Let’s Talk Michigan… (feathers ruffled)

[One Hit Wonder]

I’m going with a different approach this week. We all know Michigan is loaded with athletes and what they bring to the table. They have an offense starting to figure it out; their top 2 RBs appear to be healthy and they have a defense that can go beast mode but they're not invincible because Harbaugh is stubborn and his teams at Michigan have never figured it out... completely... yet. However, Nebraska could start Deshaun Watson and would lose miserably to Michigan with Nebraska's O-line play.



Listed below shows the quarter, video time; game time; down & distance and the highlighted OL player(s) from the Troy v. Nebraska game. Keep in mind that these are ONLY the obvious plays. 1st & 10 takes a beating.

1st Quarter
07:39 ..... 12:37 [2nd & 5] ….. Conrad
16:30 ..... 7:24 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell is Farmer is doing?
18:12 ..... 5:53 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… seriously?
25:11 ..... 3:38 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… again
26:29 ..... 2:50 [2nd & 14] ..... Stoll’s turn
31:48 ..... 1:15 [3rd & 5] ..... Stoll again

2nd Quarter
35:52 ..... 14:13 [1st & 10] ..... Conrad… again
36:52 ..... 13:16 [3rd & 8] ..... Conrad & Farmer need to take their act to Vegas.
43:29 ..... 9:47 [2nd & 4] ..... A. Allen getting manhandled
54:45 ..... 5:04 [1st & 10] ..... J. Foster’s turn

3rd Quarter
1:11:00 ..... 13:24 [3rd & 5] ..... Farmer & M. Farniok (mostly Farmer)
1:11:27..... 13:03 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell B. Jaimes? M. Farniok??

I had to stop charting because it was ridiculous. On to the items to correct before Nebraska can consider being competitive with Nebraska-Kearney... forget Michigan. Too harsh? Don't care... there are some serious discipline and technique flaws all over that field on both sides of the ball and on special teams and a handful of starters that don't belong on the field which is on the coaches.

Offense

• QB tunnel vision throwing into multiple coverage.
• QB missing progressions to underneath & dump-off routes.
• O-line extending arms and losing leverage; lousy & lazy blocking in general.
• O-line missed assignments; failing to identify D ISOs & alignments.
• WRs dropping catchable balls; what happened to the WR depth we heard about?

Defense

• In last week’s ‘Let’s Talk Troy’ I wrote, “The DL needs to NOT get sucked in on QB RPO counter.” How did that work out? You can bet Michigan will run multiple variations of it.
• The arm tackling and whiffs are Pop Warner. Find me someone who can tackle... consistently. Also mentioned that in last week’s write-up.
• LBs slow to read & react and not maintaining key responsibilities. (D. Young has been slopping up the field with that garbage for 3+ years.
• DBs ignoring coverage responsibility and biting on play-action and misdirection. Harbaugh will key on L. Jackson because he's the softest and most undisciplined D1 CB I've seen in the last 4 years. The kid is afraid to hit anyone; he's all flash and no bash and he got damn lucky on that interception because he was burnt worse than last week's toast.

Special Teams

• Blocking on kick-off returns is lousy.
• Blocking on punt kick and return teams is worse.
• Players jogging down the field; not staying in their lanes.
• Missed field goals.

Intangibles

• Stupid penalties and turnovers… again and again and AGAIN!
• Unimaginative play calling. [e.g. Go to 1:14:02 on the video above and watch that series.] 1 of 4 on 4th down tries and the same inside counter has been run each time. But hey, one was to the right side; so I guess that was tricky.
• Speed up the offense; less time between snaps.
• Come on coaches… make adjustments.
• Come on coaches… if a player is slacking – sit his ass on the bench!
• Coach rhetoric of "every position is a competition each week"... put up or shut up.

Mods: I will take a vacation if you deem it to be necessary.

 

[Deleted member 3889]

I’m going with a different approach this week. We all know Michigan is loaded with athletes and what they bring to the table. They have an offense starting to figure it out; their top 2 RBs appear to be healthy and they have a defense that can go beast mode but they're not invincible because Harbaugh is stubborn and his teams at Michigan have never figured it out... completely... yet. However, Nebraska could start Deshaun Watson and would lose miserably to Michigan with Nebraska's O-line play.



