Maryland @ Michigan, Saturday, October 6th, Noon EDT, ABC National/espn3 video

[Kstat]

[WingsFan]

Yep, reminded me of Rodney Petes injury when he looked back

[Jeff Buchanan]

The mgoblue site game stats makes it easy to filter plays. I counted the number of 1st down runs with < 4y gained. There were 16 first down runs. 11 of those runs gained less than 4 yards. I also counted the number of 3rd or 4th down plays with < 3y to go. There were 8 of those opportunities, 3 of them resulted in a first down. I didn't look at 1st, 3rd/4th down inside the 4.

I think it's clear that JH is burning downs with run calls in the circumstances I charted. I really don't think you can count on winning games against teams that are not going to fold and instead make big plays v. M's D. We've seen, given Brown's aggressive approach, this can happen. Can M keep up with a hot offense doing that? I think that's the problem for Harbaugh facing the next 3 games.

[Kstat]

The mgoblue site game stats makes it easy to filter plays. I counted the number of 1st down runs with < 4y gained. There were 16 first down runs. 11 of those runs gained less than 4 yards. I also counted the number of 3rd or 4th down plays with < 3y to go. There were 8 of those opportunities, 3 of them resulted in a first down. I didn't look at 1st, 3rd/4th down inside the 4.

I think it's clear that JH is burning downs with run calls in the circumstances I charted. I really don't think you can count on winning games against teams that are not going to fold and instead make big plays v. M's D. We've seen, given Brown's aggressive approach, this can happen. Can M keep up with a hot offense doing that? I think that's the problem for Harbaugh facing the next 3 games.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Guarantee you, MSU will be ready in 2 weeks. They play PSU next week in HV. Watch that game. If it's a blow out for PSU then I'd say their problems are beyond injuries. If Mork has his team hanging tough, they'll play M tough the following week at home. Count on it.

[Rocky Bleier]

Well, shit. Here's the part of the schedule where we were going to see if M was any good or not, and the injuries are piling up. Defensive line was the deepest position at the start of the year, too. Wisconsin is going to run the ball down their throats, and then that lefty QB will torch the safeties again when they start cheating on run support. Only possible bright spot left is a win in E, Lansing.Bur we know how that goes...

[Detroit Dan]

I hope someone does the numbers on first down calls

Here you go, in chronological order:

1st & 10 at MICH 15
(14:50 - 1st) Karan Higdon run for 18 yds to the Mich 33 for a 1ST down

1st & 10 at MICH 33
(14:19 - 1st) Shea Patterson pass complete to Ben Mason for 15 yds to the Mich 48 for a 1ST down

1st & 10 at MICH 48
(13:46 - 1st) Karan Higdon run for 1 yd to the Mich 49

1st & 10 at MICH 20
(8:48 - 1st) Shea Patterson pass complete to Zach Gentry for 15 yds to the Mich 35 for a 1ST down

1st & 10 at MICH 35
(8:18 - 1st) Shea Patterson pass incomplete to Donovan Peoples-Jones

1st & 10 at MICH 47
(7:32 - 1st) Karan Higdon run for 3 yds to the 50 yard line

1st & 10 at MD 33
(6:02 - 1st) Karan Higdon run for 4 yds to the Mary 29

1st & 10 at MICH 45
(3:01 - 1st) Shea Patterson pass complete to Zach Gentry for 31 yds to the Mary 24 for a 1ST down

1st & 10 at MD 24
(2:28 - 1st) Karan Higdon run for 3 yds to the Mary 21

1st & 10 at MICH 27
(0:56 - 1st) Karan Higdon run for 2 yds to the Mich 29

1st & 10 at MICH 5
(14:20 - 2nd) Ben Mason run for 6 yds to the Mich 11

1st & 10 at MICH 20
(12:22 - 2nd) Karan Higdon run for 3 yds to the Mich 23

1st & 10 at MD 26
(11:21 - 2nd) Grant Perry pass complete to Sean McKeon for 12 yds to the Mary 14 for a 1ST down

1st & 10 at MD 14
(10:41 - 2nd) Karan Higdon run for 5 yds to the Mary 9

1st & Goal at MD 1
(8:49 - 2nd) Karan Higdon run for no gain to the Mary 1

1st & 10 at MICH 36
(5:15 - 2nd) Karan Higdon run for 7 yds to the Mich 43

1st & 10 at MICH 47
(3:29 - 2nd) Shea Patterson pass complete to Zach Gentry for 6 yds to the Mary 47

1st & 10 at MD 41
(1:48 - 2nd) Shea Patterson pass complete to Zach Gentry for 6 yds to the Mary 35

1st & 10 at MD 29
(0:46 - 2nd) Shea Patterson pass incomplete to Donovan Peoples-Jones

END OF FIRST HALF

1st & 10 at MICH 44
(11:40 - 3rd) Karan Higdon run for a loss of 3 yards to the Mich 41

1st & 10 at MD 40
(10:29 - 3rd) Patterson, Shea pass complete to Peoples-Jones, Donovan for 40 yards to the MARYLAND 0, PENALTY MICHIGAN holding (Wilson, Tru) 10 yards to the 50 yardline, NO PLAY.

