GBMWolverine: Coach’s Corner — Michigan Football — Michigan at Notre Dame — Breakdown

Posted at 6:00am — 9/17/2008

GBMWolverine: Coach’s Corner — Michigan Football — Michigan at Notre Dame — Breakdown

Overview:
We know this is not going to be popular, but the Notre Dame loss was one of the five worst Michigan games we’ve seen. It was no Iowa 1984, but it was bad. As we peruse the Michigan sites and chat boards on the net, we realize that we are in the minority. We are not saying Michigan did not do some things well.

Overall:
This was a terrible performance by Michigan. We took an average Notre Dame team and made them look like a BCS team. The most upsetting thing about the game was that it looked like Notre Dame was hungrier and wanted it more.

For those who believe otherwise, just re-watch the game. You’ll see Notre Dame fighting for those loose balls. You’ll see Notre Dame digging, clawing, and scratching for every inch. Michigan had their chances to recover some Notre Dame fumbles and even some of their own, but Notre Dame got after the ball and got the job done. Coach Bo said it best: you cannot turn the ball over and give up big plays on defense and hope to win many games.

Special Teams:
The only word we can think of to describe Michigan’s special teams play is: absolute disaster. Okay, it was so bad it takes two words. We keep hearing that except for the fumbles, special teams play was good. That is like saying, “Besides your husband getting shot Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”. We realize that is a little extreme.

How about some examples of “except for the fumbles”? Donovan Warren dropped a punt and lost field position. Notre Dame’s punting game pinning Michigan inside the twenty-yard line numerous times (well, maybe a contributing factor was that Michigan’s punt returners stopped trying to catch the ball after awhile). Michigan lost the special teams battle by a large margin and it hurt any chances the Wolverines had to win.

Offense:
Every time Michigan started to show improvement, they made a mistake that negated their gains. Fumbles, dropped passes, poor cuts, interceptions. Offensive linemen pushed into the backfield on short yardage plays. We understand the need for some patience, but some of the mistakes were unforced, and in our opinion, that is not acceptable.

Defense:
Ouch! Yes, they can sue the offense and special teams for lack of support. And yes, the first interference call on Warren was terrible. But there is no excuse for the poor tackling and positional play. No pressure on Clausen, losing contain, allowing long passes and penalties all contributed to Michigan’s loss and none can be blamed on the offense or special teams. And will some one please tell John Thompson to quit giving up his outside arm and take lead blockers on with his inside shoulder, please!

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff

Go Blue — Wear Maize!