We have a new #1. There was talk in the off-season about Michigan wanting to add size at the receiver position, and Donovan McCulley was the guy who came in to add that element. The 6'5", 215 lb. former quarterback has had some glitches in his understanding of what Bryce Underwood was thinking or where the routes should go, and there was at least one more on Saturday. But McCulley certainly looked the part of a #1 receiver on Saturday, making amazing leaping catches and running after the catch. He made 6 catches for 112 yards and 1 touchdown, including an amazing contortion on the left sideline to get one foot down for a 33-yard gain. His touchdown catch was an RPO where he bounced off a couple tacklers and then beat defenders to the pylon for a 29-yard score. He's not going to amaze anyone with his speed, but when off-season comparisons to Nico Collins came in, most people rolled their eyes. I think now he's putting on display where those comparisons came from. He registered the first 100+ yard game for a Michigan wide receiver since Roman Wilson against Purdue on November 4, 2023.
Hit the jump for more.
Wisconsin was annoyingly pesky. The opening drive for Wisconsin didn't worry me too much when the Badgers drove right down the field and scored. Scripted offenses at the beginning of a game often go that way, including against Michigan's elite defenses under Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter. The problem opponents have discovered is that it's not easy to keep that going once Michigan's defensive coordinators figure out what teams are trying to do. That first drive lasted 12 plays and went 75 yards for a score. The rest of the game netted 177 yards and 3 points. That opening drive was also the result of Wisconsin having a surprise quarterback starter in Hunter Simmons, who was the third-stringer to start the year and had been behind Danny O'Neil, who was healthy for this game but played sparingly. Anytime there's a new quarterback starting or a major shift in the offense to surprise a good defense, there's often an adjustment period. Simmons had previously started a handful of games at FCS Southern Illinois and had yet to attempt a pass for Wisconsin, so I'm not sure how much info Michigan had on the guy before the game. Michigan struggled up front to move Wisconsin's defensive front, which was expected. I thought Michigan would be a little more opportunistic defensively and create a couple short fields to get some more points, but that didn't happen.
Another positive game for Chip Lindsey. Maybe I'm repeating this too much, but I really like Lindsey as a coordinator. One of the commentators on TV yesterday mentioned it, but Lindsey has answers built into the offense for what opponents are doing. That's something Michigan lacked under Kirk Campbell last year. We're seeing a complete offense with a variety of run schemes, draws, screens, different ways to get Underwood out of the pocket, RPOs, a downfield passing game, etc. Something I felt like Michigan lacked under Campbell and even Sherrone Moore when he was offensive coordinator was some of those auxiliary plays, such as draws and RPOs. The offense was very effective from 2021-2023, but some of that time was just asking J.J. McCarthy to make a play or for the offensive line to block a bunch of people in the box and let Blake Corum or Hassan Haskins be awesome. Not every play was a hit (I didn't like the play action forward toss to Semaj Morgan) because the timing and spacing just weren't there, but things make sense the way they're put together.
Michigan only allowed 10 points but I'm still disappointed. You know you're in a pretty good spot when allowing 10 points to a Big Ten team is a bit of a disappointment, but that's how I felt. I expected Michigan's pass rush to be a little more effective, and I thought they would create one or two more turnovers. Granted, my expectation stemmed from planning for Danny O'Neil to be the Badgers' starting quarterback, but running back Dilin Jones (17 carries, 63 yards, 1 TD) was more effective than I expected. And so were Simmons (18/29, 177 yards, 1 INT) and wide receiver Vinny Anthony (9 catches, 97 yards). I don't think this is anything to worry about, because Wisconsin was coming off a bye, they were well rested, and they had a chance to get better.
I think Luke Fickell is a good coach. It pains me to say it about the former Buckeye, but I think Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is a good coach. I don't think his decision to move away from Wisconsin's offensive strength was a great move, because he set himself back. If things don't work out in Madison, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go somewhere else and be successful, somewhere that is more ready for him. I'm not sure if Wisconsin can afford to fire him (he has a $25 million buyout) if he doesn't get things going, but if he's back on the job market in the off-season, I think he can go to a mid-level program and be a thorn in good programs' sides by being consistently well coached.
Something I looked forward to in the summer countdown was your expectation for McCulley. I expected improvement, but nothing elite: appx 6oo-7ooyds, six TDs, and a reliable chain mover for Bryce
ReplyDeleteFive games in, he's already more WOW plays then I hoped for. We added more than size!
