Michigan offense still a work in progress
The Wolverines eeked out a 16-6 win over Miami (OH). While it wasn’t pretty there were some good signs for an offense that is incredibly young and inexperienced. How young and inexperienced?
>The left tackle had a grand total of 15 appearances and 1 start before going out with an injury. He was replaced by a walk-on who had very limited appearances in 2 games prior to Saturday.
>The left guard played in 8 contests and had 1 start prior to Saturday.
>The center played in 8 games and had 1 start prior to Saturday.
>Steve Schilling is the one solidly experienced player having started in 14 games for Michigan.
>Both wide receivers are true freshmen who were playing in only their 2nd collegiate football game.
>The starting QB was making his 1st start and was playing in only his 2nd game.
>The starting running back is a true freshman playing in his 2nd contest.
The struggles during the game against Utah aren’t a complete shock given the lack of proven talent on offense. The good news is there were some obvious improvements in the game against Miami(OH). With that being said the offense struggled persistently during the second and third quarters [6 drives, 24 plays, 77 yards, 0 points] and they are likely to go through those stretches in a lot of games this year. However once the offense does get going on a more consistent basis it is going to be a lot of fun to watch. Michigan’s first play of the game was a screen pass that covered 50 yards. The first touchdown came on an option play.
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Steve Threet looks like the best QB. He was given the lion’s share of the snaps and he was good at most of what he was asked to do, including run with the football. Rich Rodriguez noted that Miami struggled to contain a mobile QB in their game against Vanderbilt and that’s exactly what happened yesterday, with Threet waltzing into the endzone untouched on Michigan’s first score. The area where he still needs the most work is on his long throws. He had wide open receivers he just couldn’t hit downfield. Those are the types of things coaches are talking about when they talk about “executing”. If Threet starts completing those passes the offense will begin to resemble a real offense and not one of the Pop Warner variety.
The Wolverines had scoring chances on each of their first three drives, and only one of them was the result of a short field. The first drive covered 77 yards and resulted in Threet’s TD run, the second [which started on the Miami 35] in a FG and the third [which started at the Michigan 19] in a missed FG. But when forced to repeatedly cover alot of distance the offense would misfire and be forced to punt. The thing I liked is two of the first three drives had a few solid plays, covered some distance and gave Michigan chances to put points on the board. Given the youth, inexperience, and very thin o-line [left tackle Mark Ortmann went out during the second half] it’s to be expected the offense will look good one drive then like complete garbage the next drive…or four. The thing to watch is to see if they can start to cut down on the number of bad drives that are the result of having so many young players all trying to do their jobs in concert so that the play can be successful.
I think the QB rotation worked better this game than it did in the Utah game. My sense is Threet needs more live reps as the starter in order to get settled and start hitting those vertical routes. Once that starts happening the Wolverine offense will have a home run capability that will really make teams think twice about leaving their corners on an island in tight man coverage in order to try and shut down the run or screen passes. Nick Sheridan had a solid drive late in the contest that was capped with a Brandon Minor 15 yard touchdown run. Another good sign is that it was a drive that started at the Michigan 13 yard line.
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Sam McGuffie had a nice game. It is good to see a Michigan running back actually be able to get outside, turn the corner and pick up positive yardage. That hasn’t happened in forever. Overall the Wolverines rushed for 178 yards, which is still pretty impressive even if it was against the Red Hawks. Michael Shaw looks like he’ll be a very good running back but he left the game with a leg injury. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious.
What is it with the punters for the teams Michigan plays? That Miami punter was just launching punts and always gave Michigan crappy field position. I like the basic instincts Donovan Warren shows on punt returns as far as trying to head upfield rather than run east west, but he hasn’t done anything of note just yet in returning punts. Maybe if Michigan faces a mortal punter he’ll start to look a little better. But his instincts look good. Boubacar Cissoko looks dangerous on the kick return team so that should be a big help for the offense.
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Michigan’s secondary is a bit over-rated. Stevie Brown still struggles way too much. He’s just not a particularly good safety, but maybe that will change someday. Overall there were several missed tackles when Miami would throw a 5 yard completion on 3rd and 7 and then the receiver would pick up an additional 5 yards to pick up a first down. The Wolverines really need to work on their tackling. With that being said Donovan Warren has been sensational in coverage. He has the makings of being an All-American. With the game still in doubt late the Miami QB threw a pass to one of his players along the sideline that would have put the Hawks in scoring rage. Warren quickly ran to the sideline, perfectly timed his jump to breakup the pass, and nearly intercepted the pass as he fell out of bounds. Brandon Harrison also had a perfect pass breakup on a pass that otherwise would have resulted in a Miami (OH) touchdown. The Red Hawks were forced to settle for a field goal to make the score 10-6 Michigan. If not for that play the game would have been tied at 10.
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The changes at linebacker seemed to be pretty effective as the Wolverines started Obi Ezeh, John Thompson and Jonas Mouton. The coaches deserve credit for getting that straightened out, as Austin Panter and Marell Evans both struggled in the Utah game. Michigan’s defensive line continues to look impressive as they’ve got a really solid mix of older experienced guys and young guys who all have a ton of natural talent. With the secondary not looking quite as good as expected it is going to be important for the D-line to generate pressure and for defensive coordinator Scott Shafer to blitz to sustain pressure on quarterbacks. You don’t want to leave too many of those DBs in coverage for very long.
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I fully expect the offense to struggle quite a bit in their first road contest next weekend when they play Notre Dame. The question is whether the run game will continue to be effective or will look like it did in the game against Utah. San Diego State averaged just over 4.7 yards per rush so there’s hope Michigan can get the run game going against Notre Dame. I don’t expect much from the pass game; if Threet couldn’t hit wide-open receivers at home against Miami then will he on the road against the Irish? But I feel confident Michigan’s defense will play better than San Diego State did and the Aztecs held Notre Dame to 10 drives of four or fewer plays and only two drives of 70 or more yards. miami Michigan Football notre dame ohio
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