Listed below shows the quarter, video time; game time; down & distance and the highlighted OL player(s) from the Troy v. Nebraska game. Keep in mind that these are ONLY the obvious plays. 1st & 10 takes a beating.

1st Quarter
07:39 ..... 12:37 [2nd & 5] ….. Conrad
16:30 ..... 7:24 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell is Farmer is doing?
18:12 ..... 5:53 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… seriously?
25:11 ..... 3:38 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… again
26:29 ..... 2:50 [2nd & 14] ..... Stoll’s turn
31:48 ..... 1:15 [3rd & 5] ..... Stoll again

2nd Quarter
35:52 ..... 14:13 [1st & 10] ..... Conrad… again
36:52 ..... 13:16 [3rd & 8] ..... Conrad & Farmer need to take their act to Vegas.
43:29 ..... 9:47 [2nd & 4] ..... A. Allen getting manhandled
54:45 ..... 5:04 [1st & 10] ..... J. Foster’s turn

3rd Quarter
1:11:00 ..... 13:24 [3rd & 5] ..... Farmer & M. Farniok (mostly Farmer)
1:11:27..... 13:03 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell B. Jaimes? M. Farniok??

I had to stop charting because it was ridiculous. On to the items to correct before Nebraska can consider being competitive with Nebraska-Kearney... forget Michigan. Too harsh? Don't care... there are some serious discipline and technique flaws all over that field on both sides of the ball and on special teams and a handful of starters that don't belong on the field which is on the coaches.

Offense

• QB tunnel vision throwing into multiple coverage.
• QB missing progressions to underneath & dump-off routes.
• O-line extending arms and losing leverage; lousy & lazy blocking in general.
• O-line missed assignments; failing to identify D ISOs & alignments.
• WRs dropping catchable balls; what happened to the WR depth we heard about?

Defense

• In last week’s ‘Let’s Talk Troy’ I wrote, “The DL needs to NOT get sucked in on QB RPO counter.” How did that work out? You can bet Michigan will run multiple variations of it.
• The arm tackling and whiffs are Pop Warner. Find me someone who can tackle... consistently. Also mentioned that in last week’s write-up.
• LBs slow to read & react and not maintaining key responsibilities. (D. Young has been slopping up the field with that garbage for 3+ years.
• DBs ignoring coverage responsibility and biting on play-action and misdirection. Harbaugh will key on L. Jackson because he's the softest and most undisciplined D1 CB I've seen in the last 4 years. The kid is afraid to hit anyone; he's all flash and no bash and he got damn lucky on that interception because he was burnt worse than last week's toast.

Special Teams

• Blocking on kick-off returns is lousy.
• Blocking on punt kick and return teams is worse.
• Players jogging down the field; not staying in their lanes.
• Missed field goals.

Intangibles

• Stupid penalties and turnovers… again and again and AGAIN!
• Unimaginative play calling. [e.g. Go to 1:14:02 on the video above and watch that series.] 1 of 4 on 4th down tries and the same inside counter has been run each time. But hey, one was to the right side; so I guess that was tricky.
• Speed up the offense; less time between snaps.
• Come on coaches… make adjustments.
• Come on coaches… if a player is slacking – sit his ass on the bench!
• Coach rhetoric of "every position is a competition each week"... put up or shut up.

Mods: I will take a vacation if you deem it to be necessary.

If you get vacationed for this I'll take time off in solidarity. Speak your mind. I think many of us agree on just about everything you pointed out. I was quick to defend Frost on the playcalling because of the QB situation, but I've heard from enough smart football people that disagree with me to make me sit back and listen.

 

[Twelve String]

I’m going with a different approach this week. We all know Michigan is loaded with athletes and what they bring to the table. They have an offense starting to figure it out; their top 2 RBs appear to be healthy and they have a defense that can go beast mode but they're not invincible because Harbaugh is stubborn and his teams at Michigan have never figured it out... completely... yet. However, Nebraska could start Deshaun Watson and would lose miserably to Michigan with Nebraska's O-line play.



