Spring Game Reaction Thread

Submitted by Qmatic on
Great to be back in the Big House. Great turnout and atmosphere.

ontarioblue

April 4th, 2015 at 6:33 PM ^

How big of a miss is he going to be. He couldn't get any playing time today with how poorly the other two played. Based on today it is no wonder Harbaugh is only recruiting quarterbacks so far. Brady really didnt know how to evaluate or improve any of his QB's.

Perkis-Size Me

April 4th, 2015 at 6:34 PM ^

The QBs looked decent to good today. Shane looked better as the day went on, and it was definitely nice to see the guys have time to work in the pocket. Some thoughts, though:

-The run game still needs work, but a lot of that looks like it can be attributed to the O-Line. Outside of the first run of the day by Smith, there was a whole lot of nothing. The position still seems to lack some top end speed. Was also hoping to see Isaac today.

-Wideouts need some serious work. Quite a few balls today that looked right on the money and the receiver just couldn't maintain control. Hopefully someone emerges before the opener, or otherwise we're going to need a lot of help from Butt and Bunting.

-O-Line looked alright. Hoped they'd open more running holes, but they'll get better. Eventually when the defense is staring at the same reads and same plays every day in practice, they can pick up on what the offense is doing.

-I know the defense is usually ahead of the offense at this point of a coaching change, but regardless, the defense looked good. Depending on how much progression the line can make in terms of pressuring the QB, the defense could be very good.

-Again, Shane looked better, but he still looked like at times he tried putting too much pepper on his throws. Malzone looked great for a kid who's three months removed from high school.




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ama11

April 4th, 2015 at 6:35 PM ^

I see that a lot of people are concerned about the offense, but you have to understand that this defense may actually be pretty stacked. The amount of talent in the front 7 is plentiful to say the least. The secondary was also very impressive in their man converage today as well. This makes it very hard for the offense to hit their timing routes. That's why you started to see three step drops and quick fades/slants later on in the pass game. Had to start working the man beating concepts.

The offense being split down the middle talent-wise is very devestating to production, especially in the run game. Offense has to have a chemistry that comes from working together over a long period of time. Defense, since it is very reaction-oriented, can work well with just plugging and playing kids in spots without having to work together over a long time. Over the course of fall camp. The offense will be working with players that have been on the same lineup over a greater period of time and you will start to see it gel. When you see the offense being run by the first team regularly, you will see the Harbaugh offense be efficient and impose it's will on opposing defenses.

I am not worried about the offense AT ALL. Harbaugh/Drevno/Fisch will get it working by the time we go to Utah. The defense, I feel is a squad to be really excited about. I think they may be a Top 10 Defense in the whole country this year. Depth and talent just about everywhere, even in the secondary with the addition of Lyons and the emergence of Watson. Henry, Hurst and Marshall were a revelation on DL from what I could see. The DL looked very well coached and disruptive today. SACKS!!!! There were actually sacks today!

My way to early prediction is 10-2 ceiling and a 8-4 floor. We will beat either OSU or MSU this year, but not both. If I had to choose I think we beat MSU.

I'm excited about the fall season, which I have not been since we first hired Hoke and thought he was gonna be great (which he did have a great 1st season with the Sugar Bowl). Don't panic, Harbaugh will get this team ready to win.

uncleFred

April 4th, 2015 at 6:45 PM ^

Given the split of talent on the Oline it's no wonder that defense dominated. 

When Malzone was drafted ahead of Morris so many here announced his banishment to the bench. Not so much. The best tight end the most experienced wide receiver played with Shane. If you look at who was where on both teams, it seems pretty clear that the coordinators arranged to have certain players together on both offense and defense, on both teams.

Everyone looked rough, but you can see that there is talent and drive. 

The offense and defense that hits the field on Sepetember 3rd will not look nuch like what we saw today.

I expect that Rudock will be a solid QB, demonstrating the poise, confidence, and expertise gained starting for two years. I hope that Shane beats him out for the starting role. That would mean that we have real quality at QB, and that means 1-3 more games that reason suggests they can win. 

