Unverified Voracity Has A Box Score You Don't Want To See
Advanced box score. Bill Connelly has heard the college football internet's cries for box scores where sacks are counted against passing yardage and has posted various games from last week on twitter. Michigan-Army is one. The link has the big version. The bits that stood out other than three targets for Nico Collins are here:
That success rate is a full-on Lloydball turtle, and the explosiveness of Michigan's rushing game is horrendous, because Michigan spent the whole game playing 10 v 11. Michigan's rushing game was less explosive than a team that ran 29 fullback dives.
Also in this. PFF's weekly All Big Ten team has Mike Onwenu on the first team and Jalen Mayfield and Zach Charbonnet on the second team. So Michigan was less explosive on the ground than a team that ran 29 dives and half of their most important players on the ground (OL+RB) graded out at an All Big Ten level.
FWIW, Metellus, Hutchinson, and Kemp (second-team) made their defensive team.
[After THE JUMP: Don Brown things will make you feel better.]
Don Brown things. Don Brown's press conference probably has to be watched to be appreciated this week. Here he is going into detail on the goal-to-go stop:
Don Brown being......Don Brown pic.twitter.com/E6vLbtT5r2
— angelique (@chengelis) September 9, 2019
Brown on Jordan Glasgow:
10 o’clock at night: ‘Coach, I’ll be available tomorrow morning at 7:20. I’d like to go over my plays.’ ‘Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow to go over your plays.’ ‘I specifically want to go over my nakeds.’ ‘Okay, we’ll go over the nakeds.’
“I mean, he’s a junkie. He might be one of the funnest guys in the world to coach, because he loves it. He eats it. He drinks it and he backs it up, because he smashes everybody that moves.”
Brown also said Ross's injury was a "stinger," so he should be back for Wisconsin.
Quit scheduling service academies, part one billion. All of this time could have been dedicated to OSU:
Michigan won't face an offense like that again, which is why preparing for Army was "very disruptive."
And the Wolverines allocated a lot of resources toward stopping the Black Knights. In at least 10 of 15 spring practices, one period was "donated to the triple option." From the third practice of fall camp through the week of the Middle Tennessee State game, Michigan practiced its triple option defense every day.
What are we doing dot gif.
Offense structure and Patterson health. Meanwhile, Gattis:
“No, nothing’s by design,” Gattis said of the Patterson holding onto the ball. “Everything we do has some level of a read, whether it’s an RPO read or quarterback read run. It’s a little bit complex when you look at it, as far as the reads, because you have to decide how they’re playing. Obviously, Army did some things on Saturday, jetting their guys up the field to be able to take the quarterback read away. But it gave us favorable matchups inside – six-man boxes and six-man blocking surfaces.
“One of the things they did a really good job of is continuing to pressure. I think they pressured 85-something percent of the time. It’s just cleaning up the little things. Every quarterback read run isn’t always going to be a pull. There was some that he should have pulled, and there was one he shouldn’t have pulled in two-minute (drill). That was one that he should have gave the ball."
The one he shouldn't have pulled was a corner blitz on which the RB was going to get crunched by the end, so that's an RPS issue by my reckoning, not a Patterson one. The ones he should have pulled are apparently going in the Patterson bin; he's going to have another mega-negative run grade.
Gattis also confirmed the oblique injury:
“He’s been banged up the past two weeks with oblique,” Gattis said. “Something that he’s struggled with since the first week of Middle Tennessee. That had no effect – I hope it had no effect on his decision-making from that standpoint."
I hope it did, though? Gattis then asserted that the rando in the stands is not equipped to say whether a pull was correct all the time and that Michigan had "favorable matchups inside – six-man boxes and six-man blocking surfaces." There is some of that, but pretty frequently in my charting the lack of a pull puts Michigan in a situation where there is a free hitter in the box. I think some of this is just covering for some extremely bad decisions.
Do you need video of a distressed anthropomorphic bagel? The alumni association is a font of bagels and coffee for students every Wednesday, but construction has troubled our little town.
This is posited as helping the bagel but really they're just going to slice it in half and feast on its corpse. Anyway, happy bageling!
