24-17
A brand new QB has transferred in. He's learning the offense, and getting familiar with his personnel. We go on the road against a solid team at night for the opening game. Our offense struggles to finish drives, at times it looks inept. Especially on the offensive line. Down 24-10 late, we score a TD to make it look a bit closer, and end up losing 24-17.
This describes the 2015 game against Utah. Interestingly enough, it could also describe last night's game. Jake Rudock ended up with one of the best (the best?) seasons by a Michigan QB. We lost one game because of The Flukiest Play of All Time. We lost another game because Rudock got hurt and our defensive coordinator was too busy talking to his DC real estate agent to make a real gameplan.
I'll admit it, this is a bit of fan rationalizing. There were a ton of problems with the team last night that we didn't expect. I'm still down about this team and about their potential, but I also think that "giving up" on this team at this point is extremely premature.
MSU barely held on against Utah freakin' State. PSU needed a borderline miracle to beat App State (curse you!). James Franklin was on the hot seat before getting pounded 49-10 by Michigan in '16, and then went on to win the Big Ten.
The Notre Dame game always yields weird results and, historically speaking, almost never reflects the final outcome of the season. We can still finish with a 10-2 record and make the Big Ten Championship game, giving us a path to the playoff. So enough with everyone acting like the season is over. It ain't over. It's just beginning.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^
I'll leave this here so you can neg the crap out of me, haterz.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:36 PM ^
I’m with you.
Also, negs don’t mean a damn thing when points don’t change.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:37 PM ^
You’re right...but I believe we’re past the point of always needing a story behind each loss.
This team might be more talented than the team two years ago that went into Columbus as the #3 team in the country and lost in controversial fashion.
Year four, Harbaugh should be overcoming playcalling and O Line weaknesses...we are paying him ridiculously well to do that and are not getting a return on our investment.
Still optimistic, but we are what our record says we are.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
It depends how the season plays out. If we have to make more excuses for why we lost to MSU and OSU and someone else and we go 8-4, sure, at that point I agree with you. But until we actually play the season, I prefer to look forward trying to take in yesterday as rationally as possible.
It is indeed another data point for Harbaugh struggling in big games, especially on the road. It's also fair to point out that we had the ball with a chance to force OT against a good team in a tough environment in week 1, not to mention some other bad breaks with two missed INTs and a botched FG.
To me the real question is will the OL doom this season or not? The fact that Runyan had a tackle spot on lock down concerns me the most.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:57 PM ^
How about year four... Harbaugh shouldn't have O line weaknesses at BOTH tackle positions. LOL. Yes i also agree. No return on investment. We might as well have just gone with the budget buy with Hoke and paid a better price for 7-5.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:23 PM ^
You are paying him zero. You don’t balance the AD budget so STFU with that. Leave that out of the discussion. He isn’t the guy we thought he would be but he’s all we will have for a few more years,
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^
Hey man, I am totally with you. We have the talent on both sides of the ball to make a serious run. If I had to pick a game to lose this season, it would be the ND game. First game. Out of conference. Tough competition, on the road, night game. Voters will give Michigan the benefit of the doubt for a CFP spot if we end up winning the B1G. That loss will be a distant memory in November if we're sitting at 12-1 or 11-2 and a B1G championship in our hands.
Now, GETTING to 12-1 or 11-2 is the trick but I am forever hopeful. I think we can do it. Just need to start gelling on the O line. Good news is we have a few easy games to tinker a bit and find a rhythm before we play tough competition again.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:51 PM ^
Upvote from me.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:56 PM ^
I'm glad I read this, because after my hangover subsided I was able to think. A few things about the game I'd like to point out:
1. Notre Dame's offensive line is almost definitely going to be the best we play all season. Harry Hiestand may be gone, but he still coached and recruited all of them. One camp without him doesn't undo all the coaching he did. The guards and center were very good last night, and the tackles weren't great, but they were good enough to ride the ends around long enough for Wimbush to escape.
