Trey Burke signed a one-year contract to play for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Middle Tennessee State is still looking for its starting quarterback (LINK).
Andrew Kahn gives a mini-preview of Army (LINK).
A few updates on pre-season watch lists and such:
- Will Hart is on the Ray Guy watch list for the country’s best punter
- Donovan Peoples-Jones is on the Paul Hornung Award watch list for being the nation’s most versatile player
- Michigan transfer Ryan Tice (CMU) is on the Lou Groza watch list for the nation’s best kicker
Hit the jump for more.
The Ol’ Transcontinental!
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) July 25, 2019
Some fun #TBT for you, courtesy of @charleswoodson and @briangriese! #GoBlue 〽️? pic.twitter.com/QJNHYrWmou
Tom Brady’s backup QB (or one of them), Danny Etling, is moving to WR (LINK).
Jason Brown (@TheRealCoach_JB) speaks to @SFY in regards to if he will "tone it down" pic.twitter.com/kRGZt6XBx0
— Last Chance U (@LastChanceUAlum) July 23, 2019
WATCH: Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is facing backlash on social media after posting this now-viral video cliff diving with his young daughter. https://t.co/tIeX6A5uKU pic.twitter.com/v6NZi7uX1c
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 23, 2019
Taylor Lewan has been hit with a four-game suspension:
Thank you to everyone who sees this video and supports me. My family and I are so grateful to the Tennessee Titans organization and fans for your support. I will post the polygraph information next. #NoBadDays pic.twitter.com/lE9iEMmLxw
— Taylor Lewan (@TaylorLewan77) July 24, 2019
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Army is the game where we’ll see if the coaching staff really knows how to exploit a talent advantage, especially on offense. We’ll know by halftime, maybe sooner, if this is really a new offense. If we’re not running 3-4 wide receivers out there on every play against them, and passing the hell out of their defense, it’s going to be a long season.
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Disagree here. Oklahoma had one of the best offenses, led by a Heisman QB, but ceded too much time to the Army option-O. I think the difference is DonBrown’s D, but going too uptempo against an academy, especially with a new offense, can backfire
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The absolutely worst thing you can do against a team like that is to go run-run-indifferent pass-punt on your first series. Hopefully if they win the toss they will take the ball (bad sign right off the bat if they don’t), score quickly, and let Army know we can score at will. Take the lead and put constant pressure on them not to make a mistake. Let them know that even if they score, we’ll be back in the end zone in 2-3 minutes and they’ll be right back where they started. As early as possible in the game, make their clock-burning offense a liability.
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I think you’re oversimplifying this. OU, as stated earlier, had dynamic offense, led by the #1 NFL draft pick. Their D couldn’t get Army’s offense off the field. And make no mistake, army returns a lot and is expected to be pretty good
I don’t expect our O to be anywhere near as good as OU. I think back to 2016: Joe Morehead is one of the best offensive minds in the game, had one of the most explosive RBs in modern CFB, tall, fast guys catching the ball, and a QB that is at least as good as Shea Patterson throwing to them. It still took until mid October for that offense to gain traction
I hope our O is good, but am doubtful they’ll be better than OU’s, or even 2016 PennSt. I expect our D will have to force a lot of 3&outs, and THAT will secure the game
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Oklahoma’s defense sucked ass last year. Nuf sed.
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I think some would assert the style of offense played into that. I’m not sure I buy it but am interested in the argument.
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I somewhat disagree with that game plan. An offense like that wants to wear down your defense, to make you play slower and start making bad decisions due to fatigue. If you score quickly and put your defense back on the field in a (likely) warm early-September afternoon situation, you could be dealing with cramps and backups in the 3rd and 4th quarters.
I would want to score, but I wouldn’t be going for constant home runs.
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If our offense can score quickly against Army, why would we want to hold back and deliberately move the ball more slowly? The more plays we run on a drive, the greater the chance that a mistake or a penalty stalls the drive.
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I literally just explained.
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What you didn’t explain is why you’d want to reduce your chances of scoring on any particular drive. And it’s not as if Army’s players offense won’t be playing under the same conditions as our guys on defense, and we have better depth and more talent.
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They are different conditions. One is offense. One is defense. By nature, defense is about reaction and hustle, which takes a lot more energy than offense.
Why do you see backup linebackers on the field, a rotation on the defensive line, backup safeties, backup corners, etc.? But meanwhile, the 300-330 lb. offensive linemen play EVERY SINGLE PLAY? And so does the QB?
The answer is simple: it takes more energy to play defense than it does to play offense (in general).
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Hustle matters on both sides – the OL who “find someone to block” are akin to the DL who chase after the ball even if they see a tackler in good position.
The OL cover less distance than the DL and probably expend less energy in a game. That explains rotation on DL vs OL, but what about the other positions. WR rotate far more than CBs. RB rotate far more than LBs. Safeties rarely leave the field.
