Iowa Snowflakes: The Offense
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:15 AM ^
Only 2 or 3 targets, too.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:44 PM ^
I just can't believe how much the oline has regressed. It's our weak link
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:46 PM ^
It seemed like they were sleepwalking but credit the IA defense. It was good enough.
JJ needs to get back to 100%. Nugent played hurt so he'll need to heal up as well.
CJ had a great night. Wilson was covered like a blanket.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:29 AM ^
It didn't seem like they were "sleepwalking" at all. It seemed like they were struggling to run their base offense and had few effective answers to what Iowa was doing.
The amount of people on MGoBlog who act like the offense plays at like 67% for 11 out of 14 games a season for "strategic" reasons is astounding. The more likely answer is that they're just an OK offense.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:47 AM ^
^This. They lack the extra gear or improvisational ability that most of the national championship teams of the last 15 years have had. Milroe may not be an NFL sure thing but he is a playmaker and plays his best when ‘Bama needs him the most. I have not seen that yet from this team on offense. Defense is another story and Sainristil does fit that mold. But I think we need JJ and one of the receivers to find that extra gear.
December 3rd, 2023 at 10:22 PM ^
Nailed it completely - I do think that Harbaugh tends to play to the opponent - but they never seem to be focused on developing towards becoming a great offense outside of trying to run conservative, ball-controlled base plays.
Even most of the "trick" plays tend to develop so slowly, they don't typically land as often as they should. Play action is MIA which for a run-heavy team seems odd - an extensive focus on outs thrown to the sideline - an almost total lack of vertical passes to attack the back half of the defense.
All things that would open up the run game considerably.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:46 PM ^
That has to be about the ugliest 26-0 blowout I've ever seen... and I'll take it happily with no complaints!!
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:47 PM ^
Iowas defense was as advertised. It was not pretty but the offense didn't turn the ball over and scored when they got in good field position. Now they just have to get healthy for the playoffs
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:48 PM ^
That looked like a Hoke oline tonight. Maybe you csn scratch up a drive with that line versus that defense but play calling honestly doesn't matter when a competent defensive coordinator is scheming against you.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:49 PM ^
Wrong thread, sorry.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:49 PM ^
We played conservatively, trying to keep people healthy.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:49 PM ^
Felt like the game plan was not much of anything at all. Kind of played into Iowa's hands a bit and still did the thing. The defense really played complimentary ball. Was a straight up Iowa game, not sure if there's anything more to say about this one.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:49 PM ^
This offense isn’t good enough and that is due primarily to the line. It’s substandard.
UM doesn’t match up well against any of these playoffs teams with this OL.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:50 PM ^
Hail to the 13 & 0 B10 Champions. No turnovers ! A few too many drops by TE's. As Coach says though, Who's got it better than us ? Nobody !!
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:51 PM ^
O-line felt pretty bad tonight. Few run lanes and the pass pro seemed pretty bad
Iowa's defense is elite...but that wasnt exactly an inspiring performance from the offense. They got like 6 points off our own long drives right?
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:52 PM ^
ASS!!!
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:52 PM ^
ASS!!!
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:52 PM ^
McCarthy is obviously not healthy. I hope it's something that can heal this month, not something he's waiting to have surgery on after the season.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:38 AM ^
Where's he unhealthy? The staff certainly disagree by allowing a QB keep 2 plays in a row when the game was already sealed.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:53 PM ^
Also worth noting that literally nobody in the nation plays a cover 2 zone the way Iowa does. It's the defensive equivalent of playing a service academy.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:23 AM ^
And this is so very, very true...no matter one's issues (mine included) with the playcalling and scheme.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:53 PM ^
double post
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:53 PM ^
Also worth noting that literally nobody in the nation plays a cover 2 zone the way Iowa does. It's the defensive equivalent of playing a service academy.
Third times the charm lol.
December 3rd, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
“three straight” is a great theme to have right now.