Hard to wait for fall.

GO Blue!

Esterhaus

April 4th, 2015 at 7:09 PM ^

 
And kicking (?). O should be competitive and D beastly by Fall. 
 
Dilution, injuries and transition are O problems now that should be remediable over Summer. I'm glad they're on display and some weak points apprehend they are wearing scarlet letters on their foreheads. I have faith our staff will correct deficiencies with exception of kicking.
 
I do worry about our kicking. Have you noticed? We are going to need kicking, all aspects.

UMFanstuckinOhio

April 4th, 2015 at 8:15 PM ^

Of what I saw being their today.

-Love the coachimg staff. Durkin is intense and that passion shows on the defensive side of the ball.

-Harbaugh is locked in to turning this around and everyone is on board.

-Defense is going to be very tuff. Peppers, Bolden and Hurst Jr. are primed to have breakout 1st team all BIG year,plus maybe more.

-Still not convinced this Seconday will hold up in press man coverage. If you doubt that ask yourself why Norfleet is in the 4 deep at corner?

-Wide receivers are weak and have not developed to where they need to be to have a balanced offense.

-Because of the above the tight ends are going to have to carry the passing game and defenses will try and shut them down because we are weak on the outside. However, Butt will eat linbackers for lunch if teams do not put a saftey on him.

-O-line is still weak. The running game was nothing today and the quarterbacks were pressured all day.

-If Shallman is in the 3 deep at rumning back the running game is in trouble. A lot of people seemed impressed today, I was not. He is slow to excelerate to the hole, has no vision and does not finish runs hard for a bigger back. He may be a hard worker and that is why he is seeing time this spring, but I hope he slides down the depth chat this fall.

-QB's-I acctualy thought Malzone looked goid for being in campus since Jan. Hus recievers did not help him early and I felt like he lost a little confidence the rest of the day. Morris looked improved, but I do not believe he comes out of fall camp with the job.

Overall, great excitement and hope in the air today. I left feeling like it was just that hope. The defense is going to have to play out of their minds to keep us in games next fall.

JonnyHintz

April 4th, 2015 at 8:27 PM ^

First of all, how are you basing who is in the two/three deep for the team based on this scrimmage?

Norfleet in the 4 deep at CB? Countess, Lewis, Stribling, and Watson all would be ahead of him. Not to mention Lyons once he arrives. Just because he played a bit of corner doesnt mean he's in the 4 deep. Realistically, the way the teams are split up it could be that Norfleet is the #6 CB on the team but #3 on this scrimmage team.

Same argument for Shallman. Aside from Ty Isaac, who is supposed to be limited as he recovers from an injury, the only other running back on the blue team was 5'4" 160 lb walk-on Antonio Whitfield. Ross Taylor-Douglass even took a rep at RB. I liked the way he played, but I don't see how you figure his roster spot based on this game.

When you split your team in half this way, you're going to have depth issues. Guys are going to have to play offense and defense. Guys who are an afterthought on the team depth chart will see back-up and third string reps. To assume that Norfleet is a top 4 corner because he played there today would be ignorant. You're basing your depth chart assumptions on absolutely nothing.

UMFanstuckinOhio

April 4th, 2015 at 8:51 PM ^

While I agree that he could be as far down as 5th until Lyons arrives.You act like he saw a couple of snaps at corner today. Corner was his primary position today from warm ups. He took pretty much every single snap at corner. Plus reports are that he has been running corner reps in pratice for the last 2 almost 3 weeks. If that is the case that tells me that the coaches are looking for depth at corner. Plus did you watch any games last year? Our corners were awful in press man. My comment was not as much about Norfleet as it was a concern for the personal that we have at corner being able to play press man.

As far as Shallman, there were many comments in this thred raving about him. I simply do nit see it AT ALL.