2. Brandon Wimbush is the most elusive QB we'll see from a good team. Hornibrook, McSorely, Lewerke, and Haskins are all good. But none of them pose a legitimate threat from their legs like Wimbush. And on top of that, the ND Receivers did a great job of making plays on the ball in the air. The jump ball on Hawkins was a 50/50, Boykin and Claypool were both big time players. It happens.
3. In the first 4 games against ranked opponents last year, Notre dame held them to 13.25 points per game. National runner up Georgia scored the most at 20. Injuries, a young defense, and a poor stretch from Wimbush caused them to fall apart against Miami and Stanford. But this is a very good Notre Dame defense.
4. There's plenty of season left. There has never been a 15-0 team in College football history. Every single CFP champion has lost in the regular season, and I would say that this game is far better of a loss than Ohio State's loss at home to Virginia Tech. There is time to fix things.
5. The offense looked good when it tried to establish different identities. Higdon was rarely stopped in the backfield and was able to get extra yards in bad blocking situations.
All that being said, I don't disagree that our tackles were atrocious. Our game plan was inconsistent and flawed. The offense was unorganized and showed no sense of urgency in late game situations and the delay of game after half time is absurd. And the mental penalties to consistently give Notre Dame new life is unacceptable. Coach Harbaugh should have to answer for all those things. But the sky isn't falling, the program isn't in shambles. Bad games happen, and unfortunately Michigan came out flat against a great team on the road. Oh well, go Blue!
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:00 PM ^
Your first point is what we would call the Fry-Funk scenario. Michigan in 2011 still had lots of residual blocking ability from the RR years that made the 2011 offense possible.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:17 PM ^
A lot of good points there. I just can't see that TD pass that Hawkins should have picked as a 50/50 ball. He, as a former WR and also with great position should have had it picked. That seemed more like a heave into double coverage. I view that more like a 20/80 ball. Down 14-0 at that point, it was a major uphill climb to win that game. That is a ball that has to be picked or batted down at worst.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:46 PM ^
Hawkins absolutely should have made a play on it. Just didn't want it enough. He was probably the biggest disappointment of the day outside of Dwumfour. (Runyan and JBB weren't disappointments, they were just terrible and I had no expectations for them and they still drastically let me down)
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
I think you need to remove the maize and blue colored glasses.
1. ND most definitely does NOT have the best O-line we will see all year. That would be Wisconsin, followed closely by Ohio State, then maybe ND. Regardless, our D-line is supposed to be our strength and if we can't compete with a mediocre ND line, we will get dismantled against the likes of Wisconsin and Ohio State.
2 Brandon wimbush is a TERRIBLE QB. He can run a little bit, but he's not even close to the likes of a top tier college QB.
3. Don't tell me what notre Dame did last year, or us, or anyone for that matter. Right now, we are nothing more than a has been program desperate to get back to those good times. It WILL happen again someday, but I'm thinking it will be under drastically different leadership and circumstances.
4. Yeah there's plenty of season left, and if you hadn't noticed, we have one of the most difficult schedules in all of college football and we're already 0-1. That should terrify you more than reassure you. We could be looking at another season so bad that any recruit worth a crap outside the state of Michigan would be hard pressed to take us seriously, and that's a downward spiral that is difficult to reverse.
5. What offense were you watching? We scored one offensive TD all night and that came against a gassed ND defense that was in prevent. One drive it took us half the 4th quarter to get to the 50 yard line! What did we average, 2.5 yards a carry or so? Again I don't know what offense you were watching. The one I watched was abysmal.
The level of play on O-line was cellar dweller level bad. Patterson looked physically and mentally broken by the end of the game.
I hate to be that guy that loses hope, but I simply cannot and will not give this program under this leadership anymore benefit of the doubt.
And for what it's worth, that game wasn't NEARLY as close as the score would indicate.
