Very pleased with our performance. We did what a team with our talent level should do against a team like Western Michigan when it is well-coached.
I won’t dwell too much on the obvious. Many other posters have done that. But I do have a few observations about the team and personnel when digging deeper:
- This game did not tell us how good we are. But did, however, tell us how bad we are not. But it needs to be sustainable. That has so much to do with coaching and team attitude. Let’s not forget that after our game one domination of Minnesota last season many thought that we would be a legit Big 10 title contender.
- Cade was exactly what I hoped Cade would be. He won’t wow you with an arm like JJ or Milton, but he is a real gamer, leader, processes info quickly and has an accurate arm. His only two incompletions were on passes tipped at the LOS.
- JJ: On that one TD pass you could see what all the excitement was about. Needs to lay off the mustard with some of his throws but he is an accurate passer. We are not talking Joe Milton here. As he progresses I sort of wonder if we will have a QB rotation similar to what we had with Brady and Henson.
- Michael Barrett only got on the field on special teams. Mullings, Colson and Solomon all saw PT at ILB ahead of him.
- Nolan Rumler saw no PT. Not sure if he is injured but if not it does not look like he will ever be a major contributor at Michigan.
~ Reserve DBs. Can tell a lot with respect to who is not tracking for PT and perhaps tracking for the portal instead due to lack of PT, even in garbage time behind walk-ons. Of course, if a player did not even play on special teams it could also be due to injury. Andre Seldon and Green-Warren did not play at all. Those who only played on special teams include Quinton Johnson, Jalen Perry, German Green, Jordan Morant and Dennis. Of note is that those who actually played ahead of them include a walk-on CB (Harris), former walk-on safety (Kolesar) and a true freshman safety (Rod Moore).
- True freshmen who saw time were JJ, Donovan Edwards, Andrel Anthony, Greg Crippen, Rayshaun Benny, George Rooks, Junior Colson and Rod Moore.
- One of the most impressive displays of running the ball I have seen during the Harbaugh tenure. Granted, against WMU, but we have not shown that sort of running game against even the lower level competition in recent years. Sure, the numbers are a touch misleading due to the two long gains by Henning and Wilson, but what really stood out was how well our top three backs ran the ball. Especially Corum. This may be the best RB attack we have had since our new RB coach was carrying the load. And that means a lot. Strong play at QB and RB has just not been there during most of the Harbaugh era.
- Also pleased with how strong we were at the point of attack on both lines. Again, against a MAC school, so this was to be expected. But there have been too many recent occasions of the lines not living up to expectations. Now we will see how they perform against P5 teams.
- My top takeaway from the game is that it was a positive datapoint. That does a lot to wash away the stink and rot of last season. I have predicted an 8-4 season. I am on the verge of upping it to 9-3. Let’s see how we do against a weaker-than-expected Wahington team first.
I won’t dwell too much on the obvious. Many other posters have done that. But I do have a few observations about the team and personnel when digging deeper:
- This game did not tell us how good we are. But did, however, tell us how bad we are not. But it needs to be sustainable. That has so much to do with coaching and team attitude. Let’s not forget that after our game one domination of Minnesota last season many thought that we would be a legit Big 10 title contender.
- Cade was exactly what I hoped Cade would be. He won’t wow you with an arm like JJ or Milton, but he is a real gamer, leader, processes info quickly and has an accurate arm. His only two incompletions were on passes tipped at the LOS.
- JJ: On that one TD pass you could see what all the excitement was about. Needs to lay off the mustard with some of his throws but he is an accurate passer. We are not talking Joe Milton here. As he progresses I sort of wonder if we will have a QB rotation similar to what we had with Brady and Henson.
- Michael Barrett only got on the field on special teams. Mullings, Colson and Solomon all saw PT at ILB ahead of him.
- Nolan Rumler saw no PT. Not sure if he is injured but if not it does not look like he will ever be a major contributor at Michigan.
~ Reserve DBs. Can tell a lot with respect to who is not tracking for PT and perhaps tracking for the portal instead due to lack of PT, even in garbage time behind walk-ons. Of course, if a player did not even play on special teams it could also be due to injury. Andre Seldon and Green-Warren did not play at all. Those who only played on special teams include Quinton Johnson, Jalen Perry, German Green, Jordan Morant and Dennis. Of note is that those who actually played ahead of them include a walk-on CB (Harris), former walk-on safety (Kolesar) and a true freshman safety (Rod Moore).
- True freshmen who saw time were JJ, Donovan Edwards, Andrel Anthony, Greg Crippen, Rayshaun Benny, George Rooks, Junior Colson and Rod Moore.
- One of the most impressive displays of running the ball I have seen during the Harbaugh tenure. Granted, against WMU, but we have not shown that sort of running game against even the lower level competition in recent years. Sure, the numbers are a touch misleading due to the two long gains by Henning and Wilson, but what really stood out was how well our top three backs ran the ball. Especially Corum. This may be the best RB attack we have had since our new RB coach was carrying the load. And that means a lot. Strong play at QB and RB has just not been there during most of the Harbaugh era.
- Also pleased with how strong we were at the point of attack on both lines. Again, against a MAC school, so this was to be expected. But there have been too many recent occasions of the lines not living up to expectations. Now we will see how they perform against P5 teams.
- My top takeaway from the game is that it was a positive datapoint. That does a lot to wash away the stink and rot of last season. I have predicted an 8-4 season. I am on the verge of upping it to 9-3. Let’s see how we do against a weaker-than-expected Wahington team first.
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