There’s a lot that we could get into with the new offense, so I think it might be best to just go position-by-position on that side of the ball.
The two-quarterback thing needs to be nixed. Jim Harbaugh and Josh Gattis are probably trying to make Dylan McCaffrey happy by putting him on the field with Shea Patterson, but it’s a bad move. The offense isn’t in sync when both are on the field. Whoever’s behind center is late getting the play off, and then they threw an inside screen to McCaffrey, who was immediately swarmed under by big guys. Why put your lanky backup QB in a situation where he catches a ball three yards away from 250+ pound defensive linemen and linebackers?
Hit the jump for more.
QB1 looked good . . . to begin. I thought Patterson looked pretty crisp to start the game, except for that stupid fumble when he was carrying the ball too loosely on the first play of the game. Patterson was 17/29 for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he was 2/9 down the stretch. There were a couple glitches early but nothing too concerning. However, once he took a shot in the ribs and started fiddling with his rib pads, I knew something was wrong. He looked rattled, and Jim Harbaugh said he was “evaluated for something” at halftime. His throws were a little off, he put the ball on the ground, and while he’s normally pretty unflappable, you could see he was visibly frustrated.
Running back roulette. The surprise start of the game was Zach Charbonnet (8 carries for 90 yards) running out there with the first team. It’s rare for a freshman to start the opener at any position, but especially for a coaching staff that purportedly values pass protection so much. Charbonnet actually did a good job in pass protection, so it makes sense. But the “starter” going into the season (Tru Wilson) only carried the ball 2 times for 8 yards. Wilson was seen jogging into the tunnel at one point, and I think he may have been dealing with an injury prior to the game. Meanwhile, Christian Turner (11 carries, 49 yards) showed a nice burst getting around the edge a couple times, but the coaching staff never got him in space; instead, they often ran him into the boundary so he didn’t have a ton of room to work. The other backs were unremarkable, with Hassan Haskins (2 carries, 1 yard) and Ben VanSumeren (4 carries, 7 yards, 1 touchdown) coming in for mop-up duty. Charbonnet was considered the most explosive back on the roster, and fittingly, he had a long run of 41 yards.
Wide receiver roulette. Tarik Black (4 catches, 80 yards, 1 TD) was the big winner of the day, whether through sheer talent or a little bit of injury luck. Donovan Peoples-Jones was in a walking boot, so Michigan was without its #1 (or #2) receiver. That seemed to mean more targets for Black, who did pretty well with them, including a 36-yard touchdown catch that was reminiscent of his first ever TD catch against Florida two years ago. Meanwhile, Nico Collins (3 catches, 49 yards, 1 TD) played fairly well, and Ronnie Bell (2 catches, 18 yards) seemed like a favorite target, even though a couple passes were just out of his reach. Absent from the reception list was Mike Sainristil.
Why two tight ends? The #speedinspace thing was all the rage this off-season, and then Michigan trotted out two tight ends to start the game. Nick Eubanks played more than he should have. Maybe that, too, was a product of Donovan Peoples-Jones’s injury, but I just don’t think Eubanks is in the best eleven to put speed in space. If #speedinspace is your motto, then put speed on the field. Eubanks made 2 catches for 5 yards. The primary tight end, Sean McKeon (2 catches, 37 yards, 1 TD), had a nice 28-yard catch-and-run for a TD and looks leaner this year, but his hands have been a question and he let another one slip through his fingers.
Get healthy, offensive line. Word on the street was that left tackle Jon Runyan, Jr. could have played if needed, but he stood on the sideline while redshirt freshman Ryan Hayes got his first game action. Redshirt freshman Jalen Mayfield got his first career start at right tackle. While both of them held up fairly well overall, Middle Tennessee was not the stiffest test. They sent a lot of blitzers, but the defensive linemen and linebackers going after the QB were smaller and slower than what we’ll see in Big Ten play. Mayfield was beaten on a stunt around the edge for a sack, and the myriad blitzes that Shafer threw at Michigan were tough to handle. That meant some big play opportunities over the top in man coverage, but Patterson and his receivers weren’t quite in sync on a few of them.
Hello, Graham Ryan Jordan Glasgow! Glasgow came through with probably his best game as a Wolverine, notching 6 tackles and 2 sacks. He earned the start over Devin Gil, and I’ve never seen Gil play like that.
Goodbye, Khaleke Hudson? Hudson had an okay game (8 tackles), but I think he might disappear for a week after I saw him take a swing at an MTSU lineman. There was no penalty during the game, but those reviews sometimes come from the league office.
Thanks for coming back, Ambry Thomas! Thomas missed the start of fall camp due to colitis, and he just returned to practice a week ago. Some insiders suggested he might be a few weeks away from playing, but he started game one and had his best career performance with 2 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, and 1 fumble recovery.
The defensive line is still a huge question mark. Carlo Kemp and Ben Mason were the starters on the interior; they started their careers as a linebacker and a fullback/linebacker, respectively. Donovan Jeter missed the game with an injury, and Michael Dwumfour eventually played with an injury . . . and subsequently hurt himself again. I was initially annoyed with Dwumfour when he let MTSU quarterback Asher O’Hara out of his grasp for the opening touchdown of the game, but that’s when Dwumfour got re-injured, so I guess I shrug my shoulders. It’s a position where Michigan can’t afford to lose people, and they lost two by the second quarter of game one. Yikes.
