Gritty victory against a fired up Purdue team. Okorn was very sharp, obviously. The defense played championship football again. Hopefully, we've gained some traction after spinning our wheels for 3.5 weeks, offensively.
Turnovers:
O'Korn was slightly behind Perry at the first down line. The Purdue DB had good coverage and made a very good play with a great bounce. Hard to nitpick on this one, IMO.
Higdon, on the other hand, ran that play very poorly. He hesitates to get upfield and almost allows a DL to catch him. He needs to be in the hip pocket of his OL and get upfield quicker. He almost makes a gritty play, but loses focus and fumbles. I know Higdon has a fan base behind him that wants to see him get more play, but he also whiffed on a couple blitzes and is clearly the #3 guy, IMO. (Which is based off of 2.33 years of gameplay, which is only about two weeks of practice reps. So it's always wise to trust the coaches on personnel issues)
I think Wroblewski forces a fumble late just a split second before Metellus cleans up the receiver.
Penalties:
Did we actually get a couple benefit of the doubt calls? I think we did.
1. Schoenle on punt catch interference. A little ticky tacky, but he needs to break down a bit earlier.
2. Ulizio holding. Onwenu got a little bench in favor of Runyan. Maybe JBB needs to give Nolan some rest....
3. Thomas running into kicker...should have been roughing.
4. Illegal substitution. The Fox broadcast was awful, but Harbaugh thought it was a bad call.
5. Bredeson false start. Back-to-back calls that O'Korn and the offense managed to overcome.
6. DPJ Illegal block below waist (crack-back).
7. Gentry ineligible downfield (incorrectly called on Hill). DPJ has to get off of line of scrimmage.
We could have been called for a late hit in the end zone on Kinnel and holding/pass interference on Hill. Bush was called for PI that probably wasn't PI, but the Purdue TE catches the ball and turns it into a first down anyway. Purdue was also called for a holding that was pretty tame.
QB play:
Speight had become gunshy before his injury. I think he needs a bigger window to throw through before he slings it because he doesn't have a strong enough arm. Okorn looked confident and decisive. He played very sharply. His biggest mistake, IMO, was not the interception. Instead, it was throwing high into coverage in Purdue territory that resulted in a targeting call, but could have killed Eubanks. He was slightly inaccurate on 2 throws to Perry, missed slightly on 2 deep balls that were both well defended (though the throw to DPJ before halftime should have been a couple of yards deeper), Gentry dropped a short/low throw and Okorn threw one away while being tackled in the vicinity of Bunting that needed to be thrown a bit earlier and a bit lower. I didn't note the other incomplete...
Okorn also broke a couple tackles, turning sacks into completions. He also bulled through a few defenders to make a first down. His performance was vastly superior to every other appearance as a Michigan player and has earned the right to start vs. MSU.
OL play:
The OL took turns whiffing on blocks in the first half, including Mason Cole, who played his worst game in a long time, IMO. Runyan played well platooning with Onwenu. Ruiz played a few snaps at TE again, but let a man cross his face and make a tackle. Bredeson took a penalty, Ulizio was called for holding. Purdue got 3 sacks in the first half, IIRC, after have only 1 in their previous 6 halfs this year. It was easily the worst half of OL play this year. Several blocks were missed by several different players.
The second half was much better. Protection was good, with only one "coverage" sack surrendered. The run game got better DESPITE facing 8 or 9 in the box on several occasions. There is still lots of room for improvement.
Defense:
Again, another championship performance. A few tackles were missed. I think Kinnel played his worse game this year. We got sucked in a couple times, and still struggle a bit agains the flanker screen. Bush and Winovich are playing like All-Americans.
Purdue did execute well on several plays. The first play throwback to the QB needs to be recognized by Gary and Hudson. They have to see the first throw went backwards and cover the QB. One of those two also lost contain on a bootleg. Blough scrambled up the middle for a first down on the second play of the game. They executed the screen very well (and caught Kinnel in a blitz) on their TD drive and the TE was not well covered on two all executed misdirection plays. I think Purdue had 9 plays over 10 yards. 2 were the first two plays. 5 were on their TD drive. One was a free play after Hurst jumped offsides (going for 24 yards on a well contested throw, but a heads up play by the QB). They also had a 14 yard draw on 3rd and 21).
Other observations:
DPJ needs to clean up his play so we can get him the ball more. He was involved on two penalties and almost got blocked into a bouncing punt (should have been a penalty on Purdue, but DPJ should not have been near the ball). He did a good job securing punts, but missed an opportunity to return one of the punts that was boomed a bit over his head, essentially outkicking coverage. He called a fair catch a tad prematurely on the play. He did make a tough grab for a first down that was called back for the Ulizio hold.
Crawford also needs better judgement coming out of the end zone.
I think O'Korns toughness sparked the offense. And even though the game was "uncomfortable" until the fourth quarter, we were pretty dominant statistically. It was a much smoother second half and a sharp O'Korn didn't attempt a pass in the last 11 minutes.
Solomon is starting to make some plays and Dwumfour also got some play. Robbins was solid in his debut. It appears Schoenle is part of the rotation and Ways got some run.
Overall, it was a nice victory on the road agains a scrappy (dirty?) up-and-coming team, who unfortunately is gonna end up letting this game cost them 2 with the first half suspensions next week. I think we grew up a little bit on offense, hopefully gaining some traction to move forward.
MSU shot themselves in the foot on offense throwing a pick 6 and fumbling a TD away for the second time this season. They put up almost 500 yards against ND in a losing effort. D'Antonio will have them ready to play, but I think the bye comes at a perfect time to develop and massage the offense around Okorns strengths. I expect a typical rivalry game that will be closer than expected for most of the game, but we will not be scored against in the fourth quarter for the fifth consecutive game and pull it out (maybe pull away?) late.
