Michigan Football, 2021 Season

[lineygoblue]

Well, I still like them anyway. Brandstatter can take his homerism to unwarranted extremes at times, but I still like him.

Monday Night Football hasn't been nearly as good since Dierdorf left.

Gut feeling is, I think Jon Jansen will be part of the new broadcast team, probably the color guy.

I just hope they don't bring in Shepard to do the play by play.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Brandy is a fine girl. What a good wife she would be.

[Jeff Buchanan]

On the offense v. WMU D ...... kind of doing a UFR from the link below You-tube every offensive snap. These things are useful and they get taken down quickly because they are. Just finished the first half. Quick takes:

Remember the pin and pull? Those were the play calls on M's first two offensive plays - one R and one L. Those netted 9y followed by a third and short zone power R for a first down.

This pattern continued with a few throws mixed in, two of them throws to Bell (one ridiculous catch called back on OPI), one matched with a safety who he also pushed off, even more so, but was not flagged and went for a TD.

It was clear that Gattis called a conservative run oriented offense in probably closer to a 70-30 run/pass split (I didn't count the plays - should have) but you could not help but see the run game as primary. There was a nice mix of what I believe to be zone power, pin and pull and man blocking schemes thrown in (it was hard for me to discriminate between zone blocking and man blocking because in most run plays WMU's front was getting moved off the LOS. They're counter to that was to load the box - I'll get to that.

IMO, if you can call an overpowering run game, why not just stick to that. It's punishing to the D - physically and mentally - ask Saban. Not exciting though. It's actually pretty boring but in this game the run game was very efficient and points per play is going to be high.

So, that was the mind set and it influenced the series before the end of the half that had fans yelling at Harbaugh. In that drive. M continued to bully WMU with Haskins gashing the D's front and plowing through smaller Ss and CBs who had stepped up and tried to arm tackle Haskins.

So, why not. As the distance to the goal shortened, WMU lived at the LOS with 8, 9 and 10 guys right up on it or a step back. The run game slowed. This was inside the 20.

It was here, at least during the first half, where it would appear that McNamara didn't have the option to change the play. If he had, there were several times when any run play called outside the box would have scored. One on an obvious keeper from the 5 with the DE's crashing inside to back side or front side tackle the ball carrier. Gattis is protecting McNamara for sure.

Continuing that theme, M lined up in trips and 4 wide multiple times and mostly ran out of it. That was curious. Both of Bell's big catches he was in the slot in a two receiver set. Eric All had two catches out of max protect sets where he blocked then ran down field a few yards to put his big body square to the QB.

Just from the stands, that pattern and that theme prevailed until McCarthy came in late 3rd. Did he throw a pass? 2, 3? When Villari stepped on the field, he ran a lot of RO and kept it. That's interesting in that those plays are in the play book and the staff is making sure the QB won't get bashed behind shitty OL blocking for those plays should the staff choose to let Cade do that.

I might look at the D later if that appears on YouTube.

That was fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntfSqUSLw2o

[Jeff Buchanan]

Overall comments on game prep and coaching:

There's actually something to talk about that doesn't involve shitting on these guys - deservedly so for the COVID shortened 2020 non-season, that and the failure of the Harbuagh era overall. So, there's that and that is notable.

As I said, boring but efficient. What was being called was working against an undersized front 3, 0 and 3 Tech. I think there is one DE at WMU who's going to play in the NFL but I can't name him. He was causing back and front side problems. Corum could beat him to the hole and that explains why he got the ball a lot.

I was disappointed that the O-Staff appeared to not take advantage of WMU's tendency to load the box and call plays that advantage that (they did do a successful end around with Henning that should have prompted more of that. It didn't.) The failure to score a TD from inside the 20 on the last possession of the first half was reflective of that tendency.

But, hey, 47-14? No complaints like there were tons of them in the recent past. They players were ready and enthusiastic.

[Hannibal]

Per James Yoder, Bell is out for the season with a torn ACL. I assume that he will come back next year.

[lineygoblue]

He could get a medical redshirt, but I wouldn't count on him wanting to do that. I'm not sure if he's eligible for the NCAA/Covid extra year or not.

[THE_WIZARD_]

stifle

[Jeff Buchanan]

Per James Yoder, Bell is out for the season with a torn ACL. I assume that he will come back next year.

Yoder is generally viewed as unreliable. Take it for what that's worth.

This was allegedly sent by M's AD based on allegations Yoder made about Harbaugh's impending departure to the NFL. Yoder claimed Brian at mgo faked it. Nonetheless less it's interesting:

Screensho.jpg There's nothing on Twitter or FB. mgo is silent on it. Rumors among M fans who may or may not be connected with family suggest the ACL is torn.... a season ending injury. Nothing official.

