Tag: Al Borges

Mailbag: Offensive line and Al Borges

Thunder,

As a regular reader of “Touch the Banner,” I want to thank you for
the continued great effort/product you deliver . . . and today, ask
you some questions about the continuing poor performance of the
offensive line. 

1. Too often seems to be confusion about blocking assignments, true? 

2. While I appreciate the long readiness curve for offensive lineman
(both mentally and physically), shouldn’t U-M be able to get by reasonably
well with two senior tackles (including an All-American) and some highly
touted (albeit young) recruits? The guys who are in their 2nd year should
be further along, right? 

3. For young lineman, isn’t it easier blocking out/forward than side-to-side?
Seems that prevailing offensive philosophy promotes these lineman being
on their heals more than being aggressive – is this accurate? 

4. Personally, Borges just doesn’t seem to be getting the results . . .
and he is responsible for COORDINATING, not just sitting in a box
calling plays. He doesn’t seem up to the job. Your thoughts?

Thanks for any insight you can provide. 

Go Blue! 

Best, 

Jim

 1. Yes, the problems up front are more about mental mistakes than physical ones. Even with the young guys in place, Michigan has good size up front. And while their strength may not be up to par with fourth- or fifth-year guys, the physical disparity should not be that significant if that’s all it was. If you’re the same size as your opponent but a little bit weaker, you should still not be giving up 7 sacks a game or rushing for -69 yards over a two-game stretch. The mental side of playing offensive line is what’s killing Michigan right now.

2. The youth on Michigan’s interior is sometimes blown out of proportion on the internet, although perhaps it’s not commented on enough by the broadcast crew each Saturday. There should probably be a happy medium in there somewhere. Senior left tackle Taylor Lewan has done a very good job this year from whistle to whistle; the problem for him has been stuff before the play (false starts) or after the play (the MSU nonsense). Senior right tackle Michael Schofield is apparently being looked at as a possible second round pick, but I have a hard time believing that he’ll be selected that high; he’s so-so in the run and the pass, not dominant at either one.

The biggest problem, obviously, has been from guard to guard. Michigan has a bunch of guys playing out of position. It’s a line in disarray. I’m giving Kyle Bosch a free pass because he’s a true freshman and shouldn’t be playing, anyway. But redshirt sophomore Graham Glasgow is a tackle or a guard playing center, who can’t snap the ball, make proper line calls, or block the correct defender on a consistent basis; he’s in over his head, and you can tell by the look on his face in the huddle – the game is moving too fast for him. Redshirt freshman Erik Magnuson is a left tackle playing right guard; the scouting report on him coming out of high school was “good pass blocker but needs to be more physical in the run game.” You do not take a guy who lacks physicality and put him at right guard if you want to run over teams. That’s the type of guy you hear about in year four or five when people say, “He’s really improved over the past couple years and become a good run blocker.” The other guy worth mentioning here is redshirt sophomore Jack Miller, who was brought in to be a zone-blocking center but tried to become a hybrid zone/power center before getting sent to the bench. Miller seems to be more mentally ready for playing center, calling protections, etc., but he loses ground too often. If you look at the pros and cons of Glasgow vs. Miller, I think Miller gets the nod after seeing both in action this year . . . but neither player is ideal.

Concluding the answer to question #2, I think Michigan has a decently talented crew of linemen who are playing out of place and being asked to do too much. If I were Michigan’s coaching staff, I would at least attempt to see what it looks like with Lewan at left tackle, Schofield at left guard, Miller at center, Glasgow at right guard, and Magnuson at right tackle; that way you have a strong side with Lewan/Schofield, a better general at center, and Glasgow/Magnuson playing their more natural positions.

3. Young linemen do a better job of blocking forward/out (gap or man blocking) than zone blocking, because zone blocking requires timing and an understanding of defenses that takes time to develop. Most high school teams don’t run zone the way that colleges do, and especially when you have a dominant lineman, you use him to crush down one side of the line while you run right off his butt. Zone blocking became all the rage because it allowed smaller, more athletic, but less dominant blockers to double-team and “just get in the way” to allow runners to pick an alley. But high schools that produce 6’5″, 300 lb. linemen don’t need that kind of tactical advantage.

