Hit on McNamara Changed the Game?
Obviously, our starting quarterback would have been pulled if he had a concussion. But he looked awesome prior to the targeting hit and then couldn't complete the most basic passes afterwards, including the last pass of the 1st half. I'm no doctor but something was up.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:06 PM ^
I wondered the same thing. I also question his ability to handle the big stage.
September 25th, 2021 at 9:42 PM ^
Yeah, I thought the latter thing. It was a red flag that he was thrown off by the UTL aspect against Washington, even at home. If we are going to have big games with him in there, he's going to have to figure out how to thrive off the pressure instead of wilting under it.
September 26th, 2021 at 11:32 AM ^
I wonder more why Michigan's run game evaporated with the ejection of Rutgers starting nose tackle, Julius Turner.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:06 PM ^
Something definitely seemed up with him. He missed that easy TD and was short-arming everything in the second half. I didn’t think about the hit but yeah, maybe…
September 25th, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
Should have been pulled just like Ross. Put JJ in.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:11 PM ^
I agree he should have, but thats not Harbaughs MO. Look at how many times the QB has played poorly and has not been replaced for the remainder of a game , let alone benched and replaced in the next game. Harbaugh being a qb must think it will damage the psyche of all qbs by doing that .
September 25th, 2021 at 7:13 PM ^
Otoh, against this same opponent last year we pulled our starting QB (Milton) and put Cade in.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:17 PM ^
Wasnt he injured though ? Regardless Harbs doesnt pull a qb when he looks bad .
September 25th, 2021 at 8:28 PM ^
A QB has to be injured for Harbaugh to make a switch. His loyalty to qbs is embarrassing and ignorant.
September 26th, 2021 at 2:50 PM ^
Simmer down young grasshopper.
September 25th, 2021 at 10:51 PM ^
Harbaugh protects his QBs psyche. Which is good.
The offensive play calling however was beyond fucking stupid.
September 25th, 2021 at 11:32 PM ^
I really think you have to have JJ as the qb in the near future. A run threat at qb in this offense makes a huge difference. That being said I don’t want to see JJ against Wisconsin. I think Nebraska and the bye after would be good timing to let JJ settle in. It’s nothing personal against Cade, but he does not offer the same running and deep passing abilities that JJ has which could propel the offense. That being said, the play calling on offense was not good.
September 26th, 2021 at 6:27 AM ^
Funny thing about play calls, they are stupid if they don't work, and brilliant when they do. Just like the 3rd down run to Corum in the 1st half. It got a 1st down, so it was a great call.
September 26th, 2021 at 7:56 AM ^
If Harbaugh really is trying to protect his QBs' psyches, he's doing a piss poor job of it. Al.ost all of his QBs at Michigan have underperformed under him. McCaffery would love to chime in on this too I'm sure.
September 25th, 2021 at 11:30 PM ^
And thats the problem. I was calling for JJ
September 26th, 2021 at 6:20 AM ^
I think everyone was. I’m rooting for Cade, or at least I was, but there’s no “it factor” there. At some point Harbaugh needs to channel his inner Dabo and go with the golden boy. Cades to focused on not losing, which is admirable but will bite us eventually. Probably next week. I sure hope I’m wrong. Plus the playcalling was just pitiful.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
I dont think so. That targeting call was pretty weak .
September 25th, 2021 at 7:13 PM ^
He hit the ground hard, too. Maybe got his bell rung when his head hit the ground.
September 26th, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
I'd like you to take that hit and fall... Then tell me if it's weak or not.
September 26th, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
I'm not sure what happened with him, but it all seemed to follow the targeting call, but one thing in his favor is he just doesn't turn the ball over.. Let's see what happens this coming Saturday.. Should answer a lot of questions..
September 25th, 2021 at 7:11 PM ^
In all fairness, Michigan coaches have been known to not pull a quarterback after suffering a concussion.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:22 PM ^
I am wondering if there was anyone even asking if he should be checked. Maybe there is no head injury. But he should have been checked. Because there was something wrong.