GREAT point, by the way. it’s not just that they have good players, they play a scheme that’s really tough to crack open.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:54 PM ^
D won the game and they were great. The offense had its worst game of the season. Credit to the Iowa D. But a no. 1 team ought to be able to find SOMETHING that works against what Iowa does.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:55 PM ^
D won the game and they were great. The offense had its worst game of the season. Credit to the Iowa D. But a no. 1 team ought to be able to find SOMETHING that works against what Iowa does.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:56 PM ^
D won the game and they were great. The offense had its worst game of the season. Credit to the Iowa D. But a no. 1 team ought to be able to find SOMETHING that works against what Iowa does.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:56 PM ^
Double post
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:57 PM ^
Once again, it feels like the play calling has been holding this team back more than anything else.
I know the O line is beat up, but where is the play action? Where is the downfield passing? Get ready for another run up the middle on third and 2. No flea flicker? Nothing to scheme receivers open? A run on 2nd and 18?
Moore feels like the Cade McNamara of play callers. Safe and conservative, won't lost you the game but won't win it for you either most likely. Wow now I feel like a total bitch for even complaining after winning the BIG championship AGAIN!!! Go blue!
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:24 AM ^
Moore feels like the Cade McNamara of play callers. Safe and conservative, won't lose you the game but won't win it for you either most likely.
Perfect metaphor. I'm really looking forward to seeing the offensive breakdowns by Seth, Sam, Devon, and Gorgeous Al. Where was the creativity? Did we use up all our good plays against the Nuts? JJ seemed to play decent but he threw one ball right into a defender's hands, way behind the Tight End. Speaking of which, where did all of those drops come from? WR separation? OL run game and pass pro?
They say defense wins championships and ours was excellent tonight. Hopefully, this was just an off-game for the offense and they'll bounce back strong in the CFP's.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:46 AM ^
C'mon, both sets of complaints here. To the first:
The PA is something we'd all like to see more of, but the downfield passing is pretty tough to get against Iowa's system and you don't need to throw a down away testing it when their offense can barely even cross midfield. A flea flicker could have produced an open dig route for a nice gain but it didn't appear Michigan was interested in that given the quick lead.
And they *did* scheme receivers open, including a really nice combo to get the ball to Roman Wilson.
To the second:
Again, there was some good schematic stuff here. When you have a two-score lead against a dessicated husk of an offense when you have two more games to play? I mean, I'd like to see more yardage, too, but Michigan's goal needs two more wins and they've shown plenty of creativity when they've needed to against OSU.
And where did the drops come from? Uh, from the TEs. They were perfectly catchable balls, excellent passes and good playcalls, catches that make the offense's output look a lot different if they're made. And since the TEs don't make a habit of dropping a lot, it's not fair to lump that into a general "Sherrone Moore is Cade McNamara" gripe.
I don't think it's fair, at all, to make wider judgments about Sherrone Moore because Michigan has won three games in four weeks against top-5 defenses in the country, building two-score second-half leads in each, all of which put Michigan into valid positions to make conservative choices to protect leads, because Michigan didn't beat these top-5 defenses by as many points or with as many impressive yardage stats as fans would like to see.
Do I wish Michigan looked a bit better on O? Yes. But my honest opinion is that Michigan's offensive line is a step back from previous years and the coaches are using smart situational coaching to ameliorate the risk it presents to the team's success. And the proof is in the win-loss record.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:00 AM ^
While you make some valid points, the entire thing is very simple. Michigan had only 213 yards. Michigan's longest drive of the day was 28 yards. That is it. That is all you need to know.
I do not care how good Iowa's D is. Those results are bad. It was a poor performance, even factoring in that Iowa indeed has a great D.
You call it smart situational football. But...shouldn't the no.1 team in the nation be able to find at least a few concepts to attack what Iowa was doing and use those concepts to sustain at least a few drives longer than 28 yards, and end the game with more than 213 yards of offense?
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:34 AM ^
I want Michigan to hang 50 on everybody and throw for 300 yards.
I called for Harbaugh's firing in 2020 and a big reason was that I felt the offense underperformed and was strategically flawed. Then, in 2021, while recognizing that Michigan was actually playing pretty well, I was also rather alarmed at the intitially poor returns in passing offense and said so.
