Ty Isaac on his way to a 76-yard touchdown
Hello, Ty Isaac! It was nice to see running back Ty Isaac have some success on the ground yesterday. He ended the game with 8 carries for 114 yards and 1 touchdown, which came on a 76-yarder. (That stat line is oddly similar to De’Veon Smith’s 8 carries, 115 yards, 2 touchdowns against last year’s patsy, Appalachian State.) Isaac is not a burner and won’t make a ton of guys miss, but he can be a physical runner when he keeps his shoulders square, and obviously he has enough speed to run away from a lot of defenders. When teams start to pack the box against Michigan, there are going to be times where nobody’s left once you get past the second level. That’s what happened on Isaac’s long run. The 76-yarder was the longest run at Michigan since Denard Robinson’s 79-yard touchdown against Air Force in 2012, and it was the longest by a Michigan running back since Carlos Browns 90-yard score against Eastern Michigan in 2009. I predicted that Isaac and starter De’Veon Smith would go over 100 yards, but Smith only ended up with 33 yards on 13 carries (2.5 yards/carry).
Hit the jump for the rest of my post-game thoughts.
The passing game is off, but there’s no QB controversy. Jim Harbaugh said after the game that Jake Rudock’s job is to win football games, and he succeeded on Saturday. The only other viable option seems to be Shane Morris, but Morris has been worse than Rudock. Michigan just has to suffer through the growing pains of a quarterback that doesn’t seem to be comfortable yet with the receivers. Rudock missed on some wide open throws to Drake Johnson and Jake Butt, both of which could have been touchdowns. That being said, I think both receiving targets may not have helped out Rudock with their routes. Both throws were behind the receivers, but Butt should have settled down earlier before he got near the defender; instead he kept drifting behind the linebacker, which forced Rudock to try to make a safe throw away from the defender. And Johnson looked like he took a sharper angle on his route than Rudock possibly expected, running almost more of a wheel than a flare. Of course, it’s possible that Rudock was just off, and he missed a fair number of other throws (14/22, 123 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception) but I thought those two wide-open misses might have had some more blame to go around.
Jehu Chesson has some speed. The theme of the wide receivers getting faster is not going away. It was a lesser opponent, obviously, but I liked that Michigan found new ways of getting the ball to receivers. Chesson got the ball on a jet sweep for a 36-yard touchdown, and Amara Darboh ran a reverse that earned him 4 yards. The running backs are mostly not explosive, and the quarterback is a pocket guy, so Michigan needs a diversified offense. One or two jet sweeps or reverses per game is not a bad idea, and it will force teams in the future to account for those guys, which potentially takes a backside defender out of the play. Chesson is mostly a straight-line guy – come to think of it, almost all of Michigan’s receivers are straight-line guys – but that can work on those types of plays.
Chris Wormley disappointment. Wormley had just 1 tackle for loss, which broke his string of two consecutive games of 3 tackles for loss. Clearly, success has gone to his head.
UNLV put up more of a fight than I expected. I expected UNLV to lie down in the second half, but I thought they did a good job of fighting. They were clearly overmatched, but they tried some deep balls, they kept playing defense, etc. It helped that starting QB Blake Decker played much of the game, since he was expected to sit out with a leg injury. I think the biggest mismatch of the game was Michigan’s defensive line vs. UNLV’s offensive front, and I think that proved to be the case. The Runnin’ Rebels had just 92 yards on 36 carries (2.6 yards/carry), and starting running back Keith Whitely had 29 yards with a long run of 7.
Safety concerns. There were a couple times where I think UNLV did a good job of singling up star wide receiver Devonte Boyd on Michigan’s safeties. Boyd is the biggest playmaker on the team, and while he would be a decent challenge for starting cornerback Jourdan Lewis, he was a very tough cover for Michigan’s slower safeties (Delano Hill, Jarrod Wilson). I think that will be a key matchup to watch for the rest of the season, because other teams with good wide receivers could make some plays if they put their best wide receiver in the slot and match him up against someone like Hill.
