The Game: M 42 - "The" Ohio State 27 - Not Anymore. Post Game Thread.

[lineygoblue]

In continuing my effort to say all the good stuff now, because I won't feel like it after 4:00 on Saturday ...

Cade has had an excellent year. He's had moments where he's completed passes that were Brady-like. He's also thrown a few clunkers that were O'Korn-like, but he's managed to keep those at a minimum. He usually makes good decisions, i.e. throwing the ball into coverage, etc. He's only been sacked 5-6 times, and not all of that is due to the OL. Some of it has been McNamara getting rid of the ball just in time. He can extend plays, and I actually wish they'd let him RPO a bit more. He doesn't have blazing speed, but he'd likely pick up some yards in short yardage situations. He needs to play well in order to have a chance on Saturday.

Hassan Haskins has been the best M running back since Mike Hart. A pleasant surprise. He has an uncanny ability to make yardage when it appears to be stopped. He runs hard, into the hole, and he doesn't juke and dance. He's a load to tackle, and we've seen teams this year give up on tackling him because he wore them out. OSU will be the best defense he's faced all year, so he needs to be ready. It'd be nice if Corum is available, to have that speed option. Donovan is the future big back, and I hope he gets some important yardage.

I'm concerned about Michigan's DB's. They've been burned by mediocre QB/WR combos, and this week they'll face a QB/WR corps that could play on a lot of NFL teams right now. (hello Lions) That's a massive challenge, considering how they torched MSU. If they have a repeat performance this week, the game won't be close.

Harbaugh seems to have broken out of his daze, and has done some decent coaching. His new assistants have the guys performing well, and executing with good fundamentals. Those things have been severely lacking in the past. I hope Michigan can continue this, so they don't beat themselves. OSU can do that without M's assistance.

I like McDonald at DC. For a guy in his first year as a DC, he's done well. He's gotten depantsed a few times over the season, but he seems to adjust well. PSU tried to catch M in the same situations that Sparty did, and it didn't work. So, McDonald learns from his mistakes. I guess that's all we can ask. I hope he's the long term answer at DC. Sherrone Moore has done an excellent job with the OL. The guys are getting out on their blocks and moving people out of the way. A remarkable improvement.

No prediction here. I don't think its necessary. If M wins it will be the biggest M v OSU upset since 1969. That's how I'll look at it. I hope M can pull it off. I'd like that a lot.

[Obi-Jon]

You're in Buchanan mode I see.

[lineygoblue]

I just want to get in the good stuff before I go thru meltdown again.

[THE_WIZARD_]

shaddup the STFU up

[Cody_Russell]

50% precipitation chance on Saturday in Ann Arbor… as of right now.



Happy Thanksgiving!

[Jeff Buchanan]

The weather in SE MI this time of year is notoriously difficult to forecast. A day ago, the forecast for Saturday was partly sunny, cold and dry with calm winds. The most recent forecast indicates the presence of a fast moving NW to SE trough called a Clipper which is a low pressure system over-riding the predominant high. These Clippers bring clouds and rain (this time of year snow). Right now, it looks like at kick-off the weather will be fine, some clouds moving in by the third quarter but the game will end up under dry conditions. The rain/snow will come later Saturday afternoon and more likely during the evening hours. If you like to follow the weather I just described above, here's the detailed forecast:

https://forecast.weather.gov/product...n=1&glossary=1

[WM Wolverine]

Really scared of the Buckeye receivers, I know Ryan Day loves to take those shots deep after trying to lure safeties in. I want Daxton Hill playing centerfield to take away the big play. He's been playing nickel all season however. M just needs three or four Daxton Hills in the secondary.

[lineygoblue]

If the front seven can just get enough pressure on him to make him uncomfortable, or get him to throw before he wants to, will help a lot. If he gets to do the 'eeny-meemy-miney-moe" thing with his receivers, its going to be a long day.

[paul daugherity]

Unfortunately, I think it’s going to be a long day. The talent gap is too big. I think Brian at Mgoblog compared all the metrics and noted that the gap between UM and OSU - 2 teams in the top 10 - is as big as UM and a team ranked 25. That is big. Other than way better recruiting and player development, I’m not sure how that bridge can be gapped, this year or on a year to year basis.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Really scared of the Buckeye receivers, I know Ryan Day loves to take those shots deep after trying to lure safeties in. I want Daxton Hill playing centerfield to take away the big play. He's been playing nickel all season however. M just needs three or four Daxton Hills in the secondary.

In the series Fee-Fi-Fo-Film, OSU Offense, Alex Drain pulls no punches about OSU having the best receiver room in the country and possibly the best ever, approaching LSU's offense in Les Miles' last year there. Drain has a habit of overblowing the threat to M. He did that in the PSU game preview and somewhat in the Maryland one. So, I'm cautious about getting all worked up about a looming certain blow-out loss. M fans have etched in their brains the horror of OSU receivers running wide open on crossing routes and then outrunning M defenders for 50 yards of YAC and a TD. So, yeah, I get the fear level.