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
Yea Wisconsin is actually better. But Ohio State is nowhere near Notre Dame's offensive line, holy shit. Have you watched both lines together? Ohio State's line is ok, but Notre Dame's is elite and pro ready. And the DL was pretty damn good. Sometimes Wimbush just broke it down
I never said Brandon Wimbush is a great QB. I said he's a pretty good QB with the ability to make a lot of plays with his legs.
Last year was only to highlight that we played a very good team with very good athletes. Sometimes Michigan isn't far and away a better team. It happens.
Yea we have a difficult schedule, but are we sure Notre Dame isn't the best team we'll face until Ohio State? Did Michigan State and Penn State blow teams out this weekend?
I watched an offense that had some pretty good spurts of competence that got ruined by sacks and bad play calling. Again, it happens. Michigan drove the ball into Notre Dame territory on just about every drive. Against a good defense. The offense is fine. Outside of the tackles, it'll be fine.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^
I’m with you
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:34 PM ^
I agree. Well stated. I, too, Am still confident about this team and program.
Go Blue
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:34 PM ^
The bigger problem IMO is that Patterson looked much, much better than Jake Rudock's first game.
And the outcome was still the same
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^
Exactly. Patterson played alright for what he was working with. The defense and OL are what lost the game.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:27 PM ^
Patterson's performance was at the exact same level of QB play as Speight in 2016 and Rudock in 2015. In game 1 vs. a very good defense. And everyone seems to still be pretty enamored with those two Jedd Fisch years of QB play.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^
Notre Dame is much better and talented than that Utah team.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:52 PM ^
Another key point. ND is a very experienced team this year. Last year's outfit, which was largely the same, pounded MSU in East Lansing.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
Yeah the difference to me is that the way I remember that Utah game, Michigan looked pretty good and looked like they should have won. I remember at least three sure-fire TD passes that Rudock overthrew. To borrow from Brady Hoke, they had the plays, they just didn't execute.
So while you can explain away that loss as growing pains for a new QB that went 27/43 with 2 TD and 3 INT on the day, I don't see much you can explain away from the Notre Dame game. There's really nothing where if they had done X, you'd feel like they would have won. Maybe one of those 50-50 balls drops, or Michigan gets an INT on one, but with the way Notre Dame was carving up the defense in the first half, I think they score anyways.
A QB can get better timing with his WRs, a better feel for the offense, and go from what we saw in Utah to the All-Big Ten caliber that Rudock finished with. But bad tackles aren't going to go from what we saw and finish the season even at third team All-Big Ten level.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:14 PM ^
Regarding tackle development for these guys, you're probably right. However, we could probably plug in Hudson for Runyon and see real growth even if there are early hiccups.
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:57 PM ^
I've read your comment ten times, at least, and I just can't see how this is a problem.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:35 PM ^
Yes, you are fan rationalizing. Our offensive line play is offensive and that is the main problem, not the QB learning a new system.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^
Right, but the QB is still learning the new system, which is an additional handicap beyond the OL problems.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:22 PM ^
Question: what did you see Shea miss on against Notre Dame where you feel like it was a handicap from being in a new system? He went 20/30 for 227 yards (66%, 7.6 ypa) and an INT against a top 10 defense. Maybe ND is even a top 5 defense. That's better than all of the QB performances last season outside of O'Korn vs. Purdue (18/26, 270 1/1) and Peters vs. Rutgers (10/14, 124, TD).
That type of QB play is pretty much exactly what they got out of Speight in 2016 (204/331, 62%, 7.7ypa) and Rudock in 2015 (249/389, 64%, 7.8ypa) when everyone was creaming their pants over Jedd Fisch's influence on the QBs.
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
What system? 5 yard crossing routes and bubble screens...
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:35 PM ^
Stop it with the “we were the flukiest play away from winning” we lost the games period no one on this staff gets a pass. Harbaugh has been garbage
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^
Having gunners on that Punt when they didn't even have anyone back to return will always make me question what the hell the staff was thinking.
That's coaching and scheme.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^
He hasn’t been “garbage”. RichRod was garbage.
