Michigan 38 Maryland 7
There is a difference between suggestions and decisions. In a mismatch between surging Michigan and a Maryland squad patched together with freshmen and transfers, the preseason beef between last year’s Alabama co-offensive coordinators Josh Gattis and Mike Locksley was mana for the narrative gods.
Steve Levy and Brian Griese grasped for every storyline they could to stave off the yawning. Before the opening kickoff, which Giles Jackson returned for a 97-yard touchdown, they called Maryland RB Anthony McFarland the most explosive player on the field. When Josh Uche ended the first Terp drive with a sack, and Michigan staked itself to a quick 14-0 lead with orbit motions, fullback blocks, and a direct snap to Zach Charbonnet, it was all about how shaky Shea Patterson was looking again. When a solid Maryland drive ended in a redzone interception because Josh Jackson had an unblocked Mike Danna in his chest, the ABC crew switched to yardage. When Michigan stuffed Maryland’s next long drive and Locksley decided to kick a field goal (missed), it was all about what could have been if these trips had resulted in points. When the second half opened with three passes that Michigan defensive backs had a better chance of catching than any Terrapin, they quoted Harbaugh’s boilerplate “we can’t let up” halftime interview.
How do you do? Jackson took the opening kickoff to the house, and for a second there it looked like he was getting a second [Sherman]
When Mike Locksley chose to punt on 4th and short on his 33 after having success all afternoon at running up the middle (and nothing else), they put up a time of possession graphic. And when Michigan responded with a drive that was mostly wide receiver screens to Ronnie Bell, capped off with a play-action touchdown pass to Nick Eubanks off the arc/split zone action Michigan stuck with as the basis of their run game, unless you were charting performance things to predict future events, the nap was on. Gattis’s suggestions for using Michigan’s passing game to open up space for the run game were well-taken.
One chuck, 54 yards, and put it away [Paul Sherman]
Since we are the charting type, Shea’s 6.9 YPA day against a bad Maryland defense looked concerning, especially since Bell’s screens and the one (1) bomb to Nico Collins before McCaff Time are likely to be offset by a slew of high chucks and too-late reads. A few that stand out were a pair of too-high throws to Nick Eubanks and Nico Collins, the latter of which a fade on which an “open” Nico could only try to spear it with one hand, and a low throw that Tarik Black had to dig out short of the sticks.
That set up one of several fourth and short decisions by Harbaugh, this one a fake punt that upback Michael Barrett burrowed into a first down and more. After that the easy bubble (and one orbit screen that was actually thrown!) yards loosened up the small but quick Maryland OLBs, and the Michigan fans who made up at least a third of that half-filled stadium got a few long, audible “Tru!” cheers in before Hassan Haskins got to walk in untouched for the final score.
DPJ was chopped down early but the threat opened up the run game [Sherman]
Locksley’s offense on the other hand failed to score a single point for their homecoming fans—their lone touchdown coming on Javon Leake’s late 97-yard kickoff return. Fellow onetime Terrapin assistant Don Brown’s defense gave up just 233 yards, most of them after the game was long-decided. Michigan’s line alternated between its 3-3-5 look and base 4-2-5 to take advantage of a young, small, and beat up Maryland offensive line, not to mention their injured/clearly shaken quarterback Josh Jackson, who finished 9/20 for under 100 yards. About the only thing that worked was previously unscouted fifth-string quarterback Lance LeGendre, who rushed for 39 difficult-to-defend-looking yards on plays designed to stretch the defense horizontally.
The dudes were the dudes: Uche (two), Aiden Hutchinson, Carlo Kemp, and Khaleke Hudson all got on the sack sheet, and Josh Metellus picked up a pair of TFLs on attempts to beat him to the edge. While Maryland was able to move the ball by pushing piles in the first quarter, that seemed a credit to their backs, unless you’re suddenly concerned about Kwity Paye leaking yardage.
Maryland is bad, and the Michigan machine that leveled Notre Dame and deserved a win for its comeback at Penn State looked as sleepy as the rest of us. It was still more than enough for a comfortable win over a team with a bit of talent that apparently saved a lot of their best stuff for this punch. The Wolverines—and those of us who write about them—now get a much-needed bye week before a final stretch of Michigan State, a dangerous trip to Indiana, and those other guys the announcers couldn’t stop talking about.
Boxscore: LINK
November 2nd, 2019 at 6:38 PM ^
Yeah the announcing was annoying- like they were trying to raise the dead turtles with more and more praise. And all they could muster when they talked about Michigan’s talented receiving core was- had disappointed so far. Like they really didn’t do much research about Michigan at all. Then they went off the rails while the rout was really on- they completely stopped announcing any plays during one of Michigan’s drives in the third quarter.
Good win- got out of there with hopefully only minor nics and dings and can get healthy for Sparty.
DCaff didn’t look too impressive. Shea still looks shaky but it is what it is. Looked like a pretty vanilla game. Please open things up against Sparty and crush their soul finally.
Go Blue!
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:06 PM ^
Ironically, there was an OP earlier this week praising the announcer crew.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:19 PM ^
The announcers were fine, I have no idea what the bitching is about.
