anything else on [FS1 screencap]

Indiana 38, Michigan 21 Comment Count

Ace November 7th, 2020 at 4:00 PM

1. Indiana had 254 passing yards—at halftime. Michael Penix Jr. completed nine passes of 15+ yards on the day.

2. Michigan's defense committed offside penalties on two Indiana touchdowns and at least three other plays, I lost count and so did the live stats.

3. The Hoosiers entered this game 6-for-23 on third down conversions in 2020. They were 9-for-17 this afternoon before kneeling out the clock.

4. IU beat U-M by one more point than they beat Rutgers last week.

5. U-M last lost to IU by double digits in 1959.

6. Ty Fryfogle set a career high with 142 receiving yards and a touchdown on seven receptions.

7. With sacks removed, U-M rushed for 33 yards on 15 carries (2.2 YPC). IU's previous two opponents, Penn State and (once more, for emphasis) Rutgers, ran for 414 yards on 80 carries (5.2 YPC).

8. Iowa beat Michigan State 49-7 this afternoon. The Hawkeyes entered that game 0-2 with losses to Purdue and Northwestern. I don't need to remind you what happened last weekend.

9. This screencap:

10. Jim Harbaugh had a 20-4 record at Michigan heading into the 2016 Ohio State game. He's 28-16 since.

11. The Wolverines are 10-8 dating back to the 2018 OSU game. The margins in those eight losses have been 29, 26, 23, 21, 19, 17, seven, and three points.

Jim Harbaugh, Josh Gattis, and Don Brown need to turn the season around in a way that's hard to foresee right now to avoid facing some very difficult questions about their ability to run this program.

Comments

Minent Domain

November 7th, 2020 at 6:31 PM ^

Do we really have any way of knowing that Minnesota was JG and the last two games were JH? I don't. It seems to me that the credit/blame should go around equally. Not intended to be an excuse for JH, just that I don't see why Gattis gets credit as a great potential coach based on his record here.

mitchewr

November 7th, 2020 at 8:09 PM ^

I believe most are making this inference based on the type of play calls.

The Minnesota Game: speed in space, actual RPOs with QB reads and stealing plenty of yards on the keeper, screen passes, etc. 
 

The MSU & Indiana Game: run up the middle, run up the middle, pass, punt over and over and over and over again except for a few times where they just throw three 30 yard bombs ina down and still end up punting. The play calling the last two games has Harbaugh written all over it. 

Minent Domain

November 8th, 2020 at 2:01 PM ^

The difference is obvious, I'm just questioning why people think that Harbaugh allowed Gattis to call one game and not the last two, even when they weren't going well. I have to believe that there's shared responsibility, good and bad there.

Eschstreetalum

November 7th, 2020 at 4:28 PM ^

We need a young up and comer with fire in his belly. Harbaugh doesn’t have it.  Maybe PJ Fleck? I know they suck this year, but they were great last year and that dude is fired up about his players. Maybe UM is all he needs. Remember What Lou Holtz did after he left Notre Dame. 

blue95

November 7th, 2020 at 4:28 PM ^

It's a systemic problem.

First, everybody cheats in some ways, know it, understand it, accept it.

However, Michigan is too fucking noble and pure of heart to cheat in the ways necessary to attract top talent that can win.  Period!

That's why Michigan will never be a championship program.  No coaching change alone can fix that.

maizenbluenc

November 7th, 2020 at 4:29 PM ^

This is feeling like those seasons where we won the non-conference games, and then lost all the B1G games, except there weren't any non-conference games.

I was thinking 3-4 losses given all our holes and an unproven QB. Now it is hard to see 3 wins.

Hannibal.

November 7th, 2020 at 4:29 PM ^

8 quarters now without a sack.  82 passing attempts, many of them with blitzers, and not one single sack.  What a huge bust our defensive playmakers have turned out to be this year. 

OSUMC Wolverine

November 7th, 2020 at 4:31 PM ^

this coaching staff has effectively run this program. im tired of people saying this program has no direction. it most certainly has diection. straight down. no discipline. no tougjhness. 

i wonder what Indiana's coaching staff could do with michogans roster. i bet they could find a way to be competitive 

 

Hannibal.

November 7th, 2020 at 4:35 PM ^

Our defense is so shitty that nobody has had time to point out how shitty our return game is.  Giles Jackson reminds me of our 2008 special teams and Martavius Odoms. 

 

Boneheaded Special Teams is another hallmark of a poorly coached team.  I have never seen a bad coach with good special teams.  RichRod's were garbage, Hoke's were garbage, Harbaugh's were good for a year or two, but now they are terrible again. 

ckersh74

November 7th, 2020 at 4:36 PM ^

Warde won't fire Harbaugh, short of a major off-the-field fiasco. 

However, I wouldn't put it past Harbaugh to step down after the season if this thing really crates to 2-7 levels, especially of there's a historic ass-hammering at the hands of OSU, something like 77-10 or so. At this point, I'm not ruling that possibility out, by a long shot. 

Cliff Keen

November 7th, 2020 at 4:38 PM ^

Most would think that Donald Trump and Jim Harbaugh had bad days today.  But neither did.  Trump thinks he still won the election and Harbaugh thinks nothing is wrong.

CompleteLunacy

November 7th, 2020 at 4:42 PM ^

Last week now looks like the beginning of the end. Unless they magically turn around and go undefeated the rest of the year, it’s over. This is not the same Michigan since even last year. IU is good but not THAT good. The MSu loss in retrospect is even more unforgivable than it seemed in the moment. I just didn’t expect a Harbaugh coaches team to look completely unprepared and undisciplined like that. Glaring weaknesses, roster issues, sure. But these last two weeks go WELL beyond that. This looks like a team that doesn’t even care (I know that’s feelingsball, but however you explain it they lacked fire). So why should I care?

Dave B

November 7th, 2020 at 4:50 PM ^

I paid attention during the first quarter, then basically didn’t look at the TV for more than a second here or there after. Put some music on the headphones and spent the rest of the game reading my joyous Twitter timeline.

That’s the quickest I’ve checked out of a Michigan game in 40+ years of being a fan. I’m at the Hoke phase now. I can’t stand seeing the coaches on the sideline. I’ll always turn the games on, but, this year especially, won’t be sticking around to watch a tire fire. 

mitchewr

November 7th, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^

Ace, you’re entirely delusional if you think for even one second that Harbaugh is even remotely capable of turning this around.

They should’ve been fired before they left Hoisier stadium today. 

Perkis-Size Me

November 7th, 2020 at 5:19 PM ^

That 2016 OSU game was Harbaugh’s crossroads for his program. Harbaugh was Harbaugh in those days. Fiery, passionate, and just willing to do whatever it took to get Michigan to where it needed to be. He just seemed so full of life. 

Had he won that game, I think this program is in a far different place today than it is right now. But that game broke him, and while it seemed like he might’ve made a resurgence in 2018, OSU reminded us that was all a mirage. 

I have no inside knowledge here, this is strictly speculation on my part, but I just think Harbaugh is going through the motions at this point. He just seems so lifeless compared to how he was in 2015-16. And that rubs off on the team.