GBMWolverine: The Final PSU – Michigan Review

Posted at 8:00am — 11/2/2010

GBMWolverine: The Final PSU – Michigan Review

More Tricks than Treats

What Happened and What it Means

Like many of the readers, the staff thought Michigan could pull out a close one against a PSU team with several key injuries. It was not to be.

Penn State took clear advantage of every Michigan weakness on defense and Michigan sputtered some on offense. When Penn State wanted some easy yardage up the middle, especially in the first half, Royster ran some damaging plays (quick hitters) over where Mike Martin would have been. When Michigan sold out and sent the fort up the middle, no contain was in the neighborhood to stop the time honored Penn State screen. When the young former walk-on PSU quarterback, Matt McGloin, went play action, the out and up did indeed split the coverage for a long gain. The flat was open for most of the night. PSU could have selected plays from a Halloween grab bag and the result may still have been a loss for Michigan; nothing worked on defense. Areas vacated on blitzes were turned into big plays, contain was lost, coverage was late or confused, and no amount of money could make most of us watch a rerun.

Once the team got behind by 14 points, the offense pressed some and got out of synch. For a while, the running game, minus Denard, went into hibernation and made a brief appearance in the second half with limited success. The ability to sustain a high level running game is still a short cut to winning football. Yes, Denard is a part of the running game, but with an acknowledged sore shoulder was still called on to carry the vast bulk of the offense single-handed.

The same scenarios again popped up, a messed up start, a messed up kick return, some drops and plenty of defenders fighting for their lives.

The theme of youth has been played up lately, but a certainty is that Michigan is weak (and probably small is correct also) and is still getting pushed around all over the place. The linebackers may be a little quicker than in the past but they fail to read, react, and have difficulty getting off a block. The d linemen are getting pushed all over the field as well. The best of Michigan’s groups, the offensive line, holds its own in strength situations, but does not provide a clear advantage.

The question of matching talent to scheme continues to be debated, as does the future of everything involved with the defense.

The ugly ground hog scenario still barks away and Michigan’s best (and maybe only) chance of the elusive 6th victory is now Purdue, a beat up team that is also now floundering badly. Sad to say but the physical health of Purdue in two weeks may be Michigan’s best hope. Illinois is playing very well, especially on defense. This is a group that gave Ohio State more than expected and the fans in Columbus were outraged at the closeness of the game, pointing to OSU flaws versus Illinois strengths. Clearly, Illinois is a solid team and this may be a game where jobs are on the line on both sidelines.

Here is one who thought that many of Michigan’s players played hard, but giving up over forty points is hard for any team to overcome. And when this happens the offense and special teams have practically no room for any error. And when there is no room for error, things get nervous.

Things can change in a week, and something good may happen, there is hope. But hope does not tackle as well as great linebackers, or cover like premiere defensive backs, or get after quarterbacks like Woodley or Graham.

Written by GBMWolverine Staff

Go Blue — Wear Maize!