Western Michigan Snowflakes: The Offense
September 8th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
McCaffrey was #2 all along confirmed.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:24 PM ^
Could still be Peters was held out of practice for all or part of the week and was still working his way back to full speed.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^
I hope so.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:42 PM ^
McCaffrey is (obviously to me, at least) our guy going forward post-Patterson, whenever that happens. And he is good enough to where even Patterson has to be looking over his shoulder. Very impressive, but everything in his background and development pointed to that so we shouldn't be surprised
.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:45 PM ^
Then why did Peters come in later?
September 8th, 2018 at 5:52 PM ^
He could be cleared to play but missed all the game prep. Coaches could not want him to have a real series but fine to have him handoff to kill the end of game. Or he's 3rd on the depth chart.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^
Told ya
September 9th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
but I did, haters gonna hate. But if you care what people think you'll never accomplish anything.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
I didn't see anything to suggest that pass blocking won't continue to be a huge issue against decent defenses.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
I would've like to have seen them try and throw more. If you can't throw it against Western, you'll be screwed when the non-cupcakes come to town.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:20 PM ^
I agree with this. I think that they are trying to find an identity, but good defenses will load the box. It was also sad to see that when Nico caught the touchdown pass it had been a YEAR since a WR caught a TD.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:36 PM ^
Not quite a full year. Leap year, yes. Great catch by Niko Harris.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:15 PM ^
Uh, a leap year is a day LONGER i.e. 366 days, not shorter i.e. 364 days.
September 8th, 2018 at 7:39 PM ^
He is a hillbilly.
September 9th, 2018 at 1:23 AM ^
That was the joke and why the Niko Harris reference was used. Oh well.
September 9th, 2018 at 7:25 AM ^
Drake Collins is also acceptable.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
I hate the "Its been X days since A did B" stats. Football only happens for a small window once a year. That said, glad to see a downfield pass to a WR not horribly overthrown or underthrown (by that much)
September 8th, 2018 at 3:52 PM ^
What if it's the stat about the Lions not having a 100 yard rusher in a game for like a decade?
September 8th, 2018 at 3:57 PM ^
Haha yeah when you get into years it starts becoming meaningful. But if it becomes "Michigan hasn't beaten Notre Dame in football in 1827 days!" it's just a stupid number that makes something seem more dramatic.
(that's the actual number of days btw)
September 8th, 2018 at 6:27 PM ^
Dramatic Stats like that suck when they are against you. But they sure are fun when they are for you.
September 9th, 2018 at 8:35 PM ^
True. Did you all notice the emphasis toward Harbaugh the sports media is putting on the “0-17 road losses to ranked teams.” One of talking heads slipped up and said that stat dated back to 2006. So, while it is a crappy stat for us, it includes all of Lloyd’s last year, Rich Rod 4 years, Hoke’s 4 years, and Harbaugh’s 3 years. By my calculations, that means Harbaugh is at most 25% responsible for that 12 year stat.
Still, they make it sound like Harbaugh has completely failed and should wear a dunce cap.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:53 PM ^
In that same small window a lot of shitty teams throw TD passes.
September 8th, 2018 at 4:21 PM ^
But it's TD to a WR. There have been passes to TE and RB.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:52 PM ^
Never heard that stat before. Interesting....
September 8th, 2018 at 4:17 PM ^
Agree. Oklahoma is up 49-14 and the starting QB for Oklahoma is still in the game throwing the ball
September 8th, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^
Yes, the passing numbers weren't awe-inspiring at all. I don't think Perry caught anything. And neither did Gentry or Eubanks. I don't remember either Higdon or Evans catching one out of the backfield either.
September 8th, 2018 at 4:56 PM ^
Didn’t Gentry catch the very first snap of the game?
September 8th, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^
When you can roll up a 49-0 lead by keeping it largely on the ground, you do that. You don’t needlessly put your QB at risk just to pad his stats.
September 9th, 2018 at 7:39 AM ^
Pad his stats? This has nothing at all to do with stats. This is about developing a respectable passing game and an Offensive line that can actually pass block against a live opponent who is trying to stop you at all costs. Stats? You got to be kidding me.