Prompt service. Remember last year's scourge of yellow down and distance chyron? It took a few weeks before the appropriate person was thwapped upside the head and saner colors prevailed. This time around—how does this person keep getting hired?—the flag-impersonation chaos agent was in the NFL and didn't last for even one game:
.@espn please take this yellow-green down-and-distance color and throw it into the ocean. It looks like a flag pic.twitter.com/jNyMSY7kZA
— Riley McAtee (@RileyMcAtee) September 9, 2019
ESPN pulled it at halftime and replaced it with a nice black logo that did not seem like a flag on every play. When this happens in the CFL next year you'll know this person has been fired and emigrated.
The fake punt. Harbaugh on Attack Each Day:
"Special teams, there’s the play of the game, Mike Barrett to Dax Hill, that was great to see," Harbaugh said. "The penalty was on us. We were called for a penalty. They were showing a corner pressure and Chris Partridge came up to me and asked if they could fake it, which was a pass from Barrett to Dax Hill. I said, yeah, let’s do it. That was fourth and 10. Mike made the throw to an open Dax and Dax had the wherewithal that he didn’t have the first down yet. He caught it after seven and had another three to get. Made an inside move and picked up about 10 more. It was great."
So that was not an option Barrett has whenever he sees it.
The bill proceeds. Nancy Skinner's bill to restore name and image rights to athletes at California schools passed the full state assembly 72-0—one wonders if the NCAA got Rutger'd here—and now has just a reconciliation between the assembly and senate versions before it hits the governor's desk. The NCAA has threatened to ban California schools from post-season activity:
Scott and other leaders in college sports — including the N.C.A.A. president, Mark Emmert, in a letter to California legislators this summer — paint a doomsday scenario for the state’s athletic teams if the bill becomes law. They say that colleges in California could be prohibited from competing for N.C.A.A. championships because they would have an unfair recruiting advantage — being able to lure athletes with the possibility of cashing in on anything from jersey sales to sponsorship deals.
“It’s like you and I sit down to play Monopoly and I pull out a different rule book and every time I pass Go, I’m going to give myself $400 instead of $200,” said Andy Fee, the athletic director at Long Beach State. “I don’t imagine too many people are going to be willing to allow California schools to compete for N.C.A.A. championships.”
But relevant law-talking guys think this would be impossible under antitrust law, which bars trade organizations like the NCAA from having bylaws that violate state or federal law. Also:
…the NCAA's attempt to ban California colleges from postseason tournaments in retaliation for the State of California passing a bill to increase the financial rights and economic well-being of college athletes is likely to be deemed to violate the implied common law rights of good faith and fair dealing that exist in every contract. This is because the NCAA, as a monopolist trade association, is punishing several of its private members for doing exactly what their state law requires them to do.
There are nascent versions of Skinner's bill in various state houses that may get through before 2023, when the Skinner bill is set to take effect. (The delay is to allow the NCAA to adjust to the new reality.)
Etc.: More on Mike Danna. Glasgow got a real nice PFF grade last week.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
The often ignored good news from the first two weeks:
- Glasgow is a player. Our LB position, in aggregate, may be as good as last year.
- The DE position is covered by three studs.
- Kemp looked like the player we hoped for against Army.
- Metellus has improved, and Hawkins can do a lot of things from his position.
- The redshirt freshmen OTs are at least serviceable.
- Charbonnet looks like the next great Michigan RB.
- Turner is an excellent compliment (even if he needs to clean-up his pass pro).
- Bell is ready to contribute.
There's a lot not to like, but there's plenty of good news as well. Go Blue!
September 10th, 2019 at 12:47 PM ^
Interesting first point. Ross and Hudson return from last year and you're saying Glasgow = Bush?
September 10th, 2019 at 1:01 PM ^
...Ross and Hudson return from last year and are better than Ross and Hudson from last year.
Plus Gil was playing starting snaps last year instead of Ross
September 10th, 2019 at 1:05 PM ^
Nobody said anything about Bush. OP merely stated that Glasgow can play and has earned his starting position. He also stated that the LB group may be as good as it was last year. Not sure how any of that equates to Glasgow = Bush...
September 10th, 2019 at 1:32 PM ^
I'd take last years group with Bush on my team....as would everyone else. You are greatly minimizing his impact on the game.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
Ross + Glasgow = Bush + Ross/Gil in their estimation. I think we should withhold judgement personally til we see a beefy rushing attack, like say Wisconsin.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:50 PM ^
Agree with Mwolv1. UM hasn’t played a team with an offense in the first two games.
