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 2:39 PM ^
Rudock came to the team during fall camp, yes?
Shea has been with the team for 9 months.
Other than that, I can see the similarities. Trying to stay optimistic. I can also see this season being a repeat of 2017, especially with the buzz saw of a schedule. Time will tell.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:45 PM ^
Nice so we’re gonna lose to MSU and OSU again??
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^
Nah. Bring on Alabama and Clemson.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:46 PM ^
We got em right where we want them!!!
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:47 PM ^
We need the football version of Beilein. Michigan gets hyped every year and then disappoints. Time to adopt a scrappier us against the world attitude that our rivals have. I know its a ubiquitous cliche but it works. We cant pretend we are Alabama. We need to be WI and find our niche, an identity, focus on player development and having a good foundation, a solid OL especially. Unfortunately it will take years b4 they fire Harbaugh and admit its not gonna work out. I think we need an outsider like BO was and someone to create a new culture of winning like Beilein has done. Unfortunately we will probably run that guy out of town for not being a "Michigan Man" The football program culture over the past 10 years has been toxic and gets the worst out of the talent we have. Its time to admit that and go a different direction.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
I agree with you. Unfortunately so did the man that hired RIch Rod. Im not sure our problems can be solved in one hiring. Certainly not in one paragraph.
HARBAUGH is exactly where Franklin was 2016. Hire your Morgan ASAP. You are to offense what Rich Rod was to defense. They make Don Browns for offense too.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
They ran richrod out of town bc he wasn't a michigan man. Maybe he wasn't a good hire, but they would have done the same to any other non michigan man. The culture died with Bo and became toxic. Stop trying to replicate it. We need a new but different and equally powerful personality to give the program a kick in the pants and forge a new legacy and tradition. Adapt to the resources we have instead of trying to think we're a blue blood program like Bama.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:17 PM ^
The fan base won't allow a change of direction. I recall trying that - while I won't defend RR, his wife's hairdo and accent were not acceptable to the vocal portion of the fan base, let alone anything actually having to do with football.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:38 PM ^
and the fact that anyone gives a fuck about that is a fantastic example of the culture at MI. Idk how deep or where it comes from, but there's a certain arrogance and "we just gotta stay the course because were michigan" attitude that drags down everything. After 10 yrs of this shit I think we can safely say it affects everything. Even the type of kids we recruit.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:48 PM ^
The season is definitely not over. They control their own destiny. The biggest takeaways from this game are:
For the negative...
1. Year 4 and the offensive line is still below average for the conference. ... for the CONFERENCE. Not for a top 25 team, not for a playoff team, but for the conference.
2. Playmakers... not enough other than Thomas. not one last night on either defense or offense. In big games someone hast to step up and make a big play. We haven't had a receiver who can go get it in a long long time. With all the tight end hype Gentry didn't deliver. Routes weren't crisp and he had a catchable ball to change the game in the end zone. Playmakers are absent. DPJ? is he that guy? All his catches were within 10 yds of the LOS.
3. Offensive gameplan. There was no identity here. They fell behind and then you couldn't make heads or tails over what they were trying to do. Harbaugh has seem to have lost his edge in the offense department. They haven't been the same since the OSU lost in his second year.
4. Pace. Team plays with zero pace. It is almost like they are trying to run the clock down rather than build some momentum.
For the positive...
1. Once the defense settle down they were solid.... and by settled down i don't mean after the 14 pts. I mean after the 21. Don't forget that the penalty was a bad call but the ND offense was in the midst of a clock eating drive.
2. QB play. Patterson got lucky he didn't throw 2 or 3 interceptions, but he was under pressure all night. McCaffery came in and looked competent given the circumstance.
3. Room for improvement... they played arguably about as bad as you could expect for the first 1.5 quarters and only lost by 7 on the road to a rival.
