Michigan Wolverines: ND — What Happened and What it Means — Part II
Sep 6, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Everett Golson (5) throws a pass against the Michigan Wolverines at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Posted at 12:00pm — 9/8/2014
Michigan Wolverines: ND — What Happened and What it Means — Part II
Michigan Undergoes Disaster — Michigan at Notre Dame — Wrap-up
Michigan’s pass defenders are not as bad as one would suspect having watched the game. This group was on a near deserted island and Kelly isolated what he thought was the weakest link, Hollowell, in the first half. This was done by formation and motion. Hollowell and all the defenders were not torched, but as mentioned the failure to protect the inside or have cover help produced bad results for the Wolverines. Make no mistake, this is a very talented group of physical receivers Notre Dame has. On this day the Irish receivers caught just about everything with only a couple of minor tough drops. This group of defensive backs on Michigan’s roster is not bad. Like any similar group, help in the form of a pass rush is needed.
Fourth, the heralded quarterback derby ended up one-sided. Golson played like an All-American. After a shaky start, Kelly got Golson’s marbles back in order and the execution was near flawless. He is nearly as mobile as Ohio State’s Braxton Miller and a better thrower. His return is the lynchpin of Notre Dame’s 2014 chances at the new playoff. His accuracy most of the night was matched by some great catches.
Sep 6, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; The Michigan Wolverines and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish face off at the line of scrimmage in the third quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 31-0. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY SportsFifth, as somewhat mentioned above, the offensive line was a mess, and no end is in sight. The only thing Michigan can do is keep at it and hope against hope for noticeable improvement to a level where Michigan can compete against good teams. Kalis needs to play when he gets healthy. The only bright spot was that UM did run a few times successfully to the left side. On pass pro, several assignments were missed and frequently Miller was pushed straight backwards by yet another strong 325 pound inside tackle.
Outplayed, outcoached, and maybe or maybe not outmanned is the only way to summarize this sorry scene.
Misery loves company and the Big Ten provided plenty of misery to the Midwest yesterday, not counting the newbies to the fray, Maryland and Rutgers. Rutgers is playing pretty physical football and Maryland has developed a good offense under Head Coach Randy Edsall. Northwestern lost to a very good Northern Illinois team and quarterback Trevor Siemian got banged up again. Penalties and sloppy Wildcat play helped the Huskies, but like Michigan, Northwestern showed very little. The injuries and problems continue to mount for the now 0-2 Wildcats.
Purdue was pounded by Central Michigan to remain the probable 14th place team, surpassing fellow Hoosier state cousin Indiana.
Iowa was outplayed and pulled another late 4th quarter rabbit out of the hat against Ball State. The physical play of Iowa wore out the Cardinals going down the stretch, leaving several Ball State players on the turf. But Iowa did not execute the offense well at all.
Iowa is a team that is known to improve throughout the year.
Sep 6, 2014; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Ameer Abdullah (8) breaks away from McNeese State Cowboys defenders Gabe Hamner (4) and Kevin Dorn (75) to score the winning touchdown in the final twenty seconds of the game at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY SportsNebraska also pulled a rabbit out of the hat turning a short pass to gifted offensive back Ameer Abdullah into a fifty-yard touchdown in the game’s final minute. Losing this game to McNeese State would have been similar to Michigan’s Appy State legendary loss.
Illinois needed a strong fourth quarter to overcome powerhouse Western Kentucky, a team that is really very sound, and has been known to play toe-to-toe with mid level power league types.
Minnesota, Rutgers, and Maryland all win but not convincingly against lesser talented competition. All three defenses give up a fair amount of points.
Penn State wins somewhat convincingly against Akron and Wisconsin comes alive in the second half to run away from Western Illinois, a team that must have its phone ring off the hook for scheduling opportunities.
The three high visibility programs of the league, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan
State all went down with a thud heard around the college football world. Michigan’s
horribly embarrassing thud was chronicle above.
Michigan State must be given credit, after all the Spartans went to the land of the quack- quacks, perhaps the toughest place in contemporary college football to visit. The Spartans found out that when the vaunted secondary faces fast people and the opponent’s line prevents the famous blitz package, bad things happen. Michigan State, after a slow start, seemed to gain control of the game. Then the quack-quacks hit big play after big play, through the air and on the ground. The late dive play by the quack-quacks was surreal. The quarterback turns a few inches, hands the ball into a small hole, and then the runner is gone. Michigan would give up at least 60 against Oregon.
Sep 6, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer walks off the field after being defeated by Virginia Tech Hokies 35-21 at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY SportsOhio State lost at home to Virginia Tech, a team that was supposed to have no offense, but seemingly has found a game managing quarterback in Michael Brewer. The Hokies had the advantage of not facing Heisman hopeful Braxton Miller, but had to travel to Columbus, where the Buckeyes had not lost to an unranked team since 1982. Bud Foster again managed a fantastic defensive scheme. J. T. Barrett, Miller’s replacement, was only 9-29 passing, suffered seven sacks and three interceptions, most of the damage coming in the fourth quarter. Elliott is a big time running back, one with the speed Urban Meyer loves. The scrambles by Barrett provided about the only real threat besides Elliot. The kicking game misfired and the corners, left on islands, got beat. Sound familiar?
Misery does indeed love company, and right now Michigan State and Wisconsin are probably the best two teams in the conference. Having said that, both are only 1-1, albeit against very tough competition. Ohio State has a learning quarterback and a questionable offensive line. Nebraska and Michigan are question marks. All of a sudden Rutgers and Maryland look to be able to compete as first year members of the Big Ten.
Part III What does all this mean?
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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Doc4Blu
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