Michigan Post-Game Thread

[IrishLion]

4) I absolutely despise our broadcast team.

I have three screens in the man-cave, so choosing the audio is a luxury.

I listened to the audio from the UC/UCLA game for most of the night, and only tuned in to listen to Flutie once that game had ended.

Listening to Flutie for one quarter of football is still too much. Dude was practically begging for Patterson to mount a legendary comeback on scUM's last drive.

"This is the type of situation that Shae Patterson loves right here. He's gonna buy himself some time and make some plays."

He was literally verbalizing his own wishful thinking! That's not analysis, it's projection!

He could not possibly know that it's a situation that Patterson loves, because Patterson hasn't won a single big game yet, and he hasn't done it in comeback fashion, on the road, against a good team.

Doug Flutie is terrible.

 

[Wingman Ray]

Good posts by Irishlion and Bleedbluegold.

BW definitely earned the game ball. Poor guy was running for his life literally all night. Concerned with shot put throws as teams with good DBs will pick that off all day long. Fortunately, we dont play another DL like that until the playoffs. Unfortunately, GA and AL will have the studs on DL and DB to take advantage.

Book would have had a terribly long night against that rush and OL play. BK was very wise with playing BW. Let Book get his reps against BSU this week.

Concerned with the fact that our LBs cant seem to cover anyone out of the backfield or in the flats/crossing patterns. Teams like USC with great receiver speed will make ND pay the price for that.

But luckily there is a lot of time before those games to improve.

Was nice to see the DL push with mostly 4. ND hasnt had that in years on years.

ST seemed effortless. And not in a good way.

Good win ND. Could have been a lot worse and would have been sickening had Mich come back and won in OT after being rolled all game long.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Boy oh boy...We sure did break the spirits of Skunkbears all over the state of Michigan. I've been listening to our local sports station, FM 97.1 (the same station that's home to the infamous Mike Valenti Spartan Rant after 2006 in EL) all weeked, and you'd think the Wolverines just lost to BGSU or the like. Just nothing but negativity.

But then again, when you let the media prop you up to hyper-inflation levels due to a transfer from a player who has never played well against quality opponents, especially on the road, you are in for an epic let-down.

No one is talking about the possibility that the Wolverines got beat by a quality opponent. It's literally just meltdown mode in Ann Arbor.

This is great stuff!!!! We were better than Michigan, period! The ignorance of some Michigan fans is truly something.

IMO, Michigan's D deserves the hype, but their O leaves a lot to be desired. With that said, it's hard to really say because ND's D is legit (arguably better than UM). I'd prefer to let the chips fall this season and see what happens. I told my buddy (a scUM fan) to take a breath, accept that ND is a better team, and that doesn't necessarily mean that UM is garbage this year. With that said, UM still plays MSU, PSU, WI, and OSU. If they go 7-5....1) Should ND really be pumping their chest over the win, retrospectively? 2) Do they continue on with the Jim Harbaugh era? I feel like this is a put up or shut up year for UM.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Few things from me:

1) I don't want to take this game for granted. ND broke UM on Saturday. It was clear from the beginning that ND was the better team.

2) This is what sustained success feels like. ND's defense picked up where they left off last year and I love that. Credit to the guys and Clark Lea.

3) Michigan has only scored two TDs in ND Stadium since 2010; a busted ST play that went for a TD and a garbage 4th Q TD when the defense was playing off the ball. Muck Fichigan.

4) I absolutely despise our broadcast team.

giggity

 

[arrowryan]

Good posts by Irishlion and Bleedbluegold.

BW definitely earned the game ball. Poor guy was running for his life literally all night. Concerned with shot put throws as teams with good DBs will pick that off all day long. Fortunately, we dont play another DL like that until the playoffs. Unfortunately, GA and AL will have the studs on DL and DB to take advantage.

Book would have had a terribly long night against that rush and OL play. BK was very wise with playing BW. Let Book get his reps against BSU this week.

Concerned with the fact that our LBs cant seem to cover anyone out of the backfield or in the flats/crossing patterns. Teams like USC with great receiver speed will make ND pay the price for that.

But luckily there is a lot of time before those games to improve.

Was nice to see the DL push with mostly 4. ND hasnt had that in years on years.

ST seemed effortless. And not in a good way.