The cornerbacks were good. Michigan got 2 interceptions and 5 pass breakups from the cornerbacks, including 4 pass breakups from Jourdan Lewis. I did not think Michigan would risk Lewis against a weak opponent a week after he apparently suffered a concussion, but certainly with more stringent protocol after last year’s Shane Morris fiasco, Lewis was cleared. He went ahead and played sticky coverage as always, and he simply batted down almost everything thrown his way. Meanwhile, I’ll give credit where credit is due, and Channing Stribling finally got into the stat book with some passes defensed (1 interception, 1 pass breakup) – just 26 games into his career! He had a nice break on a post thrown late, and then made a quality 30-yard return to set up Michigan’s first touchdown. On that particular play, it looked like Stribling and strong safety Jarrod Wilson were playing cover 3, while Lewis was locked in man on the single receiver side. When quarterback Decker double-hitched in the pocket, Stribling just collapsed inside on the post. Meanwhile, Jeremy Clark played some physical man coverage, found the ball, and reeled in his second interception of the season.
The offensive line is solid. I think we can tentatively say that the offensive line is pretty good, even though the last two opponents have not presented a huge challenge. They are mostly keeping Rudock clean, and they are creating some holes up front. I think they have improved each week so far. The one thing Michigan is lacking in the run game is a true speed back who can hit the creases that are there. By the time De’Veon Smith gets anywhere, he has no choice but to run through defenders. Isaac and third-stringer Derrick Green are both quicker, but they aren’t quite as physical. Last night I watched USC run out several running backs who I would love to see in a Michigan uniform, because with the creases being created, I think we could have a guy consistently averaging 5.5 or 6.0 yards/carry. Instead, over the first couple games, we had Ty Isaac (4.7 yards/carry), De’Veon Smith (4.33), and Derrick Green (3.6) with modest averages. Isaac is well above that now based on his big game, but I think Michigan needs a more consistent, explosive threat. I hope the Wolverines can find one in the 2016 class.
Redshirt watch. Freshmen who appear to be redshirting are:
- K Andrew David
- QB Zach Gentry
- RB Karan Higdon
- DE Shelton Johnson
- DE Reuben Jones
- S Tyree Kinnel
- QB Alex Malzone
- OT Grant Newsome
- OG Jon Runyan, Jr.
- OT Nolan Ulizio
- CB Keith Washington
- TE Tyrone Wheatley, Jr.
That means 12 of the 14 players in the 2015 class would get a valuable redshirt, while only wide receivers Brian Cole and Grant Perry have played so far. Cole missed the UNLV game but played in the first two contests.
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Went to thus game yesterday as well. This game was a bit of a let down both from an overall improvement stand point and from a coaching stand point. I can tell you that they did not have the same energy that they had last week again Oregon St. The did not play aggressive and confident in all phases of the game.
Offensive line: Solid play again and fewer penalties this week compared to last week. They opened up some solid holes and protected Rudock pretty good.
WR: Solid day and they played a lot of different guys. Darboh, Chesson, Harris, Ways, Canteen. We have some guys who can flat out block and the first two have really developed into good threats. Ways has nice size to him and all the WR’s seem to love getting extra YAC.
RB: Smith looked lost a little bit today. He rushed hitting the holes and was not patient. Isaac looked good and much more patient in waiting for the hole to develop. He had that big run and it tool all he had to stay ahead of the defenders. Green,Johnson and Douglas got some mop up duty.
QB: Rudock did not have a great day. There were multiple times he missed wide open receievers, over threw his targets and also locked onto receievers from the snap. About a half dozen times he started to check down and missed wide open targets in Butt, Williams, Chesson, Darboh… He did have a couple nice scramblessed though. Speight again took clean up duty.
DB’s: Played solid for the better part of the game. A couple of missed plays by Clark and Hill. Lewis and PEppers are solid physical guys. Stribling and Clark had INT’s.
LB’s: Ross started the game solid and then started to disappear a bit. Bolden had some nice tackles and again some trouble filling the hole. Gedeon had some great plays. Morgan had a pretty quiet day, but was always in the mix.
DL: Brought the pressure again today, but Wormley was pretty quiet. Godin was everywhere on the line. He was a monster today. Glasgow and Hurst had good games too. Hurst was in the backfield quite a bit too. They missed a couple of QB runs, but other than that solid.
