Good morning!
It is grey, cold and miserable here in unHappy Valley! But that's not going to stop us from enjoying the day, is it?
No? No. Good!
So let's kick things off on the right note, with the greatest actor of our time, acting the words of our greatest writer, to save the greatest city from imminent destruction, with the greatest song, in the greatest movie of all time.
Now that Lady Liberty has come through in our darkest of dark moments, I'd like to share a few thoughts about yesterday. 'I'm gonna put it out there; if you like it, you can take it, if you don't, send it right back.'
1) Michigan sold out to pressure Hackenberg and stop the run. It did these things extremely effectively. Here's the thing: There's a reason most defenses try to do these things against this Penn State team. I said it after Temple, but I think it should resonate even more now. This team has some defined shortcomings, and if opponents feel like they have the secondary to match up against these PSU wideouts, it's highly, highly likely that they're going to disguise blitzes, bring pressure and take away the running game to be able to force Hackenberg to pass under duress - when he wasn't getting hit, which was pretty frequent.
James Franklin talked all week about the press man his wideouts would face, and compared it to what Maryland did. Michigan's secondary is much, much better and more capable than Maryland's, and won the overwhelming majority of those one-on-one battles.
"They definitely were as good as advertised," said wideout Chris Godwin. "They play an aggressive style. They're going to come up and press you and play man-to-man defense and they're going to be consistent throughout the game.
"You have to really go back to your fundamentals and press releases at the top of your routes to make sure that you get open. Their consistency and their aggressiveness makes it a great challenge to go against."
2) Look at the play-by-play/stat sheet, and the stories of the season offensively are all right there. Saquon Barkley's carry to start the game was excellent, no doubt, but after that Michigan steadied itself and wouldn't allow another run like it.
Starting field position was at Penn State's own 25 or worse 6 out of 11 possessions (I'm throwing away end of half and Thompkins fumble). So that's no way to start. Five of 11 possessions of three-and-out, one four down turnover on downs. Just 3 of 14 on third downs - which, when the average distance needed is 7.4 yards should not be a surprise, especially when it's obvious passing down and opponent only has to defend the pass. This team is now 28 percent for the season on third downs, which is 126th of 127 teams in FBS. It's constantly in long yardage situations on third downs which is more or less a death sentence, and even in the few times when it isn't, time and time again this year they've come up short.
3) Special teams differentiates programs. I'm not going to waste time recapping what everyone knows: This team desperately needs some scholarship-quality specialists. The punt block was a nice development for this team, but Thompkins' fumble was a dagger. It happens. That's his third fumble on a punt return this season.
The punting itself is what it is. Kickoff coverage comes as a bit of a surprise to me, but when the actual kickoff isn't what the coverage team is expecting that mitigates the responsibility of coaching to at least some extent. They're now No. 116 in the country for kick return defense. Punt coverage was good last year and is good again this year.
But for a guy who likes to have a calculated idea of percentages and how things are going to play out, the complete unreliability of the kicking game has to drive Franklin bonkers.
4) It's probably worth keeping some perspective regarding the defense's performance yesterday. The touchdowns surrendered in the first half were bad, with a few real dagger plays in each series that they weren't able to recover from. In the first quarter, it was the third-and-9 at UM's own 35 that went for 39 yards to Chesson. Rudock had ALL DAY to throw the ball, and it's pretty tough to expect Cabinda to be in position to cover Chesson there, Allen was late and let's be real, Chesson made a play and Rudock made a throw. Still, backbreaker.
Gave up the TD to Butts the next play, which was just something that happens when your backup safety (for a reason) bites on a great play by a great tight end.
The other one was obviously the catch. Had Michigan to third-and-long again, and those kids made a helluva throw and catch. Just can't argue with it. Totally swung the drive for Michigan, though, and sprung the next plays that led to the touchdown. I think if there's a criticism to be made, it would only be that this defense struggles to recover when opponents pull off a tough play like that. And really, it turned into the story of the game as Michigan converted on half of its third downs. And of Penn State's big plays surrendered, they gave up 16, 39 and 26 yards on three of those 7 converted thirds.
The second half touchdowns are pretty tough to quibble with. You can't give possession at your own 9 and expect to hold, especially when you have some momentum and just forced a punt that got muffed. The other was on the backbreaking kickoff return. The defense has been more or less good all season, but you can't put it in those positions and expect to win.
5) Michigan got to the red zone four times. One was as it was killing the clock. The other three all went for touchdowns. Penn State got into the red zone three times, and actually got to first-and-goal three times and had to settle for field goals on each. I'm not a play-call guy. I've been around this enough to know that I'm not a play caller, this isn't a video game, and I make myself a joke as soon as I presume to know what works and what doesn't in those situations. That said, I do know enough to be able to say confidently that Penn State has had trouble pounding it in all season long in those same situations. Penn State has 39 trips into the red zone this season and only 21 of those turned into touchdowns. The overall percentage (92) is actually quite good in FBS, but the four losses all tell a similar tale. Only three touchdowns in nine red zone appearances in the four losses. Against good opponents, settling for field goals isn't a recipe for wins.
I'm just going to leave it at that for now. Chime in as you wish.