Speaking of sIzE, at 6' even, Marsh has already passed every pLayMaKerR we were stuck with after Harbaugh, and in his breakout performance earned a lot more YAC and an eye opening catch. We may have something here
"The offense was very effective from 2021-2023, but some of that time was just asking J.J. McCarthy to make a play or for the offensive line to block a bunch of people in the box and let Blake Corum or Hassan Haskins be awesome"
Hmmm ... seems like someone is missing from this list?
#Harball
#SMASH
#RBmatters
None of us liked Campbell, but during the off-season there was talk about how he used Semaj (short passes). Fast forward a year, and it seems that's all dude can catch with any bit of consistency
ReplyDelete#tRuSTtHec0aChEs
The Morgan stuff is curious. I know it's different, but Morgan was a beast in 7-on-7s. He didn't have issues catching the ball downfield and was kind of a Jeremy Gallon who could go up and get it. Maybe it's a confidence thing. I think he's physically tough, so I don't think it's a toughness issue. Really weird.
DeleteI know I rant against our WRs a ton, but it's been brutal since Saturday
DeleteMGoPodcast went as far as blaming Cignetti for the McCulley issues (I think it was more about fit). They're also done with the 'other' Receivers, going as far as insisting "WR DEPTH IS TWOOO"
Devin & Butt were even more harsh. On McCulley, Devin says "he's #1; he's the dude; find a way to get him the football. Then more Marsh; we have to be done with the Semaj experiment. Get those (targets) to McCulley & Marsh" Butt's film breakdown went after Semaj for effort
I have gone on about expectations being too high for Morgan (and others), but (I think) he has his mind on the big play, even before he makes the catch. That's a lack of focus & discipline. Dude definitely has DAWG in him, just by looking at all the broken tackles since he was a TrFR
I half joked about sending him to the Portal, but it's probably enough to cut his targets until he earns them: more blocking, less talking; catch the dang ball; make a MF play after that, and you're back in good graces
Yeah, I was a little surprised at how hard Devin Gardner and Jake Butt went after Semaj on their podcast, especially because I know Gardner has a relationship with Semaj. But I think Gardner calls it how he sees it. He can be pretty harsh with the honesty.
DeleteThe truth is...it happens too much with Semaj, both on offense and on special teams. Whatever the problem is, it's a problem. I don't really like to blame coaching because Bellamy is a former college and NFL receiver who's been doing it a long time, learned from a good WR coach, has that good WR coach on staff with him, etc. Bellamy knows what drills and such to do to teach people how to catch a ball.
I think coaching is more a part of route running, field awareness, knowing routes, working with the QB, understanding man vs. zone, etc. When it comes to catching the ball...sometimes you either have it or you don't.
It's getting late early in terms of Semaj putting it together. I think it's mostly on him, but Bellamy (and others) are probably not blameless here. Semaj is a junior now but still hasn't put it all together to be a consistent player. Maturity questions are forgivable for a freshman but once you're a junior it's another story. Put in the work. Get better.
DeleteHopefully we see Semaj put it together for his senior year or maybe even the second half of this one. I like what he brings to the table but potential stops being relevant at some point and we're close to that.
I understand that Bellamy has come in for some criticism, and it's likely that is overheated. But not unwarranted either. The WRs haven't been good and the lack of development behind Wilson/Johnson has been a concern. Talent identification has been meh. The STARZ have been there but have not translated (until Marsh it seems). I heard excuses like "look at the QB situation" but let's be real, it was a 1 year blip between two elite talents in Bryce and JJ. So I don't buy it. Coming off a national championship recruiting should surge. Coming off 2 WRs getting drafted, even without big volume, recruiting should surge. We didn't see that.
In Bellomy's defense he seems to have gotten McCulley and Marsh on track pretty quickly. Goodwin probably has a ceiling but he seemed well coached. The scattershot playing time distribution in 2024 beyond Loveland and Morris has been tightened up to something cogent. The whole offense in 2024 had a broad stink to it so they grasped at straws. Perhaps that can be forgiven.
I think the '25 and '26 are make or break for Bellomy. Michigan isn't going to keep finding guys like McCulley without spending a lot more money. You need those young guys to step up and produce alongside Marsh. And of course Marsh has to keep developing and find that consistency that has eluded Morgan. 1 good game doesn't make an all conference player.
