Michigan dropped a 14-10 game against Michigan State … here’s what we saw after watching film.
First things first … the narrative that MSU “dominated” this game and then held on for dear life without trying to score is hogwash. Michigan dominated the second half of the game, and it wasn’t because MSU went into a shell, etc.
Also, MSU won the rushing battle, which usually indicates who will win this game, but the Spartans weren’t necessarily the better running team. Fifty of leading rusher Madre London’s 59 yards came on one carry on which fifth-year senior linebacker Mike McCray didn’t get off a block and safety Tyree Kinnel filled the wrong gap and played it extremely poorly. London went 11 carries for two yards after that, and most of those carries were in the heat of battle, not against stacked lines late.
MSU’s Brian Lewerke had a number of scrambles for his 61 yards, and also picked up a few solid gainers on keepers, including 10 by accident on a very fortunate play (more on that in a minute).
Thirty of MSU’s 94 passing yards came on a play on which cornerback Brandon Watson couldn’t have been in better position. A good bounce, a tip and a nice catch by Darrell Stewart set up a touchdown … that one play a game that MSU pulls out (like Jim Tressel used to with OSU) that they scout and save for U-M and break all tendencies, this time a screen for TD.
Michigan’s running game between the tackles was, actually, as strong as it’s been all year … not perfect, but effective in controlling the ball on the ground, at least when Karan Higdon was on the field. The junior had the huge gaffe (more on that in a minute), but ran hard on his way to 5.4 yards per carry and got good blocking. Sophomore Chris Evans was good early, too.
Six designed runs in the first quarter went for five or more yards, including two for eight, including Ty Isaac’s that resulted in a fumble when Michigan was cruising on the ground (more on that in a minute).
U-M also got the ground game going with Higdon in the third quarter, just before the monsoon hit. The big reason they stopped was a 10-yard “holding” penalty (more on that in a minute).
Michigan is still not a great run blocking team, but it was better this game across the board, minus the tight ends. Sophomore Sean McKeon struggled. Heads were snapping back on contact at times, even sophomore Ben Bredeson when he hit a linebacker — they were playing too high. But they were still moving the ball relatively effectively.
It would have been nice to break a few bigger ones to turn 14-play drives into 10-play, etc. When you have to drive the field in that many plays, the margin for error increases dramatically.
Flat out, though, Michigan controlled this game after MSU went up 14-3, the Spartans gifted points on a short field on their first drive before mounting one impressive one early in the second. Several things had to go wrong for U-M (and right for MSU) for the outcome we got, including Michigan State getting up early.
Here’s the first half list:
• Fifth-year senior Ty Isaac’s first quarter fumble.
U-M was dominating on the ground and near midfield when he put it on the ground, giving MSU the short field at the Michigan 46. That changed the momentum of the game. Twenty more yards and the Wolverines were in field goal range, at least, and the way they were moving on the ground (with great confidence), it seemed very possible, at least.
Instead, MSU gets the ball and moves 22 yards, and is stopped before Michigan State center Brian Allen literally chops sophomore linebacker Devin Bush to the back of the neck, after which Bush responds with a shove and gets flagged for 15 yards.
Instead of third and four from the 23 if they were offsetting or third and 19 out of field goal range if they called it on Allen, MSU gets first down and scores on a Lewerke scramble.
• Second quarter, the first down pass from the MSU 44 for 30 yards to Stewart that set up a touchdown. This was MSU’s only sustained drive of the day, ending with the great call on the screen.
• Second quarter, Michigan responds with a long touchdown pass to sophomore Kekoa Crawford, only Higdon unnecessarily holds in pass protection after O’Korn is flushed from the pocket. Instead of 14-10, Michigan punts. U-M still makes it to the MSU 40, but a 14-yard sack on which O’Korn should have thrown it away forces a punt.
Would Michigan have tried a 56-yard field goal with redshirt frosh Quinn Nordin there? Hard to say, but the wind was at his back. A strong wind.
• A fumble by McKeon down at the MSU 29. Michigan was in field goal range and would likely at least have gotten three if he hadn’t coughed it up. Just can’t happen.
So instead of down a score or less, Michigan trails 14-3 at the half.
