When Michigan went into halftime down 24-14 to Northwestern at Ryan Field, I shared two thoughts with my father.
1. Man, are we lucky that Northwestern could only muster a field goal on the last drive after dropping an easy touchdown pass with two seconds left... and
2. Michigan’s going to win this game.
My father, from whom I inherited a heavy dose of pessimism with regards to my preferred sports teams, was taken aback with my calm, confident demeanor. By that point, he was just hoping that the game’s outcome wouldn’t ruin the remainder of my weekend vacation in Atlanta.
But despite the fact that Denard Robinson couldn’t avoid throwing the ball to players in colored jerseys (perhaps the large number of Michigan fans at Ryan Field confused Denard into thinking it was a sixth consecutive home game?), and despite the fact that, for the first time this year, Michigan’s defense more closely resembled its 2010 incarnation than the 2006 version (at least in the first half), I remained confident for one reason in particular.
Coaching.
[caption id="attachment_1014" align="alignnone" width="160" caption="Earning every penny"]
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More specifically, the in-game and halftime adjustments that the Michigan coaching continues to make on a weekly basis that have transformed the Michigan Wolverines from a team that would collapse at the mere glimpse of adversity into a team that utterly dominates the second half of football games.
Rich Rodriguez preached speed in every facet of the game. He demanded his team to play faster on both sides of the ball, and he wanted his offense to operate with an up-tempo style with the hopes of keeping the opposing defense off balance. He also preached getting out to fast starts, and his Michigan teams did that. In 2009, Michigan outscored its opponents 128-78 in the first quarter, and 229-164 in the first half. While these statistics are skewed some by weak opponents such as Delaware State, the fact that Michigan led, or was at least within striking distance of, most of its opponents at the half that year lends credence to Rodriguez’s penchant for fast starts. Unfortunately, that team was outscored 160-125 in the second half of games, which is how you end up with a 5-7 record.
Last year’s version of Michigan also had a knack for fast starts, outscoring its opponents 73-17 in the first quarter through six games, and 122-64 in the first quarter on the season. But as good as Michigan was in the first quarter, it was equally bad, if not much, much worse in the second, getting outscored 194-83 in the second quarter.
Yikes.
[caption id="attachment_1015" align="alignnone" width="255" caption="Michigan ended far too many games like this in RichRod era"]
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Bottom line, this boils down to coaching. The Rodriguez-led coaching staff clearly had solid gameplans entering each game (at least offensively), and these schemes were obviously difficult for other teams to prepare for. But just as clearly is the fact that each week, opponents made adjustments that would slow down Michigan’s offense, and Michigan’s staff was never able to make any counter-adjustments.
Now, contrast the numbers above with the numbers through six games this year, which may just be my favorite statistic of all time:
SCORE BY QUARTERS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
-------------------- --- --- --- --- ---
Michigan............ 35 79 52 62 - 228
Opponents........... 35 19 14 7 - 75
Yeah, you read that right. After being tied with its opponents through the first quarter, Michigan has outscored its opponents 193-40 in quarters two through four, and 114-21 in the second half.
[caption id="attachment_1016" align="alignnone" width="275" caption="Those numbers made my eyes pop out, too!"]
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Beyond the fact that those statistics are absurd, they are testaments to the ridiculous jobs coordinators Al Borges and Greg Mattison have accomplished thus far. In each and every game thus far, one or both coordinators have watched their charges struggle with some facet of the game early, made some tweaks to their gameplans, and watched their team dominate in the latter stages of the game.
Against Northwestern, after watching the Wildcats gouge Michigan with multiple options in the first half, Mattison went with a bigger lineup in the second half that better helped the team with containment. After witnessing “Bad Denard” unleash wild throws to nobody in particular in the first half, Borges simplified the attack in the second half, dialing up ten fewer passes in the second half compared to the first, something you don’t typically see when a team is attempting to come back from a deficit.
After just six games, it’s reached a point where I have absolute faith that this team is NEVER going to be outcoached, a refrain that was unheard of even during the Lloyd Carr era, during which Michigan fans would repeatedly watch a team with more talent than almost all its opponents continually find itself in unnecessarily close games, or blowing leads (2005 OSU), or getting completely out-schemed and out-worked (hello App State).
Michigan will run into teams with more talent (this weekend in particular, as much as it pains me to say it), and Michigan is not going to go undefeated in 2011. But Brady Hoke and his staff have instilled in his team that while it helps to get off to good starts, it’s how you finish games that ultimately matters. This year, Michigan’s finishing games with utmost authority (62-7!!!).
[caption id="attachment_1017" align="alignnone" width="264" caption=""Finish him!""]
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And that, my friends, is how you start a season 6-0.
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