Michigan Post-Game Discussion

[SoCalDomer]

Discuss the good, the bad and whatever else about the game, here.

 

[SoCalDomer]

I saw Trev Robinson playing in quite a few drives at right guard. did something happen to C Stewart or was he just getting a breather?

i was watching the game at a restaurant then my parents, so i didn't hear if they announced it.

 

[Jason Pham]

Reserved.

 

[Mjrosko]

At the start of the game NBC announced TRob as the starter saying Stewart was injured, but Stew was in for most of the game. Maybe he was just feeling a little banged up.

Tate once again looked like a S-T-U-D.

 

[sportallyr]

Here are my positives and negatives from today's game...

Positives:

1) Golden Tate - Early on, he was a huge playmaker for us and made the big plays when we needed it most.

2) Raeshon McNeil and Justin Brown - Two players who don't get a lot of publicity had very good games for us. In my opinion, they both played their best games of their ND careers.

3) David Bruton and Kyle McCarthy - The ND safeties were again the best players on the field in my opinion. Bruton came up with 2 huge turnovers in our red zone, which was probably the difference in today’s game. McCarthy never missed a tackle on a day in which many of the Michigan players were quite slippery.

4) Brian Smith - He seems to be in the right place at the right time a lot…which means he has an excellent football IQ and gets himself into position to make the big play.

5) Offensive Line – Two games and no sacks. They are not creating big holes in the running game, but you have to be excited about the time they are giving Jimmy to throw the ball. This was especially evident on the long TD to Tate when they didn’t let any of the Michigan linemen penetrate at all.

6) Mike Anello – My favorite player on this year’s team had another huge game. He makes an impact on special teams like nobody I’ve ever seen in the past. Let’s get him into some games on defense. I’d like to see what he is capable of. Huge heart!

Negatives:

1) Defensive line (mainly Ian Williams) - Two weeks into the season and it seems like our defensive line can’t seem to get much pressure on the QB. Justin Brown and Pat Kuntz made a few good plays, but this was a very raw offensive line that they should have bee able to take advantage of. Ian Williams hasn’t been the same player this year that he was last year. I really miss Trevor Laws.

2) Armando Allen – This isn’t a knock on Armando Allen as much as it is on the coaching staff. Although I applaud Heywood’s play calling today, I think he needs to get Allen the ball more, which didn’t happen today. He’s too explosive to sit on the bench.

3) Long snapper – Last week there were a few bad snaps on field goal attempts and this week there was a bounced snap on a punt (which Maust made a great play on and still got off the punt). This will need to improve if we expect to beat Michigan State, Purdue, North Carolina and especially USC)

That’s all of the negatives I can think of, so that means we had a great all around game.

 

[SoCalDomer]

5) Offensive Line – Two games and no sacks. They are not creating big holes in the running game, but you have to be excited about the time they are giving Jimmy to throw the ball. This was especially evident on the long TD to Tate when they didn’t let any of the Michigan linemen penetrate at all.

Last week the knock was SDSU's D-line just wasn't that great. Well Michigan's D-line was supposed to be far superior, far more talented and far more experienced, yet the OL held their own. Jimmy helped his own cause by scrambling when he needed to and not trying to do more than just throw the ball away. Excellent job by the OL and Jimmy in that regard.

 

[SteveM]

Game's Knife Edge

Game's Knife Edge

What the hell do I know? I'm just a clueless dilettante compared to the furrowed brow experts in this forum.

But given the admission of my limited insight, the key to the game was stopping Michigan when they had the ball at the 3:30 mark of the first half.

Michigan just scored a couple of times, and 3 minutes plus gave them time to score again. That epiphenomenal stop in the context of a very good total defensive effort cauterized any potential bleeding into last years collection vessels of anguish and tears.

Or something like that...

SteveM

 

[wahoo]

It was really nice to see some "spunk" . The defense and special teams really did a good job of flowing to the ball. I'm sure the weather affected play but it looks like this defense is starting to cause turnovers. I would like to see them tackle ...ie....wrap players up better. All in all this could be the best defense in the Weis era

 

[03euroSVT]

I am not going to go into much detail because there's going to be a lot of that. I am going to say I enjoyed all of the game today. I think that was the first time in a while I could say that.

We were great in almost everything but there was one thing I wish I could have seen. That would have been a field goal (not extra point) in this weather. We really didn't see it last week and this week we had two chances to kick them. I understand why we didn't but I was hoping to see how we would do with the field goals.

WE ARE ND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Senoj13]

Negs/Pos

 

[SouthernIrish]

Did you hear me screaming all the way from Atlanta

 

[Junkhead]

Pros.

-Safety play (Bruton and McCarthy)
-Brian Smith with 2 fumble recoveries and a TD
-Golden Tate
-No sacks
-Anello
-Didn't have to kick a fg
-Floyd becoming more involved
-Enthusiasm

Cons.
-Only 20 yards receiving besides Tate
-Rotating the 3 rbs kills momentum (let Aldridge get a TD, at least ONCE!)
-Weis' injury
-McGuffie UGH

I have a new found respect for Charlie after that injury also. That had to hurt like hell and he took it like a man.