4. Grant Perry and Oliver Martin... they aren't big time playmakers but they ran decent routes and caught the ball when thrown to them. Need guys to move the chains and to catch the ball on hot routes.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:50 PM ^
I was about to ridicule this post because there have been so many bad thread titles in the last 12 hours, but this actually works. And it's a reasoned take. Thanks op.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^
Our oline is bad why won’t you people understand. It won’t matter who the qb is which for the record I loved Patterson. If he doesn’t have time to throw we’re gonna have TO and sacks that cost us the games. MSU dline is nasty this year. They will tear apart our oline if they play like last night. They will have a more improved oline and will end up scoring more points to beat us. If our oline does not improve until then we will lose to MSU baring any miracle plays.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
MSU gave up 31 points to Utah State. I'm not worried about any position group on their team.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
You really don’t know anything about football do you?
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:40 PM ^
You seem to be lacking in knowledge yourself.
Lewerke had a pick and fumble vs Utah State at home. He was sacked a couple of times too. MSU ran for 165 yards for . 3.9 averag vs a so-so USU defense.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:20 PM ^
Says every Michigan fan since 2007. Meanwhile, we are 2-8 against them in that timeframe.
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
Dantonio teams are like Beilein teams, they struggle against crap comp early and get stronger as the season goes on. Do not judge State by what they do in the beginning of the year. You should know this by now
September 2nd, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
They did struggle with Furman 2 years ago
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^
Shea went 20-30 with 223 yards and 1 pick that was clearly a missed PI by Notre Dame, he’s not the problem. The Oline was shitty, esp Jon Runyan he’s lazy and fat out doesn’t move his damn feet. The play calling was beyond horrid last night. I hate to say it but our WRs look slow, our DL wasn’t that good looking either. This isn’t one person, all around we looked bad and got pushed around. I don’t see how Harbaugh is constantly getting out coached in his 4th year either. Second and goal on the 2 and you do a drop back pass? Don Brown didn’t have anybody spying on Wimbush was frustrating as fuck. Last night was an annoying way to start the season. Hopefully they learn from these mistakes and take the next two weeks and improve or it’ll be a longgggg season.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^
Was there any talk in the pressers after about Why Michigan kept trying the empty backfield?
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
Unfortunately, I think we are closer to 8-4 than10-2. We look exactly the same as we did last year against ranked opponents. It’s hard to explain away 9-9, 1-6, and 33 carries and 58 yards rushing. At some point point things will get better, but when?
The OL was supposed to be better and it wasn’t. We had to play a game to see where we were and now we know. We still can’t get off the field in third and long situations. Undisciplined pennalties are a huge factor too. That is on the coaches as much as the players. I picked ND in a close one and sure enough here we are. Nebraska now becomes a 50/50 game in my book.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^
I appreciate all you bring to the board and I wholeheartedly agree.
I was skeptical when you hinted that you were predicting ND to win, but in hindsight, I should have never bought into the hype coming out of camp.
I don't know what happens from here. There is really only two possibilities that I see:
1.) This team rebounds, and plays up to potential and makes it to 10 wins, likely splitting MSU/OSU.
--or--
2.) It's a repeat of 2017.
NW, WIS, and OSU will all have defense's equal to or better than NDs. And we all know MSU will play out of their minds in East Lansing against us. There are 5 more potential losses on this schedule.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:36 PM ^
Eh. Nebraska has a crappy defense and a frosh QB. Northwestern is the bigger challenge. But their offense isn’t exactly explosive.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:46 PM ^
Wins over WMU and SMU won’t change the narrative heading into the Nebraska game. Frost is a solid coach. They have a very good mobile QB. They saw what everyone else did last night. We have some weaknesses on both sides of the ball.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:50 PM ^
Are you being serious? The guy is a freshman QB. Calling him “very good” when he hasn’t played a game is absurd.
Nebraska has a lot more weaknesses than Michigan. UM will be Nebraska’s first road game.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:59 PM ^
I don't "think" it to be that hard for a dual threat QB to notice cover 0, man to man, whatever, to not see what he wants then bolt because no one is around. We, and the rest of College football sees that every time it happens.
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^
Yep, I am being 9-9 serious.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
The first couple of years he had experienced OL which were serviceable, but average QB. Still working with two OL who Harbaugh didn't even recruit. Most of the ones he has recruited are young yet.
