I knew 2020 was going to be a rebuilding year with a 1st time QB, new OL members, no experienced corners (which was the clear weakness pre-season), suspect defensive tackles (again, no pure DT recruits last year). We certainly drank the Kool-Aid after the Minnesota game, but, anyone who watched our defense that game knew we could be in trouble, and, anyone who watched Maryland beat Minnesota knew we beat a bad team. But, today was a massive embarrassment coaching wise. This was a COACHING NIGHTMARE. TOTALLY OUTCOACHED. NO ADJUTMENTS on either side of the ball.
Harbaugh - was outcoached by Mel Tucker. Imagine that. In his first game in the rivalry, after a 4-6 coaching record the past two years. We had more talented guys than MSU at nearly every position (except for cornerback and defensive interior line). Is it the worst loss of the Harbaugh era? You betcha...by far. IT WAS TOTALLY EMBARRASING. We were SOFT, mentally and physically. Yet, we continue to drink the Kool-Aid with this program, despite annual proof otherwise. Today, we were 100% fixed in our game plans on both sides of the ball. It's up to the head coach to force our coordinators to develop alternative game plans; if Game Plan 1 gets blown up, then, go to Game Plan 2. Today, we had no Game Plan 2. And, how we didn't challenge some of those receptions by MSU on that last drive is beyond me. What were the guys up in our coaching booth doing? Oblivious.
Gattis - with a D-level play calling effort - he just continued to force the inside running game, with some horrendous 2nd down play calling on long yardage, into a stout defensive line, which is ALWAYS MSU's strength. The game plan was 100% predicated and dependent on our ability to run the football - with no ability to adjust. And, in the running game, we failed to play Corum and Haskins more than Charbonnet; the difference is glaring. Nobody runs harder than Haskins. But, why Gattis didn't get guys to edge all game long or use any tempo (0), with quick strike plays, slants (1), misdirection (1), jet sweeps (0), bubbles (0), criss-crossing routes, rub-routes (0), seem routes for the TE (0), wheel routes (1), etc. is beyond me. For most of the game, Gattis had Milton dropping back 5-steps and trying to read defenses, while our offensive line struggled to stay on their blocks, and our WRs route trees took too long to develop. Plus, early on, Gattis never even tried to stretch the field with Milton by using some post routes or fly routes, so MSU's secondary could just push up and shrink the field. Losing Nico Collins was definitely felt in this game, as Milton's accuracy on those deep balls he tried later in the game wasn't good enough, and, at least with Collins, you could throw up some jump balls and he'd make the catch. Still, Gattis had to try a few early on just to keep the MSU defense honest and thinking.
Warriner - wow...just continued piss-poor offensive line development after failing to create a dominant line last year with 4 NFL draft players; no wonder OSU let him go; Warriner has gotten way too much praise; we couldn't run block at all, and we couldn't run block at all last year either against good competition. Today, our pass protection was also average, as Milton looked uncomfortable in the pocket all game long. A bad game for our offensive line.
Don Brown - raise your hand if you've seen enough of this guy! Does he need to be FIRED or what! Brown might be the most overrated coach in college football...like Patriot League level bad. For his entire time at Michigan, except for 2016, when we had a loaded NFL defensive roster (that I could have coached), our defense has been out-schemed by rivals or good teams, with glaring weaknesses that other team's offensive coordinators scheme against successfully. Today, we made an average QB look like a Heisman candidate - and, that's happened way too many times during the Don Brown era. Why did it happen today? Because MSU max protected, nullifying our talented defensive ends and blitz packages, and, they took advantage of our glaring weakness...our secondary, with our corners left on islands with little to no safety help all game long. Brilliant game plan by MSU's OC, and, once again, no adjustment by Don Brown. After the first 2-3 series, where our CBs got beat easily, we should have switched to a zone defense, cut down our blitz packages, and forced everything underneath. We knew this watching our corners play against Minnesota, except Fleck didn't attack our secondary nearly enough. Instead of adjusting, Brown kept doing the same thing, getting absolutely no pressure on MSU's QB from our front four (or three), kept blitzing to no avail, and never got to the MSU QB for one sack, while leaving our bad corners on islands to get beat all game long. And, our 3-3-5 defense was taken advantage of as well. Everyone saw this game plan after the first 2-3 drives! EVERYONE, but Don Brown. And, make no mistake, Brown is also in charge of recruiting his defense - as JimS pointed out to me last week.