They tried to make it an interesting game by talking up the underdog, and then spent some time trying to make it seem like a close game, and finally started using some of the filler to pass the time when it became non-competitive. That's all right out of announcing a body bag game 101.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
Yeah everyone bitches about announcing. It's a brutal job. There's like maybe 3 guys at most that everyone likes. I don't let it bother me. They have to basically go stream of consciousness to fill 3 hours.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
Bitching about commentators and refs is a rite of passage for most fans. I don’t really get it unless it’s John O’neill, TV Ted or Beth Mowins, then fire away.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:33 PM ^
You would say that Mr. Griese
November 3rd, 2019 at 8:44 AM ^
I usually don’t complain about the announcers so much and I realize this turned into a sleepwalker in the first quarter but then all the non football stuff was coming and especially during a nice drive by Michigan. Might as well have muted the tv. And hates that it was negativity toward Michigan in general and how they’ve disappointed and how maryland has such promise. It’s like Scott frost bragging that his team hit harder after getting blown out.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
I didn't mind them. I appreciated that they were counterpunting so I could ride their narratives to punt on crafting my own for a game that didn't have one except Maryland is bad at football and Michigan isn't.
November 2nd, 2019 at 10:14 PM ^
Seth what did you see from Maryland's blitz schemes? I thought they actually dialed up some stuff that seemed to work.
November 3rd, 2019 at 2:59 PM ^
Honestly I found enough to talk about for Sharpies before I got too far into the game so I've only done a partial re-watch so far
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:44 PM ^
I feel like they spent the whole second quarter talking about Locksley. That was brutal.
November 3rd, 2019 at 5:47 AM ^
As I commented in another thread, Brian Griese didn’t get where he is because of his looks or his brains. And sadly, he seemed disposed to dump on Jimmy, too.
I respect former players, but to expect they’re any less hysterical or given to the media’s echo chamber. . . probably, many times, a mistake.
November 3rd, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
The announcers grasped that they were calling a game that should not be a national game on ABC. It was more suited for BTN overflow.
So they felt they had to grasp at anything that could hold people's attention and make them feel that it was still a game at 21-0.
They knew better, but what else could they do? I'm sure they are no more happy with what they had to spew then we were. But you do it and move on.
I would not read too much into it. It was a B-team of announcers calling a C-level game.
November 2nd, 2019 at 6:45 PM ^
Strangely underwhelming, yet delightfully fulfilling. Enough with the Hokey business. Harbaugh beats the teams he is supposed to beat and competes with the ones that are "big" games (for the most part). You had no idea what you were going to have week to week with Hoke teams. One week you would lose to Maryland, the next have -47 yards to MSU, and then well, you get the point. I will take the current staff over that misery any day.
Also, to say Hoke ever did anything good is a fallacy. Under Rich Rod, they won 3, 5, and 7 games. Then Hoke came in (with RR's players) and won 11, 8, 7, 5. One was going up and the other down. Harbaugh comes in and wins 10, 10, 8, 10. CAN'T YOU ALL JUST BE HAPPY!?
November 2nd, 2019 at 6:46 PM ^
Homecoming
If my math is right and Michigan fans were 1/3 of a half empty stadium, only 1/3 of the seats were filled with Maryland fans for their homecoming.
And, the stadium looked as big as a large high school stadium.
Going to hard to pay their players with the new rules.
November 3rd, 2019 at 7:47 AM ^
Doesn't Maryland have strong ties to UnderArmor? If UA wants to prop the up ala Nike and Oregon, then they've got an in.
November 3rd, 2019 at 9:58 AM ^
UA is a business, not a charity. They’re not going to spend money polishing a turd-le.
November 3rd, 2019 at 12:37 PM ^
UA does contribute to MD sports. But they are not Nike and are in a bit of financial trouble at the moment. There is a limit to what they can do. They cannot replicate what Nike does.
November 3rd, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
The game competed with the annual Maryland malaise by November, disillusionment with the fall off after their early season hype, an expected blowout by Michigan, and the Washington Nationals World Series victory parade.
The Michigan turnout always fills a third of their stadium, but I was surprised that the Maryland turnout was actually as good as it was. I've seen it a lot worse.
November 2nd, 2019 at 6:47 PM ^
Wow what the shit was that today ? This game plan was terrible. Such a disappointment from last two games. The Gattis inside zone and spread stuff just absolutely sucks. Why did we do this ? Weird
And stop blaming Shea for a shit called game and WRs that are sleeping-walking routes and blocking assignments. Shea completed 60% of the passes called and ran the game plan with no flaws. Please stop blaming Shea for a crap game plan ... it is just a wrong assessment.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:28 PM ^
Still saving the pepcat flea flicker for OSU.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:42 PM ^
Nice win but our deep shots are rarely if ever the streaking open kind. Every long ball is contested 50/50 or to the sidelines where the WR doesn't have room or space to catch and run. I remember Tarik Black getting separation on verticals many times in past years. Same with DPJ and Collins. It just hasn't happened in this offense which is weird because I saw a lot of juke type stuff being practiced in the spring and I immediately became excited for speed in space.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:43 PM ^
No flaws? He missed many reads and virtually every throw was inaccurate. Michigan fans don't know what a competent QB looks like
November 3rd, 2019 at 7:54 AM ^
No kidding. I'm not sure what game the people saying Patterson played with "no flaws" were watching. 60% completions against a weak defense is not that good in this day and age, and his YPA was unimpressive, especially given that 80 of his yards came on just 2 plays.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:39 PM ^
and may I say to Notre Dame. Thank you for winning, does make us look better. VaTech not a bad team.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:43 PM ^
A very meh 31 point win.
