Let's see more of this guy on offense . . . a wide receiver catching the ball. Michigan completed just 3 passes to wide receivers on Saturday night, and just 7 in total. Washington has a formidable defense, but wide receivers are going to get frustrated pretty quickly if they don't start getting the ball once in a while to show off their skills. Cornelius Johnson (1 catch, 33 yards), A.J. Henning (1 catch, 1 yard), and Mike Sainristil (1 catch, -1 yard) got the ball, which means Roman Wilson and Daylen Baldwin didn't.
Hit the jump for more.
Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . receivers who won't block. Roman Wilson, Cornelius Johnson, and Luke Schoonmaker all made pretty poor attempts to block. Not only did they whiff, but they just didn't look like they wanted to do a good job. Don't throw them the ball if they're not willing to block for their teammates.
Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . nobody. I think the rotation is going pretty well on defense.
Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . defensive linemen bumping into each other. When Washington got some momentum in the second half, they started going up-tempo. And in an effort to keep guys fresh, Michigan was rotating in a lot of people, mostly on the defensive line. It started to look pretty sloppy, including one particular player where two defensive linemen were standing up and bumping into each other when the ball was snapped. If it had been a run play instead of a pass play, they would have been blown off the ball. Hopefully Michigan can improve its communication to players who are hustling in and out.
Play of the game . . . one of Aidan Hutchinson's sacks. Hutchinson was often lined up over potential first round pick Jaxson Kirkland, Washington's left tackle. Kirkland does not look like a first rounder to me, but regardless, Hutchinson bull rushed Kirkland, swatted him to the side, and then roll tackled quarterback Dylan Morris for a sack.
Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson putting work in on Washington Tackle Jaxson Kirkland. pic.twitter.com/UkhKpwkYeY
— Seven Rounds in Heaven (@7RoundsInHeaven) September 12, 2021
Player of the game . . . Aidan Hutchinson. Hutchinson finished with 4 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 1 quarterback hurry. Those are good stats, if not excellent, but he meant more than that to the defense - and to Washington's offense. Washington couldn't block him early in the game, which no doubt affected their play calling, not to mention their confidence in themselves. It seemed like Michigan's defense sucked the life out of Washington, and Hutchinson was the point of the spear.
Hutch is playing like many hoped Rashan Gary would. Very exciting to watch!
ReplyDeleteI agree. The biggest difference is that Hutch came back to Michigan to play his senior year. Hutch was probably going to be a first round pick last year anyway or maybe 2nd but instead of letting a disappointing (due to injury) season be his last, he came back. If he wasn't a local kid and a legacy he might not have taken that risk.
DeleteKids who did this deserve extra appreciation from the fanbase IMO. This is why you have to love guys like Hutch, Brandon Graham, Denard Robinson and many more. With NIL we'll probably never again have guys who come back to sacrifice things, purely for the love of the school and the program, but times change.
I think the comparison to Rashan Gary can be really insightful here. Impressive freshman year as a backup, followed by breakout sophomore year, disappointing injury-affected junior year. Very similar paths.
DeleteHutch is an elite edge player but through 3 years he had "only" 4.5 sacks and 11 TFL total. Gary was better as a freshman, as a sophomore, and as a junior. But because he was higher ranked as a recruit he was roundly criticized as a disappointment and called out for his lack of pass rushing production.
I think they're both similarly awesome players. I like Hutch more because he came back for his senior year but Gary was excellent too. These are great Wolverines.
Agree. But I like Hutch more because opposing coaches are either forced to account for him, or regret it. Kinda like Brandon Graham, Devin Bush and Jabrill
DeleteBut opposing coaches didn't have to worry about Gary? Is that what you are saying?
DeleteNote that Jabril was also called disappointing by people.
This is why I think Michigan fans are better off without any of the 5 stars they hope for on the recruiting trail. They only make them unhappy even when they are excellent players.
Lmao "I don't want Michigan to land elite players because fans don't agree with me"
DeleteLank logic folks
What's the secret to Aidan Hutchinson's success? When he first came in I don't recall any talk of him being a sure thing, or being a "freak athlete." It's some combination of strength, technique, and desire, I'm sure. But I don't know what the mix is, and what's the most important.
ReplyDeleteAs a coach yourself, what have you seen / do you see in Hutchinson that tells the story of how he progressed and how he succeeds so well today? Any thoughts on how to get that kind of thing out of a player?
Inherited genes from a father who was a consensus All American Lineman and is in the profootball hall of fame ummm doesn't hurt.............