Good win ND. Could have been a lot worse and would have been sickening had Mich come back and won in OT after being rolled all game long.

The running backs literally had zero catches and I only recall a couple catches from crossing routes but not an amount to make me concerned.

 

[NDohio]

My hope is that Doug Flutie is the number 1 thing we have to complain about this year...But yeah, he sucks...

 

[RDU Irish]

Watched the game yesterday which reinforced my live experience soundly. Before commenting on the men on the field, let me share my fan experience.

Four skunkbears sit next to me and my buddy - just like all others on campus (much lighter presence than expected) they were strutting around pre-game and looking quite cock-sure. Didn't take long for them to look like someone ran over their dog. The woman with the "men" felt the need to defend their honor - came off like the most pathetic mom defending her kid on the playground. We go up 21-3 and I gave some words of encouragement "It's OK guys, we always let the other team think they have a chance" - totally deflated their reaction to the KR TD immediately after.

Near the end of third quarter - they try to sneak out. Just started screaming at them to come back - games not over..... then I give them a "bye Felicia!" to get the younger folks in the section to lose their shit laughing at the losers giving up on their team with 15 minutes to play. I would like to think I played a large role in heckling those limp mouth-breathers out but I give the credit to our men on the field for beating the will out of them.

In person - Gilman and Kareem stood out to me on defense - Alohi is a straight up baller (such BS Patterson can transfer and he can't - could have used him last year!). We just keep rotating monsters along the line - good to see Jayson A get some bigly reps (him and Hinish paired up allowed a lot up the middle late in the game but good reps for them), Ade O getting a deflection - dude looks huge - but the core of Tillery, Kareem, Okwara and Hayes is one tough bunch. Consistent pressure rushing four is something I don't remember seeing as an ND fan! Like O, got too conservative on D, IMO. Stick to what's working! Correct me if I am wrong but all of UM's second half yardage seemed more correlated to us loosing up than it was them making adjustments.

On offense, Claypool especially and Boykin look tough AF - too bad we kept the O tight in second half. Those guys are going to violate some DBs this year if BK lets them. Watching VT/FSU last night was a nice reminder of how small most team's DBs are. Thought OL interior was stout but the edges struggled against the speed rush. BW stepping up into the pocket was VERY encouraging - good pocket presence most of the night. All kept their heads about them despite a very disruptive defensive front. (VT edge rusher was looking tough last night - stay tuned right?). Never really had much concern for ball control despite the D being aggressive - good job O.

I think Armstrong/Jones/Davis can be a solid RB group - pleased with the shiftiness of Jafar and Avery in the open field but those boys (especially Davis) aren't running over anyone. RB blocking was nothing to write home about across the board. No reason to sit Dex if those guys can't block better than this. I think the OL will maul most teams effectively but if our middle is the strength would sure be nice to have a mauler in the RB group to punch up the gut. Lesser opponents I feel good these guys can put up big numbers but feels like Dex is needed to take this to another level THIS year.

 

[RDU Irish]

IMO, Michigan's D deserves the hype, but their O leaves a lot to be desired. With that said, it's hard to really say because ND's D is legit (arguably better than UM). I'd prefer to let the chips fall this season and see what happens. I told my buddy (a scUM fan) to take a breath, accept that ND is a better team, and that doesn't necessarily mean that UM is garbage this year. With that said, UM still plays MSU, PSU, WI, and OSU. If they go 7-5....1) Should ND really be pumping their chest over the win, retrospectively? 2) Do they continue on with the Jim Harbaugh era? I feel like this is a put up or shut up year for UM.

This can be a self-fulfilling prophesy too - we beat them first and didn't allow them to get momentum. Shea "Butters" Patterson turned the ball over twice in a big game - is he now subconsciously predisposed to big game butter fingers? (you know b/c he didn't ever do that before if you listen to Des and Flutie and everyone else).

I am A-OK with them going 7-5. I just want them to beat OSU and lose to Northwestern to make that happen. A more realistic hope is for the B1Got to beat itself up and all those teams have at least 2 losses at season end.

 

[PANDFAN]

Good posts by Irishlion and Bleedbluegold.

BW definitely earned the game ball. Poor guy was running for his life literally all night. Concerned with shot put throws as teams with good DBs will pick that off all day long. Fortunately, we dont play another DL like that until the playoffs. Unfortunately, GA and AL will have the studs on DL and DB to take advantage.

