Offense:The split end blocking was most impressive. They did a great job of edge blocking on Miami’s defensive backs, which enabled Shaw and McGuffie to break containment and gain yardage.
The offensive line showed some improvement. Schilling and Ortman made blocks at the second level multiple times. There was also movement at the point of attack, and the linemen’s butts weren’t in the backfield nearly as much as against Utah. They continued to have problems with stunts and blitzes, and this must be improved or teams will blitz Michigan to death (Tenuta is known for his blitzes. Something to think about for this week).
Michigan mixed formations much better, and as the team progresses, the staff can install more packages that will make preparing for this offense much tougher.
A big negative was the lack of a vertical passing game. Miami crowded the line of scrimmage, daring UM to throw the ball. Two of the missed passes which could have backed them off the LOS were not Threet’s fault, though. JR Hemmingway was forced off his route which caused one overthrow, and on another Odoms turned the wrong way, making the pass look worse than it actually was.
When the defense gives the offense a short field, Michigan must put the ball in the end zone.
But offensive improvement will depend on what happens with the quarterback position. As soon as Threet or Sheridan takes the job it will make game planning easier for Coach Rodriguez and his staff. They are two very different players, which makes it hard to game plan or adjust to for the coaches and for their teammates.
One reason the running game improved was that the quarterbacks rushed for over 40 yards. This forced the backside defensive ends for Miami to stay home. In the Utah game, the backside defensive ends did not have to account for our quarterbacks, and that hurt the UM ground game. Before the season, I mentioned that if the quarterbacks could rush for 25 yards a game it would open things up for the running backs. If they rush for 50 yards in every game, things could get very interesting.
Quarterbacks:
I think the main reason Rodriguez took Threet out of the game was that Threet gave up on those critical passing plays. Threet performed the play, made the reads, but it seemed that he felt satisfied just getting the pass off. In both cases, he was not hurried, but he rushed his throws, and the results were that he missed wide open receivers both times.
The only thing that worked consistently, besides running from the I formation, was the running of the quarterbacks. I thought Rodriguez felt that Sheridan would give the team a spark, and they needed it. After the quick ten-point lead, the ensuing 16 plays featured 12 that gained less than 1 yard.
As much as the quarterbacks have struggled, Rodriguez could make things simpler by running out of the I formation, using play action fakes on early downs (something Threet seems to be gaining skill at), and please—try to find where Carson Butler is on the field!
This is not a good offensive team, but the staff has to find some things that they can do well and use those things more. I keep watching the film and asking myself, “What are they trying to accomplish? Where are the mismatches?”
It is because of the lack of consistency and rhythm that we may see a healthy dose of Carlos Brown against Notre Dame, and hopefully he is healthy.
part 3 will cover the defense at 4:00 today
written by CoachBt, MaizeMan and ErocWolverine
No comments:
Post a Comment