LMAO, did lAnKt0bY have AI reorganize Brian's writing? Or is this an admission of je being right, AGAIN?
Delete"I heard excuses like "look at the QB situation" but let's be real, it was a 1 year blip between two elite talents in Bryce and JJ. So I don't buy it"
AH, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
#whiteflagaccepted
We already knew this t0bY, back when je93 the Wise predicted it 2o21 & warned against pLayMaKerRs in spring 2o24, and it was confirmed by others:
"From the instant this (McCulley xfer) happened it was clear that McCulley was FAR & AWAY Michigan's WR1"
"The guy that STOOD OUT THE MOST is Donaven McCulley in camp," Moore said. "And people didn't get to see much of him in the Spring Game, and that was on purpose"
"McCulley stands ALONE as a guy drawing consistent mention from practice observers"
"He’s been infectious in our room, where some of the younger guys see that, and they want to emulate that"
"Whatever happened between Curt Cignetti and McCulley last year that caused his playing time to go off a cliff doesn't overwrite what he did in 2023, when he was one of the Big Ten's better receiving options"
(2o23 Indiana) "Collectively they averaged 6.8 yards per attempt. This is better expressed as:
73 McCulley targets: 66% completion rate at 8.8 yards per attempt
All other attempts: 57% completion rate at 6.2 YPA"
"McCulley pulled an EXTRA 2.6 yards per attempt out of quarterbacks who were OTHERWISE HORRENDOUS; he got a vastly disproportionate share of targets despite Indiana possessing a fringe NFL guy in Camper"
"PFF credited him with 11 catches on 17 contested attempts, which is OUTSTANDING"
"desperate defensive backs had a tendency to interfere with him"
"McCulley is a LOCK to be the TOP receiver on the roster. He will likely outpace his competition by a factor of TWO"
"Beyond McCulley things get MURKY in a HURRY"
"There was virtually NO offseason talk about the depth chart"
"BACKUPS: STILL BUELLER" (yawn)
https://mgoblog.com/content/preview-2025-wide-receiver
And then from Brian's post that lAnKt0bY plagiarized: "He's giant and ATHLETIC; he has SOFT HANDS and a SPOOKY ABILITY to get his foot down despite being challenged" and "Prioritizing McCulley now looks smart as well; he's getting drafted too"
*unrelated, but fun: "(at WR) 2022: Tyler Morris and Darrius Clemons, PLUS COLSTON LOVELAND AT TIGHT END (flexing the TE does not make him a Wide Receiver) ... LMFAO, Brian Hates lAnKt0bY ... serves you right, plagiarizer
https://mgoblog.com/content/fires-october
#notjustsIzE
#notsmartenough
#exposedagain
Sooo many qUoTeS, LOLOLOL
MONEY? We offered $5ooK for a one year rental on a 3star transfer, who would compete for WR2 on a RunFirstRunOften team
https://badgerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/badgers/football/2025/08/21/michigan-transfer-offer-wisconsin-skyler-bell-uconn/85756560007/
*Skyler Bell is 6' and 185lb
#notjustSiZe
Agree with you about Fickell. What he did with Cincinnati was very impressive. Sounds like from what I have read was that there was a lot of resentment of the offensive 180 from people loyal to Cryst. Sounds almost like Rich Rod coming in and trying to change the culture at a long well-established successful program. I think Wisconsin should stick with him longer as I still think he is a very good coach who has been chastened
ReplyDeleteI think he can win at Wisconsin. Probably not 10 games a year like what they were doing, but he could be a perennial 8- or 9-win coach. Then, of course, the question becomes...if that wasn't good enough for Paul Chryst, then why is it good enough for Fickell?
DeleteIf I blur my eyes and look at this Michigan team, and rank it on a scale from 1 (the 2008 Michigan team, which was bad), and 10 (the 2023 Michigan team, which was very good), I see a team that's somewhere between 6 and 7, with the potential to get to 8 or so if improvement continues, particularly in the WR room and along the offensive line.
ReplyDeleteI would compare Fickell to Dan Mullen. A guy who can be successful in a smaller program but not necessarily capable of leading a team to win the Big 10 or SEC. I think he was perfect for a place like Cincinnati. Should not have made the move to Wisconsin…
ReplyDeleteSpeaking about changing a school’s identity, I think it is easier to succeed in a place like Indiana/Purdue/Illinois than Wisconsin/Iowa (schools which had prior identity). This is why I am very happy that our coaches have not stuck to their “smash football” identity this season.