I’ve taught zone blocking to high schoolers, and I’ve taught gap blocking to high schoolers. The zone concept is easier in theory but ten times more difficult to put into practice because you’re taking guys who are normally very aggressive and teaching them to take an angle bucket step, read the defender, and then react appropriately by double-teaming, taking over a block, or going up to the next level. Rather than saying before the play “I’ve got that guy,” now these guys have to say “I’ve got this guy, this guy, or that guy, depending on what they do when my buddy snaps the ball.” Unless you teach zone exclusively or almost exclusively, it’s going to be very tough sledding.

4. I was really frustrated with Borges during the Nebraska game because of his insistence on running the ball when it clearly wasn’t working for the second week in a row. I mean, Michigan hasn’t been able to run the ball consistently all year, but Michigan State stops you with their defense . . . fine, they do that to everyone. When Nebraska’s 85th-ranked rushing defense stops you and you still keep slamming your head into the wall, I start to have questions about your willingness to adapt.

All that being said, I think Michigan fans have to accept that what is being put on the field is bound to be unsuccessful much of the time. I suggested a lineup change above that I believe would help, but that won’t instantly make Miller, Glasgow, and Magnuson great football players. When three-fifths of your offensive line is overmatched mentally and physically, there’s not a whole lot you can do as a play caller to mitigate the problems.

My suggestions for Borges would be to concentrate on one type of run play (zone or power) but not both, develop more play action off your best run play (currently the inverted veer), throw more screens until defenses stop blitzing, roll or half-roll Gardner, throw more quick-hitting passes, and resort to an occasional or full-time no-huddle to prevent defenses from having so much time to key in on formations, personnel, etc. Of course, Al Borges knows a ton more about football than I do, so he probably doesn’t need my suggestions. But as an offensive coordinator, that’s how I would try to get around my weak offensive line.

Nebraska 17, Michigan 13

“Devin Gardner Runs for His Life” would be a good subtitle for the 2013 season (image via Monroe News)

Goodbye, Darrell Funk. Okay, I’ve been wishy-washy on Funk’s place on the staff, but this game sealed his fate, in my opinion. For the second week in a row, Michigan allowed 7 sacks. For the second week in a row, Michigan had negative yards rushing (-21 this game after -48 last week). These are the types of performances that get guys fired in the middle of the season. I’m not necessarily suggesting that will happen, because Brady Hoke is a very loyal guy and Funk’s father just passed away. However, the final straw for me was in the fourth quarter when Nebraska lined up defensive end Randy Gregory at inside linebacker over right guard Erik Magnuson. Michigan slid the protection left, matching up right tackle Michael Schofield on Gregory. Schofield promptly made about a 3% effort to pick him up, allowing Gregory to have a 6-yard running start on an overmatched Fitzgerald Toussaint. Sack. When your fifth-year right tackle can’t handle a slide protection, that’s probably all you need to see. The current situation on the offensive line reminds me of when Jay Hopson was Michigan’s linebackers coach and we saw guys like Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton regress. I would be surprised if Funk returns in 2014, and if a move is made earlier, the Wolverines do have former Michigan left tackle Adam Stenavich on staff as a graduate assistant.

Graham Glasgow at center equals a broken record. In each week since Glasgow was moved to center, Michigan has suffered from at least one bad snap. In this game there were two – one that sailed up and one that rolled back to Devin Gardner. Even the snaps from under center seem a hair slow. Glasgow is not physically or mentally capable of playing center at this point. He’s just not. Those of you who were complaining about Elliott Mealer and Jack Miller playing center, this is what you get. I think people take the snap for granted, but college players are capable of being bad at snapping . . . and it’s extremely detrimental.

Michigan’s defense is still pretty good . . . It was frustrating that Michigan lost to a team that was missing so much offensively, but the Wolverines were consistently in bad field position once again. Michigan’s inability to drive the ball on offense makes the opponent’s job a whole lot easier. Nebraska’s first scoring drive went 9 plays for 44 yards; the next went 8 plays for 56 yards. The drive at the end of the game went 14 plays for 75 yards, but that’s one long drive in the whole game. Overall, Nebraska averaged 3.0 yards/carry and star running back Ameer Abdullah was held to 3.9 yards/carry.

