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| Jacob Hamilton Mlive |
During the Harbaugh years I wrote a ton of post game articles where it mentioned "vanilla". Where Jimmy and his staff called an ultra conservative game to protect from making any game changing mistakes on offense with the Wolverine dominating defense playing well and to hide the playbook from future opponents. Harbaugh might have been in LA on Saturday but his parents were in the Big House and it was clear not much has changed.
The game was a classic Harbaugh affair. Where Michigan's transfer kicker was the star and Michigan controlled most of the game on defense. The score doesn't tell the story of how close the game really was. Before I get to Cheers and Jeers, let's talk about what we learned on Saturday.
Learned:
- Orji is not a throwing QB.
- Edwards needs a power back at RB1
- Defense continues to be strong
- Michigan's only TD on defense was a Wink blitz
- Oline and Davis Warren are still learning
- Michigan's transfer kicker is very good
Cheers:
- Dominic Zada, take a bow you were the MVP of the game
- Josaiah Stewart is going to be a problem for OT's. He had 2 sacks and 5 solo tackles
- Outside an under thrown deep ball Davis Warren threw accurately
- Will saved the game with a long pick 6
- Mason Graham and Ken Grant shut down the running game
- Mullings had 92 yards and some strong running late, he is RB1
- Loveland might be a TE but is WR1 with 87 yards
- Benny played well
- Michigan won the game
Jeers:
- Michigan's stars had a tough day. Will and Donovan had uneven performances
- WR's had 6 total catches for 34 yards
- Offensive line struggled early
- Orji out gained Edwards
- Michigan struggled to run the ball
- Warren was a first read only passer and was sped up in the pocket
- Barham had 2 tackles
- TJ Guy lost his focus for a few minutes
- That last Fresno drive was bananas with 3 picks, 4 personal fouls, and a TD for Michigan.
There is a lot to be concerned about with Texas less than a week away in the Big House. Michigan's offense does not move if it doesn't move on the ground. Every team loads the box to stop the run against the Wolverines and last night it worked. The only good drive of the game was late, when Michigan's offensive line took over.
The Michigan coaches have to let Davis look for at least 2 options. He was first read thrower all game. Other WR's were running buck naked open and he is trying to fit 5 yard tight throws to Loveland or Edwards. I hope the coaches see that on tape.
Michigan has to be creative on how they used Edwards. He is not an RB1 and Michigan needs to get him more involved in the pass game. Can we run a traditional screen please? Orji is one of the best 11 players on offense and he needs more RB looks, not QB snaps. He could be RB2.
The defense and special teams played well. The transfers highlighted by Zada were fantastic. The secondary played pretty well most of the game. Next week, will be the test of course. I'm concerned that Michigan showed the blitz way too early on Fresno's TD throw.
On the flip side, it was the first game of the year and lots of good teams struggled including Oregon. Many of the issues Michigan had were one's we were concerned about. Let's take a breath enjoy a day off on Monday and hope Michigan has the biggest jump of the year from Week 1 to Week 2.
13 comments:
I agree with everything exceot for listing Barham's 2 tackles as a jeer. Hard for a middle LB to get tackles if the RB never gets past the D line.
Guys, I am back from Dubai.... Fire shown more right now and fire Warren Davis with him. That was vanilla on top of vanilla type of a game?. I hope Sharon was saving some place for next week or else it's going to be a blowout. Glad to be back. Good job Bob.
Good one, Brohio.
Mcbroww cant never get in the game ever again... Probably the worst cornerback in NCAA football right now
That pretty much went the way I thought it would go and that was my worst case scenario. I thought the D would carry the team and they did, but gave up too many big plays for my liking. Fresno st has a good offense, a good mountain west offense. Bear in mind, their QB is like 5'9". you want to throw shine on Grant and Graham for shutting down the run game, okay, but again Fresno st is known more for their passing game than running game. The run to keep you honest, its not how they bake their bread! I like the new K, made me feel a lot better after the first game then Turner did last year with his knuckleballs. Thank God for Colston Loveland!
Now the bad: pretty much the offense. Neither QB stood out, at least for good reasons. Warren Davis, to me, looks like he locks into his primary receiver and is going there no matter what. The pick was triple coverage and he got away with throwing another into double coverage when there was a receiver in the flat for a short gain. OL was concerning, the struggled against a mountain west defense. Sure they were 3rd last year in the MW, but its the MW! WRs didn't seem to be able to separate and I'm resigned that Donovan Edwards isn't what we all hoped he'd be. sure he'll have a game every once in awhile where he goes ham, but then disappears for long stretches too. Look if he struggles to run the ball last year behind that OL, it's not boding well for this season. I had my doubts about the OL and they came to fruition, at least against Fresno st. Love him or hate him, Harbs was not shy. If he didn't think you could cut it, he was not afraid to go out and get somebody who he thought could. He went and got Oluwatimi 2 yrs ago, and then Drake Nugent, Myles Hinton, and LaDarius Henderson last year. That didn't say much for the guys that were already in the OL room. I still have hopes for El-Hadi, after all its not easy being stuck behind Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan, but man that look out block where Warren Davis got flatten, that gave me flashbacks of Kyle Kalis and his lookout blocks! Little concern about center as well. Crippen didnt' impress enough to keep Jim from hitting the portal 2 yrs in a row, and then he lost the job in camp to a former DL.
Run the ball outside! What happended to the pitch out to the RB? Schembechler used that to perfection when defenses loaded the box. A quick pitch to Edwards with a pulling guard and TE on the running side will open up a lane as all the defenders will be in the middle of the field. Steve Smith and Rick Rodgers ran that to perfection. So did Harbaugh and Jamie Morris. An option - 1 or two a game will really be effective - especially with Orji. A sweep? Quick reverse? Even a screen. GET IT OUTSIDE when they are loading the box. Not only will it succeed.....they won't load the box so much. Establishing a running game seems to be a lost art.
The refereeing could suck my balls
I told you guys last year on this blog that Mullings could be the #1 back over Edward's. I agree about having to get creative with using Edward's. The O line played better when they put Crippen at center. The guy who started at center Giudice, was terrible. We looked better in both halfs when Crippen was in there. He should be the starter!
Chow mein you're writing way too much. No one is reading your crap. Keep it limited. Keep it sweet. Keep it important
We are "Masters of the Universe" .... at least in field goals and "Dink" passes ...... Edwards is not "the bomb". I knew we would have a rough start (hopefully not whole season). The beat down by Texas will be painful, just so we keep it close would be a moral victory. Outlier is 8 - 4 season (optimistically spoken). Pass the joint, it makes things less painful. As Bo said "you improve the most from game 1 to game 2, but so will Texas. I want to contribute to the "bring back Harbaugh association). Being a great cheerleader does not make one a great coach.
Will didn't save the game. It was 23-10 with a couple of minutes left. His Int was just icing on the cake and made the score seem like the game wasn't as close as it was.
I hope Wink learned something from his failed blitz.
The Oline looked pedestrian. I hope they gel this week.
How about putting Warren at QB, Orji at RB, and Edwards outside. That would give defenses something to think about.
One man's crap.......and you should know all about crap
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