Michigan 45, Colorado 28 – Recap

First thing’s first: a big thanks to @DGDestroys, who makes the every snap videos that make these a lot easier to do.

Box Score

Grading Primer

Michigan got off to a rough start against the Buffaloes, falling behind 7-0 early on a long TD pass and then going down two TDs when Speight got hit and fumbled and Colorado took the fumble back for a touchdown. After the special teams started to get Michigan back in the game, Colorado scored again and then went on a long drive that, fortunately for Michigan, ended in a missed field goal. After that, Michigan made the right adjustments, climbed back in the game and then took over.

So what was the problem? Well, first, let’s look at the

Player Grades

[Editor’s note – Kevin: I forgot to count Butt’s fumble. His line should read +15 -2.5 = +12.5. Still an awesome day. This will be corrected in future usages of this data.]

And also

How’d they do?

Ratings are out of 100 and should be read similar to Madden ratings. Overall ratings for the season are in parentheses.

QB: 68 (Season: 82, Change: -5)

Speight looked off after getting hit on the fumble. Here we saw a major change from the previous coaching staff because adjustments were made. Harbaugh did not just keep banging his head against the wall like Hoke, Borges, or Nussmeier would have done; he called plays so as to mitigate Speight’s struggles and utilize the talent available at the skill positions. Harbaugh +2. As for Speight going forward, I’m not going to worry too much right now. He threw the ball very well against Hawai’i and UCF and even seemed to settle down a bit as this game went on. Colorado’s corners are better than Hawai’i’s and UCF’s are, so that will be something to keep an eye on going forward. Again, I’m not going to worry yet. Morris came in on a package where he was a blocker for Peppers. O’Korn came in on a designed QB run. I still think if Michigan had to turn to either guy, they could be at least serviceable.

RB: 85 (Season: 87, Change: -1)

De’Veon Smith had a fine game, though he did miss a couple holes. That’s becoming less of a regular occurrence, but he’s still not hitting holes like he was during the Citrus Bowl. Smith continues to be the best in pass pro by no small margin; both Isaac and Evans biffed some pickups. Issac had some nice runs, Evans had a couple okay ones. My guess with him is that as the playbook opens up, he’ll end up playing in the slot some and start getting some of the end-arounds currently going to McDoooooom and Chesson. Peppers played offense for the first time this season and remains as dynamic of an athlete as he was last year.

FB/H-B: 88 (Season: 87, Change: +1)

Hill and Poggi were both good overall, though some of the biffs still need to get cleaned up.

WR: 93 (Season: 92, Change: +1)

Darboh had a drop and a couple missed blocks, but Perry and Chesson both had very nice days. Perry had a couple big plays, Chesson was a major factor as a runner and blocker.

TE: 95 (Season: 94, Change +4)

Jake Butt was excellent as a receiver and solid as a blocker. He ran some great routes and was instrumental in getting the offense moving while Speight was struggling. Asiasi was okay as a blocker. We didn’t see much of anyone else.

OL: 83 (Season: 82, Change: 0)

Watching the game back, I caught a few biffs from Newsome that I didn’t notice live. He’s still been quite good overall, especially for a sophomore left tackle in his first year starting, but he’ll need to do a little better against some of the top teams Michigan plays. Ben Braden settled down, Ben Bredeson is still learning. Mason Cole had a tough assignment in Josh Tupou, but I would say he still finished the day as a plus blocker even after you factor in how grading works (refer to the primer linked at the top). Kyle Kalis looked better than he graded out. He’ll be someone to keep an eye on the next couple weeks. Erik Magnuson had a solid day.

DE: 93 (Season: 92, Change: +1)

Rashan Gary had an outstanding day, his only major ding coming in a snap at DT. He probably still ends up as a DT, possibly even next year, and should be great at that spot once he adjusts to the college game a bit more, but he’s not ready for that just yet. On the end, though, he was phenomenal. He displayed fantastic athleticism for a man his size and fantastic strength for a man his age and is getting better at setting the edge. Chris Wormley played mostly DE and had a nice, if quiet day. He’ll be able to play more DT once Taco Charlton gets back. Chase Winovich was okay.

DT: 92 (Season: 95, Change: 0)

Here’s how good Ryan Glasgow is: he had a very nice game and graded out well even for a DT, but watching the game back, something seemed off because he wasn’t dominating. He ended up on the wrong side of a few blocks. Matt Godin did as well, but didn’t do as much good to make up for it. Maurice Hurst had a very nice showing.

LB: 93 (Season: 92, Change: +2)

Peppers for Heisman. He was a big factor in the first Colorado TD. He got hung up on the play action just long enough to keep him from getting to where he needed to be to cover the post route. He had a couple other biffs, but more than made up for all of it. Ben Gedeon is making me wonder just why Joe Bolden kept playing as much as he did last year. Mike McCray had another nice game. Devin Bush looked okay at the very end of the game.

CB: 90 (Season: 90, Change: 0)

Jourdan Lewis was still out. Harbaugh is hopeful that he can play against Penn State. Stribling was very good. Clark had one big biff and was otherwise fine. Brandon Watson – not so much, but this becomes mostly a non-factor once Lewis gets back.

S: 73 (Season: 78, Change: -4)

Dymonte Thomas had a really rough day. Might be time to give Kinnel some more snaps here. Delano Hill was quite good, save for getting burnt on the long TD pass in the second half.

So what was the problem? The big problem was a few busted coverages. The main culprit here was Dymonte Thomas and Brandon Watson didn’t help matters. Lewis’s eventual return will help this a lot because he can cover whoever wherever. Systems as aggressive as Don Brown’s are prone to busts. Also, new systems take time to install and work all the bugs out, especially systems as complicated and aggressive as Brown’s. What should be encouraging is that teams are having to rely on those busts to put up major points on this defense, even with Lewis, Charlton and Mone all still out.

Speight’s struggles were addressed above. As far as Harbaugh not sticking in one of the backups, I’m fairly sure that was Harbaugh believing that Speight would settle down and the coaches could put him in a position to succeed. We haven’t seen a whole lot of John O’Korn in a Michigan uniform, but even given the context of what we have seen of him at Michigan, I’m pretty sure he could be at least fine if put into action.

Helmet Stickers

Up to 3 may be awarded per player. Not necessarily the highest-graded players since different grades mean different things to different players (refer to the primer).

Offense

3: Jake Butt, Jehu Chesson

2: De’Veon Smith, Khalid Hill

1: Henry Poggi, Grant Perry

Defense

3: Jabrill Peppers, Rashan Gary, Ben Gedeon

2: Mike McCray, Delano Hill

1: Maurice Hurst, Ryan Glasgow

Helmet Sticker Count

 

Go Blue!

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

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