Tweet
Michigan's loss of Tarik Black is matched by key player losses for ND as well. Dexter Williams, part of the RB depth for Brian Kelly, was rumored to have been suspended. However, when asked if Williams would play v. Michigan, Kelly responded, "he's on our roster." The departure of two All-Americans on the offensive line, its starting running back from 2017 and the wideouts presents some problems for ND on offense. Tony Jones, RS Sophomore will likely be Kelley's starting RB. Starting Nickle-Back, Shawn Crawford tore his ACL this week and for the second time, will miss the entire season.
I remain skeptical that Ed Warriner has fixed M's OL and that is going to be a problem for M facing ND's excellent front 4 on D. How often John Runyan and whoever starts at the RT (probably JBB) get beat on pass-pro is going to be a factor in determining if Patterson can get the ball to his receivers without throwing picks. I see these as the two most significant weaknesses for M in the opener. Games like this - openers with unproven players and known weaknesses - never go well on offense and this is true for both teams.
There's a good deal of optimism about M's chances but, I think on the spectrum of efficient games between 1 and 10, 1 being the least efficient, this one is going to be about a 6. M's D is going to be the major contributor to that number until M's offense with Patterson under center gets it's feet on the ground. I think talent has had the best take - a low scoring slug fest with a FG separating the winner from the loser.
The one thing that could change that is if Gary, Winovich and Khaleke Hudson get Winbush rattled - something he is known to do - into making bad decisions that M's excellent back end will exploit. Defensive scoring or the production of a lot of short fields for M's offense by M's defense could make the score differential a lot greater in M's favor than, say, a 19-16 M win in a slug-fest.
I remain skeptical that Ed Warriner has fixed M's OL and that is going to be a problem for M facing ND's excellent front 4 on D. How often John Runyan and whoever starts at the RT (probably JBB) get beat on pass-pro is going to be a factor in determining if Patterson can get the ball to his receivers without throwing picks. I see these as the two most significant weaknesses for M in the opener. Games like this - openers with unproven players and known weaknesses - never go well on offense and this is true for both teams.
There's a good deal of optimism about M's chances but, I think on the spectrum of efficient games between 1 and 10, 1 being the least efficient, this one is going to be about a 6. M's D is going to be the major contributor to that number until M's offense with Patterson under center gets it's feet on the ground. I think talent has had the best take - a low scoring slug fest with a FG separating the winner from the loser.
The one thing that could change that is if Gary, Winovich and Khaleke Hudson get Winbush rattled - something he is known to do - into making bad decisions that M's excellent back end will exploit. Defensive scoring or the production of a lot of short fields for M's offense by M's defense could make the score differential a lot greater in M's favor than, say, a 19-16 M win in a slug-fest.
Comment