Little Brother and Their Hired Goons in Stripes 27, Michigan 23 – Recap

Well, that sucked.

I’m not going to blame O’Neill for this. Yes, he needed to catch the ball. And yes, if he wasn’t going to catch the ball, he needed to fall on the ball. But he had a lot to do with Michigan being in position to win in the first place. Punters giveth and punters taketh away. C’est la vie. What really sucks is that this was a very Hoke way to lose a game (not closing out an opponent, a brainless mistake) and I hoped Michigan was done losing games that way.

I’d feel better about this team if the team that their best win came against didn’t get run out of their own building by Iowa Saturday. I mean, that was a truly dominant performance against a power 5 team. One that beat Stanford, no less. So this is a good team, sure, but they really don’t seem as close to elite as I thought or hoped. So, yeah, playoffs are pretty much out of the question this year. But the next four games seem winnable:

at Minnesota: Gophers will have trouble scoring on this defense

vs. Rutgers: LOL

at Indiana: Blew a 25-point lead against Rutgers, wheels are falling off

at Penn State: this D-line should have a field day

And then Ohio State. I wouldn’t expect Michigan to win that one, but anything’s possible. If things fall the right way, Michigan can still win the Big Ten East. Should you expect that, no, but I refer you to my earlier point about the possibility of anything.

Before the season started, I predicted a 9-3 season for Michigan. That now seems like it should be the worst-case scenario. Much of this team should be back next year, and whoever’s the QB will be a legit, Jim Harbaugh-approved QB and not “Uh, well, he’s better than anyone we’ve got right now. We’ll take him, I guess.” The future looks very bright.

For the knuckleheads criticizing Harbaugh’s play calling here: he is doing the best he can with what he’s got. All the stuff you remember his offenses doing at Stanford happened when he had Andrew Luck as his quarterback. He does not have Andrew Luck at Michigan. He has a guy whom Iowa deemed so expendable that they let him transfer within the conference and through seven games has shown why. At this point, it should be clear that Rudock’s ceiling is “game manager.” I had hoped that going from Ferentz and Davis’ system to Harbaugh and Fisch’s would result in some real improvement by Rudock, but that has not been the case. It’s clearly not a coaching problem; this is just what Rudock is, I guess. He mostly hit that ceiling in this game, but it was only the second game this year in which he did so. Even if he hits that ceiling in the rest of the games, he is still a far cry from “future #1 overall draft pick.” If the game plan is still so conservative next year, or two years from now, or three years, or whenever it is that Brandon Peters is taking snaps for the Wolverines, then you may criticize Our Lord and Savior Jim Harbaugh. Until then, shut up.

As far as the run game goes, yes, it was a rough day for those guys. But when teams don’t have to worry about the pass killing them, they tend to be pretty good at stopping the run. This is why UNLV felt comfortable putting ten guys in the box and why it led to as much success as could be had for that team against this one.

Now, I’ve got to talk about this: Michigan got absolutely hosed by the referees in this one. The Bolden targeting call was so bad, Ohio State fans were saying Michigan got screwed. Jake Butt was robbed of a catch that would have resulted in a critical first down, or at least fourth and inches. Both of those were reviewed and the officials still got both wrong, so what’s even the point of review here? Jehu Chesson (the refs said the penalty was on 86, but clearly meant 26) got called for pass interference on a play on which Jourdan Lewis, Aaron Burbridge, and an official’s feet all got tangled up, negating an interception. Willie Henry was flagged for a late hit before the whistle had blown. Seth Fisher from MGoBlog listed those calls and more here. Long story short, he estimates that officiating caused at least an 18-point swing in this game, which even if it’s not your team involved there, majorly sucks because it’s just bad for the sport.

Game Grades

(A “+” is awarded for a positive play, a “-” for a negative one. For big positive or negative plays, 2 “+” or “-“, respectively, may be given.)

How Worried Should You Be?

QB: 4.5/10. See above. The best we can realistically hope for out of Rudock is to be a game manager, but with the defense and special teams that this team has, a game manager is good enough to win quite a few games. It was good enough to win this one.