Get Lavert Hill off punt returns. Yikes. With Donovan Peoples-Jones out, Michigan trotted out Lavert Hill to return punts. That was dumb to start. You’re thin at cornerback, so you put your one All-America-caliber corner back there to have people run full-speed at him while he’s looking up toward the sky? And you don’t tell him to just fair catch the ball? He looked stiff and uncomfortable the first two times just catching the ball, and both should have been fair catches. He finally waved his hand the third time . . . and muffed it. After that he was replaced by Ronnie Bell. Let’s please never see Hill back there to return punts again. (Also, he dropped an easy pick-six, which may have been attributable to his confidence wavering due to the muffed punt.)
Michigan debuts! All these players didn’t necessarily burn redshirts because they can play in up to four games this year while still maintaining redshirt status, but this is the group of players who saw game action at Michigan for the first time:
- WR Erick All
- OL Karsen Barnhart
- DE Mike Danna (fifth year transfer from CMU)
- CB Gemon Green
- S Daxton Hill
- DT Chris Hinton, Jr.
- WR/KR Giles Jackson
- WR Cornelius Johnson
- OL Griffin Korican
- TE Mustapha Muhammad
- WR Mike Sainristil
- TE Luke Schoonmaker
- LB Anthony Solomon
- DT Jess Speight
- LB Charles Thomas
- CB D.J. Turner II
- DE Luiji Vilain (third year)
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The pass to Mcafferey was just awful esp considering there was no way it wouldnt end with a hard tackle. It just looked awkward and forced and I’m really not sure what the coaches thought it could actually achieve unless they think Wisc PSU and OSU may need to spend time prepping for a really stupid play. Hill returning punts was equally inane – sending out arguably the most important player on D to return punts which he doesnt even seem suited for is puzzling to say the least. I would rather just send any WR out and have them fair catch or leave no one back and rush 11 vs getting Hill hurt. On the positive side, thought RBs looked very good although I think I remember Haskins whiffing on a pass block that resulted in sack. Charbonnet and Turner both impressed.
Defense could make for a long year. Without Jeter it just looks like there is no one on the interior. Ross looked very good though, Hawkins seemed to play well also. Also thought Danna looked like he will a solid additon to pass rush while Hutchinson seemed to play well even lining up inside.
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I don’t know if he can hack it but moving Hutchinson to DT seems like it might be the play. Gets Danna and Uche on the field more if it works.
Trying not to overreact with Jeter and Dwum both hurt but that was not great.
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Agree. We’re desperate at Tackle, and Hutch is definitely better than Mason
Jeter probably won’t contribute much; it is what it is. Dwumfor injured himself trying to arm tackle O’Hare on that first TD, never came back in after that
Hutch is a reasonable move
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I’m as harsh on Dwumfour as anyone, but I’m going to give him a pass on that one. He was writhing in pain on the ground after another Michigan player (I forget who) ran into him. I don’t know his exact injury, but that did not look good. Honestly, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he’s gone for a couple weeks.
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I agree regarding Hutchinson. I would rather have him at SDE, but he might just have to play some 3-tech like Matt Godin did.
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Good comp. Godin was also ‘too tall’ for DT but played there because the staff wanted to get their best guys on the field. I
I never really understood why Wormley wasn’t at DT and Godin at Anchor. And last year’s team would have seemingly been better off if Gary had been moved to DT instead of Marshall and Dwumfour. Not how Brown rolls though – he wants a big DUDE at anchor.
I’d guess Hutch stays at Anchor but you never know. Paye might be another option if Dwum and Jeter aren’t ready soon.
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The final score might have been more acceptable had we not turned the ball over twice.
Patterson didn’t look too bad except for his fumble to start the game. After getting dinged he did look stressed. Several drops by his receivers didn’t help and he threw the ball behind them several times. Arm strength doesn’t seem to be his greatest attribute even without the shot to the ribs.
The play calling (and time management) continue to mystify me. If JH gets McCaff broke on a stupid play as a receiver he ought to be taken behind the wood shed. Mostly they tried to get every one some playing time against an opponent that refused to lay down. Turner needs to get the ball in space more to use his speed. Charb looked even better than I had hoped especially as a blocker.
The inside DL is just not able to get any push and with injuries the freshman may have to get in there earlier than planned. Overall I though the DBs looked better than I expected. Happy as hell Ambry got some good work in.
All in all the morning after left me most concerned about coaching, injuries and the DL. The offense will have to be prepared to win a shootout and carry the team this year?
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Agree on Corners. Ambry was better than I could have hoped, and Gray was willing to get dirty – nice debut
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Patterson looked mostly good when he wasn’t fumbling. Not sure you can put confusion on him but several near misses maybe were. Lets also consider DPJ and Runyan were out (7 and 9 in Thunders countdown). Pressure was more than expected. A couple of the balls to Bell and Sainristil maybe are catches if they’re to DPJ. Offense overall had a good start IMO.
