What we picked up after watching film of Michigan’s 45-20 win over SMU …
Speaking with a few former Wolverines who played on championship teams, this was a classic letdown game. SMU isn’t good, but they’re better than Western Michigan and really brought the effort Saturday … credit to them. However, the concentration (especially up front on offense) wasn’t there, and the missed assignments were plenty.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh talked about how close redshirt junior Zach Gentry is to being a complete player, and how the running game is okay “when we’re blocking the right guy.” Gentry was one of those guys who had a tough time with that Saturday. There were a couple of G plays (pulling guard) on which junior Ben Bredeson, for example, is targeting the end on the opposite side, only to find Gentry has (incorrectly) engaged with him, forcing Bredeson to adjust and scramble to try to pick up the defender the tight end was supposed to block.
You can see Bredeson talking to Gentry after these plays.
Watching film with a former NFL lineman (Doug Skene) is a great way to really learn the game … he’s usually right on his first instinct, but he wants to see the reaction after a bad play to confirm if what he saw is what he thought he saw (a teammate telling another, ‘hey, you were supposed to do this’). He’s usually right.
Up front, there was solid play at times, but Bredeson wasn’t at his best, and there were a few of those “guys running free moments” we weren’t supposed to see anymore. Fifth-year senior Juwann Bushell-Beatty had one that quarterback Shea Patterson remarkably escaped and turned into a first down on a throw to Gentry. That would have been a sack (and another injured QB) a year ago.
Teams are averaging two sacks per game against Michigan this year, but it would be at least three if it weren’t for Patterson’s escapability. There are still question marks there.
A few other observations on the line:
There was one play on which junior Mike Onwenu [who did have some good moments, especially “log blocking” (sealing the edge on runs toward the sideline)] “would have gotten benched by Les Miles,” according to Skene. He got beat across his face and was too high, getting pushed into the backfield.
Onwenu (opinion) doesn’t seem to have that nasty streak to finish blocks. We’ve seen it from two guys, honestly — Bredeson and sophomore center Cesar Ruiz. Another Michigan lineman told us recently how a three-man rush is an opportunity to send a message to guys for later in the game … a shot under the pads while a rusher is engaged with a teammate. We saw it from Bredeson on one such play, and it was beautiful.
One area in which this line is really good … pass blocking on play action, especially with junior running back Tru Wilson in the game. Wilson is a poor man’s Mike Hart. He doesn’t have the same feet and he’s not as big, but his heart is unreal. He looks like Hart when he’s taking blitzers on down low.
On the flip side, junior Chris Evans whiffed when diving for the ankles of a blitzer. He has a long way to go in that department.
Wilson isn’t a first string back on a Big Ten contender, but he can help you win.
SMU’s D-line played hard, and they showed different things early up front by sparking … taking a lateral, six-inch gap step just before the snap to move into different gaps. This is a good way limit a smaller DT being washed down by bigger linemen and allows the DT to remain square and fight pressure.
U-M adjusted pretty well from the second quarter on, and SMU did less of it.
We saw the good and the bad of junior tight end Sean McKeon on the same drive. He had a nice pancake block and finish on a first quarter drive, but his failure to come back to the ball on Patterson’s one pick was … not good. He was thinking touchdown instead of coming back to make the play. He could have had a first down, and at the very least should have fought for the ball to prevent the pick and save a field goal.
On the other side of the ball, Chase Winovich is the best player on the defensive side. Not sure it’s all that close. Between the motor, maintaining his assignments and finishing, he’s relentless. He’s going to be a solid pro, and he’s a guy whose play helps you win championships. He obviously cares … a lot.
Junior Carlo Kemp is another guy like that on the interior line. Opinion – he should continue to start. We’ll see how he holds up against bigger lines like Wisconsin’s, but he’s been a pleasant surprise. He does not get pushed backward very often, even when he’s being combo blocked.
We also saw a really nice series for junior Mike Dwumfour, his best of the season early in the second half. He showed great penetration on two of three plays and got the Wolverines off the field. It did look like he got caught up in the wash on QB William Brown’s scramble outside and lost contain after a stunt with Winovich, but we’re not positive it was on him. We’ll ask.
U-M appeared to be playing way off the slants by design … we’ll ask D.C. Don Brown about that the next time we see him. But all the talk about the ‘horrible safety play’ on message boards and talk radio … no. Junior Josh Metellus played a hell of a game, though he was beaten once on a TD that was called back due to a hold and needed to turn around.
Junior Lavert Hill was the DB most picked on Saturday. Senior Tyree Kinnel was fine and made a handful of really nice plays, including sniffing out a screen. It was about four different DBs that got beat on slants, and many of them were perfectly placed balls.
Obviously, sophomore Brad Hawkins can’t blow plays like the long TD pass against better teams. And junior Khaleke Hudson was in position to make a play on a third and long floater to the middle of the field, but stumbled. That can’t happen.
At the same time the pass interference calls were the reason SMU had success moving the ball in the second half, otherwise this could have been a 52-13 game (or similar). And three of them were absolute horsecrap, especially the one on Kinnel in which the ball was thrown five yards out of bounds and the one on linebacker Josh Ross.
If you watched any other college football game Saturday (we saw about five later in the day), you’ll see more contact on most plays. So … we’re not as down on the defense as most. These guys played fast, and there’s a reason they’re eighth in the nation in yards per play against.
Junior Devin Bush ‘is the real deal,’ according to SMU coach Sonny Dykes. This guy plays with incredible heart and sells out his body on every play. He’s a winner.
And frosh defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson is going to be an absolute beast. It’s hard to believe he’s a freshman.
Finally, Patterson is the real deal. When he has time, he's deadly. When he doesn't, he's still usually on the mark. You can't teach that.