Hudson is great in run support but a liability when forced to cover. Same with Glasgow. The athletes are coming, let’s see how they do.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:53 PM ^
And we've already seen it against Florida
September 10th, 2019 at 2:32 PM ^
Good point about Wisconsin. It seems like having Glasgow on the field allows Don Brown to employ more varied blitz and zone schemes, but the lack of beef in the LB corps will certainly be tested in less than 2 weeks.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:33 PM ^
I am still worried about the DT position when we go up against more manball teams like Wisconsin, but I agree that the defense has been more promising than I was expecting coming into the season. I expected more of a drop-off considering the guys we had to replace.
I don't understand what is going on with the offense. We returned pretty much the same crew from last year.
September 10th, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
I don't understand what is going on with the offense
Losing five fumbles through two games is certainly a factor, and something we did not do last year (12 turnovers all season)
September 10th, 2019 at 7:13 PM ^
I just refuse to believe that Harbuagh would be so unprepared at DT, and must have something up sleeve for the regular season, like Hinton and Smith.
September 11th, 2019 at 12:16 AM ^
QBs have been discussed enough.
RBs seem to be shaking out like last year. Charbonnet = Higdon, Turner = Evans, when he gets back Wilson = Wilson, and VanSumeren = Mason # of carriers. Haskins is the odd man out.
WR is disappointing because of targets but it's clear that its Collins/Black/DPJ and in that order they are backed up by Johnson/Schonle/Bell.
Need better blocking from TE position. But overall as expected.
Hayes is a year away but an easy starter at LT next year. Everyone else as expected.
Love the DL, think Danna should get more PT but don't know who you pull it from. We need Dwumfour and Jeter back in the worse way.
Paye-Kemp-Dwumfour or Jeter-Hutchinson then Danna-NEED MAZI TO STEP UP-Dwumfour or Jeter-Paye (2nd team SDE). Then you have to fit Uche in there as well.
Love the LBs and Anthony looked a lot better at MLB than McGrone. I'd go Glasgow-Ross-Hudson / Gil-Anthony-Glasgow as the 2nd team.
I've said it before we need to scrap Hawkins at nickel and move Lavert Hill there and bring in Grey to play the outside. Leave Hawkins in CF as the FS and let Mettelus play SS. It's so clear.
1's (FS: Hawkins / SS: Metellus)
2's (FS: Dax Hill / SS: Woods)
At CB we have 3. Give Turner some run behind Thomas when the game is put away. I don't trust anyone else right now.
Moody over Nordin until the game is out of hand.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:29 PM ^
Michigan spent the whole game playing 10 v 11
MANBALL is 10 vs. 11; the point is to do it so quickly that the backside edge guy doesn't matter. What you don't do is run 10 vs. 11 out of the gorram shotgun.
But it gave us favorable matchups inside – six-man boxes and six-man blocking surfaces.
OK, so it wasn't a screw-up. So the players are just incompetent? Is that it, coach?
September 10th, 2019 at 12:50 PM ^
Yeah, if we had favorable numbers the entire game, hence the perma-give strategy, why did our All-world interior only mash their way to under 3 yards per carry against an under-manned, under-sized, under-talented defense?
The whole thing is insane. I've never been more confused.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:50 PM ^
Why can't we have a spread and a Ben Mason package too...
September 11th, 2019 at 6:41 AM ^
Exactly. We bring back most of the same offensive players as last year, so I don't know why this would be difficult to install.
September 11th, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
i'm totally on board with picking an offensive philosophy (whatever that is) and working on getting really good at it (stipulated - we are not good at this offense right now).
to me, the "hey we should ALSO put patterson under center and try to run ben mason three times a game" thing smacks of the al borges approach, on some level...the cheesecake factory offense. try everything and don't get good at anything.
September 11th, 2019 at 11:34 AM ^
Just for short yardage situations. Much like I've seen heavy ball control offenses have a 4 WO packages for 2 minute drills.
Need to get into the endzone? Why be subtle when you have a jackhammer that has proven his ability to do just that?
