Maryland Snowflakes: The Coaching
September 24th, 2022 at 3:48 PM ^
Team looked flat. Execution was inconsistent and really poor on a few occasions.
Seemed like conservative Harbaugh play calling, but the offense depends on the deep throws for explosiveness and JJ didn’t have it today.
4-0. Onward to Iowa.
September 24th, 2022 at 4:22 PM ^
All those downfield shots were "conservative Harbaugh play calling?
September 24th, 2022 at 8:37 PM ^
they only count as “aggressive” if they get completed, didn’t you know that?
September 24th, 2022 at 11:13 PM ^
Yes, all 5 deep shots. JJ threw 26 times and only stretched the D 5X. That was a conservative game plan unless you advocate for Chryst as a play caller.
Perhaps Harbaugh would’ve taken >5 if JJ had his deep ball. But the play calling was very conservative with 18 balls less than 10 yards downfield and numerous Corum runs on 2nd downs with >8 yards for a first down.
September 25th, 2022 at 7:32 AM ^
“fuck it, lets just throw it deep” is not a game plan.
September 25th, 2022 at 11:37 AM ^
You realize there's several routes on each play, just about every passing play has at least one deep route . . .
September 25th, 2022 at 11:50 AM ^
Let me get this straight. You're complaining that ONLY 20% of the throws were deep bombs?
Lol
We threw it deep a LOT in this game. If anything I thought we underutilized the short and medium passing game, since Maryland was playing soft coverage
September 24th, 2022 at 3:49 PM ^
Hated the double pass, hated the run with Gash on 3 and 4th, hated most first two series of play calls in the second half. Corum saved us.
September 24th, 2022 at 3:49 PM ^
Hoping the O coordinators learn from this game and adapt. It won't be the last time we see 8 dropping into coverage. Route trees need to better utilize levels. The TE's are obviously a comfort spot for JJ good for 5 - 8 yards. Get DEdwards back to spell Corum.
Defense was kind of a big play/bust unit today. Gotta find a way to stop those big busts, get NKG back healthy.
September 24th, 2022 at 3:57 PM ^
They say that a team improves the most between the first and second games of the season.
Michigan had better hope that means the first and second games against opponents with an actual pulse.
September 24th, 2022 at 3:59 PM ^
Not a great called game. Is this a result of the OC by committee approach?
September 24th, 2022 at 4:06 PM ^
Seemed like extremely conservative, Harbaugh-esque playcalling. I know McCarthy took a few deep shots and missed, I’d like to think that’s correctable, but it seemed like once again we were content to just light early downs on fire, run into a stacked box, and put ourselves in tough third and long situations when we didn’t have to.
Kirk Ferentz is probably hoping and praying Michigan comes in with that gameplan next Saturday. He probably feels pretty confident, after what he saw today, that he can drag Michigan into an ugly slopfest of a game, and get to the fourth quarter in a 14-10 affair where it’s anyone’s ballgame.
September 24th, 2022 at 4:41 PM ^
It wasn’t overly conservative play-calling as much as it was disjointed. They threw plenty of deep balls to guys who were open. The bigger issue today was several plays that just didn’t seem to have a rhyme or reason to them (Bell pass for instance). You see an entire drive or two and don’t see anything where a play is run off a previous one or based off what the defense was doing, as if 25 plays were written on pieces of paper and put in a hat for someone to reach in and pick out.
I think “conservative” is just the catch-all adjective too many use when they don’t like the offense but can’t really articulate why.
September 24th, 2022 at 9:56 PM ^
I think part of it was reigning in JJ. He had the 1 nice extending running all-around then he did it again and almost lost a fumble. Add to that when he ran he fumbled the ball. It's a learning experience that JJ needs to improve on. Also, if he hits in the deep balls everybody feels much better about the game. His wr's were open on the majority of those deep throws. He just put it on a line instead of putting air under it where they could run under it.
September 24th, 2022 at 4:08 PM ^
Georgia struggled with a 1-3 MAC team today. It happens.
September 24th, 2022 at 4:25 PM ^
This^^^. On September 25, 2021, Michigan struggled to defeat Rutger at home.
The sky is not falling, people.
September 24th, 2022 at 5:18 PM ^
The OCs called run with Corum too much.
But also Corum saved their asses with his runs.
-The board
September 24th, 2022 at 8:40 PM ^
yes, why’d they keep calling those runs to blake corum? crazy!
it reminds me of that one time we went in a shell against ohio state and kept just giving it to tshimanga biakabutuka. just way too conservative that time, too.
September 24th, 2022 at 4:11 PM ^
Ass
Need to overtake it asap or we will lose games.
No run-pass option?
No seam routes?