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It’s pretty clear that we’ve seen Patterson’s ceiling. Despite the predictions of the announcers, yesterday’s stat line is going to be pretty typical for him this year. More dink and dunk passing, not nearly enough big plays, and too many missed easy throws that left us with FGs instead of TDs.
Sainristil was, as predicted, wildly overhyped as a starting caliber guy. More generally, it’s obvious, also as predicted, that there is no “slot” receiver in this offense.
This is going to be a soft defense. Ross is very good, maybe all-conference caliber, but we have no other quality LBs, and the Dline is going to be every bit as much a problem as was feared. Kemp and Mason were total non-factors, and that was against a relatively weak opponent. They will be gashed unmercifully against quality teams. Gray was the only pleasant surprise on defense, and we’re going to need him. We have zero interior pass rush.
There is no “speed in space” in this offense.
Harbaugh is still not good at clock and game management. Too many silly moves with no upside.
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Beyond Gray. Thomas playing and playing well was a pleasant surprise. Huge impact on the season going forward that he is healthy. Hawkins looked to live up to the hype. Thought Glasgow stood out more than Ross but that’s maybe that’s just analysis by highlight on my part. If Gil is coming off the bench that means somebody earned it.
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Yeah, Glasgow did have a good game, and even though we’ve seen a fair amount of him, it’s nice to have him playing at or near his capacity. I’m not that surprised that Thomas played well, only that he bounced back from his medical issues so quickly. I’ll take it.
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In the first half Shea produced 9.8 YPA, which would have tied for 4th in the country last season so not really sinking and dunking. Notable were the Long passes to Black and McKeon. There’s a fairly common view by Michigan fans that this offense is no different from last year. Magnus can weigh in here but those deep shots, the no huddle and at least three RPOs suggest otherwise.
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The offense is different. I disagree with fans that don’t see that
Problem was the second half – it was as bad as JOK offense two years ago. But still different. Different but (in the 2d half) ineffective
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Yeah, it’s not the same offense as last year. I mean, it’s not a night-and-day shift like it would be to go to a flexbone option or something, but the tempo, the lack of a huddle, the RPO glance routes, the downfield throws, etc. are a departure. It’s game one of a new offense. There are going to be growing pains.
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For the whole game, Patterson had 7.0 YPA, and that was against a weak opponent. That’s dinking and dunking, and no different than last year. “No huddle” is not a new offense or an offensive philosophy, and is rendered even less meaningful when you still take forever to actually get a play off, and give the defense all the time they need to read what you’re going to do and get ready for it (as we did last night). The fact that we completed a couple of longer passes against an athletically overmatched team is also not evidence of a big change in our offense. We did that last year too.
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I disagree with pretty much everything in this comment. Not everything, but almost everything.
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We didn’t complete a pass in the 3Q. Less than 25yds passing in the 2d half, for a score of 13-7
I thought we looked good in the 1Q (expect the fumble), and GREAT in the 2Q (except two QB). But the second half was very 2017
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Feel free to elaborate.
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Good recap. I agree.
Offense looked like a team that wanted to score TDs rather than convert an infinite series of first downs. Gattis FTW. Charbonnet doesn’t look like a freshmen. Physically or by play. Really nice debut. Turner looked good too. Haskins blew a pass protection. Felt like Wilson got benched for some reason. Black is back! Did work in the slot. I don’t think we should call him lucky. No surprise McKeon’s hands remain a liability. Eubanks at outside WR might have been because of DPJ but 2TE will remain. Would like to see some presnap flipping between ace tight and 4 wide. Jackson looked spry on returns. Let’s see him in the jet action. So many nice options at WR even with DPJ out. Nice to get Hayes’ feet wet but I hope Runyan is back by Wisconsin.
The 2QB stuff looked trash but it’s not a horrible idea to get McCaffrey the ball. But we saw a lot of sloppiness on offense beyond that. Understandable in game 1 of a new offense but some of that will linger. Maybe cut out the gimmicks and focus on doing fewer things better. I don’t want to see face palms against Wisconsin.
Defense was uhhh. I’m worried. The secondary looked really good. Thomas Gray Hill Hawkins all played well from what I saw. That’s a relief. Woods played a lot too but Hudson used as deep safety sometimes. Maybe thats Glasgow effect. Nice to see him step up. Feeling good with the back end but as with the OTs MTSU only tells you so much.
The DL though. Oh boy. They looked punchless against a bad team. Paye and Hutchinson had to play a lot. More RVB than Gary or Wino. Danna looked adequate but unexceptional. Kemp and Uche looked like themselves. Cross your fingers with Dwum and Mr. 1B but DL looks like it could hold this team back all year. MTSU moved the ball way too easily. 300 yards. 16 first downs. Not good. No freshman help at all on D?
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Thought the Big Ten teams we play mostly looked good to excellent. Wisc and PSU especially. I don’t feel so confident about the trip to Madison anymore. Maryland ate up all their cupcake too. MSU looked as expected jekyl/hyde on o and d. OSU machine churns on 28-0 in the first.
