ND 24, Michigan 17

[hack]

It was less optimism about Hurst's replacement than optimism that a handful of remaining elite players could compensate for the loss of that one guy, and that strong recruiting on that side of the ball would mean that we likely wouldn't have any legitimate weaknesses there. There are elite defenses all over the place that don't have a guy named Mo Hurst.

Exactly. I think that's where it ends up, too. Especially if Solomon is hurt. That's the guy I was expecting to do most of the work filling in for Hurst.

[iam416]

You're imagining correctly. And my annual bet is with a guy I've been betting on everything with for 15 years, and I hate to lose to him. Irate.

You may appreciate this, AA. We have a group of 6 that are so-called "Action Players". Instead of betting with books a paying the huge 5% vig, we bet with each other. We send out emails with the games we're backing. Then any of the other 5 can back the same game or go contra. Units are constant -- ($20 per player -- so if you back K-State at +7 against Mississippi State you're likely going to get 5 contras and be on the hook for $100). We do for football and basketball; keep running tallies and settle up in spring. The units are small but the volume is pretty high.

[AlabamAlum]

That's very cool. A good way to wager without worrying about a sloppy book being raided and outing you as a 'gambler'.

[iam416]

It was less optimism about Hurst's replacement than optimism that a handful of remaining elite players could compensate for the loss of that one guy, and that strong recruiting on that side of the ball would mean that we likely wouldn't have any legitimate weaknesses there. There are elite defenses all over the place that don't have a guy named Mo Hurst

Fair. But I think that perhaps underestimates exactly how good and important Hurst was. I also get that you don't need Hurst, but you do need someone really good to play that position in Don Brown's defense. It's sort of critical to the middle of the field.

I think Ohio State broke maybe 2 longish runs against M last year. On one of them Jamarco Jones actually stalemated Hurst 1v1 (a play after getting drove back 2 yards,as happened more often than not). But you could see in that one play that if you could just keep him from altering the play you could beat the other parts of the defense.

[Hannibal]

At any rate, I don't think that it was unreasonable for us to expect a Top 10 defense, and that is not what we saw on Saturday. I said before the season that I would be disappointed if this defense is not at least a great one.

[hack]

Agreed.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm hoping the missing piece is Soloman. As mentioned, you can't run a 3-3-5 cover-1 with the kind of aggressive S play Brown deploys without a bull dozing NT. I think the rotation of Mone, Solomon, Dwumfour and Marshall was supposed to see one of those guys rise to the top as a solid tackle. That's still possible and so is the 4-2-5 or 4-3-4 Zone.

[Kapture1]

What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?

love that movie. and book.

one of the many great scenes.

[WingsFan]

Got a screwgie?

[Kapture1]

[Jeff Buchanan]

Here's the Cliff Notes on Brian's UFR Offense:

It's tough to run offense when you're petrified of your tackles. But we know this, hooray.

What's interesting is that Jon Runayn was OK ....... except when Harbaugh called in a pass-play, then he was horrible. So, the play calling avoided that and it explains why there was no mid-deep passing game of any consequence. That had to be a very tough call for Harbaugh. On the one hand, Harbauffense needs a credible long ball and with the hybrid-power thing he's doing it needs a lot more than a couple throws deep in the game. OTH, you don't want your QB concussed or worse with a big hit in the first game of the season trying to do that.

When I reviewed video of the game, it seemed to me that there was plenty of PA, RPO and Read Option stuff. But Brian tracks it down and demonstrates that while Patterson might have been going through the moves he wasn't reading anyone or deciding if he was going to run or throw off the RPO. It looked scripted. I had that impression too but thought I just wasn't seeing everything. I was. The play call that went in determined where the ball was going to go and who was going to get it. Brian thought this was DeBordian or Hokian and gives some weight to complaints about said play calling.

The OL looked organized. I think that is progress.

The Interior OL is it's strongest part with Bredeson grading out well.

The receivers are good. If Tarik black comes back quickly and plays at the level he appears to be capable of and the play calling is adapted to mitigate pass-pro (e.g, roll-outs and waggles), Patterson has the capability of hitting some big plays to those dudes

Higdon missed two big holes that would have resulted in chunk plays. I thought one of those would have been a TD of 40+ yards. Evans? Weird he didn't get more touches. He sure didn't look hurt and he is a threat in space. Not sure why he wasn't used more.

There was, according to Brian, some questionable play calls but overall most of them made sense. He did have a couple issues with setting up a specific play by one play when the next play being set up was obvious. ND blitz the hell out of one of those plays being set up causing a tackle for a loss.

Patterson is an upgrade ...... duh. He biffed a couple of throws most notably to Gentry at the goal line. That ball needed to about 36" over Gentry's head. On a 6'8" frame he makes that catch and it isn't a PBU by the ND S. He did that for McKeon so, he knows how to do it. His one INT was really bad head-work on his part.

What does it mean for WMU?

Brain thinks the younger generation (Mayfield, Hudson?, Steuber, et. al.) should get a shot as he sees little point in continuing with the older generation (Runyan and JBB). I'd wait 2.5 quarters v. WMU if the game is in hand and it should be, then try those guys out. Start Runyan and JBB v.SMU and pull either one for a younger guy if Patterson gets tagged because of an OT error. I suspect that Mayfield, the most logical guy to go in, is not ready technique wise or he already would have gone in. There's also burning the red shirt issue. The OL is just starting to build some depth. You could screw that up at the OT spot that is so hurting it boggles the mind. Unnecessarily burning Mayfield's red shirt would be bad ju ju but if that's what it takes to get M a decent LT and a passing game, do it. M isn't going to win a lot of games in 2018 without one.