September 10th, 2019 at 2:35 PM ^
I'm legitimately confused about this, so if someone knows offensive strategy better than me I'm all ears:
How is 6 v 6 a favorable matchup? To me, a favorable matchup would be putting defenders into conflict or into situations where you outnumber them. I'm not sure in what scenario I would look at 6 blockers versus 6 defenders and say "Oh nice yeah let's attack that" (at least purely based on the math that Gattis is emphasizing).
September 10th, 2019 at 3:05 PM ^
Because DC's aren't idiots? Most plays that are even numbers are going to the safety level if no one fucks up. A plus 1 for the defense is TD unless they track it down from behind, and it only really happens on trick plays where someone bites hard on fakes.
September 10th, 2019 at 3:42 PM ^
If the offense has 6 blockers that do their job and block 6 defenders, the runner is unaccounted for and should gain significant yards and potentially break into the second level. But, as others have said, this needs to be quick hitting before additional defenders can help.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
"Obviously, Army did some things on Saturday, jetting their guys up the field to be able to take the quarterback read away. But it gave us favorable matchups inside – six-man boxes and six-man blocking surfaces"
FWIW if the over/under for Patterson's run game UFR is -15 I'll take the over. I'm going to guess -20.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
...or is that the under? haha.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
Feed Nico.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
exactly. if nico was targeted 3 or 4 more times and if patterson keeps the ball 3 or 4 more times, this game would not have been an issue.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:18 PM ^
Feed Nico indeed. There's no player on Michigan's roster that scares me more come Nov. 30 than Nico Collins.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:54 PM ^
Get out of here, BuckeyeChuck. Only WE can doomsday about this team and the lack of coaching!!!
September 10th, 2019 at 2:00 PM ^
Well there is an equally scary player "on Michigan's roster" who hasn't played a snap yet, but I personally sure hope he shows out Nov. 30 to make you regret those words!
September 10th, 2019 at 2:50 PM ^
Wow, big Jon Runyan fan I see.
(I know you mean DPJ)
September 10th, 2019 at 8:58 PM ^
Sure, DPJ is more electrifying than Collins. Is it a problem that I find Nico to be a greater threat than DPJ?
September 10th, 2019 at 10:26 PM ^
Chuck - when you play Army the refs flagging run of the mill PI is remote. Normal B1G game - heck yes chuck it up to the man Collins. But against Army you can't count on a fair call. That is just the reality of playing a service academy team. Refs don't flag Army unless it is really egregious.
September 11th, 2019 at 6:26 AM ^
That's an odd take. I don't fear any NFL-caliber athlete on OSU's roster if I know he's being ignored.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
Remember undergrads, the most pro move for Welcome Wednesday is to bring a ziploc of lunch meat and a few condiment packets, grab a bagel for the road on your way out the door, and have yourself a nice lunch, too.
September 10th, 2019 at 2:37 PM ^
Wisdom.... +1000
A lot of stores sell these 2 oz. packets of lunchmeat, too. Not great, but friendly on a college budget and minimizes mess and need for supporting accoutrements. Mustard and mayo packets available in the deli too.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
"“One of the things they did a really good job of is continuing to pressure. I think they pressured 85-something percent of the time. It’s just cleaning up the little things. Every quarterback read run isn’t always going to be a pull. There was some that he should have pulled, and there was one he shouldn’t have pulled in two-minute (drill). That was one that he should have gave the ball."
I hate this, and I hope your take is right. Because if his is correct then it seems every team from now on just has to pressure us the right way and we're f*cked.
September 10th, 2019 at 7:18 PM ^
If 85% pressure then why not go.long to our stellar wrs over and over....
September 10th, 2019 at 11:34 PM ^
Exactly. The coaches should know that Army has created a blueprint to stop the Michigan offense with a heavy blitzing attack. If Gattis is really the next big up and coming OC, he will adapt and find ways to beat that pressure.
First step is get Shea to hold onto the damn ball.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:49 PM ^
Michigan's rushing game was less explosive than a team that ran 29 fullback dives.
5 years into Harbaugh's tenure and this sentence was written after the 2nd game of the 3rd OC in 3 years.
I honestly don't understand how anyone can have any faith in Jim anymore. Dude is finished. Everyone has figured him out. Freaking Army figured out his offense - and this was only the 2nd game with his new OC. All we heard about what speed in space and a fresh offense. And freaking Army knew what was coming by the 2nd quarter of the 2nd game
Freaking pathetic.
