tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post1118549037052787452..comments2024-03-28T17:24:59.031-04:00Comments on Touch the Banner: Michigan 63, UMass 13Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-26107565680920931702012-09-17T15:02:45.479-04:002012-09-17T15:02:45.479-04:00Two things to keep in mind. One, last year's ...Two things to keep in mind. One, last year's defense didn't look that great in September either. Two, UMass apparently got its best O-lineman back from injury for this game, and going into the game they thought they'd perform better because of it. <br />Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14347560939691337675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-14717676702536542902012-09-17T09:34:12.956-04:002012-09-17T09:34:12.956-04:00I disagree about the footwork thing. Plenty of pl...I disagree about the footwork thing. Plenty of players have gone through spread schemes with play action fakes and such, and not all of them have thrown off their back foot like he does. I can deal with the arm slot thing, because guys can be accurate if they have a 3/4 delivery. But very few people can get away with abysmal footwork.Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09708792562446136381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-47838697688112151002012-09-17T09:31:47.016-04:002012-09-17T09:31:47.016-04:00Denard would probably have a heisman or two by now...Denard would probably have a heisman or two by now if he went to Oregon. I'm not sure I'd expect anything different with mechanics. Arm slot changes are incredibly difficult to achieve, especially in college. And he does so many things with fakes and scrambling in the pocket that he doesn't get many reps as a pocket passer in the traditional sense that I'm not sure you can teach him that classical footwork. If he's stepping forward for a play action he almost has to throw it off his back foot if he's going to hit Funchess on that streak, because if he waits a beat to get squared up it's probably too late. He's never going to be a guy whose first step involves getting feet square to his first read and moving his feet through the progressions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-45609263760305355472012-09-17T00:36:18.700-04:002012-09-17T00:36:18.700-04:00"...But toothy smiles dont win football games..."...But toothy smiles dont win football games."<br /><br />I'll just comment in general on this type of sentiment I've seen kicking around. Denard Robinson had the best day any QB at the University of Michigan has had in the last 50 years (and probably more) against two of our biggest rivals -- ND (2010) and OSU (2011). Literally the best. If someone can find another QB who had a better day, I'd love to see it. Go ahead and look up Steve Smith, Rick Leach, Jim Harbaugh, Tom Brady, Drew Henson, Chad Henne, etc's stats - no one will really come close. <br /><br />Without his amazing performances, there is a zero percent chance we would have won those games. No one in football wins games by themselves, but his performance as the QUARTERBACK in those two games was off the charts. QBs are allowed to both run and throw, so evaluating him as a passer solely misses the point. Those were not, by a long shot, the only two games in which his great performance has been the key factor in us winning (e.g., Air Force this freaking year).<br /><br />Does he play well every game? Nope. Mich State is but one example. There are many valid criticisms of his game (e.g., pick six), some of which have been mentioned, and should continue to be mentioned if he continues to do them.<br /><br />But this stupid pining for a future without Denard Robinson is ridiculous. Enjoy what you have now. We'll have plenty of time to celebrate (and assuredly complain about) about the Michigan QB in 2013, 2014, etc who is a "decent passer." Rob Pollardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-67336008872288557402012-09-17T00:09:23.612-04:002012-09-17T00:09:23.612-04:00@ BlastBeat88 10:19
"Secondly, if you seriou...@ BlastBeat88 10:19<br /><br />"Secondly, if you seriously think we're going to compete in the national title in the next five years, you're drinking too much of the maize Kool-Aid."<br /><br />Why not? We have just as good a chance as anyone if we continue to recruit well and our coaching staff stays stable. That is over one full recruiting cycle and if we keep bringing in better and better players I see no reason as to why we cannot at the very least compete for a MNC in the next 5 years.<br />Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17808990537608247952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-82051082130563480822012-09-16T22:19:39.719-04:002012-09-16T22:19:39.719-04:00Firstly, there are plenty of championship teams wi...Firstly, there are plenty of championship teams without superstar QBs...including the 1997 Michigan team. AJ McCarron is not a star, either.<br />Secondly, if you seriously think we're going to compete in the national title in the next five years, you're drinking too much of the maize Kool-Aid.BlastBeat88https://www.blogger.com/profile/11495258339873702405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-34323559042592917432012-09-16T21:20:57.567-04:002012-09-16T21:20:57.567-04:00Agreed on Barnum. I've never been impressed w...Agreed on Barnum. I've never been impressed with him.