The ideal situation is to have a team *capable* of playing SMASH football, but with the ability and talent to do other things. We lost a bit of the former with the loss of key OL and DL personnel; but we gained the latter with Underwood and Hayes.
DeleteI dunno...it has been tough to win at Indiana. I hate Curt Cignetti, but they were ALWAYS bad and a gimme victory. At least with Purdue and Illinois, they had decent runs under Joe Tiller, Jeff Brohm, Ron Zook, Mike White, John Mackovic, etc., and they've produced NFL players.
DeleteAntwaan Randle-el aside, Indiana doesn't historically produce good NFL players OR have good seasons.
Program identities matter! If you toss them in the trash well you better be right and be right fast.
DeleteYou can succeed at the school-with-identity if you stick to elements of the identity. But if you try to overturn everything (ahem Rich Rod) then you are going to face additional challenges.
Indiana/Purdue/Illinois are clean slates, but personally I'd rather takeover at a place like Iowa and Wisconsin (or Nebraska) and build off a successful identity. That gives you good foundation to start with.
Wisconsin used to be a perennial loser too (clean slate), but Barry Alvarez came in and gave them an identity that they were able to maintain for a few decades. I honestly don't know what Fickell was thinking to throw that away and go with an air raid. Wisconsin had ONE THING that it did really really well for yeeeeeears and it was build up a midwestern beef factory on OL to run down your throat.
I think if Rich Rod had it to do over again he might have held onto some of the defensive coaching from the Carr era to maintain continuity on that side of the ball while he revamped the offense. Instead he pretty much cleaned house (aside from Fred Jackson) and defensive struggles doomed him. MIchigan had an identity as a pro style offense but Rodriguez could have leaned into a historical return to Bo-era offense... if he had the elite defense to hold up the other end. Having a defense that didn't suck was part of the identity too LOL.
@Thunder, why do you hate Curt Cignetti? I like it that Indiana is finally good at football. Better they win the Big Ten than Ohio/Penn St/Oregon. Cignetti’s story reminds me a little of John Beilein. Someone who has been successful as a HC everywhere he went but was given the key to a major school only later in his career.
Delete@ Anon. It is cool to have smash football. Your opponents know what you want to do and cannot do anything about it. Love it. But I would rather win and try to play smash football and lose. My concern with this current team is their inability to convert 3rd/4th and short. We do not have to play smash football but we need to be better at converting short yardage.
DeleteThe short yardage issues were against a very good RunD with a loaded box. Still, if Haynes jumps (ala Corum), he gets it. If Underwood doesn't lose the snap, we have a chance
DeleteYoung teams make rookie mistakes, but we're actually improving since the backups took over on the interior OL. El Hadi will get his job back, but I'm not sure about Norton
@ FT 1:34 p.m.
DeleteCignetti is cocky. "I win. Google me." "Michigan and Ohio State suck." Cignetti was very bombastic when he came to Indiana, and I don't like him because of it. He's a Richard.
Awesome to see the receivers have a big day. McCulley -- living up to the hype! Marsh -- looking like the complementary piece we need. The others....well, they are around. Clearly Morgan has some playmaking ability but for a junior to still be so inconsistent, well, it's not optimal.
ReplyDeleteI was definitely one of those folks rolling their eyes at the McCulley hype but he played great Saturday. You love to see it!
Agree with the Lindsey praise. The offense will struggle at times because the personnel is not elite, freshman QB, wonky OL, etc -- but there is balance and cohesion in the scheme and playcalling. Just one example but all the rollout pass calls seem like paying attention to your personnel -- the OL can't pass block that well and Bryce is elite at throwing on the move. It seems like Chip doesn't just try to imprint identity without considering personnel. And it seems he has the ability to put together a gameplan not just random cool plays (like our OC last year).
Fickell is probably a good coach and the identity shift on offense was probably a singular bad idea, with massive negative consequences. But I don't see what is happening at Wisconsin as a good sign for him. "somewhere that is more ready for him" is interesting because I think Wisconsin was ready for him it's just that he wasn't ready for Wisconsin. The Big Ten is no joke. We've seen others falter when elevated up to the Big League as well (Rodriguez, Frost, etc.). He might just not be up for that level of coaching. TBF -- few are!
