Michigan dropped its second straight game, this one a 38-21 setback at Indiana that really shouldn’t have come as any surprise. This team is disjointed, talent-deficient in some areas, young, unconfident and — at times — disinterested.
Add it up and it leads to a mess.
This isn’t one that looks like it’s going to be fixed anytime soon ... at least not this year. The big question before the season was how the corners would hold up with Ambry Thomas opting out … we now have our answer. These guys can’t find the ball and can’t make plays on it when they do, and they’re continually put in bad positions. Redshirt sophomore Vince Gray has lost his confidence, and you can see it in his play.
Gray isn’t trusting his technique anymore when the ball comes his way, flailing and clutching in an effort not to be embarrassed. That’s sign one of a kid who has lost his confidence. Gemon Green has been around the ball, but he’s not making plays. He’s had opportunities for picks go through his hands and was in position to knock away a touchdown pass Saturday, but he couldn’t make the play.
And that brings us to one of the bigger issues on this team — lack of playmakers. Defensive coordinator Don Brown talks of “dudes” and “guys” … there are a lot of guys on this team, but not a lot of dudes. They miss senior Nico Collins as the deep threat (wonder how he feels watching this knowing he could have helped?), and while junior Ronnie Bell has made quite a few plays, he’s more a really good No. 2 or 3 than a No. 1 on a contending team.
His passion and never-quit attitude is what sets him apart, but he’s more Walter Smith, Chris Calloway than the No. 1s Michigan has had. That’s not a slap at him in any way, shape or form … it’s just what it is. A lot of his teammates could learn from his example.
There was no fire in the pregame or on the sidelines for the second straight week, and it makes no sense. It was there in the opener at Minnesota, and you could feel it. The Wolverines went through the motions in an inexplicable loss to Michigan State, and while head coach Jim Harbaugh said he felt his team played hard, they were, frankly, lacking passion.
If they don’t find it soon, they might only win one more game. There’s enough talent for more than that, sure, but if some of the veterans don’t set the example with their play and their “want to,” it won’t get better (unless they are replaced).
One senior on offense looks like he’s playing because he has to, not because he wants to. And the fact that frosh Zak Zinter was probably U-M’s best offensive lineman Saturday is a red flag. We love fifth-year senior Andrew Vastardis’ story, but he’s not Graham Glasgow talent-wise. He does bust his butt, but he’s been overwhelmed by average talent this year.
Others on the line have been beaten up by much lesser talent, and that’s a concern.
With Jalen Mayfield out for an extended period (we strongly believe) an already asterisk-esque season should become extended spring ball. See who really wants to play — in other words, make this a true meritocracy — and experiment with combinations that work better than the ones we’re seeing now. The best way to develop an offensive line is via reps playing together, as our Doug Skene always says, but this is going to be a season-long shakeup, regardless.
Fair or not, there has to be someone who can perform better than at least one guy up front the last two weeks.
Other thoughts —
• There’s no excuse for the six offsides penalties we saw in the first half alone. That’s a sign of a team lacking focus, and it’s something you’d expect of, say, an organization like the Detroit Lions. That was a huge red flag.
Another … the defensive line’s inability to get to the quarterback. We get that MSU quarterback Rocky Lombardi, who with the rest of his team looked awful at Iowa in a 49-7 beatdown, got the ball out quickly. But for two weeks in a row, and even before junior end Aidan Hutchinson went down with a broken lower leg, the guys up front were too easily blocked.
We’ve seen nothing from the interior defensive line to believe it can hold up against good teams. Donovan Jeter looks like the same guy as last year, maybe a bit better. Heck, they didn’t hold up against a bad team in MSU, and the linebackers have been average at best since the first game with Minnesota.
Indiana had a confident game plan that exploited this deficiency. They knew U-M couldn’t get home without blitzing, even against its pedestrian line, and they threw to the vacated blitzer’s position when U-M sent a linebacker.
It was far too easy.
Teams with good running attacks are going to have heads spinning over the next few weeks, and it starts Saturday. Wisconsin will have a massive advantage on both lines, and it’s going to be tough for U-M to win this one as a result.
