Can anyone explain. . .

[ArrowheadBlue]

reviewing the season and the great start and #2 ranking:

1 how in the hell this team lost to Iowa as the offense disappeared
2 how this team barely beat Indiana
3 how the long passing game disappeared
4 why the defense disappeared in its last 2 game
5 how the team looked fatigued during its last 4 games

just wondering

 

[BHWolverine]

Iowa dominated the line of scrimmage. Speight didn't play against IU. No sure what happened to he passing game but it got conservative. Defense got wore down due to no offense and being on field more.

 

[goblue31602]

reviewing the season and the great start and #2 ranking:

1 how in the hell this team lost to Iowa as the offense disappeared
2 how this team barely beat Indiana
3 how the long passing game disappeared
4 why the defense disappeared in its last 2 game
5 how the team looked fatigued during its last 4 games

just wondering

Come on, some of these things are just ridiculous.

The team barely beat Indiana (who played PSU and OSU pretty tough) in a nasty weather game with a backup qb seeing his first action in crunch time for Michigan.

We were a bit off on some downfield throws that would have put the game away early. Our RB situation was frustrating with DeVeon getting a lot of carries even though he wasn't very good. The OL played awful and it showed.

The defense disappeared against OSU? They gave up 10 points in regulation on the road against OSU. How in the hell is that disappearing?

 

[tarun262]

there was a stat somewhere that there were 15-20 dropped balls by our 3 reliable Seniors (Darboh, Chesson, and Butt) in our 3 losses. You do that and it does not matter if you have Tom Brady as your QB, you ain't moving the ball.

 

[tarun262]

Come on, some of these things are just ridiculous.

The team barely beat Indiana (who played PSU and OSU pretty tough) in a nasty weather game with a backup qb seeing his first action in crunch time for Michigan.

We were a bit off on some downfield throws that would have put the game away early. Our RB situation was frustrating with DeVeon getting a lot of carries even though he wasn't very good. The OL played awful and it showed.

The defense disappeared against OSU? They gave up 10 points in regulation on the road against OSU. How in the hell is that disappearing?

Our defense played great expect for against FSU. You leave your defense out there for as long as you do, and any defense will struggle. Time of possession matters. Defense was the reason both Iowa and OSU did not win by 14 points each.

 

[ArrowheadBlue]

A good defense plays "good' at the end of the game, too. Agree about Indiana but no on mentioned the Iowa defeat that knocked UM out of the playoffs. The defense, I think, as many points in the last two games as nearly the entire season (save Colorado).

 

[tarun262]

The defense was on the field for almost 40 minutes+ in both games. When you do that, you get worn out - see Alabama in the NC game.
Against Iowa, you hold a team to 13 points your offense should be able to win the game. Against OSU, we had a 10 point lead and turned it over 3 times - including once inside the 20. You will not win if that happens.
You want to blame somone, blame our O-line and the touted Sr. WRs/TEs that put butter on their fingers for those 3 losses. Darboh catches that pass against Iowa that was in his hands with nobody on him, and we win. Butt catches the 2 passes that he was not looking at against OSU, we win that game. It's a team game...our defense carried us. Only game where I think our D sucked was against MSU.

 

[Blue_note]

The OL's lack of depth and talent is the No. 1 reason for the Iowa loss, and subsequent struggles on O.

Go Blue. Always.

 

[Reality Man]

Iowa dominated the line of scrimmage. Speight didn't play against IU. No sure what happened to he passing game but it got conservative. Defense got wore down due to no offense and being on field more.

Yes. Accurate.

 

[scfanblue]

In Harbaugh's second year, Michigan lost 3 games by 5 points.He is 20-6 over all. What more do you want? He also did it with a majority of Hoke recruited players. The ONLY thing I questioned this year was Smith getting so many touches because he is not very good and Chris Evans/Karon Higdon were much better. The offensive play calling sucked at times. Overall, Michigan is back big time in college football.

 

[maelfan]

Defense? The defense was fantastic vs OSU until overtime., FSU a different story although after the first qtr we dominated other than two unfortunate big plays.

I think what a lot of you suffer from is forgetting that many coaches not named harbaugh know just a teeny but about coaching and recruiting too.

 

[goblue31602]

A good defense plays "good' at the end of the game, too. Agree about Indiana but no on mentioned the Iowa defeat that knocked UM out of the playoffs. The defense, I think, as many points in the last two games as nearly the entire season (save Colorado).

A good offense gets more than 5 yards in the 4th quarter, too. Our offense kept our D on the field in crunch time and they delivered over and over. Were they perfect? No, but no defense is perfect. I have no idea how you can sanely have these types of expectations for a defense, but they played a HELL of a game in Columbus.

 

[tarun262]

A good offense gets more than 5 yards in the 4th quarter, too. Our offense kept our D on the field in crunch time and they delivered over and over. Were they perfect? No, but no defense is perfect. I have no idea how you can sanely have these types of expectations for a defense, but they played a HELL of a game in Columbus.

Agree! You can the the Ravens defense from last decade that was dominant or the Bear defense as well - if you offense gets 5 yards in a quarter or 18 yards in a half, you can put 15 people on the field and it won't matter.

 

[ArrowheadBlue]

agree with your thoughts on the defense. So what happened to the offense? If you can't run then you pass, right?

 

[tarun262]

agree with your thoughts on the defense. So what happened to the offense? If you can't run then you pass, right?

Well our running woes are well documented but our dropped balls - I mentioned it above. 20+ dropped balls in the last game - with about 12-14 of them that should have been caught...passing is a 2 person game...the QB and the WR/TE. Both ends have to hold up their end of the bargain.