Good Post Game Analysis by Joel Klatt

Kind of worries me that Harbaugh did seem to takeover playcalling duties. Having to constantly look over your shoulder and fear your boss taking over your job probably isn’t the greatest thing for a young, first time coordinator. 

I'm inclined to think that's the case, but we threw it 3 straight times to start 2nd OT. I don't think Harbaugh would have done that to be honest. I can't explain why Gattis would call runs up the middle on 4th downs when they weren't working, but I also can't explain why Harbaugh would supposedly call 3 straight passes.

Well. If this is the case, I see Gattis gone sooner than later. The program then takes a huge step backwards. 

Show of hands, who was at all surprised that Harbaugh retreated to his personal comfort zone, being the play calling OC, at the first sign of adversity? 

Harbaugh may not have been technically calling the plays, but I can imagine conversations with Gattis offering up a play, Harbaugh saying he doesn't feel it.  Gatiss offers an alternative play, Harbaugh says, nah, give us something else.  Gattis then says give the ball to Charbonnet and let him bull through the line.  Harbaugh says, now that's a plan, let's go with that.

This offense is the exact same as last years from the gun. Still two TE’s 2 WR.  Nothing’s changed. The first FUMBLE Ryan Hayes completely dwarfed on picking up a dude who was running for a solid 3 seconds before he hit the LOS. Patterson needs to hold on to the ball but damn. 

STOP PLAYING SERVICE ACADEMIES.   

Shea injury explains why he never kept the ball, his accuracy issues and (at least to some degree) his ball security issues.

But if Shea is hurt, why is he playing? Especially when you've got a backup you're comfortable enough with to give a few series to in non-garbage time against MTSU?

I rewatched every offensive snap.

I agree. It’s clear Patterson is injured in the rib/oblique area. It’s why he’s likely being TOLD but to keep the ball (foregoing all those yards both MTSU & Army were giving him). It also explains the inaccuracy in some of the passes, usually later in games (maybe soreness sets in by then). 

Some of the stuff will be fixed once Runyan (pass protection) & DPJ (those routes where Bell was *just* a tad slower than the 3 amigos) return. 

Some may never be fixed (Shea waiting too long to  confirm the WRs get open in zone defenses). 

Much of the call security & turnover stuff will get fixed too. It isn’t Shea throwing bad picks.

Going turtle at the end of the game also would make sense GENERALLY against Army to preserve defense (they were gassed at the end of the game) and because Army cant run a 2-3 minute drill, IF WE WERE AHEAD. 

What I’m still baffled by is—once it was still a dogfight in the 4th, why not risk Shea injury & have him scamper for a score or two? Or at least have McCaffrey (who we all know is capable of pulling & running) do it?

Bottom line is, after a rewatch, it’s not nearly as bad as I felt during the game if you assume the TO/sloppy play gets cleaned up & you assume the strategy was to get Shea to the bye week to be fully healthy by Wisconsin.

What still freaks me out is the apparent willingness of the coaching staff to STICK with that plan once we were still behind in  the 4th quarter. 

The only reasonable thing I can think of is this:  

In the grand scheme of things, they were willing to lose to Army because it’s a non conference/non rival team & Army will likely end up being ranked at the end if the year. They felt that keeping Shea & McCaffrey healthy by having them NOT pull the ball was more important to boost their ability to win the Big Ten, beat MSU/OSU/PSU/ND, than it was to risk losing one to a more serious injury just to beat Army. 

Lol