A Lot of Oysters Put No Pearls

Michigan finished this regular season 10-2.  When Hoke was here getting Shane Morris concussed we would have made a deal with the devil to get back to 10-2.   So for the most part, Harbaugh has done his job at Michigan.   This program had PTGD (post traumatic game disorder) before Harbaugh even got here.  I was never worried about losses to MSU,  that was always going to turn around at some point.  Sparty is always going to go Sparty.

What makes zero sense to me is how Harbaugh and Brown prepare for the Ohio State game.   We all assumed that Harbaugh was "holding back" this offense to not show OSU anything.  We were wrong.
I'm sure you have heard this saying regarding preparing for a team that runs the triple option:  They're very difficult to prepare for in a week but if you have multiple weeks, you can stop them.  

That is where Harbaugh and Brown are letting Urban beat them.   OSU has been playing with the devil all year.  They have looked terrible against teams like Maryland, Minnesota, Indiana, and Purdue boat raced them.  I have finally figured it out.   Ohio State doesn't prepare for their weekly opponent, they prepare to beat Michigan every week of the season, hoping the Michigan prep will beat the other Big Ten schools as well.

Now I don't recommend this strategy for Michigan as this will get you beat by teams that shouldn't beat you, but its a better way to understand Ohio State.  For example, you can see how the above the triple option saying would be applicable to Don Brown's defense.    It's very hard to prepare for in one week but if you have been preparing for 10 weeks its much easier to beat.

Don Brown solves problems with aggression.   Which means he blitzes the hell out of QB's and bets the rush will get there before the QB can make the correct read.   This also leaves the middle of the field wide open for slants and QB runs.   Urban beat Don with QB runs with JT and beat Don on Saturday with slants.   The Michigan defense played poorly against Rutgers and Indiana and bottomed out on Saturday.   It's great that Michigan plays a great man to man defense, but if that's all they play then Michigan is very one dimensional.   If this ass whipping didn't come last Saturday, it would of come against Alabama in the Orange Bowl.

Now to the offense.

A good offense plays power against teams that struggle with power and spread teams out that struggle against the spread.   Trying to run what you do best even if its 100% predictable will get you beat by good teams 100% of the time.   Bo had a 100 great players and had a talent advantage at every position.  He could run the ball and beat you with defense.   That doesn't work anymore.

Since I'm not in the room,  I have no idea if this is a Jimmy or Pep problem.    My guess is this is a Jimmy problem.   Michigan needs some fresh ideas on offense and stop being so damn predictable.   What Michigan does today is fine to beat the mid-tier Big Ten teams but will not return this program to elite status.

So the game plan for Saturday as far as I can tell, was to run what Michigan does well on offense and play man to man against OSU fast wide receivers.   That is a 23 point game plan loss right there.

Jimmy said last year, Michigan had to get bigger and stronger after OSU beat them.   This time he needs to look in the mirror to find the change that he needs.

• I couldn't find much upside from Saturday's result.  I guess I did save about $5000 in travel costs to the Big Ten Championship and to Miami for the Orange Bowl.  

• Bowl Game, I know it was an over reaction saying that Michigan should turn down a bowl bid, I guess the options are that Michigan is in the Rose, Fiesta, or Peach Bowl.   Michigan could face UCF in the Peach if they beat Memphis in their Championship game.   It will be interesting to see what Michigan team shows up at a bowl game.   Yah Peach Bowl! 

from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-lot-of-oysters-put-no-pearls.html