RB: 1/10. De’Veon Smith was good, everyone else was meh. Higdon has shown promise. If the line can get Smith a couple yards consistently, the ground game should be fine.

WR: 2.5/10. Chesson dropped one he needed to have. Other than that, he and Darboh were fine. Depth is still a concern. The bigger concern is the guy attempting to deliver these guys the ball.

TE: 2/10. Butt had a bad day blocking. Bunting has still not really learned how to block. I’d like to see Bunting used at receiver.

OL: 3/10. Run blocking was meh. Pass pro was bad. I’m not too worried about the issues in the run game because, again, when teams aren’t worried about the pass, they tend to be pretty good at stopping the run. Pass pro has got to improve all around, though.

DL: 0/10. When I look at what Hoke left OLASJH at the QB spot, I want to smack Hoke upside the head repeatedly. After Hoke criticized OLASJH’s decision to punt and defended his own tenure at Michigan this week, I wanted to add a few more smacks. Then I look at this D-line, and I’m like “Okay, maybe just one smack. Alright, two.” The line stuffed the run and when they weren’t able to pressure Cook, it was because he was making quick reads, which is what great QBs do.

LB: 1.5/10. Morgan had another great game. Bolden and Gedeon look pretty much even to me right now. Ross has looked okay, but that’s it.

CB: 2/10. Jourdan Lewis graded out a lot better than he looked live. Yes, Burbridge had nine catches. Burbridge is very good and many of those catches were not easy catches. Lewis had a couple biffs, but that was it. Clark had a bit of a rough game. Stribling was mostly okay. Still need one of those two to take the next step going forward.

S: 3/10. Again, many minuses were guys getting beat in man coverage. Peppers is awesome.

K: 1/10. We have a kicker.

P: 0.5/10. This becomes a zero as long as the drop doesn’t affect O’Neill mentally.

ST: 0/10. Hail John Baxter again! Special teams were the biggest reason Michigan was in a position to win late.

Helmet Stickers

(Generally the 3 players on offense and defense I have graded the highest, plus the best special teams performer, but I reserve the right to award as many or as few stickers as I see fit.)

Offense

De’Veon Smith, RB

Sione Houma, FB

Jehu Chesson, WR

Jabrill Peppers, WR

Amara Darboh, WR

Defense

Willie Henry, DE/DT

Chris Wormley, DE/DT

Desmond Morgan, LB

Maurice Hurst, NT

Jourdan Lewis, CB

Jabrill Peppers, S

Royce Jenkins-Stone, DE

Special Teams

Jehu Chesson, KR

Jabrill Peppers, KR/PR

Helmet Sticker Count

Jabrill Peppers, S, KR, PR, WR – 9

Chris Wormley, DE/DT – 7

Jourdan Lewis, CB – 6

Desmond Morgan, LB – 6

Graham Glasgow, C – 5

Willie Henry, DE/DT – 5

De’Veon Smith, RB – 5

Blake O’Neill, P – 4

Jake Butt, TE – 4

Kyle Kalis, OG – 4

Ryan Glasgow, NT – 4

Amara Darboh, WR – 4

Maurice Hurst, NT – 4

Jehu Chesson, WR, KR – 4

Sione Houma, FB – 4

Mason Cole, OT – 3

Joe Kerridge, FB – 3

Erik Magnuson, OT – 2

Taco Charlton, DE – 2

Ben Braden, OG – 2

A.J. Williams, TE – 2

Ben Gedeon, LB – 2

Royce Jenkins-Stone, DE – 2

Brian Cole, WR – 1

Matt Godin, DT – 1

Ty Isaac, RB – 1

Khalid Hill, TE-H – 1

Channing Stribling, CB – 1

Jeremy Clark, CB – 1

Joe Bolden, LB – 1

Drake Johnson, RB – 1

Jake Rudock, QB – 1

Kenny Allen, K – 1

 

So now, that’s it, this game’s completely in the past, and we’re on to Minnesota.

 

Go Blue!

 

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

Related Posts

• 
  Football With A Lions Fan: I Thought Swift Caught The Ball
• 
  Barry Sanders: The Greatest Running Back of All Time
• 
  10 of the Biggest Locker Room Distractions and Drama Queens in NFL History | The Countdown