Peters did a decent job and clearly has some skills. . .but perhaps the reason it took so long for Harbaugh to throw him out there is he looks a little soft. Never seen a QB slide BEHIND the line of scrimmage before. O'Korn and even Speight would have tried to make a few yards on that play.
Ha! He did it again, this time with the game on the line. . .would not even try for the critical first down, took a knee instead of fight for the yard or two his team needed. I'll probably get tons of crap for posting this, but I guarantee you his teammates and coaches took note of his *disinclination* for that critical first down. Peters is not what I would call an inspiring leader.
Peters did a decent job and clearly has some skills. . .but perhaps the reason it took so long for Harbaugh to throw him out there is he looks a little soft. Never seen a QB slide BEHIND the line of scrimmage before. O'Korn and even Speight would have tried to make a few yards on that play. Not that that makes them better QB options from Peters . .far from it . .and I'm not criticizing the kid, that's probably the way he was coached in HS, but maybe Harbaugh just didn't believe Peters was ready yet to play a Michigan State or Penn State. . .he waited until this stretch of relatively manageable games before putting Peters in there because he felt Peters might not understand the type of play that level of competition requires. This way Harbaugh can break in Peters against 3 *type b* teams while trying to impress upon him the competetive upgrade he willl need to make when facing Wisconsin and OSU. Not knocking the kid, just think his style of play does not yet match what Harbaugh wants.
No one will deny Beilein is a good at running a pretty offense. . .but unfortunately that's his whole bag of tricks. It works well against non-conference cupcakes and most home games, where the players are comfortable shooting the ball. But when you have to play on the road, he loses a fair chunk of games to inferior teams. His teams often look soft and shaky on the road. Why? Because for some reason, he refuses to emphasize defense and rebounding--which travel much better than pretty offenses.
It's always going to be a struggle to get into the NCAA tournament under the Beilein system, because, unless he stumbles into a loaded roster (the Burke years) he's never going to win enough road games to have anything but a .500 conference record (just like he did in the Big East). Combine that .500 conference record with the 10-3 cupcake built non-conference record, and you're always sitting on the bubble.
There is one extra to the pretty offense, though. . .his style works quite well in neutral site tournaments, where there are no hostile crowds to rattle his shooters, and opponents have less time to prepare for his scheme. . .the disadvantage on defense is canceled out when he goes against non-conference teams that aren't familiar with his system. . .Beilein, if he can get into the tournament, will actually win at a higher rate, and give teams with better talent a tougher than expected game (Oklahoma 2009, Duke 2011 for example). IF he can get his team into the Tournament, they will out-perform what their regular season showing suggests.
It's always going to be a frustrating formula with Beilein. Next year won't be any different.
Recent Comments
This is what I posted after Peters first game:
Peters did a decent job and clearly has some skills. . .but perhaps the reason it took so long for Harbaugh to throw him out there is he looks a little soft. Never seen a QB slide BEHIND the line of scrimmage before. O'Korn and even Speight would have tried to make a few yards on that play.
Ha! He did it again, this time with the game on the line. . .would not even try for the critical first down, took a knee instead of fight for the yard or two his team needed. I'll probably get tons of crap for posting this, but I guarantee you his teammates and coaches took note of his *disinclination* for that critical first down. Peters is not what I would call an inspiring leader.
Re: why it took so long to see Peters. . .
Peters did a decent job and clearly has some skills. . .but perhaps the reason it took so long for Harbaugh to throw him out there is he looks a little soft. Never seen a QB slide BEHIND the line of scrimmage before. O'Korn and even Speight would have tried to make a few yards on that play. Not that that makes them better QB options from Peters . .far from it . .and I'm not criticizing the kid, that's probably the way he was coached in HS, but maybe Harbaugh just didn't believe Peters was ready yet to play a Michigan State or Penn State. . .he waited until this stretch of relatively manageable games before putting Peters in there because he felt Peters might not understand the type of play that level of competition requires. This way Harbaugh can break in Peters against 3 *type b* teams while trying to impress upon him the competetive upgrade he willl need to make when facing Wisconsin and OSU. Not knocking the kid, just think his style of play does not yet match what Harbaugh wants.
Thanks to Michigan State losing at Illinois, we are faced with the following:
Illinois wins at Rutgers, 19-12, 9-9. . .
Michigan loses at Nebraska, 19-12, 9-9. . .
So does it come down to which team does better in the Big 10 tourney?
I think Michigan MUST win at Nebraska.
Beilein giveth, and he taketh away. . .
No one will deny Beilein is a good at running a pretty offense. . .but unfortunately that's his whole bag of tricks. It works well against non-conference cupcakes and most home games, where the players are comfortable shooting the ball. But when you have to play on the road, he loses a fair chunk of games to inferior teams. His teams often look soft and shaky on the road. Why? Because for some reason, he refuses to emphasize defense and rebounding--which travel much better than pretty offenses.
It's always going to be a struggle to get into the NCAA tournament under the Beilein system, because, unless he stumbles into a loaded roster (the Burke years) he's never going to win enough road games to have anything but a .500 conference record (just like he did in the Big East). Combine that .500 conference record with the 10-3 cupcake built non-conference record, and you're always sitting on the bubble.
There is one extra to the pretty offense, though. . .his style works quite well in neutral site tournaments, where there are no hostile crowds to rattle his shooters, and opponents have less time to prepare for his scheme. . .the disadvantage on defense is canceled out when he goes against non-conference teams that aren't familiar with his system. . .Beilein, if he can get into the tournament, will actually win at a higher rate, and give teams with better talent a tougher than expected game (Oklahoma 2009, Duke 2011 for example). IF he can get his team into the Tournament, they will out-perform what their regular season showing suggests.
It's always going to be a frustrating formula with Beilein. Next year won't be any different.
Curtis Blackwell will be moving soon into his new recruiting office:
Wisconsin--Win
@Minnesota--Lose
@Rutgers--Win
Purdue--Lose
@Northwestern--Lose
@Nebraska--Lose
Michigan and MSU both finish 18-13 and MSU makes it, Michigan don't. . .