Wednesday, November 14, 2007

What Michigan needs to do in order to beat the Buckeyes

I always try to be as unbiased as I can on this site....however, today that goes out the window as I preview what Michigan needs to do in order to beat Ohio State this Saturday....


Offense -
hope offensive coordinator Mike DeBord gets kidnapped before the game - realistically that is now going to happen.....
#1. Mario Manningham must get the ball in his hands at least 10 times - DeBord cannot use Mario as a decoy....they kid is a playa and gamebreaker....Mario caught only three passes last week against Wisky - that is unacceptable....DeBord should cross OSU up by lining Mario up in the backfield along with Hart and allow him to run a sweep....
#2 Be creative on offense - I am not saying to run 5 trick plays....but Michigan needs to show some diversity instead of just running Hart up the middle and throwing the screen pass in the flat.....I know if Ryan Mallett ends up playing, that will not be the case because Michigan scales back the playbook for the freshman....but if Chad Henne is playing, Michigan needs to be creative.....
#3 Use play action - Michigan is so predictible when they are going to run Hart....that is when DeBord must call a play action pass....stick that ball right into Hart's gut to suck the defense up then hit then send both Mario and Arrington on a post pattern down the field....it is a guaranteed six points

Defense - just when it looked like the defense was starting to get better, Wisky sliced them up like a piece of Swiss.....
#1 Stop the run - we all know Gentleman Jim wants to establish the running game with Chris Wells....if Ohio State is able to run at will, the Wolverines will be in another shootout like last season....the Michigan defensive line must win the battle against Ohio State's offensive line to not allow running lanes...
#2 Hit Boeckman - Michigan must get to the quarterback and make him feel pain....they do not have to cheapshot Boeckman, but they must make him get “happy feet”.....he cannot get comfortable in the pocket and just throw at will....Shawn Crable has been a monster at de/lb, but he must also play smart instead of getting those unsportsmanlike calls like he did in last year's game and against Wisky last week....

Special teams - when was the last time Michigan blocked a punt?.....can anyone tell me????.....that is the one must - block a punt!!!!.....

1 comment:

Ryan said...

Your points are spot on. I think we need a healthy Henne and Hart for the whole game.

I remember this same feeling a few years back when the Red Wings were getting ready to play the Av's and just blew them out of the water and put a big black spot on ROY's resume, may the same happen to buckeye nation on Saturday!