<br /><br />I also agree with your comments on the DL. The back seven is mostly the same, but the front four is in flux...and so far that has made all the difference with this defense.Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09708792562446136381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-41889132947120919882012-09-16T19:32:03.471-04:002012-09-16T19:32:03.471-04:00The other (non-Denard) topic that I wanted to comm...The other (non-Denard) topic that I wanted to comment on was the fact that this game basically confirmed (for me at least) that UM's defense is in fact much worse than 2011. I know UM only gave up about 260 yards and 6 points on defense, but UMass had fared EVEN WORSE than that against UConn and Indiana. Let that soak in for a while...UConn and Indiana.<br /><br />UMass had a higher ypp (3.9 vs. 3.8) against UM than against Indiana, higher ypc (3.1 vs. 2.2) and a much higher third down conversion rate (7 of 17 vs. 4 of 18). The comparative numbers are even more depressing when put up against UConn: UMass had higher ypp (3.9 vs. 1.3), higher ypc (3.1 vs. 0.1) and higher third down conversion rate (7 of 17 vs. 3 of 15) against UM than UConn.<br /><br />Conclusion: UM's defensive struggles are not a mirage and not a result of playing an elite team (Bama) and a triple-option team (Air Force). UM's defense just isn't very good this season and it all starts with the crappy D-line play.Logan88noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-48329850885841413042012-09-16T19:16:48.160-04:002012-09-16T19:16:48.160-04:00DonAZ @ 2:38PM:
I believe the poster stating that...DonAZ @ 2:38PM:<br /><br />I believe the poster stating that "...keeping him[Denard] at QB was not in his long-term interest" was simply referring to Denard's NFL prospects (at least that is the way I interpreted it). If that was his intent, then I agree with him completely. <br /><br />Denard has zero chance of playing QB in the NFL but has never played any other position in college so he will be completely unprepared for whatever positional move he ends up making. It will likely cost him a lot of money on draft day as any team taking Denard is doing so purely on athletic potential and will draft him much lower than he might have gone had he had a chance to hone his skills in college at a more appropriate position (WR or DB, most likely).Logan88noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-615401988349385002012-09-16T18:52:14.636-04:002012-09-16T18:52:14.636-04:00Couple of things:
- Ricky Barnum doesn't look...Couple of things:<br /><br />- Ricky Barnum doesn't look great to me. I rewatched some of the game looking for the weak link on the OL, and Barnum seemed unable at times to hold up 1-on-1 due to poor leverage. It seemed like Mealer typically blocks to the right, double-teaming with Omameh, leaving Barnum 1-on-1, where he let his guy collapse the pocket more than once. Lewan is a brick house, and the other guys seemed to do their jobs, more or less, from what I saw. Kerridge missed at least one block pretty badly that led to Fitz being taken down in the backfield. I was impressed with Funchess as a blocker, as well as Gardner. Fitz looks good as a blocker.<br /><br />- Fitz ran well. I think the criticism that he should've "busted it upfield" more often is unwarranted, as there just weren't holes, due either to lineman squeezing through or linebackers going untouched. He bounced it outside because he had to, and he made something out of nothing more than once. Our RB production would have been a lot worse if Rawls or Smith were the lead backs. <br /><br />- Our DL gets shut down way too easily with 1-on-1 blocking. Our linebackers are being engaged by offensive lineman seconds after the snap, and we weren't punishing them for that by winning 1-on-1 matchups from the DL position. We look like a mediocre-to-bad defense against the run. Nobody on the DL is skilled enough to give us an edge there.<br /><br />- Denard: I wish he wouldn't go for the deep bomb so often. On our second drive he threw two balls in a row 40 yards downfield in the air, only to see them fall harmlessly to the turf. Maybe once every couple of drives (cf. once per GAME under Lloyd Carr) is reasonable, but c'mon. The bubble screen always seems to be available, especially since the opponents linebackers are committed to the box. The TE pass should be used more, too, at least until the opponent shows they can take it away. Deep bombs seem to have roughly 25% success. Bubbles and TE passes seem to have around 75%. The percentages make it senseless to throw deep so often. <br /><br />Magnum PInoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-83397440952108118292012-09-16T18:40:20.651-04:002012-09-16T18:40:20.651-04:00Well, I'm not even talking about ALL of our sc...Well, I'm not even talking about ALL of our scholarship QBs. The question remains, if Morris doesn't pan out, who else do we have for 2014 and 2015, when we'd hopefully be ready to compete at a really high level? Even if Gardner gets a RS year, which is by no means certain, neither he nor Bellomy are championship caliber QBsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-11866582145166457302012-09-16T18:33:54.626-04:002012-09-16T18:33:54.626-04:00@Anon 5:28
