Would like to see Mason as RB in short yardage situations. Who's with me?
Hey all, first post! :D
I'm starting this thread with the hope that it will pick up steam. I, like many of you, am all for our new-look offense, and yet, have missed seeing Bench Mason getting his hands on the ball in short yardage situations a couple times a game. -Both because I think it's a solid play-call in said situation, and b/c everyone seems to like Bench, and I think it will lift the spirits of the team and all of us fans. I know it would put a smile on my face anyway.
So, with either Tru and/or Zach likely sitting out again, and after taking a long hard look at our short yardage plays against Army, are you 'telling me there's a chance' this will happen? What do you think? Pro's and cons? One con that came to mind is the possibility (likelihood?) that he hasn't gotten any O reps and might be rusty. And the last thing we need is more sloppiness with the ball. (Unless they've gotten him some reps these past two weeks.)
Anyway, go blue!
September 19th, 2019 at 5:40 PM ^
I feel like if this thread gets over 300 comments, the coaches are sure to see it and will by law have to oblige.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:23 PM ^
1 like = 1 fb dive
September 19th, 2019 at 8:16 PM ^
I'm all for it
September 21st, 2019 at 8:32 AM ^
Mason is!
September 19th, 2019 at 6:36 PM ^
Now, click your heels three times.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:52 PM ^
So 006BO, how does it feel to lose your virginity?
September 19th, 2019 at 10:11 PM ^
Haha, great! Nerve-racking!
I know the topic wasn’t anything that hasn’t been mentioned, but I just can’t help but think it could be a big morale boost. Or as some have mentioned, maybe even a better “gotcha!” if Bench lines up, and then it turns out to be a pass or something.
But as the realists have said, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be gettin’ a fullback look, and I get it— they’re trying to go all-in on the new-look O.
September 19th, 2019 at 11:04 PM ^
Was Mgoblog gentle?
September 19th, 2019 at 11:09 PM ^
Relatively, I suppose so! That said, “gentle” is not the first word I’d use to describe us, haha.
September 19th, 2019 at 11:29 PM ^
I thought I was supposed to turn around 3 times and say "full back dive" into the mirror
September 19th, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
All I want to know is....
Who's comin' with me?
September 19th, 2019 at 7:56 PM ^
If you dont comment on this topic you will hVe bad luck for 3 years.
September 19th, 2019 at 10:58 PM ^
Wire $10,000 to the OP and s/he will send you millions.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:40 PM ^
I'd like to see Mean Joe in there, I mean a marsupial is built low to the ground and perfect for squeezing through even small gaps. He could just ride Onwenu past the sticks.
On a more serious note, it will be interesting to see if Gattis takes a different approach to short yardage now that we're in conference play.
September 19th, 2019 at 9:30 PM ^
No, koalas are too slow. Koalas partially live in a slow motion dimension and ours at the same time. We'd have better luck with this person carrying the ball...
September 19th, 2019 at 5:41 PM ^
We need someone that wants to make a statement in there
September 19th, 2019 at 6:39 PM ^
Lots of talks of statements being made about this Wisconsin game. If Michigan loses, the "statement" I want to see made is Jim Harbaugh has let Josh Gattis go.
September 19th, 2019 at 7:37 PM ^
Hmmm... fire the Offensive Coordinator, 3 games into his tenure, with a 2-1 record, because we lost to a top-15 team on the road. Very reasonable take.
September 19th, 2019 at 8:37 PM ^
Yes it is reasonable, considering we have not seen what he was supposed to be bringing, and that we are seeing a new offense deliver at Maryland and LSU, yes, we should be seeing it 3 games in to the season.
September 19th, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
That new offense at Maryland just scored less than 2 touchdowns in a game against a middle of the pack team. When they get into Big Ten play, I guarantee they don’t average more than 28 a game. Just to give you an idea, Michigan averages 35 a game last season and everyone complained. Maryland was ranked 68 out of 130 last year and I’m almost certain they’ll finish middle of the pack again.
September 19th, 2019 at 9:15 PM ^
My favorite part of Maryland's brilliant offense is how they had First and Goal 3 times (once from the 10, twice from the 4) and got ZERO POINTS. Wonder if they're in "fire everybody" mode over there or not.
September 20th, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
Did Brady Hoke sneak into the press box and call plays?
September 19th, 2019 at 10:44 PM ^
I thought everyone was complaining because of 24-17, 62-39 and 41-15?
September 19th, 2019 at 11:10 PM ^
They gave Howard their worse loss going back to the 70's. I can't find scores from before that. And they beat Syracuse worse than Clemson did.
September 19th, 2019 at 9:12 PM ^
Maryland didn't deliver much last week. It's a little early to judge the offense and Gattis so harshly. Let's see what happens as the season progresses.
