Michigan came back from a 17-point deficit to beat Northwestern. Here’s what we saw after rewatching …
First off, if you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and catch ch13ba’s analysis:
https://michigan.forums.rivals.com/threads/the-offensive-numbers-don’t-make-sense-long.259331/
He makes some great points. As he noted, Michigan shifted to more man blocking on the fourth drive after having trouble with its ‘G’ game (pulling guards, something right guard Mike Onwenu, especially, has trouble with). It was at that point that it was like a switch flipped, and the team started moving the ball well.
To that point, they’d done a good job picking up some yardage on first down, even though they went three and out. The first drive, a first down, five-yard pass (good protection, as it should have been given that there were no stunts or twists and it was five blockers against four).
Redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry didn’t have his best game as a blocker, and he still struggles at times in that area. It’s hard to play low at his size, so it’s no wonder he plays too high at times. Michigan’s second and five jet sweep to Ronnie Bell was blown up as a result of him getting pushed back into Bell’s lane.
Of course, the second and two with the Wolverines trailing 10-0 was one of the plays of the game with junior Sean McKeon dropping a perfectly thrown ball that would have had U-M at the Northwestern 30. That changes the game. At the same time, there’s no excuse for not picking up two yards over the next three plays, or not having fullback Ben Mason in the game on third and two.
In fact, we didn’t see Mason until the end of the first quarter. Give him the ball once and you’ve probably got a first down. Twice, and it’s a certainty. At the very least use him as a lead blocker and plow forward. The third and two pass to the flat to Nico Collins was played extremely well by the corner, but seriously … just line up and plow forward. That’s one of the things this line does best.
Credit Northwestern’s offense early for taking what was there. They earned a lot of it. We know all about the slants, but some of them were blanketed, and they still made plays. They were fired up and came to play. At the same time, that’s absolutely a concern going forward. The concentration by the DBs wasn’t there … evident especially on a bubble screen on which safety Josh Metellus ran himself out of the play and corner Lavert Hill missed a tackle, allowing a big play to set up the first touchdown run.
They are getting way too handsy, too, reminiscent of MSU’s corners a few years back who clutched and grabbed every play. Trust the technique, or you’re going to continue to give up bundles of penalty yards with the clutching and grabbing. And you know it’s going to be called in the big games.
Quarterback Shea Patterson … not perfect, but he willed a win. He missed some throws, including one over the middle to Collins he’s got to make, and he was fortunate on his seam pass to Gentry late. He threaded it in, but a better safety might pick that.
He was frustrated at times, and he should have been, especially when Collins refused to put his hands up for the ball on a slant near the goal line. That easily could have been picked, and there’s no excuse for it there. Receivers are told, ‘you’re going to get hit anyway. You might as well make the play.’ Senior Grant Perry really gave Collins and earful … nearly cost Michigan a critical field goal.
As for the fade to Perry, seemed to be another case of overthinking it. Like, ‘they’ll be expecting slant with our little guy, so let’s go fade and fool ‘em.’ Just once we’d like to see them try to use Gentry out there and throw a jump ball to the dude. Just as Joe Louis was 126 years old when he fought Rocky Marciano, Gentry is 9-foot-2 in cleats.
Not sure if it’s revisionist history, but this offense seemed really good in the red zone when assistant Jedd Fisch was still around. But kudos to them on the go-ahead touchdown play call, a read option out of diamond. No, it wasn’t an illegal formation. The outside receiver checked with the sideline official to make sure he was on the line of scrimmage, so there were seven men on the line.
Tight end Nick Eubanks is Michigan’s third best blocker at tight end (and none of them are great in that area, and Sean McKeon struggled Saturday), but they need to target him more like they did Saturday. We wrote that in last week’s pregame column, and we want to see more of it.
And did we tell you we’d like to see Ben Mason on the field most of the game? The guy was destroying people again Saturday. This is a better offense when he’s on the field.
Did not like the early second and long play actions. This line blocks best out of play action and was pretty good pass blocking Saturday ... but who are you fooling with those? Especially Northwestern ... these guys are disciplined. There was one naked on which they started flowing left before Patterson even turned.
Finally, Juwann Bushell-Beatty has really improved. He's moving his feet much better, finishing blocks. Credit where it's due. Left tackle Jon Runyan Jr. struggled Saturday, though, and there are a few guys on that line that are going to have a really hard time with the more aggressive defenses on the schedule.
Defensively, Chase Winovich is playing at another level, and he’s getting the attention to prove it. All the talk about him not having to face the blocking gamut because others are getting double and triple teamed … hogwash.
He and Maurice Hurst are the two guys over the last two years that have just gotten manhandled by opponents, and we don’t mean within the rules. It’s mind boggling, and he has every right to be upset. He’s playing at an All-American level, is tied for first in the country in TFLs with 10.5 and might have a handful more if officials didn’t swallow their whistles.
Something is amiss here. It makes no sense. He was grabbed by the facemask once, and tackled on the second to last play. Everyone saw it. And these calls and no calls are being made at critical points in the game.
The holding call on Karan Higdon … the flag came out when Patterson was 10 yards downfield. Hard not to call foul play on this one. We’re not conspiracy theorists — really — but you look at this chart, and you scratch your head.
How is this possible?
Two guys on defense we want to continue to see more of … Kwity Paye and Josh Uche. They played with great motor, like Winovich. Can’t wait to see more of these guys. This defense is still going to be good next year, folks … and the year after.
Will Hart didn’t get the hang time on his punts we’ve become accustomed to, but the coverage was great.
