Week 1 game notes: Minnesota

A couple of observations from me

1. OLine: I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the line played together. Yes Minnesota’s D did have to replace some key guys and a few guys didn’t play at all (possibly Covid related) but that was as good as I could have hoped for given that Michigan had to replace 4 starters on the OLine.

2. Joe Milton: I could probably write a dissertation on his first start but I’ll try my best to keep it condensed. He played about as good as he could have. Very very serviceable. His touch was good. His velocity was definitely still there. His gait is so long that he looks terribly slow when he runs but he might still be quicker than I thought. I do wonder how well his check downs are. I couldn’t tell if the entire team caught a pass because of his check downs or if that was by design. I am sooo excited to watch him moving forward. Crazy how raw he was when he committed. No camps, no formal QB instruction just pure untapped potential. Fun fact; year six and harbaugh finally opens a season with a QB that he recruited. This could turn out well.

Special teams: A lot to fix. I’ll go on record and say that if they don’t get it fixed it will directly cost Michigan two games this year. I can see at least three more games on the schedule that should be tight. No room for missed FGs or blocked punts. I’d bet we see Nordin moving forward kicking FGs. Just a gut feeling, zero inside info.

DLine/LBs: lights out. The DLine is the real deal. I know Minnesotas OLine played as bad as they could have given that they had all 5 starters back but Michigan has 5 or 6 NFL type talent guys in their DLine rotation. In terms of stats this may be the best year we see in a while from this group. The LBs are flying to the ball. Sure there were a few missed tackles but it was really good form tackling all around. More on Barrett later.

Corners: The clear weak point in the D. Cliche line of the day: you’re only as good as your weakest guy. This group could be the Achilles heel, especially after watching some of the other teams receivers this week (yes I’m talking about OSU). I think there is talent there. I liked a lot of what I saw but clearly a lot to work on. Head scratching watching Paige play as much as he did but I can still tell that he is gonna be a baller. NFL material for sure.

Michael Barrett is going to be fun to watch. I’ve been hearing about his athleticism and talent for the better part of three years and this was the first time I’ve been able to see him showcase it. I’d like to see Michigan utilize him in the wildcat.

Harbaugh: No cleats. No khakis. No woody Hayes glasses. He’s a creature of habit but it was nice to see him get out of his comfort zone and change it up. Clearly changes have needed to be made for a while and he’s been implementing them slowly over time. At this time I have zero issues with staff, scheme, talent, etc. To see his personal changes may be a metaphor for new things to come or maybe I’m looking way too far into this. Who cares? It was a good win.


Given Minnesota’s all around ineptitude on Defense I’m going to refrain from giving a hot take on the RBs and the WRs/TEs. I’ll probably have a better grasp on things after the Indiana game. All in all I really liked what I saw.

JH said Milton missed only one check the whole game.

I have a theory on the change in khakis. With masks the players might have a hard time telling who the head coach is.

Now they know.

joe wrote:

I have a theory on the change in khakis. With masks the players might have a hard time telling who the head coach is.

Now they know.

Interesting take and I’d buy that theory. +1 for thinking outside of the box.

dwoody wrote:

JH said Milton missed only one check the whole game.

I didn’t see that so thanks for sharing

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2020/10/25/michigan-football-quarterback-joe-milton-jim-harbaugh/6030733002/

This is good for us.

joe wrote:

I have a theory on the change in khakis. With masks the players might have a hard time telling who the head coach is.

Now they know.

Good point.