MSU still continued to try to score up 11. The 50-yard London run was followed by three plays and a punt, a huge stop for the Michigan defense, including incompletions on first and third down (the first down one should have been picked by sophomore Lavert Hill, and will be as he continues to get more comfortable. He knocked it down, though … Hill was good and played well again Saturday).
MSU got the ball back at its 43, threw on first down but ended up punting after a third down ‘sack’ (no yardage, so no credit) by sophomore Rashan Gary.
The Spartans did drop a pass that could have kept a drive alive when Tristan Jackson got open on an obvious pick (not called), one of their few big mistakes.
U-M kicked off to start the second half, and great coverage and a penalty resulted in poor field position for MSU. MSU threw on second and third down from inside its own 10.
That starts the second half list of “what went wrong” …
• Michigan State got it back on a punt, one that could have resulted in a Michigan touchdown. Return man Laress Nelson muffed it, but rather than tackle him, freshman Ambry Thomas pushed him into the ball and it bounced right back to Nelson at the one-yard line.
Even then, MSU came out aggressive. They rolled Lewerke out twice from his own end zone but Michigan’s defense rose to the occasion, forcing a punt and a short field that resulted in U-M’s only touchdown. So the Spartans did not “play it safe.”
• The Wolverines were moving it on the ground down 14-10 when the rain started. They got to the 42, but fifth-year senior Mason Cole was flagged for holding … well after the play was over … after a pancake block.
That resulted in a first and 20 and the first of three O’Korn interceptions when, on one of the few occasions he actually had a pocket, he missed Crawford (who might have stopped his route) and the ball hit MSU’s David Dowell in the arm, by accident, and bounced right to him.
MSU stays on the ground in the driving rain and wind and punts after a three-and-out.
Weather is now a huge factor, and U-M enters the fourth quarter heading into it. MSU gets a break when a Spartans lineman pile drives O’Korn after a throw but avoids the flag in front of the referee (O’Korn is livid).
• The Spartans get the ball back after four worthless drives (again, the weather played a huge factor here, leading to two picks) and on second and six, Gary is flagged for offsides on a play on which he was not. MSU picks up its FIRST first down of the second half on a second and one sneak by Lewerke as a result, keeping the clock moving.
They pick up their second when a third and three shotgun fumble bounces right back to Lewerke, who rolls on top of a defender to pick it up.
• U-M still has a shot, but sophomore Eddie McDoom drops a pass at the 30. He’s alone, and if he had made the one defender in the vicinity miss, he might still be running.
Instead, Michigan runs out of time at the MSU 37 after a Hail Mary falls incomplete.
Bottom line … it wasn’t meant to be. Michigan had its chances, turned the ball over five times, and lost by four to a team it should have handled, and did much of the game, with one huge exception … and that leads off our “other observations:”
• Pass protection remains abhorrent, especially on the right side. Might as well give redshirt junior Jon Runyan Jr. a shot, because redshirt sophomore Nolan Ulizio and redshirt junior Juwann Bushell-Beatty can’t get the job done. It was surprising that they didn’t get more help with tight ends/backs cheating that way at times.
• That said, they weren’t the only ones who struggled. Evans blew an assignment that resulted in the 14-yard sack. The tight ends aren’t strong enough at the point of attack and weren’t good enough.
There was a play at 12:26 of the third in which U-M had seven men in to block four, and still got beat across the line. Awful.
• Junior Grant Perry had some nice plays. He also got lucky when he whiffed on a fourth and one block at the line on U-M’s first drive, and not sure why he threw one arm out on a ball he could have caught with two hands in the third quarter. That’s a play he needs to make, even if the throw wasn’t perfect.
The receiving corps as a whole remains pedestrian. Very little separation, and when the ball comes their way, they aren’t making plays. Crawford had a deep ball in the rain hit him in the hands in the third quarter … would have been a tough play, but he was off balance (again) and didn’t high point the ball.
Freshman Donovan Peoples-Jones, though, would have five or six more catches and 100-plus more yards if his quarterbacks could hit him in stride. O’Korn missed two more Saturday.
• MSU was still trying to move the ball in the weather in the third quarter, with no success. A few passes, some end arounds, shovel passes … not “conservative” by any means.
