Friday, September 24, 2010
25 Questions for the Big House
What is their body of work?
The Falcons make their second trip to the Big House in what could easily be the most trying time in the program's history. Two straight losing seasons, two straight seasons without a bowl appearance, an outlaw coach who hasn't won the hearts in Ann Arbor yet, and your chief rival is dominating you....this was an important season in Ann Arbor.
This year, they picked up wins over Connecticut (who eventually lost to Temple) and Notre Dame (who lost again to MSU the next week). Of course, there is the close loss win to UMASS...I'd say that UM has yet to be really tested this year in a way where people can really see what they have.
What is their best recent result?
Their biggest win in the RichRod era was probably the win over Wisconsin in 2008. Last year, their only win over a ranked team was over an overrated ND team....this year, I'd say the road win at Notre Dame.
What is their worst recent result?
Well, they can't forget the UT loss in 2008 (UT lost to NIU the next week by several TDS), and losing to Illinois by 25 last season cannot be on a highlight reel.
What is their turnover ratio?
Michigan is -22 over the last two years. They are +4 this season.
Offense:
How is their QB Play?
This is always the first question, because it is the key, and the answer is, very, very good. Denard Robinson leads the nation in rushing. He doesn't lead Qbs in rushing---he leads everybody in rushing. He is not one-dimensional, however. He is 19th in the nation in passing efficiency, which is a ridiculous one-two punch. He is a unique player and it will be a treat to see him play in person.
What was their scoring and yards per play?
They are on 37th in scoring offense, but their running yards per play (7.0) is really good. In fact, you'd expect to see more scoring for a team with 7 yards a play, so we'll check out and see if anything points us to why.
Can they run the ball?
They are #6 in the nation in team rushing. Besides having the nation's top rusher, they also had Michael Shaw get 100 yards against the Minutemen.
Do they pass the ball?
They are 55th in passing yards, but 19th in passing efficiency, which is normally the profile of a team throwing high-percentage passes and not getting picked.
How is their run/pass balance?
They have run 143 times and passed only 77 (sack adjusted). In the Bo-era, that would have been the a normal ratio (if not a little too pass-oriented), but this is a completely different beast.
Do they convert on 3rd Down?
50% on the year, which is a Top 20 ranking.
Do they score in the red zone?
They are deadly in the red zone. 11 trips, 9 TDs and 1 FG. That will get it done. If anything, 11 red zone trips is not a lot.
Do they protect the quarterback?
They have been sacked only once this season so far.
This is a very good offensive team, led by one of the best offensive players in the NCAA. They are capable of scoring big points against almost any FBS team.
Defense:
Topline: Scoring and yards per play.
They are in the middle in scoring defense. They held UConn to 10, ND to 24 and then Umass to 37, which they cannot be happy about. UMass scored as much as the other teams combined. They allow 5.9 yards per play, which is pretty high.
Do they defend the run effectively?
They are giving up 4.6 yards per rush, which is pretty poor. Fans have focused on their pass defense, but this is not a strong point.
Could they be passed on?
The answer is, yes they can. They are 102nd (out of 120) in passing yards allowed, but 57th in efficiency, indicating a team that gives up a lot of big plays.
Did they get off the field on 3rd down?
This is a strong point. They allow only 34% conversions.
Do they defend in the red zone?
They have allowed only 12 red zone trips, but 10 scores, with only 7 being TDs. This is a pretty strong record.
Do they pressure the QB?
No. They have only one sack in 3 games.
Special Teams:
Punting?
Pretty uniformly, they are awful at special teams. They are 106th in the nation in net punting.
Punt Return?
They are last in the FBS in punt returns, averaging a loss of 5 yards on each return. (of which there have been 2...OK?
Placekicking?
They have only made one FG this season, and that was a 24 yarder. Students were showing up at practice this week to try out to be a kicker. This is a real liability for UM.
Kickoff?
Kickoffs have been good. Teams have been starting on their own 29, which is decent.
Kickoff Return?
They are 69th in this category, making it the high point of their special teams. Even with that, they start on their own 29.
Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.
I think 4 things could play into the game here.
- Huge gameday experience for BG. How do they react?
- BG is adjusting to a new QB. How does the offense react, because we will need to score points to win?
- Was the UMass game a wake-up call for Michigan. Will they be more focused?
- How does BG react to a confidence-winning game last week?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
MAC Blogger Roundtable, Week 4
1) What would you say is the biggest story line in the MAC so far this season? Surprises, injuries, etc?
Much as it pains me to say, the biggest storyline in the MAC so far is the resurgent Rocket program. They had an incredibly tough way to start the MAC schedule, but went on the road to beat OU and WMU. They are in the driver's seat at this date for a shot at making Ford Field.
2) Which other team in college football most closely mirrors your respective MAC school (whether it be personnel / talent, coaching, reputation, injuries, etc.) ?
Good question. For this week, I am going to say (with a hearty sense of irony), the Michigan Wolverines, since we both have strong offenses and very young and inconsistent defenses.
3) If you had to select one player from any other MAC team to add to your roster -- which player would you choose and why ?
I would say that the player we could use most is Brian Lainhart. He'd shore up our young defensive backfield and is a proven playmaker. He's not the best player in the MAC, but he'd help BG the most.
4) What have the first three games of this season showed you about your team ?
The first games have shown me that while BG is rebuilding, the program is putting together a championship run in the future. We are resilient and are executing a strong game plan. If the team continues to improve through this season, they could be very tough in the home stretch.