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The two QBs was just dumb. Shea gets hurt, so we run Dylan – even tho our two RBs looked really good, also dumb. 17yds passing in the second half was 2017 ugly
DL is gonna cost us more than I thought. I went with two losses, because ohio just owns us, and I think ND matches up too well (despite Brian Kelly). Now I see PennSt & yeah lank, wisc as likely losses
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We’re not going to go winless against OSU, PSU, ND, and Wisc. I don’t care if Jess Speight is starting at DT. There’s too much fire power on O and enough D to win at least one of those matchups.
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Nice wrap-up of yesterday. A couple thoughts.
– Charbonnet looks like the RB that UM hasn’t had in 15 yrs
– Shea is better than Dylan. If UM has a chance it’s ONLY with Shea at QB
– I think there were 2 (or 3 dropped) TD passes. If Shea had those in his stats everyone would be talking about how awesome he is.
– Gray was impressive. I went on record to say he was a terrible signee, I’ll admit it if he keeps this up.
– Need to find ways to get Sainristl the ball.
– WTF was going on with the spiking with 20 seconds left at halftime? They had 2 TO’s! Lost 4 seconds and a down and took both TO to halftime. Why hasn’t someone asked Harbaugh about that?
– DL is going to be the death of this team. Drumfor can’t stay healthy and Jeter is big question mark to begin with. No Mazi Smith yesterday.
– Moody still looks like the better kicker
– I really miss Devin Bush
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Because RBs do matter!
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The game felt very much like a practice. Michigan didn’t need to go back to what worked when they could instead try other things and see how different plays and players worked in a real game setting. My only complaints were the Hill on PR and the 2 QB usage exposing McCaffrey to big hits. Otherwise it felt like early season hiccups that all teams have and fans forget what early September CFB looks like.
Regarding the 2 TE sets, is it possible that with 2 brand new tackles the coaches wanted more help out there for them to ensure better protection for practicing longer pass plays? Also not sure Hayes and Mayfield have the strength yet for run blocking since they are both bulking up from being TE weight in HS.
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I’m not sure who thinks the offense is the same. Even WCB acknowledges there are changes. If anything I think it’s fans who say the offense is totally different who are off. I’ll admit it’s more different than I thought.
If your reference point is 2015 it is completely different. If your reference point is 2018 it is less different, but still different. 2018 was a transition -mostly went to shotgun and replaced FB with second TE. This year is a big next step. Still a lot of 2 TE it seems but the playcalls are a lot more vertical and the slots are being used as weapons.
Even if the playcalls were the exact same (they aren’t but if), the process of not huddling and running plays faster is a transition that would bring hiccups along the way. We have a first time playcaller. Freshman are playing a prominent role at multiple positions – probably because experience is neutralized with a new coach at the helm. Things do look faster even if they’re not objectively FAST — it’s not the glacial place Michigan used to play at.
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How are the playcalls “more vertical”? Patterson’s YPA was 7.0 and YPC was 11.9. Last season those numbers were 8.0 and 12.4, and that was for all 13 games, when the average talent level of our opponents was much higher than MTSU. And Sainristil was the guaranteed, sure-fire, coaches-swore-to-it starter at “slot” receiver, and didn’t even get a touch. What “slot” receivers were being used as “weapons”?
The plays are not being run faster. Not once did MTSU even come close to having any trouble being ready for the snap. “No huddle”, whatever that means in practice, changed nothing about tempo or play calling.
This is still a slow-paced, run first, run on short yardage offense.
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Compare tempo vs last year
53 plays in 26 minutes vs WMU
69 plays in 33 minutes vs SMU
78 plays 33 minutes this year
Compare pass/rush ratio
35 run vs 18 pass last year vs WMU
41 run vs 18 pass last year vs SMU
45 run vs 33 pass pass this year
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They’re faster and they pass more.
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Over 60% of the first half plays were passes. Flipped in the second
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We ran the ball on 61% of our plays last year, 58% last night. No real difference, your cherry-picking of two games notwithstanding.
And of course we squeezed more plays into the same amount of possession time this year. We threw more incompletions, so the clock was stopped more often while we were lining up. Did you really not think of that?
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Those numbers don’t mean a whole lot right now.
1. Patterson was banged up.
2. Michigan won a bunch of games by 35+ points last year (WMU, Nebraska, Penn State, Rutgers), and they didn’t need to throw it a ton to catch up from behind. They threw the ball 37 and 38 times, the two highest totals of the 2018 season. The next highest total was 36 against Notre Dame in a close, 7-point loss. Michigan won by 19 points and still threw the ball 33 times against MTSU.
Opinions don’t matter about that stuff right now, though, after one game. We’ll all see whether the philosophy has changed once a few games are under the team’s belt and a pattern can be determined. That time isn’t now. If/when that time does come, I’m guessing you still won’t acknowledge it, though.
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We had more plays because we passed more often is your argument? HAHAHA
Patterson COMPLETED more passes yesterday than he did in 8 of last year’s 13 games. The only times he ATTEMPTED more passes were the losses where they had to try to come from behind.
M will pass more when trying to come from behind – like every team ever. I picked the early season cupcakes so that it’s apples to apples. The SMU game developed along similar lines with a similar score.
