Location: Happy Valley
Weather: 52 No rain
TV: ABC
Stream: EPSN App
Line: Michigan +9
I hate this game as it's not set up for success for the Wolverines. It's a night game on the road and a white out which means the Penn State fan base will be nice and lubed up for the late kick.
These teams are also the complete opposite of what I thought they would be at the start of the season. I saw Penn State re-building with a new QB and Michigan's offense excelling with a senior QB and new wide open system.
Tale of the Tape
Michigan O vs. PSU D = Penn State
Michigan D vs. PSU O = Push
Turnovers = Penn State
Intangibles = Penn State
Momentum = Penn State
Helmets = Michigan
White Pants = Push
This is a miss-match folks, the Wolverines can win this game but they have to be a completely different team then we have seen this season. The issue is Michigan's offense can't hang on to the ball and when that happens Michigan's defenses reverses like a scared turtle. This offense will not work unless Shea keeps the ball more and makes the LB's guess what the hell is going on. He has been unwilling or able to do that since the first play of the season. The 4th down at the 5 yard line was a great example, the only thing that was missing from that play was a big neon sign saying to run it here. Shea handed it off and Michigan was stopped.
Would you like more bad news? Clifford the Big Red Dog and new Penn State QB is athletic and loves to run for first downs. His running game on 3rd down basically beat Iowa last week. Iowa also got bit by an Ann Arbor spider and now has a turnover bug as well.
Say, well that was surprising if...…………
- Michigan doesn't turn the ball over
- Shea throws like an NFL draft-able QB
- Michigan gets Nico, Hill, and Paye back
- Charbonnet and Haskins run for 175+
- Don Brown has a game plan to stop a running QB
Send Warde Manuel a nasty email - this is why we don't play ND in October if...……..
- Penn State plays like they did last time there was a night game white out against Michigan
- Michigan's offense continues to look like a clown car out of control
- Michigan's defense turtles
- Jimmy uses some type of iron sharpens iron analogy in the post game press conference
- Don Brown gets out game planned again
Michigan's offense is not ready for prime time and that is just sad in week 8. That is huge a disappointment but the defense is also not playing up to their standards. Illinois scoring 25 straight points should never happen, never! Penn State just won a night game in Iowa, where candidly they didn't play great and got a bunch of penalties but did enough to win. Those games continue momentum, barley beating Illinois after being up 28 points have the opposite effect.
This is a nightmare scenario for Michigan fans:
-Night road game
-Michigan is beating themselves
-Mobile QB for PSU
-Can't make a field goal
-Harbaugh & Brown struggle against ranked teams
-Harbaugh's Michigan teams struggle at night
-Michigan has key injuries to starters
-The media storm against Harbaugh will be incredibly strong after another road loss
-Another night game against a rival next week
Penn State 41 Michigan 17
Hey Jerk, you pointed out all the negatives. How about a few ways Michigan could win this game? You're a freaking Michigan Football Blog!
Fair point, Shea has to keep the ball and get some chuck yards on the ground. Both Michigan running backs have to hold on to the ball and find plenty of yards in the running game. The offensive line has to protect in pass protection for Shea to find Michigan's talented WR's deep. Don Brown can't have his defense play man to man and have their back to Clifford opening up long runs for 1st downs. You have to keep Penn State in 3rd and long and keep the Big Red Dog from scrambling. He much rather run then challenge the Michigan secondary.
13 comments:
I watched about 2 1/2 Qs of the Iowa/PSU game. I get it was at Kinnick, but PSU didn't impress me. That being said, MI would have play a mistake free game, and then get a couple of breaks. Based on what we've seen so far, I don't see that happening. You mentioned that Patterson would have to play like he's an NFL draft worthy QB. That's a major problem as I don't see him playing on Sundays. He's an average college QB who was overrated out of HS and overhyped coming to MI. In fairness to Shea there were members of the media that all but ordained him as the savior of MI football. That wasn't fair, he's just not that good. At Ole Miss they ran a very basic single read offence, and against better SEC teams he struggled. To expect him to come to AA and do much better was folly!
I sat there and took in the entire WI debacle. I think every UoM fan that believes Jim Harbaugh is "the guy" should have sat there and watched every second. After watching the whole WI game if you could still say JH needs more time I question your football acumen! Saying that, if things start going off the rails for the Wolverines against PSU, I can't see myself wasting my entire Saturday night watching that!
