Tuesday General 'Bama Over-exuberance Thread
August 28th, 2012 at 2:09 AM ^
If they go all out on offense. Some great creative spread plays with Robinson throwing and running. It would be great if Alabama can not stop our offense from scoring! If the offense comes out clicking, then we've got a good chance. Don't try to play traditional in the trenches football with them.
August 28th, 2012 at 2:56 AM ^
send me a message and we can correspond, I'll edit this message in about a half hour
August 28th, 2012 at 4:09 AM ^
got it just sent you a note...
August 28th, 2012 at 2:21 AM ^
"Michigan is 2-1 against Alabama. 2-0 against Florida. 20-5-1 against current SEC teams. 7-3 against SEC in Bowl Games. Playing Alabama is tough, but nothing new for Michigan."
August 28th, 2012 at 9:46 AM ^
And most of these stats are from the last 10-20 years, not from the 1800's or anything Ohio State-ish like that.
We don't need to cherry-pick our time periods. We're good in all of them.
August 28th, 2012 at 1:06 PM ^
"You see, we only count the games that happened when the US may or may not have been in a post-war economic boom with 53.67% of the House being Republican and the average temperature was higher than the year before but lower than the year after and when we got less than 15.679 inches of rain in any given month. So by our calculations, OSU is 43-0 against Michigan"
August 28th, 2012 at 2:26 AM ^
The last play of the game will be Denard taking a knee for a Michigan W. BOOK IT.
August 28th, 2012 at 2:47 AM ^
August 28th, 2012 at 3:34 AM ^
It doesn't take an OC coordinator with a great deal of experience to realize what we have to do against Bama to put up five TDs, although I'm not certain that will be enough. However, Al does have a great deal of experience as a coordinator and I have no reason to believe he will decide to come in with a plan that will take away his obvious advantages. The only problem that has not yet been resolved in my brain is whether or not DR will have determined he still is in the proving mode, hoping for a spot in the NFL at qb. or whether or not he will take advantage of all his skills to become what he should be, and that would be the most dangerous and productive qb in cfb this season. Here is what Borges wil ask and we'll learn the answers on Sep 1:
DR, I am aware I came in saying you could run for thousands of yards but could pass for miles. With that said, I did not realize just how effective you could be if you follow a few simple
Denard Robinso Rules. They are as follow:
Instead of throwing a pass with even a hint of chance of interception -we have no Jr. Hemmingway to catch passes like a power forward going up for a rebound- when at the same time they give you the first down marker, which always means you have a chance to take it to the house, will you opt for the later? If Robinson says No. 2 coach, this will be huge and when he does pick up the first down, he must also make the decision on possible future yardage on that given play. If he knows he is only guaranteed another 5 instead of going out of bounds, opt for the sidelines.
This one is on Al. Will you actually take the time to teach DR the basic principles of the option? If so, he will not have to run over five yards before he can decide. Based on the way 99% of defenses choose to defend DR, he'll know within one second whether his assigned defender has sold out to him, and if so, simply pitch it back to Fitz and watch someone's ypc go up faster than the price of housing has gone down. This could prove to be one of the most productive plays of our offense, and yes, it will work against any team, including Bama and USC, probably the two teams right now with future pro defenders.
Denard, you are aware you've done more in two years than Ricky Leach did in four, however, this is what Ricky did not do. He did not drive us into the red zone and then take 50/50 chances on passes inside this 20 yd period. I'll give you the majority of time Bo never asked this of him and instead opted for him to run the option. So what I'm telling you DR instead of setting in the pocket and tossing something that might be ugly, let's just opt to keep to this: If no receiver 5 yds open of initial read, use your running ability to move the football closer to the end zone. History says 65% of the time plays such as these will turn out favorable for us. And getting back to that option Denard, this is when we will really employ it. If the defender is there, pitch it and Fitz will be guaranteed a first down, if not the whole six. This is something I will continue to teach you. After a few of these, the defense will make adjustments and because of this, players like Gallon, Roundtree, Gardner, et. al. will be as wide open as they were your first year under the helm here.
Al again: 'I'm going to make some changes because I'll never coach another like you. Because you are going to the league next year, you will never have another coach like me, even though your position will most likely be different. However, if we both use our combined skills, there is not a defense at this level that can stop us. It's impossible. You are just too fucking good and rare they can, in no way, stop you with the limitations of facing you only once in any given year.
The one point i'm trying ti impress here is that if Al can convince DR he does not have to take chances on passes, our offense will improve by 14 pr game and this includes vs. the Tide. He has something very few qbs at this level have ever had. That is merely taking a step in either direction and then decide if receiver is not at a point where you hit him 8 out of 10 times in practice, go no further in progression Decide immediately if there is a running option. If not, move outside the tackle and throw it to Ft. Worth. When play in whistled dead, we've done something positive based on following these directions and if not, we still have the ball and drive has not ended in another pick.
97 out of every 100 qbs at the college level are limited because they possess merely human skills, some at higher rates than ever. However, DR and RG III belong in the former group. For example, Luck would be placed in the other 97, despite his cannon and overall total grasp of the position. They can actually dictate what the defense will do, not prior to snap, but after as well. Hell, it could be fun to dust off RR's playbook, especially given the fact we have Fitz in the backfield now and we'll see things that are so rare that only RR and a few others with superior qbs like Kelly at Ore are able to pull them off. We can force defenders to come after DR, leaving the receiving corps open much like we did just a couple years ago. This is the reason RR brought DR here, not because he was lining up behind a line full of 6'6", 345 OLmen to lead the iso plays. If Al can do a great RR impersonation this year, we'll see things at UM scoreboard wise we won't see again because as JoePa put it, "The Great Experiment" is a success.