Keep digging the hole.
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Tarik Black was the slot receiving weapon.
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You said “the slots are being used as weapons”. That means more than one. Who were they? And what did Black do being used specifically as a “slot”, as opposed to just a receiver?
And no, a “weapon” is not “anybody who catches more than one pass of any length”
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Black and Bell were most active in the slot. See comment below – the slot is the guy who lines up in the slot.
Bell and Sainristil got targeted in the endzone from the slot. Black too – his being 40 yards downfield. TD no YAC.
Michigan went with 3 WR lineups alignments most of the day. This is a change from last year both in alignment and personnel. There was less 2TE sets and they were less often both on the line.
Eubanks played outside WR, slot WR, TE, and H-back. Black was inside and out but I think he was in the slot more than outside. I never saw Collins go inside but he might have.
I think it’s clear that Bell is ahead of Sainristil for now. Probably Eubanks too. DPJ will jump all 3 when he returns. Will he jump Black too? Well it would be the first time he beats out a healthy Black if so. Maybe Collins.
It doesn’t matter. Clearly there’s going to be plenty enough for 3 WRs to ‘eat’.
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Oh, so now we’ve gone from the “slots being used as weapons” to “active in the slot”, which apparently means that being a “weapon” is just standing somewhere specific on the field, even if you never catch a pass or gain any yardage.
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Our leading receiver was Tarik Black from the slot.
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I’ve always argued the ‘slot’ distinction for WR was over stated. To me it’s like a boundary/field corner. More similar than different. You can put your best ‘outside’ WR in the slot and he’ll do well.
We saw plenty of Bell beyond Collins and Black. If you’re mad that Eubanks was in instead of Sainristil – whatever. If you didn’t buy the spring hype you shouldn’t be mad about a veteran receiver in over freshmen like Sainristil.
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I thought the offense was as advertised, they made them defend the whole field, wide and deep.
I thought Ryan Hayes looked way more solid than did Jalen Mayfield. Nearly all the pressure and sacks came from Mayfield’s side, and really from Mayfield himself with two notable exceptions, the first being on the first quarter miss to Bell in the end zone, our “center that points” completely missed the existence of a guy lined up about on his nose … ok, maybe to his right gap, but not by much. Ruiz turned left and shoved a guy Bredeson already had handled. I dunno about that one, maybe he was Onwenu’s guy, but it didn’t look that way to me. Then on the deflection completion, I don’t even know what Hayes thought he was doing, going for a walk downfield with two guys coming to his left, but … freshmen.
The RPOs were working all night and we took multiple shots straight down the seams to everyone. The three big boys in the middle moved people all night and Schafer had to compensate by committing linebackers and safeties.That’s gonna go on all year long. I thought both our QBs looked solid at worst. However, we absolutely do not ever need them both on the field at the same time … never ever … not ever … under any set of circumstances … we need not do it … ever.
I don’t think we have enough D Linemen to win this thing. I’d love to be wrong.
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Hayes is a sophomore.
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Redshirt Freshman
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Well, yes. I mean probably – he didn’t play last year and should be theoretically eligible for an extra season 3 years from now. Who knows with the NCAA. Carlo Kemp is a senior after everyone assumed would get a redshirt.
But that’s less relevant than the reality that most guys don’t end up using their 5th year at Michigan. There are more grad transfers and NFL players in our ’15 recruiting class. Harbaugh views the red-shirt as an opportunity to try out for a 5th year down the line.
The official roster lists Hayes as a sophomore. That’s what he is in real life and on the roster. That year happened and Hayes used it to make stellar progress in the weight room and, seemingly, on the field considering he was mostly a TE in HS.
A sophomore shouldn’t be making freshman mistakes. 13 months of practice > 1 month. In this context, that’s way more relevant. Now if we’re talking about the 2022 roster, different story. Future eligibility options matter then. In most contexts they don’t.
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You didn’t say anything about Giles Jackson. I though his kick returns looked great for a freshman.
I didn’t like the offense slowing it down in the 2nd half to protect the lead. Patterson had 197 yards in the first half, and I liked it. The 2nd half he had 6 yards. I know he was injured. But still it looked like Jim Harbaugh was doing that protect the lead thing, again. It seems to me running away with the game protects the lead too. But here I am, sitting in front of my computer, and there he is, standing on the sidelines making millions to coach. He knows more than me. But still, it seems Michigan could have scored maybe 61,or 68, not just 40.
I’m not sure Shean Nua is as good a defensive line coach as Greg Mattison. It was strange to see the defensive line not firing off the line immediately with the snap. There was a couple times Carlo Kemp was a half second late with his start after the snap. The change from last year in the quickness at the snap stood out to me. Maybe it will be just something that happened in the first game.
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It didn’t “look like” that. It’s exactly what was happening. As he always does, Harbaugh went into hyperconservative mode with a lead in the second half, instead of being aggressive. He’s still in the “three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad” mindset.