The Good-
ReplyDeleteWR. They were dead to me, but Marsh is starting to get a connection with BU and McCullen looks to be a top receiver. Add in Hanson and Klein and we might have something. Maybe Haynes can line up with Marshall and then go into the slot? Don't like number 0. Drops the ball too much.
OL-Did not look good and Sprauge was roasted multiple times. That should not happening. Too much is happening in there to fairly evaluate them unless you do film breakdown. But it is and not where we want it.
Defense- Numbers looked good but UW is offensively challenged. The DB's seem to be out of control and in the wrong spot a lot. Moore coming back seemed to help, maybe he can be this years Sandistrill. The DL Moore looked good, popped with some plays. I don't trust Wink and would rather have a mid 30's super genius as the DC like we had with Minter/MacDonald. We have charger/ravens/seahawk ties, we need to get that guy that wants the experience.
SP- It is an issue. We should have let the SP coach go at the end of last year
A lot of potential, but so far, a lot of mistakes and it is getting late early to clean them up. We should pave USC, but they will probably turn our secondary inside out.
Tackling wasn't great early, script or not. But this was a pretty good win.
ReplyDeleteI thought that both of Wisconsin's lines looked very much like Wisconsin lines, and that their linebackers looked pretty typical as well ... in a good way. I'd take their front seven all day long.
Wisconsin now has three losses, but to Alabama, Maryland, with this year's other stud freshman Qb Malik Washington who had to beat them with his arm cuz Maryland couldn't run a lick, and then us. They are better than their record indicates.
Running on Wisconsin isn't easy. I was impressed with both our offensive line and our backs. Haynes has impressive patience to go with way impressive burst. Bredeson does real work.
As the game went along, our tackling became steadier and then they were done. We mostly had guys around the ball all day.
I'll take it.
I like Fickell. It looked to me like he's becoming a Wisconsin football coach rather than bringing change to the place. I'm in favor of this, as I have always liked Wisconsin football.
Having watched their catastrophe against OSU, I'm repenting of my opinion having to do with a good win here. OSU didn't run well, but kicked Badger tookus in every other phase of the game.
Deleteour best chance against ohio seems to be Day's obsession with proving his team is TOUGH
DeleteOur Secondary is suspect, and he has the Receivers to dominate. But if he insists on a rock fight, it'll be close enough to steal #5
Defensive rotations have been very interesting and surprising in multiple places this year. More intentional development of youth, deeper rotations, and a couple older guys kind of fading from relevance.
ReplyDeleteDT - Heavy rotation was expected but Payne and Williams seem to be closer to backups than frontline starters. That was true for them at Alabama and Clemson too, so it shouldn't be a surprise, but there was some hope that they could elevate with new coaching. Pierce stepping up is great news. Etta looks like a player. No real role for Iwunnah if/when he is back but maybe he can red-shirt?
EDGE - More rotation than expected here. Moore is the top guy but not seeing heavy snaps (maybe a health issue there?). Barham looks like a stud since he slid over but a position change always comes with some bumps. The big surprise is Guy has receding into the background behind Brandt. Nichols still involved despite 4 guys ahead of him.
LB - Barham moved out because things are going so well with Hausman / Rolder / Sullivan. Bowles in the picture because of his coverage skills and speed and might play a bigger role in certain matchups. Things look great.
CB - Hill and Berry locking down the 2 starting spots as expected but probably not hitting their ceiling yet. Sanders is the big surprise emerging into the CB3 role. He's currently 6th on the whole defense in snap count, thanks to a bump with Berry missing time. Glimpses at others but the top 3 are going to get all the meaningful snaps if they are healthy. Anderson just seeing his first snaps, Edmond getting passed by freshman. Earls is freshman Jayire HIll to Sanders DJ Waller
Safety/Nickel - Top 3 until Rod Moore got healthy are largely as expected Hillman / Metcalf / Curtis. Young, very surprisingly, has emerged as competing with Mangum for a rotational role. Might be a motivational thing to push Mangam, but as Moore (presumably) continues to play more snaps this appears like an active competition for the last spot or two in the rotation. DB Oden seems to have been passed over.
Overall
Some really good things happening but the theory of replacing Grant/Graham with depth is not surprisingly not playing out. The DL is not as good as last year. That said, Braham at EDGE going about as well as could be hoped. Pierce, Sullivan, Curtis, and Sanders emerging. Get Moore and Moore right and Wink dialing in playcalling and personnel and we're in business for 11/29.
