Penn State @ Michigan, Post Game Discussion

[Rocky Bleier]

I waited for the injury as soon as Griese said that Michigan was healthy. Losing Clark will hurt. Teams threw at Stribling. Still don't trust Speight. Too many missed throws. We'll see if they're real next week.


I wonder if those "journalists" still think Frankin is better than Harbaugh? King James, my ass!

[The Oracle]

Stribling is better than Clark, IMO. Still gonna really hurt. Still don't know if the staff had Clark pegged for S after Lewis' return or 3rd CB. That's an area of depth though, so hopefully we'll be okay.

[jaadam4]

Well said Penn State writers.

Would you rather have James Franklin or Jim Harbaugh as Penn State's head coach?: 50-Yard Lion roundtable
https://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefo..._penn_sta.html

Is this a friggin joke?

[Pasadena Blue]

Clark was PFF's #2 rated CB so far this year... He was probably the only DB playing consistently this year ... Sucks big time both for him and the team. Guess we will find what D Long and Lavert are made of.

[Mainevent]

Great Meeeeechigan win today, dominant defense, great running attack. Minor issues were the pressure on Speight with the blitzes (though there were several nice pickups particularly by Smith) and linked to that was the lack of anything really down the field. Granted, there wasn't really a need for them to take unnecessary chances but there were a few plays they wanted to take the shots and nothing was there.

Still, minor quibbles heading into what is now looking like a monster game next week.

[Tslisher]

Yeah, except for the 3rd quarter we looked totally dominant. l'll take 49-10 every day. Penn State is not very good, but great to see such a great effort and win. Ouch for the fact that we may have lost Clark, he was good and will be missed.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Concensus read is that Jeremy Clark is done for the season. In the post game presser, Harbaugh said as much. There's a simple test of the ACL that can be done anywhere. Anchor the foot flat on the ground, knee bent, lying flat on the back and put back and forth pressure on the joint. Normal movement is about 5mm. Suspect the trainers and Docs on the filed knew it was a torn ACL right away. MRI will confirm it. Repair these days is incredibly sophisticated and effective. Rehab to 100% takes 3-4 months. It's not necessarily career ending but these are hard to come back with mentally.

in the 4th, Hill and Long both played in replacement roles for Clark. What Clark was doing well was covering. That takes experience that Hill or Long don't have. We've already seen that when Lewis was out and Clark was playing CB. So, not good but also not a killer.

We saw today the huge difference in the D that having Lewis back brings to it. With him at CB and Clark playing S, Brown was able to be aggressive up front without a huge risk of getting burned that showed v. both UCF and CU with Lewis out, Clark at CB and Hill and Thomas playing S. Today, v. PSU, slants were dropped at the catch for minimal gain, screens got blown up, Barkley had a couple of nice runs when he got to the second level but otherwise, meh. With Clark out, we may see a slight downgrade.

The talk of a sixth year for Clark is interesting but not likely due to the 6th year issues in the rules. He meets the criteria for a return season by all of the other criteria (M has to make the BT CG to get the game numbers right) but that one.

[WM Wolverine]

To meet the 6th year rule, you must miss two full seasons due to injury or 'out-of-your control.' Clark was just a redshirt in '12 not a medical redshirt, his career is over and yes, he was really impressive this season...

M played a lot of nickel with Lewis as the 'slot' corner and Clark & Stribling covering the wide-outs. Those three were terrific in coverage, not giving PSU anything quick before M's pressure got to McSorley.

[Jeff Buchanan]

...... M played a lot of nickel with Lewis as the 'slot' corner and Clark & Stribling covering the wide-outs. Those three were terrific in coverage, not giving PSU anything quick before M's pressure got to McSorley.

I think Wisky brings a different offensive philosophy than PSU's which is kinda spready. I think we'll see Brown continue to be aggressive up front and with his LBs but we might see a bit more zone out of his 1 and 2-hi nickle defense with Clark out. Not sure I like that but with Clark out, that's probably going to happen.

[WM Wolverine]

True. Against Wisconsin the loss of Clark won't be as apparent as against Indiana or Ohio State which is when you need at least 3 DB's who can cover, M has two.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, lets hope there is a huge learning curve in coverage for Hill/Thomas by the time IU and osu come along. I don't want Lewis going anywhere but CB. He is clearly shutting down half of the field for most OC's who appear to not want their QBs to throw his way.

[WingsFan]

Speight said at one point in the second half, the Wolverines called the same running play eight times in a row against the PSU defense.

[Rocky Bleier]

Some really nice field level video here on Michigan Replay:


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJwoBGdbBbA"]Inside Michigan Football Week 4 Penn State - YouTube[/ame]

[hack]

Clark is a big, big loss. Speight was inaccurate. Higdon was impressive, and it was good to see Evans do something too.

Was that Drake Harris getting some safety snaps early?

[WM Wolverine]

Khaleke Hudson & Josh Metellus both played a handful of snaps.