Michigan 31, Michigan State 20

 

Justice Haynes (image via On3)

Hail to the Victors! A win is a win, especially in a rivalry like Michigan vs. Michigan State. The better team usually wins, but I don't really get caught up in whether a win or loss is a close one when it comes to Michigan State and Ohio State. Michigan has continued bragging rights, and the streak is at four straight games. There was an absolutely blowout win in there, and this was a relatively comfortable two-score victory. Do I think Michigan is good enough to have won by more? Yes. Do I care? No.

Hit the jump for more.

I liked Michigan's new wrinkle(s). Michigan put together a package of 13 personnel (not exactly new for this team) where the Wolverines had a Y tight end on the line of scrimmage and two H-backs lined up in a stack behind him - Max Bredeson in front and Jalen Hoffman behind. At times Hoffman would be put in motion across the formation, and sometimes they would be used as trappers, lead blockers on the perimeter, pass protectors, etc. The fact that Michigan came up with a new formation and a few different ways to use those guys just points to this offense maybe not being the most dynamic, but being creative in how they deploy tight ends and fullbacks. Michigan has done a couple things with those tight ends in the past couple years that I haven't really seen other teams do, including some of Bredeson's motions and now this formation.

Fun fact because I like to reminisce: A couple years ago when our high school team wasn't very talented overall, I came up with the idea of stacking our fullbacks on the wings, much like what Michigan did on Saturday night. (Our third guy was a young player who was talented, somewhat unreliable, and a little bit injury prone, so we just used him as a sub instead of putting in a 13 personnel package.) It was our 12 personnel package, and because teams hadn't seen it before, it was very good for our rushing offense. We could do a lot of things with motions, RPOs, lead blocks, etc. Some teams had difficulty adjusting to it because they didn't know whether to treat it as a "trips" look - since there was usually a WR outside, giving us three eligible receivers. Some teams brought a safety down into the box to defend it, at which point we could run back the other way. Sometimes we would quickly shift both fullbacks to the opposite side and then run outside zone that way, making defenses really stress to get lined up properly. Our ability to throw the ball was limited because of our overall receiver talent, but it was really a fun offense to develop and call (I coordinated the offense) because it was something no other offense was doing and our two fullbacks were two of our best football players.

I'm not that upset with Bryce Underwood's play. This was not a great game for Bryce Underwood (8/17, 86 yards; 5 carries, 26 yards, 1 TD). He was under pressure more than he should have been against a team that's not great at rushing the passer, and some of the passing plays were well covered all around. He did miss a big play opportunity to Marlin Klein on a play action pass from the aforementioned 13 personnel set, but quarterbacks are going to miss reads a couple times a game. The thing I like most about Underwood's play is that he's not putting the ball at risk. He's generally throwing it where his guy is getting it or nobody is. He's also making a couple amazing pocket escapes or runs per game. Michigan determined they could run the ball against MSU, and they were right. Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall each had 110+ yards on the ground, and Michigan had 276 yards overall.

The refs were bad. There was a huge play that turned out in Michigan's favor when Michigan State was called offsides before causing Underwood to fumble. The MSU player was determined to have crossed the neutral zone before the snap, even though he appeared to be onside (to me). But there were also several holding calls that were missed, some pass interference calls that were missed, etc. Overall, I thought Michigan got the benefit of bad refereeing for the most part. But we've also seen Michigan get the raw end of the deal over the years, so I'm okay with it. I think everything evens out eventually.

I don't often call for coaches' heads. Special teams coach J.B. Brown just can't be retained after this year. In fact, if a special teams play costs Michigan a loss in a close game, I would not be surprised to see Brown be let go during the season. Michigan's coverage units have been solid this year, but other than that, everything has dropped off. I've long questioned Michigan's return personnel. There's no good reason for Semaj Morgan, Joe Taylor, a freshman starting wide receiver, etc. to be returners at a place like Michigan. There was a time when Michigan had people like Desmond Howard, Tyrone Wheatley, Steve Breaston, Derrick Alexander, etc. returning kicks and punts, and in the past few years, Michigan has been counting on guys named Joe Taylor, Caden Kolesar, Jake Thaw, Semaj Morgan, etc. I understand that the general coaching philosophy may have changed to where teams don't want to risk putting marquee players out there on returns to prevent injuries, but Michigan is getting nothing out of its return game. We've also seen instances where returns from Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson have changed The Game or propelled guys to winning the Heisman. If coaches want us to believe that special teams are a key aspect of the game, then they need to deploy personnel adequately.

Jonathan Smith is done at MSU. I actually like Jonathan Smith, because he's not an asshole. Unlike Mel Tucker. And unlike Mark Dantonio. And unlike Nick Saban. And unlike George Perles. John L. Smith was kind of funny, and I had no feelings at all about Tyrone Willingham. But I like Jonathan Smith. Unfortunately, I think he's cooked at MSU. The offense hasn't been consistent enough, and the defense has been bad this year. I think it's a little unfair for a coach to only be given two years to turn around a program, but they're 3-5 with five straight losses, and they have to go 3-1 or better down the stretch against Minnesota, Penn State, Iowa, and Maryland to become bowl eligible. It's certainly possible, but it's not likely. If he wins three of those games and ends the season with some momentum, maybe he can save his job for next year, but it's going to be tough.