Can we talk about the offensive line and what this means?
When you go through the offensive snowflakes thread you find that 90% of the discussion is around JOK's performance, understandably so. But I have to say that the largest impact this game made on me, beyond the happiness for JOK, was that it appeared to the untrained eye that our o-line is regressing, not progressing. Purdue came into the game with 1.5 sacks- against bad teams, yet there was constant pressure throughout the game. In fact only JOK's feet kept us from disaster a couple of times. If this was Iowa/PSU/OSU fine, you might say those guys are better than our inexperienced guys on the right side. But Purdue objectively has inferior talent on both sides of the ball, and yet: Ulizio continued to get owned. MO was shaky, and the rate of mental busts all over the line looked to me to be the highest so far this year.
I don't know man, not to debbie downer this win but that was concerning. You guys agree or am I too negative?
September 24th, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 2:20 PM ^
Speight got hurt on a play where Purdue rushed four guys, that's all.
The previous sack happened when they rushed 5. Michigan still had more than enough guys to block them, they just got confused.
So, while I agree that JOK made a difference, it wasn't because he instilled such fear in Purdue that they stopped rushing 6-7 guys. He was just much more decisive and got rid of the ball quicker, which meant that those same screw-ups by the OL resulted in "just" pressures, not sacks. As you note, he also moved around a lot better to escape the pressure.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:10 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:22 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:13 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 6:50 PM ^
Ok, Chicken Little. We should all be listening to you.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:21 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^
I'd like to see Runyan at RT. He's not going to light the world on fire...but I think he's a steady "stop gap" option until someone like Filiaga is ready to come along NEXT year.
September 24th, 2017 at 12:52 PM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
this was always going to be a challenge playing so many new starters. To be honest..I find it very interesting and unfortunate in equal measure in terms of roster planning that we ended up in this situation.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:59 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:31 AM ^
I'm over the Ulizio experiment. Put Runyan over there. JBB wasn't good last year, but he wasn't this bad.
Enough is enough. Now you have a bye, so forget the "chemistry" talk. We've got 2 weeks to build that chemistry.
That said, the coaches are putting them in HORRIBLE situations.
Stop the slow developing NFL route trees. I sound like a broken record.
Let's hit some short passes and let the playmakers make plays. Let's develop a screen game. Can we hit a swing pass to Chris Evans?!
Loved the playaction, get O'Korn on the move and hit easy throws to the TE/FBs. Why are we just now starting to do this?! You can do the same thing with Speight. Give him easy stuff, get the ball out of his hands.
We do not have Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen or Jake Browning, yet for 3.5 games we ran an offense like we do.
No, allow these guys to manage the game...get the ball out quickly...easy reads. Move the chains. I don't need advanced concepts and double moves from WRs. Just make easy throws and move the chains.
This takes the pressure off the QB AND the OL.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:42 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:52 AM ^
That's why I said 3.5 games.
I don't think this OL is better than average, but the playcalling has put them in HORRIBLE spots.
There was a noticeable adjustment with O'Korn. We ran a speed out, we ran a few playaction roll outs, we tried a screen, we ran some misdirection type pass plays. We actually began to move the ball and find a rhythm.
If we rely on these guys to take 5 and 7 step drops and work through the progressions and allow the WRs to get open 15-20 yards down field...we're screwed. I'm glad we started to adjust to our personnel.
...now if we can stop running 7 different versions of that same I-form dive play all the damn time, I may actually crack a smile.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:59 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 2:14 PM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^
How many times a game does PSU hit Barkley on a swing pass? A lot. Get a playmaker one on one with an LB in space and see what happens.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^
It has been addressed above. But a guy like O'Korn can make an average O-line that much better. He has a substantially quicker release, much more mobile, and can make plays on the run.
Speight is shifty like Big Ben is, but he's not fast, and whatever pocket awareness he had last year seemed to disappear this season.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:33 AM ^
Agreed.
