09-05-2009, 10:14 PM
Just returned from the Big House and had a couple observations...
1. The big house is just that BIG... Definitely something that may have taken its toll early on some of the youth on the WMU sidelines... nothing can prepare you for that Atmosphere... no matter how you're coached...
2. Something looked wrong with Hillers arm/hand in the game... i have NEVER seen him throw so poorly and have so many mis-handles of the ball during his release... I even saw him do it a couple times in pre-game... it was as if he had a thumb injury or something on his throwing hand... very strange.... One mis handle resulted in a pick
3. WMU's defense is only as bad as the offense performed early... they were blown off the ball on the first drive, but the second drive they looked good... after that they couldn't stay off the field and it was obvious that the early shakeup at qb for UofM was keeping them off balance and with no time on the sidelines to make adjustments they looked confused. The Robinson TD was a broken play and highligheted WMU's defenses' inability to make a tackle... Over-pursuit and missed tackles proved deadly on that one... After half... things looked alot better...
4. Ponder/Nunez and Ravelle are going to prove fruitful down the stretch... the long throw to Nunez was picture perfect... The offense just never got in sync all game... and when they looked like they were getting things together... they would turn the ball over, or Hiller would make an un-charachteristic poor pass...
5. This team cant rely SOLELY on Hiller... it looked almost like Hiller was trying to carry the entire team from the first snap... and he looked like he was over-working himself, both physically and mentally... I don't think that's fair to expect... and I don't think he should be expected to accomodate... (again... i think something was physically wrong with him... he was making some seriously poor throws... to open recievers... )
6. Anyone want to tell me what the hell was up with the punt return formation? It begs to be fake punted on...
Im sure there's more observations.. but after some time to digest... I think this team is right were we all should have expected them to be... learning from an experience that proves where they fit... and what their strengths and weaknesses are... I however disagree with anyone who thinks this UofM team is as good as they seemed to appear today early on.... They are going to struggle against teams that can exploit their inability to pass consistently, and their inability to cover the crossing routes without incurring pass interference penalties... Anyone who forces them to pass predominantely will make it very difficult on them... Forcier made some incredible throws today... but doing it consistently could prove to be an issue...
The true test for both these teams will be next weekend...
1. The big house is just that BIG... Definitely something that may have taken its toll early on some of the youth on the WMU sidelines... nothing can prepare you for that Atmosphere... no matter how you're coached...
2. Something looked wrong with Hillers arm/hand in the game... i have NEVER seen him throw so poorly and have so many mis-handles of the ball during his release... I even saw him do it a couple times in pre-game... it was as if he had a thumb injury or something on his throwing hand... very strange.... One mis handle resulted in a pick
3. WMU's defense is only as bad as the offense performed early... they were blown off the ball on the first drive, but the second drive they looked good... after that they couldn't stay off the field and it was obvious that the early shakeup at qb for UofM was keeping them off balance and with no time on the sidelines to make adjustments they looked confused. The Robinson TD was a broken play and highligheted WMU's defenses' inability to make a tackle... Over-pursuit and missed tackles proved deadly on that one... After half... things looked alot better...
4. Ponder/Nunez and Ravelle are going to prove fruitful down the stretch... the long throw to Nunez was picture perfect... The offense just never got in sync all game... and when they looked like they were getting things together... they would turn the ball over, or Hiller would make an un-charachteristic poor pass...
5. This team cant rely SOLELY on Hiller... it looked almost like Hiller was trying to carry the entire team from the first snap... and he looked like he was over-working himself, both physically and mentally... I don't think that's fair to expect... and I don't think he should be expected to accomodate... (again... i think something was physically wrong with him... he was making some seriously poor throws... to open recievers... )
6. Anyone want to tell me what the hell was up with the punt return formation? It begs to be fake punted on...
Im sure there's more observations.. but after some time to digest... I think this team is right were we all should have expected them to be... learning from an experience that proves where they fit... and what their strengths and weaknesses are... I however disagree with anyone who thinks this UofM team is as good as they seemed to appear today early on.... They are going to struggle against teams that can exploit their inability to pass consistently, and their inability to cover the crossing routes without incurring pass interference penalties... Anyone who forces them to pass predominantely will make it very difficult on them... Forcier made some incredible throws today... but doing it consistently could prove to be an issue...
The true test for both these teams will be next weekend...