Theory on no passing: feel free to share your competing theories

Nah. We were just giving them our Playbook and telling them we're going to beat them anyways.

I dont think they would limit themselves for that sentiment. I think at the beginning the crowd noise made the tackles a step slower and that really helped the PSU pass rush. Once they had the lead they sat on it and ran out the clock as fast as possible.

Yes, you’re crazy. Pass pro couldn’t hold up to their elite pass rush, so we didn’t want to risk a pick in a tight game. Instead, we trusted our backs and they came through.

It was because PSU's best chance to score was a Chop Robinson strip sack or a pick forced by pressure.  It was disrespectful of PSU's offense, in a hilarious way.

I don't think he would risk a game for that, it is crazy.

Hard to tell from watching on TV, but my theory was that people up in the booth were seeing that receivers weren't getting much separation from PSU's elite DBs and given the early issues in pass protection where JJ came close to getting crushed, didn't want to risk it. High pressure throws that don't get very far down field because they have to be out in 1-2 seconds max being thrown to well covered receivers......one interception yesterday would have made a world of difference in that game. Not to mention they were coming balls out at JJ and he was going to get hammered all day.

Meanwhile in the booth, they also noticed that with an aggressive rush and everyone back covering receivers there was a lot of room to do damage with his feet. JJ didn't have huge yards rushing, but certainly crucial ones that moved the sticks when needed, plus made them assign someone to spy/stop him moving forward that opened up the run game somewhat for others.

Maybe he just liked the long TV timeouts. When you run a bunch of clock they need to fill 3 hours with commercials. 

PSU was killing us with their pass rush the first couple of series.

Best way to stop a pass rush?   Don't pass. 

You're up one score. Their offense is inept. If you drop back to pass against their edge rushers you risk losing. Take the win, it was brilliant

I had to listen to the game on the radio.  Early on Jansen said Michigan practiced the Mammoth formation during the bye week specifically for Penn State due to their defensive speed.  
 

This also gives Ohio State something else they have to prepare.  The goal is to win and that game was hardly ever in doubt.  I thought the game plan was beautiful but I am old and love grinding out opponents.

No. And that’s beyond crazy. 
 

It felt like they did it because

A) it’s quite literally the style of play that has won them multiple of these types of games.

B) The only answer we had for Robinson was to bring a heavy package which obviously lends itself to the run.

C) it feels like it’s more effective to channel anger and emotion through the running game than the passing game.

D) it shortened the game so there were fewer possessions (causing Franklin to go for an ill-advised 4th down because he’s a terrible coach and panicked about getting more chances)

E) it reduces the chances of turnovers, and

F) because it was working. 
 

I don’t think it was because JJ was nicked up either… far too many QB sneaks if you are worried he’s nicked up. 

I think Coach Moore saw my wish post under the "what do you want to see" thread about our offensive line paving the number 2 rush defense at will and obliged. Thank you, Coach Moore!

Holy. Shit. I thought the skipping the big 10 championship game thread was the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Then I read this.

So funny…we all are so quick to forget 27 for 27. 
 

the answer is so JJ wouldn’t get killed

while he was dead on point that we missed in the Purdue game, the unblockable edge would’ve made the pass game moribund. 
 

im thankful we’re wondering “why call one second half pass a la ‘21 The Game” rather than “why call 20 passes and JJs shoulder is out for OSU now.” 
 

knowing your limits is such a crucial part of success; they played to their strengths, optimized their advantage, and ran the damn ball down the throat of the #1 run D in the nation. 
 

most epic win of my lifetime. 

This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I hope you don’t actually believe this. Playcalling was simply due to Barnhart getting smoked and the coaches (correctly) realized the only way this game would be lost is with pressure forcing turnovers

I read your first paragraph and couldn't believe the negs you were getting.  Then I continued to read and the negs now make sense.  

My theory is they all missed Jim so much and knew he has some type of ADHD and would be so bored back at the hotel..they just decided to keep the clock running to get back to him ASAP...I'm sure Jim was going insane with all the commercials.