I was thinking about that all last night. O'Korn is probably a better fit for a shitty OL. Speight is probably the better fit if you've got Oklahoma's OL.
September 24th, 2017 at 1:01 PM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^
Always love the untrained eye hot takes.
September 24th, 2017 at 12:56 PM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^
We have the most inexperienced team in the country with TEs, WRs, and 3 OL that have little to no playing experience and people are suprised that they are struggling through the first 4 games and though everyone expected this coming into the season. While it is frustating to watch, only game experience will make them better and help slow the game down for them.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^
We have the most inexperienced team in the country with TEs, WRs, and 3 OL that have little to no playing experience and people are suprised that they are struggling through the first 4 games even though everyone expected this coming into the season. While it is frustating to watch, only game experience will make them better and help slow the game down for them.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
I wonder if the simplified play calling for JOK was also helpful to the rest of the offense. Simplified playbook might make it easier to use the young TEs and shorter drops makes life easier for the O-line and RBs in pass protection.
September 24th, 2017 at 2:26 PM ^
I'm sayin... YES!
September 24th, 2017 at 10:42 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
I said it a couple of weeks ago...just survive Purdue. Get the bye week. I think we DESTROY MSU.
I think this game is MADE for Rashan Gary. Especially if we use Mone more.
September 24th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^
Aubrey seemed to be taking a lot of snaps from Mone yesterday - unless Mone was dinged (again)
September 24th, 2017 at 10:42 AM ^
This was so encouraging to watch, I watched it 7 more times in slow motion.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:51 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^
It's not just the OL, too many times the RB's got blown up in pass pro or straight up missed their blocking assignment. As Brian pointed out on twitter, it appears the OL has no idea how to block the first level. I'm extremely concerned.
September 24th, 2017 at 2:17 PM ^
Yeah but - Iggy B!
September 24th, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^
An old cliche, to be sure, but true nonetheless. When the bad guys bring six and you're blocking with five and maybe a RB who's not De'Veon Smith, you ask yourself what options this gives you? In the second half M recognized that the underneath routes vacated by all these blitzers were open for the TEs and for Perry. With Black out and the other wideouts maybe not ready for downfield prime time, especially when paired with the backup QB (who wouldn't have time to throw the long bomb to them anyway) O'Korn (the coaches) went for the options the blitzing D gave him. It worked 1) because O'Korn was mobile enough to elude some of the pass rushers who rushed past some O-linemen, and 2) because Perry and the TEs ran good routes and showed really good hands (Gentry's turn-around catch). Stats:
Receiving No. Yards TD Long
McKeon, Sean 5 82 0 30
Gentry, Zach 3 48 1 25
Perry, Grant 3 39 0 23
Schoenle, Nate 2 29 0 15
This McKeon kid kind of came out of the blue as far as I can tell, but should be a significant contributor for a few years to come. Go Blue.
September 24th, 2017 at 12:59 PM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:48 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 2:15 PM ^
Well bifurcate away Beeks!
Signed,
Randolph and Mortimer
September 24th, 2017 at 10:48 AM ^
Speight is a statue. Other teams have no fear of him running around trying to get a first down with his feet. If all the WR are covered and Speight has no one to throw too the pocket will eventually collapse.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:52 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 11:11 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:10 PM ^
I thought this too, until I rewatched the first two quarters of the game, until Speight got hurt.
He got hurt when Purdue was rushing four.
The previous sack came when they were rushing five.
In both cases, Michigan had more guys to block than rushers, but simply failed to identify and block the guys in front of them. In both cases, rushers came through unblocked while two Michigan players were locked up on one Purdue player.
The plays where guys get truly beat, like Uluzio did a few times, are actually pretty rare. Once a Michigan O-lineman gets a hold of you the outcome is usually pretty good. The problem is that this line is completely befuddled by stunts and delayed blitzes.
September 24th, 2017 at 10:54 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^
September 24th, 2017 at 10:58 AM ^
QB's (Speight noticeably) also held onto the ball too long a couple of times.