Post-Iowa thoughts
Now it’s time to start looking forward to Ohio State:
- That was the type of game I was expecting: Mistakes and penalties on Offense (primarily in the 1st Half), “boring,” close pretty much the whole way through, but a Michigan victory. I’ll take it. I would have taken a 1-point win. The funny thing is, despite our crappy play, we covered the 13.5-point spread.
- Carson Butler looks faster than any TE we’ve ever had, and he probably is. Getting him experience this year is going to pay huge dividends down the road.
- Is our OL better without Rueben Riley in there? While Alex Mitchell isn’t a true Tackle, neither is Riley (that was the whole fuss this off-season). And with True Freshman Justin Boren already showing that he can run-block well, maybe we should keep Riley off the field? After all, our inability (or refusal) to run to the right side of the line has to be due (at least in part) to Riley’s limited mobility. I love Rueben’s toughness, but if he isn’t 100%, he’s probably doing more harm than good.
- Another solid performance by the Defense. It’s getting to the point where I’m spoiled: If somebody runs for 10 or 12 yards, I’m really upset. I thought it was an average defensive performance, and we held them to 6 points. That’s pretty nuts.
- Everybody talked about the “6-game stretch” from the game at Notre Dame to the game against Iowa. Taking a look back, one could make a good argument that our best game during that stretch was at Notre Dame. If you would have told me that before the season started, I would have laughed in your face.
- I’m getting a bit frustrated with the lack of holding calls in the Big Ten. Yes, it is a conference-wide “phenomenon,” but when you have the best DL in the conference (or the country?), it hurts you the most. Woodley and Jamison were both tackled multiple times with no flags thrown. And seeing that we aren’t getting those calls at home, I don’t expect to get them at OSU, which is going to drive me crazy.
- If you saw the OSU-Indiana highlights, you likely saw Ted Ginn throw a TD pass to TE Rory Nicol off of a reverse. As soon as I saw that, I convinced myself that OSU would try a similar play against us, only it would be a “throw-back” to Troy Smith who would be running a wheel route out in the flat. If you see that highlight again, notice that Smith was wide open after pitching the reverse to Ginn. I’m sure Ron English is 10 steps ahead of me.
- That was the type of game I was expecting: Mistakes and penalties on Offense (primarily in the 1st Half), “boring,” close pretty much the whole way through, but a Michigan victory. I’ll take it. I would have taken a 1-point win. The funny thing is, despite our crappy play, we covered the 13.5-point spread.
- Carson Butler looks faster than any TE we’ve ever had, and he probably is. Getting him experience this year is going to pay huge dividends down the road.
- Is our OL better without Rueben Riley in there? While Alex Mitchell isn’t a true Tackle, neither is Riley (that was the whole fuss this off-season). And with True Freshman Justin Boren already showing that he can run-block well, maybe we should keep Riley off the field? After all, our inability (or refusal) to run to the right side of the line has to be due (at least in part) to Riley’s limited mobility. I love Rueben’s toughness, but if he isn’t 100%, he’s probably doing more harm than good.
- Another solid performance by the Defense. It’s getting to the point where I’m spoiled: If somebody runs for 10 or 12 yards, I’m really upset. I thought it was an average defensive performance, and we held them to 6 points. That’s pretty nuts.
- Everybody talked about the “6-game stretch” from the game at Notre Dame to the game against Iowa. Taking a look back, one could make a good argument that our best game during that stretch was at Notre Dame. If you would have told me that before the season started, I would have laughed in your face.
- I’m getting a bit frustrated with the lack of holding calls in the Big Ten. Yes, it is a conference-wide “phenomenon,” but when you have the best DL in the conference (or the country?), it hurts you the most. Woodley and Jamison were both tackled multiple times with no flags thrown. And seeing that we aren’t getting those calls at home, I don’t expect to get them at OSU, which is going to drive me crazy.
- If you saw the OSU-Indiana highlights, you likely saw Ted Ginn throw a TD pass to TE Rory Nicol off of a reverse. As soon as I saw that, I convinced myself that OSU would try a similar play against us, only it would be a “throw-back” to Troy Smith who would be running a wheel route out in the flat. If you see that highlight again, notice that Smith was wide open after pitching the reverse to Ginn. I’m sure Ron English is 10 steps ahead of me.
Permanent Link Here - posted by Nick at 9:19 AM
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