Scrimmage

I am doing this on my phone so it will be somewhat brief.

The defense was as advertised. They blitzed all night and were in the backfield A Lot. Peppers is an absolute stud. He played a ton. I expect him to get a lot of playing time and not just in the nickel. He played with the 1's all night. He played a lot of corner and even lined up at safety for a couple of plays. The defense was loaded with playmakers but Pepper's and Hurst Jr. were some surprises.

The o-line is not there. There were very few holes for the RB's. The defense was in the QB's face all night. There were a couple of good plays on offense that would have been sacks if they were allowed to hit the QB. They probably ran over 100-150 plays and there were only 10-12 that I can recall that went for 5 or more yards. Gardner and Morris both made some bad throws in the face of pressure. Gardner missed a read to Funchess. It's concerning IMO. Bright spots: Funchess is a beast. He had several great grabs. He's a handful. Moe Ways also had some great grabs. Strong hands and battles for the ball. There was not much on offense though.

The good news is I think we have a top 15 Defense. Our offense will not be facing a defense like our too often. I think they wanted to pressure the offense all night. I'm hoping they can work out the issues in the next two weeks.

It was a great event overall. It was nice being in the Big House and not having to sit on top of each other. Hope they continue to do this.

I just hope out offense is so bad that it made our defense look great. The o-line is going to cost us wins. I still don't understand how Funk kept his job.

Given the experience on that side of the ball I believe they are that good. There is a lot of talent and depth there.

Here is another break down:

http://www.maizenbrew.com/2014/8/16/6025791/Brady-Hoke-Offense-Offensive-line-Michigan-Night-Scrimmage

What a difference a year makes.  This time last year everyone was singing the praises of UM.  This year, not so much.  To me, the obvious thing is the O still has a long way to go in a very shot period of time.   We shall see in less that 2 weeks.  I am staying pessimistically optimistic.  

Go Blue!!  

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...that's my feeling about the season.

MgoBlog says that Derrick Green was the #1 back going into the scrimmage. Can any touch a bit more on the RBs. I know the holes might not have been there but what about load carry. Smith, Johnson, Hayes. etc???

After hearing how bad the o-line still is, I'm revising my best case for this season to 8-9 wins.

I think we should (may have to) do what I advocated last year. Use short quick passes as our running game. To anyone who can remember the 49ers first Super Bowl Champs (before Roger Craig)- I think their top back averaged a paltry 3.2 per carry and had maybe 600 yd rushing- yet they still controlled the football with short quick passes (and the occasional long one to keep defenses honest).

'shoes

wshoes wrote:

I think we should (may have to) do what I advocated last year. Use short quick passes as our running game. To anyone who can remember the 49ers first Super Bowl Champs (before Roger Craig)- I think their top back averaged a paltry 3.2 per carry and had maybe 600 yd rushing- yet they still controlled the football with short quick passes (and the occasional long one to keep defenses honest).

'shoes

Yep, the birth of the West Cost offense.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

After hearing how bad the o-line still is, I'm revising my best case for this season to 8-9 wins.

I'm holding onto my pessimistic optimism and hope that we win 8 games.

Go Blue!!

wshoes wrote:

I think we should (may have to) do what I advocated last year. Use short quick passes as our running game. To anyone who can remember the 49ers first Super Bowl Champs (before Roger Craig)- I think their top back averaged a paltry 3.2 per carry and had maybe 600 yd rushing- yet they still controlled the football with short quick passes (and the occasional long one to keep defenses honest).

'shoes

even further.

As a Bears fan our old nemesis used to be The Vikings. They used to run that damn dink and dunk with Chuck Foreman. He was about the first RB that had more receiving yards than rushing yards I think.

Their offense used to piss me off.

Another perspective of the scrimmage.

http://www.maizenbluenation.com/2014/08/is-offense-that-bad-or-is-defense-that.html?spref=fb

Go Blue!!

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

MgoBlog says that Derrick Green was the #1 back going into the scrimmage. Can any touch a bit more on the RBs.  I know the holes might not have been there but what about load carry. Smith, Johnson, Hayes. etc???

Man it's tough trying to pick out much positive from the running game. Smith would be my #1 would be Smith. He had a coue of pushes that netted positive yards. Green still seemed slow, lumbering and unable to break tackles.