It takes a long time to stock the OL and QB cupboards to get both above average. Just my take.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
We could've had some serviceable OT's by now. Idk why they didn't recruit the position harder in the first full recruiting cycle when it was glaringly clear to even an outsider with limited football knowledge that it was a major need. Then of course they whiffed on the couple guys who could've made a difference, now they have to pray to God a 1st or 2nd year guy can be a good OT - which almost never happens - or rely on Hoke guys who have demonstrated for 2 seasons now that they're not good. The OT situation is squarely on the coaches, and along with letting Fisch and Wheatley leave because he didn't want to fire his under-performing crony Drevno, is Harbaugh's biggest failing thus far.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:20 PM ^
Kelly was 4-8 at ND just a couple years ago and he has been there a while. What if Harbaugh went 4-8? We're not close to that yet.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:38 PM ^
You know when that game finished, I didn't think, we just shit the bed. I am not even angry. We, I expected a lot from this team, from this coaching staff. I think I got caught up on the returning talent levels and progress from some others that I didn't focus enough on the fact that this new coaching staff might take some steps back before they take (tackles) forward. There was a lot of good things to build upon here and a non-conference loss that wasn't as close as the score indicated, isn't really that bad of a thing anymore. We can bounce back and lose another game and still win the Big Ten. And yes, as the OP said, it is better to lose a night game in South Bend than to lose our dignity against far inferior opponents. Now we have 3 weeks left to get our house in order before our next true test. Go Blue!
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
So 4 yrs in and its still a new staff? When willn it not be new? Year 10? Other schools get new coordinators all the time and are fine and dont need 3 years to take a step forward.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:51 PM ^
The offense was our issue. The offense has new WR and OL coach, both of which were problematic. New QB. Young offense that needs some maturing. Give us a few weeks and let's talk again.
Btw, I agree with you we should hold our coaches to a higher standard. I just chose to Zen out instead of letting this game destroy me anymore. I think Even you Brutus is doing the same.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:40 PM ^
It's not that the season is over, it's that we are PISSED OFF at the lack of imagination. PISSED OFF at the hamstrung offense when we have a gunslinger QB. PISSED OFF when we need to be in a hurry and we're walking around with thumbs up our assess with no time left on the clock. PISSED OFF because this is all supposed to be corrected LONG AGO. We keep going back to square one every year instead of improving and we are PISSED OFF.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
keep dreaming...
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
Patterson definitely showed me something last night, but it just feels like our offense is a hodge podge of plays thrown together at times. I'm confused on what this offensive system is trying to do or supposed to be. Patterson is excellent throwing on the run obviously and that puts us miles ahead of last year, but it's not going to be good enough to contend for the conference title. I'd like to see us develop a really sound screen game and get the tight ends involved more on early passing downs. It's odd to me that DPJ didn't get a shot at a long ball in that game, but Nico got a couple.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:58 PM ^
Give Hudson the LT position and two cupcake games to get acclimated
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:00 PM ^
"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."
This makes me wonder if we're a middle team in a down conference. Oregon State put up 31 on Ohio State... We were the only B1G team that lost an ooc game this weekend. :(
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:20 PM ^
We were the only B1G team that lost an ooc game this weekend
Yup, it sucks. Oh btw, who did the other teams in the conference play compared to us who played the #12 ranked team on the road at night?
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:22 PM ^
That's exactly right. Michigan has the toughest schedule and easily played the toughest opening game out of everyone.
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:53 PM ^
Time to get our sights on WMU. It’s not going to be a 60 point blowout. Or even a 30 point game, most likely. They fell to MSU last year 28-14. Syracuse escaped Waldo with a win.
September 2nd, 2018 at 4:56 PM ^
We don't have a good enough line to go on the road and beat any team with a great defensive line.
September 2nd, 2018 at 6:16 PM ^
Offense had 3 possessions in the first half.
The offense is slow by design. It’s meant to grind out long drives. Those are great when the offense scores consistently and your defense gets stops. Even better when your defense gets quick stops cus the offense can tire out the other team and wear them down faster.
Last year the defense prevented long drives but the offense scored rarely. Last night the defense gave up a quick drive followed a 3 minute drive then a 7 minute drive all ending in a TD. The offense got the ball for the second time down 14 and drove from their own 12 to NDs 25. Good drive. Sacks pushes us out of field goal range. Offense then drives into the red zone but has to settle for 3. They don’t get the ball again till the 3rd where they drive into field goal range but the holder botched the snap.* The offense did what it was designed to do in the first half. It showed some issues but outside of OT those issues looked like game 1 issues possibly amplified by being on the road.
