Observations

I have attended the Hawaii and Colorado games and watched the replays of Hawaii and Central Florida. Will watch the Colorado replay in the next day or two.

1) It is always tough to make early season judgments. We (and pundits) look at last years teams, look at returning starters and make assumptions. But every season is new with different dynamics. Is Colorado really pretty good this year or not? That would shape our perception of yesterday's game.

2) The defense really adjusted yesterday. They were off balance early because of some well conceived plays by Colorado, with mis-direction. Colorado had about 200 yds in the first quarter, one huge play in the 3rd Quarter and otherwise almost nothing. How much of that was their QB going out is tough to measure.

3) I trust JH who is infinitely more qualified than I to judge QB play but I would think the film is going to be bad on Speight yesterday. All fans bit-h about QBs staring down receivers when in fact about 85 percent of college QBs routinely do it. We complained about Navarre doing it for 4 years. But WS does that  ALMOST every time.

Not sure how apparent it was on TV, but we are very lucky that he had no interceptions. He made risky, inadvisable throws into coverage 5 or 6 times and twice in cases that could have been pick 6s. He lacks arm strength and is slow. He made some good plays too but IMO yesterday was a giant red flag.

4) Without Jake Butt yesterday we struggle to move the ball- what a great receiving tight end.

5) Our running backs as a unit are well better than average, they mostly take advantage of what was available given the run blocking which has been very uneven.

6) Kicking is a concern- both punting and placekicking, could have cost us dearly yesterday.

great points shoes ... yesterday showed how much work the offense needs ... as you say thank god for Butt and the jet sweep ... no vertical deep threats will hurt against top defenses like Wisky, sparty and Buckeyes ... I see a lot of Peppers on offense in said games if our running game and OL play does not improve

I thought Speight got rattled early when he was hit. Also, in the first two series UM played 3 QBs, I didn't like that, and it appeared to not let him get an early rhythm.

I thought he made some bad decisions with the ball early by throwing to his first read even though he was covered. Then he made some really good plays with his legs in the pocket, and found Butt uncovered on crossing routes, and also found his secondary targets.

What I really liked yesterday, when everything was going wrong, special teams kept the game close.

Excellent observations with your signature keen insight, Shoes.  Believe me, to all of us, it was plain as rarified air on TV how close WS came to interceptions, and pick-6's on two occasions. And for  precisely the two reasons you cite: lack of any real velocity on his throws, and throwing into thick coverages.

In the "let's-forget-it-ten-hours-ago" first quarter, he also looked to rattle easily. The poor throws you mentioned seemed a by-product of that, as did his fumble-for-a-TD.  To his (and his coaches' and teammates') immense credit, he did settle down and even took us to the break with a lead.  And the enormously-huge 54-yarder to Grant Perry was pinpoint...leading to a two-possession lead, which was so big with a whole quarter to go.

I'll give out with the very same statement you did: In JH I trust!  That's why he's there, I'm here. And his being there is why the final was M 45, CU 28,  not CU, 52 M 17 (or some such).

Learning curve , said each game has shown a progression in quality of opponent ... defense is playing well , other than occasional breakdowns in coverage , Thomas and Hill are still prone to mistakes... really hope Lewis comes back 100 % , he is irreplaceable at corner ... the OL is what it is , Kalis and Braden are playing poorly

Yes, hope Lewis comes back 100 percent, hope this isn't an issue all season for him as irrational comparisons to Caris Levert float around in my head.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

...in the first two series UM played 3 QBs,  I didn't like that, and it appeared to not let him get an early rhythm.

I see that as setting up trick plays for later in the year (read sparty or suckeye). The Morris play with Peppers I see a pitch to Peppers, he runs to the left drawing defenders over to that side of the field but does not cross the LOS. Morris then drifts out into an open area and Peppers hits Shane for a large gain/TD.

Similar with O'Korn although I see a zone-read with him. Who knows?

Those two single plays were just giving Dantonio and Meyer something to prepare for.