2016 Disappointments

Peppers was playing 3 ways. He ran the read option in high school, so I can understand limiting to what he's used to. You can only do so much with the limited 20 practice hours in a week.

What happened to McDoom the 2nd half of the season? 

I remember something traumatic a few weeks ago that counts.

they kept setting up outside runs until finally going inside once which was unfortunately stuffed but then that package went away. The Pepcat was just awful. I don't understand why they kept running it if they never used the obviousness of it to setup a counter

My feeling is that overall this team will be better next year despite the loss of Peppers et al.  Harbaugh knows what he's doing.  Some of the players we were relying on all year were young and that comes with limitations.

The young/old thing can be deceptive.  Some of the experienced players we have may just not be as talented as what's coming behind.

Hey, I get it.  Last weekend stunk, and we're not playing for a Playoff spot, the B1G Championship or the Rose Bowl.

But seriously?!  A historically good defense, an offense that scored more points than any other Michigan offense since the days before Tom Harmon, and special teams that were a threat to block a punt, get a return TD, hit a long FG, or make an unreturnable kick every time the stepped on the field, and all we can talk about are "disappointments"?!

Sure, many of the things people mentioned were less than our MID-SEASON expectations, when we were 6-0'ish and rolling along & singing a song.  Let's think of our expectations at the start of the season.  I would agree only that there were 2 things that came up short of our preseason expectations:

- The O-line topping out as "servicable" instead of "dominant" on run blocking.  (Pass pro was excellent.)

- Chesson lacking a certain je ne sais quoi compared to the end of the 2015 season.

Now, if (and only if) we crap the bed in the Bowl game (like Florida did against us last season), then I'd agree we ended the season with a Lloyd Carr, bad taste in your mouth finish.  However, I am confident that Coach Harbaugh will keep the team focused, and pride all by itself will be motivation enough to play well.

I'm also more optimistic than most for next season, but that's another topic.

My biggest frustration has been in our two losses, obviously.

We lead in the 4th quarter. Get a fucking first down! I expected the offensive line to be dominant this year but they were really only average and folded pretty spectacularly against competition with a pulse. Their pass protection was generally very good though, but it seems like when it came down to crunch time we just couldn't get our RBs going for first downs to run out clock in the 4th.

Chesson seemed to disappear at times.

This team lost two games by four total points because the offense could not mount a sustained drive when the game was on the line, simple as that. This issue also had them flirting dangerously close to letting MSU back in the game. It DID cost them the MSU game last year. I really, really hope that this is because Harbaugh knew he did not have a will-imposing O-line and, at the risk of upsetting some folks, has a QB who, while solid, still isn't that dynamic guy you can hand the ball to with three minutes left and say, "OK, go win the game (or put it away)". I really hope his 4th Quarter conservatism was rooted in something like that, issues that will go away when Harbaugh feels he truly has a team that was 100% molded by him. 

If M had an O-line and RBs who could sustain a yard-eating, clock-eating ground game M would be headed for the BIG Championship and who knows what thereafter? But the O-line was what it was and De'Veon was the best M had --- both serviceable, but clearly not quite enough to carry the team to the highest level.  

In that regard,however,  my greatest disappointment was Ty Isaac, whom I thought would have a breakout season this past fall.  Whatever it was, fumbleitis, bad blocker, whatever, Coach Tyrone seemed reluctant all season to give Ty the ball. Really too bad.

On the other side, with the D in Coach Brown's hands, I have no disappointments whatsoever. 

Refs are my biggest disappointment. I truly believe there is massive corruption in college football. Refs are on the take. I am almost to the point of giving up on college football just like I did with the NBA. 

Overall, I was very pleased with this season.  My nitpicky disappointments were:

OL run blocking, as a whole, against higher caliber defenses.  Never seemed to be able to just get a consistent push. Kyle Kalis, in particular, was a huge disappointment.  Seemed to miss blocks, assignments and made dumb penalties.

Peppers coverage skills.  He seemed to be a little less sure or slow in coverage.  His abilities should have him all over receivers/backs like chocolate on a fat kid.

Dumb penalties at the worst possible time (running into the kicker, pass interference, holdings, etc.).  We seemed to extend a lot of drives or kill first downs with dumb penalties.

Yes, we did score a ton of points against lower-tier teams, but most of our touchdowns in blowouts were rushing ones where we pretty much ran the ball down their throats (Hawaii, Rutgers, and Penn State come to mind).

The most creative plays I've seen all year were the Maryland Peppers-to-Speight-to-Chesson, and the MSU Peppers-to-McDoom sweep. Pepcat worked for a little bit but then it became predictable and the McDoom sweeps worked aside from Wisconsin. McDoom also did some sort of fake sweep for a screen against Illinois that gained pretty good yardage.

It seemed like last year there was more creativity. I saw double screens, QB read options, more screens, and other things where utilized. Peppers was a decoy where he wouldn't get the ball every time he lined up on O. Where did this go this year?

As the season went on, we saw less Isaac and McDoom action. Both were non-existent in The Game. I was wondering why Smith stayed in during the game. Yes, he is a valuable blocker, but the running game suffered. The OL had to do a better job in general as well.

#1 Inability to consistently run the football. Sometimes is was the OL getting shoved back, sometimes they didn't open a hole.  They were better than last year but the OL needs to improve.  Also at other times, the backs made bad or late cuts.  Henry and Higdon showed flashes but often they looked like freshmen. With practice and maturity, the backs should improve.

#2 Maybe it was just me but I expected Ty Isaac to take a big step forward. He didn't.

#3 Predictability with Peppers in the wildcat.  Use him as a decoy sometimes. Our line isn't good enough to run behind when the opponenet knows who will be carrying the ball.

#4 It would have been nice for a WR in addition to Perry to step up.  Why McDoom didn't get targeted, I don't know but I can assume that he either can't run routes and get open or doesn't catch the ball efficiently.

#1 is the only major one. Lack of a running game killed us in both losses and allowed MSU to sneak back a little on us. We need to be able to possess the ball and run time off the clock, even when the opponent knows that is what we are going to do.