Special teams: O’Neil is still the guy. He just flat out does his job. He gives the other guys enough time to get down field to down the ball. Peppers finally had a good return. Kenny Allen was a captain for the game.
Coaching: Started the game off similar to last week. After the first quarter they definitely were not as aggressive. Several times they were between the 40-50 yard line with 4th and 1yd and they opted to punt after originally lining up to go for it and then calling time outs. Maybe they were trying to avoid injuries or running up the clock, but it kind of went limp. They did go for a 2 point conversion. I wonder if they wanted to get some playing time for the backups too. I don’t want to be Rudock today as he sits in watching game film. Could be a rough film….he blew a lot of open receiver plays and just didn’t have a great game….coaches are gonna struggle with this.
Overall not a great game. Complete opposite of last week to watch.
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We need Wormley to be more consistent and have a HUGE game against BYU !!
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I had said Issac would be the first to take one to the house and I was correct. He does not have Tyrone Wheatley sr speed but he is and will be our best bet to break long runs.
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I didn’t see the game; I listened to it on Sirius radio.
(Side note — Brandstatter/Dierdorf have some room for improvement, mostly on the part of Brandstatter. He tends to talk over Dierdorf. And he fails to provide a concise reporting of the play results in a timely fashion. He wanders into commentary about the play rather than telling the listeners the yards and down. As a listener, I found it very difficult to “visualize” the game.)
My sense of the game — after Michigan went up 14-0 there appeared no real possibility of Michigan losing this; Rudock seemed like he had an off day; the rest of the team played with a bit off from the Oregon State game.
This team clearly has a natural ceiling based on the talent on the roster. I have to believe Harbaugh knows this. His goal must be to squeeze every bit of performance out of the limited talent he has. Could it be he and the coaches are trying to find the game plan the best does this? Or was the explanation for today’s game simply that Michigan was a bit flat?
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Honestly, I never felt that Michigan was threatened. It seemed to be over after De’Veon Smith scored the opening touchdown. It was just a matter of how badly UNLV was going to be beaten. They simply couldn’t get anything going on offense until Michigan’s defense sort of lost some steam in the second half, after they started rotating in a lot of backups.
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I would agree that Michigan was never threatened by UNLV. I was disappointed though that they couldn’t put points on the board the last two drives before the half. Then they failed to score on the opening drive of the second half. Just kind of ran out of steam it seemed like.
I do think that the game against Utah was a feeling out game and a basic package game. I felt like the opened up the playbook a little more for Oregon St, but then went back to the basics again for this game. I agree that he wanted to impose the basic smash mouth game plan for this game. We should see the playbook open up more as the weeks go on.
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Another uninspiring performance against a not very good team. We have shown no actual improvement in any aspect of the game since the season started, which is very concerning. And our offensive play calling has been predictable and unimaginative.This is the second game out of three where we’ve failed to make a single yard on consecutive third and fourth down plays, apparently having no idea other than to ram the ball into the middle of the line. We have potentially one of the best tight ends in the nation, and we could find any use for him at all on those plays (or any others yesterday)? If we find ourselves behind by more than one score in the second half, we’re in serious trouble, as we have no come-from-behind capability. Rudock’s biggest problem is that he cannot make big plays. Denard Robinson had plenty of flaws as a passer, but at least he was capable of making big things happen. With him, we had a chance to come from behind. With Rudock, we have none. Even within the space of a single game, his ceiling is very limited.
The only bright spots were that our DBs had as many interceptions yesterday as they did all last year, and that we’ve managed to get through our first three games without any significant losses to injuries. But the next stretch will be very tough. We could easily lose 4 of our next 6 games and be sitting at 4-5, with Penn State and OSU still to come. We’ll start finding out this Saturday if Harbaugh can actually outcoach anybody, and if he’s the kind of college coach he’s touted to be.
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I think this is a pretty negative take. I think our offensive line is playing better, and I think our tight ends – including Henry Poggi and A.J. Williams – have both improved their blocking. Also, there’s no reason for “imaginative” play calling when the last two teams could have been beaten by simply lining up and playing smashmouth football. Creativity might be needed against BYU or a later opponent, but not against UNLV.
