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Scouting Report: Michigan

daddyhoosier

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Daddy Hoosier | November 6, 2020

One of the old coaching adages in football is ‘don’t get to high and don’t get too low’ – play through the peaks and valleys. For the Michigan faithful this week there is a tendency to descend into pessimism and to take up laments that the sky is falling.

The Wolverines looked perhaps better than expected in Week 1 with a 49-24 win at Minnesota but then followed it up with an uninspired loss to a Michigan State team from whom not a lot is expected in 2020.

The truth in Ann Arbor today is probably somewhere between the high of Week 1 and the low of Week 2. For the Maize and Blue this week’s contest with the 13th ranked Indiana Hoosiers is pivotal in determining the trajectory of the rest of their season.

Overall Michigan looks like a solid football team with good to very good players all over the field. That said they seem to lack a little bit of that elite punch that pundits have come to expect from them year in and year out.

Urban Meyer commented on BTN earlier this week the Wolverines lack NFL talent across the board on both sides of the ball. Obviously they have good players and an elevated recruiting profile but based on what has been seen so far it is doubtful that the Wolverines will be able to simply dominate the Hoosiers from a personnel standpoint.

Offensively Michigan has been efficient but not explosive. The IUFB talks a lot about disruptive plays on defense (Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh calls them havoc plays) and explosive plays are the offensive equivalent. So far in 2020 the Wolverine Offense hasn’t had a lot of success breaking big runs or taking shots down the field.

Their Quarterback Joe Milton is a big guy (6’5″ 243) and has a live arm that is reminiscent of Michael Penix. The ball comes out with zip and it looks effortless. However most of his success throwing the ball has been with short quick timing routes. He has shown some accuracy issues and his receivers have had trouble getting open farther downfield in more vertical concepts. This may be in part due to their lack of big bodies on the outside plus they lost three of their four top receivers from a year ago.

Milton manages the game well and is able to make yardage with his feet, but he doesn’t appear to be someone who will beat a defense on the basis of his scrambling ability alone.

The Wolverine Offense runs a lot of Pro Style sets but since last year they have been working in Spread looks, which Milton shows he is beginning to grasp.

There is some concern this week about Michigan’s Offensive Line as their play hasn’t been as consistent as hoped in blue world. On top of that Harbaugh did what he rarely does and left the possibility open that there could be changes in the starting line-up today.

The key for Indiana’s defense today will be limiting explosive plays for Michigan. If they do a good job of that the Hoosiers will have a great shot at beating Michigan for the first time since 1987.

Defensively this will be the Don Brown unit one would expect – fast, physical and sound. Defensive Coordinator Brown uses a base 4-2-5 similar to what Indiana runs. (What Indiana calls a Husky Michigan dubs their Viper.) That said, Brown is known for being multiple on defense, mixing in the 3-4 with some other more exotic looks designed to confuse and slow down opposing offenses. They are aggressive and get to the ball with a head of steam.

Expect Michigan to bring a lot of pressure from the edge to test Indiana’s Offensive Tackles in pass protection. Senior Defensive End Kwity Paye was Michigan’s lone player to be recognized with Preseason Big Ten Honors and will be looking to have a big day.

This will be one of the big things to watch in today’s match-up: Can Indiana give QB Michael Penix enough time to stand in the pocket and deliver intermediate to long passes downfield? If so Indiana should have some success as Michigan’s Cornerbacks were shown to be vulnerable last week versus Michigan State. If Michigan doesn’t get things cleaned up in the Secondary Indiana could have its biggest day of the season so far.

Michigan made a lot of mistakes against the Spartans last week including penalties. They will need to clean this up today as Indiana is too sound to spot them anything extra.

The x-factor in this game is motivation. Is Indiana still motivated and hungry to show the College Football world who they are and what they can be? Or are they maybe a little satisfied by being ranked in the Top 15 and by having already beaten the likes of Penn State.

Michigan, on the other hand, really needs this one as a loss would drop them to 1-2 with Wisconsin looming. An ‘L’ to Indiana could mark the beginning of the end of the Harbaugh era in Ann Arbor. (Not that The IUFB wishes that upon anyone.) Will the Wolverines step up for their Coach or has a lack of confidence already set in?

Will Indiana be too high? Michigan too low?

Whichever team does a better job of negotiating the proverbial football peaks and valleys today will likely come out on top.

Prediction: Indiana 33 – Michigan 23

Originally published here:
 
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Just re-read what I wrote and feel it turned out to be pretty accurate. I spent like 8 hours scouting Rutgers so I'm not just throwing stuff out there to see if it sticks lol. FWI
 
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