ND 24, Michigan 17

[WM Wolverine]

Offensive tackles still needs fixed, it's going to take the underclassman (Hudson, Mayfield, Steuber, etc) to do that. The interior wasnt good either, Tillery had about seven QB hurries himself...

Patterson looked good at times but also couldn't handle the pressure at times. With a better offensive line he'd look much better, having more time to throw, and opportunities to throw deep that would soften the middle. Coney and company were really good in coverage, keeping everything in front of them.

[maxreturn]

Couldn't agree more. It's absolutely baffling to me that a school with this prestige and a coach who's had as much success as Harbaugh can't seem to recruit and/or groom a marquee QB. OSU does it every year.

[paul daugherity]

Or field a decent/functional oline or put together a coherent offense. If you told me when Harbaugh was hired that this is what we'd be in year 4, I'd have said you were crazy. It is really disconcerting and I haven't seen anyone explain how/why it has played out this way.

[froot loops]

Offensively is easy to explain, there is a lack of continuity at QB. This is Harbaugh's 4th year and 4th different QB. There is a heavy reliance on transfers and it's all defensible but it has all been short term answers that lead to a long term problem. If Patterson works out, then some of your problems are solved.

[CGVT]

Offensively is easy to explain, there is a lack of continuity at QB. This is Harbaugh's 4th year and 4th different QB. There is a heavy reliance on transfers and it's all defensible but it has all been short term answers that lead to a long term problem. If Patterson works out, then some of your problems are solved.

I think Patterson may miss those playmakers he had a WR at Ole Miss...

[iam416]

The inability to recruit and develop a QB by Year 4 is squarely on the QB Whisperer.

[froot loops]

U

The inability to recruit and develop a QB by Year 4 is squarely on the QB Whisperer.

Indeed. It could be that he lucked into Andrew Luck.

[Jeff Buchanan]

QBs that Harbaugh has recruited are not the problem. He has 3 good ones in Peters, McCaffrey and as a transfer, Patterson. He also had Jake Ruddock, a cast-away from Iowa no less, that he turned into an NFL prospect.

The problem is OTs, the OL in general and that they can't keep decent QBs up-right and healthy.

Why is that a problem?

First because the guy he brought along for that work when he signed on at M, Tim Drevno, it turns out, was not suited for the role of recruiter of top offensive linemen at the CFB level. That he then added Greg Frey to the mix was not a good move. Frey recruited guys that fit his ideal of a tackle in a zone read offense - smallish and athletic (quick). Meanwhile Harbaugh wanted to run a pro-style, albeit he envisioned a hybrid, power offense. That takes road graders that can move people. He ain't got that.

That was and currently is the underlying problem that he is trying to correct with Ed Warriner. However, Warriner can't make chicken salad out of the chicken shit that his predecessors are responsible for. It's the OL people. Building a decent OL is a long term project that Harbaugh has managed to cluster fuck away with a couple of bad hires. It is his fatal mistake and the crap offense he is saddled with now creates the negativity we are all seeing this Sunday post the ND loss.

I'd add Jim has stubbornly insisted his way of playing college football offense, pretty much what he did at SDSU and then Stanford, will produce championships. What we saw with Patterson under center v. ND, coached by another guy, Pep Hamilton, who is also probably an anachronism, is proof positive of this viewpoint.

All of this is not to say JH can somehow make M's offense, as he sees fit to design, adjust and have it executed, work. Personally, I have my doubts. The 2018 schedule, through MSU in EL, will tell me if he can or can't make his concept of a CFB offense work. Until then, I'm turning off the negativity.

[iam416]

[Jeff Buchanan]

Tom Brady, probably the best NFL QB to play the game since guys like Joe Montana, has had off years due to poor OL play in front of him. It's a chicken or egg sort of argument with both sides having merit.

My view is that a decent QB prospect can't be developed when the OL he's playing behind is a dumpster fire.

Patterson is probably the best equipped QB prospect to deal with that since Harbugh has been at M. I'll give JH credit for trying with O'Korn and maybe hitting with Patterson. he understands that today's pressure defenses are going to beat tackles, even good ones, and M has none of those.

I have to admit, I thought I'd see M's offense change a bit with the Patterson acquisition and I'm disappointed we didn't see that v. ND, thus my comment above about waiting to see if he adjusts to accommodate what Patterson does best, i.e., drop the five step drop shit, and let him sling it up there from the gun within a couple of counts and let the quality receivers on M's roster run under it and make plays.

[froot loops]

The QB was a problem yesterday

[Jeff Buchanan]

I don't think so, Froot. Patterson threw for 267 yards and 67% completion rate. He made two game changing mistakes, something M could not afford and both of them came from ND pressure and an OL that couldn't mitigate it..

[froot loops]

I know so, you need your a QB to make plays, he didn't. He ran into sacks and showed no pocket awareness. Your line isn't good but you expect the skill position players to make plays. He didn't make plays. Quarterbacks have to make plays, running backs have to make plays. If you need the 95 Cowboy offensive line to allow your offense to work, you are doomed.

[froot loops]

You can't give credit to Harbaugh for trying with O'Korn. That is a developmental failure and was detrimental to the program. Every rep you devote to dead weight players is one less rep that another QB could be used on young players you want to develop.

[WingsFan]

Froot. Patterson threw for 267 yards

Patterson had 226 yards 1 fumble lost (to end the game) 1 INT no TDs.

QB was a problem

Though Dylan McCaffrey looked pretty good actually