There's a guy called Space Cyote that has a blog with very good X & O breakdowns with narration of video. He certainly does not minimize how good OSU's offense is but there are several games this season where OSU was held to under 35. Oregon (OSU is a way different team now), PSU and Nebraska. The stuff I looked at from Space Cyote's (SC's) blog was first of all, how bad MSU's defense was v. OSU and how not to defend them - MSU's biggest problem was what SC described as selling out with poorly executed A-Gap blitzing and stunts that brought 6 too frequently. OSU's OL came out even there (the blitzes weren't getting home) and Stroud feasted on his receivers schooling the minimalist approach on the back end.

It looked to SC like Tucker was trying to focus on stopping OSU with LB and S blitzes into the A gaps - a Dantonio/Narduzzi fave. While it's true that Day likes to send Henderson there when the opponent's D is running nickel and 4-1-6 fronts v. OSU's ridiculously good receivers, it seems like Tucker saw that approach offering a duel role of stopping Henderson and keeping Stroud from comfortably stepping up into a safe pocket. Fail. MSU defenders left a lot of open areas underneath with that approach. Stroud was getting quick throws into uncovered receivers underneath who then outran everything in front of them. CRD was able to create a rhythm for the offense that facilitated successful deep throws to wide open receivers when the threat of Henderson breaking to the second level sucked the Ss up. Sound familiar?

Both Nebraska and PSU disguised who was coming more effectively than MSU that was trying to bludgeon OSU and were more judicious with blitzes. From the plays SC broke down of those games, CB blitzes got home as free hitters a lot. When they didn't get home, the threat seemed to throw Stroud off his game. Stroud's reads also seemed to be affected - you could see him looking around for his 2nd and 3rd reads - when what was coming at him on any given play and what coverage he was seeing was more complex than what MSU did (a lot like Don Brown's approach).

Seemingly, some advantage to Macdonald whose NFL experience has brought a much more diverse pass defense than Brown ever fielded. Nebraska in particular stopped Day from exploiting a lack of underneath coverage by skillfully dropping LBs into that space, keeping a S up and the other S deeper to double verticals. PSU showed a preference to double Wilson who Stroud has shown a preference to throw to. The Ninja, probably because of that, led all OSU receivers in that game. Both are equally capable of breaking big. Both PSU and Nebraska had corners that could stay with the vertical routes long enough to force Stroud to get antsy with just 4 rushers and check down or get flushed. Note that both Nebraska and PSU have DEs capable of getting around the best OTs in the conference. Hutchinson and Ojabo can do the same.

Lessons from the film study:

• Judicious well disguised blitzes are better than what a blitzy MSU D tried and got burned big time. Let M's DEs do what they do aiding the pressure metric.
• Don't let your underneath coverage get sucked into covering deeper crossing routes and verts. Communicate coverage responsibilities and switches.
• Keep a S deep that can tackle those 3 receivers and get to Ruckert the TE on wheel routes. These 4 are going to get catches. Keep a 20 yard gain from becoming a TD.

M 34, OSU 31

[iam416]

UNL didn’t double Wilson because he didn’t play against them. As such, they were able to double Olave and hold JSN to 250 yards.

[Jeff Buchanan]

UNL didn’t double Wilson because he didn’t play against them. As such, they were able to double Olave and hold JSN to 250 yards.

Fixed. I should have been more careful in typing what I wanted to say.

[WingsFan]

Osu is 81-5 vs B10 in the last ten years. Yea and Talent is picking them to lose?

[iam416]

Buchanan and I are predicting almost identical scores.

[Tom W]

Unfortunately, I think it’s going to be a long day. The talent gap is too big. I think Brian at Mgoblog compared all the metrics and noted that the gap between UM and OSU - 2 teams in the top 10 - is as big as UM and a team ranked 25. That is big. Other than way better recruiting and player development, I’m not sure how that bridge can be gapped, this year or on a year to year basis.

yeah, there’s no denying the talent gap. On paper, ohio wins this, and every other, game handily. But it’s intangibles that ruin this idea, and that makes people interested in watching.

Newsflash to ohio: nobody likes you. They don’t like seeing you blow everyone else away. You are the tyrants of the Big Ten but nobody says anything because nobody else has presented a challenge to you.

Michigan has to find a way to do this. This game needs to be tight well into the fourth quarter. We can’t see Hutch & company looking dazed, teary eyed and defeated on the sidelines, waiting for the nightmare to end.

That’s how the last 2 meetings ended. Nobody wants to be a part of that losing look.

But.. if you can actually show that you can stand up to these assholes, you’ll be amazed how much easier it is to find ways to bridge that talent gap.

Michigan needs to throw everything into this game. Even if they fall short, make sure that it is a Pyrrhic victory for ohio. Make Day, Stroud, Olave and everyone else wince, instead of laugh, when they talk about this game.

oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!