Deletesayin.......intjohnn
Enjoy your comments probably should just let this go but Aidan is not Steve's kid. he is Chris's kid. Chris is not in hall of fame. Everything else you said is true.
DeleteUhhhh, he wa the top ranked player in the class and in the state. He was supposed to be really good. Exceeded expectations given he's an all American candidate now but if he had left after his junior year we'd have called it par.
DeleteAnd while yes, his Dad Chris was an excellent player so you can and should recognize the talent, Hutch's dad has frequently praised the kid's work ethic in a way that does come off as very genuine. Sure not everyone has a Dad who can speak to their character so well and have the cache to be listened to as a former athlete and current MD ( I mean...) but it still speaks to the kid doing everything in his power to be great.
Gotta love it. (Well, some people don't have to love it, but I hope most of our fanbase can appreciate him more than some of our recent standouts)
Ahhhhh ALL apologies; what can I say but the boring details of '90's Michigan Football have all been blended & blurred together in the Hallways of my ole Man Dementia while I continue to try & awake from the New Millennial Nightmare that Michigan Football has become..........
Deleteand thank you tho for recognizing the genius of my basic original premise.
Hugs & Kisses.............INTJohn
Chris Hutchinson was an all american DT in the early 90s but didn't do much in the NFL
DeleteSteve Hutchinson was an all american OL in the late 90s and went on to the NFL HOF.
Both were great at the college level.
Chris is Aidan's dad. Steve is unrelated AFAIK.
I have to pat myself on the back here a little bit and note that I pegged Hutchinson as the best player in the state of Michigan in 2018 and the best player in U of M's class that year. I gave him a TTB Rating of 88, which is pretty high but also still probably a little bit low. (He should have been in the 90's.)
DeleteI think the biggest thing with him is that he just plays with passion and pride, and that has to carry over into the weight room, off-season workouts, practice, etc. When you're following in a parent's footsteps, I think there's either a desire to honor your parent (or even one-up them) by putting in extra work...or there's an element of entitlement.
Of course, there's also the fact that Hutchinson's dad was an All-American who was known for being smart, tough, and technical. I don't think it's a coincidence that Aidan Hutchinson's swipe move (where you slap/chop an offensive lineman's hands to one side while stepping to the other) is a technical move that's among the best in the country, if not the best.
Long answer short, I think Hutchinson was underrated as an athlete coming out of high school and also is maximizing his potential with great technique and hard work/passion for the game.
Lets have moar sarcasm on Thunder's site; after all Harvard studies and others have shown that sarcasm is THEEE language of the intelligent:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49283
"Lets see more wide receiver use on offense.............?
"Lets see less wide receiver use on offense.................?
wtf?
Lets see moar blocking by the quarterback; hence a return to the original Carlisle single wing.
On the "lets more....on defense"? The word should be "Everybody" not "Nobody"; jus sayin
"Less on Defense" - yeah, finally gotta agree on this one. looked like a bunch of starved wolverines at a zoo jockeying for position at the feeding trough.........
Play of the game: SMFH - really? How bout the 67 yard td scamper after getting stuffed previously at the goal line. said Td scamper being set up by the fake 4th down punt. said td scamper electrified the crowd and shot to hell any energy UDub got from said goal line stuff? AND making a tight game 10-0?
I rest that case.
Player(s) of the Game: Ofensive Line. Anytime a team rushes like Michigan did in this game; ummm give some love to the OL. Yep, Bo is nodding his head in approval, complete with smile while chewing the hell out of his gum..........
Ok enuff of all that - onto Northern illinois; after all Rocky has the game plan on how to beat Michigan: continuous arm punts for TD's. just put him in punt formation so Hutchinson can't get there qwik enuff and rocky can bomb away..........
WTF - it worked before; Rocky, throw it till they stop it.
Sayin...........INTJohn
I don't think the offensive player selections are too counter to each other. I want to see more receivers catching the ball...and I want to see fewer receivers whiffing on blocks.
DeletePut receivers out there who will block, and then reward them by throwing them the ball.
Let's see more of this guy on offense . . . a wide receiver catching the ball----we better see this soon or it's going to be Roman Wilson and JJ McCarthy saying hasta la vista to Michigan.
ReplyDeletereceivers who won't block.----or aren't being coached well enough to. But that can't be possible, right? The WR receiver coach used to coach at Alabama.
Let's see less of this guy on defense...defensive linemen bumping into each other----maybe a change at coach in the interior D Line is really what's needed.
Matt Weiss needs to be moved to OC, and a QB coach needs to be hired in the mold of Steve Sarkasian/Jim McElwain.