November 3rd, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
Beats the glorious impressive loss by mere inches at Penn State.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:55 PM ^
Cool to see Lance Legendre get in.
I can't be mad about a big win. Only thing I wanted to see is more backups on defense. Where is Mazi? But Brown is obsessed with shutouts so I guess I sort of get it.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:44 PM ^
Should change his name to Lance Legend but then he would sound like a gay porn star
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:57 PM ^
Seth, you'll have to revoke your Jewish membership for misspelling manna.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:49 PM ^
Sephardic transliteration, suck it. Also I've saved a lot of magic kingdoms.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:34 PM ^
I know I’m late in posting, but I like your summary Seth. I’m not concerned about this offense at all considering the opponent. JH did not need to do more than was just necessary for this win and escape with no injuries.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:40 PM ^
Wonder if they went back to some of the Gattis running concepts to work on those some more, knowing they need to rep it and knowing they’d beat Maryland.
November 3rd, 2019 at 8:25 AM ^
I hope that was the thinking! :-)
November 3rd, 2019 at 9:06 AM ^
That was what I was thinking as well. It was an opportunity to wrinkle out some flaws in the zone running game and give Shea some passing reps. The discouraging part was Shea didn't look too good even in a low pressure situation.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:42 PM ^
Well done, dudes and guys.
Go Blue.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:59 PM ^
The first half actually looked a lot like the Army game: U-M slamming straight ahead no matter what the numbers were, the opponent driving 4 yards at a time. The difference was Michigan wasn’t the one making mistakes this time.
U-M runs a *lot* of plays where they’re not even trying to take advantage of the defense's alignment or approach. It’s like a game-long 4-minute offense.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:26 PM ^
This was an offensive coaching stinker. Whoever called the ND game needs to call the remainder of the season.
November 3rd, 2019 at 1:03 PM ^
Maybe if you keep repeating the same fucking drivel hot take, in every thread, they’ll listen you, Mongo! Or, maybe, they’ll do like everyone else and realize that you’re a fucking moron and should be ignored.
November 3rd, 2019 at 2:01 PM ^
Thank you for this Sten!
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:31 PM ^
The sideline reporter mentioned Shea thinks if we run the table we could make the playoffs. This was mocked by the announcers. Is it possible? Obviously it would include a victory over THEosu. But 2 loses and no B1G title.
Also (since I'm typing), why did Maryland start at the 30 after a touchback kickoff? (At 14-0) No one said anything. Did I miss something?
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:41 PM ^
“Shea thinks if we run the table we could make the playoffs”
I’m going to assume this is just Shea being an optimistic leader trying to maintain team intensity as opposed to really believing it’s remotely likely.
November 2nd, 2019 at 10:04 PM ^
M was called offsides on kickoff Md took the 5 tacked onto the touchback
November 2nd, 2019 at 10:18 PM ^
Thanks
November 2nd, 2019 at 10:13 PM ^
The broadcast was very much slanted toward Maryland. At one point, they even said that Maryland wasn’t trying to win - they just wanted to make progress (Defeat with Dignity anyone?). A lot of justifications and rationalizations. Maybe Griese feels like he can’t say too many nice things about his school?
And they didn’t say McFarland was the most explosive player on the field for either team. They said he was the BEST player on the field for either team.
November 2nd, 2019 at 10:55 PM ^
Griese got defensive in a surprising moment where I just happened to be in front of the TV or it would have been blink and missed it.. where he said the story never changed. it's always been beat OSU, get to the Rose Bowl.
November 3rd, 2019 at 9:58 AM ^
Griese went on for awhile about not winning a Big Ten title since 2004 but didn't mention that the rules have changed. A lot of our conference titles were shared. Under the old rules, Michigan, OSU and Northwestern would have been co-champs last year.
November 3rd, 2019 at 10:11 AM ^
And such points generally get used as a slam against not just Michigan in general but an implied slam against Harbaugh.
November 3rd, 2019 at 10:11 AM ^
And such points generally get used as a slam against not just Michigan in general but an implied slam against Harbaugh.
November 2nd, 2019 at 10:36 PM ^
OT but totes ON topic of things Michigan & joyous: my niece went to the hospital — in the 4th quarter — to have the first grandbaby in the family. It's a girl! I'm an aunt! Uncle!
My niece & her hubby may not be taking name suggestions but just in case, I'll recommend Harbs. Or maybe Jamie. Or Dawn?
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