Listed below shows the quarter, video time; game time; down & distance and the highlighted OL player(s) from the Troy v. Nebraska game. Keep in mind that these are ONLY the obvious plays. 1st & 10 takes a beating.

1st Quarter
07:39 ..... 12:37 [2nd & 5] ….. Conrad
16:30 ..... 7:24 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell is Farmer is doing?
18:12 ..... 5:53 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… seriously?
25:11 ..... 3:38 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… again
26:29 ..... 2:50 [2nd & 14] ..... Stoll’s turn
31:48 ..... 1:15 [3rd & 5] ..... Stoll again

2nd Quarter
35:52 ..... 14:13 [1st & 10] ..... Conrad… again
36:52 ..... 13:16 [3rd & 8] ..... Conrad & Farmer need to take their act to Vegas.
43:29 ..... 9:47 [2nd & 4] ..... A. Allen getting manhandled
54:45 ..... 5:04 [1st & 10] ..... J. Foster’s turn

3rd Quarter
1:11:00 ..... 13:24 [3rd & 5] ..... Farmer & M. Farniok (mostly Farmer)
1:11:27..... 13:03 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell B. Jaimes? M. Farniok??

I had to stop charting because it was ridiculous. On to the items to correct before Nebraska can consider being competitive with Nebraska-Kearney... forget Michigan. Too harsh? Don't care... there are some serious discipline and technique flaws all over that field on both sides of the ball and on special teams and a handful of starters that don't belong on the field which is on the coaches.

Offense

• QB tunnel vision throwing into multiple coverage.
• QB missing progressions to underneath & dump-off routes.
• O-line extending arms and losing leverage; lousy & lazy blocking in general.
• O-line missed assignments; failing to identify D ISOs & alignments.
• WRs dropping catchable balls; what happened to the WR depth we heard about?

Defense

• In last week’s ‘Let’s Talk Troy’ I wrote, “The DL needs to NOT get sucked in on QB RPO counter.” How did that work out? You can bet Michigan will run multiple variations of it.
• The arm tackling and whiffs are Pop Warner. Find me someone who can tackle... consistently. Also mentioned that in last week’s write-up.
• LBs slow to read & react and not maintaining key responsibilities. (D. Young has been slopping up the field with that garbage for 3+ years.
• DBs ignoring coverage responsibility and biting on play-action and misdirection. Harbaugh will key on L. Jackson because he's the softest and most undisciplined D1 CB I've seen in the last 4 years. The kid is afraid to hit anyone; he's all flash and no bash and he got damn lucky on that interception because he was burnt worse than last week's toast.

Special Teams

• Blocking on kick-off returns is lousy.
• Blocking on punt kick and return teams is worse.
• Players jogging down the field; not staying in their lanes.
• Missed field goals.

Intangibles

• Stupid penalties and turnovers… again and again and AGAIN!
• Unimaginative play calling. [e.g. Go to 1:14:02 on the video above and watch that series.] 1 of 4 on 4th down tries and the same inside counter has been run each time. But hey, one was to the right side; so I guess that was tricky.
• Speed up the offense; less time between snaps.
• Come on coaches… make adjustments.
• Come on coaches… if a player is slacking – sit his ass on the bench!
• Coach rhetoric of "every position is a competition each week"... put up or shut up.

Mods: I will take a vacation if you deem it to be necessary.

Wow. I was gonna watch the Michigan game. But after reading all of the above I think I will just piss on the fire and call in the dogs.

 

[goodnterribles]

I’m going with a different approach this week. We all know Michigan is loaded with athletes and what they bring to the table. They have an offense starting to figure it out; their top 2 RBs appear to be healthy and they have a defense that can go beast mode but they're not invincible because Harbaugh is stubborn and his teams at Michigan have never figured it out... completely... yet. However, Nebraska could start Deshaun Watson and would lose miserably to Michigan with Nebraska's O-line play.



Listed below shows the quarter, video time; game time; down & distance and the highlighted OL player(s) from the Troy v. Nebraska game. Keep in mind that these are ONLY the obvious plays. 1st & 10 takes a beating.