September 26th, 2021 at 1:43 AM ^
the medical staff makes those calls. (As was made clear with Ross.)
September 25th, 2021 at 7:14 PM ^
First time he was really tested all year besides the Washington game which he didn't do well either.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:17 PM ^
How in the world do you say he played back versus Washington? He didn't do anything but hand the ball off.
He made the throws when we needed them, which wasn't often.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:22 PM ^
Umm...
Rutgers 9/16 for 163 with 0 TDs and 0 INTs.
Washington 7/15 for 55 with 0 TDs and 0 INTs
September 25th, 2021 at 7:33 PM ^
I get that... I'm not saying he played well.
But it was a completely different game. He missed throws BAD in this game
He wasn't asked to do anything against Washington, he was asked to do some things in this game and couldn't do crap AND he kept the ball on the read play when it was a clear give (and Corum may get a first down).
September 25th, 2021 at 7:34 PM ^
He came in down 17-0 against Rutgers last year, and lead them to a win.
He came in when M was getting beat down by W last year, and in like 3 plays got a TD.
I could bet $100.00 he has a concussion today.
September 25th, 2021 at 11:37 PM ^
That kid is playing too safe. Can we please get an aggressive qb at least once. Why do we make OFFENSE so difficult. Can we look study ND plays and install their td drives.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:15 PM ^
I don't think it was the hit. I absolutely think it was the missed TD pass. He got on himself and it showed. Go back and look...he was moping.
But it's like he couldn't get his head out of his ass.
I thought Harbaugh should've benched him for 1 series just to calm him down and give him something else to focus on.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:26 PM ^
Best comment that is fair and with good perspective. Also the QB coach; Matt Weiss should have also calmed Cade down. Yes, we could have used a little of JJ in the 3rd quarter.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:26 PM ^
It's possible. But hard to read his mind. Let's say he is a bit fuzzy after the hit. Two plays later, maybe he overreacts to missing an easy throw specifically because he wasn't okay. We'll probably never know which.
But with a small sample size of second-half throws, he didn't look good on any - waiting too long, not stepping in properly, not doing the things that got him the job in the first place. Except he didn't turn the ball over - no stupid mistakes that would indicate he was down on himself.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:40 PM ^
Word on some of the other sites is that he's been feeling the pressure. He's practiced tense and JJ is basically right there with him except for 3 things.
1. Cade is winning.
2. JJ still is liable to do something dumb that loses you a game (though he can also do things to win you a game).
3. Cade is more experienced.
Which again, is why I say give JJ ONE drive, sit Cade and let him reset. It may seem counterintuitive with JJ on his heels, but this felt like a save him from himself moment.
Sit him down, take a deep breath, let go off the missed TD pass. Then go back in, lock back in and focus on one thing...winning the game.
Cade needs to understand that throwing for 300 and 4 TDs isn't the only way to hold JJ off.
Just keep winning and make winning decisions. Make the easy throws. Take what's available. Do that and you have nothing to worry about. His first half was great until that last throw.
He was missing everything, making terrible reads, and he had ZERO energy. He looked like his hamster died for the entire 2nd half. No smile, no grin, nothing.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:53 PM ^
I agree with all of this. Although the flip side is JJ comes in and immediately throws a TD pass. That's not going to help the situation in Cades head at all.
September 25th, 2021 at 11:42 PM ^
If he playing scared he's not helping. Those 4 missed passes was bad.
September 25th, 2021 at 11:10 PM ^
It’s Michigan for christ’s sake. Tom Brady was 6th on the depth chart at one time. Pressure? There should be pressure.
September 25th, 2021 at 11:52 PM ^
Yeah, I have to agree with this take. I will say on the one hand, there is a human element or psychology good coaches generally account for. To get the best out of each individual player, you have to understand what motivates them and what they respond to. Perhaps Harbaugh/Gattis felt that, knowing Cade, taking him out for a series was not going to help his psych and they didn't want to risk getting him too deep in his head. He wasn't turning the ball over after all, so perhaps they felt it was best to just let him play through it.