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I guess you were sleeping whenever the discussion about Shea Patterson being hurt and being evaluated for an injury during halftime…
When I have a banged up quarterback and a lead, I try to put the ball in other people’s hands, too. I also try to get other running backs and receivers the ball to avoid beating up my best players. It’s pretty common. Because it’s the smart thing to do.
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It’s not who you have in there, it’s the kind of plays you choose to run. Was McCaffrey not capable of throwing passes instead of just keeping the ball all the time? I sure as hell hope not.
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Michigan’s 1st drive of the second half had 3 pass attempts – one a penalty, one a sack, a third was incomplete. Every rushing play was successful, gaining 8, 12, 4, 9, and 6 yards. But this is bad job Coach Run Too Much?
Their next drive had 2 runs (one which gained 13 yards and then the first bad run -2 of the half) that was followed by 2 passes (both incomplete). Bad job Coach RTM again?
The next drive was a TD but it came all on rushing yards and a PI flag. Fire Coach RTM! Real points only come from passing TDs.
The backup QB, whose best characteristic is his rushing ability, was in for good after that. An 84 yard drive and TD drive ensued. Bad Coach RTM Bad!
3rd stringer after that. He threw on his first play. Coach RTM must have stopped paying attention.
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Which is just more evidence that this coaching staff prefers to run the ball as much as possible, and will look for any justification to do so, as predicted. They are still unable to run anything that resembles a competent passing game with their backup QB in, and they barely try.
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You do what you can to win. If it means running the ball 100 times, you run the ball 100 times. If you have to pass the ball 100 times, you pass the ball 100 times. Most defenses won’t let you get away with running or passing 100 times, so you need to mix it up.
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“Michigan threw 25 times in the first half, which was one off Patterson’s game average from a year ago, and threw on 11 of 20 first down opportunities” -Mgoblog
You’re down to whining about running too much with the backup QB in and a big lead. The backup QB who excels at it and whose brother is one of the best runners in the NFL…
Where’s the shrug emoji on this thing?
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There’s nothing conservative about running McCaffery as many times as Charbonet
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Seahawks apparently loving their 360+ pound UDFA nose tackle. Michigan could use a guy like that.
Meanwhile the 1,000 yard RB made it as far as the much maligned RT even though his team desperately needed to replace their injured starter. Cut. Might make some wonder if RBs matter.
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Seahawks apparently loving their 360 plus pound UDFA nose tackle. Michigan could use a guy like that.
Meanwhile the thousand yard RB made it as far as the much maligned RT even though his team desperately needed to replace their injured starter. Cut. Might make some wonder if RBs even matter.
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I don’t really understand your point. The Texans kept a running back. They just didn’t keep Higdon. The Dolphins cut Jake Rudock. That doesn’t mean quarterbacks don’t matter.
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Michigan doesn’t appear to miss a 1,000 yard rusher. Or his top backup. It doesn’t appear he was a particularly impactful player from either the NFL or the college perspective.
I like Karan Higdon. He was a solid college player and had a successful career. He just happens to play a position where it’s hard to be appreciably better than the next guy up. (i.e., make an impact).
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It’s about time for me to go to bed, so I’ll keep this short: Nothing you’re saying here is backed up by what has happened on the field. 3-star Higdon doesn’t appear to be missed too much because he was replaced by 5-star Charbonnet. 3-star Higdon didn’t make an NFL roster because he’s just an average running back. That’s why he wasn’t highly ranked, that’s why I didn’t rate him highly, that’s why he wasn’t drafted, and that’s why he didn’t make the Texans’ roster.
Saying a mediocre running back isn’t missed because a good freshman came in and did just as well/better doesn’t really back up your argument. If running backs don’t matter, why is everyone impressed with Charbonnet and not Turner right now? Oh yeah, it’s because Charbonnet broke off a 41-yarder and averaged 11 yards/carry, while mid-level recruit Turner averaged 4.5 and didn’t break any big runs.
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Actually, I was kind of impressed with Turner. it may well be because of low expectations, as I couldn’t keep the three they brought in separated in my mind and when I figured out Turner wasn’t Barrett, I was disappointed. But, I though he looked quick to the hole, made good decisions and better cuts, was hard to catch and then stayed in his feet, fought for and won extra yards when he got hit.
I think we’re sitting with four pretty nice backs.
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Turner did look good. If only somebody at Rivals had given him that 5th star some would see it.
Barrett looks to be sticking on defense. You are probably thinking of Haskins.
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All I’ve read is praise for Turner’s game. He deserved more touches than he got
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Who should have lost touches to give Turner more?
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Dylan McCaffery had 8, after shae was already hurt. That’s begging for Joe Milton to lead us against army. Don’t run VS unless it’s a FB type of run
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Nope, I was thinking about Barrett who I thought/think was the best at running with the football, coming out of HS, out of the three, Barrett, Haskins and Turner.
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Expectations for Turner should be high. He was a highly regarded recruit and has drawn consistent buzz. He’s been held back by injury.
Charbonnet beating him out, along with Wilson, is a credit to Charbonnet. As I’ve said for years, I value the coaches decisions WAY more than YPC against weak competition -something Thunder used to argue against Wilson a couple weeks back but used to argue for other guys he liked in the past. Oh well.
