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I'm not buying the notion that Harbaugh has "checked out," is less committed to the game, less aggressive, lost his edge or any of the many modifiers describing him that have cropped up either as new ones or as restatements of old ones today.
The meme that started within hours, even minutes, after the game, that Michigan football, expected to be an zone RO/RPO centric offense, wasn't close to that, sounds like a broken record. Fact: there wasn't any of that in M's offensive game plan after Shea put the ball on the ground the second time. No one has mentioned anything remotely factual to explain that. What we get is Harbaugh has checked out and according to Klatt we "should be worried about Michigan football."
I listened to the YouTube video of Joe Klatt's comments. He's measured, I'll give you that and he was NOT an early purveyor of the meme I'm speaking off. He's one that, in game, he couldn't understand why M's defense left such large gaps in their defensive front. I think I explained that up thread and what Don Brown put on the field limited Army's Triple Option offense to 3.3 yards per run on 61 attempts and 14 regulation points. In 2018, Army ranked #2, behind GT in Rushing offense with 4.93 yards/rush. So, Klatt can STFU about that. Brown and his D are fine.
My take is that it is nutz to try to speculate on Jim Harbaugh's mental state. I don't think that is the problem but in typical human fashion, we find ourselves trying to assign a reason for yesterday's shit show and somehow, around here, that explanation rises to the top. I'm firmly rejecting the speculative BS that asserts Harbaugh is not his former self. Well, of course he isn't. SDSU, Stanford and the 49er's were collectively decades ago. He's older and probably a lot wiser. I think it has been pretty well established that he was a very good coach then and there is no reason that he is still not a very good coach - and forget the hair splitting going on here about very good versus elite.
Fact: In 2019, Michigan ranks 130th out of 130 FBS teams for fumbles lost at 5. In 2018, Michigan ranked along with nFw, LSU, and Mississippi St at #1 with 3 fumbles lost. You tell me what M's problem is on offense through 2 games. It sure as fuck has nothing to do with Harbaugh's mental state. It's pretty simple actually: M is turning the ball over at an unprecedented rate in 2019 with the Gattis offense. Do you have any questions about why Harbaugh took the keys to the offense away from him v. Army? Any questions why the play-book looked so utterly lizard brain simple after the first half errors?
Are the fumbles and ball handling errors a result of Shea being hurt? There is no hard evidence to support that only anecdotal observations countered by JH saying he's fine when he was asked that question directly last Monday...... and, Harbaugh isn't given to coach speak. He either won't answer or, if he answers, you can probably take it as Gospel. He may have banged up ribs but that's not Shea's problem.
Is Patterson messing up his pre-snap reads that are crucial to the Gattis RO/RPO offense? I don't think so. Harbaugh was keen to note Patterson gets the offense into the right play based on his (pre-snap) reads v. MTSU.
Is Patterson finding himself under enough pressure where he can't make his post snap reads/throw accurately in Gattis' offense? I'm going with this as part of it. I watched Runyan and Hayes along with Mayfield v. Army AND MTSU have trouble handling C gap delayed blitzes (that's the outside shoulder of Bredeson). Turner missed his blocking assignment on Patterson's sack-strip-fumbles in both of the first two games Those were B gap blitzes when the LBs on delayed blitz assignment saw Bredeson slide over to close the C gap. Ruiz missed a few too. IOW, the OL is getting exploited on the outside and occasionally inside by DCs who are committing to 5 and 6 man, sometime's 7 man blitz packages to stop M. It's working! ..... and OBTW, it worked in 2018 too - DCs tend to watch a lot of film.
Now what?
Warinner? He is a very good coach. He did not forget how to coach the OL. This isn't a "system problem." It isn't because JH isn't into the game anymore. It's football played at the high stakes college level where 18-20 year old kids are learning the game. The probability that OL play will improve to facilitate an RO/RPO Gattis style offense is high.
Patterson? Fix the OL and he'll get better. In case the OL continues to have issues with blitzers, design plays for him so that he can punish a defense for blitzing - boot legs? Haven't seen those at all as I'm pretty sure Gattis doesn't want him to roll out but stay facing down field and make his post snap reads. He does not appear to be bailing early to me like he did last season but he is still bailing under pressure. It's too late at that point and we're into get lucky and find an open receiver territory. Get better TE and WR blocking on screens (they're getting blown up too easily) and give Patterson a few steps deeper drop when setting up for them (these have not been effective plays and need to be for the many blitz heavy defenses M faces).
Patterson absolutely has to present a run threat to the opponent's D with the RPO or whatever play is designed to present it. If for some reason he can't do that, he should not be M's QB in Gattis' system. That's pretty simple .... the coaches may talk about what they give up in Patterson's skill set if McCaffrey, for example, goes in, but the Gattis offense won't work without the QB presenting a run threat.
Yeah, Gattis lost the keys to the offense by the third quarter, Harbaugh took over and defaulted to what he knows..... and for good reason. MTSU was a prelude to the destruction. Mayfield gave up too many rushes to undersized DEs, even Ruiz mis-read, got faked or got plowed a couple of times. Army was destroying the OL mostly by blitzing and by extension, the Gattis offense.
Am I "worried about Michigan football" per Klatt? Yes. But I think I understand what the coaches are dealing with after the first two games. The question has to be (1) will Warinner be able to do his magic and (2) will Harbaugh give Gattis the keys to the offense back during the bye week? What worries me the most is that Harbaugh may not do that for Wisconsin and if he doesn't and JH game plans for trench warfare as a means or protecting Shea, a lizard brain play book and a 17-10 battle tank win, Wisconsin will roll M because the book on that gig has been thoroughly read.
