Michigan 42, Rutgers 7.

[Detroit Dan]

Announcers never once noticed that Josh Metellus didn't play.

[Cody_Russell]

Rutgers certainly played better than the 2016 team. Somehow M scored 36 more points in that game. Holy shit, 2016 M @ Rutgers.
I was wrong with M -39.5

[Hannibal]

Uche, Hill, and Metellus all apparently hurt. Not good. Next week will be an ugly 34-20 type win.

[Detroit Dan]

Kwity Paye also left early because of injury. Did Uche play at all?

[Detroit Dan]

Michigan walks on water according to BTN commentators.

[maxreturn]

Underwhelming performance. Pretty much what I expected. A bit miffed that Patterson never pulled the ball out and took off around the end. With 8-9 defenders in the box that would've opened up things a bit.

[Cody_Russell]

Don't want Shea taking unnecessary hits vs Rutgers and IU when you know M is going to win.

Sure, M could have scored more if they wanted. Keep Shea healthy for Ohio St!

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm fine with the outcome. The injuries may be dings that in an abundance of caution, those players got shelved.

I don't think the zone read keeper was in Patterson's tool box today. The game outcome was never in question. Why risk a hit to the guy that is going to carry this team on offense into the CFP. Rutgers certainly played like they knew that play wasn't coming and pinched their LBs and brought a S up. So what. They managed to hold M's running game in check while Patterson threw for over 250y at a 9.3 ypp clip, completing 60% of his throws, no INTs and 3TDs.

I don't get dissing a team that put up 453 yards on it's opponent. This was a comfortable win where the offense did what it needed to do to win easily. Run game not producing in its vanilla form and up to expectations? No worries, throw it - Shea's best game in windy and cold conditions against a not terrible secondary. Not the defense's best game but look at the number of players that played on defense. One big play in the 1st quarter on a busted play by Brad Hawkins who's given up plenty of those and is the reason he doesn't start. BFD.

[iam416]

It was a nothing game. You take nothing from it, good or bad, because the opponent is so bad.

[Rocky Bleier]

Exactly, Who really gives a shit what the score is. Win, avoid injuries, get out of town.

[maxreturn]

Thanks Cody, Jeff, Iam & Rocky. Convincing points. I posted after I had a tad too much to drink .

[Jeff Buchanan]

Talked with Doug Dillon who was at the game this morning. Interesting comments:

He thought the team seemed disengaged early and after their opening drive that scored a TD. Lots of yelling on the sidelines directed at the defensive unit players from Gary and Winovich after Rutgers got the long TD. Brown appeared to go from frustrated to livid, waving his arms up and down after the Rutgers score.

He thought the passing game was baked into the game strategy during the week and executed very well by Patterson and all the WRs. From what he could see from near ground level the run game featured nothing that was exotic with blocking schemes like we saw v. PSU.

Multiple substitutions started on the OL, DL and RB positions after M went up 21-7. The run game featured a good dose of Chris Evans from start to finish with limited carries by Higdon. When Peters went in at about the 10 minute mark of the 3rd, the OL was all the 2s. The secondary did not change with the exception of Hill (early) who is reportedly in concussion protocol, and Metellus who could have played, per Harbaugh, but was held out due to "soft tissue" injury on Thursday; his position was covered by Brad Hawkins.

His most interesting comment involved the question of players looking disengaged. He asked, why does M appear to play out of sorts after an election? He pointed out that after Trump was elected in 2016, M traveled to Iowa and got pummeled. This election with widening polarization between voters and a President who openly claims he only leads those who support him and everyone who doesn't is the enemy, it seems that some of the players, especially the ones of color, might feel like the enemy.

As an aside he noted that at the end of the half-time show, the Rutgers ROTC had an induction ceremony where the oath was piped over the stadium PA system. When it came to the line where inductees pledge to carry out the orders of their superiors and the president of the United States, there was a loud set of boos, followed by an equally loud set of cheers. Interesting.

Anyway, politics doesn't belong in CFB but athletes at the college level are not just football players - at least Michigan's aren't. I thought it was an intriguing observation, if not a reach.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I think the eyeball check told us how good Shea Patterson was v. Rutgers. Patterson grabbed the highest PFF scores on offense this weekend. Admittedly, he faced zero pressure but his receivers along with Patterson had to deal with two defenders in the passing game - Field Corner, Isah Wharton (6'1", 205, Sr) and Free S, Saquan Hampton (6'1", 209, Sr) that were pointed out in the FFFF piece at mgo as dudes - and they were. From the shitty vantage point of watching this battle on the BTN's terrible production of the game, coverage was tight (see Gentry's almost TD broken up by Hampton). Still, receivers got enough separation to invite what turned out to be pin-point passes in tough conditions to M's WRs (see DPJ's slant in the 4th, Martin's TD and others). It also helped that all of the receivers made big catches if Patterson got the ball anywhere near them.

Most of this passing excellence got lost in the feel of this game which got colored by an underwhelming rushing performance that usually indicates M is not beating the crap out of it's opponent up front like it should. I'm awaiting some video/UFRs on what Ash was doing with Rutger's defense. It was more than "loading the box" although there were usually 8-9 red helmets within 7 yards of the LOS and plenty of times the first steps of the LBs were inside based on M's tendencies. M (Warriner) has done a good job of beating this sort of approach - at least they did v. PSU's D which is not hot garbage and neither was Rutger's at least in run D. But there was probably a lot of run blitzing that is hard to pick-up outside of slo-mo and clearly, Ash had his defense prepared to have his Ss or LBs hit the right gaps plenty of times. Unfortunately for Rutgers, you pay for this approach and Ash did pay on several big runs, slants and screens (one of them, if made, was going for a TD save Ruiz missing his block on S Hampton, another with a bad pass from Patterson - one of his few - and notably Nico Collins uncovered and all alone in the endzone because one of the Ss thought Patterson was going to run it, stepped up instead didn't roll to cover him).

So, what keyed that? Great film study that nailed M's tendencies? M's purposeful lack of ingenuity and/or exotics in M's run game? I don't know but it was sufficiently overcome with Patterson's hot hand:

https://www.maizenbrew.com/football/...am-of-the-week

[Tom W]

His most interesting comment involved the question of players looking disengaged. He asked, why does M appear to play out of sorts after an election? He pointed out that after Trump was elected in 2016, M traveled to Iowa and got pummeled. This election with widening polarization between voters and a President who openly claims he only leads those who support him and everyone who doesn't is the enemy, it seems that some of the players, especially the ones of color, might feel like the enemy.

Probably coincidental. Call it the Ides of November- where the table seems to be all set for Michigan to close the deal only to have them choke against a lesser opponent. Bo used to do it and that's why Indiana is scarier than it should be.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Tuning up for your Brats my friend. See you Saturday. I'll be the one wrapped up my Michigan sleep suit, around the fire-pit.