Sunday, October 26, 2014

Michigan State 35, Michigan 11

Devin Gardner (image via MLive)
Farewell, Brady Hoke. The last four games of the season can be considered Hoke's farewell tour. I had maintained that he could save his job by winning out or perhaps going 5-1 in the second half of the year, but this was the final nail in the coffin. Whatever happens from game nine onward doesn't matter. Michigan played uninspired football yet again, they looked disorganized, and they looked poorly coached. The guys on the opposite side were the opposite. Class of 2015 tight end commit Chris Clark might as well decommit now, because there's no point in pretending that Hoke has a shot at returning next year.

Coaching tip #1: Stop punting. If you're down by 25 points in the fourth quarter and you have a 4th-and-3, it doesn't really matter where you are on the field. You don't punt. Brady Hoke punts, though.

Coaching tip #2: Recover the onside kick. After scoring a touchdown to narrow the score to 28-11, Michigan elected to onside kick. Matt Wile kicked a pretty decent onside attempt, but Michigan's players barely seemed aware of where the ball was going. Their heads were down and looking at the Spartans' return team. Granted, you usually have guys designated to take out the returners and guys designated to get the ball, but everyone needs to be aware of the ball's location. Nobody was even close to challenging MSU wide receiver Tony Lippett for the ball.

Coaching tip #3: Stop calling so many timeouts. The number of timeouts Michigan wastes because of disorganization is mind-boggling. They wasted two early timeouts in the second half yesterday, which meant they only had one remaining late in the game when MSU was running down the clock. It really isn't that difficult to get the right people on the field and get them lined up properly. If you have so many problems with it, then you're either not coaching it properly or you're making personnel changes/formations/play calls too complicated.

Let your play do the talking. For some stupid reason, Michigan junior linebacker Joe Bolden stabbed a stake into the "S" in the middle of the field before the game. Much like Rich Rodriguez's homage to Josh Groban, it was a completely tone-deaf move by Bolden. Michigan is in the middle of a stretch of being dominated by the Spartans. They don't need to be incited further. When I was watching the game, it seemed like Bolden was the target of quite a bit of extra pushing, shoving, extracurricular activity, etc. in the pile. Once this news came out after the game, it didn't surprise me. And you know what? I don't blame the Spartans. Good for them. They were defending their own turf, and they were letting Bolden know that he was a moron for that move. Even going back to Mike Hart's "little brother" comments after the 2007 game, I hate it when players and coaches think their words are more important than their actions on the field.

Mark Dantonio is a pompous tool. He and Bret Bielema are the two coaches I hate most in college football. Dantonio commented going into halftime that running back Josh Langford "had to score twice" and "It doesn't get better than that" after the original touchdown run was ruled down at the half-yard line. Just play the game and don't be a smart-ass, especially when you're wrong.

Spartan fans are special. After MSU backup linebacker Chris Frey was ejected for targeting Amara Darboh on a punt return, Frey proceeded to get a standing ovation on his way to the tunnel. Only in East Lansing does one get a standing ovation for nearly decapitating an opposing player.

The wide receivers are ew. For a few years, I thought wide receivers coach Jeff Hecklinski had the best track record of player performance. He was a guy who developed Junior Hemingway into a clutch receiver, Jeremy Gallon into a record-setter, and several other guys in an upward direction. Then 2014 came along. Michigan dropped at least five catchable passes in this game, including 3 by #1 jersey wearer Devin Funchess and redshirt sophomore Amara Darboh. Funchess lacks concentration, drops too many passes, and doesn't seem to have broken a single tackle since the Appalachian State game. Meanwhile, Darboh runs crappy routes on a weekly basis and gets zero separation. No offensive position group is playing well, so I can't blame everything on the receivers, but Devin Gardner is getting no help.

Speaking of Devin Gardner, can anyone say "Notre Dame 2013"? The guy looked as clueless as he did 1.5 years ago. His mechanics are consistently screwed up, like they were on the R.J. Williamson pick-six that he floated in the middle of the field. And he consistently makes terrible decisions, like the shovel pass to no one that was intercepted by linebacker Taiwain Jones. Unfortunately, Gardner is the best quarterback on Michigan's roster. He finished the game 13/28 for 121 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. He also carried the ball 4 times for -18 yards.

Why Shane Morris for one snap? Late in the game, Gardner was yanked for one play. Hoke said in the post-game press conference that the coaches were going to make a change, but then they thought better of it because Gardner is a senior. Morris threw one incomplete corner route before being pulled. That just shows once again that the coaches are clueless and indecisive. You have an MSU possession to decide who your quarterback is going to be on the next drive, you decide on the backup, and in the 25 seconds it takes for him to run a play, you change your mind.

20 comments:

  1. The "Keep Brady Hoke" flyover and signs are further salt in the wound..

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  2. In your opinion, who are the candidates being overlooked by michigan fans?