1st Quarter
07:39 ..... 12:37 [2nd & 5] ….. Conrad
16:30 ..... 7:24 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell is Farmer is doing?
18:12 ..... 5:53 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… seriously?
25:11 ..... 3:38 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… again
26:29 ..... 2:50 [2nd & 14] ..... Stoll’s turn
31:48 ..... 1:15 [3rd & 5] ..... Stoll again

2nd Quarter
35:52 ..... 14:13 [1st & 10] ..... Conrad… again
36:52 ..... 13:16 [3rd & 8] ..... Conrad & Farmer need to take their act to Vegas.
43:29 ..... 9:47 [2nd & 4] ..... A. Allen getting manhandled
54:45 ..... 5:04 [1st & 10] ..... J. Foster’s turn

3rd Quarter
1:11:00 ..... 13:24 [3rd & 5] ..... Farmer & M. Farniok (mostly Farmer)
1:11:27..... 13:03 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell B. Jaimes? M. Farniok??

I had to stop charting because it was ridiculous. On to the items to correct before Nebraska can consider being competitive with Nebraska-Kearney... forget Michigan. Too harsh? Don't care... there are some serious discipline and technique flaws all over that field on both sides of the ball and on special teams and a handful of starters that don't belong on the field which is on the coaches.

Offense

• QB tunnel vision throwing into multiple coverage.
• QB missing progressions to underneath & dump-off routes.
• O-line extending arms and losing leverage; lousy & lazy blocking in general.
• O-line missed assignments; failing to identify D ISOs & alignments.
• WRs dropping catchable balls; what happened to the WR depth we heard about?

Defense

• In last week’s ‘Let’s Talk Troy’ I wrote, “The DL needs to NOT get sucked in on QB RPO counter.” How did that work out? You can bet Michigan will run multiple variations of it.
• The arm tackling and whiffs are Pop Warner. Find me someone who can tackle... consistently. Also mentioned that in last week’s write-up.
• LBs slow to read & react and not maintaining key responsibilities. (D. Young has been slopping up the field with that garbage for 3+ years.
• DBs ignoring coverage responsibility and biting on play-action and misdirection. Harbaugh will key on L. Jackson because he's the softest and most undisciplined D1 CB I've seen in the last 4 years. The kid is afraid to hit anyone; he's all flash and no bash and he got damn lucky on that interception because he was burnt worse than last week's toast.

Special Teams

• Blocking on kick-off returns is lousy.
• Blocking on punt kick and return teams is worse.
• Players jogging down the field; not staying in their lanes.
• Missed field goals.

Intangibles

• Stupid penalties and turnovers… again and again and AGAIN!
• Unimaginative play calling. [e.g. Go to 1:14:02 on the video above and watch that series.] 1 of 4 on 4th down tries and the same inside counter has been run each time. But hey, one was to the right side; so I guess that was tricky.
• Speed up the offense; less time between snaps.
• Come on coaches… make adjustments.
• Come on coaches… if a player is slacking – sit his ass on the bench!
• Coach rhetoric of "every position is a competition each week"... put up or shut up.

Mods: I will take a vacation if you deem it to be necessary.

So overall, you're giving the team a B+?

 

[cthusker]

The game stats on Troy say otherwise....... We won almost every stat with the exception of turnovers? So if our Offense and Defense played so terrible how do you account for these stats. Don't tell me they don't matter because last season we consistently lost every stat while getting beaten to a pulp. Team is not nearly as bad as your analysis imo. I agree the O-line has not played great or even acceptable and needs to be fixed. Don't know if that's possible with our current players. I think your analysis is way to harsh when everything is factored in and it's only 2 games into the season..... It's a game we clearly should have won and if not for that punt score we would have won it imo. You're certainly entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. Lets see what the Michigan game brings.........

 

[One Hit Wonder]

The game stats on Troy say otherwise....... We won almost every stat with the exception of turnovers? So if our Offense and Defense played so terrible how do you account for these stats. Don't tell me they don't matter because last season we consistently lost every stat while getting beaten to a pulp. Team is not nearly as bad as your analysis imo. I agree the O-line has not played great or even acceptable and needs to be fixed. Don't know if that's possible with our current players. I think your analysis is way to harsh when everything is factored in and it's only 2 games into the season..... It's a game we clearly should have won and if not for that punt score we would have won it imo. You're certainly entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. Lets see what the Michigan game brings.........

