I favor leaded, but this morning I'm going DCaff. To me, he was the single brightest spot in last night's game. And he may be the best argument for getting Pep out of Ann Arbor because I'm beginning to find it hard to muster evidence in opposition to @KevinWerner 's thesis on QB regression.
With that McCartney/Lennonesque thought, general impressions:
Drevno's departure was, it now seems, something that those close to the program thought was warranted. I'm just hoping that Pep Hamilton wasn't a similar example of half measures. After all, Mike Ehrmantraut can tell you what happens with half-measures.
GoBlue.
With that McCartney/Lennonesque thought, general impressions:
- Mrs. Varnsen is a former health-care professional who (justifiably) is proud of her assessment skills. She thinks that Harbaugh is suffering from ennui and it's worse than last season. "The fire just isn't there." (I chalk it up to too many trips to France. Probably ducked into a bookstore, read some Sartre, and now we all have to pay the price. Post-Lafayette the French always find a way to screw us it seems.)
- If it makes sense, my concern is more for this staff than this team. The play-calling still has the "let's throw 30 plays up against the wall and see if they work" feel. Delay of game penalties. Missed hold on FG. Squandered opportunities. I'm concerned that, although the staff might be getting along better than last season, the overall "too many cooks in the kitchen" nature of their work-flow might still be present. Whatever the explanation, that did not look like a well-coached football team last night.
- I love Greg Mattison but I will say this -- his defensive ends do not tend to develop counter-moves. It's always a version of a speed rush with different hand-fighting or a speed rush converted into a bull-rush. That's enough for Winovich whose subtle changes in speed/dip under are rich tapestry of shades of slippery, but Rashan Gary's development has not been what I expected. The kid is a stud athlete and he plays hard, but he's not the dominant pass-rusher I expected at this point. Finally, it is a rite of Fall that our DEs come upfield too far and allow running QBs to escape. Usually it takes a game to correct. Last night it was a half. Frustrating that, with two vets, it had to be fixed at all.
- Runyan and JBB are Ulizioesque. That was one of the better DLs we will face but I think we're not going to see much of a deep passing game this season -- again. We can't sustain pass blocks and we have to keep TEs and RBs in to help block. Of course that's extraordinarily frustrating. But I'm calling my shot early and saying that Ed Warriner can get it done, but it's going to take time. And I'm very, very concerned about the offensive architecture at this point. I'd love to see an all 22 look and see what kind of pass concepts we're running.
- Patterson, to me, looked a lot like John O'Korn against Purdue last year. Throws well and accurately on the run, a little bit of happy feet syndrome, not a world-beater but certainly a guy you can win with against most teams on your schedule. Now, ND's defense is not Purdue's -- they're much better. But that doesn't bode well, IMO. This guy -- and this team -- are going to have to make big, big strides in order to have a respectable season, let alone a championship season.
- Brad Hawkins is getting a lot of heat but I saw a guy that is a big upgrade over Mettellus. Big, long, and much better range. The first deep ball reminded me of the one Lewis gave up in the Orange Bowl against FSU. He was in great position but just misjudged it. The second one -- I don't get all of the griping. Regardless, I think he takes Mettelus' spot.
- I was also impressed with Ross.
Drevno's departure was, it now seems, something that those close to the program thought was warranted. I'm just hoping that Pep Hamilton wasn't a similar example of half measures. After all, Mike Ehrmantraut can tell you what happens with half-measures.
GoBlue.