Onward.
First off, if you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and catch ch13ba’s analysis:
https://michigan.forums.rivals.com/threads/the-offensive-numbers-don’t-make-sense-long.259331/
He makes some great points. As he noted, Michigan shifted to more man blocking on the fourth drive after having trouble with its ‘G’ game (pulling guards, something right guard Mike Onwenu, especially, has trouble with). It was at that point that it was like a switch flipped, and the team started moving the ball well.
To that point, they’d done a good job picking up some yardage on first down, even though they went three and out. The first drive, a first down, five-yard pass (good protection, as it should have been given that there were no stunts or twists and it was five blockers against four).
Redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry didn’t have his best game as a blocker, and he still struggles at times in that area. It’s hard to play low at his size, so it’s no wonder he plays too high at times. Michigan’s second and five jet sweep to Ronnie Bell was blown up as a result of him getting pushed back into Bell’s lane.
Of course, the second and two with the Wolverines trailing 10-0 was one of the plays of the game with junior Sean McKeon dropping a perfectly thrown ball that would have had U-M at the Northwestern 30. That changes the game. At the same time, there’s no excuse for not picking up two yards over the next three plays, or not having fullback Ben Mason in the game on third and two.
In fact, we didn’t see Mason until the end of the first quarter. Give him the ball once and you’ve probably got a first down. Twice, and it’s a certainty. At the very least use him as a lead blocker and plow forward. The third and two pass to the flat to Nico Collins was played extremely well by the corner, but seriously … just line up and plow forward. That’s one of the things this line does best.
Credit Northwestern’s offense early for taking what was there. They earned a lot of it. We know all about the slants, but some of them were blanketed, and they still made plays. They were fired up and came to play. At the same time, that’s absolutely a concern going forward. The concentration by the DBs wasn’t there … evident especially on a bubble screen on which safety Josh Metellus ran himself out of the play and corner Lavert Hill missed a tackle, allowing a big play to set up the first touchdown run.
They are getting way too handsy, too, reminiscent of MSU’s corners a few years back who clutched and grabbed every play. Trust the technique, or you’re going to continue to give up bundles of penalty yards with the clutching and grabbing. And you know it’s going to be called in the big games.
Quarterback Shea Patterson … not perfect, but he willed a win. He missed some throws, including one over the middle to Collins he’s got to make, and he was fortunate on his seam pass to Gentry late. He threaded it in, but a better safety might pick that.
He was frustrated at times, and he should have been, especially when Collins refused to put his hands up for the ball on a slant near the goal line. That easily could have been picked, and there’s no excuse for it there. Receivers are told, ‘you’re going to get hit anyway. You might as well make the play.’ Senior Grant Perry really gave Collins and earful … nearly cost Michigan a critical field goal.
As for the fade to Perry, seemed to be another case of overthinking it. Like, ‘they’ll be expecting slant with our little guy, so let’s go fade and fool ‘em.’ Just once we’d like to see them try to use Gentry out there and throw a jump ball to the dude. Just as Joe Louis was 126 years old when he fought Rocky Marciano, Gentry is 9-foot-2 in cleats.
Not sure if it’s revisionist history, but this offense seemed really good in the red zone when assistant Jedd Fisch was still around. But kudos to them on the go-ahead touchdown play call, a read option out of diamond. No, it wasn’t an illegal formation. The outside receiver checked with the sideline official to make sure he was on the line of scrimmage, so there were seven men on the line.
Tight end Nick Eubanks is Michigan’s third best blocker at tight end (and none of them are great in that area, and Sean McKeon struggled Saturday), but they need to target him more like they did Saturday. We wrote that in last week’s pregame column, and we want to see more of it.
And did we tell you we’d like to see Ben Mason on the field most of the game? The guy was destroying people again Saturday. This is a better offense when he’s on the field.
Did not like the early second and long play actions. This line blocks best out of play action and was pretty good pass blocking Saturday ... but who are you fooling with those? Especially Northwestern ... these guys are disciplined. There was one naked on which they started flowing left before Patterson even turned.
Finally, Juwann Bushell-Beatty has really improved. He's moving his feet much better, finishing blocks. Credit where it's due. Left tackle Jon Runyan Jr. struggled Saturday, though, and there are a few guys on that line that are going to have a really hard time with the more aggressive defenses on the schedule.
Defensively, Chase Winovich is playing at another level, and he’s getting the attention to prove it. All the talk about him not having to face the blocking gamut because others are getting double and triple teamed … hogwash.
He and Maurice Hurst are the two guys over the last two years that have just gotten manhandled by opponents, and we don’t mean within the rules. It’s mind boggling, and he has every right to be upset. He’s playing at an All-American level, is tied for first in the country in TFLs with 10.5 and might have a handful more if officials didn’t swallow their whistles.
Something is amiss here. It makes no sense. He was grabbed by the facemask once, and tackled on the second to last play. Everyone saw it. And these calls and no calls are being made at critical points in the game.
The holding call on Karan Higdon … the flag came out when Patterson was 10 yards downfield. Hard not to call foul play on this one. We’re not conspiracy theorists — really — but you look at this chart, and you scratch your head.
How is this possible?
Two guys on defense we want to continue to see more of … Kwity Paye and Josh Uche. They played with great motor, like Winovich. Can’t wait to see more of these guys. This defense is still going to be good next year, folks … and the year after.
Will Hart didn’t get the hang time on his punts we’ve become accustomed to, but the coverage was great.
Onward.