Zordich - The issue in the secondary is not all on this position coach, as Mike Zordich has proven his ability to develop guys since he's been at Michigan. However, I'm not giving Zordich a full pass as the technique displayed by Gray and Green were piss-poor - too much holding, not looking back at the football, stopping their running mid-routes, etc. - all of this pointed out by Charles Woodson post-game. But, those two are not elite level CBs to begin with...they were going to be schooled by Ohio State's WRs, yet, when MSU schools you, that's a red flag that we don't have enough raw talent in the backfield for Zordich to work with. Losing Ambry Thomas definitely hurt, but, to not have enough talent at the back end - and, to not recruit any true defensive tackles in last year's class - falls 100% on Don Brown.
Where do we go from here? Anyone thinking that Michigan Football was back needs to go have a stiff drink. We knew we were a young football team at skill positions, yet, those young players (Corum, Wilson, Henning) were outstanding today, and, while Milton struggled, Gattis didn't do him any favors with his game plan, nor did our running game. Milton will continue to improve as he plays more games...it's a process to be a great QB. He needs to continue to work on touch passes, deep throws, decision making in RPO, etc. Yet, there's a foundation here to build upon for our 2021 team, as 2020 is now, officially, a rebuilding year. We're still a long ways away from getting to the next level. The more glaring issue for me is coaching. I was encouraged by Gattis play calling at Minnesota, and, then, highly disappointed today. That level of inconsistency from your OC is unacceptable. I'll give Gattis more room to improve his coaching, as he's still a young coach, but, boy, he needs to step up his coaching materially and come up with different play-calling when things are not working. On the other hand, I've seen MORE THAN ENOUGH from Don Brown. This MUST be his last year as DC. It's time for Don Brown to return to Massachusetts and enjoy his retirement or the Patriot League. The onus here is on Harbaugh to make that change. It won't happen now, but, after Ohio State puts up 60 points again, the writing will be on the wall. For, if Harbaugh, doesn't have a fall guy like Brown, after 6 years as Head Coach, then, maybe his days are numbered as well. As the man in charge, sometimes, hard decisions need to be made.
I'll look forward to the rest of the season for individual player development and to see if there's any team fight left in Michigan Football. And, of course, Michigan Basketball season at the end of November.
Time for stiff drink as the embarrassment, disappointment, anger and misery sets in. Oh, and ANYONE, underestimating MSU EVER AGAIN, should be tarred and feathered!
Harbaugh - was outcoached by Mel Tucker. Imagine that. In his first game in the rivalry, after a 4-6 coaching record the past two years. We had more talented guys than MSU at nearly every position (except for cornerback and defensive interior line). Is it the worst loss of the Harbaugh era? You betcha...by far. IT WAS TOTALLY EMBARRASING. We were SOFT, mentally and physically. Yet, we continue to drink the Kool-Aid with this program, despite annual proof otherwise. Today, we were 100% fixed in our game plans on both sides of the ball. It's up to the head coach to force our coordinators to develop alternative game plans; if Game Plan 1 gets blown up, then, go to Game Plan 2. Today, we had no Game Plan 2. And, how we didn't challenge some of those receptions by MSU on that last drive is beyond me. What were the guys up in our coaching booth doing? Oblivious.
Gattis - with a D-level play calling effort - he just continued to force the inside running game, with some horrendous 2nd down play calling on long yardage, into a stout defensive line, which is ALWAYS MSU's strength. The game plan was 100% predicated and dependent on our ability to run the football - with no ability to adjust. And, in the running game, we failed to play Corum and Haskins more than Charbonnet; the difference is glaring. Nobody runs harder than Haskins. But, why Gattis didn't get guys to edge all game long or use any tempo (0), with quick strike plays, slants (1), misdirection (1), jet sweeps (0), bubbles (0), criss-crossing routes, rub-routes (0), seem routes for the TE (0), wheel routes (1), etc. is beyond me. For most of the game, Gattis had Milton dropping back 5-steps and trying to read defenses, while our offensive line struggled to stay on their blocks, and our WRs route trees took too long to develop. Plus, early on, Gattis never even tried to stretch the field with Milton by using some post routes or fly routes, so MSU's secondary could just push up and shrink the field. Losing Nico Collins was definitely felt in this game, as Milton's accuracy on those deep balls he tried later in the game wasn't good enough, and, at least with Collins, you could throw up some jump balls and he'd make the catch. Still, Gattis had to try a few early on just to keep the MSU defense honest and thinking.