But USC and Washington are big tests before that.
beautiful, historic stadium, but not very loud, especially for a night game w/ranked opponent
ReplyDeleteDL standing up beginning the opening drive; get in position!
Secondary giving up sooo much cushion, trying to avoid a big play ... adds on to their bad angles
wasn't happy to come out passing, especially RB flats. RUN. THE. BALL!
zero pass rushers before the 2min warning for the Half ... way too many unnecessary Subs
their two OL backups held up far too well, even w/a backup RB. Just gashed us
Marshall is STRONG. He runs HARD. But he's no Haynes
no 1ooyd RB & no explosives runs for the first time all season, even when SC backed out of the box
Haynes injury doomed our Offense. We were missing that Mullings/Haynes threat. RB matters
garbage time TDs are supposed to be mistakenly easy. Not with Jayden Davis
our Offense scored less than Georgia Southern against this SC defense. It wasn't good. Still, am I overreacting to think our Defense looked worse? Some of those screens made us look like a Scout D in camp
bring on Washington: Williams. Coleman. Boston. We struggle badly against such athletes
don't let things unravel like last October. Some tossup games ahead, especially if Haynes misses time
*ohio has been working on their Run, but this is the season to go Air Raid on us
Go Blue
SO LONELY. SO THIRSTY. #ESSAY
DeleteI would just like to mention that there's an adult somewhere in the world typing in all caps "SO LONELY. SO THIRSTY. #ESSAY" and it's not even out of character.
DeleteThis is all very tiresome.
lAnKt0bY is waiting to read the UFRs to plagiarize ... it's because he doesn't understand the game!
DeleteOUTSMARTED
UDub game:
ReplyDeleteon the opening play, who's to blame for the miscommunication? Is it McCulley, a converted WR who missed last year before transferring in, or the TrFR QB? It's been an issue all year
that Jayrie drop stung. He's okay/good, but far from the elite Corner some thought we had. CB2 in most Harbaugh years
Marshall runs so dang hard. Tough to bring down. Just not very explosive. Daveon Smith, but faster
Tonelli's drop was quite fortunate ... no, he was NOT playing wIdE rEcEiVeR
Chip was cookin. Love getting Jordan Marshall in space for quick dumps. Easy yards. Chip is our best play caller since???
I was iffy going for it on 4th, but why TF did that go to Semaj?!? What has he EARNED? Dude has never been a pLaYmAkEr, but does have feet for hands
double blown coverage? Beat deep often today. I see why Wink tried protecting them with the soft coverage last week. Could have given up 6o
play calls without Haynes in the 1Q: Run 6; Pass 13
#airraid
#RBmatters
TJ Guy was covering Boston on 3rd & 14!
even McCulley threw it to Semaj. Oof
play calls without Haynes at the Half: Run 11; Pass 21
#airraid
#RBmatters
Sherrone has left timeouts in his pocket every game ... frustrating indeed
Haynes is our RunFirstRunOften OMVP, while Marshal is a compliment to our pass game
#RBmatters
missed tackles continued to haunt us. Barham is sooo undisciplined
Bryce looks to have the 1st Down, and Sherrone sits on his hands without a challenge. It's not like he has a plan for all three timeouts!
play calls without Haynes after the 3Q: Run 21; Pass 26
#airraid
#RBmatters
Sullivan/Rolder saving Moore from himself
Bryce is feast or famine ... some of those DOTS are NFL-level impressive
Toneiille had a game. And Marshall did too ... maybe TEs don't matter?
limit the drops and Bryce has a career day against a P4 opponent ... none of the 2o24 pLaYmAkErS matter
only ONE pass in the 4Q. TrFR Jasper Parker came in at RB2, over walkon Kuzdal. And behind the same OL, against the same Defense on the same day: 2 less ypc than Marshall
#RBmatters
Why did we need to pay Haynes to portal in?
Because without him, Jordan Marshall is looking at TWENTY to THIRTY carries per game for 13 or more games, without much behind to relieve him. He'd break
#RBmatters
#jewasright
https://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2024/12/justice-haynes-wolverine.html?m=1
https://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2025/08/2025-season-countdown-21-justice-haynes.html?m=1
"Barham is sooo undisciplined"
DeleteBarham is being mis-used as a DE. It's like last year when Martindale put Mason Graham (!) on the edge. Martindale has memories of freak NFL edges, and he wants one for this defense, so he takes the athletic Barham and shoves him out there. Good athlete, but not grooved as a DE.