1st & 20 at 50
(10:13 - 3rd) Shea Patterson pass complete to Zach Gentry for 19 yds to the Mary 31 + Personal foul & ejections of Rayshad Lewis for Targeting

1st & 10 at MD 13
(8:55 - 3rd) Karan Higdon run for 3 yds to the Mary 10

1st & 10 at MD 43
(4:47 - 3rd) Shea Patterson pass complete to Grant Perry for 6 yds to the Mary 37 (Tre Watson was ejected for Targeting)

1st & 10 at MD 32
(3:02 - 3rd) Tru Wilson run for a loss of 2 yards to the Mary 34

1st & 10 at MICH 19
(11:12 - 4th) Karan Higdon run for 4 yds to the Mich 23

1st & 10 at MICH 39
(9:58 - 4th) Shea Patterson run for 8 yds to the Mich 47

1st & 10 at MICH 49
(8:53 - 4th) Tru Wilson run for 28 yds to the Mary 23 for a 1ST down

1st & 10 at MD 23
(8:16 - 4th) Tru Wilson run for no gain to the Mary 23

1st & Goal at MD 7
(6:37 - 4th) Jared Wangler 7 Yd pass from Shea Patterson (Ben Mason Run for Two-Point Conversion)

1st & 10 at MICH 30
(1:43 - 4th) O'Maury Samuels run for 5 yds to the Mich 35

END OF GAME

---

31 first down plays
19 runs

14 for 3 yards or more
5 for 2 yards or less (4 of these in 2nd half)

12 passes

10 for 6 yards or more
2 incomplete

---

The passing game was very efficient, and the running game was good enough to set up the passing game (as I see it).
6 of the last 7 first down plays were runs after Michigan had a good sized lead, so there were 13 runs and 11 passes on first down until near the end of the 3rd qtr. Good balance!

[Jeff Buchanan]

Good work.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Replays of most of the good stuff ........

Patterson's escapability and his capacity to make plays off that is impressive. Defenses aggressively rushing up field - the thing most defenses have done against Michigan - is leaving these huge holes for receivers to find openings in and make big plays. M fans have not seen something like this in I don't know how long - maybe never.

On one of Mason's TDs, he just trucks the Maryland LB, Watson - who is good, as he works to fill the gap at the goal line that is Mason's target. It's a pancake by a FB. This is another thing M fans have probably never seen. You have to go back to Yost to find the use of a FB like this who is a great one.

You'll also see both Mason and Wangler lined up next to Patterson on a play. It's obviously a run, right? Nope. Mason chugs to the line like he's working to create a crease for Wangler who sneaks out of the wash to the right and is wide open for a TD. Diabilical Harbaugh pulling some tools out of his tool box. Nice to see that.

Watch the throw to a crossing Bell for the TD from the 20. This is uncanny. There are two defenders right where Patterson throws the ball and one of them thinks he has an easy pick. No. Bell screams right across their faces to take the ball and score. When Patterson releases the throw, Bell is not even in the screen shot - he's leading Bell by a good 15 yards. Incredible throw and catch.

In the plays shown here, OL play is outstanding both in pass-pro and in run blocking. Runyan handled his assignments against Maryland DE, Brown- another very good player - really well. I don't think play calling is in any way working to protect Runyan or JBB. Lots of 21 personnel alignments but rather than protecting poor OT play, the TEs are being used much more effectively elsewhere as in downfield pass catching and blocking.

Fun to see these plays again and slo-mo them. It is undeniably M's best offensive performance besides the nits I have posted about first down and short yardage play calling. Dan is right, those nits don't amount to much in the big picture v. Maryland. I still worry though about how this offense will perform if JH burns first downs along with those downs that are 3rd/4th and short against teams with better offenses and defenses just pounding into a stacked box. We can just hope that when he knows he's going to win the game over time with this approach - pounding - he's going to get a bit more creative - open the tool box - when M runs the current gauntlet of games and then ends the regular season playing osu.

[Detroit Dan]

Yup. I'm in general agreement that running into "stacked boxes" is not the way to go. However, when it works, I am pleased. Anyway, we seemed much more creative today: Grant Perry throws a pass on a reverse, Mason and Wangler in the backfield for a TD pass to Wangler, and as you mentioned that absolutely stunning TD pass to true freshman Ronnie Bell.

So far, our depth is paying off. We've lost a million defensive linemen and wide receivers in the past several months, yet are still performing well at those positions. Great recruiting, including under the radar players such as Bell, is paying off. In particular, we seem to be doing very well in New England and New Jersey. Take 3 star Kwity Paye, for example.

[UMStan White]

"On one of Mason's TDs, he just trucks the Maryland LB, Watson - who is good, as he works to fill the gap at the goal line that is Mason's target. It's a pancake by a FB. This is another thing M fans have probably never seen. You have to go back to Yost to find the use of a FB like this who is a great one."

Jeff, how can you forget Garvey Craw from the sixties? He never lost a yard in his whole career.

[Hannibal]

Playcalling is sometimes an issue, but I think that a bigger issue is scheme. Ultimately, a sucessful offense has to be able to run the ball frequently on first down and successfully on obvious running downs. We can't do this. We don't have a working bread and butter. We need to set two or three series on fire in order to set up one 25 yard pass. This problem is magnified against good competition. It's a 1990s arrangement -- your running game is garbage against decent defenses and it all comes down to the QB making plays throwing the ball.

[Rocky Bleier]

Garvie Craw scored the first Michigan touchdown I ever saw.

How quickly Jeff forgot Kahlid Hill.

[Kstat]

[Jeff Buchanan]

Watch it while it lasts. The copyright gestapo will probably take this done by the end of today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaFmdpqH6WE