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Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Shea Patterson. Michigan took Patterson off the field a couple times to run a single wing type of look near the goal line. Michigan has been doing this the past few weeks with Zach Charbonnet and/or Hassan Haskins. I groan every time I see it because it’s so predictable. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not a pass. Michigan isn’t even running any motion with it to give the look of a jet sweep or power read. At least leave Patterson on the field to have the threat of motion or a double pass or something. Maybe this is just to put something in Ohio State’s mind to consider in a couple weeks, but right now it’s not doing much.
Hit the jump for more.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Dylan McCaffrey. I don’t know whose grand plan it was to put in McCaffrey for one play – a poorly designed and executed double pass – against Michigan State, but he threw the ball and promptly took a dirty blind-side shot from a dirty Michigan State player whose dirtiness is only surpassed by dirty dirt. Did I mention Michigan State is dirty? Yeah, let’s leave the recently concussed guy on the sideline for as long as possible to let his brain heal, instead of putting him in for a stupid play.
Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . nobody. The guys Michigan wants to put out there are the right guys.
Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Luiji Vilain. When Kwity Paye left the game for a short time, Vilain came in. And I liked Vilain as a recruit, but he still plays like a freshman as a third-year player. Obviously, you want young guys to get reps in blowout games, but I sure hope Paye stays healthy down the stretch.
Play of the game . . . Shea Patterson to Ronnie Bell before the half. On 3rd-and-3 Michigan ran a slot fade, which is a little bit of a gamble. Shea Patterson put the ball on Bell’s outside shoulder, so maybe it should have been a corner route on a smash concept. Regardless, Bell made a heck of an adjustment in the air to snag the ball and get up the sideline before getting pushed out of bounds. This led to a Michigan field goal and put Michigan up two scores going into the locker room.
RONNIE BELL!
— Michigan On BTN (@MichiganOnBTN) November 16, 2019
His big reception sets up a @UMichFootball FG before half: pic.twitter.com/cklHmzh8Tc
MVP of the game . . . Shea Patterson and Ronnie Bell. It’s hard to separate the two. Both of them had career highs and the passing game was clicking. Patterson completed 24/33 passes for 384 yards and 4 touchdowns. Bell had 9 catches for 150 yards, and he also had a bunch of great blocks.
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I’m with you on the wildcat snaps even if the first one led to a score. The other thing that I saw at least once this game was two wideouts on the same side of the field on the line of scrimmage so one is ineligible. Then, surprise!, they run a running play. They’ve done that once or twice in each game lately.
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The guys Michigan wants to put out there are the right guys.
Indeed.
I actually like the QB-free direct snap play. It’s going to be run so you might as well get the extra blocker. Patterson on the field as a receiver is just a guy who can be ignored.
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I don’t mind the call but just think they are overplaying it. At this point there is no real element of surprise so if they are going to run it they can prob get rid of any WRs since I can’t see Haskins or ZC throwing the ball. Personally I would rather see Shea under center with ZC and Mason in the I and maybe Nico or DPJ out wide to pull some of the D off the line but it seems Shea is not real comfortable under center and has had trouble with snap.
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To me what they’re doing is the opposite of “getting cute”. Everyone knows you’re going to run it so don’t bother with the QB. Take your extra blocker and profit.
The I-form is just giving away a blocker for the sake of honesty from the DBs. That’s a big cost when you’re that close and mostly trying to pound it in anyway.
TEs or WRs – to me that’s a nitpick. I wouldn’t have any problem either way and there’s virtue in going to a true jumbo power set. But our WRs are big and mostly good at blocking (at least in theory) so I don’t see much difference. I do also think one of the RBs is probably capable of throwing it up to a big receiver from that close in. The WR speed is a little more threatening to DBs than a TE regardless of who the ball is snapped to.
The main thing is that QB doesn’t bring much value when you’re that close to the endzone. He can’t make a long pass, he can’t block, and he’s a subpar runner (compared to RB or FB). I’m all for pulling him unless he’s a legit run threat. This is why I’ve wanted to see McCaffrey in a redzone package, but I have caught everyone else’s skitishness with the hits he’s taking. Maybe Milton would be a better choice inside the 5…
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Disagree on the play of the game. The pass to Bell went a ways, but it was actually an awkwardly thrown ball that could have been a TD if it had been thrown better.
My vote is for the third down completion to DPJ on 3rd and 7 from our own 5. That led to a long TD drive that basically put us in control for good. If we don’t make that play, we’re punting from our own end zone, and State gets the ball back, probably in our territory, with the score still tied.
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Like I said, Bell said he screwed up the route, and he and Patterson were still able to connect for a big play. You keep blaming it on Patterson, when Bell admitted it was his own mistake.
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The relevant question still being, why is a poorly executed play the play of the day?
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It was explained in the post.
You don’t have to agree that it was the play of the game, but you should agree that blaming Patterson is wrong when Bell admitted it was his own fault.
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I have no strong opinion on the play of the game but the pass to Bell was a big deal because of when it happened. If MSU makes M punt there they have 2 minutes to work with to try to tie it up headed into the half. And the ball back to start the 3rd. While M didn’t punch it in – that is a different issue – this play gave them a 2 score lead headed into the locker room.
The play you mentioned was a big deal too but it got Michigan all the way to their own 13 yard line in a tie game.
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I’d give the nod to Shea. 1st quarter I think he as like 4/9, we were down 7-0, and I was a little worried. After that, 20/24, we go on a 44-3 run, and he was an integral piece of that.
Onto Indiana. Penix was playing lights out, when he went down I felt like it was a better game, but seeing them go head to head vs. PSU made me a little worried.
Lotta good football left this season.
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A lot of huge plays this game. I loved the downfield passing attack. Hard to pick just one play. The 49 yd FG (I’ll admit, I lost all confidence in Nordin before the year) was HUGE.
I’ll also agree that I dread to see UM 1st and goal inside the 5 so they can call the most predictable plays we’ve seen since the early 1900’s. I’d love to buy that they are prepping something for OSU but we were sold that bill of goods for 2 years with Jabril and nothing ever happened.
Regardless, huge win! It’s been 15 years since such a beatdown occurred and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Down goes Sparty Nation (at least in FB).
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