I have had a few days to try to wrap my head around whatever happened Saturday night between 5pm and 9pm. I still cannot bring myself to call it a football game. Michigan had been playing with fire for most of the season, and they were finally burned. At this point in the season this team can rally around the loss and start to look like the team that dominated Notre Dame or it can continue down the path of being one of the worst Michigan teams in the past 30 years.
There are so many areas of this game that were terrible. I cannot go into all of them, not because it would take the rest of the week, but because my mental state cannot handle reliving it. The most egregious effort was that of offensive coordinator Al Borges. This game will add to his growing list of worst called games ever. Penn State stacked the box with 8+ players all game, and Michigan continued to try to run Fitz Toussaint. It quickly became clear that last year’s awful offensive line would be such an improvement right now that the Wolverines could be considered a contender in the Legends Division still. I have never seen a Michigan running back finish with the stat line of 27 carries for 27 yards. In case you struggle at math that averages out to 1 yard per carry, meanwhile Wisconsin averaged 5.6 yards per carry against the division favorite. The Wolverines were clearly the better team on Saturday, but were held back by the play calling. The Penn State defense was on its heels all second half when Devin Gardner was running zone read plays. Yet, when overtime rolled around it took until the 4th frame to even pull him out from under center.
I mentioned it a little above, but I have never seen a worse Michigan offensive line. Yes, I think there is still talent there, but something is not clicking. I don’t know if its chemistry with each other or inexperience, but this unit would struggle in the MAC. Then when the team is forced to play without Taylor Lewan for a half, bad things can only happen. I actually thought Magnuson didn’t play that poorly, but you would still rather have Schofield at RT and the All-American at LT. The interior offensive line just looks absolutely lost. Both guards struggle to target anybody when pulling; the center is tipping the snap count; and they are penalty liabilities. It is pretty embarrassing that by the end of the game the Wolverines had to turn to two walk-ons up front. I really could not see a way that this line was worse than last year’s, but right now it isn’t even close.
The first half defensive play calls left little to be desired. Yes, Hackenberg only finished with just over 300 yards passing and that includes an 80 yard final drive, but Michigan seemed content to let the freshman quarterback sit in the pocket all half and find an open receiver. The Wolverine defense looked absolutely dominant for much of the 2nd half when they brought pressure on most plays. Hackenberg looked rushed and uncomfortable. I still have not heard the thinking behind dropping 8 into coverage on a 3rd and long while Penn State was in the red zone. Isn’t that a time to dial up the pressure, and force a quick throw? Instead Hackenberg had time to grow a beard, and find the inevitable open receiver in the end zone. If you watched the game you noticed that Michigan didn’t go back to that play at all, even when playing prevent on the final drive.
I am sure there are some positives to pick out from this game, but they are so vastly overshadowed by the self-inflicted stupidity that I don’t feel like a glass half full approach.
Top Performers:
Frank Clark
Jibreel Black
Jake Ryan
Raymon Taylor
Areas of Concern:
Al Borges
Al Borges
Al Borges
Al Borges
Offensive line ineptitude
Michigan finally fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, but at this point look like a team that will struggle to be bowl eligible. Major improvements are needed for the Wolverines to even compete in the remainder of their games. Every team they face from here on out is better than Penn State. It will be interesting (or incredibly frustrating) to see how which Michigan team comes to play against Indiana.
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