Harbaugh rightfully deserves heat for lack of development along the offensive line, but calling him garbage is beyond the pale.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^
Harbaugh has been garbage
Let's take a deep breath here. From 2008-14 we were 46-42 overall and 24-32 in the Big Ten.
Harbaugh is 28-12 overall and 18-8 in the Big Ten. Most of his losses have been of the agonizing coulda/woulda/shoulda variety that we typically experienced in the Bo/Mo/Lloyd era.
We've gone from 5-7 (3-5) the year before Jim to being pretty close to where we were in the late Carr era. Now, we weren't completely satisfied with the late-Carr program - OSU had clearly passed us, which sucked. But this is progress from where we were. We're at a point where we expect to compete with every team on our schedule again.
The question is, can we get past this level of good-but-not-great and get to the next? Gotta fix the OL if we're to do it. Hiring Warinner was a good move on paper, but I don't know if he can work miracles this season or not.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:35 PM ^
We should never schedule a difficult road game for game 1....ever. Game 2? Fine. Game 1 needs to be a cupcake every season.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:04 PM ^
Well too bad because we play @Washington week 1 next year
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:19 PM ^
Fortunately, we play at Washington in 2020. Not next year.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:36 PM ^
So you're fine with basically no difference in the OL in 4 years?
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^
We hired Warinner. I'm willing to believe that our OL is now being properly coached. Unfortunately he's got his hands full coaching these OTs. Maybe one of the frosh is a Mason Cole waiting in the wings. If not, we've got problems.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^
No difference? It has actually gotten markedly worse from years 1 and 2
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:49 PM ^
Shocking that a line starting highly touted RS juniors and seniors was better than one with Nolan Ulizio as a starter. Tackle recruiting is something that is absolutely on Harbaugh/Drevno, but we got the best guy to fix the line. Unfortunately, line development is often a slow process.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:44 PM ^
O-Line is regressing actually.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:49 PM ^
I disagree. How many TFL's did ND get on our RB's last night? I don't recall more than two, maybe three? Last year the TFL's were atrocious. Pass pro is still a problem but I think the gameplan will evolve to more moving Shea out of the pocket, quick hitters and less play action as we move along. I personally think this O line will be pretty good this season.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:56 PM ^
Higdon averaged 3.4 yards per carry last night. Evans, on his limited carries, averaged 0.5 yards per carry.
Against Ohio State last year, Higdon averaged 5.0 yards per carry and Evans averaged 6.1.
2018 ND DL < 2017 OSU DL (and by a large margin)
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
And the same backs rushed for 2.3 and 2.9 ypc against Wisconsin. One brilliantly schemed game against our main rival at home is a single data point.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:56 PM ^
Did it regress last year or get better as the season went along? There is a new problem this year.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
I don't think you can say this based on one game this season, particularly when that unit is now under a different coach. For as subpar as it looked, and as problematic as pass protection seems to be, there were glimmers of things that were in fact working. I don't expect wizardry from Warinner in his first season here, but I do expect an attempt to get Shea's strengths to converge with what the line can do if nothing else, and I have confidence that this can still happen.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:37 PM ^
Penn St. had a half dozen injuries when Franklin was on the hot seat in 2016. Getting a lot of talent back and then bringing in a new coordinator is what led to PSU’s success. Michigan does not have either of those excuses.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:45 PM ^
PSU’s line has been consistently bad all five of Franklin’s years.
Harbaugh does have the excuse of inept QB and OL recruiting by Hoke. Two positions where quick fixes are not the norm.
September 2nd, 2018 at 5:53 PM ^
Harbaugh can use Home as an excuse? It's year FOUR. LMAO
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^
Interesting comparison. Didn’t Penn State lose in week 2 to Pitt that year. Then got mauled by Michigan on the road In late September?
So, what you’re saying is losing to ND to start the season should be expected this year?
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^
Improve the O line and we might still be able to save the season. Problem is, I really think that outside of Bredeson, no one on this line is any good. Not even Ruiz. Not yet at least.