You keep hinting about JJ McCarthy. But JJ is a true freshman that is the backup already and, when he was in the game, got opportunities to throw the ball. Why would he be concerned (other than the level of WRs he gets to play with)? Seems like you are looking to stir up trouble or controversy. JJ should be happy with his place right now.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Thunder's call for more passes to the WRs. I would be absolutely shocked if it didn't happen.
ReplyDeleteFor starters, NIU would be absolute fools not to load the box after the last 2 weeks. Shoot your shot and force Michigan to show you they can move the ball through the air with any consistency.
Michigan also has little to gain by repeating the last 2 weeks of ground-only attack. By now they won't impress anyone - including themselves - with another day of all runs. They'll still be run heavy but I think will come out more balanced at least early.
Cade should throw for at least 250 and probably 3TDs or so. I think he'll do it. Will it mean anything for OSU or Wisconsin? No. Will that stop people from seeing the next Joe Montana? No. Will it have anything to do with past Michigan QBs? No. Oh well.
Ok, so I lied too, seemingly it's a good week for that.
ReplyDeleteI found an hour to go through the every offensive snap thing and decided to visit the other site before I started that. Turns out Seth did a better job of it than I could ever do with a "Neck Sharpies" post.
I took the liberty of copying the the final nail in the coffin from that post. You should go read it only after you have read every word posted on this site and maybe have purchased something from Amazon.
Here are Seth's words ... as an aside lots of pictures accompany this post ... "The running back has the ball, in the 4th quarter, of a game Michigan is salting away by running up the gut all night long, and still Washington had their safeties in a two-deep shell, still moving backwards"
Yup, that pretty much sums it up.
Then, I'd give player of the game to the entire offensive line. I thought that for this game, at least, they were way a cut above anything we've had around here in quite some time.
I thought Corum's 67 yard run, blocked to perfection, was the play of the game, as well as the appropriate metaphor for the entire game.
I missed Schoonmaker whiffing on a screen, but he at least got one proper block in during the game.
Whoever Seth is, he should be wanting more from the coaches in getting the great players in the passing game involved. Or, they will leave, and you will have the Dan Villari's of the world at QB, when they should be at TE.
DeleteGo tell Nick Saban to run it all the time. See what his answer is. You see how good his new QB is? So far it all looks like child's play to him.
Roanman, you are correct. It's great to have our run game dictate pace & outcome. We pounded UW, and everyone should be happy with that
DeleteBut even Seth, on the MGoPodcast, as well as Jansen & Brandstatter, Devin & Sam, VanBergen and Skene ... they all pointed out the importance of getting our passing game going, with MGo & Devin pointing out specific plays & formations we could have thrown Slants & Crossing routes on
It's okay to discuss. We're all - or at least most of us - are happy with the victory
I'm not sure if you have or not, but I think a lot of people misinterpreted what I said about the passing game. I never claimed that Michigan should have been throwing the ball late, throwing it 30 times, etc.
DeleteI'm fine with 15 passes in a game where the run is killing the opponent.
The problem I have with those 15 passes is that the plays were targeting the wrong people, poorly designed, etc. If Corum is getting 21 carries, you don't need to target him in the passing game 3 times to keep him happy. HOWEVER, if Corum is getting 21 carries and Haskins is getting 17 (off the top of my head, I think those were the numbers), you should probably target Cornelius Johnson/Roman Wilson a few times to work on your timing, keep them happy, etc.
I would say the same thing if Michigan were throwing the ball 65 times to the wrong people, leaving just a few runs. Imagine a game where Michigan threw to the WR/TE 65 times, but of the 7 times when they ran the ball...they were all end arounds/reverses to receivers with just 2 carries for the running back.
Thunder.
ReplyDeleteI don't give a a fat rat’s ass about Roman Wilson's happiness, especially since it looks a lot like he doesn’t want to block. As you well know, I’ve typed these exact words before on this very site, “This is Michigan kid, you gotta block.”
What I want and on any given fall Saturday, for the most part, ALL I want, is to win the game in front of me in the the most convincing manner possible.
Saturday past, I got exactly what I wanted for the first time in a long time.
Then.
If you haven’t, I know you will because I know you do, look into the latest Neck Sharpies post. It’s some seriously awesome shit that Harbaugh pulled out on them. He had Tuli and Taki so screwed up, they were having problems with their emotions.
Darj, this is for you.
https://mgoblog.com/content/neck-sharpies-i-can-do-all-day
Watch the end of the first play in the post. Watch what Schoonmaker does with Taki/Tuli . maybe Tuli/Taki. Watch Taki/Tuli/Tuli/Taki … get pissed.
