Last night's loss has seemingly tipped our beloved Fort over the edge. As I drink my coffee this morning, I think about where our program is and where it is headed.
First, some thoughts on last night. As we cut the lead to four in the third quarter, I was hoping that lightning would roll in and give us an hour or so delay that would allow for more favorable conditions for our offense to pull out the victory in the fourth. The lightning never came, however, and we were stuck playing in a monsoon. As many on here pointed out during the week, it would be very advantageous to have obtained the lead by the time the storm hit. Once the rain came, no team had a chance to score in a conventional manner.
On offense, there is no sugar-coating our flaws and weaknesses. Our offensive line is a huge problem. Our RBs are average. Our WRs and TEs are very young. Our QB situation is not ideal. That being said, many have pointed out that we have known since Harbaugh was hired that 2017 would shape up to be a tough year for our roster. I know many people refuse to listen to the Marcus Ray podcast, but before the Purdue game he mentioned that for Michigan to win tougher games this year, we would have to "out-athlete" and "out-scheme" some teams.
As for "out-athleting," it does not appear that our young talent is ready to rise to the occasion yet. DPJ and Zach Gentry are two guys who have the potential to terrorize opposing defenses when they reach their potential. However, DPJ is a freshman and Gentry is in his first season getting real playing time at TE. Tarik Black's injury hurts right now. He could very well be the type of player who would be willing us to victory in game's like this.
As for "out-scheming," I think that the ultimate reality is that no matter how good your schemes are, if our offensive line continues to be below average, we aren't going to move the ball or score with any semblance of consistency. Ulizio was yanked last night for being downright awful and JBB wasn't much better. The offensive line stinks. Period. For me, it's difficult to criticize play calling when we can't offer any consistency up front.
Player development, however, is different. Even with the known issues of the 2017 roster and youth, it is not as if we are playing three true freshmen on the offensive line. Combined between the starting offensive linemen, there are 14 total years in the Michigan program: Cole (4), Bredeson (2), Kugler (5), Onwenu (2), Ulizio (3). Is this line, in total, inexperienced? Sure. But one would think that they would be better just because they have been in the program now for a while. The unavoidable inference is that our offensive coaching staff is not developing these young men and/or we are not recruiting well enough. The way I see it, all of our offensive problems derive from the OLs' poor play.
Defense: I think that last night we played well enough to win. We had some hiccups early on, but we held them to 14 points. Obviously, it's fair to wonder whether we would have held MSU scoreless in the second half had the rain not been such a stifling force. Maybe not, but still, the defense played well enough for us to win. LeVert Hill is a rising star. He looked great last night.
The upshot: three years in and there is something wrong with how our offensive line is being developed. Something needs to change. Whether that be moving on from Drevno and handing the entire OL over to Frey, I do not know. But something needs to be done if we want to win championships. If we can't figure this out, little else will matter.
Some thoughts on where are program currently is: despite last night's difficult loss, our program is still headed in the right direction. The sky is not falling. I trust Jim Harbaugh to figure this out. We may not be as good as we would have hoped to have been this year, but we still have a championship-level defense and a lot of potential on offense (if not for this year, the future). Granted, steps need to be taken to shore up the OL and the QB positions, but it can be done. This team is not the train wreck that many want to paint it as.
Maybe this is nothing more than a re hash of what has already been said this morning, but I feel the need to say it. And in the words of our good friend @Blue_note, "Go Blue. Always."
First, some thoughts on last night. As we cut the lead to four in the third quarter, I was hoping that lightning would roll in and give us an hour or so delay that would allow for more favorable conditions for our offense to pull out the victory in the fourth. The lightning never came, however, and we were stuck playing in a monsoon. As many on here pointed out during the week, it would be very advantageous to have obtained the lead by the time the storm hit. Once the rain came, no team had a chance to score in a conventional manner.
On offense, there is no sugar-coating our flaws and weaknesses. Our offensive line is a huge problem. Our RBs are average. Our WRs and TEs are very young. Our QB situation is not ideal. That being said, many have pointed out that we have known since Harbaugh was hired that 2017 would shape up to be a tough year for our roster. I know many people refuse to listen to the Marcus Ray podcast, but before the Purdue game he mentioned that for Michigan to win tougher games this year, we would have to "out-athlete" and "out-scheme" some teams.
As for "out-athleting," it does not appear that our young talent is ready to rise to the occasion yet. DPJ and Zach Gentry are two guys who have the potential to terrorize opposing defenses when they reach their potential. However, DPJ is a freshman and Gentry is in his first season getting real playing time at TE. Tarik Black's injury hurts right now. He could very well be the type of player who would be willing us to victory in game's like this.
As for "out-scheming," I think that the ultimate reality is that no matter how good your schemes are, if our offensive line continues to be below average, we aren't going to move the ball or score with any semblance of consistency. Ulizio was yanked last night for being downright awful and JBB wasn't much better. The offensive line stinks. Period. For me, it's difficult to criticize play calling when we can't offer any consistency up front.
Player development, however, is different. Even with the known issues of the 2017 roster and youth, it is not as if we are playing three true freshmen on the offensive line. Combined between the starting offensive linemen, there are 14 total years in the Michigan program: Cole (4), Bredeson (2), Kugler (5), Onwenu (2), Ulizio (3). Is this line, in total, inexperienced? Sure. But one would think that they would be better just because they have been in the program now for a while. The unavoidable inference is that our offensive coaching staff is not developing these young men and/or we are not recruiting well enough. The way I see it, all of our offensive problems derive from the OLs' poor play.
Defense: I think that last night we played well enough to win. We had some hiccups early on, but we held them to 14 points. Obviously, it's fair to wonder whether we would have held MSU scoreless in the second half had the rain not been such a stifling force. Maybe not, but still, the defense played well enough for us to win. LeVert Hill is a rising star. He looked great last night.
The upshot: three years in and there is something wrong with how our offensive line is being developed. Something needs to change. Whether that be moving on from Drevno and handing the entire OL over to Frey, I do not know. But something needs to be done if we want to win championships. If we can't figure this out, little else will matter.
Some thoughts on where are program currently is: despite last night's difficult loss, our program is still headed in the right direction. The sky is not falling. I trust Jim Harbaugh to figure this out. We may not be as good as we would have hoped to have been this year, but we still have a championship-level defense and a lot of potential on offense (if not for this year, the future). Granted, steps need to be taken to shore up the OL and the QB positions, but it can be done. This team is not the train wreck that many want to paint it as.
Maybe this is nothing more than a re hash of what has already been said this morning, but I feel the need to say it. And in the words of our good friend @Blue_note, "Go Blue. Always."