The meme that started within hours, even minutes, after the game, that Michigan football, expected to be an zone RO/RPO centric offense, wasn't close to that, sounds like a broken record. Fact: there wasn't any of that in M's offensive game plan after Shea put the ball on the ground the second time. No one has mentioned anything remotely factual to explain that. What we get is Harbaugh has checked out and according to Klatt we "should be worried about Michigan football."
I listened to the YouTube video of Joe Klatt's comments. He's measured, I'll give you that and he was NOT an early purveyor of the meme I'm speaking off. He's one that, in game, he couldn't understand why M's defense left such large gaps in their defensive front. I think I explained that up thread and what Don Brown put on the field limited Army's Triple Option offense to 3.3 yards per run on 61 attempts and 14 regulation points. In 2018, Army ranked #2, behind GT in Rushing offense with 4.93 yards/rush. So, Klatt can STFU about that. Brown and his D are fine.
My take is that it is nutz to try to speculate on Jim Harbaugh's mental state. I don't think that is the problem but in typical human fashion, we find ourselves trying to assign a reason for yesterday's shit show and somehow, around here, that explanation rises to the top. I'm firmly rejecting the speculative BS that asserts Harbaugh is not his former self. Well, of course he isn't. SDSU, Stanford and the 49er's were collectively decades ago. He's older and probably a lot wiser. I think it has been pretty well established that he was a very good coach then and there is no reason that he is still not a very good coach - and forget the hair splitting going on here about very good versus elite.
Fact: In 2019, Michigan ranks 130th out of 130 FBS teams for fumbles lost at 5. In 2018, Michigan ranked along with nFw, LSU, and Mississippi St at #1 with 3 fumbles lost. You tell me what M's problem is on offense through 2 games. It sure as fuck has nothing to do with Harbaugh's mental state. It's pretty simple actually: M is turning the ball over at an unprecedented rate in 2019 with the Gattis offense. Do you have any questions about why Harbaugh took the keys to the offense away from him v. Army? Any questions why the play-book looked so utterly lizard brain simple after the first half errors?
Are the fumbles and ball handling errors a result of Shea being hurt? There is no hard evidence to support that only anecdotal observations countered by JH saying he's fine when he was asked that question directly last Monday...... and, Harbaugh isn't given to coach speak. He either won't answer or, if he answers, you can probably take it as Gospel. He may have banged up ribs but that's not Shea's problem.
Is Patterson messing up his pre-snap reads that are crucial to the Gattis RO/RPO offense? I don't think so. Harbaugh was keen to note Patterson gets the offense into the right play based on his (pre-snap) reads v. MTSU.
Is Patterson finding himself under enough pressure where he can't make his post snap reads/throw accurately in Gattis' offense? I'm going with this as part of it. I watched Runyan and Hayes along with Mayfield v. Army AND MTSU have trouble handling C gap delayed blitzes (that's the outside shoulder of Bredeson). Turner missed his blocking assignment on Patterson's sack-strip-fumbles in both of the first two games Those were B gap blitzes when the LBs on delayed blitz assignment saw Bredeson slide over to close the C gap. Ruiz missed a few too. IOW, the OL is getting exploited on the outside and occasionally inside by DCs who are committing to 5 and 6 man, sometime's 7 man blitz packages to stop M. It's working! ..... and OBTW, it worked in 2018 too - DCs tend to watch a lot of film.
Now what?
Warinner? He is a very good coach. He did not forget how to coach the OL. This isn't a "system problem." It isn't because JH isn't into the game anymore. It's football played at the high stakes college level where 18-20 year old kids are learning the game. The probability that OL play will improve to facilitate an RO/RPO Gattis style offense is high.
Patterson? Fix the OL and he'll get better. In case the OL continues to have issues with blitzers, design plays for him so that he can punish a defense for blitzing - boot legs? Haven't seen those at all as I'm pretty sure Gattis doesn't want him to roll out but stay facing down field and make his post snap reads. He does not appear to be bailing early to me like he did last season but he is still bailing under pressure. It's too late at that point and we're into get lucky and find an open receiver territory. Get better TE and WR blocking on screens (they're getting blown up too easily) and give Patterson a few steps deeper drop when setting up for them (these have not been effective plays and need to be for the many blitz heavy defenses M faces).
Patterson absolutely has to present a run threat to the opponent's D with the RPO or whatever play is designed to present it. If for some reason he can't do that, he should not be M's QB in Gattis' system. That's pretty simple .... the coaches may talk about what they give up in Patterson's skill set if McCaffrey, for example, goes in, but the Gattis offense won't work without the QB presenting a run threat.
Yeah, Gattis lost the keys to the offense by the third quarter, Harbaugh took over and defaulted to what he knows..... and for good reason. MTSU was a prelude to the destruction. Mayfield gave up too many rushes to undersized DEs, even Ruiz mis-read, got faked or got plowed a couple of times. Army was destroying the OL mostly by blitzing and by extension, the Gattis offense.
Am I "worried about Michigan football" per Klatt? Yes. But I think I understand what the coaches are dealing with after the first two games. The question has to be (1) will Warinner be able to do his magic and (2) will Harbaugh give Gattis the keys to the offense back during the bye week? What worries me the most is that Harbaugh may not do that for Wisconsin and if he doesn't and JH game plans for trench warfare as a means or protecting Shea, a lizard brain play book and a 17-10 battle tank win, Wisconsin will roll M because the book on that gig has been thoroughly read.
MARCUS HALL EPIC DOUBLE BIRD OF THE WEEK.
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