Turnovers:
O'Korn was slightly behind Perry at the first down line. The Purdue DB had good coverage and made a very good play with a great bounce. Hard to nitpick on this one, IMO.
Higdon, on the other hand, ran that play very poorly. He hesitates to get upfield and almost allows a DL to catch him. He needs to be in the hip pocket of his OL and get upfield quicker. He almost makes a gritty play, but loses focus and fumbles. I know Higdon has a fan base behind him that wants to see him get more play, but he also whiffed on a couple blitzes and is clearly the #3 guy, IMO. (Which is based off of 2.33 years of gameplay, which is only about two weeks of practice reps. So it's always wise to trust the coaches on personnel issues)
I think Wroblewski forces a fumble late just a split second before Metellus cleans up the receiver.
Penalties:
Did we actually get a couple benefit of the doubt calls? I think we did.
1. Schoenle on punt catch interference. A little ticky tacky, but he needs to break down a bit earlier.
2. Ulizio holding. Onwenu got a little bench in favor of Runyan. Maybe JBB needs to give Nolan some rest....
3. Thomas running into kicker...should have been roughing.
4. Illegal substitution. The Fox broadcast was awful, but Harbaugh thought it was a bad call.
5. Bredeson false start. Back-to-back calls that O'Korn and the offense managed to overcome.
6. DPJ Illegal block below waist (crack-back).
7. Gentry ineligible downfield (incorrectly called on Hill). DPJ has to get off of line of scrimmage.
We could have been called for a late hit in the end zone on Kinnel and holding/pass interference on Hill. Bush was called for PI that probably wasn't PI, but the Purdue TE catches the ball and turns it into a first down anyway. Purdue was also called for a holding that was pretty tame.
QB play:
Speight had become gunshy before his injury. I think he needs a bigger window to throw through before he slings it because he doesn't have a strong enough arm. Okorn looked confident and decisive. He played very sharply. His biggest mistake, IMO, was not the interception. Instead, it was throwing high into coverage in Purdue territory that resulted in a targeting call, but could have killed Eubanks. He was slightly inaccurate on 2 throws to Perry, missed slightly on 2 deep balls that were both well defended (though the throw to DPJ before halftime should have been a couple of yards deeper), Gentry dropped a short/low throw and Okorn threw one away while being tackled in the vicinity of Bunting that needed to be thrown a bit earlier and a bit lower. I didn't note the other incomplete...
Okorn also broke a couple tackles, turning sacks into completions. He also bulled through a few defenders to make a first down. His performance was vastly superior to every other appearance as a Michigan player and has earned the right to start vs. MSU.
OL play:
The OL took turns whiffing on blocks in the first half, including Mason Cole, who played his worst game in a long time, IMO. Runyan played well platooning with Onwenu. Ruiz played a few snaps at TE again, but let a man cross his face and make a tackle. Bredeson took a penalty, Ulizio was called for holding. Purdue got 3 sacks in the first half, IIRC, after have only 1 in their previous 6 halfs this year. It was easily the worst half of OL play this year. Several blocks were missed by several different players.
The second half was much better. Protection was good, with only one "coverage" sack surrendered. The run game got better DESPITE facing 8 or 9 in the box on several occasions. There is still lots of room for improvement.
Defense:
Again, another championship performance. A few tackles were missed. I think Kinnel played his worse game this year. We got sucked in a couple times, and still struggle a bit agains the flanker screen. Bush and Winovich are playing like All-Americans.
Purdue did execute well on several plays. The first play throwback to the QB needs to be recognized by Gary and Hudson. They have to see the first throw went backwards and cover the QB. One of those two also lost contain on a bootleg. Blough scrambled up the middle for a first down on the second play of the game. They executed the screen very well (and caught Kinnel in a blitz) on their TD drive and the TE was not well covered on two all executed misdirection plays. I think Purdue had 9 plays over 10 yards. 2 were the first two plays. 5 were on their TD drive. One was a free play after Hurst jumped offsides (going for 24 yards on a well contested throw, but a heads up play by the QB). They also had a 14 yard draw on 3rd and 21).
Other observations:
DPJ needs to clean up his play so we can get him the ball more. He was involved on two penalties and almost got blocked into a bouncing punt (should have been a penalty on Purdue, but DPJ should not have been near the ball). He did a good job securing punts, but missed an opportunity to return one of the punts that was boomed a bit over his head, essentially outkicking coverage. He called a fair catch a tad prematurely on the play. He did make a tough grab for a first down that was called back for the Ulizio hold.
Crawford also needs better judgement coming out of the end zone.
I think O'Korns toughness sparked the offense. And even though the game was "uncomfortable" until the fourth quarter, we were pretty dominant statistically. It was a much smoother second half and a sharp O'Korn didn't attempt a pass in the last 11 minutes.
Solomon is starting to make some plays and Dwumfour also got some play. Robbins was solid in his debut. It appears Schoenle is part of the rotation and Ways got some run.
Overall, it was a nice victory on the road agains a scrappy (dirty?) up-and-coming team, who unfortunately is gonna end up letting this game cost them 2 with the first half suspensions next week. I think we grew up a little bit on offense, hopefully gaining some traction to move forward.
MSU shot themselves in the foot on offense throwing a pick 6 and fumbling a TD away for the second time this season. They put up almost 500 yards against ND in a losing effort. D'Antonio will have them ready to play, but I think the bye comes at a perfect time to develop and massage the offense around Okorns strengths. I expect a typical rivalry game that will be closer than expected for most of the game, but we will not be scored against in the fourth quarter for the fifth consecutive game and pull it out (maybe pull away?) late.
