-4
1996- 8-4
1997- 12-0
1998- 10-3
1999- 10-2
Maybe you shouldn't be calling for Michigan to move on from Harbaugh and then pine for the 90s in the same thread. 1997 aside the program underachieved constantly that decade. I know because I also watched those games. Harbaugh is right on schedule in year 4 and everyone like you bitching after we massacred State's offense needs to chill.
All the teams goals are in front of them. Time for a bye week to heal up and then lay a beat down on Penn State.
October 20th, 2018 at 6:29 PM ^
9-3? You must be watching a different Penn State team than I am.
October 20th, 2018 at 7:15 PM ^
you cant be serious??? he just went on the road and demolished msu!! The playcalling needs to get better but the team is 7-1 and ranked #6. Pull the spike out of your ass and enjoy the win. Sparty tears taste great!!
October 20th, 2018 at 8:33 PM ^
Quit drinking and go to bed.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:05 AM ^
Something is wrong with you. Can't quite put my finger on it, but it feels like either all-in trolling or the result of believing the only way to traverse the field is in 8 yard-per-carry manball chunks.
October 20th, 2018 at 7:12 PM ^
I would like to congratulate coach Harbaugh for this huge win today. I have been very harsh on him but ive also said that if he wins these games he deserves to coach at Michigan. There were some poor play calls but overall a win against a rival on the road trumps everything. I love this team i love Shea i love everything right now. GO BLUE!!! BEAT psu!!!
October 20th, 2018 at 7:42 PM ^
As I said after the ND game, we are running the table until OSU and then it will be all on the line. I'm starting to like our chances now against the Suckeyes!
October 21st, 2018 at 2:01 PM ^
Oh that was you that said it!
October 20th, 2018 at 7:55 PM ^
Only coach I had an issue with today was Pep. He was calling the game like he was scarred. Ain’t got no time for that.
OL FINISHED this game. Something they couldn’t do the last two years.
Once again, Hail Warinner and hail Herbert.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:27 PM ^
My thought was that one of the reasons that the OL was able to finish the game was because Pep called enough runs early to wear Sparty out. Our runnning plays weren't going for big yards early but they set up the rest of the game.
We won, we covered, scoreboard. I ain't complaining
October 20th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
He said it was just the beginning...he was right
October 20th, 2018 at 8:16 PM ^
Only complaint: First half playcalling was too conservative - the game never should have been tied at 7 that far into the 3td quarter. Great call on the DPJ streak to change the momentum so quickly. Don Brown dialed up a great game.
Overall, the team seemed to hold the right edge throughout the game. It looked like UM just wanted it more.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:38 PM ^
Maybe they should hire in FG guru to help Nordin.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:57 PM ^
We have seen enough of Harbaugh’s offenses to know they way underperform. If it wasn’t for having the best DC in the nation (God Bless Don Brown), we would be in Hoke territory. I hope Harbaugh can swallow his ego and hire a good OC and hand off all playcalling duties.
October 21st, 2018 at 2:00 PM ^
Oh Aggie, such a sad comment. It’s a team sport, with three phases of the game.
Underperforming implies that there is a metric by which the offense is measured. Wait a minute, there is one ... I wonder what Michigan’s offense is ranked in that metric?
Now, I’ve said this before, where’s the stat that shows how the offense and defense play together? Meaning, when you have the #1 defense in almost all categories, when you can consistently hold the meat of your schedule well under their offensive average output, do you REALLT have to have the greatest offense?
Is there room to improve? 100% there is. That’s what’s so exciting (for most of us) about this team — they’re improving weekly, and the defense is so damn good 8 points would have effectively won our last few games, and 15 would have beat NW.
Also remember, Shea is still learning and growing into this scheme. If there’s one player who is underperforming, it’s him — and he’ll admit as much. But yet, look at how well they’ve played as an offense, and Shea individually. That, IMO, is a far more productive and positive attitude to take. Yes, it’s not clicking 100% — like the defense — but it’s building steadily.
Glass 3/4 full!
October 20th, 2018 at 9:08 PM ^
Believe the biggest thing about the coaching is hard to quantify: this Michigan team did not implode like many others have in recent years against MSU. After the Evans fumble and MSU scored on that dumb trick play, I was certain we were about to have a repeat of last year's game, with an avalanche of turnovers and a 14-10 loss. But this year's team held together, and actually played better under pressure. Hit the big pass, ran the ball, and the defense didn't crack and immediately allow the other team to come back with a quick score as often happened last year. Michigan seemed to have fortitude today, unlike in big games in the past. The coaching staff, from Harbaugh on down, seem to have coached some steel into the players' spines. The play-calling quibbling seems less relevant than the actual quality of play. Good job, coaches.
October 21st, 2018 at 3:47 AM ^
ALSO. ..