5) Rank the MAC Teams: 1 to 13.
1. Temple
2. Toledo
3. CMU
4. NIU
5. BG
6. OU
7. Kent
8. WMU
9. Buffalo
10. Miami
11 Akron
12. Ball State
13. EMU
Clawson, Big House, Surprise Scout Team QB Presser Edition
Coach was back in the box, facing a cross examination from the media elites in Bowling Green on Wednesday.
The biggest news is relatively big indeed. Earlier in the week, it was Pankratz and Pagel who were supposedly competing for the QB job. However, little hints were dropped that if Schilz was going to be out longer, Hurley would be in contention for having his redshirt removed and playing. And, as of now, Pankratz and Hurley are competing for the job.
Schilz' injury is very tough to judge. This is the injury that Omar Jacobs had, and it was very difficult to tell when it would be good enough for him to play.
Coach said that last year, Schilz was actually the true back up, and if Tyler had gotten injured for a significant period of time, Schilz would have gotten the snaps. Pankratz was the short-term #2.
This year, no one clearly won the back up job, hence the competition this week.
In some senses, all the QBs are from a similar mold and we already have a skinnier playbook than last year, so the adjustment might be less than feared. Obviously, Schilz is our best guy, so that's an adjustment.
Coach says that they view the UM game as a special opportunity, and that is how they are trying to get the players to see it.
He talked about Denard Robinson, and inside the obvious superlatives, there was some football stuff. Having a running QB means you can run a 2-back set with only one running back, leaving you with nine blockers. (In a normal 2-back set it would be 8).
Coach Clawson he has been playing Robinson on the scout team.
But he was joking.
He says that the UMass game is not a confidence builder for BG. The Falcons have to bring their motivation from inside themselves and not from other teams.
Finally, he noted that the defense Michigan runs is similar to the defense Tulsa runs.
Blog Swap with Wolverineblog...
So, as we have been doing every chance we get, we have a blog swap with the opponent. This week, we have Ace from Wolverineblog, who was gracious enough to answer some questions about the Wolverines. He asked me some, which you can see here.
1. Michigan seems to have a track record of underperfoming against non-BCS and FCS teams. What do you attribute that to?
Outside of the Appalachian State loss, which exposed Michigan's defensive staff at the time as one that had a lot of trouble handling the spread offense, I wouldn't say Michigan underperforms against non-BCS and FCS teams. It's more an issue of the team just not being that good, period, the last few years. Last week's game against UMass was just another example of that -- this defense just isn't very good. If you look at the track record pre-Rodriguez, Michigan always took care of the lesser teams on their schedule. That isn't a knock against Rodriguez, who I think is a very good coach who was put in a very tough situation, just a reflection of the fact that these past few Wolverine squads haven't performed at a high level.
2. In a similar vein, it seems like Michigan rarely has good placekicking. With all that talent Michigan attracts, why do you think that is?
Again, I think this is a bit of a misconception. Michigan had decent walk-ons emerge at placekicker each of the last three seasons (K.C. Lopata in '07 and '08 and Jason Olesnavage in '09), and before that the team had a very solid four-year starter in Garrett Rivas. This year's team clearly has some major issues at kicker, which is surprising since redshirt freshman Brendan Gibbons was pretty highly touted coming out of high school. He hasn't performed, however, and no walk-on has stepped up like in the last three years. I really don't know what to attribute this to other than poor luck -- when you pull in the No. 8 kicker in the country, which is what Gibbons was rated, it's not crazy to expect him to hold down the job and perform well.
3. Denard Robinson is clearly a special player. Do you think that it will help him even more that no team in the Big 10 really runs the style of offense he does? Will it make him harder to prepare for?
It certainly helps Michigan that no other Big Ten squad runs as much of a run-heavy spread as Rich Rodriguez, but the biggest advantage is simply that it's impossible to prepare for a player who can run and throw like Robinson unless you have a comparable dual-threat player. Rodriguez's system isn't exactly difficult to figure out -- he bases everything off the zone read and adds a different wrinkle depending on how the other team decides to defend it. It becomes a game of Pick Your Poison, and Denard takes that to a different level by being a home run threat on every play.
4. Do you think Michigan will be in the top 10 by the end of next season?
I'd love to say yes, but I have too many doubts about the defense to make that kind of prediction. The secondary should improve as the freshmen safeties gain experience and senior corner Troy Woolfolk returns from injury, but Michigan must replace both inside linebackers (one who is decent, the other just not very good, but nobody has emerged behind them, which is disconcerting) and depth is still going to be a big issue. While the offense should be one of the best in the country, I still think U-M is two years away from fielding an all-around good team.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Falcons in the National Rankings
OK, so I wanted to check out where BG ranks in the FBS standings on various categories....
Our best ranking is Kamar Jorden who leads the nation in receptions and is #7 in receiving yards.
Surprisingly, we are #21 in pass efficiency defense, probably based on all the interceptions.
We are #14 in punt returns. (Individually, Cooper is #16).
We are #29 in passing offense.
Keith Morgan and Dwayne Woods are tied for 12th in interceptions per game.
On the less than positive notes...
We are 112th (out of 120) in sacks allowed and tackles for loss.
We are 111th in rushing offense and total defense (ie, yards allowed).
We are 103rd in pass defense (by yards).
Blog Poll, Week 4....
Results for Week 4
2
-2SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
Posts