How much more do you need to see to believe the guy is the most overrated HC in the country?
He is regressing to the 60s instead of progressing with the rest of the damn country.
September 10th, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
Thanks Mr. Valenti!
September 10th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
User name checks out...
September 10th, 2019 at 1:15 PM ^
“First OC in 5 years” fify.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:19 PM ^
The fuck else do you want Harbaugh to do? Everyone wanted a new OC that would run a modernized system. Harbaugh went out and got one. And gave him the keys. Results could be better so far but I'm not going to put that squarely on Harbaugh's head, or use it as evidence that he's 'regressed to the 60s.'
Growing pains are to be expected, and guess what! We have them! Maybe let's see how things play out as the season progresses before we throw the offense (and coaches) into the dumpster.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:37 PM ^
The fuck else do you want Harbaugh to do?
Stop interfering in the play calling. Drevno, Pep, and now Gattis - they all just happened to run the same bullshit offense? Or is it Harbaugh taking away the keys? I think the answer is clear there.
Harbaugh went out and got one. And gave him the keys.
And took away the keys in the 2nd quarter of the 2nd game.
Results could be better so far but I'm not going to put that squarely on Harbaugh's head,
Who else does it fall on? Jim is the head man. Top 5 highest-paid coaches in the country. Why does he get a pass?
use it as evidence that he's 'regressed to the 60s.'
Did you read the sentence I pulled from the post? They were less explosive than the team who ran 30 FB dives. I mean come on - take the rose-colored glasses off for just a minute.
Growing pains are to be expected,
Maryland - No growing pains
LSU - no growing pains
Alabama (new OC almost every year) - no growing pains
Sorry - Jim doesn't get a pass.
Maybe let's see how things play out as the season progresses before we throw the offense (and coaches) into the dumpster.
Jim's going on his 5 year - if he could figure it out, he would have already. He can't. I don't need to see how this season progresses - we already know. It's the same shit from 2017, same shit from 2018. He is going to get his ass blown out against any team with a pulse this year. Jim can't hang anymore.
He isn't Urban. He isn't Saban. He isn't Dabo. Jim is a tad better version of James Franklin. And at least Franklin has won a title.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:48 PM ^
You have no actual proof that Harbaugh "interfered" with the playcalling. Coaches can read the situation and come to the conclusion, along with the head coach, that the best way to win a game is to follow a more conservative play style in particular situations. I know it's fun to rant and rave about some grand conspiracy, but you're also the person who consistently believes every OC is an idiot so apparently Harbaugh is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
September 10th, 2019 at 5:04 PM ^
You have no actual proof that Harbaugh "interfered" with the playcalling.
Except what my eyes are seeing.
Coaches can read the situation and come to the conclusion, along with the head coach, that the best way to win a game is to follow a more conservative play style in particular situations.
Weird how Michigan seems to read every single situation the exact same and decides that turtling is the best course of action to win games. They have so many B1G East titles to show for it too! And it's super cool how 3 straight OCs have all decided that running into 9-10 man boxes 30 times a game is a really great plan of action. Weird how that works.
ou're also the person who consistently believes every OC is an idiot so apparently Harbaugh is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
Well, it's either 3 straight OCs from varied backgrounds all just happen to call the same plays in the same situations year after year after year, or the 1 constant, JH, is the issue.
I guess I don't recall being "the person who consistently believes every OC is an idiot" - but in all honesty, someone is. It's either that JH finds OCs that are this fucking stupid or JH merely hires OCs to be figure-heads and JH actually takes over and calls the plays when he feels like it is necessary. And whoever is the one actually calling in the plays is really fucking stupid.
September 11th, 2019 at 2:05 AM ^
DB...is that you?
September 10th, 2019 at 2:01 PM ^
Well, he kinda gave the reigns to an unproven OC who has never called a single play prior to this season. Growing pains are bound to happen with any new OC and his philosophy, but this decision compounded the problem.
BTW, the offense was in the dumpster all game vs Army.
September 11th, 2019 at 8:59 AM ^
" The fuck else do you want Harbaugh to do? "
Exactly what he did with the defense.
September 10th, 2019 at 1:38 PM ^
Army didn't figure anything out they play the same way they play every game.
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