• Not sure how they graded out, but thought fifth-year senior Pat Kugler and sophomore Mike Onwenu (with one or two exceptions in pass pro) played pretty well.
All of them did in run blocking, in fact, picking up the ‘A’ gap blitzes MSU likes to run. Not bad in that area.
• Best play — a third and 10 screen to McKeon in the third quarter from deep in his own end for 12 yards. Worst play — not the sprint draw to Evans with five minutes remaining, but an empty backfield into a monsoon on third and three a drive earlier that resulted in a pick.
O’Korn dropped the snap and had no chance in that weather. Terrible formation.
• U-M didn’t run enough play action in the passing game when MSU’s linebackers were running downhill at the snap. When they did, the backs sometimes weren’t there when O’Korn went to fake, and the linebackers never bit.
With as much success as they had running the ball, this would have been … well, logical.
• Overall, O’Korn was not good. He kept some plays alive, but on several others he never made it to his second read, even when he had time, got happy feet and missed a number of open receivers, especially underneath coverage.
In fairness to him, it would be hard not to have happy feet behind this line. It’s a big reason Wilton Speight’s confidence lagged this year (strong opinion) … he was always throwing off his back foot, had a man in his face or was bracing for impact.
U-M needs him back sooner than later, regardless what a portion of the fan base thinks about him. He’s their best chance to win, and Michigan might well have won this game with him.
Another opinion … they need to get O’Korn more involved in the running game. Designed runs, read option, etc., the way MSU does with Lewerke. Yeah, he might get hit, and yeah, his backup might not be ready, but the season depends on a competent offense. This is a championship level defense that deserves better.
• Finally, if MSU LB Chris Frey isn’t the poster boy for that one dude in the movie “The Program” … well, he should be. Penalties like his 15-yarder on the sideline on U-M’s last drive don’t get dumber, and it gave Michigan a fighting chance.
And the culprit on the 15-yarder when O’Korn was on the sideline was the dude holding the Gatorade bottle. Some said O’Korn flopped, but watch the jersey stretch … and LOL. Even the Spartan trainers (or whoever he was) feel the hatred in this rivalry.
First things first … the narrative that MSU “dominated” this game and then held on for dear life without trying to score is hogwash. Michigan dominated the second half of the game, and it wasn’t because MSU went into a shell, etc.
Also, MSU won the rushing battle, which usually indicates who will win this game, but the Spartans weren’t necessarily the better running team. Fifty of leading rusher Madre London’s 59 yards came on one carry on which fifth-year senior linebacker Mike McCray didn’t get off a block and safety Tyree Kinnel filled the wrong gap and played it extremely poorly. London went 11 carries for two yards after that, and most of those carries were in the heat of battle, not against stacked lines late.
MSU’s Brian Lewerke had a number of scrambles for his 61 yards, and also picked up a few solid gainers on keepers, including 10 by accident on a very fortunate play (more on that in a minute).
Thirty of MSU’s 94 passing yards came on a play on which cornerback Brandon Watson couldn’t have been in better position. A good bounce, a tip and a nice catch by Darrell Stewart set up a touchdown … that one play a game that MSU pulls out (like Jim Tressel used to with OSU) that they scout and save for U-M and break all tendencies, this time a screen for TD.
Michigan’s running game between the tackles was, actually, as strong as it’s been all year … not perfect, but effective in controlling the ball on the ground, at least when Karan Higdon was on the field. The junior had the huge gaffe (more on that in a minute), but ran hard on his way to 5.4 yards per carry and got good blocking. Sophomore Chris Evans was good early, too.
Six designed runs in the first quarter went for five or more yards, including two for eight, including Ty Isaac’s that resulted in a fumble when Michigan was cruising on the ground (more on that in a minute).
U-M also got the ground game going with Higdon in the third quarter, just before the monsoon hit. The big reason they stopped was a 10-yard “holding” penalty (more on that in a minute).
Michigan is still not a great run blocking team, but it was better this game across the board, minus the tight ends. Sophomore Sean McKeon struggled. Heads were snapping back on contact at times, even sophomore Ben Bredeson when he hit a linebacker — they were playing too high. But they were still moving the ball relatively effectively.