It is grey, cold and miserable here in unHappy Valley! But that's not going to stop us from enjoying the day, is it?
No? No. Good!
So let's kick things off on the right note, with the greatest actor of our time, acting the words of our greatest writer, to save the greatest city from imminent destruction, with the greatest song, in the greatest movie of all time.
Now that Lady Liberty has come through in our darkest of dark moments, I'd like to share a few thoughts about yesterday. 'I'm gonna put it out there; if you like it, you can take it, if you don't, send it right back.'
1) Michigan sold out to pressure Hackenberg and stop the run. It did these things extremely effectively. Here's the thing: There's a reason most defenses try to do these things against this Penn State team. I said it after Temple, but I think it should resonate even more now. This team has some defined shortcomings, and if opponents feel like they have the secondary to match up against these PSU wideouts, it's highly, highly likely that they're going to disguise blitzes, bring pressure and take away the running game to be able to force Hackenberg to pass under duress - when he wasn't getting hit, which was pretty frequent.
James Franklin talked all week about the press man his wideouts would face, and compared it to what Maryland did. Michigan's secondary is much, much better and more capable than Maryland's, and won the overwhelming majority of those one-on-one battles.
"They definitely were as good as advertised," said wideout Chris Godwin. "They play an aggressive style. They're going to come up and press you and play man-to-man defense and they're going to be consistent throughout the game.
"You have to really go back to your fundamentals and press releases at the top of your routes to make sure that you get open. Their consistency and their aggressiveness makes it a great challenge to go against."
2) Look at the play-by-play/stat sheet, and the stories of the season offensively are all right there. Saquon Barkley's carry to start the game was excellent, no doubt, but after that Michigan steadied itself and wouldn't allow another run like it.
Starting field position was at Penn State's own 25 or worse 6 out of 11 possessions (I'm throwing away end of half and Thompkins fumble). So that's no way to start. Five of 11 possessions of three-and-out, one four down turnover on downs. Just 3 of 14 on third downs - which, when the average distance needed is 7.4 yards should not be a surprise, especially when it's obvious passing down and opponent only has to defend the pass. This team is now 28 percent for the season on third downs, which is 126th of 127 teams in FBS. It's constantly in long yardage situations on third downs which is more or less a death sentence, and even in the few times when it isn't, time and time again this year they've come up short.
3) Special teams differentiates programs. I'm not going to waste time recapping what everyone knows: This team desperately needs some scholarship-quality specialists. The punt block was a nice development for this team, but Thompkins' fumble was a dagger. It happens. That's his third fumble on a punt return this season.
The punting itself is what it is. Kickoff coverage comes as a bit of a surprise to me, but when the actual kickoff isn't what the coverage team is expecting that mitigates the responsibility of coaching to at least some extent. They're now No. 116 in the country for kick return defense. Punt coverage was good last year and is good again this year.
But for a guy who likes to have a calculated idea of percentages and how things are going to play out, the complete unreliability of the kicking game has to drive Franklin bonkers.
4) It's probably worth keeping some perspective regarding the defense's performance yesterday. The touchdowns surrendered in the first half were bad, with a few real dagger plays in each series that they weren't able to recover from. In the first quarter, it was the third-and-9 at UM's own 35 that went for 39 yards to Chesson. Rudock had ALL DAY to throw the ball, and it's pretty tough to expect Cabinda to be in position to cover Chesson there, Allen was late and let's be real, Chesson made a play and Rudock made a throw. Still, backbreaker.
Gave up the TD to Butts the next play, which was just something that happens when your backup safety (for a reason) bites on a great play by a great tight end.
The other one was obviously the catch. Had Michigan to third-and-long again, and those kids made a helluva throw and catch. Just can't argue with it. Totally swung the drive for Michigan, though, and sprung the next plays that led to the touchdown. I think if there's a criticism to be made, it would only be that this defense struggles to recover when opponents pull off a tough play like that. And really, it turned into the story of the game as Michigan converted on half of its third downs. And of Penn State's big plays surrendered, they gave up 16, 39 and 26 yards on three of those 7 converted thirds.
The second half touchdowns are pretty tough to quibble with. You can't give possession at your own 9 and expect to hold, especially when you have some momentum and just forced a punt that got muffed. The other was on the backbreaking kickoff return. The defense has been more or less good all season, but you can't put it in those positions and expect to win.
5) Michigan got to the red zone four times. One was as it was killing the clock. The other three all went for touchdowns. Penn State got into the red zone three times, and actually got to first-and-goal three times and had to settle for field goals on each. I'm not a play-call guy. I've been around this enough to know that I'm not a play caller, this isn't a video game, and I make myself a joke as soon as I presume to know what works and what doesn't in those situations. That said, I do know enough to be able to say confidently that Penn State has had trouble pounding it in all season long in those same situations. Penn State has 39 trips into the red zone this season and only 21 of those turned into touchdowns. The overall percentage (92) is actually quite good in FBS, but the four losses all tell a similar tale. Only three touchdowns in nine red zone appearances in the four losses. Against good opponents, settling for field goals isn't a recipe for wins.
I'm just going to leave it at that for now. Chime in as you wish.