[The Ken]

My current hometown grizzlies knocked Washington out yesterday, Blue better crush them.

[Hannibal]

Yoder is generally viewed as unreliable. Take it for what that's worth.

This was allegedly sent by M's AD based on allegations Yoder made about Harbaugh's impending departure to the NFL. Yoder claimed Brian at mgo faked it. Nonetheless less it's interesting:

Screensho.jpg There's nothing on Twitter or FB. mgo is silent on it. Rumors among M fans who may or may not be connected with family suggest the ACL is torn.... a season ending injury. Nothing official.

He has insider scoop and he has broken about a dozen stories in the past couple of years that the blogs have not covered. He doesn't claim to be a credentialed journalist. His track record is not perfect, but it is very good.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I think we'll know more in a couple of hours if JH talks about it today. I'm not hopeful. Watching slo-mo replay he hyperextended it 3X the worst being his last step that planted hard. No twisting motion or hit induced the injury.

The ACL or PCL are the most commonly injured structures in this injury. That he couldn't weight bear indicates at a minimum a strain (ligament stretched or tears but does not completely separate. At the extreme its a complete separation. Worst case is that involves nerves and vessels. I didn't see that kind of mechanism of injury and I've seen video of athletes who've sustained that level of injury. In comparison, Bell wasn't close to that.

Surgery is usually required for a tear or separation. The ortho docs have gotten highly skilled at repairing these things and restoring full function. Not a career ender but if surgery, doubt he'll play the remainder of this season. Rehab is demanding but doable. He seems like the kind of guy who will put up with rehab. If he applies himself and M plays post season, he could play then.

One of the new guys (?Henning) is going to step up. Henning has Bell's speed but not the experience or ball catching skills I'd suppose. Well see. It's going to change the offense somewhat. Bell's deep threat is something opponents had to worry about. If a young receiver steps up and fills in, that concern returns and advantages the run game. If not, the opposite applies.

[lineygoblue]

They did show Bell walking unassisted on the sideline shortly before he was carted off.

I'm trying to be optimistic based on that, but for me the telling point is that nobody is talking about it.

If the news was good, we'd have known by now.

[lineygoblue]

And now, its official

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...ry/5745911001/

Bell is officially gone for the season. Harbaugh says "Fortunately, its all surgically repairable".

I'd like to see him go for a medical redshirt, but he may not want to risk another year of college ball.

Time will tell.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm glad Bronxblue is still around and writing his "Best and Worst" Diary at mgo. He comments on the WMU win:

• Temp in the run game that kept WMU defenders from subbing.
• Crisp execution and compared to last year's (most years!) janky O this one looked competent.
• Diversity of targets in the minimally used pass game.
• Aiden Hutchinson w/o Paye is still very good and likely all conference player/first rounder.
• Corners were better than expected; Ss may be best unit in the conference (Hill, Hawkins and an emerging Mouten)
• More uncertain about the BIG than in recent memory. Some teams look awful and awfulness on D made teams that aren't that talented look good.
• The gap between OSU and the rest has gotten larger.

He sums things up with a brief analysis of Udub:

• They will play better than they did v. the loss to Montana. Night game helps them as it will be a 4p KO body time.
• Low scoring game .....Udub offense is disjointed and their OC was the guy that turned PSU's talented O into a poor one.
• D is above average and won't arm tackle runners or bust coverage like WMU did.

https://mgoblog.com/diaries/best-and-worst-wmu-0

[Jeff Buchanan]

I wasn't a big fan of most of Brian's stuff, notable exceptions including his UFRs. Many don't know, including me so I'm getting it second hand, of the troubling and deep depression he fell into a while back. Some of it was BPONE induced but I guess a lot more was happening including what was becoming a massive business enterprise that he was having trouble managing.

Anyway, he's back at mgo and posted his usual front page commentary and I think having turned over some management and writing responsibilities to others. The piece resonated with me on multiple levels. That there is some positive vibe in the M football program being one. But the most important part of his piece to me was this:

For a window on a fall Saturday you could believe that 2020 was a bad dream. I have to admit that I was not much moved by the game itself—I'm spending this fall's emotional capital on things closer to home—but even I, person about ready to drop-kick college football into the next town, could do nothing but see a real college football season as a ribbon-cutting ceremony for something called Real Life.

We can talk about whether all of the above was, you know, wise*. Even outside of the context where young men hurl their heads at each other for our entertainment and now the occasional sliver of NIL money, what with a pandemic on. But we can all admit that even in the depths of our collective malaise, sitting with our people and experiencing our thing together felt better than it had any right to.

https://gobluehose.com/sports/footba...en-hefley/5413