I believe Harbaugh's post-game comments, in which he called out the bush league nature of MSU, finally signaled the end of the Michigan community constantly having to fret over *disrespecting* MSU and worrying whether we have added to the *chip on their shoulder.* Harbaugh essentially said to that: who gives a shit? Fuck them and their precious little feelings. Maybe Harbaugh has now begun to instill his Stanford *character and cruelty* into Michigan. . .
October 21st, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^
Yes times ten. I love the way Harbaugh has his team's back and called out MSU's bullshit tactics. Sparty has always felt the disrespeckt when in fact they are dishing the cheap shots and talking shit. It's like they had it both ways and Harbaugh and the players are saying no more. You wanna drag us into a dark alley? We'll kick your ass! And then we did. Get in their faces and stay there. They can't hate Michigan more than they already do.
October 20th, 2018 at 9:34 PM ^
Coaching of this team is Fucking Awesome, I especially love the reemergence of hubris.
One thing to improve would be the recurring case of QB staring at the field with pretty good protection, almost hypnotized, and then bailing too late. It's a staple of the pep era
October 20th, 2018 at 10:17 PM ^
I don't understand people that complain about the play calling incessantly. I tend to view the MGoBlog community as highly educated and with "football IQ" that is well above the blogosphere average. But, it seems that many STILL believe that every play that doesn't go for a TD, or gash the other team is a failure. There were a lot of points and yards left on the field, but at least from what I saw, it wasn't due to poor concepts or designs, it was due to poor execution.
I know people find it fun to rip on Hoke for his comments about execution, but just as Coach Warriner said in his interview, "the game will be won by players making plays …" If one were ask Shea why the offense struggled with those short fields, he would unequivocally be self-deprecating and say that he needed to do a better job of trusting his eyes/reads. That's not him covering for the coaching staff, that's him understanding that players make plays, coaches put them into position to make those plays.
Further, when you're a play caller and you have a defense like this defense you don't have to take chances like teams with weaker defenses have to take. I am not saying it's isn't frustrating, but if it's not clear to you that Harbaugh is perfectly willing to play defense and field position, I don't know what to tell you. Do we have to get into a game into a shootout and see Shea throw 45 times for people to see this? With this defense, I don't ever see that happening.
This was a MASTERFUL job coaching by Harbaugh and Co. Not so much because of X's & O's (although that was pretty solid, especially on defense), but more so for attitude and fortitude. So often we've seen Michigan teams of late let those Sparty moments get the better of them and lose, or make it way too close. This team, by contrast, looked ready for those moments, and shook them off and started making plays.
October 20th, 2018 at 10:26 PM ^
They left a lot of points on the field in the first half. I would put it more on Shea than playcalling. He had a number of chances to take shots down the field and often threw short or not at all. A great win but he needs to improve a lot to win in the CFP games.
October 20th, 2018 at 10:37 PM ^
I think Shea's willingness to throw downfield and, as Klatt said well, "give his guys a chance to make a play … " is and issue, and should improve over the bye week as I am sure it will be addressed by Coach. That being said, however, I am sure that part of that reluctance comes from Shea's understanding of the defenses awesome dominance. If he's at all unsure (which maybe he shouldn't be), he's making the decision to protect the football.
It's frustrating considering when he's decisive his downfield throws are great, but it's hard to argue with him.
October 21st, 2018 at 9:11 AM ^
From my seat on the couch, I think central to Harbaugh’s game plan/offense is ball control. When the other team does not have the ball, bad things cannot happen. The last three minutes of this game were a thing of beauty. I think Michigan made two first downs on low risk plays that essentially ended the game. How many times in the past ten years have we needed the “4 minute offense” and we didn’t have it? State’s offense had 19 minutes on the field in this game.
October 20th, 2018 at 11:47 PM ^
So...did we beat a good ranked team on the road in a rivalry game?
October 21st, 2018 at 9:57 AM ^
Mork D'Artagnan sold what was left of his soul to the devil for the weather apocalypse and a bunch of phantom unsportsmanlike calls. But even that was not enough to overcome the wrath of Don Brown and Co.
October 21st, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^
Hats off to JH & the staff. Best win in a long time!!
October 21st, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
My only quibbles are that we didn't go for on it that 4th and 5 from the 38 and we should have thrown more deep passes. Overall a plus performance, and I feel we aren't close to a ceiling in the passing game.
October 21st, 2018 at 5:11 PM ^
Harbaugh used the first half to test their tendencies and wear them down. He knew the Wolverines were going to pull away in the second half without taking risks. He didn't dive deep into the playbook to do it. He also knew that MSU was missing too many offensive starters to be much of a threat for a big play.
Like everyone else, I was worried when the score was tied but like everyone else it seemed to be over at the end of the third. Too many rushing yards on our side (a pleasant surprise) and no 3rd down conversions on their side.