Michigan Tuesday: A Bad Investment

The biggest question going through Michigan fans and rich donors is; Have we made a bad investment in Bryce Underwood?  The state of Michigan has had its unfair share of top tier QB's lately: Carr at ND, Chambliss at Ole Miss, and Moore at Oregon were all in the Wolverines backyard. 

Carr was lightly recruited by the Wolverines,  Moore didn't get the money he was looking for in Ann Arbor, and Chambliss wasn't even on their radar.  

Michigan went all in on Bryce and now there are more questions than answers.  As you might expect, I got a few texts about the game last weekend and Bryce.  Here is my take on Bryce:

Bryce has been told since probably age 7 that he is the greatest gift to football ever.  His rocket arm allowed him to dominate in high school and made him the #1 QB and recruit in the nation.  There are many problems with the above.  The first is, Bryce has not been "coached up" and never learned the proper QB mechanics.  If you look at either Carr QB, you can tell they have been coached up and neither has the talent or body design Bryce has.   In turn, this makes Bryce a walking contradiction, he has nothing but confidence in his ability because he has been told forever he is great and he also has zero confidence because he has only seen limited success at the college level and when the heat turns up he regresses to his old bad habits.  Bryce is full of too much confidence and at the same time has no confidence.  

The next question is: How long is Coach Whitt going to stay with Bryce?  After this weekend, I don't believe its going to be long.   He was using terms like, "he is the starter for now".  I don't believe Saturday was 100% on Bryce and he did throw a ball 60 yards in the air to save the game but his window at Michigan is getting smaller and smaller.  On Saturday, he looked like he was a player playing out of position.   This weekend has a high probability of being pretty ugly and that will probably be Bryce's last stand.  Even the donors that funded this experiment can't argue this was a bad investment.  

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I also want to take a minute on college football this weekend.  Saturday's games were for the most part just awful, they were pre-season games.  There needs to be at least one good game every TV window.  Most of the day it was painful to watch college football.  The games on Sunday and Monday turned out to be decent to pretty good.   Even with the power outage at FSU last night.   What a strange weekend for college football. 

Tuesday Too Early:

#10 Oklahoma Sooners

Last game: Beat UTEP 51-0

Pass: 231 yards (104th)

Run: 170 (63rd)

Mich Line: OK -5.5

That line seems strangely low after the week 1 performances.  

• I heard not only did the team practice on Sunday (a usual day off), they practiced in pads.  

The Aftermath

This is how I watched the final play:

I watched Bryce throw it out of the endzone. 

I shut off the TV 

Immediately wrote the Disaster post 

I hopped in a sad shower 

My phone rings as I'm in the shower 

My son said, that he can't believe Michigan won

I said, I saw the final play and the game was over, the WMU head coach was walking to shake hands. 

He said, they put 1 second on the clock and Bryce hit JJ for a Hail Mary. 

I turned my TV on and YouTube TV had saved exactly where I left off and saw the final play. 

I know social media lost its mind that 1 second was put back on the clock.  I 100% agree, WMU got robbed.  The same way Michigan has gotten robbed many times over.  There was an extra play against MSU where the clock operator stopped the clock with one second to give Sparty a free play, which they won on.   They even nicknamed the fella, like one second Bob or something.   Dumb shit happens in football and this time Michigan benefited from it. 

Let's also be real about something.   Those officials and the video review booth were terrible all game.   There were at least 2 bad spots that were reviewed and up held.  One I'm pretty sure was a tackle for a loss that they gave a first down to the Broncos. 

The other point I've been seeing online is that, the fix was in by the Big Ten to protect next week's game between Michigan and OK.  Michigan had trouble all game completing a pass more than 5 yards, they had less than 1% chance of hitting that Hail Mary from 60 yards out.  It's not like they were in the red zone or goal line.  That gift was buying your broke friend a lottery ticket and saying I hope this hits and you can pay off all your loans. 

Update: The Big Ten released the audio and video from the review and it seems like a legit call with the clock synced with #18 from WMU touching the ball.  The MAC appreciated the transparency and agrees with the finding. 

I don't love rushing the field, but those fans were there all night, with nothing to cheer about.  They had 4 hours of cheering to get out of their system.   Those plays always happen against Michigan, not for Michigan.  So I get it. 

This sucks for the Broncos, I know the feeling all too well, but Michigan is nowhere near a good team right now.  They can't run, they can't block, they can't stop the run, they have a ton of problems with a top 10 team coming in next Saturday. 

Cheers:

• JJ told Sam Webb that 50/50 balls are 90/10 when thrown to him.  He is right. 
• Our punter was really good
• First drive and last play was good 

Jerers:

• New Michigan staff got a hard lesson that this place is different. 
• Team was not prepared at all 
• The play calling (outside of the first drive) was head scratching 
• I love that they want to run Bryce but he has a fumbling problem 
• Marsh has shown not to be the best Special Teams player in the past 
• Coach Whitt be aggressive in the 2nd half when the team is moving the ball, go for a 4th down 
• Turnovers and penalties are not Michigan Football and needs to be cleaned up right away
• Offensive line play was maybe the worst I've seen in 5 years 
• Beck, let's at least try to throw to a TE 

Outside the final play and the first drive, Michigan had very little to like about the game last night.  It was nice to see Michigan has a good punter.  

The late Lou Holtz used to say, "the biggest improvement jump teams get all year is between Week 1 and Week 2 of the season".   Let's hope that happens here.  Lots of long nights for the Michigan staff this week.  No Labor day BBQ for them. 

