Nebraska 23, Michigan 9
 |
| She’s better than any pictures from the game, I think. |
The QB situation. I don’t even know where to start. Denard Robinson was playing okay before he got hurt (6/11 for 55 yards; 10 carries for 46 yards). After that all hell broke loose. Redshirt freshman backup quarterback Russell Bellomy entered the game and threw eleven or twelve straight incomplete passes. He finished the game 3/16 for 38 yards and 3 interceptions, along with taking 2 sacks. His receivers dropped some passes, but mostly the throws were inaccurate and uncatchable. At some point Devin Gardner should have been inserted as the quarterback. Brady Hoke and Al Borges have insisted that Gardner is their #2 quarterback, and while that obviously hasn’t been true, even the #3 guy should be given a shot when #2 can’t get the job done. The Wolverines were down by a touchdown or less for most of the game, and Gardner might have been able to provide a spark. He’s obviously not the best quarterback in the land, but he does have some athleticism to improvise if the play breaks down. Bellomy looked absolutely lost.
Al Borges anger? Am I mad at Al Borges? A little. The throwback screen to Jeremy Gallon has become way too predictable, for one. But I’m certainly not mad at him for calling the plays he did after Bellomy entered. Borges gave Bellomy some easy throws early, and Bellomy threw them into the ground or sailed them over the receivers’ heads. What plays should an offensive coordinator call for a guy who’s bad at running every play? Aside from running the ball, which wasn’t working (Fitzgerald Toussaint had 15 carries for 38 yards), there’s not much an OC can do. Nebraska blitzed Bellomy on passing downs, and they sucked up on the short routes because Bellomy doesn’t like to throw downfield. If I remember correctly, he threw exactly two passes beyond 15 yards; the first was an incompletion to Roy Roundtree in the endzone that was incorrectly called pass interference against the defense; the second was to a double-covered Devin Gardner that turned into an interception. Bellomy is terrible at this stage in his career.
Quarterback recruiting and development. I have been beating this drum now for a couple years, but Brady Hoke should have taken a quarterback in the class of 2012. Michigan is apparently down to two quarterbacks on the roster: Robinson and Bellomy. Gardner has been limited to wide receiver exclusively. Even if the freshman isn’t good, he would at least give the Wolverines another option if Bellomy stinks it up as the backup. Hoke offered just eight quarterbacks in the 2012 class, and none really seemed to be heavily pursued. Additionally, I’m still annoyed that Rich Rodriguez burned Devin Gardner’s redshirt back in 2010. From what I understand, the belief is that he will not be granted a fifth year of eligibility, and now he’s a true junior instead of a redshirt sophomore. Even if Hoke wanted to develop Gardner as the heir apparent to Robinson, he would only have a year to play the position. Both of Michigan’s most recent coaches have failed to handle the quarterback position appropriately over the last few years.
Michigan’s run defense was excellent. By the end of the game, Nebraska was wearing down the Wolverines a little bit. But even with some big runs by running back Ameer Abdullah and quarterback Taylor Martinez late in the game, they combined for 159 yards on 38 carries, which is just barely over 4 yards/carry. If Michigan’s offense could have stayed on the field longer and kept them in the game, I doubt the Wolverines would have had the same kinds of breakdowns.
Michigan’s secondary was burned several times. Raymon Taylor was torched. J.T. Floyd was beaten a couple times and picked up two pass interference calls. Jordan Kovacs was beaten. Thomas Gordon was beaten for a touchdown, albeit by an illegal pick.
The referees were terrible. It went both ways, but the refs were bad. The early 55-yard catch by Roy Roundtree was ruled as a reception on the field, and there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it; yet overturn it they did. Vincent Smith’s diving attempt that launched the ball up into the arms of P.J. Smith could have been overturned just as easily as the Roundtree play, but the interception was upheld. Bellomy’s deep ball to Roundtree shouldn’t have been called pass interference against Nebraska. There were numerous holding calls that they missed, including against Taylor Lewan, who has been committing way too many infractions. Nebraska also took a penalty for targeting Jeremy Jackson, but the defender led with his shoulder and hit Jackson in the chest, not the head.
Much of this could be fixed if Michigan could run the ball. Outside of Denard Robinson, nobody on Michigan’s team can run the ball effectively this year. Michigan’s interior offensive line is weak, and honestly, it’s the two most experienced guys who are playing the worst, in my opinion. Ricky Barnum and Patrick Omameh, both of whom are fifth year seniors, have often failed to get a push. Center Elliott Mealer has been mediocre, but he hasn’t played much in his career. Offensively, Michigan doesn’t have an identity. The offensive line has been pretty healthy, but they can’t run the ball; both quarterbacks have been subpar in the passing game; the receivers are average. Unless Denard Robinson is running the ball, Michigan is ineffective. Now Michigan has gone two consecutive games without a touchdown, and you can’t put your defense in that type of situation consistently and expect to win.