Fumble-itis: What Can Be Done / Is There a Skill to It
So Michigan is fumbling, a lot. And losing possession from these fumbles, a lot. It is maddening for all involved. Question for board: what can be done? Is this coachable? Have mgo coaches taught it?
Couple observations, particular to this game but could be trend/RB inexperience:
1. The play with Christian Turner, he's wrapped on the leg but still upright and trying to escape/get yards. Pop! A hit on the ball and out comes the football. Got really lucky the knee was down prior. I like the effort but why do our RBs try this? Being upright and at a near standstill due to a wrapped tackle, while bodies fly at you seems like open invite for ball-jarring hit. Is this just inexperience showing at RB?
2. The Charbonnet fumble, it seems like a tripping call was missed on Illinois. Regardless I could see he was carrying it with two hands then switched to one. As he trips and starts heading to ground, wham an Illinois player gets helmet on the elbow and ball and fumble. When he came to the sideline, looked like coach Gattis was showing him technique and two hand wrap up. Just inexperience again?
October 12th, 2019 at 10:53 PM ^
Use a strong glue.
October 12th, 2019 at 10:53 PM ^
I’m sure Harbaugh is looking to MGoBlog to solve this for him, so let’s step up to the plate here.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:06 PM ^
Lol no he isnt
October 12th, 2019 at 11:10 PM ^
Good sir, may I direct you to the term "sarcasm"?!
My lord.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:29 PM ^
He sure fooled you..."*/s*"
October 12th, 2019 at 11:17 PM ^
He might as well look here for solutions. Because he and his son obviously can’t figure out the massive fumble problem. Might as well check out You Tube videos too. Jay admitted he has done that to learn running back drills.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:47 PM ^
Well apparently he needs to because he’s clueless how to fix it himself
October 13th, 2019 at 12:02 AM ^
Maybe there's not really a "fix?" There's not one reason that explains every fumble. Some are forced, some aren't.
Jim's been here five years and we've never seen it like this before, so what do we make of that?
October 13th, 2019 at 12:48 AM ^
I suggest they remind the players that fumbling less is better than fumbling more.
October 12th, 2019 at 10:54 PM ^
Can someone settle once and for all if Brian, advanced stats people, etc. claim that ball security is luck, or that fumbles recovery is luck, or both?
October 12th, 2019 at 11:08 PM ^
Fumble recovery is luck (and we're basically 50-50 this year so far). Fumbling in general has a lot of luck associated with it, but better offenses tend to fumble less.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:41 PM ^
Belichick forces the Pats to practice with a wet ball to increase the difficulty of protecting the ball when hit.
Obviously this isn't done the entirety of practice, but he consistently ups the difficulty to drive home the importance of protecting the ball.
October 13th, 2019 at 12:10 AM ^
Our players need to play with their wet ballz more
October 13th, 2019 at 9:40 AM ^
Holly hell UM needs to practice in an oil slick all week then!
October 12th, 2019 at 11:47 PM ^
Ball security is a skill. Fumble recovery is mostly luck.
October 12th, 2019 at 10:54 PM ^
carry the ball all during practice and have guys punching at it during random times. somewhat old-school, but it has worked for me/my teams in the past.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:01 PM ^
At what point do you bench a player? Seemed like Michigan lost confidence in nearly all RBs to execute ball security except Haskins, towards the end there.
Are these RBs pressing? Again got to play smart. I'd rather have 2 less yards on certain downs then turnover ball like this. I.e. go down when ya need to, not every play needs to be fought for 5 more seconds to scrape out 1 more yard from scrimmage.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:08 PM ^
they're losing a lot of balls on first contact with a helmet or a hand, not just churning for an extra yard. also, remember that patterson has lost a bunch of balls and he is just too undisciplined - i would probably bench him. i would surmise there are deeper character issues there that may mean for him that there is a more systemic problem. not gospel, but it is my gut instinct.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:18 PM ^
I think we made the QB switch at Wisconsin, only for McCaffrey to get concussed...
October 13th, 2019 at 12:39 PM ^
When Bo was coach if you fumbled you were lucky to see the field again that day. To be honest I dont think it is a coaching problem. Does anyone think they dont work on ball security? Benching might not be a bad approach. I mean they talk about trust at other positions and play them only when they can trust they know what to do and are capable of doing it. Maybe if they bench people people it could make a difference. Hell nothing else has seemed to work so far. Coach had no problem having Turner take a seat after not picking up a blitz against Army.
October 12th, 2019 at 10:57 PM ^
Dont worry. These are fluke plays that will regress to the mean. In other words, wish in one hand, shit in the other and see which one fills up first.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:14 PM ^
Don't worry, our experienced running backs' coach will have this fixed in no time!!!