But it turns out that Michigan's offense was pretty good that year. So I joyfully took the L and watched it in 2022, when I was happy with it. This year it looked excellent against bad teams, and has not been so impressive against elite defenses... but the team has also won all of these games after building multi-score leads and protecting them well.
So, I assume that the coaches know more than I do, and I note that, in particular, Penn State and Iowa were games where, by far, the biggest chance Michigan had to lose was to cough up a bad turnover, and they generally called games where that was less likely. It was true against Ohio State too, but Michigan kept things quick against that pass rush as well.
I'd prefer Michigan to hang 500 yards on these guys, but it's quite possible that no team in the country can do that. It was much more important that Michigan win the game, and they did.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:55 AM ^
Did I complain that Michigan failed to get 500 yards offense? No. So that is a straw man.
What I did say is the 213 yards of offense, and the longest drive being only 28 yards is all the evidence you need that the offense was bad tonight.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:13 AM ^
I didn't say you did. I said *I* want them to get 500 yards of offense. They did not. But Michigan is 13-0 and I'm going to roll with it.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:59 PM ^
Iowa’s defense is better than both OSU and PSU.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:20 AM ^
I want to believe this is true.... so sure.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:03 AM ^
Iowa did go into the game with the highest rated D (per SP+). So, yes, they are a great D.
OTOH, there is a Big Ten West schedule factor that slightly inflates their numbers. Regardless, even if not really no. 1, Iowa has one of the best D's in the nation.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:00 AM ^
We shut out an excellent defense 26-0.
GO.
BLUE.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:01 AM ^
Can we steal Ben Johnson's playbook?
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:05 AM ^
They survived Iowa, so it’s hard to make too much of the performance. The o-line is concerning without Zinter. Nugent needs to get healthy and there needs to be open competition for the right guard and right tackle spots before the semi final.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:09 AM ^
Whatever.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:11 AM ^
213 yards of offense is bad. Doesn’t matter right now, because we are 3x Champions.
We will need to show our best offense that we have shown in over a year if we want to win vs Alabama, Texas, or Washington on New Year’s day.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:15 AM ^
Offense looked like trash. Play calling was bland, offensive line is a major step back from last year, and JJ decision making was questionable. He’s been off lately which makes me wonder what is going on. Need him at 100% for the playoffs.
But hey, three Big Ten championships! That’s pretty awesome. Let’s get the offense fixed and see if we can win a national championship.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:18 AM ^
I want to believe it was deliberately uncreative and conservative once Michigan got to 10-0.
But it was honestly ugly. JJ threw at least two interceptable passes. Missed an obvious scramble and tried to force it to Roman downfield. OL let the most pressure all season (we clearly missed Zinter). Our sure-handed TEs suddenly dropping perfect passes that would have been big plays. Corum looked off too, too bouncy and noncommittal.
But whatever, the most important thing was to win without drama. They got the job done without sweating much. They converted both goal to go scenarios…as good as Iowa’s D was, they didn’t put up much resistance in either situation. And that was ballgame.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:20 AM ^
JJ should've been on the sideline at 17-0. I said it all week and I know nobody gives a shit. But tell me that supplex he took in the 4th didn't pucker that ass. There were more hits than that, prior, as well. The run play we finally decided to "break out"? Then? WHY?! It wasn't worth it. To get reps at what...basic, vanilla (delicious btw) pass plays and some read-option keeps?
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:25 AM ^
I don't get how that wasn't a penalty. Since when can you supplex a QB like that?
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:35 AM ^
Yea. I don't get it either. It was a typical Iowa Dlineman/LB hit/sack I was fearing going in and for all 55 minutes. Nothing malicious but surely tough and homicial-at-the-moment shit we've seen for years.
December 3rd, 2023 at 12:23 AM ^
My memory of this game will be CJ seemingly catching 15 passes just beyond the sticks on the sideline
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:57 PM ^
Cornelius has been a stud the last few games, great hands