Warriner - wow...just continued piss-poor offensive line development after failing to create a dominant line last year with 4 NFL draft players; no wonder OSU let him go; Warriner has gotten way too much praise; we couldn't run block at all, and we couldn't run block at all last year either against good competition. Today, our pass protection was also average, as Milton looked uncomfortable in the pocket all game long. A bad game for our offensive line.
Don Brown - raise your hand if you've seen enough of this guy! Does he need to be FIRED or what! Brown might be the most overrated coach in college football...like Patriot League level bad. For his entire time at Michigan, except for 2016, when we had a loaded NFL defensive roster (that I could have coached), our defense has been out-schemed by rivals or good teams, with glaring weaknesses that other team's offensive coordinators scheme against successfully. Today, we made an average QB look like a Heisman candidate - and, that's happened way too many times during the Don Brown era. Why did it happen today? Because MSU max protected, nullifying our talented defensive ends and blitz packages, and, they took advantage of our glaring weakness...our secondary, with our corners left on islands with little to no safety help all game long. Brilliant game plan by MSU's OC, and, once again, no adjustment by Don Brown. After the first 2-3 series, where our CBs got beat easily, we should have switched to a zone defense, cut down our blitz packages, and forced everything underneath. We knew this watching our corners play against Minnesota, except Fleck didn't attack our secondary nearly enough. Instead of adjusting, Brown kept doing the same thing, getting absolutely no pressure on MSU's QB from our front four (or three), kept blitzing to no avail, and never got to the MSU QB for one sack, while leaving our bad corners on islands to get beat all game long. And, our 3-3-5 defense was taken advantage of as well. Everyone saw this game plan after the first 2-3 drives! EVERYONE, but Don Brown. And, make no mistake, Brown is also in charge of recruiting his defense - as JimS pointed out to me last week.
Zordich - The issue in the secondary is not all on this position coach, as Mike Zordich has proven his ability to develop guys since he's been at Michigan. However, I'm not giving Zordich a full pass as the technique displayed by Gray and Green were piss-poor - too much holding, not looking back at the football, stopping their running mid-routes, etc. - all of this pointed out by Charles Woodson post-game. But, those two are not elite level CBs to begin with...they were going to be schooled by Ohio State's WRs, yet, when MSU schools you, that's a red flag that we don't have enough raw talent in the backfield for Zordich to work with. Losing Ambry Thomas definitely hurt, but, to not have enough talent at the back end - and, to not recruit any true defensive tackles in last year's class - falls 100% on Don Brown.
Where do we go from here? Anyone thinking that Michigan Football was back needs to go have a stiff drink. We knew we were a young football team at skill positions, yet, those young players (Corum, Wilson, Henning) were outstanding today, and, while Milton struggled, Gattis didn't do him any favors with his game plan, nor did our running game. Milton will continue to improve as he plays more games...it's a process to be a great QB. He needs to continue to work on touch passes, deep throws, decision making in RPO, etc. Yet, there's a foundation here to build upon for our 2021 team, as 2020 is now, officially, a rebuilding year. We're still a long ways away from getting to the next level. The more glaring issue for me is coaching. I was encouraged by Gattis play calling at Minnesota, and, then, highly disappointed today. That level of inconsistency from your OC is unacceptable. I'll give Gattis more room to improve his coaching, as he's still a young coach, but, boy, he needs to step up his coaching materially and come up with different play-calling when things are not working. On the other hand, I've seen MORE THAN ENOUGH from Don Brown. This MUST be his last year as DC. It's time for Don Brown to return to Massachusetts and enjoy his retirement or the Patriot League. The onus here is on Harbaugh to make that change. It won't happen now, but, after Ohio State puts up 60 points again, the writing will be on the wall. For, if Harbaugh, doesn't have a fall guy like Brown, after 6 years as Head Coach, then, maybe his days are numbered as well. As the man in charge, sometimes, hard decisions need to be made.
I'll look forward to the rest of the season for individual player development and to see if there's any team fight left in Michigan Football. And, of course, Michigan Basketball season at the end of November.
Time for stiff drink as the embarrassment, disappointment, anger and misery sets in. Oh, and ANYONE, underestimating MSU EVER AGAIN, should be tarred and feathered!
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