Onward.
Speaking with a few former Wolverines who played on championship teams, this was a classic letdown game. SMU isn’t good, but they’re better than Western Michigan and really brought the effort Saturday … credit to them. However, the concentration (especially up front on offense) wasn’t there, and the missed assignments were plenty.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh talked about how close redshirt junior Zach Gentry is to being a complete player, and how the running game is okay “when we’re blocking the right guy.” Gentry was one of those guys who had a tough time with that Saturday. There were a couple of G plays (pulling guard) on which junior Ben Bredeson, for example, is targeting the end on the opposite side, only to find Gentry has (incorrectly) engaged with him, forcing Bredeson to adjust and scramble to try to pick up the defender the tight end was supposed to block.
You can see Bredeson talking to Gentry after these plays.
Watching film with a former NFL lineman (Doug Skene) is a great way to really learn the game … he’s usually right on his first instinct, but he wants to see the reaction after a bad play to confirm if what he saw is what he thought he saw (a teammate telling another, ‘hey, you were supposed to do this’). He’s usually right.
Up front, there was solid play at times, but Bredeson wasn’t at his best, and there were a few of those “guys running free moments” we weren’t supposed to see anymore. Fifth-year senior Juwann Bushell-Beatty had one that quarterback Shea Patterson remarkably escaped and turned into a first down on a throw to Gentry. That would have been a sack (and another injured QB) a year ago.
Teams are averaging two sacks per game against Michigan this year, but it would be at least three if it weren’t for Patterson’s escapability. There are still question marks there.
A few other observations on the line:
There was one play on which junior Mike Onwenu [who did have some good moments, especially “log blocking” (sealing the edge on runs toward the sideline)] “would have gotten benched by Les Miles,” according to Skene. He got beat across his face and was too high, getting pushed into the backfield.
Onwenu (opinion) doesn’t seem to have that nasty streak to finish blocks. We’ve seen it from two guys, honestly — Bredeson and sophomore center Cesar Ruiz. Another Michigan lineman told us recently how a three-man rush is an opportunity to send a message to guys for later in the game … a shot under the pads while a rusher is engaged with a teammate. We saw it from Bredeson on one such play, and it was beautiful.
One area in which this line is really good … pass blocking on play action, especially with junior running back Tru Wilson in the game. Wilson is a poor man’s Mike Hart. He doesn’t have the same feet and he’s not as big, but his heart is unreal. He looks like Hart when he’s taking blitzers on down low.
On the flip side, junior Chris Evans whiffed when diving for the ankles of a blitzer. He has a long way to go in that department.
Wilson isn’t a first string back on a Big Ten contender, but he can help you win.
SMU’s D-line played hard, and they showed different things early up front by sparking … taking a lateral, six-inch gap step just before the snap to move into different gaps. This is a good way limit a smaller DT being washed down by bigger linemen and allows the DT to remain square and fight pressure.
U-M adjusted pretty well from the second quarter on, and SMU did less of it.
We saw the good and the bad of junior tight end Sean McKeon on the same drive. He had a nice pancake block and finish on a first quarter drive, but his failure to come back to the ball on Patterson’s one pick was … not good. He was thinking touchdown instead of coming back to make the play. He could have had a first down, and at the very least should have fought for the ball to prevent the pick and save a field goal.
On the other side of the ball, Chase Winovich is the best player on the defensive side. Not sure it’s all that close. Between the motor, maintaining his assignments and finishing, he’s relentless. He’s going to be a solid pro, and he’s a guy whose play helps you win championships. He obviously cares … a lot.
Junior Carlo Kemp is another guy like that on the interior line. Opinion – he should continue to start. We’ll see how he holds up against bigger lines like Wisconsin’s, but he’s been a pleasant surprise. He does not get pushed backward very often, even when he’s being combo blocked.
We also saw a really nice series for junior Mike Dwumfour, his best of the season early in the second half. He showed great penetration on two of three plays and got the Wolverines off the field. It did look like he got caught up in the wash on QB William Brown’s scramble outside and lost contain after a stunt with Winovich, but we’re not positive it was on him. We’ll ask.
U-M appeared to be playing way off the slants by design … we’ll ask D.C. Don Brown about that the next time we see him. But all the talk about the ‘horrible safety play’ on message boards and talk radio … no. Junior Josh Metellus played a hell of a game, though he was beaten once on a TD that was called back due to a hold and needed to turn around.
Junior Lavert Hill was the DB most picked on Saturday. Senior Tyree Kinnel was fine and made a handful of really nice plays, including sniffing out a screen. It was about four different DBs that got beat on slants, and many of them were perfectly placed balls.
Obviously, sophomore Brad Hawkins can’t blow plays like the long TD pass against better teams. And junior Khaleke Hudson was in position to make a play on a third and long floater to the middle of the field, but stumbled. That can’t happen.
At the same time the pass interference calls were the reason SMU had success moving the ball in the second half, otherwise this could have been a 52-13 game (or similar). And three of them were absolute horsecrap, especially the one on Kinnel in which the ball was thrown five yards out of bounds and the one on linebacker Josh Ross.
If you watched any other college football game Saturday (we saw about five later in the day), you’ll see more contact on most plays. So … we’re not as down on the defense as most. These guys played fast, and there’s a reason they’re eighth in the nation in yards per play against.
Junior Devin Bush ‘is the real deal,’ according to SMU coach Sonny Dykes. This guy plays with incredible heart and sells out his body on every play. He’s a winner.
And frosh defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson is going to be an absolute beast. It’s hard to believe he’s a freshman.
Finally, Patterson is the real deal. When he has time, he's deadly. When he doesn't, he's still usually on the mark. You can't teach that.
Onward.
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