I’ll know who the best RB on the current roster is when I see who gets the snaps against Wisconsin, MSU, PSU, etc.
I’ll know if that RB is objectively good or JAG if he does anything in the NFL.
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“As I’ve said for years, I value the coaches decisions WAY more than YPC against weak competition -something Thunder used to argue against Wilson a couple weeks back but used to argue for other guys he liked in the past.”
Wrong.
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“I’ll know who the best RB on the current roster is when I see who gets the snaps against Wisconsin, MSU, PSU, etc.”
This is where I just fundamentally disagree. It’s absolutely possible for coaches to select the “wrong” guy. If I watch Deveon Smith run the ball 20 times for 40 yards, my reaction isn’t “well, he got 20 carries, so he must be our best option”. There are countless examples, both in college and the NFL, of a backup RB turning out to be the superior player. More importantly, there are different skills / qualities that make a successful RB. James White (I’m a Patriots fan) is one of the best pass catching RBs in the league, but mediocre as a runner. Coaches have to make decisions as to who to play in which situations, and to execute which plays. And they are perfectly capable of making the wrong decision from time to time.
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Sure – they are capable of being wrong. I don’t think it happens very often. When it does it is typically early in the year and involves freshman (e.g., Mike Hart). But that’s going back to 15 years ago. More recent examples of being ‘wrong’ are the coaches giving Ty Isaac chance after chance, I guess but I wouldn’t call that ‘wrong’ so much as generous.
I’d be interested to see the recent examples that you are thinking about. I wonder if they are easily explained by level of competition and sample size/variance issues.
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You’re still basically just bitter that Isaac fumbled against MSU. That’s all this really boils down to. The dude averaged 6.1 yards/carry throughout his career – on a good chunk of carries – and you still bash him.
If you know who the best running back is by how many carries they get, Ty Isaac is #63 all-time at Michigan in rushing attempts (in 3 seasons), ahead of Chris Floyd, Thomas Wilcher, Walter Cross, Sam McGuffie, Drake Johnson, etc., but you don’t bash any of those guys nearly as much…
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The coaches weren’t ‘wrong’ when Wilson remained behind Higdon. They weren’t ‘wrong’ when Deveon Smith was ahead of Higdon and others. Clemson wasn’t wrong when it played Choice over Etienne and won a national title. Carr wasn’t ‘wrong’ when he played Chris Howard and Clarence Williams right along with Anthony Thomas. etc.
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Come on lank, you need to go back 15yrs to find a time coaches are wrong? Every coach, GA, and Analyst knows far more about the game than any of us, but they’re wrong often
Just two days ago they put arguably our most valuable defender at PR – with no previous experience, and despite “being deep” with guys capable of catching the ball
They’re wrong often; your assertion is silly
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Right. You can’t just assume with 100% accuracy that the guy playing is the best guy. Nobody’s perfect. They might be 95% right, but whether it’s the running back, defensive tackle, boundary corner, or whoever, coaches are going to be wrong sometimes. I think it’s pretty clear that Josh Ross is a better linebacker than Devin Gil, and he was last year, too.
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It’s pretty clear the coaches are usually right. Not so much with the message boarders (including myself).
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Higdon was a 3 star who beat out multiple 5 stars. Guys you talked up repeatedly, like you’re talking up this 5 star.
Higdon was the most productive back in many years. Why? Not because he was better than Deveon Smith (who he failed to beat out) or Fitz Toussaint. Because Michigan got good OL play. Same reason Fitz went from a 1,000 yard season in 2011 to averaging 3.5 ypc in 2013 before embarking on the best NFL career any recent Michigan back has had.
Because of that good OL play (not the recruiting rankings) – this years RB situation doesn’t look to be a problem AT ALL. Charbonnet had 1 nice open field cut but otherwise his 2 long runs were through gaping holes. The kind that tend to show up against cupcakes but disappear against Wisconsin, MSU, Penn State, and Ohio State. Holes so big Mike Cox can run through them.
That’s no knock on Charbonnet. He did what he was supposed to do and he looked good doing it. More importantly – the coaches gave him the start!
I hope he is the unicorn you imagine him to be. Nothing would make me happier than to see your 5-star infused visions come true this time. I would very much like to watch a Saquan Barkley caliber player for the next 3 years.
But, if Charbonnet isn’t all that, our OL will just make holes for other guys like the no-star walkon that averaged 5.9 ypc or the 4-star sophomore who led the team in carries Saturday or the converted FB that scored a TD. Maybe not the converted LB though – there’s limits to the degree that RBs don’t matter and they fall on extremes (Barkley on one end and Wyatt Shallman on the other).
