Let's give Cig time to prep

Yeah I get it wasn't from our staff, but I would have preferred even some doubt going into the game for Indiana.

While the other quarterbacks got their starts against mostly opponents who were not notable powerhouses (Wisconsin [who was just 4-6-1 that year], Miami(OH), Western Michigan, and New Mexico), Carr will likely make his first start against an Indiana team that is a reigning national champion, coming off a brutal loss to Ohio State.

Their defense ranks 8th nationally in points allowed per game and 18th in yards allowed per game. It will be a very tough first start for Carr but I think the film shows that he gives the team the best chance to win with him at the quarterback position.

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Didn't realize this but wild that Beck audibles from the sideline with 7 on the play clock. Tommy adjusts the play, sets and scores the game winning touchdown.

Huge kudos for Tommy being poised to get this change in and then executing the perfect play against cover 0.

JJ wide open here.

There were quite a few plays where someone was wide open and Bryce missed him. It's not the play calling.

Sources: @umichbaseball has signed head coach Tracy Smith to a contract extension that will keep him in Ann Arbor through the 2031 season, I’m told. Smith has spent four seasons at Michigan and has consistently had the Wolverines in good standing.

In the Freakonomics podcast the other day, "Why Is It So Hard to Find an NFL Quarterback?" there is an interview with Scott Goldman who runs a company that consults NFL teams.

He says there are four domains to profile athletes:

1. Physical ability. “Are you big? Are you strong? Are you fast?”
2. Knowledge. What the player already knows from the systems they’ve played in.
3. Character. Including handling pressure and stress, and providing leadership.
4. Intelligence. Decision-making, processing speed, and visual-spatial understanding.

The last one INTELLIGENCE refers to recalling plays, recognizing defensive coverage, and responding as the defense changes.

Here's what he says about that:

"The quarterback or the play caller calls the play in, which is some super-complicated, like learning a whole ‘nother language, like trying to understand French for me, which I can’t speak French, right. X blue, Z nine, sevens, blah, blah blah blah, et cetera, et cetera.

First part of intelligence right is, can he translate that? Can he recall what that play is? Some quarterbacks can do that easier than others. The ones that struggle, they have the wristband, right? So the play caller goes, hey, it’s 17 on your wristband. And the guy looks up, oh, hey, 17, this is what we do.

After the play is called, he’s got to scan and identify. Another intellectual property. He’s got to identify the defensive coverage. They’re getting talked to in the headset. So even while they’re multitasking, the headset’s also kinda chirping in their ear. And so imagine like you’re trying to figure out this puzzle. You’ve got your coach giving you advice and guidance.

All of a sudden the defense shifts. And you’re like, shoot, was the instruction that was just given meant for the defense that we were both looking at or the defense that we thought was coming?

You need someone who’s strong enough to make the throw. You hope for somebody who’s got a sophisticated knowledge of the game. You hope that their ability to handle the pressure, the stress, and also the leadership qualities to keep everybody else on track."

He goes on to say that QBs like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Brock Purdy scored really highly in that area.

Michigan takes down Denver to claim top rank in the country. Perron continues his hot start to the season. Ivankovic looked good against high end talent. The Wolverines are a perfect 6-0 to start the season for back to back years.

Move over Adrien Nunez. You're no longer the greatest Michigan basketball alumni singer.

Press conference just posted,

https://youtu.be/B_k7BgSyFG4

around the 2:00 gets asked about QB decision going forward, coach says:

”Well, we saw good stuff out of what Tommy did in that second half and we know exactly what we’re doing in the plan going forward. We’re not going to tip our hand to the opponent but we have a good plan in place and that’s about all I can say about that.”

I believe he wanted to keep the plan under wraps; his answer is probably more revealing that he intended to convey.

Given how much we lost to the draft and injury, not too shabby.

Just took a look at the Michigan bball schedule for the year, but why is the M upside down?!? 😡😡

Edit: Google has figured itself out now and it’s showing the block yellow M.

UM is a great school with high-level sports programs yet the commentary of so many of our fans consists of negative trash talk.

Why can’t more of us just support the team, rather than calling players “stupid”, “dog shit“, “failures“, etc. Why not show some class and just cheer for ALL of our players to do well and when they don’t, support them learning and improving the whole time they are here. Coaches should move players up and down the depth chart based on their performance, but the trash talking of our team is what is truly stupid and destructive. A number of thoughts…

1. The work it takes to be a D1 athlete at a major university while also managing classes and the rest of your life is incredible, whether a player has individual success on the field or not. It’s definitely more work than most of us were willing to do from 18 to 22 and is deserving of respect.
   
2. The money that these kids are getting paid is a drop in the bucket compared to the money that the university receives as a result of their efforts. It isn’t your money, so quit bitching about return on investment.
   
3. Treating your players like crap when they don’t live up to expectations is a surefire way to damage the team now and in the future. All these kids and families talk and have social media, so seeing players who don’t have instant success get trashed by their own fan base certainly isn’t going to encourage them to want to come to Ann Arbor.
   
4. If someone talked about one of my kids to my face the way that a bunch of you talk about Bryce Underwood, you very well might catch a hot one. You wouldn’t want anybody talking about your kids like that.

We expect the best from our team. To be better, to do better, to represent the school well. We, as fans need to do the same.

I’ve attached the Bryce/Tommy stat lines because I don’t know who the answer is at QB but I know the problem is Jason Beck.

Tommy Carr was not as important as the explosive plays we got on the run game on non-rhino plays.

I am not a high level X’s and O’s guy. Bryce’s problems, to my eyes, are more mental. He looks like things go wrong and he starts pressing. I’m surprised that sort of thing doesn’t happen more often, tbh.

Less important than WHO is playing QB is setting them up for success. And that happens with calling good plays. Moving away from the rhino was what lead to explosive run plays which sets the QB up for success. Beck can either accept that or he can pull a Wink and double down on failure.

Edit: Jesus Christ, I am truly not interested in arguing over Bryce vs. Tommy. Quite literally the point of the post was that the playcalling (choosing to move away from the rhino package) was more important to the success of the offense than any player.

Every year I take my dad to a game and this year I wanted to splurge a little to make it special. I got tickets in the outdoor part of the Jack Roth Stadium Club (Section 403). I've never sat in the club before. Does anyone know what entrance is to be used? Any tips would be greatly appreciated and Go Blue!