August 28th, 2012 at 4:13 AM ^
Here is Bama's production on O last year... they were very run heavy:
http://www.rollbamaroll.com/2012/4/19/2951965/alabamas-offensive-produc…
That is the key to the game...stop or slow down the run!
August 28th, 2012 at 6:36 AM ^
Well put. I wonder if the coachs read mgoblog..if so i hope they come up on this
August 28th, 2012 at 3:52 AM ^
what was otherwise a very well-articulated and compelling offensive strategy.
August 28th, 2012 at 6:09 AM ^
August 28th, 2012 at 6:32 AM ^
"Sometimes, when the crew is up against it, the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to get out there and give it all they got and win just one for the Zipper."
Honestly, it has been a long time since I have been this excited for a first-week OOC game. Go Blue! Roll The Tide!
August 28th, 2012 at 2:50 PM ^
Makes me want to fight someone
August 28th, 2012 at 6:25 AM ^
Then suspend Fitz for the second game.
August 28th, 2012 at 7:39 AM ^
...I had a dream last night that we were ahead by about 3 or 4 points with 1:09 to play and 'Bama had the ball. It was up to our defense...
Of course, I woke up before the clock expired!
August 28th, 2012 at 7:49 AM ^
Just because a post is on topic does not mean it is thread-worthy. This one can survive for now, but try to stay focused. We have 4 and a half days left. In short:
Also (and this is NOT directed at the OP), hurricane-related humor is not generally a good idea, and is somewhat less amusing when there is a Tropical Storm/Hurricane bearing down on the coast right now.
August 28th, 2012 at 8:09 AM ^
August 28th, 2012 at 8:50 AM ^
Tonights my last shift of work before the game!!!!
August 28th, 2012 at 9:03 AM ^
August 28th, 2012 at 9:05 AM ^
Both are way overdue for some Karmic Retribution
August 28th, 2012 at 9:38 AM ^
I'm going to assume that your assertion stems from a well-meaning enthusiasm for what Denard can do and what kind of person he is rather than from a dismissal of Leach's career. Denard's already secured a prominent place in Michigan football history, and we all hope he will burnish his legend this year.
However, for the record, this is what Rick Leach did:
• Went 38-8-2 as a starter in his four-year career, finishing with three straight 10-2 seasons
• Was the starting QB from the first game of his freshman season to his last game against USC in the 1979 Rose Bowl (the Phantom Touchdown game)
• Led Michigan to three straight B10 co-championships, going 3-0 against OSU in the process
• Beat OSU twice down in Columbus
• Set a bucketful of UM records, and was All-American in 1978
Nothing that Denard achieves this season should diminish what Leach achieved.
August 28th, 2012 at 10:30 AM ^
I feel we're playing with house money in this game -- barring a serious injury to a major contributor (possible in any game), we really can't come out of this at a disadvantage as long as we don't get blown out. (I view getting blown out as unlikely, given how well this coaching staff prepares the team and Mattison's emphasis on not allowing big plays.)
- It's a great benchmark for the players, fans, and coaches to see where we are as a team before Big Ten play begins;
- We get credit for playing the defending nat'l champs, but we get them at the best time possible, the opener, when they are replacing lots of starters from a national championship roster;
- Any non-blowout loss will easily be mitigated by the quality of the opponent and b/c it will come so early in the season.
All that said, I would *really* love to see us beat the Evil Saban and shut up the "EEESSSSS-EEEEEE-CEEEEEEEE!" bozos. Go Blue!
August 28th, 2012 at 11:22 AM ^
With all the focus on Bama, is anyone worried we might overlook Air Force? I know the coaching staff does a great job of preparing the team, but the triple option can be tough to prepare for. I'm slightly worried that we do win this one & that the come-down from the high will be harsh the following week vs AF. Even if we lose close in this one, I'm still more worried about AF than I am about any of the other September games. Am I the only one feeling this way?
August 28th, 2012 at 1:34 PM ^
There's enough to worry about already for this week.
-- First Law of Worry Management
August 28th, 2012 at 2:09 PM ^
August 28th, 2012 at 5:38 PM ^
August 29th, 2012 at 12:38 PM ^
August 28th, 2012 at 2:26 PM ^
Alabama
Loses Richardson (1st), Hanks, Maze, and Smelley. Their leading rusher and their top 4 leaders in receiving.
Loses Hightower, Kirkpatrick, Barron, Menzie, Upshaw, Harris, Chapman, and Hightower. Most of their secondary, and most of their front 7.
Michigan
Loses Hemingway, Koger, Molk. Their leading receiver, solid Tight End, and All-American Center.
Loses Troy Woolfolk, Mike Martin, Will Heininger, Ryan Van Bergen.
*Potentially Toussaint.
Popular Beliefs in the Media
Alabama reloads/replaces all their missing pieces, goes on to win the SEC, and is vying for the National Championship.
Michigan cannot reload/replace all their missing pieces, loses to Alabama, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Ohio State because Urban Meyer will have them ready like it's a "bowl" game.
*The ideas in Wolfman's post are well-done, but in his opening he states that 5 touchdowns wouldn't be enough, which confuses me.
Personal Prediction
Alabama has a great offensive line which will be a challenge. But if they are one-dimensional, Michigan will stop them. The X-Factor will be A.J McCarron, if he is efficient and keeps the attack balanced, their offense could be dangerous. But losing Trent Richardson as a rusher and as a pass-catcher, as well as his other top 3 targets, will hinder their passing game. Defensively they will be tough to run straight at, but losing most of their secondary gives Michigan an area to attack. Denard is in his 3rd year as a starter, returns most of his targets this year so I do see an improvement. And if Denard can throw, that backs them off the line and opens up for Denard to run. My prediction is if Michigan scores 20+, they win.