Penn State 42, Michigan 13 Comment Count

Ace



A matchup problem. [Patrick Barron]

Michigan has weaknesses that playoff teams lack. Tonight, those weaknesses were brutally exposed by a Penn State squad that sure looked like a playoff team themselves.

This game looked all but over in the opening five minutes. On the second play from scrimmage, future Heisman winner Saquon Barkley shifted over to quarterback, ran a read option with quarterback Trace McSorley acting as the running back, and gutted Michigan for a 69-yard touchdown. The Wolverines, on the other hand, went backwards on their opening possession, then watched as Barkley finished off a four-play, 78-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown off a speed option pitch. Michigan, again, had negative yardage on the following drive.

A miscommunication between McSorley and tight end Mike Gesicki resulted in a David Long interception that briefly gave the Wolverines new life. After marching down to the PSU three, it took four cracks for Karan Higdon to finally break the plane. Quinn Nordin, getting booed by a crowd that never forgets a slight, missed the extra point. Michigan's counterpunch brought the defense to life; Khaleke Hudson nearly picked off a screen pass in the end zone.

Also a matchup problem. [Eric Upchurch]

The teams traded punts until a flurry of action at the end of the half. First, an unlikely connection from John O'Korn to Kekoa Crawford set up a six-yard Ty Isaac touchdown to bring Michigan within a point. Then McSorley threw Penn State down the field in the blink of an eye before finishing the drive on a three-yard keeper.

While the Wolverines went into the half down only 21-13, the numbers were foreboding. PSU amassed 302 total yards in the first half, more than Michigan had allowed in a full game this season. The safeties, steady to this point, were exploited in space by Barkley and McSorley. The offense mustered only 141 yards on five fewer plays, still hampered by poor blocking and a lack of trust in the passing game.

Given all that, it probably shouldn't have surprised too many people when Penn State blew the game wide open in the second half. Issues new and old appeared on PSU's first possession of the half. Tyree Kinnel got dusted one-on-one by DaeSean Hamilton on a slant for 26 yards; Barkley dropped a big gain after easily beating Mike McCray on a wheel route; McSorley seemingly juked half the defense to find the end zone on a beautifully designed inverted veer that had Barkley motion before the snap, drawing much of the defense's attention. Just like that, PSU took a commanding 28-13 lead.



Once again, John O'Korn couldn't generate much in the passing game. [Upchurch]

From then on, it was a merciless beating. On offense, O'Korn was improved from last week's woeful outing but still only managed 5.9 yards per attempt. Any hopes of a comeback were dashed when cornerback Christian Campbell beat Karan Higdon around the edge and ripped the ball away from O'Korn. They were really dashed when Barkley toasted McCray in man coverage for a juggling 48-yard touchdown two plays later; McCray had no hope of keeping pace, yet the normally unassailable Don Brown kept allowing that matchup to play out. 

It was academic from there. McSorley added another rushing touchdown with 7:53 to play. Michigan's final possession ended in appropriately inept fashion. Facing fourth-and-nine, the coaches pulled right tackle Juwann Bushell-Beattly, who allowed consistent pressure, to insert Nolan Ulizio as an apparent pass-protection specialist. Before they could snap the ball, O'Korn took a delay of game. After the penalty, redshirt freshman backup Shaka Toney ran right around Mason Cole to sack O'Korn for the coup de gras.

Michigan can only fix so much this season. With the schedule letting up considerably over the next few week, they're likely to try some new patches, potentially including one fans have wanted for weeks. Quarterback Brandon Peters was warming up on the sideline before O'Korn ultimately took the field for M's last drive. Given how that drive played out, that was probably for the best. Now that the conference title is essentially out of reach and a top-ten defense isn't facing M's O-line, it's time to see what Peters has got. While that won't solve everything, it could be the spark this offense desperately needs.

Many of tonight's other issues will be taken care of for this year, at least, by not having to face Joe Moorhead and this Nittany Lions offense again.