Do better
Overtake ass
September 24th, 2022 at 5:07 PM ^
The coaches are just saving the big plays until we meet up with the big boys of the B1G!
September 24th, 2022 at 4:25 PM ^
My thoughts are there’s gonna be games like these basically every season…..games, that are, for whatever reason, closer than they should be. Nebraska was that game last season, Maryland is that (I hope) this season……better to get the sloppiness out of the way early, get everyone’s heads straight and realize your in big ten play now and game plan for it.
September 24th, 2022 at 4:27 PM ^
Wasn't super happy with some of the offensive playcalling, but this was also out first solid opponent so that should improve. The WR pass on 2nd and 5 and Gash run on 3rd and 4 seemed odd to me
September 24th, 2022 at 4:47 PM ^
What a bunch of bitches on this site.
September 24th, 2022 at 5:04 PM ^
Speed in space bitches!
September 25th, 2022 at 12:30 AM ^
Bitches space speed in!
Loud noises!
September 24th, 2022 at 4:47 PM ^
Need a single play caller on O. Will get us in rhythm quicker
September 24th, 2022 at 5:03 PM ^
There were some bad plays called. The O coordinators better get their shit together. This team is going to have to score a lot of points due to their non stellar D.
September 24th, 2022 at 5:15 PM ^
This game could have been incredibly rough if not for the Maryland kick off botch, Corum being so successful, and the 2 big interceptions on defense. We are lucky to come away with the win and while the coaching left a lot to be desired, I'm hoping it will improve as the co-coordinators adjust to their new roles.
The other thing to consider was just how good was Maryland's O-line? I didn't watch their previous games but I remember the announcers mentioning they returned all 5 starters. If anyone has any constructive input they could share, I'd be happy to hear their thoughts but until then I'll adjust my rose-tinted glasses and hope that maybe it was an anomaly until next weekend proves me wrong.
September 24th, 2022 at 6:24 PM ^
In other words, if everything we did right was actually wrong and everything our opponent did wrong was actually right, the outcome would’ve been different?
got it.
September 25th, 2022 at 2:40 AM ^
To clarify, I meant insight about Maryland's O-line specifically in regards to our lack of pass rush for most of the game.
Judging by your post history, you only deal in snark though. Noted!
September 24th, 2022 at 5:21 PM ^
My main question. How many teams are we yet to play with a Qb as good as Marylands backup?
September 24th, 2022 at 5:30 PM ^
My snowflake: Fuck Dan Enos. Fuck you, dan.
September 24th, 2022 at 5:46 PM ^
This game had heavy Rutgers game last year vibes to me, with some key differences, but a lot of analogous issues.
In the Rutgers game, defensively we had trouble stopping the option when Mullings came in, and in this game, we had trouble stopping the pass at times due to a lack of pass rush and stopping the run at times most likely due to devoting a few too many resources to coverage.
Offensively, we stubbornly ran into stacked boxes in the Rutgers game, while in this game, we stubbornly decided to try and push the ball down the field when the short to intermediate range was more ripe for the picking.
Both games came at roughly the same time of year, and I think Maryland is a much better team, so while the game felt frustrating at times and may have highlighted some potential issues to watch out for moving forward, overall just happy to have the win, and don't think the frustrating feeling of the game is something to dwell on too much this early in the year.
September 24th, 2022 at 6:07 PM ^
I’ll say this team is better at handling some slight adversity than some of it’s fans are.
September 24th, 2022 at 6:26 PM ^
It was an ugly game. But I give Maryland credit - they had a good game plan, they played tough. Yet Michigan won by dint of better players and a stellar performance by Corum. How 'bout we give some credit to Coach Hart for that?.
Some of the game's ugliness is on the players; JJ didn't look like he played up to his potential. The defense lost contain several times. Some of the ugly is on the coaches. It was not a stellar game plan, and the team looked a little unprepared for Maryland's offense.
On the other hand, ugly can be really delicious. As of this writing, Minnesota is up 31-0 on MSU with 12:20 to go in the fourth quarter. Yum!
So there are shades of ugly, and then there is shitting the bed, which is apparently what MSU is doing at this very moment.
We won. We did not shit the bed. There's work to do. It will most likely get done.
I bet Maryland surprises some folks this year.
September 24th, 2022 at 6:58 PM ^
Just remember it can always be worse, we could be MSU.
A bit closer than I’d like but credit to Maryland for a solid game plan. Michigan has to clean stuff up defensively. LBs look a little shaky in pass coverage and didn’t have pass rush. I trust the staff though. Credit to Corum for putting up a Heisman highlight game. Clink needs some credit too for coaching up Sainristil and turning him into a heck of a DB.
Survive and move onto Iowa.
