Midnight Maize: UMass

Showing posts with label UMass. Show all posts

What We Learned Today

7:31 PM

Last week, we saw Michigan's defense play decently. Not great by any means, after all, they did give up 535 yards, but decently. Against UMass, we exhibited what will hopefully be our worst defensive performance of the year. We gave up 436 yards, which is bad against pretty much any team. And we gave them up on only 12 drives, which is even worse. And when you discount a knee to end the first half, these numbers become 438 yards on 11 drives, or 39.8 yards per drive (in contrast, Notre Dame had 17 drives, good for 31.5 yards per drive including the 95 yard pass). On these 11 drives, UMass scored six times (5 TDs, 1 FG). We can't just blame the secondary for having a bad day too because UMass ran the ball 20 more times than they threw the ball and rushed for over 200 yards on the ground. And to cap it all off, UMass is an FCS team.

Just think about it, we gave up 436 yards, 217 rushing, to a FCS team. A good FCS team, perhaps, a FCS team nonetheless. That is simply inexcusable for a Michigan team. And if we replicate this defensive performance against any team in the Big Ten, we will be eviscerated.

So today we learned that when our defense has a bad game, pretty much anyone can beat us. And we also learned that it's not just the pass defense that's an issue. Our run defense was absolutely atrocious today. The offensive line regularly produced holes for UMass's RBs and our tackling was...

I don't think there's a word in the English language that adequately describes how bad our tackling was. On the other hand, there is a valid analogy:

Our tackling was as bad as our special teams play.

On the other hand, the game wasn't all bad. For instance, while our offense came out very flat, we still managed to put 42 points on the board. Denard continued to play very well after recovering from a terrible interception on his first pass, putting up 104 rushing yards and an impressive 241 passing yards on only 14 attempts. Meanwhile, Hemingway came back and contributed a 36 yard reception and Darryl Stonum had an incredible day with 3 receptions for 121 yards and 2 TDs, including one 66 yard TD on a screen pass. Meanwhile, Michael Shaw also had an excellent game, running the ball 12 times for 126 yards and three touchdowns, while also making a 7 yard reception. This is all very encouraging, especially since the offense came out playing a little shaky. Of course, this came against a FCS defense, so take it for what its worth.

The bottom line is that we won ugly. Very ugly. Against a team where we should be able to beat by double digits even if we're playing badly. We learned that our defense is shaky at best, as expected, and that our special teams are terrible, so our offense is going to have to win some games for us. Still, it was a win and we probably came out flatter than we will at any other time this year, considering that we were playing a FCS team and we won a rivalry game last week in highly exciting fashion, making a letdown somewhat understandable.

Exposed?

1:49 PM

SCS , Posted in 2010 Michigan Football , FCS , Horror , UMass , 0 Comments

Well, that was bad. And embarrassing. And almost a repeat of the horror. And many other things that could involve several expletives and lost brain cells from head bashing. So was it as bad as well all thought the minute it was over? No. It was not as bad as we all thought but by no means was it anything close to acceptable.

Before everyone starts panicking, people need to remember that we were a) facing a good FCS team, so it should not have been a repeat of Delaware State and b) coming off of a large win against Notre Dame, possibly accounting for our slow start. This should not be an excuse for our poor play (and I don't want it taken that way), but it could explain a few things. Whatever the case may be, there is no excuse for the way we started and finished. Our defense looked awful and consistently played a cover 3 that looked a lot like 2008 at times. Putting it simply, our defense sucked.

So how can we pull any positives out of this? First of all, UMass is actually a good team that will probably end up being a serious contender for the FCS title. Second, this game should serve as a huge wake-up game for this team. This game will hopefully teach them to never take an opponent for granted and will also likely cause the coaching staff to prepare them for each game like it means the season is on the line. Also, our offense still looked good and we finally had a running back show up, so there's a plus as well.

So, does this spell doom for our season? Absolutely not. We're still 3-0, even with this ugly win. Should we temper our expectations? For those of us predicting more than 8 wins, then probably yes. Otherwise, 7-5 or 8-4 are still possible. In my opinion, this is Michigan just coming out flat and taking an opponent for granted, something that is not likely to happen again. If it happens again next week, then start panicking. And be happy, this is not a repeat of Appalachian State. Remember, we still won, which is the most important stat.