. . . but Nebraska was beaten up offensively. The scary/sad thing is that Nebraska was missing its starting quarterback and the two starting offensive guards, plus right tackle Jeremy Sirles got injured mid-game and wide receiver Kenny Bell wasn’t 100%. Michigan is mostly healthy on offense (aside from Amara Darboh, who was supposed to start at wide receiver, and backups like Russell Bellomy, Joe Burzynski, and Drake Johnson) but still can’t produce. An unhealthy Nebraska offense produced 17 points. A healthy Michigan offense produced 13. That leads me to this.

The offensive play calling was terrible. Nebraska blitzed the hell out of Michigan for the vast majority of the game, and Michigan ran . . . two screens. Two screens in 32 minutes of possession against a blitzing defense? One problem appears to be that Al Borges only has two screens in the play book – the throwback screen to the tailback and the middle screen to Devin Funchess. If you want to beat a blitzing defense, you have to screen, you have to hit hot routes, and you have to spread the field laterally. That sounds like a spread offense, doesn’t it? Instead, Michigan ran up the middle and tried to hit deep routes for most of the game. Brady Hoke and/or Al Borges has a basic philosophy of packing things in tight and overpowering the defense, but Michigan isn’t capable of that right now. Almost every shotgun/pistol formation for Michigan involves at least one tight end, tight stacks, tight bunches, etc. Go four- or five-wide and try to get rid of the ball quickly if they blitz; throw it deep if the opponent doesn’t blitz or can’t get a pass rush. We’ve established what Michigan can’t do; now let’s try something different.

Michigan did absolutely nothing with two turnovers. The commentators mentioned that nobody had turned the ball over, and they said that the first team to create a turnover might win the game. Hah. Cam Gordon forced a fumble from Quincy Enunwa, and Dennis Norfleet recovered a Jordan Westerkamp muff. Those were the only two turnovers in the game, and they resulted in a total of 3 points for Michigan; those 3 points came after Norfleet’s recovery, some terrible offense, and a Brendan Gibbons field goal that bounced off the right upright and through the goal posts.

Maybe we broke Devin Gardner. There are a lot of factors in Michigan’s failures over the past few weeks, but ever since Gardner started taking care of the ball, Michigan’s offense has taken a nose dive. After his two early picks against Penn State, Gardner has thrown 6 touchdowns and 1 interception. Aside from the offensive explosion against an Indiana team with no defense, Gardner has been sacked 14 times in two games and refuses to try to fit the ball into traffic most of the time. It’s almost as if he over-corrected and now refuses to take risks. Other than a bad throw to Jake Butt – on which it looked like Gardner expected Butt to come back to the ball instead of cutting in – Gardner didn’t take risks putting the ball in the air against Nebraska. There has to be a happy medium somewhere in between flinging 10 interceptions and getting sacked 14 times.

Michigan State 29, Michigan 6

This picture could have been taken about 18 times on Saturday night (image via MLive)

This is what it used to feel like to be Michigan State. I have to admit I was not excited about this game at all. Especially once I saw the weather, I had a bad feeling that the Spartans’ defense would dominate Michigan up front because, well, everyone except Indiana does these days. The fact is that Michigan hasn’t scored a touchdown against MSU since 2011, and when Michigan had the ball, I was mostly hoping that it wouldn’t result in a pick six or a decapitation of Devin Gardner. Michigan’s best hope was to hold the Spartans to a low-scoring game and hopefully create a big play on defense or special teams. The Wolverines aren’t good enough to dink and dunk their way down the field against MSU, and it showed. The most productive drive of the day was a fourth quarter drive that resulted in a failed back-shoulder fade to Jeremy Gallon that was intercepted by Darqueze Dennard.