If coach Harbaugh leaves, who do we replace him with?
Bob, I always appreciate your Michigan information each day, but you seem to get off the rails when it comes to athletic directors and essentially blame for everything. "Sailboat Bill" as you call him was an issue, then Dave Brandon was bad, then Warde Manuel was the savior with Harbaugh after Brandon, but now he is an incompetent. You do realize that Michigan can't get everything they want and have to compromise with league and other teams right? Also, despite what we Michigan fans want to believe, our influence has severely taken a dive in the last decade due to our little to no impact on the football national stage.
I believe the downfall we've seen over last decade started from the App State game. Unfortunately I was there and watched that debacle live. We were not prepared for great D2 team and they flat out beat us that day. That mystique that used to emanate from the Big House and spot us 5-7 points in intimidation factor disappeared that day and has not returned. The end of the Carr (Bo era) was done shortly after and we went crazy with Rich Rod. Despite his offense prowess his small fast players couldn't survive the long season and quick starts would always end with losses as weather got colder and those players took more hits. That system would never work long term in the Big Ten. Hoke came next and was able to recruit to certain degree, but struggled to develop players much past their high school talent. Harbaugh has been marginally better, but hasn't been able to turn the corner. I don't want to have a history lesson, but that is problem these days we live in history 2-3 decades old instead of reality these days.
I don't know where to go next if Harbaugh is fired or quits, but we need to realize that our great history means little to today's athletes and we don't have that influence anymore. The idea we can go get what coach we want just because we have a big bag of money is laughable. Michigan high school football is atrocious. If we're lucky one year their are 3-5 top recruits and it needs a major overhaul. The midwest economically has been down and many people have moved south including myself for better economy and weather. What great coach would want to come into that? Lincoln Riley can dominate in the south and has about 1000 times more top recruits nearby. If it was just about money then each of our next coach choices over the last decade would have been the best out there. The state of Ohio has a better HS system, but since those bastards have been so good lately we don't get a lot of help there and unfortunately for us they have been exception in the midwest/northeast instead of the trend for once great to good teams. We used to be able to command the national athlete recruit presence and Harbaugh and Hoke have brought some in, but so far not to championship level.
I wish it was better and hoped Harbaugh could restore Michigan to it's once great history, but if you look at the past great teams from when I grew up like Michigan, Tennessee, Nebraska, Colorado, many of them have taken a tumble and their influence has dried up. I believe all of those have and are still living in the past instead of building a new legacy and their once great recruiting beds have disappeared. We need a rebirth instead of restoration, but I am clueless on how in today's climate and what coach we could actually hire that can get that done. Sorry for the ramble, but blaming AD's, road games we don't want to play, night games, and any of the other "back in the good old days" of our ancient history of influence is getting tiresome. Either we adjust and grow into today's climate or we stay where we are and win 8-10 games a year and stew in our frustration. As VOR always say's IMHO...but for me I guess it would be In My Honest But Frustrated Opinion.
I think Rich Rod was fired prematurely....he should have given another year....Michigan's concept of football is run up the middle and throw on 3rd down...I think Michigan calls it power football...(my ass)...especially when there is no power...lol....fire these old dinosaur who have 1920 style of football on their mind and hire someone who is young and talented....Lincoln Riley...or go after Urban Myer...I know he has bad taste in his mouth after what happened in OSU...I think he wants to pay them back!!
Oh by the way there is no such thing is White Out...if you are good football team you can beat anyone anywhere....I hope Michigan wins but, it might be a long night.....
Ezmo8 there are people at Michigan that get paid alot of money to make the right decision when it comes when/if its time to replace Harbaugh. The only thing I can say is you can't be afraid to make a change. UoM is paying JH a lot of money for results that you could get for less money from an up-and-coming mid-major coach. Sparty faces the same dilema. Do they dare move on from arguably the best football coach in school history because he's stuck in the past and can't move the program into the future. Yeah the new guy might fail, but doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity.
Good take chow mein I like the way you
Think
LOL can't even get one yard garbage
Power football!!!! 😆..... what a joke
Time and Time up the middle for no gain...pass on 3rd down...what did I say....
Why are they putting these slow safeties on KJ...plz fire Brown
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