They want Bama. They can have them.

Comments

bighouse22

October 22nd, 2017 at 8:52 AM ^

It's an amazing thing to watch, but the RR years and total change in offensive strategy really set the oline back.  This is the 3rd staff struggling to get the line where it needs to be.  The issue with this staff is finding good tackles.  I think the interior line will be fine. 

With Frey added to the staff, it's going to take time for the young offensive tackles to develop.  That's just how it is with tackles unless you get top notch 5* Alabama level tackles. 

If there is a recruiting failure this is it.  Let's hope Filliaga starts at one of the tackle positions next year.

SpilledMilk

October 22nd, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^

How RR has anything at all to do with this team currently. Are you suggesting that this is RR's fault because he tried to install a spread offense almost a decade ago? That's insane

mgoO

October 22nd, 2017 at 4:54 PM ^

I would gladly trade Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield for Mason Cole and JBB/Ulizio right about now.

Harbaugh is a good coach.  I think he will succeed here.  But if there were 2 areas that you would have expected he could fix it would be QB and OLine.  As of now they're the 2 worst units on the team.  That is a major problem and there are huge red flags as to whether they will be fixed even next year.

We have to replace Cole and have zero obvious solutions.  We still have no right tackle and MIGHT have solutions if there's development.

For the rest of this season, I would strongly endorse trying Bredeson at RT and moving Runyan to LG.  Ulizio/JBB are unplayable as it stands and if Bredeson can play RT it would greatly help for 2018.

Putt4Birdie

October 22nd, 2017 at 8:43 AM ^

The Amazon Series [ which was a Horrible idea by the way..] Will
Sell Millions of copies in East Lansing and Columbus.

I would have to say the
RE2SPECT is earned bullshit irritates me as well.

Hype and Catch-phrases have really
Worn out their welcome. We need to have a Truly Humble approach from here on out.

bighouse22

October 22nd, 2017 at 8:44 AM ^

Let's be fair to the staff and players.  This is a young team and just like Hoke the poor recruiting at key positions at the end of the RR years played out in year 3.  This team is in a similar situation and Harbaugh will need 4 full recruiting classes before we see what this turns into.  I can't say if this will be a National Championship Caliber team in year 4 or 5, but it does say something about the state of the program that it is taking longer than planned.

This is not a sky is falling scenario.  We will not lose to Maryland and Rutgers or send an obviously concussed QB back in the game.  People will not be calling for the AD to lose his job.  This will be a down year 8-5 team, but we will see improvement in years to come. 

Disappointing after the start of the year, but not necessarily a surprise.  Hoke's last 2 years of recruiting including the transition to Harbaugh were quite poor.  Harbaugh and staff have only had 2 full recruiting classes. 

It will get better.  Just going to take more time than we hoped.

Red Dragon

October 22nd, 2017 at 9:51 AM ^

I don't agree at all with the theory that Coach X needs 3-4 of HIS OWN recruiting classes to succeed. Look around the country and you'll see lots of examples to dispute this. I believe Dantonio would LOVE to have some of our kids, and he'd win with them.



I want Our coaches to succeed. Excuses are getting outdated. Microcosm of mistakes: Mcray assigned to cover Barkley, and a play action on 4 th and long.

Amaznbluedoc

October 22nd, 2017 at 10:46 AM ^

Well, that really depends on the coach and the system.  Watching PSU last night, demonstrated the principle of taking a few talented players, plugging them into a relatively simple offensive/defensive scheme, and then execute repeatedly.  CFB isn't the NFL and young players can be fooled, get out of position, miss blocks, blow coverage, etc.  That's part of the excitement.