You are correct, the stats for both Troy and Colorado do not correlate to victories. Nebraska won the stats but not the game.

Nebraska should have "outmatched" both Colorado and Troy and did on certain occasions but the mistakes I highlighted are faults that changed the game and how they ultimately played out. There are so many mental and technique mistakes all over the field and I know the coaches see it.

The OL blocking is huge - improve that aspect (by itself) then Nebraska can run the vanilla offense and win the game. The OL had some moments where they looked cohesive, solid and dominating but it was for roughly 3 1/2 series.

The key word here is "correctible" because many of the items I highlighted can be corrected. Unfortunately, that means removing a player from the field. Don't remove the player; player continues to make the same mistakes; offense stops; defense fails to stop and then you see a team get into a hole. In both games they got into the hole and nearly climbed out but there were flaws all over the place. The guys I highlighted are upper classmen... those guys should be the leaders and be hammering away but they don't. The OL, Young, L. Jackson - those guys have been around long enough and are doing the same thing they did when they were FR and SOs.

How do you correct it? Coaching is at the top of the list and that means making unpopular decisions and sitting guys for a few series and force them to watch their position from the sideline. If that doesn't work then the decision became that much easier and thus, if the back-ups are young guys and are making mistakes and show a tenacity to learn, improve and excel then the building blocks are being laid for the future.

The special teams is frustrating because there are a lot of things the average "fan" isn't seeing but the lack of assignments are the crux of the problem. The play-calling is perplexing and it isn't at the level most everyone would like to see. Frost knows it and has admitted it as much. There are so many things failing that should been cleaned up in spring ball... not trying to figure it out the 3rd week of the season.

Back in the day, when opponents would line up against Nebraska or Oklahoma, coaches would say, "we need to play smart, disciplined, assignment football." Everything in football is assignment-oriented and right now there are a lot of assignments being missed at Nebraska. Correctible... correct the mistakes and Nebraska doesn't just win - they start to demoralize teams.

 

[RedStones]

While looking over some of the things you pointed out I saw the 3rd and 1 at the 10 (43:49). I'm no expert on line play so can someone explain what happened there? Did Bell hit the wrong hole, was someone supposed to pick up the linebacker there, or was it just up to Bell to make the guy miss? That was a critical down and if we got that 1st down it would have changed this game. Instead we get a missed FG.

 

[cthusker]

You are correct, the stats for both Troy and Colorado do not correlate to victories. Nebraska won the stats but not the game.

Nebraska should have "outmatched" both Colorado and Troy and did on certain occasions but the mistakes I highlighted are faults that changed the game and how they ultimately played out. There are so many mental and technique mistakes all over the field and I know the coaches see it.

The OL blocking is huge - improve that aspect (by itself) then Nebraska can run the vanilla offense and win the game. The OL had some moments where they looked cohesive, solid and dominating but it was for roughly 3 1/2 series.

The key word here is "correctible" because many of the items I highlighted can be corrected. Unfortunately, that means removing a player from the field. Don't remove the player; player continues to make the same mistakes; offense stops; defense fails to stop and then you see a team get into a hole. In both games they got into the hole and nearly climbed out but there were flaws all over the place. The guys I highlighted are upper classmen... those guys should be the leaders and be hammering away but they don't. The OL, Young, L. Jackson - those guys have been around long enough and are doing the same thing they did when they were FR and SOs.

How do you correct it? Coaching is at the top of the list and that means making unpopular decisions and sitting guys for a few series and force them to watch their position from the sideline. If that doesn't work then the decision became that much easier and thus, if the back-ups are young guys and are making mistakes and show a tenacity to learn, improve and excel then the building blocks are being laid for the future.

The special teams is frustrating because there are a lot of things the average "fan" isn't seeing but the lack of assignments are the crux of the problem. The play-calling is perplexing and it isn't at the level most everyone would like to see. Frost knows it and has admitted it as much. There are so many things failing that should been cleaned up in spring ball... not trying to figure it out the 3rd week of the season.

