Rutgers Snowflakes - The Offense
September 28th, 2019 at 7:49 PM ^
They probably need to do it even more. I think rolling him out plays to Patterson's strengths and addresses his biggest weaknesses.
Patterson's pros are that he is accurate throwing on the move and he is a legit run threat, which forces teams to defend both the pass and the QB run. Patterson's weaknesses are that he has a poor pocket presence, bails out of the pocket too soon, and tends not to find receivers until they come open late.
So it makes sence to take him out of the pocket, take him away from backside pass rush and give him more time to find open receiviers.
The downside of rolling out is that it cuts the field in half, but if you can't count of him to find guys all over the field anyway, it makes sense to just roll him out and let guys run around till someone gets open or let Patterson scramble for five yards.
September 28th, 2019 at 6:41 PM ^
September 28th, 2019 at 7:38 PM ^
The problem I had with those roll outs is that there were so many times when I thought, "if that was one of OSU's DEs, they would have caught him." It makes sense to take advantages of the Rutger weaknesses, but I have my doubts that it will work against better teams.
I also don't like him in big games. Shea's skittishness in the pocket at this stage just tells me that his ceiling is much lower than we had hoped it would be. If McCaffery had another 20lbs of muscle I would be one of those calling for him to be the starter.
I agree that Shea's confidence could really make or break us in some big games this year. He needs to take some risks and be okay with forcing the receivers to make tough catches at times.
September 28th, 2019 at 3:43 PM ^
It's time to think everything's ok even tough we averaged less than 4 yards a carry and couldn't consistently get the ball to our NFL quality receivers (besides Bell).......Sure....everything's fine, no need to worry at all......
September 28th, 2019 at 4:25 PM ^
I don’t think everybody is saying everything is ok. They went out today and played their best game and probably picked up some confidence. They’ve been shit on all week by everybody in the media and they looked as interested and fired up today as they have since 2018.
No it wasn’t perfect and Rutger be Rutgering but this was a game they can hopefully build on and continue improving.
September 28th, 2019 at 3:43 PM ^
The passing offense looked nice. DPJ seems like our best WR. Regarding the rushing offense, it seems like we're sorely missing QB participation. As soon as Shea came out we ripped off a couple ten yard runs. Teams do not respect the QB run right now and he needs to start pulling sometimes on the ZR.
September 28th, 2019 at 3:51 PM ^
Short yardage run game is sorely lacking. Need to get Mason in blocking in the I. Pass game did what they needed to do: execute and look competent. Next week will be interesting.
September 28th, 2019 at 7:41 PM ^
Mason switched positions...Ppl have to come to grips with that. Our offensive line should be able to get enough push in short yardage situations with or without Bench on the field
September 28th, 2019 at 10:00 PM ^
I get what you're saying, but at the same time the short yardage game is almost non-existent. M's best fullback is getting abused as a newbie DL. Would it really be that hard to have him block in an I in front Charbonnet on a 3rd and Goal from the 1? I know M shifted into an I a few times with a TE in front of the TB, but that just isn't the same. I liked what I saw with the speed in space today, but that doesn't preclude a little power when it's needed, does it?
September 28th, 2019 at 3:54 PM ^
It was nice to see accurate throws by the Michigan Qb. Too bad we had to wait until late in the 3rd qtr to see them.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:00 PM ^
Better. Now do it against Iowa.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^
MGoCoaches who might know what the hell they're talking about, as opposed to me: I have the sense that the running game is still totally bland. Seems like less multi-pronged than last year, not more, in terms of the options or little subtle things to throw the D off, like the Harbaugh run game of years 1-2. Straightforward hand off after unembellished hand off — to set up devastating play-action: no complaint there — but it doesn’t even look like, if there’s an option, it’s ever seriously considered never mind taken. Or is that just a naive view that’s not seeing something important: like maybe what the D is doing to force that?
September 28th, 2019 at 4:11 PM ^
I got a bit of the sense that this was a back to basics week... maybe trying to add the frippery and options back in slowly, instead of “a read on every play”?
But yeah, shotgun running kind of sucks without some reads or horizontally spreading the field more.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:25 PM ^
Why is it so hard to put Mason in as a lead blocker behind Bredeson, Ruiz, & Onwenu when inside the 5 / short yardage. No one is stopping that. Instead we had 6 runs from inside the 5 that didn’t get in. Only plays that worked: 2 bootlegs, one play action scramble, and quick QB sneak.
September 28th, 2019 at 6:20 PM ^
It might not be hard. The question might be: “at what cost”?
Theres only a limited time to practice each week. If they are still installing (or reinstalling to clean up) the base offense, then speeding X amount of time might not be the most efficient use of that time right now.