October 12th, 2019 at 11:15 PM ^
I'll do the wishing part...you do the other thing.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:07 PM ^
It seems to me that this change in offense has been accompanied with a change in how we carry the ball, or the frequency of ball security drills in practice has decreased considerably. We’ve seen far too big of a sample size by now to chalk this up to “random”
October 13th, 2019 at 7:04 AM ^
Agree. It isn't one or two people comitting all the fumbles. It's across the board, although the qb qnd running backs are the biggest problem.
Maybe they need to use the Remember the Titans approach - you fumble the ball you run a mile. Didn't Carr have guys run the stadium steps when they screwed up, or was that just for off the field issues?
October 12th, 2019 at 11:10 PM ^
5 points of pressure
October 12th, 2019 at 11:11 PM ^
Stop stealing Jobu's rum.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:13 PM ^
One novel idea would be stop switching fucking running backs constantly.. all these different guys keep coming into the game cold and fucking up...
The first half charbonnet's fumble was more of a fluke because of the trip, but he should of still held onto it.
Haskins was torching illinois and runs hard, but then the coaches don't even play him and start throwing in a cold wilson and turner and guess what they both fucked up again.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:48 PM ^
Our RB substituting has been infuriating since Jay was made RB coach.
October 13th, 2019 at 12:11 PM ^
Ben Mason’s personal was inexcusable and costly. He would be sitting after that.
And wtf is Harbaugh jerking around with kicking for?
Moody has proven more clutch. Pick your best kicker and have him kick extra points and FGs so you get rhythm.
Nordin can still try the bombs.
If you are playing for the field goal put your right footed kickers on the left hash.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:17 PM ^
iirc the Bears under Lovie were also good at constantly stripping ball. Browns Ds seem to get few strips and more ints.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:30 PM ^
Yes, and Hasan scored a TD essentially because the defender tried to strip him rather than tackle him.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:20 PM ^
Hang on to the damn ball!
October 12th, 2019 at 11:24 PM ^
maybe we should try to fumble?
October 12th, 2019 at 11:35 PM ^
Reverse psychology! I like it.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:24 PM ^
Nothing can be done. The coaches can't teach it.
It's all about hand size and finger tip strength.
I wish some of you guys could show your ball grab technique, but it wouldn't help.
The gods must be angry.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:49 PM ^
Or crazy.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:25 PM ^
Just not talk about it
October 13th, 2019 at 9:04 AM ^
Steal one of the Buckeye practice balls...
they call their’s “Sloopy”.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:26 PM ^
Take my strong hand child
October 12th, 2019 at 11:28 PM ^
Do you still have any living chickens? If so, you haven't given enough and it may actually be your fault.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:29 PM ^
Hire Mike Hart to coach the running backs. Jay sucks. He would be an awesome recruiter.
October 13th, 2019 at 12:22 AM ^
Amen. If Jay is good enough to coach at Michigan, surely he should be able to get a job at a different P5 school.
And if he's not he shouldn't be on the staff anyway.
October 13th, 2019 at 8:22 AM ^
Time for that promotion to the ravens
October 13th, 2019 at 12:48 AM ^
Losing to MSU would not be a thing. He’d never accept it. When you go to battle, return with your shield or on it . . .
October 12th, 2019 at 11:32 PM ^
I remember Harbaugh getting in Wheatley’s grill over a few fumbles ! Maybe jay needs to be called out on the rbs holding the ball away from the body trying to get an extra yard .’
October 12th, 2019 at 11:38 PM ^
situational awareness. I feel like this team threw way too much at the kids during the offseason. Can't expect college kids to process that much information, especially after one off season of installing a new offense. Simplify it to the basics and give them 1 key to work on until they master it. The OL has been getting slightly better each game, probably because they are understanding their roles better. QBs and RBs are asked to read the defense during the mesh point, wonder if this throws off their initial handle on the ball to what they are used to, and then thinking about proper handling technique while getting hit in the face by a 250+ lb linebacker.
As an aside, wonder if this is what's also ailing Patterson. You're asking him to know how to read the defense presnap for the RPO, how to read the dlinemen at the mesh point, and also how to read the defense when they're in coverage and figure out who's running what route and when they may get open. He may just not be fast at having to process that much information.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:43 PM ^
I was thinking we need a thread about this. It's ridiculous Michigan is averaging 3+ fumbles a game. Someone needs to ask Harbaugh in a presser if he's ever coached a team that fumbles this much and how you correct it.
Any coaches on the board want to weigh in on how to fix this? Cause at this point it's contagious and it's killing the momentum the defense is building.
October 12th, 2019 at 11:44 PM ^
All the experts on here say it’s just random luck. Nothing we can do. Just wait it out and it won’t be this bad in the future