It has taken me a bit longer than usual to recap the Michigan vs Notre Dame game, partially because of a busy work schedule but mostly because I had to compile my thoughts. The Michigan Wolverines have had two chances this season to take the next step toward being nationally prominent again, but they have crashed and burned both times. At this point, Hoke has one more shot at taking this program a step in the right direction, and we will have to wait until January 1st to see if it even comes about (playing in the Rose Bowl or maybe the Capital One Bowl). I think it is still too early to think whether the tire fire that was Alabama and the turnover bakery of Notre Dame pushed the program back at all. Anyways, after a great day of tailgating and seeing Doug Fister collect his first ever complete game shut-out, my hopes were high as we tuned in to NBC Saturday night. I really believed Denard would take a step forward and continue to prove himself as a passer. I thought the receivers would gash the horrendous, inexperienced Irish secondary. I thought the defensive line would struggle against the run, but the secondary should have a very good game against unknown receivers. I thought Al Borges’ play-calling with Denard at quarterback was actually starting to mesh. Wow, was I let down. I couldn’t watch the final seconds tick away in a game where all of my previous thoughts were so wrong. Where my team completely out-played a “better” team, on the road, but still found a way to win. I began realizing how Irish fans must have felt after 2009 and 2011.
There honestly wasn’t too much that I liked from this game. Some people wanted to cheer me up by saying the defense was impressive, but in reality that just made me more frustrated. Seriously, how do you lose a game where you punt one time? I will try to find some pearls in the pig pen, but it will be difficult. I was impressed with the defensive line at times. Michigan is still not creating any pressure with their front four, but at least they held their block long enough to give the linebackers open lanes to make tackles. We finally saw glimpses of hope from Morgan and Demens. I know the interior of Notre Dame’s offensive line is not comparable to Alabama, but it was good to see the Wolverine front four actually look like an average unit. I already mentioned this, but the line backers played a very good game. Jake Ryan is quickly becoming one of the most fun players to watch in the B1G, Demens did very well in coverage and tackling, and Morgan wasn’t forced to run sideline to sideline too much since some running plays were actually funneled to him. On offense I was impressed with the running game. The offensive line seemed to take a big step forward against the 2nd best front 7 we will face this season. Michigan averaged over 5 yards per carry. Fitz was able to find some holes, especially in the 2nd half. He is starting to look more like 2011, which is great news with the B1G season starting now. I also thought the receivers did a decent job of running routes and getting open (and making tackles, ugh). Of course Denard couldn’t hit crap if he was standing in East Lansing, but the receivers are not looking like a weak point of Team 133. I can’t think of anything else.
Since the things I didn’t like could make up its own post, and if you watched the game you know, I will keep this as concise as I can. Where do I start? How about with the senior quarterback who didn’t just make bad throws that resulted in interceptions like we know he is prone to do, Denard made bad decision after bad decision that resulted in the worst game I have ever seen him have (this includes MSU 2011, and any game in 2009). Notre Dame did a good job of getting pressure in the face of the terrified senior, and instead of using his legs to get some scramble yards, throwing the ball into the crowd, or just taking the sack, Denard thought it would be a good decision to throw the ball into double coverage time after time. This is not high school football, and if you throw into double coverage with average receivers the ball will be intercepted. It is a good thing we have a bye week this week because I did not like what I saw from Denard after the game. Yes, he apologized and was in total shock, but he didn’t look like a guy who was going to lead this team to a bounce-back win this weekend. He didn’t really look like a guy that was going to lead this team to do anything special this year at all. Enough of that, everyone saw how bad number 16 was . How about the play-calling. The game started well with the wheel route to the full-back from Devin. But why would you put the ball in the hands of a running back to make a fade throw with pressure in his face. Yes, Smith should have thrown the ball earlier, and yes Dileo was wide open if the ball was thrown to the back corner. But this is not the play to run at the 10 yard line, even if it tricks the defense (like it did on Saturday night) 10 yards is not enough room for the receiver to get past the safety to where it doesn’t matter how bad the throw is since it will still result in a completion. The offense averaged over 5 yards per carry, why not line up and punch the ball in the end zone. The first drive of the game wasn’t the place to get cute in the red zone. How about continually running play-action passes out of the I formation, did we even run the ball out of that set? Play-action only works if the defense thinks you will actually run the ball. On some of those interceptions, Notre Dame only rushed 3 or 4 guys and dropped everyone in coverage, they were not biting on the fake. Al Borgess took a giant step back in my book with the game plan against Alabama and the crap on Saturday night. I know he wants Denard to be a west-coast passer, but he just isn’t and he never will be. I don’t understand why against inferior teams (Air Force and UMass) the play calling seems to fit Denard’s abilities more than in the games where Michigan needs the quarterback to feel as comfortable as possible (ND 2011 & 12, MSU 2011, VT, Alabama). I just don’t understand. After 2 interceptions in a row, why not run a simple screen pass or slant to get some of that confidence back? Instead, lets line up in the same formation and make Denard throw the same pass again. As a college coach for so long, Borges better learn to adapt to his star player because it is obvious Denard is not adjusting to him. If the OC can actually do that, this Michigan team SHOULD be in Pasadena on January 1st.
I could talk about the secondary, but I have ranted enough. You also just read a statement that might make you scratch your head, after 2 terrible games this season how can I say “should be in Pasadena on January 1st?” Well first, and probably most importantly, the B1G might be the worst AQ conference this year. The next 9 weeks should be exciting to watch, and the race is wide open, but the quality is horrendous. Saturday saw the B1G lose its last challenge until bowl season, a team lose at home to a terrible MAC school, the preseason “favorite” struggling against EMU, and the rest of the teams just not impressing. Yes, Michigan has a tough schedule ahead with road games against Purdue, Nebraska, and Ohio State, and the grudge match against MSU still upcoming. But all of these teams have giant issues, which the Wolverines should be able to exploit. If Denard can limit turnovers (at this point just one per game would be something to cheer about), Michigan should be heading to Indianapolis in December.
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