Quite frankly, my criticisms of M this year have been directed more at the coaches.  As we've seen time and time again CFB and the NFL are different.  Some coaches do well in one league or another, but it is the rare individual who can have success in both.  Look at Nick Saban - two years as head coach at Miami and he turned around a loosing season to go 9-7 and then followed that with a 6-10 year.  His record at 'bama speaks for itself.  Consider the d-bag, Pete Caroll.  The cheater went 97-19 at USC, won two NC's, and his teams were always in the top 5 after a few disasterous years as a .500 baller as HC of NE.  Then he leaves and turns around the Seahawks winning multiple division championships, a superbowl and losing another.

JH has won in both leagues and the challenges at the collegiate level are numerous from recruitment, development, youth, academic and behavioral concerns.  He's hired a smack down defensive guru Don Brown and we've seen some really great things on defense (apart from last evening).  The other side of the ball has been a bit more difficult and in my opinion the problem has been in execution of an unnecessarily complex offense scheme.  Hopefully, JH will learn from his successes/failures and adjust accordingly.  I for one am not giving up and while I wish this season was different, a long term perspective is key.

Eyzwidopn

October 22nd, 2017 at 9:59 AM ^

It's looking/feeling like Coach Harbaugh's path to Michigan's NCs are going to go the route of Dabo Swinney... 4-5 years to rebuild and restore a sustainable, winning football culture.   
 
This team is young, talented, competitive, and hungry to win.  There's no reason to believe Coach Harbaugh won't continue to bring in the same mold of young men and coach them up to have success.  That being said, I think we all have to accept that the "structural" problems with this program run deeper than any quick 2-3 year fix due to 7+ pre-Harbaugh years of 1) program schizophrenia, 2) lack of player recruitment & development, 3) resting on laurels, 4) bad coaching, and 5) a culture of mediocrity that was allowed to develop. 
 
For all of the directionless madness pre-Harbaugh, this team, this program is on the right track now.  Holes are being filled through recruiting, competition reigns, and we have some of the best coaches in football, period.  They'll be a beast next year and even more feared the years that follow.  Can't wait... but we have to.
 

MBA77

October 22nd, 2017 at 11:44 AM ^

Comparing Harbaugh's situation to Swinney's is a false equivalency. Clemson is an ACC team, and the ACC is nowhere close to a powerful football conference. Wake Forest? BC? Dook? Pul-eeze.

No -- Michigan is in a different place than Clemson from an historical point of view. And I've watched Dabo and I've seen him inspire his players and I've seen him build something on the strength of his personality and leadership.

Harbaugh has't improved things in A² at all in three years. Michigan was and continues to be a mediocre team. If anything, things are worse because all of the Harbaugh hype raised peoples' expectations. And the program has fallen far short.

The difference between Dabo and Harbaugh is easy to see: When all is siad and done, more is said (Harbaugh) than done (Swinney).

Eyzwidopn

October 22nd, 2017 at 3:12 PM ^

The idea that the ACC with traditional powers Miami, Florida State, and yes Clemson, are not as strong as the top heavy B10 is "Pu-leeze." In the last 5 years, the ACC has two National Champions compared to the B10's one. The ACC has as many appearances in the CFP as the B10, so to say they are not as powerful as the B10 is also "Pu-leeze."

As far as your "false equivalency" claim, your opinion is based on your personal perception of Harbaugh, not fact, highlighted by your belief that Harbaugh doesn't inspire his players. Clearly you've decided to ignore the player's accounts to the contrary and your contention that Harbaugh has made things worse... despite all evidence to the contrary, just proves that your hurt feelings have overtaken your ability to be rationale.

You're entitled to your opinion but don't flatter yourself into thinking it's a basis to make a factual argument.

Carry on.

Fair_and_Balanced

October 22nd, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^

In his career at U of M, Bo Schembechler compiled a winning percentage of 79%.  After last night, Harbaugh is just less than 77%.  I think it's too early to panic.  Penn State has developed into a damned good team, and I'd like to see them beat OSU.  Michigan's time will come, IMHO.

