Michigan – UConn Recap: What happened and What this means
Posted at 8:00am — 9/7/2010
Michigan – UConn Recap: What happened and What this means
The setting:
The Big House looked splendid and the setting was storybook for the 2010 opener. The wind was noticeable, but not overwhelming and the sun chose to peak out off and on through the day.
A valuable lesson to all was given by Brock Mealer’s walk to the famous GoBlue banner, the team followed with obvious enthusiasm. And so the pregame was the stuff of future lore. I assume the first flyover was from B-24’s, if so easy to see why these bombers were so feared for the famous low level carpet bomb raids in the Pacific.
The offense:
Right from the start the Michigan offense controlled the ball, frequently for over five minutes a crack. Some summary comments below:
Michael Shaw still dances, but when he did not the results were pretty good. Mike is still not a classic runner but he did show more strength and slashing yesterday. He is getting close to being an asset for the offense. Here is hoping good health and improvement continue for young Mr. Shaw.
Vinnie Smith has to be near 100%. There were a couple of times he hit the hole, was grabbed up high, and continued to slash and push forward for at least a couple of extra yards. If the line can give Vinnie a clear shot to the second level, he can take it up the slot quickly and effectively. He remains Michigan’s best back. Vinnie is a weapon on the flank was well. If both the backs can block better Denard’s numbers may increase, but the blocking on the read was pretty good yesterday. Give Martell Webb some big time credit for blocking as a skill position player.
Coach Smith, Coach Rod, and Denard Robinson have done an excellent job of improving everything about Denard’s game. His reads were above average to excellent for the entire game and his throwing fundamentals were much improved. The elbow was up, the wrist position was fine and the nose was pointed correctly all game. The ball had sufficient velocity and excellent accuracy. Denard’s throws held more spiral and were more accurate than Frazer’s, albeit Frazer threw the ball deeper and my binoculars showed wobble that appeared to be wind induced. A tight spiral will lessen that wobble into the wind as will a shorter distance. Denard was outstanding at finding a hole to duck into as he followed blockers very well the entire day. His line did not disappoint, the holes were there, all day long.
Denard’s most impressive and defining moments were the three straight third down passes completed in the third quarter, all three against tight coverage and all three with perfect accuracy. In the fourth quarter a UConn defense was faked out by good eye contact and a pump fake to the flank and then Denard turned and hit a beauty to T. Robinson cutting in from the slot; the entire UConn defense headed to the flank resulting in a long play. One play later UConn brought the fort and the swing out to Vinnie Smith resulted in an easy touchdown.
The coaching staff employed a game plan that was effective and reasonably diversified. There was enough sharing of the pie that many players got at least a good taste, even though Denard got a big belly full of football pudding.
The tight end was used enough in the offensive context to be a concern for defenses, the slots were somewhat dormant in the play calling, but that is alright since a quarterback keeping a snap and getting over six yards per carry is just fine and the turnover risk is greatly lessened. There will be other days for the slots and it appeared to me from the stands that UConn did a reasonable job of defending UM’s slots. This would make sense since the slots were so much of the offense the last two years.
The passing offense did get down field somewhat better with the play selection, versus the quick out to the slot at the line. The offense was not vertical but yesterday there was no need to be vertical as the safe play calls got the ball down the field at a clip of 8.5 yards per attempt. Yards per passing attempt is an underused vehicle to determine the success of the overall passing attack. Six yards per attempt is the bare minimum for a functioning offense. Seven yards is about average. And teams would like to have an average of 8-9 yards over the long haul. This stat was possible because of the high completion rate and pushing the ball at least a little downfield. UConn’s defensive strategy helped in part to make this nice stat possible with obvious soft coverge.
As with any offense, a great athlete can make coaches look very smart. That happened yesterday, but I believe the coaches called an effective game that controlled the clock, minimized the risk of turnovers, put the ball in the hands of the best athlete, and used most of the field. There was no reason to risk a game-changing turnover by throwing the bomb, especially so against a pair of safeties that were deep to avoid the instant big play.
The offensive line deserves all the plaudits thrown its way. Here is the most important item to me: all five players played well above average; there was no discrepancy of effectiveness between positions. Again, I say holes were there all day across the entire front. The middle three played head up on some pretty good players and the offensive tackles dominated the defensive ends of UConn. This was a clear target of opportunity for Michigan as discussed last week and the wolverines took firm advantage of the situation. The tackles gaining leverage and providing a perimeter for the quarterback to see downfield and/or run was also discussed. The tackles clearly met the goal and mission accomplished is an accurate description of the tackle play. So, was the tackle play better or were the UConn defensive ends inadequate? The answer to me is a clear both of the above. From what was seen Saturday, the tackle play should be clearly improved this year. The two veterans have come through and have temporarily held off a pair of young lions at the tackle spots. Steve Schilling played at a very high level and Molk was Mr. Consistency.