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“The OL who ‘find someone to block’ are akin to the DL who chase after the ball.”
No, they’re not. If they were, they would come off the field – just like the DL.
Regarding WR/DB, that’s why I said “generally.” But there are 6 players on offense who NEVER rotate (OL, QB), and there are virtually zero players on defense who play every snap.
It’s really not up for argument.
Notre Dame ran 69 plays against Michigan last year. Here’s a full list of the defensive players on the field for every snap: Hudson.
Michigan ran 69 plays against Notre Dame last year. Here’s a full list of the offensive players on the field for every snap: Runyan, Bredeson, Onwenu, Bushell-Beatty (Ruiz missed one snap, IIRC for an equipment issue).
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Fair point. Is that data available somewhere?
My impression is that Bush played every down in most games and ditto for Kinnel/Metellus. I don’t remember them coming off very often other than maybe when they got dinged or something.
Not disputing the OL/DL difference but I am questioning beyond the line positions. The ‘react’ argument is a bit dubious since DL are often attacking and OL are ‘defending’ the QB, at least on passing plays. But if you compare a DE’s rush path to a OTs protection path, the DE is covering way more ground. The OL doesn’t have to sprint after the ball much either, since they’ll rarely catch up to downfield ball-carriers and there’s not tons of value even if they do.
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Offense: https://247sports.com/college/michigan/Article/Michigan-Wolverines-Notre-Dame-2018-offensive-snap-counts-121433548/
Defense: https://247sports.com/college/michigan/Article/Michigan-Wolverines-Notre-Dame-2018-snap-counts-121432921/
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This is why having played sports matters. No way you compare OL & DL if you’ve actually played the game
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Man i wish that data was publicly available. Costs are exorbitant for an individual fan, so it’s nice when you get a peak through whatever source.
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Playing military teams is terrible for the football team, though I know some like the pomp. Nobody else plays their kind of ball and it’s a no-win situation.
I’m most interested in seeing how the defense handles the challenge. With all the DL turnover I want to see how guys like Kemp, Dwumfour, and Jeter in particular handle undersized, quick, but typically well-drilled OL. Pressure will be on Ross too.
The key to beating Army is booting their offense off the field quickly. Otherwise they’ll rack up yards and bleed the clock. Oklahoma averaged 11 yards on passes and 8 yards on runs but still went to OT. Army averaged 4 yards on passes and 4 on runs. They still outgained Oklahoma thanks to excellent success rate. They controlled possession and tempo – they won time of possession 45 minutes to 15. Oklahoma spread the field and scored fast but it didn’t matter.
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Josh Ross will be huge. I’m skeptical on our DTs, so yeah: MLB will be the difference between how we & handle Army v how OU fared
I don’t think Offense – while important – is as much a key to that difference
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MLB will
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*MLB will be “A” huge difference, not “the” difference
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Honestly, I’m not really worried about the DTs in the Army game. A lot of DTs are neutralized in the option game because of double-teams, even against smaller/inferior opponents. Maurice Hurst, Jr. had 4 tackles, 0 TFL, and 0 sacks against Air Force in 2017. Quinton Washington and William Campbell combined for 10 tackles, 0 TFL, and 0 sacks against Air Force in 2012. It’s just hard for DTs to make many impact plays, but it’s not too difficult to keep linemen off your middle linebacker.
I agree that having good play from the MIKE is huge, but I’m much more concerned about the guys on the edges (DE/OLB/box safety) than the guys at DT.
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To me it’s not about stats — I’d like to see them holding up against double teams, not getting mowed down easily by cut blocks at the LOS and avoid shooting gaps into vacated space. If the DL do their job it opens up the LBs and Safeties to make tackles. If they are undisciplined OL will be shooting to the second level.
We know our DL have some talent but are they getting coached up to execute when it counts. I think Army will tell us better than MTSU. Wisconsin will be a very different kind of test.
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Catching up………
giving Harbaugh credit in that he has Michigan back to beating teams in the Big House that they should beat……. Army falls into this category.
Toooo much conversation re their play vs Ok. Purdue blew out OSU last year too. Miami of O took Army to double ot ; need to look at Army’s entire body of work. Michigan should have really no probs here.
@WCB – sounds almost like you wana run RR’s offense. i expect Michigan to run an aggressive but stilll a ball control offense but we’ll know about Michigan’s offense by the fourth quarter of the Wisconsin game – not Army or MTSt
Also, as usual lotsa talk about offense & defense but no mention what so ever re turnovers & special teams.
@Lknws – what ‘pomp’ ? Is there to get? Re playing military teams? Michigan hasn’t played Army in almost 60 years; hasn’t played Navy in almost 40 years and has played AF 3 times in the last 55 years……… not much of anything to ‘get’ little lone ‘pomp’ and as far as ‘no win’ and being terrible for the football team? The only game that seems to be no win & terrible for Michigan is when they play the Buckeyes……….INTJohn
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