Michigan V. Army, Saturday, September 7th, Noon EDT, FOX/Fox Video

[hack]

If Patterson is hurt then you have a guy who should be ready to go. Play him.

[Jeff Buchanan]

"There are two possible outcomes......."

People, you need to pay attention when I post. Army did exactly what they do and M's players and coaches - especially Patterson and whoever was making playcalls - facilitated it.

Ceiling is 8 wins.

[paul daugherity]

[iam416]

Big bye week then the Badgers. Win that and this shitfest is forgotten.

[Detroit Dan]

Today was a good test for the young defense. The offensive play calling sucked, especially on those 4th downs. Gattis will need to do some soul searching. Patterson will have to play better or else give up more time to McCaffrey.

[paul daugherity]

You are right Talent, in that a win at Wisconsin will put this game in the rear view. However, after this performance, a win at Wisconsin seems really unlikely.

[Hannibal]

Big bye week then the Badgers. Win that...

LMAO.

[Hannibal]

I wonder why Army didn't think that their FG kicker could make a kick. The attempted 50 yarder wasn't too bad. The guy could probably make a 40 yarder. That 3rd and 11 pass was a horrible call.

[Jeff Buchanan]

M isn't winning in Madison. They couldn't stop Army's FB, QB or RB. They aren't going to stop Taylor and an offense that can pass.

Army really doesn't play football in a modern sense. They are a hard team to play.......assuming you do the things that let them do their thing.

I thought the play calling lacked creativity, there was no urgency when there should have been, poor clock management in the 2 minute drill, poor OL play, multiple poor decisions by the QB .......just a continuation of 2018 and the MTSU game. No improvement at all with M letting Army play the game on their terms.

[hack]

Harbaugh says Patterson is healthy. If so, time for McCaffrey.

[WM Wolverine]

Patterson was about as bad as I've seen him despite an overall good stat line; most of his completions were of the wide open variety that Hannibal could've completed. Shea seemed to be afraid to settle into the pocket as a passer despite mostly solid protection. Would like to see a few drives of M ditching the RPO and just see Shea throw the damn ball but M would probably need to be behind by a couple scores before Harbaugh would allow that to happen...

Found it very odd that on a 2nd down pass play (around late 3rd Q), every Army defender in back 7 immediately dropped into coverage instead of reading the RPO and reacting. Every defender knew it was a pass before the snap... I don't think Shea is doing much reading of the RPO, I'd guess many of these are designed handoffs or passes as the pull has been there a ton the past couple games...

Predictable play calling by running on 1st/2nd down and throwing on 3rd down is exactly the same issue M ran into last season with Harbaugh as OC. That's fine against Army, MTSU, but won't work against a solid-to-good B1G defense. If it continues, M's offense won't do much if any better than it was last season....

I wouldn't over analyze the defensive performance today, good or bad... Offense put them in a ton of bad situations (turnovers leading to short fields) and the defense scored a TD but the refs took it off the scoreboard...

[lineygoblue]

I'm being as sincere as I've ever been in here when I say that Army deserved to win that game today. They came in with a great game plan, and executed it to near perfection. If Army has a FG kicker in his 2nd year instead of his first collegiate kick, they win that game. They would have won it legit, no excuses, no alibis. Army was the better team on the field during regulation, and there is no disputing that.

Army played better fundamental football against a team with (allegedly) superior talent. They were outsized, but they did what any good outsized team would do. They got low, controlled their man, and got him out of the way. They weren't flashy, but their execution of their blocking schemes were classic option blocking, and they showed how to do it against a larger team. It was an outstanding performance by the Black Knights. On defense, they did nothing fancy. They simply maneuvered around Michigan's blockers, and made some of the most sound tackles I've ever seen. It was a fantastic performance by the Black Knights, and they deserved to win.

I'm always going to be a Michigan fan. Its like heroin to me. I can't kick the habit. But Michigan did NOT deserve to win this game today. Army was one FG kicker away from walking off with a well planned, well-deserved, and hard fought victory over the Wolverines. I salute their players and coaches for a job well done. They deserved a better outcome.

For Michigan, from Harbaugh on down, they need to decide where they go from here. If I was playing for Wisconsin, I'd be salivating for kickoff time to arrive with Michigan. Jonathan Taylor has to be itching for this game to begin. If Michigan comes into Madison with the same kind of effort it showed today, they'll be embarrassed at how badly the Badgers will rip them. I'd say anywhere from 48 points or more. Offensively? Bah. We'll be lucky to get into double figures.

As I see it, the only answer is to get back to fundamental football. Take a page from what Army did to you today. They had a excellent game plan, and they executed it to near-perfection. If Michigan thinks they're going into Madison and winning with what they've done in games 1 and 2, they may as well stay home and forfeit. Save the time and the travel money. Its a lock that they're not winning with the kind of play they've shown thus far.

Once again, sincere congrats to the Army Black Knights. You earned a ton of respect from this former Coastie. Go on and have a great season, and Beat Navy.

[THE STEE]

the ohio state would have laid 70 on this team

[klondike]

Big bye week then the Badgers. Win that and this shitfest is forgotten.

You know, it used to be..."the two gimmies every year is Rutgers and Maryland. Not any more. UM would be an underdog if they played Maryland next week.

[maxreturn]

Joel Klatt was absolutely correct today about Don Brown. How many times was Army 3rd and short or 4th and short and somehow Brown had a defensive scheme that inexplicably failed to cover a guard with a down defensive lineman? Nearly every time Army converted. This is absolutely inexcusable.