 

[ACamp1900]

i loved it... very stressful but it was Eustress so screw it.... love beating the skunkbears... Jimmy would have loved it....

but I feel everyone... truth is we got lucky... but hell.... I'll take it... won't you???

 

[ACamp1900]

pros...

we won


cons...

we still looked bad in general (I loved how the O finally showed up and the D automatically took a dump)


2-0... not much to complain about EVEN is we get smoked next week

 

[bliv711]

I have to agree with a lot of what sportallyr had to say. Last week I wasn't so optimistic, but this week I can see us having a winning season...perhaps a Gator Bowl win. We played with tenacity today...the first time I've seen that in a couple of years. The play we got from our safeties was awesome! We are a much improved team from last season. We still need improved line play before we can rejoin the elite teams as far as I'm concerned. The offensive line is VASTLY improved from last year...Clausen felt very little pressure today. But they need to get a little better opening up running lanes. Frankly, I think that will happen by the end of the year as they become one cohesive unit. Our D-line play must get better. We must pressure the QB if we're going to beat teams like Purdue and yes, USC.

 

[bliv711]

pros...

we won


cons...

we still looked bad in general (I loved how the O finally showed up and the D automatically took a dump)


2-0... not much to complain about EVEN is we get smoked next week

I've got to disagree with the generalization you made. The front three of four of the defense didn't show up. I think most folks knew our line play was going to be a big question mark this year. I think our O-line will gel and perhaps become a real strength on this team by the end of the season. Our D-line on the other hand needs to get better. Perhaps they will.

 

[CurtisCandy]

One of the biggest pros for me was putting the ball in the end zone when we got those great turnovers. At any level, it's critical to capitalize with touchdowns when you get a gift like that and our boys were perfect in that respect... Last year, I don't know that we would've gotten 14 points from those 2 turnovers deep in enemy territory.

You can't overstate Anello's contributions. Damn, that kid is a special teams psycho!

This team is very young and I have every reason to believe they're going to get better each week.

The few cons I saw have already been covered. The D-line does need to generate some more heat.

I also agree we should have seen more of AA. I don't think there's going to be a big upside to sending Hughes around the corner on runs, particularly when you have Armando Allen at your disposal. I like Robert Hughes a lot, but he's a straight-ahead guy.

All in all, I'm a VERY happy boy right now!

 

[NDsuperfan09]

Pros:

-Everything, gotta love a win (ok not everything but i'm so pumped with how we played)

Cons:

-Defense

-Playcalling. Where has the dink and dunk gone? Our offense would be deadly running a dink and dunk with an occasional deep ball.

 

[Bubba]

You know, I have to agree that our d-line hasn't played stellar. However, I think the teams we played kind of gameplanned for it. I read a post over on the blue-gray sky blog about the SDSU game. Someone actually timed the drop backs for SDSU. There were only 2 times where the QB held the ball for 3 seconds and one of those was a roll out. There were no 5 or 7 step drops. It's hard to get to the QB in that amount of time and you have to credit them for planning for the blitz. With the spread, it seems the QB gets rid of the ball quickly as well. It's either a hand-off on the option or a quick pass. They did have a couple passes down field, but fortunately they weren't really on today.

Anyway it was a great win; it was great to see some emotion and it was great to see some guys break some tackles and get some yardage.

 

[VictorsValiant]

I know that this is a great win that ND really needed, so I guess I'll cut you guys some slack here. But let me pour some cold water on this victory.

ND allowed an offense that did absolutely nothing the first two games to literally march down the field in nearly every single possession. You're talking about a new QB, RB, 2 new receivers and a makeshift O-line that comprises of a walk-on and a former DE who was told a couple of weeks ago he would play OL, even though he never played O-Line in his entire life.

Michigan won in every statistical category except turnovers, obviously. In terms of total yards, rushing yards, passing yards, first downs etc... Michigan was higher than ND. ND allowed more yards to Michigan than Utah and Miami (OH). And nearly all of those yards were obtained when the game was still in doubt.

So, in summary, ND DIDN'T WIN THIS GAME, MICHIGAN (ALONG WITH THE REFS) HANDED ND THE GAME.

 

[lags24]

A big pro for me is Jimmy's ability to avoid the sack. He was not able to do that last year and it would kill drives but this year he seems to have a better awareness and internal clock.

One con was the play calling inside the red zone. After the success of the fade route to Floyd last week I think Haywood went to that too often in the red zone. Michigan has big physical corners which makes that a difficult route. It was successful with Kamara and one to Floyd when pass interference was called. I would have liked to see some crossing routes and quick slants down there too

 

[NDboy15]

To hell with Michigan.

 

[Bubba]

I know that this is a great win that ND really needed, so I guess I'll cut you guys some slack here. But let me pour some cold water on this victory.

ND allowed an offense that did absolutely nothing the first two games to literally march down the field in nearly every single possession. You're talking about a new QB, RB, 2 new receivers and a makeshift O-line that comprises of a walk-on and a former DE who was told a couple of weeks ago he would play OL, even though he never played O-Line in his entire life.