 

Michifornia

October 22nd, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^

But they have a contender THIS year.  I believe the roles will be reversed next year.  Gonna take our lumps this year.  Can still make a good bowl and beating osu in the Big House will make most of this pain subside.  Looking forward.

GO BLUE!!

jgoblue11

October 22nd, 2017 at 10:50 AM ^

is it hard to fathom that Chesson, Darboh, Butt, Peppers and Speight were all a reason why our offense was so much better last year? Michigan simply does not have playmakers. it's not the coaching staffs fault. Harbaugh is not on the field making plays. Drevno is not running routs or blocking. Pep is not making passes. We simply do not have the talent this year, and other teams that we beat last year do. Simple. Ohio state is better, Penn state is better. We turned the ball over too much against Msu. I don't think they are better, more equal if anything (see IU game). Darboh and Jake Butt are severely missed. Speight is better than O'Korn. Stop pretending.

Amaznbluedoc

October 22nd, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^

Talent is a factor but executing with what you have is more important.  PSU has a stud RB, a decent qb, and one/two TE/WR's.  The rest of the team simply executes.  While we don't have a RB on the level of Barkley - who will probably win the Heisman, if our guys executed every down, the outcomes would be diffierent.

Boerwar

October 22nd, 2017 at 10:51 AM ^

O'Korn and Speight must go.  Neither handle pressure well, which results in the offense failing in tight games.  The team might as well give Peters or McCaffrey a chance.  The other thing they need to do is stop trying to cover RB's with McCray, he isn't fast enough.

These minor changes MIGHT make the offense more consistent, which would take the pressure off the defense.  This is a better than avaerage team that could be great with a few changes.

You know what they say about insanity.  I don't understand why this team keeps thinking that if they just give Speight or O'Korn just one more chance they will get better.

Amaznbluedoc

October 22nd, 2017 at 10:54 AM ^

Try getting squashed by angry defensive linemen, linebackers, and safeties and then come back to me about handling pressure.  While agree that Peters deserves a shot, I'm not the coach and JH has a lot more experience and knowledge than I.  Perhaps, you should shoot Jim an email with your insights?

Oldadguy

October 22nd, 2017 at 10:52 AM ^

It Dabo Swinney 7 years to get to a CFP and 8 to win it. It won’t take Jim that long but it’ll be more than 3 years with these recruiting gap years

Harbaugh soldier

October 22nd, 2017 at 11:12 AM ^

Harbaugh likely will go to NFL end of this year or next. You can see his enthusiasm has gone away during games, press conferences and interviews. It's like he's bored with college game or lost his competitive fire. Last year after losses and during the games he would go off on officials - people say new rules changed him but it's obvious he doesn't have that competitive fire this year. Think maybe Don Brown takes over or Drevno soon. Colts or Bears are coming soon.



Harbaugh will say he got Michiganback on radar and Brown and Drevno will finish what he started.

gmoney41

October 22nd, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^

Drevno??? Lol. That guy can't coach an offense or develop an oline, why would we want him at head coach. Don brown is a DC not a head coach. Truth is, if Harbaugh were to bail on us after this year or next, then we will never be back to where we should be. I would also lose any respect I have for the guy if he were to run away so quickly. I will agree that he doesn't look to have the fire like last year, but watching this team play, I can honestly say that I don't have the fire this year. I'm almost apathetic at this point of the season and that has rarely ever happened to me. Thank god im a huge soccer fan and my team Man City is incredible, otherwise, it would be a chore to watch sports right now. I expected 8-4 9-3 type of a season, but I didn't expect every game to be such an uninspired display of ineptitude. That is what is so depressing about us.