It would have been nice to break a few bigger ones to turn 14-play drives into 10-play, etc. When you have to drive the field in that many plays, the margin for error increases dramatically.
Flat out, though, Michigan controlled this game after MSU went up 14-3, the Spartans gifted points on a short field on their first drive before mounting one impressive one early in the second. Several things had to go wrong for U-M (and right for MSU) for the outcome we got, including Michigan State getting up early.
Here’s the first half list:
• Fifth-year senior Ty Isaac’s first quarter fumble.
U-M was dominating on the ground and near midfield when he put it on the ground, giving MSU the short field at the Michigan 46. That changed the momentum of the game. Twenty more yards and the Wolverines were in field goal range, at least, and the way they were moving on the ground (with great confidence), it seemed very possible, at least.
Instead, MSU gets the ball and moves 22 yards, and is stopped before Michigan State center Brian Allen literally chops sophomore linebacker Devin Bush to the back of the neck, after which Bush responds with a shove and gets flagged for 15 yards.
Instead of third and four from the 23 if they were offsetting or third and 19 out of field goal range if they called it on Allen, MSU gets first down and scores on a Lewerke scramble.
• Second quarter, the first down pass from the MSU 44 for 30 yards to Stewart that set up a touchdown. This was MSU’s only sustained drive of the day, ending with the great call on the screen.
• Second quarter, Michigan responds with a long touchdown pass to sophomore Kekoa Crawford, only Higdon unnecessarily holds in pass protection after O’Korn is flushed from the pocket. Instead of 14-10, Michigan punts. U-M still makes it to the MSU 40, but a 14-yard sack on which O’Korn should have thrown it away forces a punt.
Would Michigan have tried a 56-yard field goal with redshirt frosh Quinn Nordin there? Hard to say, but the wind was at his back. A strong wind.
• A fumble by McKeon down at the MSU 29. Michigan was in field goal range and would likely at least have gotten three if he hadn’t coughed it up. Just can’t happen.
So instead of down a score or less, Michigan trails 14-3 at the half.
MSU still continued to try to score up 11. The 50-yard London run was followed by three plays and a punt, a huge stop for the Michigan defense, including incompletions on first and third down (the first down one should have been picked by sophomore Lavert Hill, and will be as he continues to get more comfortable. He knocked it down, though … Hill was good and played well again Saturday).
MSU got the ball back at its 43, threw on first down but ended up punting after a third down ‘sack’ (no yardage, so no credit) by sophomore Rashan Gary.
The Spartans did drop a pass that could have kept a drive alive when Tristan Jackson got open on an obvious pick (not called), one of their few big mistakes.
U-M kicked off to start the second half, and great coverage and a penalty resulted in poor field position for MSU. MSU threw on second and third down from inside its own 10.
That starts the second half list of “what went wrong” …
• Michigan State got it back on a punt, one that could have resulted in a Michigan touchdown. Return man Laress Nelson muffed it, but rather than tackle him, freshman Ambry Thomas pushed him into the ball and it bounced right back to Nelson at the one-yard line.
Even then, MSU came out aggressive. They rolled Lewerke out twice from his own end zone but Michigan’s defense rose to the occasion, forcing a punt and a short field that resulted in U-M’s only touchdown. So the Spartans did not “play it safe.”
• The Wolverines were moving it on the ground down 14-10 when the rain started. They got to the 42, but fifth-year senior Mason Cole was flagged for holding … well after the play was over … after a pancake block.
That resulted in a first and 20 and the first of three O’Korn interceptions when, on one of the few occasions he actually had a pocket, he missed Crawford (who might have stopped his route) and the ball hit MSU’s David Dowell in the arm, by accident, and bounced right to him.
MSU stays on the ground in the driving rain and wind and punts after a three-and-out.
Weather is now a huge factor, and U-M enters the fourth quarter heading into it. MSU gets a break when a Spartans lineman pile drives O’Korn after a throw but avoids the flag in front of the referee (O’Korn is livid).
• The Spartans get the ball back after four worthless drives (again, the weather played a huge factor here, leading to two picks) and on second and six, Gary is flagged for offsides on a play on which he was not. MSU picks up its FIRST first down of the second half on a second and one sneak by Lewerke as a result, keeping the clock moving.
