Now that the Bad Thing has Happened (Again), it’s time to
focus on Hoops. Michigan has a
critical 4-game stretch (starting tonight!) that will mean a lot come committee time and if
Michigan can negotiate it successfully, it might even be the difference between a 2-3-4
Seed line come the NCAA’s.
So
Let’s call this the “Mini-Revenge Tour”. Michigan suffered losses to UNC last season and to South
Carolina in 2016-17 season in a pre-season tourney. Michigan gets BOTH OF THOSE TEAMS at
HOME! Should be some great
basketball. I won’t even discuss Purdue
and Northwestern, but they’re in there, also and each team was responsible for
one of Michigan’s 8 losses last season.
4
Games – 4 Shots at Redemption! And to
remain perfect on the season!!!
Want
to know something sad??
2016 B1G Championship
Teams:
Wiscy and PSU. Both were defeated by Michigan.
2018’s B1G Championship Teams
Northwestern and The osu –
Michigan defeated Northwestern.
In the last 3 seasons,
Michigan is 3-3 against B1G Championship teams in those seasons.
When you win the games is
important.
OSU vs. Maryland Highlights
OSU vs. Nebraska Highlights
OSU vs. Purdue Highlights
So why did I put highlights of
all
the games where the osu appeared to suck?
Because there’s a
pattern. And to prove I was right.
Everyone that gave the osu
fits this season did two things: They
BOMBED the football – A LOT. And they
ran sweeps to the outside, sealing the ends and negating the osu linebacker
play. I’m starting to wonder if
the Michigan coaching staff even watched these games. I would have had Patterson throwing early and
figuring out how to get DPJ the ball on some jet sweeps. Even Patterson running more RPO’s would have
been more effective.
Michigan got caught up in it’s
own perceived ability to run inside and based that off of what had been
atrocious outings against teams that Michigan literally steam-rolled.
But it’s Michigan vs. the osu. The gloves have to come off. You have to empty the play-book.
Best
Thing Seen On Twitter:
“Harbaugh
is becoming the Michigan version of John Cooper”
I don’t say that with
humor. It actually makes me a little ill…
The Mailbag
A lot of you had feedback,
understandably so. So, without further
ado and because this is a community blog:
SO,
not one mention of how the three weaknesses that I harped at you about all
season were the keys to our demise. It is not my point that my insight
was especially profound, it IS my point that my observations ran counter to
many of the statistics (and were met with mostly contempt from you) and
"in-depth" "expert" analysis and yet my observations proved
to be more accurate. Here are some memory aids:
1.
The slime stopped themselves far more often than we stopped them.
2.
2 of our 3 TD drives against the slime were only enabled by super lucky tipped
completions.
3.
How r we going to stop the suckeyes if we can't even stop IU?
4.
Shea is inaccurate and slow to make decisions.
5.
WE CAN'T BEAT A GOOD TEAM IF WE CAN'T PLAY A DECENT FIRST QUARTER!!! THIS
really deserves more attention, as this has been a rather consistent problem
since Jimmy arrived.
SuperFan
Lot’s of anger here.
I get that. Yep.
You have every right to be angry.
And at this
point, based on no small part as to how the team simply didn’t look ready to
go, I have to say that Michigan’s Coaching Staff needs to take a
long hard look at themselves and how they game-plan.
I’ll address your
issues in reverse order:
5. The 1st quarter thing is definitely
a thing. Looking at this season’s
box scores, Michigan is slow to get out of the gate, ESPECIALLY later in the
season. Michigan checked in at number 84
in the country in 1st Quarter scoring. The jump up to 9 in 2nd quarter scoring, drop down to 31 in 3rd
quarter scoring and finish the game ranked 12th in 4th
quarter scoring. In contrast, that
school to the south of us does a lot better in this area in all
quarters of the game. In
addition, you could also argue that Michigan SUCKS in the 3rd quarter
in what used to be Michigan’s quarter.
Harbaugh needs to figure out that sometimes
it’s okay to jump on somebody early and then just hold them down. Last year, Michigan couldn’t finish a game to
save their ass.
This season, they needed a jump start in the 1st quarter of
the 2nd half of the season because everyone CAN PREDICT what Michigan
is going to run as they’ve see it all for 6 games. (Links
to scoring for all 4 quarters. )
4. I think the only reason Shea is inaccurate
and slow is that he’s not given nearly enough chances. Taking Saturday out of the equation, Michigan
ran the ball on 65% of its plays this season. Michigan should have a more balanced attack
and I think Shea would get more comfortable.
Shea still finishes with one of the highest QB ratings since Chad
Henne, so, I’m not going to say he’s awful and what’s wrong can’t be
fixed. Again, it’s a SYSTEMIC problem
with the offense and Harbaugh.
He needs to figure that out (Harbaugh).
3. IU is a pretty good team. I watched part of the Ole Oaken Bucket game
and Purdue had their hands full. IU also
gave the osu a pretty good game, also.
Good offenses will find a way.
That’s why your own offense has to be able to step up and win a game
once in a while.
2. Okay?
I’ll take them. Michigan
owned the green slime in East Lansing. That
game was never in doubt.
1. That’s what bad teams do…Stop themselves.
Anyway, I take my cap off to
your analysis. Most of it’s spot
on. The only thing you didn’t hit on was
Brown’s stubbornness to admit that at times, a Zone can work effectively
against certain attacks.
When does this End? Can Harbaugh
Adjust? Meyer proved (again) what a
really good offense can do to a #1 Defense.
Saban learned that lesson, too...
Well, I’ve got a couple of
ideas. Kliff Kingsbury from Texas Tech
is available. How about Michigan
bringing him in as a consultant on offense for a season just to see how it
would work out? The osu
hired Coach Chaos (Kevin Wilson) when he was released from Indiana and that
seems to be working out pretty good.
I think Rich Rod is still working for ESPN and would probably be welcomed with
open arms as an offensive minded guru – analyst - advisor. Something needs to happen on the offensive
side of the ball. That much is
clear. And Michigan still has to prove
itself in the recruiting wars. Speed was
a factor, but it looked really bad Saturday.
OSU has been blocking punts all season.
Did Michigan know that and were they prepared? That’s when things went bad.
I wouldn’t say all season, but
they did have 3 blocked punts to their credit. And - Yes.
The blocked punt was a problem and Shea throwing a pick right afterwards
really sent things south. It’s almost as
if they were playing to hard. Michigan
wasn’t loose. They were forcing the
game.
Sorry Russ – I can’t watch anymore!
What a letdown…
That
sums it up.
Links
To Misery…
How
Nick Saban Saved Bama
No comments:
Post a Comment