We/I’ve been talking about Washington’s Dbs being good, and their coach being dumb as a stump for not adjusting, but in the guy’s defense, those kids are absolute beasts and it never entered his mind that they could be moved, BY A TIGHT END!!!!! … see below … I’m pretty sure his brains just shorted out because he was presented with an uninterpretable conundrum. Think Hal 9000 in Space Odyssey. He shut down.
As an aside, Thunder, ok so he whiffed on the screen, I still haven’t seen it, but I trust you enough to think it was approaching egregious, but look at the work the kid does here. Tuli/Taki is a beast of a kid. Schoomaker SEALED HIM OUT,!!!!! Then he rocks somebody in space to set Corum free later.
Apologies for getting all capital letters and stuff here, but DAMN!!!! That was great coaching, great blocking … just pure greatness anywhere you want to look.
We did all that damage with linemen crossing the formation, angles and leverage. It was wonderfully designed and some seriously innovative shit.
Then
You’re worried about losing receivers because we aren’t spreading it around. Ok, I get that, but the thing that really brings in the players is the Ws.
We now have some bad assed linemen on both sides of the ball looking hard at us. We just got a CB on a kid being compared to Jonathon Hankins. We have a top 100 lineman and another just beast of a Polynesian kid also from Washington looking hard at us. Big athletic, ill tempered people are thinking that Michigan is a good place for them to be. I want every last one of those guys. As an aside, damn you RR on the Jonathon Hankins thing.
You know full well, if you have a bad ass line of guys going to go play on Sunday, which we now possibly have and they are clubbing opposing lines like baby seals, game in and game out … admittedly not yet proven, you’re gonna be able to get all the guys you want who can throw it and catch it. If you have a pipeline of guys doing those things, which we are starting to look really good for … and again, not yet proven, now you're doing some business.
We want all of that because that’s what Michigan football mostly is when Michigan football is good.
I think we have reached one of the rare moments in our long and treasured relationship where we are just gonna have to agree to disagree.
Roanman, I don't blame Wilson. He's from low-talent Hawaii, missed his FR year, and is being asked to make a very difficult block. After failing, they kept having him try again ... That's a fool's errand, and why our screens were so badly dismantled by a D giving us room
DeleteAs I've said, Seth points out a couple good plays - we look great. But on the podcast, he points out passes that were given to us, but not taken
Slanting to roman wilson = good
Crossing to roman wilson ° buckeye good
Asking Roman Wilson to motion across the field, and make a block on an NFL bound Corner = bad
I share your appreciation of this level of butt whooping. I still think it's okay to acknowledge opportunities
@je93 8:52 a.m.
DeleteWilson didn't miss his freshman year. He played quite a bit.
I was unclear. He missed spring ball, and went through a very abbreviated season
DeleteLies and exaggerations?
DeleteThis is Michigan, you gotta block.
ReplyDeleteBoooo even at michigan, Wisconsin & Iowa (and even in the NFL), there are bad blocking designs & assignments
DeleteThat's just football. At the very least, pull him after the first or second MA, and put someone in who can do it
On the other hand, it could be that he's contact averse.
DeleteHaha, touche
DeleteBut in that case, why assign him that block? Get someone out there who will block, or take the Slants/Crossers
Or light him up Sunday morning and then explain to him that this is Michigan, you gotta block.
ReplyDelete@Roanman 9:26
DeleteWoodson, Skene & Jansen (plus many others) say "the expectation is for the position"
They also mention often how 'in their day' if you couldn't get it done, you'd be replaced with someone who can. So, why wait til Sunday to 'light him up?'
Pull him out after the first missed block, and correct him. After the second, he should be done ... I don't get trying four times, each one uglier than the one before
Apologies to Thunder in advance here, I usually refuse to direct people to other sites from here as this is my first site of the day, even when Thunder has too much on his plate to post much and I'm about to do it for the second time in one morning, but ...
ReplyDeleteThe Athletic has two nice pieces on our offensive line. I like The Athletic, Thunder turned me onto it, so it's his own fault.
They got me with a $1/month promo and it worked. There's no turning back now. Consistently good content without all the noise.
DeleteI like The Athletic, too. I maintain a subscription, but I don't even read it anymore because I'm too busy (except an occasional piece). I just want to support good sports journalism.
DeleteAhhhh!
ReplyDeleteI just saw the bubble screen.
That was a massive fail.
I did like the part where Schoonmaker tried to push the whole mess forward tho.