The offensive line is terrible. In my opinion, this is the position coach on the hot seat this year. Youth or not, I have not seen improvement from Michael Schofield or the current interior guys, and last year’s senior guard-center-guard combo also seemed to regress. Darrrell Funk seems to be the current staff’s Jay Hopson. I’ve heard people talk about how much Funk knows about the offensive line, but what offensive line coach at this level doesn’t? Production has been lacking, and that’s what really matters. Michigan allowed 7 sacks for -49 yards, and the team had just 44 positive yards on the ground.

Devin Gardner was battered and bruised. Gardner wasn’t really on his game the whole night. Michigan State’s blitzes and Michigan’s porous offensive line had something to do with it, but before the hits even had a chance to take a toll, Gardner was already off. I felt like Gardner wasn’t loose and relaxed for this game, because he was hesitating on some of his throws and running tentatively, even at the beginning. He looked like a quarterback who let the other team’s reputation get into his head, not to mention the 7 times he was sacked for -49 yards.

The offensive play calling. I’ve seen a lot of negative comments about Al Borges, which always happens after a loss or a close game. I’m not a Borges apologist, but I don’t want to sell him down the river, either. I have yet to see any realistic suggestions for ways to improve the offensive philosophy at this point. The center can’t snap, whether it’s under center or from shotgun; there’s been at least one botched snap every game, and this week’s was an airmailed shotgun snap that cost Michigan 20 yards. The offensive line can’t blow people off the ball, and they also can’t pass protect. Borges called rollout passes and screens, which didn’t work. The throwback screen to Jeremy Gallon got them a decent gain, and a bubble screen to Devin Funchess gained 5 yards, but throwing more bubble screens wouldn’t make up the difference in a 23-point loss. Borges has tried power, iso, zone, long-developing pass routes, short routes, screens, quarterback draws, read options, etc. I will agree that a bubble screen here or there would help Michigan a little bit, but the bottom line is that bad offensive line play will submarine just about any offense.

What is it about Michigan State’s defensive coaching that makes them so good? I really have half a mind to go to an MSU coaching clinic this offseason. That is, if Pat Narduzzi hasn’t accepted a head coaching job by then. I see a lot of these MSU-bound kids coming out of high school with unimpressive physiques, skills, measurables, etc., yet they tackle like crazy, don’t get themselves out of position, and blitz like madmen. I wonder how their practices, game planning, lifting, etc. differ from Michigan’s. You can’t tell me that their kids are just flat-out better athletes at every position. It’s obviously a different mentality (attacking vs. conservative), but the Spartans manage to stay fundamentally sound, too. I’ve seen too much poor tackling by Raymon Taylor, too much poor coverage by Channing Stribling/Jourdan Lewis/Jarrod Wilson, too much lost leverage by Michigan’s edge guys, etc. It’s not that Michigan has a bad defense, but it’s obviously lacking that little extra something that gives MSU its nasty edge.

Michigan choked. I think the Wolverines are typically a pretty resilient team. They always seemed to be a “second half team” under Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr, and they’ve held tough under Brady Hoke in most games. However, there’s a long list of players who did not play well in this game and made unforced errors – Devin Gardner, Graham Glasgow, Taylor Lewan, Michael Schofield, Fitzgerald Toussaint, Derrick Green, Jake Ryan, Desmond Morgan, Jourdan Lewis, Cam Gordon, Raymon Taylor, Matt Wile. Hell, true freshman quarterback Shane Morris even got into the act by getting tripped up by the turf monster on Michigan’s final drive.

What does this mean for the rest of this year? Well, this is the best defense Michigan will play all year, so at least that’s out of the way. No other team is going to hold Michigan to single digits unless Gardner gets injured. Each of the next three games is winnable – though challenging – but I’m chalking up Ohio State as a loss already unless something happens to Braxton Miller and  Kenny Guyton in the meantime. It appears 9-3 is a best case scenario at this point.

2013 Midseason Awards

Devin Gardner

Offensive Player of the Midseason: Devin Gardner, QB. Gardner has had lots of ups and downs, but he has kept Michigan in some games – especially with his feet – when things looked like they were going south. So far this season, he’s 107/175 passing for 1,779 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He is also second on the team in rushing with 520 yards on 95 carries (5.5 yards/carry) and 9 touchdowns.

