Key Match up against Penn St this weekend

Submitted by Duval Wolverine on

In the past two season Saquon Barkley has rushed for a combined 127 yards and 0 TDs and caught 7 passes for 96 yards and 0 TDs against Michigan.  Barkley is leading Penn St this year in receptions (29) and receiving yards (395).

I think the key match against their offense this year will be McCray vs Barkley in coverage.  PSU likes to go to Barkley during passing downs and I think McCray will struggle to cover him, just like he has struggled to cover other explosive running backs in past.  I hope Brown makes an adjustment and has Bush cover Barkley instead because I believe he is fast enough to cover Barkley man to man in the open field.   What do you guys think?

saveferris

October 16th, 2017 at 9:21 AM ^

Nice rhetoric, but I'm not sure what Michigan's performance against Ron Dayne almost 20 years ago; when most of the players on this team were either toddlers or not born and our head coach was wrapping up his NFL career, has to do with our performance against Saquon Barkley this Saturday?

Reader71

October 16th, 2017 at 9:45 AM ^

I don’t know what Michigan’s performances against Barkley the past three years has to do with this week, since most of the defensive players are gone.

Each play is an independent trial, so there’s really no point in using any previous play to predict the outcome of a latter play.

I bring gin. Only old men like me at parties.

G. Gulo of the Dale

October 16th, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^

... but I'll say it anyway.  I've always really liked your posts and football acumen, and so have told myself in the past, "Man, it would be fun to crack a beer and watch a game with Reader71."  Now that I know 1.) that you like gin, and 2.) find Sapphire to be overrated, all I have to say is, "if you are ever in south-central Michigan on a Saturday in the fall..."

To be honest, Beefeater is my fallback gin (though I like Tanqueray).  I know this is heretical, but I've had a number of bottles of Hendrick's and like it less each time.  I once found it amazing and now would rather drink Beefeaters, even in a martini.  Though, Botanist gin is my favorite, if cost is not a consideration.

Squash34

October 16th, 2017 at 5:46 PM ^

I like casually saying thing that make people think "wtf does that even mean". So, I'm going to steal " it conveys the message closely enough to be understood to the degree that I care to be understood" and break it out during a friendly debate. Then just sit back and watch the person's reaction.
When they finally day what? I will throw in something about not having all day to explain it in more depth for someone the likes of you.
Then I'll act like I'm dropping a mic and just walk off.

pescadero

October 17th, 2017 at 9:24 AM ^

Unless your goal is to communicate you don't understand statistics, I'm not sure what message you're trying to convey.

 

"Each play is an independent trial, so there’s really no point in using any previous play to predict the outcome of a latter play."

 

There is probably no better metric available for predicting the outcome of a latter play than previous plays, and there is a correlation well above that of chance in doing so.

 

 

Reader71

October 20th, 2017 at 12:58 PM ^

That’s not my goal, but it does illustrate my point. Most people seem to have understood the thrust of it, and I don’t care to further clarify so that you can better understand. I wish you did, but if my usage is deficient for that purpose, I can live with that.

GVSUGoBlue

October 16th, 2017 at 8:55 AM ^

McCray can cover Barkley as long as it isn’t a wheel route. But for a wheel route to develop penn state is going to have to hold our defensive line. We need bush on mcsorley. Qb scrambles are the worst. The threat of bush getting a big hit on mcsorley can make him want to stay in the pocket. I’d expect more Don Brown tricks this week

goblue4321

October 16th, 2017 at 9:04 AM ^

can no way in hell cover barkley, not sure what youve been watching, as the one returning starter mccray is probably the weak link on defense, thats the big miss match don brown has to figure out, is bush-barkley, mccray-mcsorley, or hudson-mcsorley, i dont know ill let don brown coach. just shut down those 2 

bamf16

October 16th, 2017 at 9:53 AM ^

Agreed.

 

The matchup is going to be for PSU to figure out how to get Bush lined up outside the tackles (like against MSU) with McCray still in the middle & Barkley in the backfield and for Brown to figure out how to counter that.

 

I bet we see a lot more Furbush than McCray given the matchuip.

In reply to by goblue4321

funkywolve

October 16th, 2017 at 11:26 AM ^

is one of my worries.  This guy has been missing open field tackles for a few weeks now.  If he whiffs on trying to take down Barkley in the open field, it could be the difference between a 10-15 yd gain and a TD.

In reply to by goblue4321

Squash34

October 16th, 2017 at 5:50 PM ^

Yeah, Barkley is some sort of alien humanoid, a cyborg of some sort, or some kind of unnatural combo of the two. I'm not sure which. But, I do know this he ain't human.

evenyoubrutus

October 16th, 2017 at 8:59 AM ^

Nine years playing in The League and two decades of sportscasting has led me to this in depth analysis.

On offense we need to:
Take care of the football
Establish the run
Protect the QB

On defense we need to:
Stop the run
Get to the QB
Prevent them from scoring

#KeysToTheGame