Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Wolverine Wednesday: Two QB Plays

One of the things that many Michigan fans can agree on from Saturday's game is that the two QB plays looked confusing, wasted a down, and was overall not effective.   I like many Michigan fans wouldn't mind never seeing that formation again.    Dylan McCaffrey is a talented runner at the QB position but is not really a threat as a WR.  Michigan ran it 4 times on Saturday and once they had to take a time out.  With Michigan's skill position talent, there has to be a better option.

Well, Dylan likes it and it doesn't seem to be going away.

  “I obviously like it, it gets me a chance to get on the field,” McCaffrey said. “I think it can be really effective at times. We’ll work on it – a lot of that is on me. I think it’s fun. It’s pretty versatile. I know other teams – it’s tough for people to defend, because they don’t know if it’s gonna be a double-pass. They don’t really know what’s coming.”

“We’ve been practicing that for a good while now,” McCaffrey said. “We have our own package for it, when two of us come in at the same time. Not really spring ball, but ever since summer it’s been in the works. At first I didn’t really know if it would actually happen, so I’m glad it did.”

“That was a lot of Coach Gattis’ idea,” McCaffrey said. “He had seen some of it in the past, and it had been effective for him. Figured we could try it here.”

So it doesn't seem to be going away but my vote is to shelf this idea and try to get a few more first downs and points.  If you want Dylan in the game, put him under center (or in the shotgun).

  • Reports are that Shea got hurt on the first play of season (where he should of slide) and fumbled.  It looked to me he got hurt later in the half but he is expected back 100% on Saturday. 

  • Bryan Mone was undrafted but was signed after the draft by the Seahawks.  It seems he has made the roster.  Which is great news.   There are two thoughts to this, he could be expendable when other players come off suspension or injury or he could have his spot cemented due to his low salary and strong play.  

  • Fox is sending Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt to do the Michigan game. Gus is a Michigan fan and it would be nice for him to call a win.

  • Pat Forde would like to see a Michigan - Alabama home and home.  Here is my vote, no thanks!

  • Wilton's little brother Jess Speight who came to Michigan as offensive lineman walk-on is now a defensive lineman and earned himself a scholarship. 

  • Just announced Andrew Vastardis has also earned himself a scholarship.  Andrew is a senior and an offensive lineman. 

7 comments:

MichiganMan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MichiganMan said...

Bob, I would love to see Michigan play Alabama in late November....I wan't to see how Bama play in the elements....thoughts?

Cormac said...

2 QB play

It seems to me that to some, any criticism of Michigan/Harbaugh/Gattis isn't welcome. I said when Harbaugh announced this that I thought it was a gimmick. IMHO, Michigan is wasting valuable time and resources to practice a gimmick. If this type of play is so good, why aren't other teams doing it? Michigan should abandon this stupid play and move onto something more productive.

Bob said...

Cormac, I agree get rid of it. MichiganMan if anything yes, I would like a home and home with Bama so they can come to the big house and vice versa. Michigan does have some nice future games on the schedule like a home and home with Texas. The Wolverines need to be careful scheduling to tough as it doesn't pay off late in the year.

Unknown said...

Every innovation starts as a gimmick. I’m sure the old timers said RPO was a gimmick when it was first tried. Games against the MTSU of the world are times to experiment and try new “gimmicks”. You never know which one will be the next great innovation. Harbaugh is an innovator and will keep trying new approaches. If you disagree too bad he probably isn’t going to change for a few critical fans. If the kinks get worked out I can see great potential for this in the future. A sweep pass option with a real quarterback is much more effective than a running back chucking the ball. The available options of having two fully functioning quarterbacks on the field at the same time are at the very least interesting.

Cormac said...

Unknown,

Why no name? I never expected that Harbaugh would change it. He has a (very) stubborn streak. Sometimes, I think it borders on pigheadedness. Experimentation doesn't include putting your top two QBs out there at the same time and one of them lined up as a WR. That's just stupid. At least I have a mind of my own. What if one of those experiments you so love, that either Patterson or McCaffery is injured and sidelined for the year? What would you say then? Not everything or anything that Harbaugh and Co. suggest is a good idea.

MichiganMan said...

Yes, I agree with you Cormac. That idea with two QBs was one of dumbest thing I have witness as a football fan. If he wants to try something new, Harbaugh should watch Alabaman or OSU games.