They pick up their second when a third and three shotgun fumble bounces right back to Lewerke, who rolls on top of a defender to pick it up.
• U-M still has a shot, but sophomore Eddie McDoom drops a pass at the 30. He’s alone, and if he had made the one defender in the vicinity miss, he might still be running.
Instead, Michigan runs out of time at the MSU 37 after a Hail Mary falls incomplete.
Bottom line … it wasn’t meant to be. Michigan had its chances, turned the ball over five times, and lost by four to a team it should have handled, and did much of the game, with one huge exception … and that leads off our “other observations:”
• Pass protection remains abhorrent, especially on the right side. Might as well give redshirt junior Jon Runyan Jr. a shot, because redshirt sophomore Nolan Ulizio and redshirt junior Juwann Bushell-Beatty can’t get the job done. It was surprising that they didn’t get more help with tight ends/backs cheating that way at times.
• That said, they weren’t the only ones who struggled. Evans blew an assignment that resulted in the 14-yard sack. The tight ends aren’t strong enough at the point of attack and weren’t good enough.
There was a play at 12:26 of the third in which U-M had seven men in to block four, and still got beat across the line. Awful.
• Junior Grant Perry had some nice plays. He also got lucky when he whiffed on a fourth and one block at the line on U-M’s first drive, and not sure why he threw one arm out on a ball he could have caught with two hands in the third quarter. That’s a play he needs to make, even if the throw wasn’t perfect.
The receiving corps as a whole remains pedestrian. Very little separation, and when the ball comes their way, they aren’t making plays. Crawford had a deep ball in the rain hit him in the hands in the third quarter … would have been a tough play, but he was off balance (again) and didn’t high point the ball.
Freshman Donovan Peoples-Jones, though, would have five or six more catches and 100-plus more yards if his quarterbacks could hit him in stride. O’Korn missed two more Saturday.
• MSU was still trying to move the ball in the weather in the third quarter, with no success. A few passes, some end arounds, shovel passes … not “conservative” by any means.
• Not sure how they graded out, but thought fifth-year senior Pat Kugler and sophomore Mike Onwenu (with one or two exceptions in pass pro) played pretty well.
All of them did in run blocking, in fact, picking up the ‘A’ gap blitzes MSU likes to run. Not bad in that area.
• Best play — a third and 10 screen to McKeon in the third quarter from deep in his own end for 12 yards. Worst play — not the sprint draw to Evans with five minutes remaining, but an empty backfield into a monsoon on third and three a drive earlier that resulted in a pick.
O’Korn dropped the snap and had no chance in that weather. Terrible formation.
• U-M didn’t run enough play action in the passing game when MSU’s linebackers were running downhill at the snap. When they did, the backs sometimes weren’t there when O’Korn went to fake, and the linebackers never bit.
With as much success as they had running the ball, this would have been … well, logical.
• Overall, O’Korn was not good. He kept some plays alive, but on several others he never made it to his second read, even when he had time, got happy feet and missed a number of open receivers, especially underneath coverage.
In fairness to him, it would be hard not to have happy feet behind this line. It’s a big reason Wilton Speight’s confidence lagged this year (strong opinion) … he was always throwing off his back foot, had a man in his face or was bracing for impact.
U-M needs him back sooner than later, regardless what a portion of the fan base thinks about him. He’s their best chance to win, and Michigan might well have won this game with him.
Another opinion … they need to get O’Korn more involved in the running game. Designed runs, read option, etc., the way MSU does with Lewerke. Yeah, he might get hit, and yeah, his backup might not be ready, but the season depends on a competent offense. This is a championship level defense that deserves better.
• Finally, if MSU LB Chris Frey isn’t the poster boy for that one dude in the movie “The Program” … well, he should be. Penalties like his 15-yarder on the sideline on U-M’s last drive don’t get dumber, and it gave Michigan a fighting chance.
And the culprit on the 15-yarder when O’Korn was on the sideline was the dude holding the Gatorade bottle. Some said O’Korn flopped, but watch the jersey stretch … and LOL. Even the Spartan trainers (or whoever he was) feel the hatred in this rivalry.
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