gmoney41

October 22nd, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^

I'm sorry but this whole rebuilding excuse is just that, an excuse. I have seen one performance in 7 games that is worthy of praise. Every other game has been an exercise in ineptitude. The defense has been great but was exposed last night. I think the biggest issue I have had with the coaching through the last 3 regime changes has been the complete inability to out scheme opponents. We used to be a team that would run the screen play or take an easy slant route and get production all day long. For all the talk about Harbaugh's great coaching ability, I have consistently seen a lack of imagination in playcalling. Take jabrill last year, we never saw him as a slot or really used creative ways to get him the ball. It was either wildcat or as a rb. It was all too predictable. It's like our coaches are trying to fill a round hole with a square peg. There were a number of plays last night where our guys had no chance to succeed. I think the issue for me is that we hear all the time about how amazing harbaugh is, but I see coaches all around the country that have less talent than us, less depth than us and they at least put their players in positions to get the most out of what they have. We seem to want to make things difficult and it's frustrating to watch. I think last night was one of maybe a handful of games in my 35 yr fandom that I have turned the shitshow off in the 3rd quarter and I can honestly say that I would have never thought that would occur when we hired Harbaugh. I guess I am surprised how similar to a Hoke team we resemble right now and it's very disconcerting. We are young, yes, but it is frustrating to see other programs do more with less than us.

Bertello NC

October 22nd, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^

Yep. It’s a little worrisome tbh. For example; the 3rd and 6 that we had, can’t remember what part of the game it was I think 3rd qtr. everyone is running go routes and deep posts. Fuck! We only need 6 yards and our OL is struggling with pass protection. In fact two of our receivers ran into each other. I’m starting to get a little concerned that this staff is not bringing these players along the way they should be. I get the whole “youngest team in the country” stat. But this is tactical scheme stuff where they aren’t setting this team up for success with the game plan.

gmoney41

October 22nd, 2017 at 2:05 PM ^

You read my mind. That is the exact play I was thinking about in my rant. Okorn had all day in the pocket yet everyone was a mile downfield. That is garbage playcalling and I can't blame okorn for that. What the hell was he supposed to do??? We used to kill teams with a simple rb screen or slant and we rarely see either.

Bertello NC

October 22nd, 2017 at 10:55 PM ^

Ya this offense is sorely lacking functionality and creativity. And the calls being made in certain situations are serious head scratchers. You can go back to even last year against osu and even Iowa if IRC where we run these damn PA pass plays on 3rd and say 7,or 8. Why the hell would you call a PA when one, the defense knows you’re most likely not going to run on that down and distance, and two, the offensive line had been struggling some with pass pro. It’d be different if we had been gashing them on the ground and our OL was more dominate at pass pro. But that to me is a bad play call. It’s a slow developing play and your QB has his back to everything and what the defense is sending at you. And with a stationary QB you end up with blitzing LB’s all over him before he can even throw it away. Instead of just running out of SG or even under center with a quick drop with short to intermediate routes and getting the ball out quick. The first half of the psu game we saw a little more creativity with some McDoom motion action, and even simply JOK taking off quicker. I don’t know. I think what we’re seeing on offense is a little bit of a lot of things not meshing well. We have younger players playing big roles. We have an offensive staff who call plays that seem to have no set up for the following play, and the play after that. The actual design of a lot of plays are just not very good and do not accomplish what needs to be accomplished on certain downs. The OC’s and JH are implementing a scheme that might be a little too extensive for at least allowing younger players to get up to speed. OL is decent in run blocking but struggles in pass pro(which could be a product of not having top tier tackles). We lose our best WR to injury but seem to fear trying other options. All those things add up to a dysfunctional offense. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting better results could be the definition of insanity.

Ed Shuttlesworth

October 22nd, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^

Harbaugh had a loaded team last year and went 10-3.  There's no honest reason to think he'll win those 3 games in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021.  He might -- but to think he will just because he's *Jim Harbaugh* is kind of insane.

The counternarrative to the Harbaugh love is that he's good at coming in as a breath of fresh air following a poor coach, changing the culture, and overachieving a bit.  Then the more patient and substantive skills come to the fore, and his programs stagnate and regress.   Happened in SF and is happening in Ann Arbor.

