Colorado @ Michigan, Post Game Discussion.

[WingsFan]

In this case comedy = trolling, like looking for a rise. It is poking fun but my sense is that this particular team and Jim Harbaugh himself don't really joke around. Fairly serious about what they do. i.e., we'll see how funny Colrado thinks this is when the hitting starts.

Jim Harbaugh doesn't find Colorado amusing. Lots of talk about the 94 miracle, but Michigan has beaten them 2 times since that game 96-97.

[entropy]

that's called trying to prop up TV ratings. Every game has to have some type of underlining meaning or drama.

[Hannibal]

Jim Harbaugh doesn't find Colorado amusing. Lots of talk about the 94 miracle, but Michigan has beaten them 2 times since that game 96-97.

94: The Hail Mary
96: The Fail Mary
97: The Bloody Mary

[*JD*]

You must counter-balance this with some photos of your daughters.

[Jeff Buchanan]

It’s time ……. to tune up the DVR. I’m actually working a shift tomorrow but will be home by 4:30 and hoping the score is 67 to zip by the time I sit down to watch the game.

It won’t be.

I’ve scrubbed all the necessary stuff to save all of you from having to study it in the obsessive detail I do.

Key Points:

Wilton Speight is Chad Henne, without injury, playing at the end of his Junior year. Henne was so badly injured in his senior year he was a skeleton of his best efforts prior to that. Speight is not as good as Henne when he torched UF and helped Lloyd Carr beat that little shit, ufm, in Lloyd’s last game. All things point to Speight will be that good and soon. This is good. Note to self: Trust Harbaugh.

I got a kick out of this line from Brian at mgoblog (paraphrased), Harbaugh will pass on your face if you line up and stack the line or blitz on every down. See below why I think this is going to happen again.

Run blocking on the left side of the line is not good. Braden, who plays LG is not at 100% or he has missed so much practice time he just isn’t there yet. I’ll go with a combo of both in lesser degrees. The end result is that there is a reason why the run game v. UCF was pretty abysmal. Oh, and Grant Newsome (LT) ..... also not great in the run game, good to excellent as a pass blocker. So, expect one of two things; (1) there will be some offensive line reordering and M will rush for 300 yards v. Colorado or (2) M will have a marginally improved but not spectacular run game v. Colorado and Speight will pass for over 300 yards and toss 3 TDs. I’ll go with the door #2, Bob. Hannibal will be angry even though M will beat Colorado and not by a small amount.

So, if the left side of the OL is problematic add to that some things nobody, collectively, has liked about the defense: Edge integrity (or about 5 other things this is called) and easy bubble screens given up. UCF collected some nice gains of 15, 7y and on a flare route for 9. Brian thinks he knows why. It was UCF playing 11 v. 10 because the free S was never involved despite the fact he could have been. Another thing: Last season, Durkin used Pepper’s as a screen destroyer. Brown’s use of Peppers in that role or in the gray area (over the slot) was missing in this game.

On the edge thing: Taco will probably play. While Gary showed some ridiculous skills, according to what I’m reading, he is still a freshman making freshman mistakes. He’s eager. Too eager, and so were the rest of the DEs and sometimes the LBs, frequently running themselves out of the play instead of thinking, ok, maybe I should contain. If you people didn’t read the excellent post-game piece at mgoblog on what this term means, you are not allowed to yell it at the TV or from the stands if you are lucky enough to see the game live. It's complicated yet simple to understand. Read the article. Then you'll be informed and can yell all you want.

Nobody I’m reviewing thinks these two issues for the D (screens and contain) is a thing. Brian wonders if JH/DB just didn’t want to show something. One hopes that is true. If it is not true and Peppers continues to line up opposite the slot, like he did on a lot of plays last week (and I saw this from the stands and went WTF), or the edge is poorly defended, Colorado is going to abuse these weaknesses until Brown decides to correct it (side note: good test on how good Brown actually is in adjusting game to game because this is pretty obvious). Colorado is big on the short passing game because that is what their QB does and does well. As previously mentioned CU is #1 in the nation in (Connolly's) play efficiency. They'll move the chains and we will be grinding our teeth, throwing various objects about and yelling a lot. Don't worry. Like it is for all the spready teams that lack a powe run game, it gets hard inside the 20.

Question: Is M really that good at blocking punts and FGs or were those things just lucky outliers? First, Colorado is going to punt mainly because M’s DL is going to be disruptive to the short passing rhythm that CU’s QB has enjoyed getting into against DLs not a good as M’s. If it turns out M is good at blocking kicks, this game is going to be a blowout and if it is not really that good then …… Peppers. Don’t punt to him.

The best part of this game is that it is being played against a relatively weak opponent who, you can bet, will have seen what UCF did well and try to work it. The fun part, of course if it happens, will be to see if the run game improves and if M can get the job done against a better clone of UCFs spread to run offense.

M45, CU 13.

[WM Wolverine]

M's ability to contain the edge was mostly due to M's defenders making mental mistakes than the defensive scheme.

[whodean]

Dymonte.


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[Jeff Buchanan]

M's ability to contain the edge was mostly due to M's defenders making mental mistakes than the defensive scheme.

Correct ..... Re-reading my post, I may have conflated the two issues on the D that seemed to be consistently mentioned by observers as problems.

The success rate of the UCF screen game was seen by those commenting on it as Brown seemingly not using Peppers as a screen destroyer. This is how Durkin used him. He appears to wander about in Brown's scheme playing sometimes over the slot - the danger man or in the gray area for TEs on most screens - sometimes opposite the slot, sometimes as a true 4-3-4 LB.

"Contain" (and the five other things this is called including protecting the edge) was an issue, as you mention, of mental errors and those errors mostly involving being too aggressive. At some point, players with lane assignments have to realize, OK, I'm not going to bust this play for a loss. Now, lets just keep it from being a big play.

That 87 yard TD run was a perfect example of that. McCray had his sights on tackling the RB for a loss instead of forcing the RB inside (Contain or leverage) with a proper angle that protected the edge. He paid by not seeing the Force defender who easily locked on to him - legally BTW and not a hold per two observers; in the stands, I thought this was a hold and a missed call by the refs. On reviewing it, it wasn't. The Force defender then just rode McCray out of the play.

[The Oracle]

People were crying for a hold on the long run, but it was a good block.

[WM Wolverine]

McCray played that horribly, as did Dymonte.

[Detroit Dan]

Perhaps the defense is the bigger question mark for this Michigan team, in contrast to the pre-season expectations. I don't have any doubt that Michigan will move the ball tomorrow. The question is whether we will be able to shut down the Buffaloes. I'm optimistic, hoping that Taco and Jourdan will return, and we will contain.

[Detroit Dan]

Off Topic: Just watched Calvin Johnson's first dance on Dancing with the Stars. Right on the beat!

[Detroit Dan]

Calvin has a great demeanor. Doesn't act like a super-star. Very likeable.

[Detroit Dan]

Michigan 42 - Colorado 10

[WM Wolverine]

I think we'll see today the first test for this defense.