September 9th, 2018 at 10:36 AM ^
Do people honestly believe that you can only work on aspects of your team during games? This is something that has always seemed laughable to me. You can get confidence and improve, but your biggest strides are going to be in practice.
When you're a ranked team playing garbage at home, you should only have three goals. They are: (1) win; (2) avoid injuries; and (3) win by enough so you can play backups . . . to avoid injuries.
Michigan achieved all three of these goals against WMU on Saturday. I don't really care how they did it from a yardage perspective, etc.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:13 PM ^
I am quite sure you have never coached a meaningful game of any kind. Here, you do your best to win the game-from a coaches perspective. When you average 9 yards per carry you run the ball.
September 8th, 2018 at 8:31 PM ^
Why? The running game was equally as bad against Notre Dame. Get that going against a cupcake, get your OL some confidence that they can do at least ONE thing right, and then work on the passing game gradually.
Throwing the ball 40-45 times ain't gonna accomplish shit. Other than make a game that should in no way be close, be close.
I swear...some of y'all armchair coaches -- AND the people that upvote their nonsense -- are THE. WORST.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:11 PM ^
I agree here. It can't hurt to air it out when you are up my multiple touchdowns in the 4th quarter.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
But there's alot that goes into this. For instance, if Shea gets into rhythm with his receivers, he can get the ball out more quickly. That will itself mitigate the sacks from the DT looping around the end. So it's the whole package and improvement in any area improves the whole.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:29 PM ^
Maybe, but the tackles were again awful against a pretty bad defense. That does not bode well.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
They weren't awful. I think line improved and picked up blitzes. Which game were you watching
September 8th, 2018 at 3:47 PM ^
It's all relative. Michigan tackles should dominate MAC teams. They didn't even come close.
September 8th, 2018 at 3:48 PM ^
In pass protection they didn’t dominate. Pretty good with run blocking, much better doing this.
September 8th, 2018 at 4:16 PM ^
They gave up 1 sack (backups gave up another I think), and averaged about 9+ yards a carry. Yes, the OL did dominate. And yes, OTs are still the trouble spot for the entire team. They may be improving and still be the trouble spot. And if that continues to be the case, and the improvement persists, we'll have a shot in every game.
September 8th, 2018 at 10:56 PM ^
Your sack statistic is misleading. There was pressure on the QB on almost every pass play.
September 8th, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^
You dont know what you're talking about. Please go back and watch how line was doing against tomato cans and compare to today.
September 8th, 2018 at 4:11 PM ^
This 1,000%
September 8th, 2018 at 5:11 PM ^
Agree. Against good, not great defenses, Patterson will struggle to throw downfield. Not much downfield today.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:23 PM ^
Poor Shea was running for his life on most of his passes. When he had time (i.e. touchdown pass to PJ) he was right on the money. Also, many of the good runs were directly related to Western's poor tackling and not the OL opening holes for the RB's. The OL has a very long way to go in a very short time.
September 8th, 2018 at 10:56 PM ^
I mean, most of the broke tackles happened at the second level. When this happens, the oline is indeed opening hole.
September 9th, 2018 at 7:42 AM ^
Both of Higdons long runs were due to missed tackles in the hole by LBers. ND Lbers dont miss those tackles.
September 8th, 2018 at 11:48 PM ^
You my shitty friend are just another troll 991GT3 posing as someone who gives a shit about this program but look to undermine any positives that come about. Be careful of these fuckheads fellow mgobloggers. This program is headed in the right direction. These putzes sense it and are really going to strike when any blood is in the water. Chris Carter and other former #therealscum alum are making it obvious.
September 9th, 2018 at 6:58 AM ^
When someone makes a valid point it does not make that person a "troll". The real "fuckheads" here fellow mgobloggers are the "putzes" that scream "troll" when they happen to disagree with something.
September 9th, 2018 at 8:04 AM ^
Western was extremely aggressive, the Oline can’t block 7 guys.