Sound seems off, did you guys change up some equipment or something? And situational Redzone QB sounds good to me. Those fades need to be keep inbounds...

This makes me chuckle.  There was a thread shortly before the season starts where our Freshman WRs were discussed and the board was about 95% "it just wont matter that they're Freshman - our's are SO awesome their youth wont even be noticed."

I, being the curmudgeon who remembers what Freshman WRs play like having witnessed them for oh....I dunno....50 years or so said "wont' matter how touted they are.  They are Freshman and Freshman WRs struggle.  It'll matter because it always matters and will always matter."

It never ceases to amaze me how we talk ourselves into and out of things that objectively we KNOW are going to happen simply because A: We are MICHIGAN dammit and B: We want them to be true.  

So at the risk of pissing off people yet again let me remind everyone of the following truths:

1. Freshman WRs seldom, if ever, play like anything but Freshman.  They will struggle but will get better with time.

2. MSU will play us tougher than their record or talent level would objectively indicate.  They would rather go 1-10 with the one win over Michigan than 10-1 with the one loss being to Michigan.

3. Night games at Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin are tough to win.  We historically dont play well on the road, at night, in these venues and I dont care what their record is going in - the game will be difficult and we'll prolly lose (cause more times than we do lose night games there unfortunately)

FYI - those who forget the past are doomed to be surprised when it inevitably repeats itlself.

re freshmen

Lots of youth on defense too but very few true freshmen (if any). Makes a difference but hopefully they can find a way to win and play better in Happy Valley 

I think there is certainly some aversion to calling pass plays over the middle in the red zone (perhaps out of concern for Speight throwing a INT). Hence, why we have so many passes going to WRs on the edges, which unfortunately more often than not seem to sail out of bounds. Maybe some of these issues will get rectified with increased confidence?

Ok, so in regards to "skying (kickoffs) to the 1 yard line"...

Why don't we (and all teams) do this?  Seems like the predomint thought on kickoffs nowadays is just to kick them as deep into the endzone as possible to negate return.  But it seems to me that skying kickoffs to just before the endzone (with as much loft as possible to allow your coverage to get down there) is more adventagous.  The risk is of course a return back for a touchdown, but the reward is two fold:

1 - Pinning the recieving team back inside of the 25 yard line.  (Which seems to happen more times than not when the kick is high and short of the endzone.)

2 - With your coverage unit closing in, a greater chance of fumbles on the return (a la Flordia game) or plain old muffing resulting in extremely beneficial field position turnovers.

So, yeah, maybe something to analyze at some point?

Man the defensive segment is negative .05 seconds??   That is scary fast.

I'm old enough to remember when Brian said Speight would have a decision to make about the NFL draft after this year.

 

I hate commercials and stoppages too, but I appreciate every damn one of them when we play Ohio State.  

I don't get the comment about Tennessee playing cover 2 in the hail mary situation. Isn't cover 2 the basis of any prevent defense? I mean, Tennessee played it horribly, but being in cover 2 didn't seem like an issue to me.

Reminder in this article that i keep forgetting to vent about.

Crawford kick returning. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put DPJ back there.  PLEASE.

I don't understand the play calling. You guys said it's "conservative" but it's just... nonsensical. On the redzome trip that had the failed jet sweep, IIRC, they ran a play out of the shotgun, then the jet sweep, then shotgun again, all within the 10 yard line. Line up with Wheatley and another TE (Gentry if he's blocking that well), Hill in the back field and 1 split WR, and run stright ahead. Onwenu is having problems identifying who to block on pulls so don't pull him. Ulizio just needs to go straight ahead so have him and Onwenu doubleteam to the second level. Run a power right off Bredeson or Kugler and maul a DL that is giving up 50lbs+ per player.

Same with the 3rd an 1 or 2 near midfield when Isaac took a hand off and pitter-pattered to the line trying to find a hole. Just put a hat on a hat and bulldoze for 1 yard with Higdon (since he goes 1000 mph no matter what - even if that results in missing a hole).

It's one thing to be conservative. It's another to refuse to just use what god given talent and physical size you have to grind out a few yards. Even if AF was sending 8 guys on blitzes, there is enough athleticism and size on the OL with some TE help to push a pile 3 yards.

Yes, I know, armchair-coaching-what-do-I-know.

I love that you used that Golden Girls remix. That has been one of my favorite youtube videos for years. Way to go!

The NFL just cuts 10-15% of the game by keeping the clock running more often (clock runs on first downs; clock runs after incomplete passes except near the end of the half / game, etc.)

Ad breaks in college football might be slightly longer than the NFL, but the biggest difference is that there's more content.  Please don't "fix" this the same way the NFL did.