You see what happened was...I don't know what happened. I'm so mad right now there's steam coming out of my ears.
Michigan looked dominant in the first quarter, but sputtered its way through the second and third quarters and ended up with the worst home loss since Florida State in 1991.
Juice Williams absolutely destroyed the Wolverines. He made them look foolish; he even fooled me on a number of occasions. He broke a Michigan Stadium record with 431 yards of total offense.
It was incredible watching him on Saturday dissecting the Michigan defense. The only thing that cools the steam coming out of my head is knowing that Michigan and Rich Rodriguez's offense will one day look like what Illinois displayed in its 45-20 win.
And it will, folks; just be patient.
There has already been a lot of grumbling from friends of mine and other Michigan fans that Rich Rodriguez was not the right hire and he needs to go.
It's been five games! If anyone comes to me with that talk on here I will destroy them and declare them Buckeye fans. That's a warning, so don't post anything here about getting rid of RichRod.
On with the grades:
Offense
After jumping out to a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, the offense looked—and this is as simple as I can describe it—anemic.
The Wolverines had 65 yards of total offense in the second and third quarters combined, in which they punted seven consecutive times.
I can't even count how many times they went three and out (five, after looking it up) and what makes me so mad is that they looked so good in the first quarter.
I was actually at the game and I remember looking up and seeing at one point that Michigan had more than twice the yards Illinois had. Then a few minutes later, Illinois had tripled their yards and Michigan's hadn't changed.
Steven Threet missed on a couple big chances to not go three and out by vastly overthrowing his receivers. Near the end of the first half, he overthrew a wide open surefire touchdown to Martavious Odoms that would have put Michigan up 21-17 at halftime.
His final numbers were not good. Threet was 18-for-35, with 250 yards and two touchdowns, and he fumbled three times (losing one) and was sacked four times.
He was sacked more times on Saturday than he had been all season. Illinois's defensive line, anchored by Martez Wilson, dominated Michigan's front five.
That brings me to the running game. Michigan had just 69 net yards rushing. Sam McGuffie had 70 yards on 19 carries and Brandon Minor only carried three times.
Minor needs more carries and he needs them now. McGuffie cannot carry the load by himself; he's only a freshman. I wouldn't expect to see Michael Shaw very often, especially after Rodriguez reamed him after fumbling the ball.
And where was Kevin Grady inside the 10-yard line? How about giving Mark Moundros the ball?
All I know is that Michigan has always been successful when it had a good running game, and the Wolverines just don't have it right now.
On the plus side, I like Martavious Odoms. He reminds me a little bit of Marquis Walker. Kevin Koger had a touchdown taken away from him but he is emerging as a good tight end.
7 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Jeff Contizano 9 months ago
Schafer was actually very blitz happy when Michigan was up 14-3 in the first quarter, in fact we contained the Illini quite well. But that damn screen pass kind of blew things open. Oh, and then the 250 Lb. receiver/tight end going all the way was great.
I really like Sam McGuffie but I still agree that Minor needs to get at least 1/4 of the carries. McGuffie loses yards too often, he goes -3, -2, then breaks one for 10 to get even. We need consistent yards, even if its 2-3 yards. There is always next week...
Edit Comment Cancel
Dave Inman 9 months ago
I know you don't want to hear this Barczy, but here are the faults I am finding in Saturday's loss.
1) Yes, the special teams coach does need his face ripped off. When will the return men learn to put the ball in the outside arm? EVERY RETURN FUMBLE THIS YEAR was a return to the left. And on every fumble, our return man had the ball in the inside (right) arm and the defense had a clear shot to knock it out. And I notice that even the backs fail to put the ball in their outside arm. Look at Threet when he runs upfield and our backs upfield...its like the coaches teach right arm only.
2) The I formation plays work! I know its going back to Bo-Ball, but our I formation plays work for a couple reasons.
#1 There is a blocking back to create a hole while the spread fakes don't fool the defense.
#2 There is less of a chance of negative gain running plays. The plays are straight off the guards/tackles and we aren't losing yards trying to go wide like the spread draws.
#3 The play action is more believable. We went to that formation on first down and goal to go situations only in that game. One time Threet faked the run and threw the ball to a wide open Odoms in space.
