Karan Higdon (image via Saturday Tradition)
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Karan Higdon. Higdon had 7 carries for 20 yards on Saturday, and he played second fiddle to Chris Evans while nursing an ankle injury. If Michigan has any chance to beat Ohio State, it has to have a healthy Higdon. Higdon is the team’s leading rusher this season (136 carries, 874 yards, 6.43 yards/carry, 10 TDs).
Hit the jump for the rest of the awards.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Cesar Ruiz. The last thing to come for a young player is pass protection awareness, and that certainly seems to be the case for Ruiz. Ruiz has missed a couple big stunt pickups, and I think he (and perhaps center Patrick Kugler) biffed the pass protection that turned into Brandon Peters’s injury. Michael Onwenu has had an injury, and I think he was improving in pass protection before being hurt. He’s still not great, but the world is moving slower for Onwenu than it is for Ruiz at this point.
Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Lavert Hill. He suffered a concussion against Maryland and missed the Wisconsin game. His absence was apparent, as Michigan was forced to play backups and get people out of position, such as Jaylen Kelly-Powell at slot corner. The Buckeyes throw the ball about 35 times a game (as opposed to Wisconsin’s 20), and Hill’s another guy who needs to see the field.
Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Jaylen Kelly-Powell. I think Kelly-Powell will be fine in the long run, but he’s a guy who should probably be redshirting this season.
Let’s see more of this guy on special teams . . . Ambry Thomas. Next year, at least. I don’t think Donovan Peoples-Jones’s athletic skills lend themselves to being a great punt returner, so I would like to see someone take that job from him next year. Maybe that guy is Ambry Thomas. Maybe that guy is someone else. But with Thomas already behind David Long, Jr. and Lavert Hill at cornerback, it would be nice to get someone with his athletic abilities on the field more.
Let’s see less of this guy on special teams . . . Ian Bunting. Bunting is a tight end and not a particularly aggressive one. On Wisconsin’s punt return touchdown, he showed exactly why a player like him probably shouldn’t be on a punt coverage unit. There’s no schematic reason for playing a 6’7″ finesse tight end on a unit that requires speed, change of direction, and aggression.
Play of the game . . . the 48-yard pass from Brandon Peters to Donovan Peoples-Jones. Hitting a deep pass has been long overdue for the Michigan Wolverines, and we might not see another one until 2018. Peters threw it on a rope, and Peoples-Jones made a nice adjustment down the field to reel it in.
MVP of the game . . . Brandon Peters. While Peters didn’t play extremely well (he missed a couple open receivers and lost a fumble near the goal line), the air really seemed to get sucked out of Michigan after Peters got hurt. I define an MVP as the guy whose performance would be missed the most if he were to be removed, and we saw that play out on Saturday. He finished his portion of the game 9/18 for 157 yards with zero touchdowns or interceptions, but the game was over as soon as he got hurt.
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Nothing to like about this game really.
Peters threw a ball for 6 the likes of which we haven’t seen around here since probably Chad Henne. Then goes down.
What we mostly saw against Wisconsin was a difference in mature full grown depth. And what football fans frequently miss is the difference between big time athletes coming in as freshmen and sophomores playing an incredibly complex game against athletes who while maybe not quite as explosive or dominant as high school seniors have the benefit of 2,3,4, years of both classroom and great physical training.
Then, when the injuries happen which they invariably do, you have to run out a true freshman who does not even begin to understand the reads the way he will or has anywhere near the physical power that he will. Thunder brought up the old canard about sophomores yesterday. I buy it less now than I did in the days of freshmen being ineligible, but freshmen all over the field is not a good thing for a big time college football team in a big time game.
And yeah, yeah Jonathan Taylor just killed us in the second half. That’s one freshman carrying the football on a pretty veteran outfit in which all of their linemen took a redshirt year. I think pretty much the whole Wisconsin team has taken a red shirt year.
If you want to be pissed off at of Michigan coach after this game, pick Partridge, and not for running Bunting out there on a return team, rather for letting Taylor leave New Jersey for anywhere other than here.
As an aside, Taylor was a lowly 3 star with an 884 something composite at 247.
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“What we mostly saw against Wisconsin was a difference in mature full grown depth.” This to me is common sense or should be, well said. Too many people disregard this as just another excuse. Your follow on comments were similar to mine as well.
I do place additional blame for some of our difficulties squarely on decisions made by our coaching staff with respect to play calling and use of personnel. In fact, I am more frustrated with this than any perceived lack of performance by a young roster.
Often the opposition’s QB or RB looks like all world against us, but I think usually it is us, not any failure to identify and recruit equal athletes. Higdon would look pretty good behind Wiscy’s line. Peters would have burnt our safeties as well probably.
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“What we mostly saw against Wisconsin was a difference in mature full grown depth.”
The most important contributor to success for big time college football programs is continuity. Period. Consider that Michigan had this unmatched for nearly 40 years – coaching, leadership, philosophy, recruiting – then inexplicably shattered it not once but twice (’08 and ’11) through it’s own mismanagement. The ’15 transition was better because the powers that be finally recognized it. As long as players continue to stock the depth chart with numbers, consistent sucess will come as mature players consistently fill the 2 deep. Programs like Michigan can weather these transitions – yet Michigan bungled this advantage by having no plan and leadership after Carr.
Contrast M with Wisconsin, which despite two shocking coaching departures (Bielema and Anderson), maintained the lifeblood if its program solely because of Barry Alavarez presence. Players didn’t bolt, philosophies remained same, recruiting didn’t crater; trust was placed in Alvarez.
Ohio State, after Jim Tressel, had Gene Smith to steer the ship. FSU nailed is transition to Jimbo Fisher. Oklahoma after Stoops. Alabama, Georgia, Clemson. The common theme is continuity and patience. Michigan is well behind in this regard, but given time Harbaugh can provide the leadership to get there. Don’t be Notre Dame.
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Aside from the Wildcat, I thought this game was reasonably well coached by UM. We all can blog and bitch about personnel, play-calling, should’ve gone zone…..all the hindsight comments from people who have never coached before make……But quite simply, we just got beat in a good ball game. Hats off to Hornibrook. He made 3-4 great throws that truly doomed us and most of them on 3rd and forever.
Ya, Ruiz isn’t ready. Ya, we matched up TEs on corners. That’s all we have right now!
We will be better next year, but our schedule isn’t exactly easy!
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PB, what are your thoughts on the game plan we have seen all year. I get what you’re saying about individual plays, but did you see a consistent scheme throughout the year? I didn’t
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Really just send the cheerleaders this weekend…
game is going to be an epic massacre, truly ugly with JOK at the helm.
…and JimmyH can’t win a big game or defeat a rival,
only spectators left in the Big House at the end will be wearing red..
O$U…51
Mich…13
outcome: watch for more key recruits to bolt…
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The tone is somewhat familiar, but the grammar is not.
Are you WCB’s idiot nephew?
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Maybe UM does get pounded this weekend? Maybe we do lose some recruits. Just too many unrealistic fans with unreal expectations.
I love them the Wolverines as much as anyone, but I wonder what Maryland, Minnesota, or the Rutgers would give to have our current record. Or Indiana?
When did Jimbo Fisher become a horrible coach?
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