Book would have had a terribly long night against that rush and OL play. BK was very wise with playing BW. Let Book get his reps against BSU this week.

Concerned with the fact that our LBs cant seem to cover anyone out of the backfield or in the flats/crossing patterns. Teams like USC with great receiver speed will make ND pay the price for that.

But luckily there is a lot of time before those games to improve.

Was nice to see the DL push with mostly 4. ND hasnt had that in years on years.

ST seemed effortless. And not in a good way.

Good win ND. Could have been a lot worse and would have been sickening had Mich come back and won in OT after being rolled all game long.

okwara had his INT

 

[RDU Irish]

okwara had his INT

At least one other good coverage as well. I have zero problems with any level of our defense right now.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

This can be a self-fulfilling prophesy too - we beat them first and didn't allow them to get momentum. Shea "Butters" Patterson turned the ball over twice in a big game - is he now subconsciously predisposed to big game butter fingers? (you know b/c he didn't ever do that before if you listen to Des and Flutie and everyone else).

I am A-OK with them going 7-5. I just want them to beat OSU and lose to Northwestern to make that happen. A more realistic hope is for the B1Got to beat itself up and all those teams have at least 2 losses at season end.

I just look at it from a playoff resume perspective: Beating a 10-2 UM team vs beating a 7-5 UM team. One is better than the other despite the reasoning. They have a tough schedule and if they're the type of team everyone hyped them to be, they need to win some of those tough matchups (something Khaki Jim hasn't been able to do).

That's all chatter for later this season though. In the meantime, I'm ecstatic for the victory.

 

[ab2cmiller]

BK not making Michigan re-punt after a 51 yard punt and instead tacked on the 5 yard penalty tells you everything you need to know about what he thinks of our special teams.

 

[Rack Em]

BK not making Michigan re-punt after a 51 yard punt and instead tacked on the 5 yard penalty tells you everything you need to know about what he thinks of our special teams.

Not really. ND was up, he went conservative, and why run the risk of a fumble?

 

[ab2cmiller]

Not really. ND was up, he went conservative, and why run the risk of a fumble?

LOL

Up 21-10 with 8:00 left to go in the 3rd Quarter.

Try again.

In general, BK doesn't see the punt return game as a potential weapon, he sees it as a potential way to screw up the game either by being burned by a fake punt, a fumble or a holding penalty.

 

[Rack Em]

LOL

Up 21-10 with 8:00 left to go in the 3rd Quarter.

Try again.

In general, BK doesn't see the punt return game as a potential weapon, he sees it as a potential way to screw up the game either by being burned by a fake punt, a fumble or a holding penalty.

It's not a potential weapon. We're not trotting Isaiah McKenzie out there to return punts. Why aren't you happy that BK accepted the state of the Punt Return unit and didn't put them in a position to blow the game??

 

[ACamp1900]

We're not trotting Isaiah McKenzie out there to return punts.

 

[gkIrish]

Doug Flutie is simply unbearable. It's ridiculous that NBC makes us deal with his incompetence.

 

[stlnd01]

.

In general, BK doesn't see the punt return game as a potential weapon, he sees it as a potential way to screw up the game either by being burned by a fake punt, a fumble or a holding penalty.

It has ever been thus. Remember John Goodman?

 

[RDU Irish]

It has ever been thus. Remember John Goodman?

Lemme see - Rocket? Awesome Rossum?? Zibby??? ND has plenty of special teams history to get excited about.

BK sucks at special teams - he thinks he can carry three kickers and a long snapper on schollie and absolve himself of any responsibility beyond that.

 

[ACamp1900]

Hard to wrap my mind around Golden Tate never playing for BK... doesn't seem that long ago.

 

[Irish#1]

BTW, be careful if you go into the new Duncan Student Center. We went into the center to take a look. They scanned our tix. After checking it out we went back out. Well guess what? If they scan your ticket, it means your entering the stadium with no reentry allowed! About 45 minutes before kickoff, we tried to enter the stadium only to be told we couldn't go back in. We explained to the usher that we hadn't been in. He then called another guy over. The second guy was a dick and said sorry no reentry. After explaining that we were not aware that entering the center is the same as entering the stadium, he said sorry, that's the rules. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After explaining what happened, they let us in. As we're walking in, the smart ass usher replies, "This is your lucky day".

