Karan Higdon (image via Newsday)
Due to time limitations, I wasn’t able to get this post done for Monday, so here it is two days later.
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Karan Higdon. I’ve never been that sold on Higdon before, but I’m intrigued. He had 9 carries for 81 yards (9.0 yards/carry) and 2 touchdowns in this one, including a 40-yard touchdown on a toss sweep. He looks bigger and stronger this year after sitting out the spring and summer with injuries and illness. I definitely think he earned himself some additional carries.
Hit the jump for more.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Wilton Speight. I’m still not a fan of him dropping back to throw 34 times unless it’s necessary. Maybe the coaches are just working on his timing, but I did not think Saturday’s performance went well. He went 21/34 (61.8%) for 189 yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions, and his yards per attempt have dropped steadily this season from 11.2 to 8.4 to 7.6 to 5.6. I’m okay with what happened this past Saturday because in a blowout win, you should be working on things you need to improve. I just hope Michigan can run the ball so effectively against better teams that 20-25 throws will be good enough.
Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Noah Furbush! Hooray for a Furbush sighting! He didn’t register any stats, but his first appearance this season means that perhaps starting SAM linebacker Jabrill Peppers can get an occasional breather on defense. Hopefully Furbush can play in certain situations, particularly late in games if the outcome has already been decided.
Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Jabrill Peppers, for the reasons stated above. I want him to be fresh late in the season, so with Furbush presumably healthy, Peppers can maybe give up 10-20 snaps a game.
Play of the game . . . Chris Wormley’s first sack of Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley. Penn State’s offensive line isn’t good, and we knew that. I thought that first sack really set the tone for the game, though, and let PSU’s players and staff know that they were going to have a very, very difficult time passing the ball. It was a near-safety that put the ball on the half-yard line, and Michigan ended the day with 6 sacks.
MVP of the game . . . Erik Magnuson. It’s always tough to gauge linemen on a play-by-play basis without reviewing the film over and over again, but I thought Magnuson played an excellent game. He was driving people off the ball (or helping Kyle Kalis to do so), and the running game produced 326 yards at 6.65 yards/attempt with 6 touchdowns. Michigan also did a very solid job in pass protection.
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I also remember some key drops on balls. 2 – 3 that were right in folk’s hands. Maybe if they make those catches, he doesn’t have to pass as much. I’m with you though on the thought that with 326 yards rushing, you might even stop passing. I haven’t seen the breakdown, but I seem to recall that the first quarter was very pass heavy and it tapered off. Maybe they felt they had to loosen up the defense in the box?
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Higdon looks significantly faster now than he ever did on his high school highlights.
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Thanks for doing this Thunder, it is one of many series that we look forward to–and notice when it’s due!
Agree on Higdon. He looks a tad bigger, seems to get through the hole with the right timing, and–if he doesn’t trip–he’s good for a few yards, even after contact
As for Speight, the offense is moving and scoring with inconsistent blocking and average backs. But can he lead the offense against Wisconsin? On the road at ELansing or Iowa? Against the buckeyes? I’m not convinced he can
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I wonder if the 34 passes by Speight was more of a result of just so many offensive plays run because our defense caused so few Penn State plays run. We ran the ball a ton. I wonder what the split % of runs v. passes. If my theory holds, then the % of runs was high [relative to passes], although Michigan just had an inordinately large number of plays.
I looked …. 34 passes [by Speight] / 49 carries, that’s 83 total plays. 41% passing / 59% running. So, I’m thinking the number of Speight throws was more of a result of the defense stymie-ing (word?) PSU.
Assuming Michigan only passed 25x and exchanged each of the remaining 9 (34-25 Speight passes) with runs, and still had the same total plays, then the % would be: 30% passing / 70% running. That’s a big % of running.
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I like what I see from Higdon a lot, but I want to see Smith get most of the carries now that we have a game against legitimate competition. Evans deserves a few cracks too. The only guy I think that has carries to give up is Isaac.
It would be great if the run game could make the passing game a sideshow, but I don’t think we’re at Stanford levels yet. I’d very surprised if Speight didn’t throw 30+ times again. We need balance.
Couldn’t agree more on Furbush, especially against a heavy team like Wisconsin.