I seriously doubt you can back up your ...@Anon 5:28<br />I seriously doubt you can back up your claim, and I would also volunteer that you'd be forced to dismiss teams like 2010 Illinois as a "strong opponent" because we beat them. See, when a team loses, they're generally considered to be weaker than before.<br /><br />A third point: most players in general perform better against weak opponents than strong opponents.BlastBeat88https://www.blogger.com/profile/11495258339873702405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-75847499758185666242012-09-16T17:28:16.055-04:002012-09-16T17:28:16.055-04:00James - for every one exception you can make to th...James - for every one exception you can make to the "strong against weak opponents, weak against strong opponents" argument I made (well, it would have sounded better that way), I can point to probably 10 games that support it. Of course there are exceptions. Nonetheless, you and others are saying that he has taken a step forward, despite all the over and under thrown balls, the interceptions, and the persisting poor mechanics. I am obviously skeptical, but since there are enough of you all making the case, I'll give it more credit and look harder for evidence from here on out. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-78717806930713555242012-09-16T17:13:09.807-04:002012-09-16T17:13:09.807-04:00We didn't learn much about the team, but I did...We didn't learn much about the team, but I did like some of the play calls, like the one-blocker screen to Toussaint. This game was a chance to experiment on both sides of the ball.<br /><br />I think Jerald Robinson should probably have hauled in the pass in the endzone and definitely hauled in the second one he dropped.BlastBeat88https://www.blogger.com/profile/11495258339873702405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-23357815809997033252012-09-16T16:56:55.768-04:002012-09-16T16:56:55.768-04:00@ Anon 3:39
I'm not sure worrying about what ...@ Anon 3:39<br /><br />I'm not sure worrying about what happens if all of our scholarship QBs explode is a legitimate worry. I mean, what if all of our linebackers break their legs in the offseason? What if our entire offensive line falls off a cliff?BlastBeat88https://www.blogger.com/profile/11495258339873702405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-1778797000566802442012-09-16T16:11:51.802-04:002012-09-16T16:11:51.802-04:00I don't quite agree with the "good agains...I don't quite agree with the "good against weak opponents, mediocre against strong opponents" line. Last year he was under 50% completions against EMU and SDSU, while he was fantastic against Nebraska and OSU down the stretch. I think he's played pretty well this year, aside from the interceptions. (I know, you can't take the interceptions away.) Against Alabama, he was victimized by some absolutely fantastic CB play (they broke up 4-5 good throws) as well as some poor recognition by his receivers (particularly Gardner). The last two weeks he's continued to be pretty accurate and has thrown for a very high YPA, despite having a rebuilt WR/TE corps. I think our passing game is taking a significant step forward and will only continue as our WRs/TEs settle in. <br /> <br />Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14347560939691337675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-71536472693726314902012-09-16T16:09:58.243-04:002012-09-16T16:09:58.243-04:00I don't quite agree with the "good agains...I don't quite agree with the "good against weak opponents, mediocre against strong opponents" line. Last year he was under 50% completions against EMU and SDSU, while he was fantastic against Nebraska and OSU down the stretch. I think he's played pretty well this year, aside from the interceptions. (I know, you can't take the interceptions away.) Against Alabama, he was victimized by some absolutely fantastic CB play (they broke up 4-5 good throws) as well as some poor recognition by his receivers (particularly Gardner). The last two weeks he's continued to be pretty accurate and has thrown for a very high YPA, despite having a rebuilt WR/TE corps. I think our passing game is taking a significant step forward and will only continue as our WRs/TEs settle in. <br /> <br />Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14347560939691337675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-77882496416496421362012-09-16T16:05:57.610-04:002012-09-16T16:05:57.610-04:00I have to wonder if Denard would've been a bet...I have to wonder if Denard would've been a better passer if he'd played under Borges for his entire career. Redshirting as a freshman, learning proper throwing mechanics, playing 4 years under 1 system. He'd be a Junior right now, probably making better reads, too. Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16110824687189541761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-21093598422066102332012-09-16T15:39:05.477-04:002012-09-16T15:39:05.477-04:00I'm looking forward to that too, but I'm a...I'm looking forward to that too, but I'm a little concerned that we've put all of our eggs in the Shane Morris basket. There's no such thing as a sure-fire star at QB in college, whether they're a 5 star or not (just ask Texas or Florida). I'm not even sure Gardner or Bellomy can do much next year, and if Morris doesn't pan out or gets hurt, what does that leave us with in 2014 and beyond?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-85097818778542391532012-09-16T14:44:40.542-04:002012-09-16T14:44:40.542-04:00My guess is that if you take Woodson's stateme...My guess is that if you take Woodson's statement last week about Cutler, insert 'Denard' for every 'Jay', and you get what our opposing defensive coaches teach their backfield about playing Denard. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-10050830014333658762012-09-16T14:39:46.400-04:002012-09-16T14:39:46.400-04:00Denard will never be great pocket passer, but that...Denard will never be great pocket passer, but that doesn't stop him from being a great college quarterback. It looks to me like he is much improved this year from last year (the rest of the schedule will show if this is right). His accuracy is much better. He has learned to step up into the pocket against a pass rush and make plays. Look at the touchdown to Devin Gardner against UMass. It was a beautiful play that he would not have made last year. He is also learning to scramble on passing plays when no one is open like on his touchdown run yesterday. <br /><br />His biggest issue in the past has been how to handle a hard pass rush against press coverage.<br />His ability to hit V. Smith in stride on swing passes and hit receivers quickly on a 3 step drop (if this continues) along with being able to step into the pocket and make plays and to scramble when no one is open will make him extremely difficult to stop this year. I think this will carry over against the good defenses remaining on the schedule.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-84490658209718869132012-09-16T14:38:25.906-04:002012-09-16T14:38:25.906-04:00My point was there have been some who suggested Ro...My point was there have been some who suggested Robinson would have been better suited as something other than QB. Look at the first "anonymous" post above -- "It really now appears that keeping him at QB was not in his long-term interest." That's not an isolated case.<br /><br />I'm NOT saying anyone in authority s actively or seriously suggesting he should be moved NOW ... my point is there are some (and perhaps many) who suggest Robinson is better suited as something other than QB.<br /><br />Rodriguez wasn't going to do that because Robinson fits RR's offensive model fairly well, provided he stays healthy. He would have fit REALLY well had another running back emerged to provide a credible alternative running threat.<br /><br />So the question is would Hoke have considered it? My point is "No" ... and the reasons I gave above -- (a) would have been a PR nightmare had he raised the subject, and (b) he didn't really have an alternative.<br /><br />And I'll just throw in ... Gardner's NFL prospects are *much* better served by going to WR. DonAZnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-26742149700290690672012-09-16T14:13:03.614-04:002012-09-16T14:13:03.614-04:00I've been critical of Denard all along. I'...I've been critical of Denard all along. I'll give credit where it's due (basically every time against Notre Dame, his 2011 game against OSU, etc.), but overall, he's just not a very good quarterback in the traditional sense of the word. His passing statistics support that opinion. With his running ability opening up pass routes, he should have much better passing statistics. Instead, he completes about 55% of his passes and throws a ton of interceptions. Over the last two seasons, he's thrown 26 touchdowns and 19 picks.Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09708792562446136381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-81235679166639454622012-09-16T14:09:28.814-04:002012-09-16T14:09:28.814-04:00Yeah, I think our offensive line is decent at pass...Yeah, I think our offensive line is decent at pass blocking.<br /><br />I certainly didn't think Clark would get this big this quickly, and his position was unclear coming out of high school. I expected him to play SAM, and I think that's where the coaches had him pegged originally. Considering his struggles with outside contain and the option, I can understand why they prefer him at DE.Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09708792562446136381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2440694009017367434.post-33695457911073812672012-09-16T14:07:10.773-04:002012-09-16T14:07:10.773-04:00I don't think anyone is calling for him to be ...I don't think anyone is calling for him to be moved from the QB spot. That doesn't change the fact that he's a poor-to-mediocre passer.Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09708792562446136381noreply@blogger.com