GBMWolverine: Coach's Corner: Michigan Football -- Michigan at Illinois -- What Happened and What It Means -- Part I

Posted at 6:00am — 11/14/2011

GBMWolverine: Coach’s Corner: Michigan Football — Michigan at Illinois — What Happened and What It Means — Part I

I have not gone to Champaign for a few years, but what I remember has not changed. Illinois and Indiana fans are polite and actually downright welcoming. The parking does not require a short-term loan. The stadium is cozy and just a fun place to watch a football game. The campus is large and interesting to walk around to see the sights. In short quite different than one particular Big Ten venue.

The weather was great and the wind proved to be a little challenging. Warm-ups were fun to watch, as weird psychologists would note that Michigan relied on the circle for strength and the Illini worked out of a square much of the time, perhaps Zook is linear.

There was a large contingent of Michigan fans; best guess here is about 4,000. And like most road fans, this group was more die-hard and, shall we say, vociferous. The Big Blue had support. The final ingredient comes forth for a perfect pregame experience: the final score from West Lafayette.

What happened Saturday was mostly good. The first quarter saw the Michigan defense stuff the entire Illinois offensive effort. Scheelhaase is a very talented athlete and Jenkins is a good receiver. As another Big Ten school stated he is good, but not great. Make no mistake; no team in the conference would turn down Jenkins.

Fitz Toussaint continued to show why he really is the only runner that can have the number one tag on the current roster. He received the advantage of some good quick hitters and got to the second level doing damage. Fitz danced far too much but the numbers showed he had a great day. Michigan, regardless of what you may hear, still makes its yardage off of zone blocking the read series. The shotgun has diminished in its use, but some big plays still come from this formation. Still, make no mistake that Michigan will not be confused with the Penn State or Iowa power games. Michigan will need to do what it has done best on offense to be in the next two games.

The Illini defense is pretty stout and there are some players that should get a look at the next level. The Illinois offense has come out of the gate very slow the last few weeks and this has doomed the Illini to several close loses.

The view here is that the Illini have a limited offense. The power game in short yardage resembles Michigan’s: anemic at critical times. Jenkins is isolated on the side as a lone receiver, with one defender, and three defenders are on the other side. Jenkins was the target yesterday in most situations and the Michigan defense knew this. Jenkins did not get deep and beat Floyd, and for the Illini to win that probably had to happen. The three to one side and the stud in isolation is everywhere, one of the most common stapes in football.

Frankly, J. T. Floyd played an excellent game; he is far removed from the guy who always got beat by a step or two and grabbed jerseys two years ago. He clearly seems to be playing with confidence and is turning into a warrior. The trips option resulted in only a couple of successful plays on the other side and Jenkins earned his pound of flesh but was denied the big meal.

The middle of the defensive line continues to wreak some true havoc. Once this area of the defense was a near wasteland, providing little, if any, pass rush and getting annihilated on power runs early in the year. This group has become a team strength and their success allows the other units to contribute in play making.

The Michigan defense played superior in the first half and Illinois came out with more intensity in the second half and ran a hurry-up offense (that took far too much time) that took away Michigan’s substitutions. The view here is that Mattison smartly loosened up a little, played the safeties back and purposely kept everything in front. This allowed for some open spots in the intermediate area and some room for Scheelhaase to run.

While the defense had its way with Illinois the first half, the offense had a chance to bag the game and let Illinois off the hook. One can bet this had the coaches smoking at halftime.

Michigan kept Illinois in the game: one way or another until late. Two touchdowns called back, one on each side of the ball, helped the Illini. Michigan losing yardage and going backwards on the goal line helped the Illini. And even if the coaching staff wanted to again show stubbornness (and maybe support) in going for the end zone on fourth down, this team has shown time and again that can backfire. Kicking the field goal may have been a moral defeat, but the extra three points would have been a strategic victory, making the game a three score difference midway through the second half. Gibbons later misses a mid-range field goal, but got the ball up nicely. If readers are wondering about the wind, that variable was not the deciding factor in the success of the kick. There was some crossing wind at that end, but a good kicker should easily compensate and adjust, the kick was not that tough.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff

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