Beatdown :(
That was disheartening. Where to start? Here are the five reasons that USC destroyed Michigan.
1) No pass rush. Branch was solid for the most part. Crable was the only player to create any sort of pass rush all game. I didn't hear the announcers mention Woodley all game until he had a sack in garbage time. Without a dependable pass rush, I bring you reason #2 why Michigan lost...
2) Weak secondary. Michigan's defense was so solid all year because of their awesome pass rush. With an ineffective pass rush over the past two games, the secondary was going to be exposed.
3) USC is really good. Their wide receivers were too much for Michigan. Leon Hall was decent, but Trent and Barringer were exposed frequently by USC. I think that USC would have matched up really well with Ohio State. I don't understand how this team lost to UCLA a month ago.
4) USC defensive strategy. They brought more pressure than Michigan has seen all year (except for possibly the Penn State game). Michigan's offensive line, specifically the right half of the line (Mitchell, Riley), was not equipped to handle that pressure.
5) Michigan's offsensive line. Ruben Riley is a sieve. One giant fat sieve. Alex Mitchell also played poorly today. Henne never had time to throw the football downfield, which is why he never had a chance to throw the deep ball to Manningham.
The end result concerns me for next season. While Michigan will return most of their offense, but the defensive line will take a huge hit if Branch goes pro. Without a stellar defensive line and without Leon Hall next year, teams will pass at will against us. Easily. I think next season will be a lot like the 2000 season when Michigan won nine games, but found ways to lose games 54-51.
Boo urns.
1) No pass rush. Branch was solid for the most part. Crable was the only player to create any sort of pass rush all game. I didn't hear the announcers mention Woodley all game until he had a sack in garbage time. Without a dependable pass rush, I bring you reason #2 why Michigan lost...
2) Weak secondary. Michigan's defense was so solid all year because of their awesome pass rush. With an ineffective pass rush over the past two games, the secondary was going to be exposed.
3) USC is really good. Their wide receivers were too much for Michigan. Leon Hall was decent, but Trent and Barringer were exposed frequently by USC. I think that USC would have matched up really well with Ohio State. I don't understand how this team lost to UCLA a month ago.
4) USC defensive strategy. They brought more pressure than Michigan has seen all year (except for possibly the Penn State game). Michigan's offensive line, specifically the right half of the line (Mitchell, Riley), was not equipped to handle that pressure.
5) Michigan's offsensive line. Ruben Riley is a sieve. One giant fat sieve. Alex Mitchell also played poorly today. Henne never had time to throw the football downfield, which is why he never had a chance to throw the deep ball to Manningham.
The end result concerns me for next season. While Michigan will return most of their offense, but the defensive line will take a huge hit if Branch goes pro. Without a stellar defensive line and without Leon Hall next year, teams will pass at will against us. Easily. I think next season will be a lot like the 2000 season when Michigan won nine games, but found ways to lose games 54-51.
Boo urns.
posted by GaryGinew at 8:46 PM
1 Comments:
But at least the Big Ten was able to shut up the SEC for a little bit on New Year's Day. WE ARE!!
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