ND needs to post signs and have the ushers in the centers inform those entering what the rules are. I was about to go into cardiac arrest! lol

 

[ACamp1900]

BTW, be careful if you go into the new Duncan Student Center. We went into the center to take a look. They scanned our tix. After checking it out we went back out. Well guess what? If they scan your ticket, it means your entering the stadium with no reentry allowed! About 45 minutes before kickoff, we tried to enter the stadium only to be told we couldn't go back in. We explained to the usher that we hadn't been in. He then called another guy over. The second guy was a dick and said sorry no reentry. After explaining that we were not aware that entering the center is the same as entering the stadium, he said sorry, that's the rules. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After explaining what happened, they let us in. As we're walking in, the smart ass usher replies, "This is your lucky day".

ND needs to post signs and have the ushers in the centers inform those entering what the rules are. I was about to go into cardiac arrest! lol

Ushers need to handle that better... as if anyone is going to pay all that money to see warm ups and then leave...

 

[Irish#1]

Way late postgame thoughts:

1. White shoes with the home uni = dope

I had flash backs to the 70's when I saw the shoes.

2. The OL needs work, but they got through a game against two of the best DE's in the country without looking like a total lost cause... I'm happy with that. Especially with how they were able to do just enough to ride Gary/Winovich past the pocket and let Brandon step up.

3. Chip Long and Clark Lea need to split a game ball. Long coached circles around Don Brown's D in the first half when ND was on-script, and Lea coached circles around scUM's $4M/yr offensive coaching staff all night.

Always wondered why they don't script to start the second half

4. Chip Long also deserves separate credit for building/calling a game that plays to Wimbush's strengths and weaknesses. We saw basically the same Wimbush from last year... the difference is that they know what they need to do to balance that with playcalling. I said in a few places that if Wimbush completes 55% of his passes, they win 10+, and if he somehow gets to 60%, they win 12+. Wimbush was around 55% against scUM, but not because he improved on his accuracy dramatically... it was because Long was smart, and did what we all essentially asked for, letting the WR's win 50/50 balls against man coverage. That resulted in a couple of extra contested catches that wouldn't have happened last year (props to the WR's).

5. Honestly surprised they didn't try to target Boykin or Claypool for a 50/50 ball a few more times... it worked early, and it's not like those are plays that you tuck in your back pocket and wait for the right time.

6. Alohi Gilman is the truth.

Amen

7. The DL is one of the best in the country. Hopefully Jayson is ready to take MTA's reps without much dropoff. If so, they won't miss a beat.

8. The only liability I saw on defense was Love's speed trying to cover a burner on a go-route, which is not unexpected with how physical he is as a corner. He needs to be ready for that over the course of the year, so hopefully the safeties keep playing even just average football and can help out over the top.

9. Good to see Alize Mack dialed in and having earned the trust of the coaching staff. He had what appeared to be a bad drop, but I think the defender's body was actually shielding his eyes from the ball. It hit him right in the numbers before he saw it, after having dropped in over the defender's shoulder.

10. The game isn't close if not for a kick-return for TD. It's also not close if not for an alignment issue.

A lot of teams would have become deflated after a KO TD. This team didn't flinch.

11. The story seems to be Wimbush regressing in the second half, and/or Long & BK not adjusting like scUM did. I don't think that's true. They decided that scUM's offense wasn't going to score 3 times against ND's defense, so they went ultra-conservative in the last 20+ mins of the game by design. And I know that's a 100% fact, because BK is usually itching to throw a needless pass late in a game, when the right call is to run the ball and burn the extra 40 seconds or to make the opposition use a timeout. The fact that they didn't take that chance shows: (a) extreme confidence in Lea's defense and (b) Long is calling the plays with BK's full trust, because BK wouldn't have been able to keep himself from calling an ill-advised pass play at some point.

Not sure I agree with the bolded as BK isn't quite the trigger guy he was in the past.

12. Fvck scUM and Fvck Shae Patterson's overrated ass lol

Agree

 

[T Town Tommy]

Plenty of positive things to take out of the game Saturday night. Plenty of work left to do to get better as well. Constant improvement week to week will determine the fate of this year's Irish team. Celebrate for a day then move on to the next opponent. If I have one complaint after one week of football it would be that I didn't like the conservative playcalling in the second half. A killer instinct would be nice to see. Don't look at the scoreboard and keep executing at a high level. Stop when the horn sounds. Don't coach being scared to lose because at some point it can happen. Dominate till they don't want to play you anymore.

