November 10th, 2018 at 6:37 PM ^
The good:
Fades and jump balls to the tall fellas.
Tru Wilson's vision between the tackles.
Shea Patterson absolutely slinging it.
The bad:
Higdon should try following his blockers more often.
Bell isn't as athletic as the coaches think.
The ugly:
Rutgers is still in the Big Ten.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:50 PM ^
They kept the playbook vanilla and prevented any significant injuries to key players. Well done if you ask me. More of the same next week.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:08 PM ^
Are Hill and Paye okay?
November 10th, 2018 at 7:40 PM ^
Hill is in concussion protocol. Paye TBD.
November 11th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^
Maybe it was from an OP's Hello post, but I always thought his name was Payne. Until yesterday
November 10th, 2018 at 7:13 PM ^
Yup. Nothing but vanilla next week too. Get past Miami and off to Columbass to wrap up the tour.
November 11th, 2018 at 12:19 AM ^
....it seemed we threw a lot more downfield than in other games.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:22 PM ^
I actually thought Tru was our best back in the outside zone and pin and pull plays. Higdon doesn't have the patience or vision he has, and Evans has too much patience and not as much burst out of his cut.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:39 PM ^
So, where are all the “no way Joe Milton is the backup” this week guys. I’d love to pick up that conversation where I left off with you guys...
November 10th, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^
Safe to say Peters is officially transferring.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:44 PM ^
Probably yes
November 10th, 2018 at 6:44 PM ^
I think that has been safe to say for a long time. Now it seems like he’s either checked out or he’s in the doghouse.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:47 PM ^
What evidence shows Peters is either checked out or in the doghouse? It seems he’s still the backup. They got a bigger lead on his one snap, didn’t need him to get hurt either, and then put Milton in to get some seasoning.
My guess is if they need one of them Peters is the first guy of the bench.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:25 PM ^
Look at how much work Dylan was getting as a true number 2. If Peters slid right into that roll, don’t you think you’d want your rusty QB2 to get all the live reps he could?
I agree they used the reps to season Milton, but wouldn’t they have been better spent trying to get your number two up to snuff?
No proof, but it’s suggestive of “Peters needs a louder voice” and “Peters checked out when he didn’t win QB1” might still be floating around.
We will see. I hope he’s improved from last year.
November 11th, 2018 at 6:46 AM ^
I agree with you JPC. If Peters is the backup, I would have liked to seen him out there for the whole quarter running the offense, making reads and making throws. What if he has to come in the game in two weeks? I think he has thrown one pass this year or something like that. He absolutely needs the work.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:12 PM ^
Anyone who wants to see the obvious it is right in front of you. Peters is the backup. Proof in that he came if first. There is no point in risking an injury to him vs Rutgers. Also, Milton looks like a freshman. The game is going really fast for him. His clock is running real fast. I am not knocking the young man. Peter is the backup and that isn't even questionable.
November 11th, 2018 at 11:02 AM ^
Also, look who we play next weekend. INDIANA...Peters' home state. This is something college coaches in all sports do. When you play a team from your home state or area, they try and get those kids some playing time. Peters got in for one series (as probably promised) and was first off the bench. If it's a blowout next week, Peters will likely get more snaps and Joe will likely not see the field.
November 11th, 2018 at 1:56 PM ^
I think that the evidence for Peters is that Milton actually played in garbage time.
If Milton was the backup for competitive game situations and you wanted to preserve his redshirt, why would you blow one of his last three redshirt-preserving appearances in garbage time? He didn't even throw a pass.
November 11th, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^
Milton did the smart thing on 3rd and 7, up by 35: take the sack and let the clock run. He was immediately pressured, muscled out of it, and decided not to throw when there were no options (and not just throw OOB and stop the clock). The game might be fast for him, but that play wasn't evidence of it.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:31 PM ^
Peters will never see the field in any meaningful way.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:44 PM ^
This Milton redshirt talk is confusing me.
If Shea is coming back next year (which he should), a healthy DCaf is his backup and Milton redshirts next year .
November 10th, 2018 at 6:47 PM ^
Milton can't redshirt this year and next. I do think Shea comes back and we have a dominant offense next year
November 10th, 2018 at 6:49 PM ^
I think he's suggesting Milton redshirt next year instead of this with Dylan being injured.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:52 PM ^
Didn't know if it's confusing, but to clarify, no redshirt for Milton this year and then do it next year would make sense if Shea is indeed planning on returning.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:48 PM ^
It’s simple. It’s still relatively easy to get a redshirt on him this year. Assuming he gets it this year he can play in every game next year assuming opportunities are available.
Also, a lot of early season games are good for lots of snaps for multiple backups and he simply wasn’t ready this year at that early point.
Also, just as this year, he’s one injury away from being the backup (or now, starter).
November 11th, 2018 at 8:03 AM ^
If that's so certain, why didn't that happen this year in the exact same circumstance?