Jim Harbaugh is a very good college coach. That has already been proven. I think you’re being overly dramatic, for whatever reason.
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Well, I said actual improvement, not just the appearance of improvement that results from the opposition being weaker in successive games. Our OLine looked better in Game 2 than Game 1, and then took a step back in Game 3 against an even weaker opponent. We had two great running plays yesterday, but also a lot of indifferent ones where the line got no push at all. Do you have any actual statistical evidence that our OLine is improving?
And sorry, but I don’t buy the “we don’t want to give away our playbook” meme. It’s been around a long time, used mainly to excuse limited talent and scared play-calling against weak early season opponents, as if we had some secret stash of more daring and imaginative plays that we’re going to magically unleash when we eventually play a decent team. The problem is, that more diverse and imaginative play-calling NEVER seems to materialize (yes, I’m looking at you, Lloyd Carr), and no one else I watch seems to need to play that way. I haven’t seen ANY other team running a far more conservative offense than they’re able to, even when they’re playing 1-AA cupcakes.
As far as Harbaugh’s ability as a college coach, he’s had one high quality season at the major college level. That’s not proof of much of anything. He improved Stanford with the help of an All-American QB, but whether he can do the same thing consistently, as opposed to just once, remains an open question. I’ll be happy to start being surprised next week, when Harbaugh has his first chance to prove that he can out-coach a Michigan opponent, but so far, I’ve seen nothing to convince me that Harbaugh is any better than dozens of other coaches out there. When I see this team actually play over their heads, and do better in beating an opponent than anyone expected, that will start to be something to notice.
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Do you have any statistical evidence to show that the team hasn’t improved since the beginning of the season? I certainly have some statistical evidence, based on rushing yards, defensive performance, etc., etc., etc. Granted, the opponents have been weaker the past two weeks than they were in week one, but that doesn’t mean the team has remained static.
Well, we’ll find out about the imaginative play calling. I think you’re wrong. I think these last two weeks have been about imposing – or trying to impose – our will on weaker opponents. When the matchups are a little tougher in coming weeks, I think you’ll see some differences – Jabrill Peppers at QB (or at least on offense), some new formations, some different personnel, etc. As I said, I think you’re going to be proven wrong, but only time will tell.
Harbaugh improved Stanford every year, and he improved San Diego every year. Then he took an NFL team to conference championships and the Super Bowl. I think questioning Harbaugh’s abilities as a coach is silly. He has been very successful at every stop. The only negative thing you can say about his success level is that he hasn’t won “The Big One” (a.k.a. the national championship or Super Bowl), but if that’s your one criticism, you’re really reaching. Nick Saban wasn’t a championship-level coach until he won a championship. Bill Belichick wasn’t a Super Bowl-winning coach until he won a Super Bowl. That doesn’t mean they were less than stellar coaches prior to their respective championships.
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You made the claim that they’ve improved, so the burden is on you to provide the evidence. I’ve seen none that can’t be attributed to the significant difference in talent between Utah and UNLV. Evidence that we’ll see more imaginative play calling in future games is also lacking. Belief is not evidence. I merely note that no other team seems to be deliberately holding back in that area and that keeping the score down with conservative play calling hardly amounts to “imposing our will”.
As far as the argument that Harbaugh has won everywhere else he’s been, the same could be said about Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke. But they both failed miserably at Michigan. Harbaugh hasn’t even won a division or a conference championship at the major college level, let alone a NC. Lower divisions or the NFL are a completely different game, and success there does not guarantee success here. I’ll wait until he shows that he can get this team playing over its head, and then winning championships to give him that kind of credit.
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Yes, I made the claim that they’ve improved. Of course, there’s no way for me to “prove” that they have done so regardless of the opponents, because they haven’t played anyone besides Oregon State and UNLV. There is plenty of statistical evidence (basically, in every category), but anything I say will be dismissed by you because “It’s Oregon State” or “It’s UNLV.” That doesn’t mean I’m right or that you’re right. I just think you’re wrong.