September 24th, 2022 at 7:01 PM ^
Fewer 3rd down bombs into prevent defense please.
Maryland sold out to stop the long ball, and we kept throwing the long ball, cause JJ! Bad.
September 24th, 2022 at 7:05 PM ^
Good: seemed to make adjustments on D at halftime.
Bad: got pretty conservative with the O play calling when Cade had guys open short on every play.
Some ranked teams going down this afternoon; even Georgia appears to have had an off day. Coaches and players did enough to get the W. And, put a lot of stuff on tape to look at as they improve next week.
September 24th, 2022 at 7:28 PM ^
What time is the couch burning?
September 24th, 2022 at 7:45 PM ^
I don’t see the “amoeba” on defense at all. This looks just like last years defense, but with way worse defensive ends and maybe a little better secondary. The hot takes saying Minter sucks are off base, but he’s done nothing particularly innovative as far as I can tell.
The all run drive to start the half was horrible; my big worry for Harbaugh is that even if he his offense has a much bigger advantage than his defense, as was the case in this game, he won’t call the game accordingly. He always defaults to calling the game as if his defense vs the opponent’s offense is to his favor. That just won’t work consistently unless you’ve got a dominant defense, and we don’t have that.
September 24th, 2022 at 10:39 PM ^
Our secondary looked real good, though. We're just not getting someone home with a 4-man rush. The problem with a team like Maryland (and Ohio State) is that they force you to cover the entire field. Beginning with MacDonald last year, we got smart and stopped trying to blitz so much in the middle of the field a la Don Brown. The name of the game is to keep everything in front of you between the 20s and tighten down in the red zone. Don Brown never understood that when it came to defending dynamic spread offenses. That's why he always got torched. This Maryland offense would have smoked Don Brown. Our defense will be fine, but we do need to find an edge rusher who can get home more consistently in 4-man rush situations. Someone's got to step up there.
September 24th, 2022 at 7:47 PM ^
Our gameplan wasn't terribly conservative... JJ missed a few deep (and open!) throws
My question is the disjointed playcalling and not taking advantage of what Maryland was giving in the pass game
Where were the bubble screens? They were playing soft coverage. Where was the arc read run game?
I really hope we didn't "turn off" the QB keeps in the run game? No arc stuff? I have a sneaking suspicion that we did after Cade got hurt, because if JJ gets hurt we might be in trouble quickly
Regardless, we are going to be REALLY struggling against Iowa if we have similar playcalling next week
September 25th, 2022 at 6:39 AM ^
This is my suspicion. Even when JJ was trying to "scramble", he was not looking to run for yardage. He was running to find a throwing lane. If Maryland is dropping 7 or 8, there should be space to run when everyone is covered.
September 24th, 2022 at 8:31 PM ^
https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401282775, you fucking babies.
fucking relax.
September 24th, 2022 at 9:03 PM ^
Hats off to Mike Locksley. Maryland is a good football team, and certainly not the team we took behind the woodshed last season. They surprised me today and I have a feeling they are going to surprise a few other B1G teams this season.
I thought the Michigan coaching barely met expectations. It was a far piece from exceeding expectations though. A win is a win and start preparing for Iowa. I'd like to see improvement across the board for next week's game.
September 24th, 2022 at 9:24 PM ^
Lot's of stuff to improve on.
But stuff like this happens to most teams each season.
Examples from just today so far (and day isn't over yet):
#1 Georgia gave up 22 points to Kent State
#5 Clemson got taken to 2 overtimes by Wake Forest
#22 Texas (which nearly beat Alabama) lost to unranked Texas Tech
#25 Miami lost (by 2 touchdowns) to Middle Tennessee State
Here's hoping the Maryland game facilitates continued improvement.
September 24th, 2022 at 9:49 PM ^
Thank you for pointing out Georgia. They were favored by 45 points to beat Kent St and won by a butt clenching 17 point margin. We may have a new #1 this week and unfortunately it may be Ohio St based on how things are going against Wisconsin. Clemson and their vaunted defense found itself in a ping pong match with Wake Forest. Oklahoma is in a bona fide rock fight with Kansas St. Outcome is TBD.
Adversity is good for growth. Michigan will be better for it.
September 24th, 2022 at 9:54 PM ^
Fire Gattis! Seriously though, Miami's play calling and offense, in general, is terrible.
September 24th, 2022 at 9:29 PM ^
It didn’t seem like our offensive staff was prepared for the struggles we would have today, It took them a little while to adjust and get rolling again but even good coaches won’t be perfect. McDonald was a great DC but was not prepared for MSUs tempo last year so even great coaches have some hiccups and hoping today was just a hiccup and we can be better prepared for what lies ahead. I’m staying cautiously optimistic. We won, on to Iowa City.