We just hope redshirt sophomore Joe Milton isn’t exposed to the beating former U-M quarterbacks like Devin Gardner and Brandon Peters (at U-W a few years ago) were. They need him to maintain his confidence … he has a bright future if he does.
He is not this team’s problem. Not even close.
• The young guys are the top playmakers on this team, and the future. We said before the year started, we wanted to see what Cornelius Johnson could do as one of the team’s remaining ‘big’ receivers. We got a glimpse, and he played his ass off. It also seemed to matter to him in the postgame. He was pissed off. We haven’t seen enough of that from too many.
There’s a reason Harbaugh singled him out as the No. 2 receiver (behind Bell).
Giles Jackson and Mike Sainristil aren’t getting open. Frosh Roman Wilson and A.J. Henning are explosive and have great futures, but they’re young. Based on effort and production, we’d argue for a rotation of Bell, Johnson, Wilson, Henning and Jackson in a slot/bubble screen role.
The conundrum at tight end is that Erick All has the most “want to” by far, but he’s not catching the ball like he can. He has a confidence issue, and that’s been a killer. There have been so many plays left on the field, and he’s responsible for a handful.
You hope he can turn it around and be more than just a great practice performer, because he does have great potential.
We also want to see more of frosh running back Blake Corum in space. He’s going to a really good one. We wouldn’t mind seeing him return punts, if he can, and switch places with Jackson as the primary kick returner. It would be interesting to see who teams kicked to in that situation.
• There is still a lot of good, young talent on this team. There are also key areas to address, especially at corner, but we expect the defenses going forward (more next year, but starting this year) to be put in better positions. We heard Don Brown say before the year they were going to “play to their strengths,” but we haven’t seen it.
Sadly, the attempts at playing zone Saturday went about as we expected – not as bad as the 2008 overhaul pre-Purdue, but you can’t practice one thing forever and expect kids to switch gears and be good in a completely different role overnight.
First things first, though, this group needs to play like it understands losing here really isn’t acceptable and play every down like it’s their last. That hasn’t been the case, regardless how much Harbaugh talks about the “great effort,” and nothing will improve until it does.
Onward.
Add it up and it leads to a mess.
This isn’t one that looks like it’s going to be fixed anytime soon ... at least not this year. The big question before the season was how the corners would hold up with Ambry Thomas opting out … we now have our answer. These guys can’t find the ball and can’t make plays on it when they do, and they’re continually put in bad positions. Redshirt sophomore Vince Gray has lost his confidence, and you can see it in his play.
Gray isn’t trusting his technique anymore when the ball comes his way, flailing and clutching in an effort not to be embarrassed. That’s sign one of a kid who has lost his confidence. Gemon Green has been around the ball, but he’s not making plays. He’s had opportunities for picks go through his hands and was in position to knock away a touchdown pass Saturday, but he couldn’t make the play.
And that brings us to one of the bigger issues on this team — lack of playmakers. Defensive coordinator Don Brown talks of “dudes” and “guys” … there are a lot of guys on this team, but not a lot of dudes. They miss senior Nico Collins as the deep threat (wonder how he feels watching this knowing he could have helped?), and while junior Ronnie Bell has made quite a few plays, he’s more a really good No. 2 or 3 than a No. 1 on a contending team.
His passion and never-quit attitude is what sets him apart, but he’s more Walter Smith, Chris Calloway than the No. 1s Michigan has had. That’s not a slap at him in any way, shape or form … it’s just what it is. A lot of his teammates could learn from his example.
There was no fire in the pregame or on the sidelines for the second straight week, and it makes no sense. It was there in the opener at Minnesota, and you could feel it. The Wolverines went through the motions in an inexplicable loss to Michigan State, and while head coach Jim Harbaugh said he felt his team played hard, they were, frankly, lacking passion.
If they don’t find it soon, they might only win one more game. There’s enough talent for more than that, sure, but if some of the veterans don’t set the example with their play and their “want to,” it won’t get better (unless they are replaced).