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  3. What I'm trying to understand is how Hoke can be such a bad game manager. He has plenty of experience as a head coach but there are constant problems with getting players on the field, especially getting 11 on the field for punt returns, using time outs correctly,and bizarre end of half play calling. As someone who has never played football I understand that it's more difficult than it seems but a detailed post of how these issues can keep on happening would be enlightening. I could understand it if the head coach were a former coordinator without much HC experience but not someone who was a D1 head coach for 10 years.

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    1. Yup. And I am also curious as why he is so without passion in so many cases. He just stinks as a HC imo.

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  4. "Only in East Lansing does one get a standing ovation for nearly decapitating an opposing player"
    Probably in columbus as well, given how osu fans recated to the marcus hall double-bird exit last year.
    But yeah, it takes a special kind of stupid for that behavior

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    1. Well, to be fair, in Columbus he would've gotten carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates

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  5. Thanks for putting your time into this as always. Enjoy your analysis. Today just validated what I saw, but that is still something.

    I don't know how you can keep this up, but once again thanks. It is appreciated.

    Although I am worried you are going to run out of photos of hot girls because this season is such a train wreck and trying to make us feel better has got to be hurting your stash!!

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  6. Sometimes, there's just not that much to say.

    I thought the team looked plenty inspired. I think if they won the game, you'd be praising them for the spear/spike thing. Like GERG and the beaver. If that's what it takes to get hyped up, that's what it takes. If you lose, you will look stupid. But criticizing it is petty, IMO.

    "I hate it when players and coaches think their words are more important than their actions on the field." None of them think that.

    The players tried hard. They gave it their all, seemingly. They just weren't good enough. We have more talent. The difference -- coaching. (and steroids, probably, but mostly coaching.)

    I'm in the camp that sees no real purpose in a "farewell tour" for Hoke, but it doesn't really matter if he's fired October 27 or November 30th.

    All your other criticisms are on point. This one-snap garbage, the game management, the not-going-for-it, the timeouts...if the performance on the field wasn't obvious enough these would be damning signs of coaching ineptitude.

    Devin Gardner looks worse than ever. An awful game from a player with a whole lot of talent. I'm sad for him that he chose to go to Michigan. Which is just a terrible thing to say, but it's true.

    Brian Cole and Mikey Weber, it was nice knowing you.

    Dave Brandon should be fired. There are many reasons; choosing Hoke over Rodriguez is enough by itself.

    This is where we are. Waiting for the season to end to get a new coach. Hoping our AD goes before he can make another stupid decision.

    If you feel otherwise, if you still have hopes for the 2014 team...well, I commend you for your glorious delusions.

    My only remaining hope is this: We've reached the bottom.

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    1. I agree, almost better if we don't go to a bowl game and get Hoke (and Brandon) out sooner rather than later. I am not too concerned about the recruits. We will still get as many decent players as any of the teams beating us this year. To say we can't get better recruits than Rutgers, Utah or Minnesota would be absurd.

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    2. Yeah. It will be better to fire Hoke and Brandon now. I don't see the point of letting Hoke lose 4 more games in the same fashion.

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  7. Smh. Smh. I hope the university fires Hoke now to send a stern message to the team. Then they can replace the AD so the new AD can make the next HC hire.

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  8. "The wide receivers are ew."

    I a small defense of the WR, it seems that they were recruited mostly based on size and the perceived ability to block, as all Brady has ever intended to do is "LINE UP AND KNOCK 'EM OFF THE BALL."

    ARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

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  9. Wins against Indiana, Northwestern, and Maryland are a real possibility. A win against Ohio State does not seem likely, but Hoke has always got his teams ready to play in The Game. If Michigan finishes the season 7-5, is Hoke still fired?

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    1. That got RR fired in year 3. Hoke should be fucking gone. He's not a good coach. 3 seasons of more than 8 wins in his coaching career.

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    2. A. Yes.

      B. Irrelevant.

      This team is not going 7-5. 4-8 is more likely. They'll be fortunate to go 5-7.

      I don't get the people who think we have a good chance against Northwestern for example. NWU stomped PSU on the road, beat Wisc, played Minn tough on the road. They're a far better team than Michigan.

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    3. B is completely relevant. Hoke doesn't have the track record of being an amazing coach. If he did, you could make an argument to keep him around another year.

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  10. I am not going to waste the time analyzing that crap-fest. All I can say is nearly every week they are raising the bar for incompetence.

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  11. The players obviously are looking forward to next season or a new coach. You get 2 weeks to prepare and you stink the joint up .

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  12. First place I have read about the 1 play Morris incident. To me this is very telling of the Head Coach. It appears Nuss benched him and Hoke said get back in. Or Hoke just can't make a decision. Either way, horrible. These are the things I look at in regard to coaching and unfortunately they are adding up to way too many.

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  13. Mark Dantonio has earned the right to say whatever he wants. He has earned his pomp. And if he is a tool, it is of the most finely crafted variant.

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