Michigan won in every statistical category except turnovers, obviously. In terms of total yards, rushing yards, passing yards, first downs etc... Michigan was higher than ND. ND allowed more yards to Michigan than Utah and Miami (OH). And nearly all of those yards were obtained when the game was still in doubt.

So, in summary, ND DIDN'T WIN THIS GAME, MICHIGAN (ALONG WITH THE REFS) HANDED ND THE GAME.

You can try to take this away from us all you want, but the fact remains that ND forced 3 of those turn-overs and capitalized on them. The unforced turn-overs, I'll give you, but that just means your players failed to perform. Your offense also failed to score in the red-zone a couple times - because ND stopped them.

Your impressive D-line didn't get a sack on our supposedly poor O-line. Where was your bad-ass defense? It's not as good as everyone is making it out to be.

Blaming the refs is a poor excuse. I'm sure I know what you're complaining about. That was not a catch in the endzone. The ball hit the ground and he didn't have his hand under it. I'm sure you're also talking about the pass interference calll down he middle to Floyd. Your guy did pull down on his arm.

ND actually made plays when they needed them today and your team didn't. Just own up to it and realize that your team is going to suffer through a season much like we did last year. You guys have some good things ahead of you. Don't lash out becasue you're mad you lost. It makes you look like a sore loser.

 

[SoCalDomer]

So, in summary, ND DIDN'T WIN THIS GAME, MICHIGAN (ALONG WITH THE REFS) HANDED ND THE GAME.

you're right, we shouldn't have scored those touchdowns when your players coughed the ball up. that wasn't fair. we should have offered to move the ball back to ND's 20 yard line.

ND's defense forgot football is a genetlman's sport. we should have just batted those interceptions down. or the ND defender shouldn't have been so mean to strip the ball out.

the only reason MI beat ND in the offensive categories is b/c ND didn't have to move the ball 80 yards for a score. but they did score when they had the ball. and last time i checked, scoring more than your opponent is the name of the game.

face it, your team sucks. it's in the name: Michigan(sucks)

now go cry in the corner

 

[fitz_bu47]

AWESOME SOCAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its really nice to be able to get on here and see people talking about a W over scUM, I LOVE IT!!!

 

[coachjohnson]

Thought we played well, we wanted a win and got one. Sure there are things we could've done better but overall we looked good. I thought the line played well which was an area we had to improve and we have. The Irish showed alot of heart and played with a high level of intensity. At the end of the day we got the W, so I'm very happy about our outting today.

 

[BestBIrish47]

Enjoy the win boys, we beat a talented defense today. Their offense is awful, and we made Mcguffie look real good, but hell, we were more physical than michigan for the first time in 10 years. As for Victor's Valiant, thanks for modeling the exact reason I hate SCUM fans, SOUR GRAPES!!! Michigan did lead in stats, that and 99cents can get you a double cheeseburger at Mcdonalds. We scored quick, when we needed to, and had other opportunities that we pissed away as well. All the excuses for Michigan aside, yea your offense is terrible and did make alot of plays, but my friend the aspects of your team that were supposed to be solid coming back( Dline, secondary) got owned!!

 

[Legacy]

I know that this is a great win that ND really needed, so I guess I'll cut you guys some slack here. But let me pour some cold water on this victory.

ND allowed an offense that did absolutely nothing the first two games to literally march down the field in nearly every single possession. You're talking about a new QB, RB, 2 new receivers and a makeshift O-line that comprises of a walk-on and a former DE who was told a couple of weeks ago he would play OL, even though he never played O-Line in his entire life.

Michigan won in every statistical category except turnovers, obviously. In terms of total yards, rushing yards, passing yards, first downs etc... Michigan was higher than ND. ND allowed more yards to Michigan than Utah and Miami (OH). And nearly all of those yards were obtained when the game was still in doubt.

So, in summary, ND DIDN'T WIN THIS GAME, MICHIGAN (ALONG WITH THE REFS) HANDED ND THE GAME.

V.V.-- You have some good points. ND has room to improve. But, getting on here with your sour grapes is the epitome of classlessness. Grow up.
You are not the Michigan alumni I know.

 

[PADOMERNUT]

The Hell with VV. That guy is a dipshit

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

I think the O line deserves more credit - Michigan had 9 sacks coming into this game and they only got close to Jimmy a few times. I think that is awesome. All the people saying the O line wouldn't make a 180 degree turn from last year - where are ya now? 8 sacks for basically the same D line last year to 0 sacks this year? May not be 180 degrees, but it is about as close to a U turn as I think you can get.

Great job boys! I don't care what all the negative posts say or are going to say. We are 2-0 baby! We are getting better.

Defense made some adjustments at half and did a much better job on McGuffie in the second half. Although, I think trying to turn him into a human wishbone might have had a little to do with his reduced effectiveness later in the game.

Okay, I am done. I can't get over the fact that we are 2 and freakin' 0 right now! Damn that feels good!

Great job Irish! Get well soon Coach Weis! Thanks for all your support Lou! I hope you go the office tomorrow morning and piss in Mark May's coffee cup!!!