As for Harbaugh, whatever. I mean, all you’re saying is that he hasn’t won here yet. You’re kind of hiding your arguments behind things that are unable to be proven. The truth is that he built up a Pac-12 program from nothing into a power, and he took the 49ers from being bad (6-10 the year before he arrived) to three very good seasons (13-3, 11-4-1, 12-4) and a mediocre one (8-8). I can’t prove to you that Halley’s comet will come around again or that snow will fall this winter in Flint, MI. It’s happened multiple times before, but by golly, I won’t believe it until I see it. Is that a fair way to approach the world? Yeah, I guess. But it’s also kind of pointless.
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I would agree that this performance was uninspiring. This is the kind of game where you lose either way. This is also a game that once you appear to have it in hand you continue to build off your base packages and run simple stuff. You objective is to win without losing any players in the process. You don’t get extra points for beating them by 50 instead of 20.
If you are looking for Rudock to be Andrew Luck or Cam Newton or even Denard when it comes to big plays then you haven’t followed his career. HarBaugh went after him because he was a known commodity as a game manager. He wasn’t explosive at Iowa, but steady. He was brought here solely to manage the game and so far he has been a little turnover prone compared to his previous years. He still must be the best available on the roster or Harbaugh wouldn’t hesitate to start someone else.
This coming game against BYU should show us how good the defense is and whether or not they can take the training wheels off the offense. This could be a make or break game to see a what Rudock brings to the table. His vision was not good this week.
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Why is this a game where you go into a shell once you have it in hand? As I pointed out above, I don’t see other teams holding back like that. We’re not doing it because we want to…that’s silly. We’re doing it because we have nothing else, and that’s the problem going forward. We don’t have another level of play that we can use against better teams but that we’ve been concealing up until now.
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Of course we don’t have another level right now. This team had one of the worst offenses in the Power 5 last year. Regardless of what the recruiting rankings say, it lacks explosiveness.
We all know this. Believe me, after Utah and after the past two years, no one will be surprised if BYU holds us to 80 yards rushing on Saturday. I’m not sure why you’re presenting this eureka case that Michigan may not be that good. That’s obvious. We’re all just trying to suss out whether any small steps forward are happening.
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What is the benefit to going all out and putting 50 points on UNLV? What is the point of showing your hand for future opponents? We already know that this is a rebuilding year. We also know that the expectation is for the team to improve as the season goes on. So to use any form of competitive advantage in the future to win games seems more reasonable than showing your “next level” against a team you are clearly better than. Knowing where Jim came from it would be ridiculous to think he doesn’t have a few packages for the big games coming up, just like Bo. This is also the kind of game where you get your backups some minutes and see what they can do on game day. The objective in a game like this is to show you can win, go back to running your basic packages for reps and survive without losing players. Again, you don’t get extra points for winning by 50 instead of 21.
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A couple of thoughts, would love to hear Thunder’s response:
— Given our lack of explosiveness on offense at the skill positions, I’m not shocked that we failed to put up 50 points against a patsy opponent. While I was a little disappointed that it was underwhelming, I don’t expect Michigan to just roll out of bed and score points with where they are right now. The goal is for the D to shut down the opponent and for the offense to be safe.
— What does worry me is the turnovers. I don’t care if Rudock is limited and misses a few throws (though a deep pass now and then would be good). But he can’t turn the ball over. The D is very good, but can’t overcome TOs. We probably win the Utah game with one fewer turnover….maybe.
— You mentioned the lack of explosive RB, and I agree. How do you think Drake Johnson fills the void once he’s 100%? Do you think that Isaac earns more carries now (he still only got 8 and his pass protection has been iffy)? How concerned are you about 2016 recruiting at the RB position compared to what you want to see?
— I love the redshirt strategy from Harbaugh right now. While he has an older roster to work with than RichRod or Hoke, he’s clearly put thought into it and kept freshmen from burning RS on special teams. The fact that he’s still trying to get Morris a RS is great as well. Are there any other upper classmen besides Mone and Morris that could get a RS too?