3) If RR is preaching to the media and fans to be more patient, then why is so impatient? Jason alluded to it in his article, the fact that RR was reeming out Shaw for the fumble. But why is he so impatient with Brandon Minor? Why does he blow up on his assistant coaches so often? On the disputed Greg Matthews TD catch, the PAT team didn't get set up in time to kick the ball before the challenge. RR blew up on his assistants. I noticed a couple of times when he was blowing up on the signal calling QBs too for other reasons.
4) The play-calling is still wishy washy. Are we a running team? Are we a throwing team? Are we a spread team? Are we a short yard passing team or a deep ball team like the Henne years? It seems like every series is either all run (until we have to pass), or all passes until we have to punt. There is little mixing up of the plays. And where are all the new spread plays?
AND WHY DO WE RUN TO THE SHORT SIDE SO MUCH? The Odoms reverse would have been great to the wide side, instead of short side. Three times he had Threet rolling short side of the field, away from two and three receiver sets. Threet can't throw on the run and b/c the plays are to the short side, he has no room to tuck it up and get yards.
Sure this is a new system and we have a new QB, but our offense is littered with blue chip recruits. This was the fifth game of the year and our guys still look confused. Our offense is way too talented to be struggling this much. Is this season about winning or installing the spread at all costs? Because we can tone down the spread with this team and score in the old offense. I would personally see this team win, rather than stubbornly run an offense that does not suit the players we have this year!
Edit Comment Cancel
Dave Inman 9 months ago
I'm not saying that RR needs to go and I wouldn't root for Ohio State for all the hot girls in the world. Its just that I think RR is being too subborn.
As a coach myself, I have a system that I want to install for my basketball team. But I don't have the guys to run an up-tempo, full-court trapping style. So I run versions of that defense, but on a limited and scaled-back basis. RR needs to do the same. Its about the wins, and any coach can tell you that. Our guys now know the spread, while still having that old Michigan offense in their pasts. RR is running more I plays and hopefully that continues. See you in Mt. P buddy!
Edit Comment Cancel
Francesco Borromini 9 months ago
RR needs to go and I hate the Buckeyes. :-) I'm a sucker for destruction!
Edit Comment Cancel
Dean Walker 9 months ago
Ok, I have to go with Jason on this. Any of you who thinks Rich Rod needs to go needs to take a look at where College football is moving. Look at the teams that are winning and winning consistently and look at what type of offense they are running. Look at Penn State, Texas Tech, Texas, Mizzou, Florida, Illinois. For god sakes look at Ohio State. Each one of these teams is running a variation of the spread, be it passing, be it the spread option, whatever. They are winning and looking darn good when they do it. Rich Rod has already proven he can run and coach this system successfully so the only piece of the equation that is missing is the players. Give him a year to get some of his recruits in the program and it will begin to fit together. Plus, look at it this way: Almost any coach would fail in the present situation. Henne, Hart, Long, Manningham, and Arrington, and Crable all gone to the NFL. With these guys + all the other starters we lost gone, it's not going to look pretty for anyone.
And the reason Minor isn't getting as many touches is cause his hands suck. He fumbled a lot under Carr when Hart was out. He fumbles a lot now. Look at how many turnovers have led to opposing team's points ('cause I'm too lazy to do it right now). I'll take an inconsistent Tailback who isn't almost guaranteed to give the opposition points over Fumbles McMinor. I've never been his biggest fan, just like I've never liked Morgan Trent and his pension for blowing the big down field coverage. I do agree that Grady should be the guy with the ball inside the 10. My biggest problem is that RR seems more determined to NOT run old-school UofM ball than he is to run the spread. It only makes sense to hand it to your big boy inside the ten and watch him gobble up defenders. That's what I want to see. On short yardage and -10 to the goaline, I want to see Grady's number called.
Edit Comment Cancel
Keith Shelton 9 months ago
I'm not calling for RichRod's head yet. The system will work...eventually. I have no doubts there.
What I won't stand for is an end to either of Michigan's two long standing streaks (winning record, bowl game) If either of those end, show no mercy and fire Rodriguez. He knew the standard coming in here.
Installing a new system or not, he still has to have bare minimum success for michigan.
Edit Comment Cancel
Dave Inman 9 months ago
Well Keith, then it looks like Michigan is gonna be looking for a new coach, because both of those records are out the window.
The Big Ten is playing tough this year. Minny and NW have better than expected teams, as does MSU. Penn State is playing out of their minds and Ohio State is always a toughy.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.