September 20th, 2019 at 7:12 AM ^
That new offense is not new. They run the same plays, same tempo, and same formations they ran last year to put up 52 on OSU. The coach came in and may have changed terminology, but Maryland has the same offense with the same backs. And they played a soft first two games. I’d prefer they would have won their third game, but Maryland’s stall shows how all the slippery slope talk does is leave a bunch of intoxicated internet rock climbers sliding down a mountainous slope into a oceanic pile of beer vomit.
September 19th, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
When Urban Meyer was interviewed about the changes in the offense, he liked what he saw but said it would take some time to make the transition to running it.
I don’t like the guy a bit, but he knows what he’s talking about. Calling for Gattis’ head at this early point of the transition is absurd.
September 19th, 2019 at 9:41 PM ^
You are new here. Staee or Central College of Ohio at Columbus?
September 19th, 2019 at 5:43 PM ^
idgaf how they get first downs
September 19th, 2019 at 5:47 PM ^
Same here. Whether it’s by spread or smashmouth, all that matters is that it works!
September 19th, 2019 at 6:47 PM ^
Seriously. Just get it done. I sometimes wonder if people think the coaching staff are brain dead. I’m pretty fvckn sure they have considered the thought of Ben Mason on short yardage.
September 19th, 2019 at 10:30 PM ^
No one thinks the coaches haven’t considered something they did regularly as recently as last year. What I think they miiiiight be overlooking is, how pumped-up the team and fans get when Bench touches the football. And how that can be a contagious thing.
Somewhat related, or maybe not— when Mason hurdled(!) that guy last year it was by far the most memorable and enjoyable play of the game. Priceless.
September 19th, 2019 at 11:42 PM ^
That's what I don't get though. I assume the staff isn't braid dead, so why are we handing off into a stacked box on 4th and short lined up in the shotgun when A) their CBs are giving our WRs a ten yard cushion and B) we have years of evidence that a standard goalline offense where we just pound it with a FB or behind a FB works when you need one yard. Why are the coaches making it harder for our team to win?
September 19th, 2019 at 5:44 PM ^
No, I’d like to see the new offense that they are supposed to have. Great teams use short yardage situations to break big plays.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:58 PM ^
So fake the handoff to Mason and chuck it up to Nico Collins
September 19th, 2019 at 6:26 PM ^
I think we should line up in the I, double tight with a solo flanker to the right, take a three step drop, pump fake the hitch, and lead the flanker to a diving catch in the end zone.
September 19th, 2019 at 9:29 PM ^
This was my first game at the big house as a freshman.... Gary Mueller, thanks for the flashback to when Michigan times were good.
Unfortunately, I took my little brother to the Cordell Stewart game for his first one
September 19th, 2019 at 10:28 PM ^
Brent Muffburger sounded drunk in that short clip. I got the impression that he tipped a few before each game he called back in the day.
September 19th, 2019 at 8:32 PM ^
Can add a power twist to the offense with the QB under center and a big back like Mason back there to pick up a couple of yards.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^
I’d like to see last season’s offense but with an OC who is willing to open things up a bit. Harbaugh didn’t have to totally change the offense, he just needed a modern OC to get the ball to his playmakers.
No space up the gut, no speed off tackle is anticlimactic.
September 19th, 2019 at 7:20 PM ^
I still think the Wisconsin game last year was the best game from an offensive playcalling standpoint in Harbaugh's tenure.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:50 PM ^
He’s 260 pounds and has been, it seems, working out as a DT. There’s no reason to think he hasn’t lost a step at FB.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:51 PM ^
I'm sure there's some armchair football expert who's ready to give me a pile of stats and longwinded explanations for why this isn't so, but I will never for the life of me understand running shotgun from inside the 2. Especially when a program just spent four years essentially perfecting about a million different approaches, with great success, to ram the ball into the endzone out of a traditional snap.
It's not that I expect it to be Mason. It's that I don't understand why it's not something to that degree.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:57 PM ^
You beat me to it in my comment below, but I agree completely.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:09 PM ^
I mean, I also get that all of those sets are now on tape in every coach's office in the conference, and everyone knew exactly what was coming when Mason would run on the field pumping his fist in the air to the cheers of thousands, but...
September 19th, 2019 at 6:04 PM ^
We haven't run a play from under center all year. #SpeedInSpace be damned, you're not helping yourself running out of the gun on the goal line.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:22 PM ^
I believe we ran one play from under center. Clock management style.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:13 PM ^
This suggests to me that Gattis does in fact have a lot of leeway (Army game included) because I don't think that's Jim's preference for short-yardage situations.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:22 PM ^
Good point. I'm sure if Jim had any role in designing the plays he would have at least kept all of the effective smashmouth goal line packages.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:35 PM ^
I miss Hammer Panda.