Awesome to see Magnuson play so well. Let’s hope it continues.
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Thunder, Can you briefly compare UW v. Colorado? I’ve read plenty on how the Badgers are better than the Buffs. Defensively….no doubt, but Colorado’s offense, with Liufau, is very good.
Can UM score 30 pts. vs. Bucky?
Thank you! Great write up1
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Defensively, like you said, I don’t think there’s any doubt that Wisconsin is superior. The Badgers have good corners like Colorado, but they also have a lot of talent at the linebacker positions. I think Michigan is going to struggle running the ball because of those linebackers. It’s the best group we will have gone against this season, and it might be the best group of linebackers we will see, period.
Offensively, I think sometimes a team like Wisconsin (or Michigan) can get undervalued because they’re not tempo teams and don’t run 100 plays a game. But the Badgers are very efficient in their running game (if not explosive), they complete a lot of their passes, and they have the ability to move the ball consistently. It’s not really a boom-or-bust offense. It’s a pound-the-rock offense, and they’re good at it. I’m not sold on Alex Hornibrook, though. He looked young and a little immature to me, and while he made some plays against MSU last week, a lot of them seemed almost lucky. I just wonder how long that luck can last.
Regarding Wisconsin vs. Colorado, I think Wisconsin has just had a tougher road to hoe. Aside from Georgia State, they’ve played LSU and MSU already, both of whom are pretty good. They’ve been in slugfests and made fewer mistakes. Meanwhile, Colorado played CSU, an FCS team, and then Oregon (who gives up 32.5 points/game), along with Michigan. They’ve also spent time without Liufau. Colorado has better receivers and a better QB, IMO, but Wisconsin has the edge at every other position group, I think.
This should be a slugfest. I don’t think Michigan’s offense will score 30. Maybe if we get a special teams score or a couple short fields due to returns or more punt blocks, but I just think Michigan’s running backs and Wilton Speight are going to have a tough time dealing with UW’s linebackers.
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waiting for your preview of the game…
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Do you think Michigan will try to spread the field against Wisconsin to force their LBs away from the LOS (or even off the field)? Not necessarily M’s game, but perhaps they can take advantage by getting Perry, McDoom, Evans, and Peppers on the field and getting LBs covering Butt in space. Trying to pound it at Wisconsin seems unlikely to be fruitful.
Does Wisconsin have anybody in the secondary as good as Chidobe Awuzie? I can’t think of anyone shutting down Jehu Chesson the way he seemed to.
I agree Wisconsin does look a lot better on D (since CU gave up 45 to Michigan and 38 to Oregon, though D and special teams helped) but I think their D is a little overrated right now. Bill Connelly called them legit but I’m not 100% sold they are anything better than “solid”. It doesn’t seem especially impressive that they held LSU to 14 points (since Miss St and Auburn locked down LSU too). Keeping MSU to 3 point is great but Furman kept the MSU O in check too and MSU outgained Wisc this game. I think it boils down to how much stock you put in turnovers. Wisc got MSU to give up 4, so is that luck or an indicator of sustainable performance? Maybe a lot of it is luck. Wisconsin wasn’t nearly as good against Georgia State (no turnovers, down 17-13 in the 4th quarter). They did dominate Akron though.
Anyway, I think the way to beat Wisc is through the air. GSU had 270 yards passing against fewer than 50 on the ground. LSU and MSU are traditional ground-oriented offenses that Wisconsin mostly shut down.
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I think Harbaugh will try to do what it takes to win, so he might spread the field if they’re struggling offensively. But I don’t expect that to be part of the attack from the beginning, except for maybe some special packages like they ran toward the beginning of the game last Saturday (5-wide with McDoom, Peppers, etc.).
Derrick Tindal is a pretty good CB. Decent speed, average size, good awareness. Maybe not as versatile as Awuzie but still pretty good.
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Bring on the Harbaugh (passing) spread n shred! I’m ready.
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Great question! I would love to see UM spread the field with the personnel you listed allowing us to run and throw with greater success. Otherwise, I think Speight has 50 attempts in this game.
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Honestly wouldn’t be surprised by 50. Maybe what it takes unless our ground game has made more strides than it showed so far. I do think the performances the last 2 weeks were promising but Wisconsin looks to be another level.
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