1. Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. So here's mine: the complaints about Ronnie Bell reurning punts is either the worst type of after-the-fact result merchanting, or simply bizarre. I love Ronnie Bell, and he's important to the team. He's not, however, Charles Woodson, Desmond Howard, Jabril Peppers, Anthony Carter, or numerous other guys who were great players on offense or defense AND returned punts. Special teams matter a lot. We have no clear replacement for Bell as a punt returner, as evidenced by the fact that David Kolesar slotted in as a punt returner the rest of the game. It's really unfortunate that Bell got hurt, and I hope that it's nowhere near as bad as it appeared. That said, guys get injured in football. To complain about using a guy to get a lengthy return in a game which was still in question at that time because a bad thing happened is just silly.
2. J.J. McCarthy is going to be a great QB at Michigan. However, there is not, repeat not, a QB controversy at Michigan right now, despite the announcers attempt to make one up. Cade McNamera was solidly in control of the offense, and aside from some overly conservative play calls, and a truly outrageous offensive pass interference call on Bell, the offense played well. J.J. was, as expected, up and down in his first college game--the ridiculous TD throw to Baldwin balanced against several throws over the middle which were over or under thrown, and the moment of panic under pressure resulting in the 16 yard loss. It's going to take some time. When it happens though...
3. I'm still concerned about the interior of the defensive line--we had some issues holding up and/or keeping the area clean for the linebackers on runs up the middle. To be fair, when you're playing a team which is that pass oriented, the mentality and priority for the interior line can be different. Washington will be an interesting test.
4. We have some real speed and playmakers among our underclassmen. Corum and Henning in particular can really motor. And Corum's instantaneous acceleration is something to watch.
5. The Ojabo taunting call early in the game really bothered me, but not because it was a bad call; rather it was because it was a terrible play on Ojabo's part. This is not an old man "get off my lawn" comment, as I have no problem with kids showing emotion when they make a great play. However, Ojabo didn't make the play--he was five yards from the play--and he still ran over to taunt the receiver for being the victim of someone else's play. You can't do that.
6. Aiden Hutchinson, good.
7. As someone who has criticized our clock management incessantly, I didn't have a problem with the way we managed the clock itself late in the first half...until we started calling running plays inside the tackles in the last 30 or so seconds. There has to be some recognition of the clock there--it seems like the OC tried to call the plays most likely to succeed in a vacuum, rather than the ones which best combined likelihood of success with ability to run, and execute, multiple plays without rushing. I'm guessing that if they let the QB make those decisions, things would work out better.
8. I thought our secondary looked much improved against a good QB. Other than the hot read off the blitz when we wound up with Josh Ross on their best receiver, I thought our guys were in pretty good position within the confines of the defense, even on some of the completions like the one down the sidelines in the first possession.
9. Overall, this was a good effort. Whether the good things we saw hold up against better competition remains to be seen. You have to start somewhere though, and there were some real positives out there.
2. J.J. McCarthy is going to be a great QB at Michigan. However, there is not, repeat not, a QB controversy at Michigan right now, despite the announcers attempt to make one up. Cade McNamera was solidly in control of the offense, and aside from some overly conservative play calls, and a truly outrageous offensive pass interference call on Bell, the offense played well. J.J. was, as expected, up and down in his first college game--the ridiculous TD throw to Baldwin balanced against several throws over the middle which were over or under thrown, and the moment of panic under pressure resulting in the 16 yard loss. It's going to take some time. When it happens though...
3. I'm still concerned about the interior of the defensive line--we had some issues holding up and/or keeping the area clean for the linebackers on runs up the middle. To be fair, when you're playing a team which is that pass oriented, the mentality and priority for the interior line can be different. Washington will be an interesting test.
4. We have some real speed and playmakers among our underclassmen. Corum and Henning in particular can really motor. And Corum's instantaneous acceleration is something to watch.
5. The Ojabo taunting call early in the game really bothered me, but not because it was a bad call; rather it was because it was a terrible play on Ojabo's part. This is not an old man "get off my lawn" comment, as I have no problem with kids showing emotion when they make a great play. However, Ojabo didn't make the play--he was five yards from the play--and he still ran over to taunt the receiver for being the victim of someone else's play. You can't do that.
6. Aiden Hutchinson, good.
7. As someone who has criticized our clock management incessantly, I didn't have a problem with the way we managed the clock itself late in the first half...until we started calling running plays inside the tackles in the last 30 or so seconds. There has to be some recognition of the clock there--it seems like the OC tried to call the plays most likely to succeed in a vacuum, rather than the ones which best combined likelihood of success with ability to run, and execute, multiple plays without rushing. I'm guessing that if they let the QB make those decisions, things would work out better.
8. I thought our secondary looked much improved against a good QB. Other than the hot read off the blitz when we wound up with Josh Ross on their best receiver, I thought our guys were in pretty good position within the confines of the defense, even on some of the completions like the one down the sidelines in the first possession.
9. Overall, this was a good effort. Whether the good things we saw hold up against better competition remains to be seen. You have to start somewhere though, and there were some real positives out there.