 

[stlnd01]

Lemme see - Rocket? Awesome Rossum?? Zibby??? ND has plenty of special teams history to get excited about.

BK sucks at special teams - he thinks he can carry three kickers and a long snapper on schollie and absolve himself of any responsibility beyond that.

I meant under Kelly. I don’t think he’s ever put a real threat back there to return punts, has he? It has consistently been someone whose main job is not to muff the catch.
More broadly though, I don’t think BK sucks at all special teams. Punting and field goal units have generally been solid. There was a period with Jarron Jones where we blocked an unusual number of field goals. Even on kick returns, Atkinson and, for awhile, Sanders were decent threats to bring one back. I expect Lenzy, or maybe Troy Pride, steps into that role next.
I just think he’s extremely conservative when it comes to defending and returning punts, probably because of the high down side risk if something goes wrong. It’s frustrating, but I do understand the logic.

 

[Dizzyphil]

Irish moved to 8 by Coaches....


NCAA Football - Amway Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports

 

[GreenGemsOmally]

The only thing that I would add to everything else that has been said, is that it's too bad we didnt do anymore speed options after that one that went for 10+ yards. That could be such a weapon with our QB. especially if the OL can get that LB like he did on the play in this game.

I loved that play. My brother was watching with the game with me and he was literally mid sentence complaining that our run game was too basic and we didn't throw any different wrinkles when that option toss was called. He slowed down his complaining after that.

 

[RDU Irish]

I meant under Kelly. I don’t think he’s ever put a real threat back there to return punts, has he? It has consistently been someone whose main job is not to muff the catch.
More broadly though, I don’t think BK sucks at all special teams. Punting and field goal units have generally been solid. There was a period with Jarron Jones where we blocked an unusual number of field goals. Even on kick returns, Atkinson and, for awhile, Sanders were decent threats to bring one back. I expect Lenzy, or maybe Troy Pride, steps into that role next.
I just think he’s extremely conservative when it comes to defending and returning punts, probably because of the high down side risk if something goes wrong. It’s frustrating, but I do understand the logic.

I wouldn't be surprised if we don't return a KR all season with the new rule. He says outright they practiced one all offseason - probably b/c he can't imagine anyone returning a KR with the new rule. So boringly conservative in his approach he can't imagine others seeing an opportunity. Also why I think our blocking sucks on PR/KR - everyone assumes there will be a fair catch.

Bigger problem is needing to pull your scholarship kicker after shanking a kickoff OOB, late hit penalty on another that was returned and being unable to get it to the endzone - let alone decisively. That is a lot of risk from an area in which BK has little tolerance for risk. We might see a lot more Yoon if that kid can't figure it out - which I am fine with. He is on the roster - why not go with your best option.

 

[GowerND11]

BTW, be careful if you go into the new Duncan Student Center. We went into the center to take a look. They scanned our tix. After checking it out we went back out. Well guess what? If they scan your ticket, it means your entering the stadium with no reentry allowed! About 45 minutes before kickoff, we tried to enter the stadium only to be told we couldn't go back in. We explained to the usher that we hadn't been in. He then called another guy over. The second guy was a dick and said sorry no reentry. After explaining that we were not aware that entering the center is the same as entering the stadium, he said sorry, that's the rules. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After explaining what happened, they let us in. As we're walking in, the smart ass usher replies, "This is your lucky day".

ND needs to post signs and have the ushers in the centers inform those entering what the rules are. I was about to go into cardiac arrest! lol

Wait, why would they scan your tix for both? I get that Duncan is "the stadium," but still. Also, I'm sure with technology they should have a way to scan the same ticket for two different entries or something so it doesn't ring up as reentry. Dumb...

 

[ab2cmiller]

Tillery and Coney graded out well this week.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nick Bosa's dominant performance on Saturday landed him on the <a href="https://twitter.com/PFF_College?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PFF_College</a> Team of the Week:<a href="https://t.co/CvbymqvboD">https://t.co/CvbymqvboD</a> <a href="https://t.co/QhBvK3rYDS">pic.twitter.com/QhBvK3rYDS</a></p>— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) <a href="https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1036588623515340801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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