Back in the day, when opponents would line up against Nebraska or Oklahoma, coaches would say, "we need to play smart, disciplined, assignment football." Everything in football is assignment-oriented and right now there are a lot of assignments being missed at Nebraska. Correctible... correct the mistakes and Nebraska doesn't just win - they start to demoralize teams.

I agree with many salient points you make. Just don't believe we're as bad as your first analysis because stats in both games do not confirm it. Both games should have been won if not for some stupid mistakes, penalites and TURN OVERS! That's the mark of team that just hasn't found their footing yet. Will that happen before seasons end? I believe it will because of the coaches we now have on staff.

Did you happen to hear Frost mention that Moos said last season he never saw a plane with so much trash strewn about when the flight landed. That's indicative of players and coaching staff that are just plain sloppy and lazy. Everything that was being done by MR and staff was just plain lousy. Now it's all part of getting players to do the right things which will transfer to better things on the field. Obviously that's easier said then done which I'm sure can be frustrating to our coaches.

Bottom line there is MUCH work to be done which Frost keeps reminding everyone. This is just the start of a journey what is going to take a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Eventually we'll be fine because SF is a winner through and though imo. He doesns't know how to quit and eventually it will transfer into Nebraska becoming champions once again..........

 

[Vinosker]

The game stats on Troy say otherwise....... We won almost every stat with the exception of turnovers? So if our Offense and Defense played so terrible how do you account for these stats. Don't tell me they don't matter because last season we consistently lost every stat while getting beaten to a pulp. Team is not nearly as bad as your analysis imo. I agree the O-line has not played great or even acceptable and needs to be fixed. Don't know if that's possible with our current players. I think your analysis is way to harsh when everything is factored in and it's only 2 games into the season..... It's a game we clearly should have won and if not for that punt score we would have won it imo. You're certainly entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. Lets see what the Michigan game brings.........

View attachment 17617

Completely agree.

 

[One Hit Wonder]

While looking over some of the things you pointed out I saw the 3rd and 1 at the 10 (43:49). I'm no expert on line play so can someone explain what happened there? Did Bell hit the wrong hole, was someone supposed to pick up the linebacker there, or was it just up to Bell to make the guy miss? That was a critical down and if we got that 1st down it would have changed this game. Instead we get a missed FG.

O - Nebraska lined up with single back, WR and Slot right; WR and TE (A. Allen - #11) left.

D - Troy was in a 3-3 hybrid nickel and shifted to 5 down (OLBs) on the edges and MLB shifting to strength.

Based on the blocking scheme I believe Bell's responsibility was to hit the 3/4 or 5/6 hole but went to the 1 hole which put OLB and MLB in play. Hit the 3/4 or 5/6 and it's likely a 1st down and then it's up to Troy's safeties.

A. Allen got caught up in no-man's land "trying to determine" responsibility of OLB or MLB and chose the OLB (who's responsibility is always outside contain) and the MLB came in and took out Bell. If A. Allen blocks down on the MLB and Bell jumps out to the 7/9 hole then he's in a 1-on-1 match-up with the OLB.

 

[Captkenny]

Hmm.

I'm no cheerleader for the offensive line. But only pointing out the whiffs without any discussion of when they did things right seems a bit one sided. The same goes for every position group. You point out negatives, but don't counter balance that with any analysis of positive things that occurred. Did nothing good happen during that whole Troy game?

It's like you are ranting because Frost and Company haven't fixed all these problems by the end of the first game they coached at Nebraska.

I'm betting that there is no one more frustrated about the things you pointed out than Scott Frost. It took more than a couple practices and a game to create the current situation at Nebraska. It is going to take some time to turn it around, possibly including a couple more recruiting classes.

Stay calm and enjoy the rebuild.

 

[Ellis Boyd Redding]

I’m going with a different approach this week. We all know Michigan is loaded with athletes and what they bring to the table. They have an offense starting to figure it out; their top 2 RBs appear to be healthy and they have a defense that can go beast mode but they're not invincible because Harbaugh is stubborn and his teams at Michigan have never figured it out... completely... yet. However, Nebraska could start Deshaun Watson and would lose miserably to Michigan with Nebraska's O-line play.