JonnyHintz

April 5th, 2015 at 10:04 AM ^

They have been working on Norfleet as a nickel corner in practice. Ya know, against smaller slot guys mostly. Not lined up outside on a 6'2" 220 lb receiver. That was simply a product of the depleted depth caused by the draft.

Again, my whole point was, how can you determine Norfleet is in the two deep or Shallman is in the three deep based on a spring game with the teams split in two? You can't do that. Players had to play new positions, both sides of the ball, and even multiple positions to adjust to the depleted depth. Don't look so far into it.

karlfink18

April 4th, 2015 at 10:21 PM ^

for a lot more out of the offensive line.  Especially the Maize team which had most of the starters. This is an experienced group but Drevno still has his hands full.

Bigasshammm

April 4th, 2015 at 8:23 PM ^

Just getting time to get on here after watching. Sure it's been talked about before but my takes.
Malzone has a terribly slow arm windup on his passes.
Shane has a rocket arm but his accuracy is meh.
Too little to know about the line with it being split between two teams.
Apparently the other 6(?) QBs on the roster didn't warrant any playing time?
Receivers look very weak.

Ryanonymous

April 4th, 2015 at 9:47 PM ^

Arm strength is way better than Tebow and also Tebow was a beast in college. Don't tell me you would be mad at the idea of having someone as good as Tebow was at Florida as our QB.

Plus judging the kid this early based on one scrimmage is a bad idea. He has plenty of time to learn and work with Harbaugh on improving his game.

steve sharik

April 4th, 2015 at 9:21 PM ^

...they thought it was too loud, so I saw two plays: Morris to Darboh and Morris to Dukes for the TD.  I did manage to catch DJ Wilson and Kam Chatman in the gate...Camp Sanderson will be busy this summer.

Here, however, are my thoughts:

  • The estimated attendance by checking the fullness of the stadium is underestimating b/c there were a lot of people both coming and going during the 2nd quarter; I'd estimate that when I was there it was about 75% full, so around 80K.  Therefore, I'd estimate close to 100K saw some part of the scrimmage today.
  • There were no major injuries, so the day was a success.  Other than that, with only 14 practices before this, a new staff, a lot of new faces, vanilla schemes, and talent being split amongst two squads....the results of today don't mean very much.

wolverinebutt

April 4th, 2015 at 11:01 PM ^

Thanks for all of the observations.  I heard some of the game on the radio.  The WR's sounded terrible.  

Also a thanks to Auerbach for getting off the silly Alex Malzone stuff.  Alex sounds like a great kid, from a great program, but don't hand him the starting job as a true freshman in April. Hopefully he competes very strongly and may the best QB win the job in summer camp.

We need a QB that can manage the game, not turn the ball over and keep the drives going with his arm when needed.   Maybe something like Wisconsin used to at the QB position. 

  

CoachBP6

April 5th, 2015 at 1:44 AM ^

The receivers were as underwhelming as your typical Monday undershirt. Whatever optimism I shared for them shrank drastically, like my scrotum in the northern Atlantic. Was this football on display? Was this an elongated Madden glitch, resulting in another defective controller?

The 60,000 people that joined the congregation in the biggest of houses on a brisk April afternoon, undoubtedly left with a somber season prediction in their hearts, and a hoss sized blimpy burger on their minds. Only an alcohol induced 3 hour nap, and a visit to MGOBLOG can talk you down from the ledge.

The quarterbacking on Saturday, was painful in the way heartburn often is, creeping on slowly before making you wish you had a detachable esophagus. Malzone's first completion made me feel like captain Quint from Jaws, slowly inching toward an inevitable, painful death.

After my third time watching this game on my lint infested couch cushions, I realized something wonderful, and uplifting. This day was Saturday, April 4th, and Jim Mother Fucking Harbaugh still has one day shy of five months to craft this group of men into something resembling a team. Jim Harbaugh is to Michigan as Billy Joe is to green day, the mother fucking catalyst.

Five months from now, we'll be celebrating our first win because Jim Harbaugh saw the same game we did today, and he wont let that happen again.