You’re either named Travis Brown, or you stole this from a guy on a Facebook message board 

doubt it, but possible. I like this theory.

I felt it could have been a middle finger to the "Everybody" in the "Michigan vs Everybody" sentiment. We won't trick you. All the memes abour reading our signals and the two signals are run left and run right... These might have been more fact than fiction. Fuck everyone, we're going to only run and still beat you. Didn't show OSU any film to use. Just run right down their throats.

Social media after the game has been very interesting from UM players. They are motivated as fuck.

One player posted about warning the world not to make Michigan into the Villain b/c they looooove being the Villain. I believe it. Zinter after the game to Sheronne Moore: "Let's go win it all"

I'd love to see Harbaugh on the sidelines when JJ tops him. I'd even more want Harbaugh on the field for win #1000 next week. He resurected our program and he should be there

We haven't seen our run game obliterate in a while. I hated it at the time but it showed what we were capable of... Not as amazing as it was in years past, but they needed this for OSU. Gotta be able to get that yard. Wasn't pretty but it was effective.

That said, an OCCASIONAL pass probably would have helped open lanes.

I assumed we were running the ball because we wanted to control the clock. We knew our defense was locking them down aside from a bunch of 4th down tries and some tricky plays. I feel like it was a control the clock strategy and only throw if you absolutely had the right look. Just my theory knowing absolutely nothing about the coaching/game strategy

LOL. You answered your own dumb question:  "Completely understand the desire to run the clock and grind it out..."

I just typed out a longer version of this and it didn't go through. Don't feel like typing the whole thing again, so in short:

Everyone already knew Michigan has a really good passing game. They needed to establish that they could still run it really well to give upcoming opponents another thing to prepare for.

Think about the 3rd and long runs in particular. The Don had a 22 yard TD on 3rd and 11. There were a couple others where we didn't pick up the first down but we did gain 7 (IIRC).

If there's a credible threat of getting a first down running on 3rd and 6 or 7, that really opens things up and changes the defense's mentality. Remember how OSU changed their defensive philosophy in part due to all the big plays they gave up last year against us and Georgia? Now what do they have to think about going into The Game?

Great team win. 
As for the offense, decent first half in play calling and executing, resulting in 14 points. Second half was problematic. Even though our defense recovered a fumble in PSU territory, we only mustered 10 points. That is a poor result, especially given how the defense dominated PSU’s offense. The play calling was Brian Ferentz-esque. Same with the results. The metric of “we won the game” does not save the play calling, in the same way Iowa’s 6-2 record does not make Brian Ferentz an excellent O coordinator. 
No throws to Roman Wilson? One pass attempt the entire second half? JJ is not a first year QB. We have excellent receivers and tight ends. You can chip a good defensive end to slow him down. You can employ quick hitting passes to neutralize the pass rush. Having JJ run with ball was more likely to get him injured(what actually happened) than was passing the ball. Throwing the ball some would also open up the running game too. Given the talent M has on offense, this was a poor second half of play calling because of how extreme it was. “But we won!” And Iowa beat Minnesota 12-10 this year and that offensive game plan won too. In the RichRod era, we beat Illinois in overtime and both teams scored 50+ points. That defensive game plan and playcalling worked too. 

Yeah... no. We simply played not to lose, and that was the right choice. 

We were running the ball just well enough and winning by two possessions. Unfortunately, our tackles couldn't stop the pass rush (and faired worse than their OSU counterparts, if I remember correctly). So, it was very possible that a pressured JJ would throw an interception and that would open a clear avenue for a loss. 

With the PSU offense unable to do anything meaningful, there was minimal chance they could make up the difference if we just drained the clock.

This was a good, gritty win in a tough environment after a hard week, and it's worth celebrating as such. But it was also a warning sign about our line's ability to hold up in the pass game. 

Not just crazy, but detached and insane.

Coaches just do what’s required to win.

1.) Can’t stop right side of DL. 
 

2.) show them even if you know what’s coming you can’t stop it (hoping this was it)

3.) it works

4.) all the above