September 29th, 2019 at 1:08 AM ^
Yeah it takes a lot of practice to have the FB run through the hole first.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:26 PM ^
Also I think Milton is going to be great one day. He's maybe not ready yet, but goddamn that arm is the truth.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
This is what I expected the passing attack to look like from the get go. I'm cautiously optimistic that maybe things are going in the right direction through the air. The offensive line protected well today.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:39 PM ^
I loved the naked bootlegs. Much better and more creative goal line offense than inside handoffs from the shotgun
September 28th, 2019 at 5:01 PM ^
Thought Zach C looked lighter on his feet and more explosive early on.
We have not seen what this kid is fully capable of.
September 28th, 2019 at 5:04 PM ^
Shea was much better today, but he was still late and behind on many of his throws. It really had a negative impact on YAC. I hope he can get this straightened out.
September 28th, 2019 at 6:24 PM ^
Even Tom Brady has bad throws throughout the game. I don’t think you can expect any quarterback to be near perfect. I don’t think any QB at Michigan has ever been near perfect so I’m not sure why that’s the criteria for Shea.
I don’t think it had a negative impact at all. Unless even a few bad throws mean negative impact. Some of his throws were darts and very impressive. I’m really glad to see him bounce back personally
September 28th, 2019 at 6:44 PM ^
September 28th, 2019 at 6:53 PM ^
Lots of points and the guys looked unified. Great to see Shea throwing down field - some good throws and a couple of poor throws,
September 28th, 2019 at 7:26 PM ^
Michigan had 13 carries for 12 yards on any "To Goal" plays and on the last series of the game. If you remove those, the yards per carry was 4.6.
September 28th, 2019 at 9:00 PM ^
We have an amazing set of wide receivers. We should be going air raid offense. Sling it around and hurry it up and score in bunches. That's the only way we even have a shot of competing with OSU
September 28th, 2019 at 9:14 PM ^
My wife’s comment on this game is the turnover machine keep turning the ball over. Milton throw much better ball than a senior Patterson. Her read is most balls Patterson threw require wr to dive and jump to get the ball.
I have to agree 100%. Those throw cause no yard after catch and even expose your wr to get hit not being able to defense himself. I have no idea why his accuracy worsen this year. He seem to have problem in long ball last year. Patterson still have no flow in his passing game. To me, he is done, enough sample size. Before we change our starting QB, I won’t invest too much emotion to this team. He will cost us another 1 or 2 game before the 2nd bye week. Then we would put our next starting QB to the fire again. Sounds familiar?
September 28th, 2019 at 9:36 PM ^
Gattis being on the sideline seemed to have a positive effect. After the Borges debacle, why anyone thought an OC up in the booth was a good idea, I don't know.
Shea showed competency today, aside from holding the ball too long on several plays. Against functional front sevens, he won't get away with 5+ seconds to throw. But he showed some quick releases. Play calling seemed better and had a better flow. Saw some evidence of tempo and some speed in space. Need more of that, more development of those concepts. More reps. The INT - I don't care.....I say go for it and deal with the INTs when they come.
That said, M should have stuck with the first team O. Not to embarrass, but for the reps. Shea and the receivers have to be more solidly on the same page - that's why I was hoping we would have just kept on keepin' on. Yeah, injury possibilities, I know. But the O needs to be better than today to have a chance against the better teams, or to have any chance on the road. Because it's still STBOTR (tm) (shit the bed on the road) time when we travel.
Running game.....eh? Running for only 141 on this D? We won't crack 100 against many teams this season.....that's why I thought we needed to work that passing game and not sub out.
Opponent caveats apply, looked like some progress today. That said, do it under more pressure vs. Iowa, and do it again against Penn State and don't STBOTR (tm). Then I'll start to change my mind.
Lastly, we ain't beating OSU this year. Fuck. What a machine.
September 28th, 2019 at 9:53 PM ^
Continued Negatives:
1. Poor clock management
2. Poor QB accuracy. Receivers were wide open all day and there will still too many inaccurate balls that caused incompletions or limited YAC
September 28th, 2019 at 11:09 PM ^
Offense played well!
Damn does Milton have a cannon for an arm!!
September 28th, 2019 at 11:50 PM ^
Milton has a cannon...would love to see him get some stability at the O coord position over his career
its been a long time since we had a QB with arm strength like that
He could be a very special player over the next couple of seasons
September 29th, 2019 at 12:11 AM ^
With Harbaughs development?
September 29th, 2019 at 12:58 AM ^
I sure wish Zach Charbonnet was healthy.
September 29th, 2019 at 6:32 AM ^
No fumbles - good
dominating Rutgers - meh
still locked on Bell
September 29th, 2019 at 8:20 AM ^
One thing certain: despite being surrounded by NFL caliber wide receivers, Ronnie Bell was a very special find for Harbaugh. Kid is fast, strong, elusive, and has hands made of super glue.