Listed below shows the quarter, video time; game time; down & distance and the highlighted OL player(s) from the Troy v. Nebraska game. Keep in mind that these are ONLY the obvious plays. 1st & 10 takes a beating.

1st Quarter
07:39 ..... 12:37 [2nd & 5] ….. Conrad
16:30 ..... 7:24 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell is Farmer is doing?
18:12 ..... 5:53 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… seriously?
25:11 ..... 3:38 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… again
26:29 ..... 2:50 [2nd & 14] ..... Stoll’s turn
31:48 ..... 1:15 [3rd & 5] ..... Stoll again

2nd Quarter
35:52 ..... 14:13 [1st & 10] ..... Conrad… again
36:52 ..... 13:16 [3rd & 8] ..... Conrad & Farmer need to take their act to Vegas.
43:29 ..... 9:47 [2nd & 4] ..... A. Allen getting manhandled
54:45 ..... 5:04 [1st & 10] ..... J. Foster’s turn

3rd Quarter
1:11:00 ..... 13:24 [3rd & 5] ..... Farmer & M. Farniok (mostly Farmer)
1:11:27..... 13:03 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell B. Jaimes? M. Farniok??

I had to stop charting because it was ridiculous. On to the items to correct before Nebraska can consider being competitive with Nebraska-Kearney... forget Michigan. Too harsh? Don't care... there are some serious discipline and technique flaws all over that field on both sides of the ball and on special teams and a handful of starters that don't belong on the field which is on the coaches.

Offense

• QB tunnel vision throwing into multiple coverage.
• QB missing progressions to underneath & dump-off routes.
• O-line extending arms and losing leverage; lousy & lazy blocking in general.
• O-line missed assignments; failing to identify D ISOs & alignments.
• WRs dropping catchable balls; what happened to the WR depth we heard about?

Defense

• In last week’s ‘Let’s Talk Troy’ I wrote, “The DL needs to NOT get sucked in on QB RPO counter.” How did that work out? You can bet Michigan will run multiple variations of it.
• The arm tackling and whiffs are Pop Warner. Find me someone who can tackle... consistently. Also mentioned that in last week’s write-up.
• LBs slow to read & react and not maintaining key responsibilities. (D. Young has been slopping up the field with that garbage for 3+ years.
• DBs ignoring coverage responsibility and biting on play-action and misdirection. Harbaugh will key on L. Jackson because he's the softest and most undisciplined D1 CB I've seen in the last 4 years. The kid is afraid to hit anyone; he's all flash and no bash and he got damn lucky on that interception because he was burnt worse than last week's toast.

Special Teams

• Blocking on kick-off returns is lousy.
• Blocking on punt kick and return teams is worse.
• Players jogging down the field; not staying in their lanes.
• Missed field goals.

Intangibles

• Stupid penalties and turnovers… again and again and AGAIN!
• Unimaginative play calling. [e.g. Go to 1:14:02 on the video above and watch that series.] 1 of 4 on 4th down tries and the same inside counter has been run each time. But hey, one was to the right side; so I guess that was tricky.
• Speed up the offense; less time between snaps.
• Come on coaches… make adjustments.
• Come on coaches… if a player is slacking – sit his ass on the bench!
• Coach rhetoric of "every position is a competition each week"... put up or shut up.

Mods: I will take a vacation if you deem it to be necessary.

I can't believe you took a shot at Pop Warner.

 

[Big Red Shrine]

I’m going with a different approach this week. We all know Michigan is loaded with athletes and what they bring to the table. They have an offense starting to figure it out; their top 2 RBs appear to be healthy and they have a defense that can go beast mode but they're not invincible because Harbaugh is stubborn and his teams at Michigan have never figured it out... completely... yet. However, Nebraska could start Deshaun Watson and would lose miserably to Michigan with Nebraska's O-line play.



Listed below shows the quarter, video time; game time; down & distance and the highlighted OL player(s) from the Troy v. Nebraska game. Keep in mind that these are ONLY the obvious plays. 1st & 10 takes a beating.