Barham had issues at LB too, but we've got options there
DeleteWhat we don't have is pass rushers, which Barham is great at. Problem is, they talked about moving him in January then waited until September. That's a tough ask, especially when it comes to defending the run
Barham's draft stock is sliding because of indecision & lack of coaching. Meanwhile, we keep getting gashed
I was happy that Michigan won yesterday against Washington but at the same time really upset and frustrated at last week’s loss. In my opinion, the biggest difference between the two game is the coaching. For one, lots of blitzing last week. Very little blitz this week. I wondered if we would have won if we followed this week’s defensive game plan.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the Washington game,
1) Michigan is still not able to gain 2-3 yards and there is no coherent strategy. Passing to Semaj on 4th down? Fail. Running on a power scheme? Fail. We can no longer bully our opponents at the line of scrimmage. But I wish they would stop with the heavy lineup and spread the field on 4th down. We have a running QB and a tough RB who can gain a yard or two on contact. Use it!
2) I still see the defense scrambling around and not set when the play begins. Usually this results in a nice gain for our opponents. Less than last week but still happening and still frustrating. Why?
3) Can someone show Wink how much better our defense is if he blitzed less? The difference is night and day!
4) RB matters but the dropoff from Haynes to Marshall is small. Different ball carrier. Marshall was a stud last night. Parker not so much.
5) has Zvada gotten the yipes? Another missed fg he would have made last year. At this point, he will go undrafted.
6) At what point, do we stop playing Semaj Morgan? His drops is just frustrating.
Semaj Morgan must show something tantalizing in practices, but come game-time he gets the ball-catching yips. I'm guessing he's not yet released the desire to make highlight plays, so in game-time he's thinking ahead. We saw that this game: Underwood threw him a ball out in the flat, and when the ball was about a foot away from Morgan's hands he turned his head upfield. He's not yet learned to "look the ball into his hands."
Delete4) I think the drop off is substantial, in vision and speed
DeleteI love that Harball/SMASH style of Deveon Smith, but Haynes can do that too. The absolute EXPLOSION he provides can break a game open though, on an offense that gets bogged down too often
Marshall could be all-Conference, which is GREAT. Haynes was on his way to All-American
I dunno if we have the horses to really shut down USC. Definitely things could have gone better with less blitzing and a simplified gameplan from Wink though. USC went about as bad as it could have, but that game was not really close. USC put up 500 yards on us but also 400 on ND. The big difference was ND was able to put up points on offense and get turnovers. Does USC win it if they are playing in LA instead of South Bend? Maybe...
DeleteRegardless, I'm not going to be THAT mad about USC or Oklahoma road losses if those are used as turning points to build off of for the defense and offense, respectively.
I'm not sure we have the horses on the OL to run a SMASH offense down opponents throats. Marshall replaced Haynes and Frazier replaced Link and the O didn't seem to miss a beat. I like what Lindsay is doing getting Bryce opportunities and mitigating some pass pro limitations. Feels like Bryce is getting better. Still making freshman mistakes as you'd expect but the arrow is pointed in the right direction.
Will be fun to watch if Bryce takes that next step and by 11/29 we are hearing "not a freshman anymore"...
hEy cHaT gPt, sUmMaRiZe tHiS wEeK's bLuEsKy h0tTaKeS
DeleteHahahahahahaha
#plagiarizer
"Can someone show Wink how much better our defense is if he blitzed less? The difference is night and day!"
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of things are going on with Martindale: (1) he remembers last year, where he got pressure with Graham and Grant, and he doesn't see the same this year, so he compensates with blitzes; (2) he doesn't quite trust his secondary to cover for that extra second or so, so he blitzes to try to get pressure early; (3) he clings to the thinking he's still in the NFL, but college ball is simply different; (4) he's an older man set in his ways, and he bristles at people telling him to correct what he's doing.
From watching the NFL and other well coached teams, they seem to disguise their blitzs much better. If U can't disguise the blitz these days, you are dead. AND defenses and offenses are continually evolving and you have to change. What worked 3 years ago is old news, the offenses have figured out how to beat it. We have all seen the "hot" coordinator become not so hot over what seems a short period of time.
DeleteThe one constant is develop good lines and control the LOS vs trying to over scheme
aNoN
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