Michigan Football, Team 139, 2018 Season

[Tslisher]

On the commercial breaks, I was at the Nebraska game and it was horrible. The only saving grace is that we were on the pressbox side of the field and in the shade after the first 10 minutes of the game (and it was still hot). At home now, I DVR the games and start watching about 1 hour after kickoff. That way I can skip almost all of the commercial breaks but still be caught up live by the end of the game.

[UMStan White]

Was interesting to note at the Nebraska game that the scoreboard had a running time for tv timeouts.

[WingsFan]

I DVR the games and start watching about 1 hour after kickoff. That way I can skip almost all of the commercial breaks but still be caught up live by the end of the game.

That's the way to do it.

By the way Wisconsin is at Night, I will be going to that game as well as MSU (as long as its a night)

[Jeff Buchanan]

Present at NW too. Makes it so you can sit until 30 seconds on that clock then stand as players return to the field.

[Detroit Dan]

The most intriguing matchup for me is M v Penn State. McSorley is really good, from what I've seen, and really destroyed the M defense last year. Shea P seems to be the same sort of QB -- good wheels and can make passes all over the field. Advantage McSorley based on what I've seen, but an M fan can hope that PSU is Shea's time to shine in a high profile matchup. Penn State's defense doesn't seem to be very good.

[WingsFan]

Shea looks like McSorly when he's running

[hack]

Still can't find a full replay of NW game on Youtube. Usually that's up by Sunday latest. Highlights suggest that passpro is starting to round into form tho. Let's not call it a strength, but mediocrity from that position group would be a huge improvement. Combined with having a very good QB, and that should make a difference in those big games this season. I'm feeling like 3-1 is doable in them. 4-0 if things break right, but that's a big ask.

[Jeff Buchanan]

The YouTube video that was initially available was taken down within a few hours of it being posted. The copyright police are starting to get real active on this stuff. In general, the BT owns the rights to these games.

I just searched and could not find a link to the whole game on the interweb, at Fox or at the BTN web sites. Plenty of high lights but not the full game. It appears that the only way you're going to be able to watch a game replay is if you record it yourself.

I could be wrong and if anyone can find a link, post it here. I'll keep an eye out.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Try this - it doesn't have every play but it's enough:

[hack]

Thanks, Jeff. that 22-minute package is what I'm going on. I could swear I saw the whole game posted by Sunday morning, and was wondering if it was taken down. The Nebraska game is still up though.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Ahhhh, Neck Sharpies. So, WTF was going on with Higdon running into brick walls; why didn't M use more of Bench Mason at the goal line?????? Yeah, sure, Down G. That's the thing. Fucking Harbaugh's play calling!!!!

Well, lets start out by saying that Down G was not the primary running play that Harbaugh used v. NW. He did use it v. all other opponents based on how their defenses were deployed but not NW. In fact, he avoided Down G and then used it as a counter. Pure Down G wasn't going to work given the way NW deploys its defense. Seth explains in detail, here are the Cliff Notes.

NW's 4-3 Even makes it strong against Down G and the edge and gives up a weak middle to do that. That makes runs to the A or B gaps a good idea. NW covers that weak middle by deploying their favorite LB, The Gaz, to cover those gaps. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't and a lot of his effectiveness sans the dreaded A-Gap blitz depended on how Ruiz or Bench Mason did against him.

Another factor was the NW defense using slants. They'd show a primo formation - the 4-3 Even - for a run through the A or B gaps, then slant into those previously uncovered gaps on the play side. The LB would wait until the mesh point - where Patterson would give the ball to Higdon - and then commit to the gap where Higdon was headed.

Still, the FB Iso or Isolation with Bench Mason works. Mason isolates on the NW LB trying to fill the gap that Higdon will run though preventing him from doing so. This was the first play in Fielding Yost's playbook before the forward pass was allowed. There is a resurgence of it, including the increased use of the FB, for spread teams that want to run power. It's a staple of Harubaugffense and always has been. But yeah, his offense is stale. Heh.

I'll admit, watching the game live, I got frustrated when run plays didn't seem to work even though I could not tell from the stands what was being run. On the end of the field where I sat, I could see a guard pulling that might have been setting up the Down G but then Patterson would throw it usually to the backside of the play as LBs and Ss flowed to the play side based on the pulling guard ..... nice counter. Patterson missed some of those throws, Gentry dropped one and I'm sure there were other drops of that specific play design. But it was nice and, UFR, I can say pretty conclusively that JH uses all kinds of counters in his game plans designed against the specific things a specific opponent does.

The full back iso worked more than it failed. We just saw and remember the stuffs. After all Higdon ran for over 100 yards on 20 caries and, if I remember correctly, the first down runs averaged over 6ypc and the median was 4.5. So, quityerbitchin...... except for not using Mason on FB dives inside the 5 or on short yardage. Meh.

Worth a look. There are some great pictures of the holes Hidon had and terrific accompanying diagrams with explanations. Also, in the comments section is a detailed post from Space Cyote that adds some more important points about the run game.

https://mgoblog.com/content/neck-sharpies-gut

[Jeff Buchanan]

This is interesting. I've not paid much attention to Michael Barrett, a 3* recruit from GA (Athlete) who played a lot of different positions in HS including QB. He was recruited to defense and reportedly was worked in as a viper kind of guy in his first camp in August.

He's moving to WR per Harbaugh here:

https://247sports.com/college/michigan/Article/Michigan-Wolverines-true-freshman-Michael-Barrett-position-switch-122806944/

Interesting move as Barrett was 6' and 208lbs in his recruiting profile. Suspect he's grown a bit. He's going to be a big WR. Maybe a possession type guy like Jason Avant. Loved his ability to make teh big catch in the middle of the field and not get destroyed by the predictable hit that follows these kinds of catches. M needs this.

[WM Wolverine]

Barrett was recruited as an athlete (HS QB), this move says his future isn't on defense. With M having talented RBs in his class and the next, WR is the only place for him.

[Jeff Buchanan]

It also says he's good at football. Not a lot of HS players can play both sides of the ball and do it well. Harbaugh seems to have a preference for guys like this. It would be nice if Barrett did turn out to be Jasaon Avant II.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Here's an interesting web site that collects videos of M football and basketball games. Scroll down to Seasons by year then select 2018. All the videos for the 2018 football games are there.

What's weird is when you click on the NW game, you get a warning that the video is blocked because it contains NFL stuff??? There's been plenty of talk about the copy right police being active this season and takin gdown full videos of CFB games broadcast on TV. But there's a link "watch on YouTube." When you click that link it goes to a full game FOX broadcast minus commercial breaks. Who the hell knows ..... the site is active and working now. Fear the copy right gestapo.

Surprise, the video is 2:52:24 long and that includes replays and Fox commentary where a commercial break wasn't done during those. That means there were an 1:10:00 of commercial breaks as the game took just over 3.5h.

http://hailtv.com/