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Man, where do I start
-Charbonet has the burst to take advantage of those holes; Haskins & VanSummeran do not
-he has the size to pound the middle; turner does not
-haskins came in in the 2Q, and gave up a sack to a sub-200lb CUSA guy
-vansummeran got more touches than sainristil & Jackson combined
-two of VanSummeran’s runs were to the edge, one on an OPTION to the short side. He couldn’t even get to the edge either time. Those should be for Turner, Jackson or Charbonet. VS is too slow
Just look at Wisconsin after they stopped running Jonathan Taylor at us – despite the best OL in the country, their offense died
Of course OL is critical, but RB matters
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I guess cornerbacks don’t matter, either. After all, Channing Stribling and David Long are basically the same guy. Michigan had a good defense with both, but Stribling was in the AAF while Long was a mid-round draft pick and actually made a roster…
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Right. That argument can be made for every position. Can’t just look at stats, have to watch lots of football. Helps to have played & coached
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I don’t think you believe Long and Stribling are the same guy. You ranked long #22 and #13 after his soph and junior year. You ranked Stribling #46 and #23 at the same points, and criticized him regularly.
Long is the better player, as reflected by his NFL draft position. NFL outcomes are instructive about who is an impact player and who isn’t.
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I think the point of my post went right over your head. Of course I don’t think they’re the same guy. The defense was successful with both. But you’re not saying cornerbacks don’t matter.
That’s because they do. Just because you can’t find a discernible difference between running backs doesn’t mean differences are non-existent.
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I rewatched the 41 yarder and I probably didn’t give Charbonnet enough credit on that one. He got a lot of those yards himself. The 14 yarder was just running straight ahead in a big hole.
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And the 9ers cut UDFA Speight. I remember the arrogant insistence that he’d be drafted
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Thunder,
You think it’s possible Charbonnet gets close to 1000 this year?
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The absence of evidence is meaningful. If RBs mattered like other impact positions it would show up. We don’t have perfect info but we have enough to make informed judgement.
Play-by-play evaluations like PFF, team and conference honors, NFL draft position, career earnings, and salary allocations to the position. CBs don’t accrue a lot of boxscore stats for what they do but we can see differences in the above. The NFL pays hundreds of millions to coaches, scouts, statheads, and managers to figure out how to get the edge. The money talks. The data is in. The results are well documented. RBs are not valued.
College is different they say. Well OK, sure it’s easier to differentiate when there’s 100 teams pulling from a 4-year window of guys vs 30 teams with access to a 10-15 year window. But name a college team that lost their starting RB and didn’t just plug in the next guy without issue.
We also have anecdotal examples from Michigan football. The 2010 secondary mattered. So did Lewis and Peppers. Toussaint’s plunging YPC from 2011 to 2013. Sione Houma rising above a couple 5-stars and producing like the other backs. Anecdotal, yeah. Counter-examples available. But there’s a long-run trend with our RBs getting credit for things they do in Ann Arbor. They don’t deserve it and that goes back to Bo and the HOFs and allpros he produced into the NFL, while the RBs did squat there (with apologies to Ron Johnson). This has been going on for decades.
This is why I get triggered by the baseless assertions about Ty Isaac. I have no more bitterness to him than I do to Derrick Green or Dennis Norfleet. But nobody is talking about what idiots the coaches were for not playing Norfleet.
Still no answers for this lack of evidence.Why isn’t your man playing in the NFL if the Michigan coaches are such idiots. Why didn’t he play in the AAF? Why did Deveon Smith instead? Why did Smith make it to the NFL and Isaac didn’t? Why is Smith floating around practice squads? Same story at USC, Michigan, AAF, NFL. Idiots, all around. The blog comments still talking about recruiting rankings know better.
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Dude, don’t crack. It’s just a disagreement
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LOL. It’s like we live in Opposite Land.
I’ve never said the Michigan coaches are idiots. You’re implying I did.
Ty Isaac was a decent running back. Yet you repeatedly bash him.
The only one saying anything bad about anyone is YOU.
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I was planning on staying out of this one for once, but my day just got blown up anyway, so …
Isaac might not be in the AAF for any of the following very simple reasons: he might be able to obtain gainful employment outside of football, he might be opposed to wrecking his body in the mostly meaningless endeavor that is the AAF, he may not enjoy football enough to suffer for it any longer.
He may not have made it to the NFL on some possibly truthful comment from somebody called and asked about his toughness or love for the game,
The point is that the thought that Smith is knocking around because he is a better running back might have absolutely nothing to do with it at this point. It’s very possible that Smith might still be knocking around for any of the reasons converse to those above with the additional reason that he might just be too dumb to quit. That sounds disparaging, but it is not as it is the foundation of my career. Sometimes it’s a very good thing, other times, not so much.
The evidence Lanky lacks is the eternal evidence that he chooses to ignore on this particular issue, and that is that Isaac ran farther than did Smith upon those occasions when he was given the opportunity to carry the football.
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Except Isaac DID try – and succeed – to make the AAF. It’s just that the coaches didn’t play him there. None of those theories make sense Roanman, though I do appreciate the “football isn’t life” perspective that’s often lacking in, for example, transfer speculation.
Smith made the NFL. Smith produced in the AAF. His career may be over but he demonstrated, in 2 different pro leagues, what was clear at Michigan — he was a better RB than Isaac.
Ah but YPC against weak competition…
Of course Isaac was a decent RB. He was a HS star, got to play at USC and Michigan, started games even, and made a pro league! That’s not even up for debate that he’s a decent player and elite athlete on the human scale.
What is up for debate, apparently, is if the coaches made a bad decision with Issac. They did not.
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