Asking the offense in game 1 to completely break design and be faster than it’s meant to wouldn’t have made sense when they were breaking in some new starters on the road. Makes sense to do your stuff so you can develop for later. Seems like what coach did.
The defense let the team down early. The DB/LBs had some bad breaks but should be fine. The D line though was underwhelming especially in the middle. If the DTs are going to be behind schedule the team could be in trouble. The D is susceptible to big plays if they can’t get pressure. Hurst got a lot of pressure on his own and cleaned up when Chase/Gary collapsed the pocket. The DTs did not do that at all and even Mo struggled to do that against running QBs. They have to be better. Big holes like the one last night will always be a problem because the offense is slow by design.
All expectations for this year were based on little to no drop off from the D. Even if the offense makes a big leap forward it isn’t meant to score quickly and get in a track race with other offense unless it’s running near perfectly. A defense that takes a big step back at DT is gonna make them get in track races against good enough offenses. But after last night not sure which teams on our schedule have good enough offenses outside of osu and uw.
Even though Shea looks good I don’t think he’ll be ready for the NFL at the end of the year. That’s probably a good thing for next year.
*The drive was started on a deep ball connection that could’ve been better (open for a TD if Nico doesn’t have to dive) and likely will get better as the 2 work on timing. Offense should end up pretty good. I think they play a young guy at LT and get them eased in over the next few weeks.
September 2nd, 2018 at 7:11 PM ^
Can we stop with the “Flukiest Play of All Time” narrative? Yeah, they play itself will always be painful but let’s not overlook the face that the team had 4 downs to get a 1st down and couldn’t. They also should have just taken a delay of game when they saw what MSU was trying to do defensively. That loss, along with Iowa in 2016 and MSU in 2017 were a direct result of coaching failures and the blame rests with Harbaugh. Just like last night’s game does for having the team ill prepared.
September 2nd, 2018 at 7:48 PM ^
I FEEL LIKE I AM TAKING CRAZY PILLS. I SEE TONS OF TALK ABOUT OLINE AND QB PLAY, BUT WHAT ABOUT RUN BLOCKING. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL. WE LOST BECAUSE WE CANNOT RUN THE BALL.
(that is all)
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:17 PM ^
Time to bring back the maize pants on the road. That's all I have to say. This team is good. Just got shell shocked early in Notra Shame's house. They came out hot. They are a good team. I don't think they could pull that off in Ann Arbor though. Not a chance in hell. They might have just played their best half of football all season too. Their running game wasn't anything to write home about and Wimbush is probably going to get killed sooner than later if they need him to bale them out that much. He took some shots lastnight and I guarantee he is more sore today than he's probably ever been. There's really only those two more road tests. Sparty is winnable game and we all know this team will be ready when it's time to head down to the shoe.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:18 PM ^
I agree with your overall point. This season definitely is not over, and there's a lot of time before the next “big” game.
That doesn’t mean that I’m not disappointed in the coaching performance. I’ll say again that I’m shocked they didn’t have a hurry-up offense ready for this game. Even with Shea being new he’s been here since the spring. You could tell watching, the coaches planned for a grind it out low scoring game. I expected that too, but as every fan has said you never know with Notre Dame. The team wasn’t prepared to play catch up. That’s on the coaches. We should have had more possessions in the second half than we did, with better clock management.
As the season goes on though Jim will install more of the offense and they’ll continue to be better prepared. We have a good quarterback, unlike last year. So overall I think they’ll be better than last year and have a better record. But this game was disappointing because this one, at least in my mind, was the coaches not having the team prepared.
September 3rd, 2018 at 7:25 AM ^
I don't mind the loss. I'm concerned about the systemic issues it may have uncovered. Of all the games Michigan could lose, ND was probably the best--only one score to tie against a ranked opponent on the road at night. It's a game with no impact on the conference outcome.
But the OL issues. And the playcalling. And the clock management. And the...defense? This stuff isn't going away, and with the same issues, it's hard to expect anything but the same results. That's why 10-2 seems impossible, right now.