Kudos to those posters who had been emphasizing the importance of explosive plays.
I was just reading an excerpt from John Niyo (also included in the "What They Are Saying" article on the Fort):
"Michigan had just 10 plays of 30-plus yards on offense a year ago, albeit it in only six games with a COVID-shortened season. But through three games this season they’ve already matched that double-digit total. And the Wolverines have had eight plays of 50 yards or more, including three more Saturday, when they finished with 13 explosive plays in all — nine rushing, four passing."
Many were saying this prior to the season, and the fact that we have some real field stretchers, and seem to be showing how to better use them is a credit to the coaching staff. Many plays that went for 15 yards or less, are now going for 25 or more yards, and the real running threat makes play action to throw the deep ball that much more effective. We also have a QB who can put the ball on the receivers' hands- Yesterday we threw three bombs: One was an 87-yard TD, the other was a PI, and the third was an uncalled PI, so we were very effective on those low percentage passes.
Big plays are the difference between the team slogging it out in defensive battles, and putting away overmatched teams earlier in the game.
Looks like the old "speed in space" mantra only works if the lines and the running games are effective. After watching OSU, the space they get in their passing game (with many easy completions) comes from their threat and ability to run the ball first.
Corum's ability to take the top off of the defense in the running game is something that we haven't seen since Denard: A threat to take a run all the way on any given down is something that defenses have to consider: A 79-yard KO return, a 67-yard TD run vs Washington, and a 51-yard TD run yesterday
It's a shame that Bell went out so soon (practically right after his 76-yard TD) when he was finally in an offense that would put him in advantageous situations in space...
Now we're seeing the emergence of others as playmakers, many who were sold as such as recruits or in Baldwin's case transfers:
Corum (already discussed).
Henning has a 74-yard TD run. He has 100 yards on two carries so far this season.
Roman Wilson has a 43-yard run.
Daylen Baldwin has a 69-yard TD catch.
Cornelius Johnson has an 87-yard TD catch and another 33 -yard reception.
Donavan Edwards has a 58-yard TD run.
We're only 3 games in and it seems like we are finally seeing the speed that was talked about so much that we recruited in the last 3 classes. In 2019- We had 3 plays of 50 or longer for the entire 13-game season- none of them runs...
Good sign, as a guy like Haskins continues to pressure defenses with his physical ability to make a loss a 4-yard gain, and a 4-yard gain into a 10-15-yerd run with his tackle-breaking ability.
The wrinkles that will probably be added in (and IMO need to be to continue growing the offense) are screen passes (we've seen few) and QB runs (JJ had a nice one yesterday). I think that continuing with the big plays will help us vs higher scoring squads.
Most importantly we have a kid like MacNamara who is smart with the ball- Big plays +No Turnovers is a pretty lethal combination for an offense.
I was just reading an excerpt from John Niyo (also included in the "What They Are Saying" article on the Fort):
"Michigan had just 10 plays of 30-plus yards on offense a year ago, albeit it in only six games with a COVID-shortened season. But through three games this season they’ve already matched that double-digit total. And the Wolverines have had eight plays of 50 yards or more, including three more Saturday, when they finished with 13 explosive plays in all — nine rushing, four passing."
Many were saying this prior to the season, and the fact that we have some real field stretchers, and seem to be showing how to better use them is a credit to the coaching staff. Many plays that went for 15 yards or less, are now going for 25 or more yards, and the real running threat makes play action to throw the deep ball that much more effective. We also have a QB who can put the ball on the receivers' hands- Yesterday we threw three bombs: One was an 87-yard TD, the other was a PI, and the third was an uncalled PI, so we were very effective on those low percentage passes.
Big plays are the difference between the team slogging it out in defensive battles, and putting away overmatched teams earlier in the game.
Looks like the old "speed in space" mantra only works if the lines and the running games are effective. After watching OSU, the space they get in their passing game (with many easy completions) comes from their threat and ability to run the ball first.
Corum's ability to take the top off of the defense in the running game is something that we haven't seen since Denard: A threat to take a run all the way on any given down is something that defenses have to consider: A 79-yard KO return, a 67-yard TD run vs Washington, and a 51-yard TD run yesterday
It's a shame that Bell went out so soon (practically right after his 76-yard TD) when he was finally in an offense that would put him in advantageous situations in space...
Now we're seeing the emergence of others as playmakers, many who were sold as such as recruits or in Baldwin's case transfers:
Corum (already discussed).
Henning has a 74-yard TD run. He has 100 yards on two carries so far this season.
Roman Wilson has a 43-yard run.
Daylen Baldwin has a 69-yard TD catch.
Cornelius Johnson has an 87-yard TD catch and another 33 -yard reception.
Donavan Edwards has a 58-yard TD run.
We're only 3 games in and it seems like we are finally seeing the speed that was talked about so much that we recruited in the last 3 classes. In 2019- We had 3 plays of 50 or longer for the entire 13-game season- none of them runs...
Good sign, as a guy like Haskins continues to pressure defenses with his physical ability to make a loss a 4-yard gain, and a 4-yard gain into a 10-15-yerd run with his tackle-breaking ability.
The wrinkles that will probably be added in (and IMO need to be to continue growing the offense) are screen passes (we've seen few) and QB runs (JJ had a nice one yesterday). I think that continuing with the big plays will help us vs higher scoring squads.
Most importantly we have a kid like MacNamara who is smart with the ball- Big plays +No Turnovers is a pretty lethal combination for an offense.