November 10th, 2018 at 6:51 PM ^
I guess you missed Peters going in after Patterson. Milton was 3rd string.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:55 PM ^
Pretty easy to miss since Peters only played 1 down. 61 yards per play - not bad.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:13 PM ^
He sure handed the shit off of that ball to Evans though.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:33 PM ^
Clearly established as the #2 QB in terms of handling the ball off. ;)
November 10th, 2018 at 7:13 PM ^
But he wasn't the backup this week? The fact Milton played and still came in after Peters strengthens the case Peters is the backup. This wasn't even a case where Milton was the backup but didn't play too preserve his redshirt.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^
Loved the shift to more balanced (i.e., more passing). Hated that it seemed to come because we couldn’t run between the tackles. This would be a bigger concern if we didn’t have 8 other weeks of good evidence. Onward.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:43 PM ^
Guessing the runs were super vanilla. Only even threatened a read option once with Shea in the game that I saw.
November 10th, 2018 at 10:42 PM ^
I don't actually think they called one play were Shea had the green light to pull. The defense was selling out to stop the run a bunch and was not worried about Shea keeping because they knew Michigan wouldn't rusk shea getting hurt in that game. And why should they.
This did make it much harder to run though because the whole defense can key on the back and not worry about the QB .
November 11th, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
There was at least one play I saw that had a mesh point, but I’m guessing you’re right that Shea was back to the early season “slider set to always give” mode.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^
Pretty vanilla in the run game. Shea did a good job of staying in the pocket and letting plays develop, and when he did have to break the pocket, throwing accurate passes on the run. WRs looked pretty good but there's room for improvement with contested deep balls
November 10th, 2018 at 6:54 PM ^
Amazingly, his most accurate passes are when he's on the run. Been that way all year. He's still throwing the deep balls way too late.
November 10th, 2018 at 7:07 PM ^
Any Top 25 team would kill for their QB to have his stat line, but here we go with the armchair QB coaches giving the two cents that nobody wants.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:12 PM ^
Any top 25 team? Hyperbole much? Only fair to compare Shea on certain stats because M just doesn't throw like other teams. His stats look paltry when it comes to yards, yards/game, #of completions, etc.
Passing stats going into this week:
Comp% Shea was 21st. There are 10 other top 25 teams who's QB's have a better stat there.
QB rating Shea was tied for 16th. There are 9 other top 25 teams whos QB's are either tied or better stat there.
TD/INT ratio. Shea is about equal with most of those 9 on the QB rating and not as good as several.
Book from ND has better stats across the board even with # of completions despite playing 3 less games.
I didn't compare any of these QB's on rushing stats but will grant you that OSU would probably keep Haskins arm but trade for Sheas legs.
November 10th, 2018 at 8:42 PM ^
So you think there's a Top 25 team that would be disappointed with their QB having that stat sheet today?
I never said that every team would rather have Shea than their own QB, I'm saying that there's no perfect QB in football and nitpicking every type, read and look that is performed is ridiculous and kinda snobby.
No offense intended, I just see this guy playing lights-out nearly every week and the Michigan fan "elite" section dissect every single on-field decision amd throw the kid makes, as if only a 100% completion percentage, 5 TD and 100 yd rushing performance would be tolerable.
November 10th, 2018 at 9:18 PM ^
Unwad those panties girlfriend. You said "any" and "kill for" and "his stat line", the latter of which I thought you meant cumulative/season. I'm guessing that many or most of the top 25 had QB's today who's stats there were perfectly fine with hence the need to not kill anyone.
I'm totally stoked on Shea. Compared to what we've had the last two years he is a godsend. But I constantly read on here how he is leaving to become a 1st rd. pick which I find laughable. I do also point out that the weak part of his game is his deep ball which has been thrown - on time - once this year. Last week to Tarik and it was called back. I watch the games live, while recording them, then watch them again later, and possibly a third time. He has a great arm. He just isn't throwing the deep ones on time, ever. They are always late making the receiver have to slow down, stop, come back, get it broken up, you name it. Even the bomb to Nico today was 2 seconds late. But it was OK because he was 20 yards open. No NFL scout will look at a guy who can't throw it deep on time or who is constantly underthrowing it. So lets not give a guy the Heisman whos "season" line is way down the list on most stats. I do marvel, as pointed out, at his accuracy on run.
November 10th, 2018 at 10:44 PM ^
We are a run first offense, and we are quite good at running the ball. This means we don’t throw it like the NDs and OSUs of the world.
November 10th, 2018 at 9:46 PM ^
We will not be satisfied until we have a QB with Denard’s legs, Navarre’s size, and Henne’s arm.
November 11th, 2018 at 8:41 AM ^
...and Brady’s face.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^
Shea didn't get hurt. That's all that matters.
November 10th, 2018 at 6:43 PM ^
Huge mistake putting him in the game. It was unnecessary and stupid. That makes 2 games now he’s been in with 2 to go and a BiG10 championship game and possible playoff
November 10th, 2018 at 6:52 PM ^
I literally have zero clues as to why people expect Milton to play against OSU or either of a B1G CG or playoff game.
November 11th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^
If he sees the field in any meaningful way after next week something has gone terribly, terribly wrong and our playoff hopes are probably doa
November 11th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^
I based it more off a Shea injury, why everyone is Salty and beg voting is the reason people think our fan base is Finicky and feel entitled. It’s was still STUPID to put him in last Saturday. God forbid something happened to Shea he wouldn’t be able to finish the year at QB and it would be musical QB’s