At the end of the day though, being the starting quarterback at Michigan is going to come with pressure. That's just the reality. You're going to feel the pressure of the highly talented guy behind you. You're going to get your opponents best shot every single week. You're going to have to believe in yourself and your team when things start coming off the rails. Now, if you have the gumption and mental fortitude to withstand that, it will make you a much better quarterback than being the unquestioned guy for 3 years at Arizona State or wherever. But it's not a situation for every guy with P5 talent.
Cade is still relatively new to the starting job, and honestly I think he shows a lot of what it takes to be the starter at Michigan. It seems though that sometimes he gets either overwhelmed by the moment, or gets in his own head when things start to go less than perfect. He's going to have to bring himself to get over that if he's going to maintain the starting job.. because the pressure isn't going anywhere. That's the terms and conditions you agree to when you sign up to play quarterback at Michigan. It seems like the guys that succeed at Michigan embrace it, rather than psych themselves out over it.
September 25th, 2021 at 8:26 PM ^
Definitely should have been benched for a series, but then maybe that makes his mental state worse?
Honestly I think Harbaugh was all too happy to go turtle. In fairness, I guess he was right that 20 points was enough?
September 25th, 2021 at 8:47 PM ^
If it makes his mental state worse then he needs benched permanently. You can not and will not win a Big10 title with a QB that can’t take the heat and cracks under pressure.
September 25th, 2021 at 11:58 PM ^
Interesting theory
September 25th, 2021 at 7:18 PM ^
He was threading the needle most of the 1H, and then he just fell off a cliff. His passes weren't even within arms reach after that. Erick All had to do everything to get a hand on a ball to keep it from going right to a DB. It was a drastic change. Sitting at home, my thoughts were that hit, or the wind picking up (it started getting really windy in Northern IN where I am). Hopefully it was something besides just being bad/shook.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:19 PM ^
He should have been checked.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:55 PM ^
Do we know he wasn't?
September 25th, 2021 at 7:24 PM ^
I would be more likely to point to the play calling vs the QB's play. After the hit we couldn't rush the ball but still tried over & over to jam it up the middle instead of threatening the edges & the "trickyness" was throwing on 1st down the 2nd then we were stuck throwing on 3rd too.
Had more plays been called to threaten the edges with, I don't know maybe Corum, Edwards, Wilson, Henning?, then the throws wouldn't have been so obvious aka so well defensed and McNamara would've had more success.
We KNOW Cade is not Brady so he NEEDS more help from Gattis to help him succeed as a thrower & so far I am not feeling great about his ability to put Cade in positive throwing situations
September 25th, 2021 at 7:30 PM ^
I put the blame on QB coach Matt Weiss. That dude said Cade could be a starter on an NFL team only a week or so after coming to Ann Arbor. That was one of the dumbest comments I ever heard of from a college FB coach. It's not so much Gattis as it is Weiss.
September 26th, 2021 at 11:43 AM ^
All coaches try to build confidence in their players. They say complementary things about them in public even a situation where they are probably not thinking complementary things. There is no more common and predictable activity in football. Do you really expect coaches to run their players down to the news media?
September 25th, 2021 at 9:18 PM ^
Okay, but Cade still missed some incredibly easy throws for a college QB in the second half on those 1st and 2nd down throws that would have resulted in the defense having to respect the pass, therefore helping the run game. This is why every year, the story always come down to QB play and making good on the throws that are wide open and making the right reads.
September 25th, 2021 at 11:44 PM ^
The wrs was wide open.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:25 PM ^
I don't know, but the passing stuff in the famous UW game was kinda underwhelming too, and the play-calling has been so truncated that either the coaching staff thinks McNamara was limited already or, well, they're just stuck in 1973.
September 25th, 2021 at 7:32 PM ^
My theory is that we are keeping cards close to the vest in order to have some surprises in store for Wisconsin. Super conservative playcalling and then unleash on our 1st quality opponent. Just a theory and possibly farfetched... but one can hope.