1st Quarter
07:39 ..... 12:37 [2nd & 5] ….. Conrad
16:30 ..... 7:24 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell is Farmer is doing?
18:12 ..... 5:53 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… seriously?
25:11 ..... 3:38 [1st & 10] ..... Farmer… again
26:29 ..... 2:50 [2nd & 14] ..... Stoll’s turn
31:48 ..... 1:15 [3rd & 5] ..... Stoll again

2nd Quarter
35:52 ..... 14:13 [1st & 10] ..... Conrad… again
36:52 ..... 13:16 [3rd & 8] ..... Conrad & Farmer need to take their act to Vegas.
43:29 ..... 9:47 [2nd & 4] ..... A. Allen getting manhandled
54:45 ..... 5:04 [1st & 10] ..... J. Foster’s turn

3rd Quarter
1:11:00 ..... 13:24 [3rd & 5] ..... Farmer & M. Farniok (mostly Farmer)
1:11:27..... 13:03 [1st & 10] ..... What the hell B. Jaimes? M. Farniok??

I had to stop charting because it was ridiculous. On to the items to correct before Nebraska can consider being competitive with Nebraska-Kearney... forget Michigan. Too harsh? Don't care... there are some serious discipline and technique flaws all over that field on both sides of the ball and on special teams and a handful of starters that don't belong on the field which is on the coaches.

Offense

• QB tunnel vision throwing into multiple coverage.
• QB missing progressions to underneath & dump-off routes.
• O-line extending arms and losing leverage; lousy & lazy blocking in general.
• O-line missed assignments; failing to identify D ISOs & alignments.
• WRs dropping catchable balls; what happened to the WR depth we heard about?

Defense

• In last week’s ‘Let’s Talk Troy’ I wrote, “The DL needs to NOT get sucked in on QB RPO counter.” How did that work out? You can bet Michigan will run multiple variations of it.
• The arm tackling and whiffs are Pop Warner. Find me someone who can tackle... consistently. Also mentioned that in last week’s write-up.
• LBs slow to read & react and not maintaining key responsibilities. (D. Young has been slopping up the field with that garbage for 3+ years.
• DBs ignoring coverage responsibility and biting on play-action and misdirection. Harbaugh will key on L. Jackson because he's the softest and most undisciplined D1 CB I've seen in the last 4 years. The kid is afraid to hit anyone; he's all flash and no bash and he got damn lucky on that interception because he was burnt worse than last week's toast.

Special Teams

• Blocking on kick-off returns is lousy.
• Blocking on punt kick and return teams is worse.
• Players jogging down the field; not staying in their lanes.
• Missed field goals.

Intangibles

• Stupid penalties and turnovers… again and again and AGAIN!
• Unimaginative play calling. [e.g. Go to 1:14:02 on the video above and watch that series.] 1 of 4 on 4th down tries and the same inside counter has been run each time. But hey, one was to the right side; so I guess that was tricky.
• Speed up the offense; less time between snaps.
• Come on coaches… make adjustments.
• Come on coaches… if a player is slacking – sit his ass on the bench!
• Coach rhetoric of "every position is a competition each week"... put up or shut up.

Mods: I will take a vacation if you deem it to be necessary.

Well, you did say ass.

 

[Redfish]

Hmm.

I'm no cheerleader for the offensive line. But only pointing out the whiffs without any discussion of when they did things right seems a bit one sided. The same goes for every position group. You point out negatives, but don't counter balance that with any analysis of positive things that occurred. Did nothing good happen during that whole Troy game?

It's like you are ranting because Frost and Company haven't fixed all these problems by the end of the first game they coached at Nebraska.

I'm betting that there is no one more frustrated about the things you pointed out than Scott Frost. It took more than a couple practices and a game to create the current situation at Nebraska. It is going to take some time to turn it around, possibly including a couple more recruiting classes.

Stay calm and enjoy the rebuild.

Exactly, this is why I won’t jump into this dumpster fire. Going off and criticizing without balance is for folks with an axe to grind in my opinion. Fact it is, things are never as bad as you think nor as good as you think. Have at it!

 

[Paramus]

That is a thorough analysis OHW. Based upon what you are seeing, do you think we can cover the 17-point spread?

I am sure Michigan has some faults/weaknesses as well, but then again maybe not.

You say that we can win with a simple game plan if our O-line can be effective. How do we win if they cannot be effective?