Defensive Player of the Midseason: Blake Countess, CB. Receivers have beaten Countess a couple times over the top, but unfortunately for them, the quarterback hasn’t been able to hit them. Regardless, Countess is bouncing between cornerback and slot corner fairly well, coming in fifth in total tackles (27) with 2 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions, and 3 more pass breakups; one of those picks was returned 72 yards for a touchdown against Minnesota.

MVP of the Midseason: Taylor Lewan, OT. Aside from being an outstanding pass blocker, Lewan has been a stellar run blocker as well. Of course, it doesn’t show in the rushing statistics. But Michigan tries to run off left tackle or flip Lewan to the right side if they want to go right. The guy is tough and works hard, and I think his mentality helps the team almost as much as his physical skills.

Rookie of the Midseason: Jake Butt, TE.No freshmen are making a huge impact at this point, but tight end Jake Butt is quietly having a solid debut season with 7 receptions for 67 yards and some solid blocking. He has shown some nice body control in catching some low passes, but he probably has a couple jump ball-type passes he would like to have another chance to catch.

Coach of the Midseason: Mark Smith, linebackers coach. The linebackers might be the strongest unit on the team. Weakside linebacker James Ross leads the team with 50 tackles and has 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery. Middle linebacker Desmond Morgan is second on the team with 47 tackles, adding 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, and 2 pass breakups. Morgan turned in a spectacular one-handed interception and 29-yard return against UConn. Meanwhile, converted defensive end Brennen Beyer (18 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks) has been splitting time with Cam Gordon (15 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks) at SAM linebacker while Jake Ryan (5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss) has been returning from his ACL tear. The SAM trio has combined for 31 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks, which are some pretty good numbers for the position.

Disappointing Player of the Midseason: Devin Gardner, QB. The hype for Gardner was off the charts in the off-season, with coaches, analysts, and players talking about how good he was going to be. At times Gardner has looked excellent (against Notre Dame, second half against Penn State, flashes in every game), but overall, the numbers and ball security have been unimpressive. With 10 interceptions and numerous fumbles after just six games, he’s been extremely frustrating to watch if you’re a Michigan fan.

Disappointing Coach of the Midseason: Al Borges, offensive coordinator. Borges, who doubles as the quarterbacks coach, has lacked creativity in his play calling recently. The Penn State game was extremely vanilla except for some odd unbalanced formations that included using poor blocking tight end A.J. Williams as a left tackle and generally running to the strength in some very obvious formations and situations. Borges has struggled to make his quarterback comfortable, and that has resulted in turnover after turnover. Overall, the team is averaging just 4.2 yards/carry, even though the most consistent rusher (Gardner) averages 5.5 yards/pop. Michigan’s scoring average is good enough for #11 in the country, but the sky would be the limit if they had a consistent running threat aside from Gardner.

Game of the Midseason: Penn State. Michigan is yet to have a completely dominating performance where both the offense and the defense clicked. I refuse to choose the 59-9 win against Central Michigan, since both the starting running back and starting quarterback for the Chippewas were injured early in the game. The Penn State game was exciting for lots of wrong reasons (overtimes, missed field goals, blocked field goals, interceptions, big plays, etc.), but it was nonetheless exciting. Michigan lost 43-40 in four overtimes, unfortunately.

Play of the Midseason: Desmond Morgan’s interception against UConn. Quite possibly the most exciting play of the year was Desmond Morgan’s one-handed pick against the Connecticut Huskies. He got depth to get underneath a post route, leaped up, and pulled the ball down with his right hand. A 29-yard return ensued in which he showed some nice vision, if not some decent speed for a MIKE linebacker.

Poll results: Will Al Borges return as Michigan’s offensive coordinator in 2014?

Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges

After yet another weak performance running the ball against Penn State last week, offensive coordinator Al Borges’s name started to be tossed around (if it wasn’t already) as a potential target for firing. A poll asked if readers thought Michigan would be fired before 2014, and below are your results:

Yes: 34%

No: 42%


To be determined: 23%

Discuss.