The defense:
This unit played well enough, but know this: Michigan was fortunate a few times, receivers were open and either the ball was dropped or Frazer was erratic. The linebackers had plenty of tackles but there were whiffs, some coverage problems and yardage was given up past the first level.
But the group did what had to be done; provide enough good play to not be a sore thumb. It is really difficult to tell how well a three-man front is doing sometimes since the O-line outnumbers the three defenders and depend on the linebackers to harvest the crop. The rotation was sound and paid off in the second half.
There were some “strange combos” in there sometimes when UConn consistently moved the ball. Every guy in the front group was beat at times, but UConn’s offensive line is a solid, veteran group, so that will happen. I thought Moundros played fine against the run and Mouton was more up than down yesterday. The defense may rely on his (Mouton) good play more than any other defender. He is the guy who can turn this unit up a notch.
Roh is just a flat-out difference maker, far more so than any other defender on the team. He lines up all over the place and sometimes that can be problematical, but most of the time the jumping around and alignment pay dividends. I strongly believe Craig is a Sunday player.
J.T. Floyd played very well and it is a shame both Woolfolk and JT are not together this year, but that is not reality.
Placekicking and kickoffs need improvement, both with accuracy and distance. Hard work and improvement are the only way out of the situation this year. Yes, there are three kickers, but the difference in distance is minimal. The coaches probably made a very smart decision to cut damage by kicking to the up backs. This gave UConn great field position but eliminated the possibility of the fine UConn returners taking it all the way on short kicks. Giving very good teams such field position all year could be fatal.
The intangibles:
Michigan played with fire and emotion and the team was well prepared, a question mark to me entering the game. Coach Robinson and Coach Rod knew UConn up and down and this served them well. UConn did try to establish the run, both inside and outside, as predicted, and had some success, not enough however. The first series of 1-2-3 kick was a shock to UConn, akin to the first two notes of Beethoven’s Third Symphony; boom, boom, smell this. The defense did not dominate but the initial stop gave UM a chance to secure possession quickly and gain the lead. The second obvious UConn strategy, through the air, also met with limited success. And so Denard Robinson out gained Jordan Todman and the advantage swung to Michigan (make no mistake, Todman is a good back, get him to the second level and he can cause some damage). Todman was handicapped somewhat in that UConn had to play catch-up the second half.
Loyal and commitment are powerful forces; this group gets it by and large. There was some adversity for the team but a combination of a couple of big plays for Michigan and some UConn mistakes minimized potential damage. UConn was hading for a big touchdown drive until Floyd drilled the ball and stopped the drive. Michigan was fortunate to recover two fumbles, one of which young Mr. Gallon needs to reassess return strategies.
The giddy factor:
No one is playing grinch, but it is important to keep what happened in perspective. UConn helped Michigan incredibly by playing the safeties back almost into never-neverland, and the corners did not press. I assumed there would be immediate second half coverage adjustments, but that did not happen. This softness played into Michigan’s hands, especially in the running game and the short passing routes. It was happy days at times where a receiver could pick a spot and take up vacancy for a five to ten yard gain. Not many teams will be this generous, starting next week.
UConn shot themselves in the foot, primarily with so-so quarterback play on offense. The patterns were open with inexperienced, decent receivers; balls were dropped or off target. Not all teams will be as generous, starting next week.
Michigan did get some fortunate breaks, but made a couple of its own. UConn’s big play; seem by many as a fortunate break for the Huskies, was really a shame on Michigan scene. No receiver should ever be allowed to bobble the ball in midair for ten or twenty yards without paying a serious price, but no one was in position to make a hit. Even though the ball was bobbled the receiver was still wide open.
The kicking game must improve or close games are in severe jeopardy.
Not withstanding all of the potential pitfalls, fans need a week to be giddy but the players have no such luxury. This team will have to play with the precision seen on Saturday to win a group of toss up games. One toss up game has been won, but another challenge is forthcoming on the road, perhaps against a better team. There were injuries Saturday and with the depth of the team any injury is cause for concern
Final thought:
One year makes a big difference, especially when there is total commitment to improvement and team unity. The model for the tam remains the offensive line. This team is better than last year, period, and Denard gives the team a chance to be much better. Will this team deal with adversity better than last year? Likely so, but injuries, road games, and mistakes will test the fortitude.
The bottom line is Michigan won a game in a setting that was highly motivational, but pressure packed. The win is infused with history and the moments will last a lifetime.
Written by GBMWolverine Staff
Go Blue — Wear Maize!