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| Brennen Beyer |
Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . Jeremy Jackson. He has no purpose. Bizarro Fred Jackson says "He's like LaTerryal Savoy but slower."
Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . Jake Ryan. This is more just a way to say that I'm glad he's back. I still don't think he's 100%, but the guy is a playmaker and a heavy hitter. He had 5 tackles, 1 pass breakup, and a hit on quarterback Jake Rudock that turned into a 7-yard interception touchdown for defensive end Brennen Beyer.
Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . Courtney Avery. It's rare that players regress throughout their careers, but Avery would be one of those examples. He was overmatched as a freshman, played really well as a sophomore, took a step back as a junior, and now seems like a weak link in the secondary. The coaches moved him from nickel corner to safety in order to push guys like sophomore Jarrod Wilson, and while Wilson has been far from perfect, I think he's a clear step up from Avery. I liked the kid better when he was a slot corner and not one of the last lines of defense.
Play of the game . . . Brennen Beyer's interception return for a touchdown. On Iowa's first offensive play, Jake Ryan came on a blitz and hit Rudock as he was releasing the ball, resulting in a pick six for Beyer. It was the most exciting play of the day for the Wolverines, who couldn't create much of anything on offense. Honorable mention goes to Devin Gardner's scrambling 2-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Williams, where Gardner looked like he was going to take a gain of zero yards before stepping back and casually tossing the ball to Williams, who had been let go by defenders coming up to stop the run. It was Williams's first career catch and first career touchdown, and I wouldn't argue with somebody who said that was the play of the day.
MVP of the game . . . Raymon Taylor. Taylor had 8 solo tackles (9 total), 1 diving interception, and what was technically a fumble recovery on Iowa's first half-ending botched field goal snap. Taylor should have picked up the ball and run for what could have been a touchdown, but he still had nice coverage the entire game, tackled quickly, and was just a hair late to notch a couple pass breakups.
"So he's exciting enough to put him on the field to get him the ball . . . but he's not exciting enough to use as a decoy or even a situational player. But hey, Jeremy Jackson has averaged 11.4 yards/catch in four years and never scored a touchdown or had a play longer than 22 yards, so let's keep him out there."
ReplyDeleteIt is that sort of apparent thinking (loyalty to a "legacy" lummox who practices well and knows all the plays but lacks athleticism, at the expense of a talented person who lacks ... something, which is never well-defined) that drove me crazy about most of the modern era of Michigan football. (Don't get me wrong -- there was plenty to *like* about those years.)
Really, unless Norfleet has hands of stone they should make him a slot ninja and use him.
Aside: If there's one player emblematic of the Hoke era, it's A.J. Williams. Congratulations to him on his first catch, though.
Norfleet is just another player being underused/ misused by Hoke/ Borges. This team does not lack talent, just lacking the proper use of said talent.
DeleteRyan and the D have yet to pitch a perfect game or near shutdown of a team which is what we'll need to even stay close to Ohio this Saturday. If somehow Mattison can dial up a game plan to do that, we might have a chance, but even then it will be slim at best.
ReplyDeleteI would rather just watch the cheerleaders and bands from each team compete,... at least that would be competitive!
What a sorry state of affairs this program is in today.
This might just be anecdotal, but it seems to me that Michigan does a pretty good job of stopping teams after the first drive or two...and then lets up again near the end of the game. I don't know if it's coincidence, frustrating with the offense, fatigue, or what. If the offense could give them a jolt of energy somehow, I think Michigan's defense could do some great things. I just think they get mentally worn out from having to carry the team. Defense is so much about attitude and emotion that if things start going poorly, it affects them a little bit more. Offense is more about execution, focus, and precision.
DeleteI'd feel better about that energy theory if it wasn't for the Indiana game. The only O better than Indiana we play this year just so happens to be Ohio State.
Delete$#!@ the Buckeyes. GO BLUE!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment about Courtney Avery. He was a decent player as a backup CB. I can understand putting him at Safety for depth reasons but putting him in ahead of Wilson and other young players was a poor decision by this coaching staff.
ReplyDeleteI believe this team would have been better served by keeping Avery at nickel-back and Countess outside, red-shirting Stribling or Lewis, and playing through whatever issues Wilson is having at safety.
Interesting on Taylor...I thought I saw more screwups than usual from him this game, but perhaps I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteAgree with your Avery comments on defense. He blew that one coverage for the touchdown, but also looked pretty tentative on run support. Not sure why he is out there.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I noticed against Iowa was key lapses by UM's NT on rushing downs. Against that zone-blocking scheme, the 1-tech absolutely must control his A-Gap and not get reached by the C. Whenever that happened, you just had OL pouring out on overwhelmed LB's. Of course, Black is not a gap control guy and he likes to sneak around the C from the backside. But even QWash and Henry were getting beat at times and they got worse as the game went on. Whenever the NT held up, Iowa got very little on those zone runs.
I kept a pretty close eye on Gedeon in the 2nd half and though he looked pretty good for a true freshman playing against a tuned Iowa OL. DL play was pretty sloppy in front of him by that point and the OL was getting quick releases against him and Bolden. But he held up pretty well and did a nice job shedding blocks. Also was quick reading the play, perhaps quicker than Bolden. Anyway, looks like a future stud to me and I hope he is worked more into the rotation this week.
I noticed the same thing and was wondering if QWashington was playing as one of the D tackles? Iowa seemed to get a great push inside knocking our two D tackles consistently back off the line 2 - 3 yrds a shot. Black should not be playing D tackle against any power running team, he is just too light.
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