thoughts on the game

Submitted by bentley2121 on

well it didn't go exactly as I hoped ... I am a hopeless optimist.  

First observation:  Threet starts very well, but seemed to be less and less willing to keep the ball on the option read with minor.  I mean a couple times the replay showed he had an easy 10 yards if he keeps.  I think this might be part of the reason he was pulled.  He seems to shy away from carrying the ball lately and that might be in part the injury benching reason.

Second: This defense just isn't very good.  I know they got put in some $%^&$#@ situations that sucked but damn.  Poor tackling, missed reads, blown assignments, same old defense of yester year.  I really blame this on all parties involved including the recruiting of the last 3 to 4 years, definitely some attrition, but mostly lack of talent.  by the way the linebacker play was awful, can't wait to see the UFR.

Third: Too many times this season Michigan has had 3rd and long on defense and can't get off the field.  They almost always rush three and drop into a soft zone.  This kills me, I would absolutely rather rush 6 or 7, play man and maybe give up a big play every now and then vs. a conversion rate that has to be well above 50%, but I am not positive on that.  Curious if this stuff bugs other people? 

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bentley2121

October 18th, 2008 at 8:10 PM ^

oh yeah by the way ... someone with knowledge of the 3 man front.  Is it common to stunt as much as Michigan did today.  It seemed like Martin stunted a whole hell of lot and psu hit a seam in the middle of the line time after time.  it would seem that with a 3 man front stunting would leave a gaping hole.  Just curious.

Joined: 09/03/2008

MGoPoints: 1

jblaze

October 18th, 2008 at 11:22 PM ^

An Average year at Stanford? That's all? Seems like he is in over his head. The second half was awful. I'm not sure why RR dropped English.

Maybe RR will fire Shafer and send him back the the "semi-Ivy league".

Joined: 08/29/2008

MGoPoints: 19316

spartyNO

October 19th, 2008 at 2:58 PM ^

On their second touchdown, Warren was literally standing behind both of those receivers, who were wide open in the bottom left hand corner of the end zone.  He was right behind both of them, with no other defender nearby, and he just fucking stood there.  Easy TD.

One of those long passes was just a great catch and a great throw.  On the other he just completely lost sight of the ball and the receiver and allowed his man to get seperation. 

I know cornerback is a really hard position to play, because you have no idea where your man's going to go until he's already there, but both Warren and Trent have not played that well this year.  It's not that our CBs and safeties aren't athletic enough to make plays; they just play stupid, which is really frustrating to watch.

 

 

Joined: 07/16/2008

MGoPoints: 5

Anonymous Coward (not verified)

October 18th, 2008 at 8:44 PM ^

I think that the time has come to face the fact that the disaster of this season is defensively which is the experienced side of the ball.  The coaches on that side of the ball have not coached the kids up at all.  I think a change here will have to be made.  Our young offense has done OK in light of the youth and scheme change but really the defense does not keep us remotely in games with the better teams.  What really is troubling is we rarely make stops on 3rd and long.  With a merely average defense we could be playing the same and be 4-3 at worst.  All the total apoligist that complain about giving the staff time, and this year being a loss still have to look at the job the coaches are doing and the spread has nothing to do with a defense that can't stop anybody with any speed or scheme.  The wide open throw right before half was a joke.  The kid just stood there at the goal line with guys surrounding him just watching = the announcers were stunned that a soft zone would be applied at the goal line.  I think Rich Rod will make some adjustments in his staff after the season and I think he needs to take a long look at Shafer.

Joined: 12/12/2017

MGoPoints: 0

BleedingBlue

October 18th, 2008 at 9:58 PM ^

The safeties royally sucking are the biggest reason we have been doing the whole rush three-zone drop thing on third down.   Otherwise we WILL get burned, not maybe get burned.  I may be wrong on this, but we were not doing that earlier in the season when they still thought Stevie Brown was not horrible.

Joined: 07/25/2008

MGoPoints: 2165

brown

October 18th, 2008 at 10:05 PM ^

Brandon Minor Haters - Stop.  You were wrong. He is good. We might not have scored once if McGuffie was in that game. Not sayin Mcguffie is bad, but he's just too small to run through anything that is not a gaping hole at this point.

Joined: 07/01/2008

MGoPoints: 90

chitownblue (not verified)

October 19th, 2008 at 9:44 AM ^

As, I guess, a Minor "hater", I want to clarify something - I took no joy in seeing a Michigan player fumble, repeatedly. I did feel that, however, because he did fumble, alot, he was too risky to play. I am glad that, for at least one game, he showed he can overcome that problem.

So, I'm happy to say that he proved me wrong, at least for one day.

Joined: 12/12/2017

MGoPoints: 0

Ziff72

October 18th, 2008 at 10:28 PM ^

I have no problem going with the 3 man front as a change of pace we get decent pressure from it, but our back 8 is simply horrid.  For guys to be that open is ridiculous.  I have to hope that is not what is taught or Schaffer is 1 and done.

Joined: 07/07/2008

MGoPoints: 9823

littlebrownjug

October 19th, 2008 at 9:03 AM ^

1.    Brandon Minor looked great yesterday, and he really took great pains to hold on to the ball.
2.    This team cannot afford to take stupid penalties, and when Criswell took the personal foul at the end of the half, I started throwing things at the TV. Somehow, I just knew that would give momentum to PSU.
3.    Royster is a nice combo back, and I really like their quarterback.
4.    Our O Line actually played a pretty good game against a far superior defensive front.
5.    Feagin must be terrible, because Sheridan is strictly a JV kind of player.
6.    Stevie Brown’s continuing lack of feel and poor play is not as troubling as the fact that the coaching staff still puts him out there.
7.    While Zoltan did not have his best day, we did not give up too many big plays in the kick return game.
8.    We play against a team that is totally one-dimensional next week, and we should have 8 in the box on every snap. Sparty is beatable, which I would not have believed a few weeks ago.
9.    The better team won. The fact that Michigan made this a compelling game for about 3 quarters is impressive.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 694

formerlyanonymous

October 19th, 2008 at 11:08 AM ^

I thought our OL played much better for Threet than they did Sheridan.  I'm not sure if it was the difference in cadences or what, but when Threet was in the game, the OL had a push.  When Sheridan entered, the OL collapsed continually.  When Threet reinserted himself (which I find awesome even if it was for naught), we got that push back for a few plays.  The one blitz for the sack/forced fumble was the only time the OL didn't get a good push. 

I'm not certain State looks beatable.  Call it pessimism, but unless Threet is 100% ready to play the entire game, I don't think we stand a chance.  I'm interested to see our defensive alignment this week with Hoyer possibly out.  Their backup did an alright job, but nothing spectacular.  I doubt we use as many 3-3-5 fronts in 3rd and managable, or at least god I hope so.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 38964

chitownblue (not verified)

October 19th, 2008 at 9:45 AM ^

To make it clear: Threet was hurt. Clearly, That's why he stopped keeping, that's why the team stopped throwing as much. If you watch him run off the field after the 1st drive of the second half, his arm is just hanging at his side. Even the announcers said he was hurt. So all this speculation about why he was pulled should end - HE WAS INJURED.

Joined: 12/12/2017

MGoPoints: 0

Anonymous Coward (not verified)

October 20th, 2008 at 10:00 AM ^

in a pretty mediocre division losing in 4 games to a 97 win team in the best division in baseball is your definition of "shitting the bed" ? 

Joined: 12/12/2017

MGoPoints: 0