One senior on offense looks like he’s playing because he has to, not because he wants to. And the fact that frosh Zak Zinter was probably U-M’s best offensive lineman Saturday is a red flag. We love fifth-year senior Andrew Vastardis’ story, but he’s not Graham Glasgow talent-wise. He does bust his butt, but he’s been overwhelmed by average talent this year.
Others on the line have been beaten up by much lesser talent, and that’s a concern.
With Jalen Mayfield out for an extended period (we strongly believe) an already asterisk-esque season should become extended spring ball. See who really wants to play — in other words, make this a true meritocracy — and experiment with combinations that work better than the ones we’re seeing now. The best way to develop an offensive line is via reps playing together, as our Doug Skene always says, but this is going to be a season-long shakeup, regardless.
Fair or not, there has to be someone who can perform better than at least one guy up front the last two weeks.
Other thoughts —
• There’s no excuse for the six offsides penalties we saw in the first half alone. That’s a sign of a team lacking focus, and it’s something you’d expect of, say, an organization like the Detroit Lions. That was a huge red flag.
Another … the defensive line’s inability to get to the quarterback. We get that MSU quarterback Rocky Lombardi, who with the rest of his team looked awful at Iowa in a 49-7 beatdown, got the ball out quickly. But for two weeks in a row, and even before junior end Aidan Hutchinson went down with a broken lower leg, the guys up front were too easily blocked.
We’ve seen nothing from the interior defensive line to believe it can hold up against good teams. Donovan Jeter looks like the same guy as last year, maybe a bit better. Heck, they didn’t hold up against a bad team in MSU, and the linebackers have been average at best since the first game with Minnesota.
Indiana had a confident game plan that exploited this deficiency. They knew U-M couldn’t get home without blitzing, even against its pedestrian line, and they threw to the vacated blitzer’s position when U-M sent a linebacker.
It was far too easy.
Teams with good running attacks are going to have heads spinning over the next few weeks, and it starts Saturday. Wisconsin will have a massive advantage on both lines, and it’s going to be tough for U-M to win this one as a result.
We just hope redshirt sophomore Joe Milton isn’t exposed to the beating former U-M quarterbacks like Devin Gardner and Brandon Peters (at U-W a few years ago) were. They need him to maintain his confidence … he has a bright future if he does.
He is not this team’s problem. Not even close.
• The young guys are the top playmakers on this team, and the future. We said before the year started, we wanted to see what Cornelius Johnson could do as one of the team’s remaining ‘big’ receivers. We got a glimpse, and he played his ass off. It also seemed to matter to him in the postgame. He was pissed off. We haven’t seen enough of that from too many.
There’s a reason Harbaugh singled him out as the No. 2 receiver (behind Bell).
Giles Jackson and Mike Sainristil aren’t getting open. Frosh Roman Wilson and A.J. Henning are explosive and have great futures, but they’re young. Based on effort and production, we’d argue for a rotation of Bell, Johnson, Wilson, Henning and Jackson in a slot/bubble screen role.
The conundrum at tight end is that Erick All has the most “want to” by far, but he’s not catching the ball like he can. He has a confidence issue, and that’s been a killer. There have been so many plays left on the field, and he’s responsible for a handful.
You hope he can turn it around and be more than just a great practice performer, because he does have great potential.
We also want to see more of frosh running back Blake Corum in space. He’s going to a really good one. We wouldn’t mind seeing him return punts, if he can, and switch places with Jackson as the primary kick returner. It would be interesting to see who teams kicked to in that situation.
• There is still a lot of good, young talent on this team. There are also key areas to address, especially at corner, but we expect the defenses going forward (more next year, but starting this year) to be put in better positions. We heard Don Brown say before the year they were going to “play to their strengths,” but we haven’t seen it.
Sadly, the attempts at playing zone Saturday went about as we expected – not as bad as the 2008 overhaul pre-Purdue, but you can’t practice one thing forever and expect kids to switch gears and be good in a completely different role overnight.
First things first, though, this group needs to play like it understands losing here really isn’t acceptable and play every down like it’s their last. That hasn’t been the case, regardless how much Harbaugh talks about the “great effort,” and nothing will improve until it does.
Onward.