MBA77

October 22nd, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^

There is absolutley no evidence that suggests that Harbaugh is better than Hoke or even RR. This is a man who came to the program with a huge $$ contract and all sorts of fanfare. But I see NO leadership coming from him or his out-of touch coaching staff.

We didn't show up to play against Sparty and we sure didn't show up to play against PSU.

Poor attitude + mental errors + procedural errors = loser.

How much longer will you give Harbaugh to field a competitive team? Five years? Ten years? That's absurd. He's getting paid a lot of money to deliver a product. The product sucks. He owns it, 100% of it. And he gets a bye.

Leaders and the best? Champions of the West? I don't think so.

It's a damn shame to see a wonderful sports legacy like U of M's simply go down the drain because of ineptitude and hubris. And no one in A² pays the price. The pay checks just keep a-coming.

If these guys (AD on down) worked for me, we'd have a little meeting to talk about rewards and perfomance.  I'd make it crystal clear that if they don't peform, there are consequences. It's a life lesson that the AD and the coaches haven't learned. My guess is they never will.

Lahoda

October 22nd, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^

wrap my head around how quickly the PSU football program recovered from the Sandusky-Paterno atrocities.  I just don't get it!  Really thought  parents of recruits would avoid the place like the plague and it was going to set the program back for years to come.  

Meanwhile, the UM program is still trying to find its way.  Things we're looking good, but this year they've seriously regressed.  Yeah, they're young, but the excuses and losses to OSU, MSU and ranked teams are getting real fucking old!  Enough already!  



“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Hotel Putingrad

October 22nd, 2017 at 12:13 PM ^

I don't find it too surprising. Sandusky went to jail, and Paterno died. O'Brien handled the transition as well as could be expected then moved on. By the time Franklin arrived, it was an entirely new program, as far as recruits were concerned. (I'm sure that a lot of their parents still had misgivings though).

ohio

October 22nd, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^

I just wanna know whwn Rashan Gary is going to start to resemble the top 10 draft pick that all the color analysts insist he is going to be next year. Solid, not spectacular against the run and rarely get serious pressure. I watch him on pass down and he's getting stalemated constantly. I'm not down on the guy but he's not living up to any hype. And Chase Winovich needs to get over himself as well. He was seeing dollar signs earlier this year. Now that this defense isn't the 85 bears..your just a guy that probably wont make any all conference teams. Just beat Ohio state and hopefully Peters or Mcaffrey grab the reins this spring and these receivers become men asap.

Harbaugh soldier

October 22nd, 2017 at 9:28 PM ^

He's overrated- can't get to qb and is not a 4.6 40 guy - that was all hype. When coaches and media hype up a young kid it's very difficult to play relaxed. He's still solid player just not a game changer. We have nobody like peppers who single handedly won games for us last 2 years. There are no all American playmakers this year. Bush has fallen off after getting more attention on scouting reports and Mo Hurst and Winovich look tired out there.

Ed Shuttlesworth

October 22nd, 2017 at 11:51 AM ^

Enough with the revisionism; on "It's Happening Day" no one thought Year 3 would be this -- a primitive offense, losing at home to Little Brother, and being otherwise thoroughly mediocre with all manner of roster holes and outcoachings.

Not sure what the point is in pretending otherwise.  

In the cutthroat world of college football, it's virtually impossible to be elite with the offensive management chart we have -- stuffed with cronies, unclear lines of authority, and nepotism.  The intelligent fanbase should be demanding significant change there.   This offense is light years away from where it needs to be, in every facet.

Wolvie3758

October 22nd, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^

Thinks we will find a way to upset Wisconsin and be 9-2 when we play Ohio St and finnaly find a way to win that game....then the other half says...we might not beat Maryland or Minnesota or those will be squeakers and we might struggle to get to 8 wins...

 

Just thought wed be further along in year 3 and sesems like weve taken a major step backwards