— There’s a long way to go and I know you remain skeptical, but I think the CB depth and talent level exceeds that of recent years. It helps that Lewis is playing like Leon Hall, but both Stribling and Clark are playing as well as the 2nd/3rd corner in any year I can remember for a long time. Do you agree?
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I don’t think Michigan can “roll out of bed” and score 50 points. However, I do think Michigan could have put up the 48 like I mentioned. Stribling was close to scoring a touchdown on his interception return. Jake Butt could have scored a touchdown. Drake Johnson could have scored a touchdown. A couple of those 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and-1 conversion attempts should have been successful, which would have allowed Michigan to continue those drives. I can’t sit here and say that Michigan is incapable of getting those 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and-1 plays, because they are capable. However, they didn’t pull it off.
The turnovers are disappointing. However, whether it’s an interception, a fumble by the QB, a fumble by the RB, a fumble by a WR, a muffed punt, etc., turnovers are bound to happen. Ohio State turned the ball over 26 times last year on their way to winning a national championship – tied with Michigan at #101 in the country. I don’t know that it really matters that it’s Rudock giving the ball away. Right now we’re #87 in the country at giving the ball away.
I think Johnson can potentially fill a hole. I don’t think he’s a gamebreaker or a future superstar, but he’s got more explosiveness than De’Veon Smith. I think most people expected this season to be kind of a running-back-by-committee type of situation, and I think that’s for the best. De’Veon Smith is not a good all around back, Isaac struggles in pass protection, Green is not the most elusive or toughest, etc. Each back brings his own strengths/weaknesses, and they’re not really interchangeable.
I am concerned about RB recruiting. Falcon was the best of the bunch, but now he tore his ACL again. Chris Evans is slight for a running back, but he’s the fastest of the group. Davis has put on too much weight right now, so I’m not sure how his situation will play out. He measured in at about 242 lbs. over the summer, and he looks to be about that big on film. I can’t imagine the coaches will want him playing tailback at that size after they made Isaac and Green lose weight, especially since Isaac was carrying the weight better than Davis is. Enis looks like a safety or WR to me. I would still like to see Michigan continue recruiting the RB position.
As for redshirts, I do not believe Da’Mario Jones has played yet this season. He is the only possible upperclassman redshirt other than Morris, AFAIK.
Regarding cornerbacks, I would say the #3 guy is playing better than other #3 guys over the years. I think you might be overlooking the 2013 season, though, when Countess was All-Big Ten (46 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 6 picks, 4 pass breakups) and Raymon Taylor had his best year (86 tackles, 4 picks, 9 pass breakups). I would also say that Michigan has not faced a quality passing attack yet this year. Utah has a decent QB but questionable receivers, and both Oregon State/UNLV are lacking quarterbacks.
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On Ty Isaac’s 76 yard run for a TD, there appears to be conflicting views of things:
o Harbaugh said in the post-game press conference the play wasn’t blocked properly. He did give credit to Isaac for making something of it, however.
o Isaac seems to say the play was executed as designed.
o Dierdorf on the radio was very complimentary of the play design and execution.
Who’s right?
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Freddy Canteen whiffed on his block. Luckily, the defender didn’t do a very good job of capitalizing. It was well executed for the most part, but a better defense/defender might not have allowed it to happen.
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Rudock has been bad. No two ways about it. That’s not to say he won’t improve, or that there should be a QB controversy – but his play has been poor through the easiest 25% of the schedule.
With a rating of 118.5, Rudock ranks 10th in Big 10 in passer efficiency, and that’s with a very good defense and a solid running game to support him. QB play is going to have to take a step forward if Michigan is going to get to the 8-4 record that many fans–including myself–predicted before the season.
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Hey Thunder- Your redshirt list reminded me of a question I had. I distinctly remember a play on the sideline where a field camera view was shown, and I clearly saw a pride sticker on Runyan’s helmet. Obviously he would probably be the last person whose redshirt would be burned, but it sparked mt curiosity. Does Harbaugh have a clearly defined standard for what constitutes the earning of a pride sticker? I know this probably been asked and answered before, but I’ve never seen a guide of any sort. Thanks in advance!
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Thoughts on Enis and Evans as those big play guys? They both seem to be crazy explosive.
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