A Complete Disaster

I'm not sure I've seen anything like what I just witnessed.  I've seen Michigan not show up against App. State and RR got beat by Akron but I'm not sure what just happened tonight.  

Michigan got beat today by Western Michigan in every aspect of the game.   Coaching, execution, running, passing, special teams.  It was a complete disaster after the first drive.  

One of the things I worried about with Coach Whitt is his teams did not win big games.   Well, this team was not prepared at all.  Maybe it was the not hitting in camp, maybe they don't understand how to be Michigan Football Coaches.  For Fuck sakes, they lined up 12 guys on offense on one play.  

The play calling was awful, the penalties were excessive, there was no execution at all. 

They are scared to have Bryce throw the ball and Western sat on the run all night.  Yes, they are a good experienced team but please, that was one of the ugliest games I've ever seen.   

Michigan loses the game without giving up a TD.  What the hell did I just watch?

The offensive line was terrible 

The coaching was nowhere to be found 

The defense after a good first half, got pounded by basic high school football plays 

Got killed in the turnover margin 3-0 

Marsh struggled in the punt return 

Marshall had zero holes all night 

Huge mistake by Coach Whitt not to go for the 4th down at the start of the 2nd half. 

I'm not trying to be a prisoner of the moment but this team might not win a game all year.  They might have to make a QB change right now.  

I'm sick of night games, I'm sick of watching this program go backwards, I'm sick of coaches not understanding Michigan Football.   This program is in a fucking tailspin and it makes me sick to my stomach.  

A complete disaster and the only ones to blame is themselves.  

Edit: I thought the game was over and I'm in complete shock they won.  I might need to call a doctor. :)

Western Michigan Preview

Time: 7:30 EST 

Location: Big House 

Weather: 70 No Rain 

TV: NBC 

Line: Michigan -27.5

Anytime you see a MAC team vs. a Big Ten team you think it should be an easy win for the Big Ten.  Ask Rutgers how that went last night.   Western Michigan was a good football team last season and won the MAC Championship.  They play solid defense and run the ball.  Yes, this is a new year, but that foundation is set and a physical team will show up in the Big House to face the Wolverines.  

Michigan is also a brand new team, with a new staff and many new players.  I'm thankful this game is a the Big House and not Germany.  Warde got something right as he rides off into the sunset.  

Dear Coach Whitt:

First off I would like to introduce myself.  This is the Big House Blog.   Myself and thousands of BHB inmates love this program.  We care about this program and we wear our Maize an Blue with pride and respect.  We want to be proud of this program, on the field, in the classroom, and off the field.   We expect excellence in all areas as the University of Michigan are clearly the Leaders and Best.   At the core we are fans and football Saturday's are more important to us then you will ever know.  Please bring these young men's best to the stadium every week and will will bring the respect and energy that effort deserves.  

We also use this space to give you advice on the weekly opponent.   This week of course is Western Michigan.  This is your first game in the Big House as the Michigan Head Coach, same with your staff.   It would be easy to sit back and take that all in.  You will have roughly one minute to do that, after you run out of the tunnel prior to kickoff.   Enjoy the moment of Zen and then lets snap back to business. 

Night games are special at Michigan, for many years the team, the athletic department, fans, and the head coaches did not believe football should be played in the dark in Ann Arbor.  It took ESPN to fund the first set of lights on the Big House.  Michigan wanted to play at Noon or maybe 3:30 but never in Primetime.  Of course, TV has changed that and its now become more commonplace. 

Coach you have brought a calmness to Stadium and Main we haven't seen in many years.  Our football team has been full of championships and scandals.  Only one part of that sentence is Michigan Football.  We believe in you and your talented staff.   But let me be clear, playing tough football and falling short every year like you did at Utah, will not work here.  We expect championships and good clean football every week.   The bar here is very high and we expect your ready to exceed it.  

Western Michigan is no cupcake.  They won their conference last season and their Bowl Game.  They like to play a Utah or Michigan type of football in being physical and running the ball right at you.   They are coming to the Big House to not fool you but to play physical football.   This should match Michigan's style and expectation.  They are not driving East for a payday they are coming to Ann Arbor to win the game and embarrass you on your first game has head coach.  Do not sleep on these guys.  

For your team, all eyes will be on Bryce and hopefully a strong jump forward.  He is a talented young man that was given the keys to this offense on his 18th birthday and wasn't coached at all.   We expect a strong run game, great O-line play, and Bryce to hit his new WR's downfield.  Bryce doesn't have to be Tom Brady back there, he just has to play smart and clean.  As much of train wreck as last season was, they were one win away from making the playoffs.  

On the defense side of the ball, I'm looking for an improved pass rush and a secondary that can cover.  The LB's are the biggest question mark and everyone will be watching what we have at that position group.  Nothing will protect them more then good D-line play and a great pass rush.  

Special teams have been pretty bad in the games I've watched so far this season.  Every fans' expectation is that Michigan's special teams will be locked in from the first kick. 

Lastly, play clean, play aggressive, but most importantly play Michigan Football.

What I expect to see:

• Michigan rushes for 250 yards (100 for Marshall, 80 for Hiter, 50 for Bryce, 20 for backups)
• Bryce passes for 225 yards and 2 TD 
• Michigan defense dominates but gives up a late TD 

Michigan 31 WMU 10