MGoFilm Analysis 3.0: Breaking Down Sacks & Scrambles vs Michigan State

Photo Credit: Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog

Let’s face it, there was plenty to be upset about in Michigan’s 14-10 loss against the Spartans last weekend. While the 5 turnovers was surely towards the top of the “tear my hair out” list, I found in my analysis that there were other areas in the offense to direct my frustration.

In trying to get over the loss, I threw myself into the offensive struggles, notably the pass plays that resulted in sacks and/or scrambles. O’Korn never looked comfortable, and boy did it show up on film. While there has been a lot of talk of the continued issues at the right tackle position, there are other areas of the offense that are struggling and struggling mightily. Check out the video below to take a look for yourself:

There were additional plays similar in nature that I didn’t quite get to, but the consensus throughout all of these plays is:

  1. O’Korn was not going through his reads – More often than not if his first read wasn’t open, he was taking off. He clearly wasn’t comfortable in the pocket and didn’t pay attention to his outlets when he scrambled. Moving forward, he needs to trust his OL (even though he probably shouldn’t) and properly progress through his options.
  2. RT is not great – It doesn’t seem like there is an easy solution to this, either. I’m guessing maybe Michigan will shift Bredeson out and bring in Ruiz at guard, but it’s hard to say at this point. JBB did provide decent run blocking, but neither options at RT are worth much in pass protection. This is definitely in a “break glass in case of emergency” situation, and I’m not sure there is an axe behind that broken glass.
  3. O’Korn didn’t have much help – No, O’Korn wasn’t great. No, hardly anybody else was giving him much help. Perry is good and, for the most part, the TEs are solid options as well. A couple RBs missed on pass protection and had some critical drops. The play-calling wasn’t necessarily terrible, but a lot of these plays turned into sacks since they featured nothing but long-developing routes. With a RT that is struggling immensely and RBs missing blitz pickups, giving your QB multiple short options as well as some deep ones would be wise.

I’m not hopeful for tomorrow’s game against Indiana, but hey, 5 turnovers are hard to replicate. Let’s pray the staff makes it a bit easier for the offense all around and gives O’Korn more opportunities to seize. If he actually executes on them is anyone’s guess.

What did you think of the game film analysis? Tells us what you think and if you have any other parts of the games this season that you’d like to see analyzed and broken down. We’re all ears in the comment section below! 

Also, make sure to Subscribe to the MGoFish YouTube channel so you won’t miss out on any MGoFilm Analysis, Game Highlights, Hype Videos or Recruiting Highlights/Commitment Videos!

Stephen Osentoski
Elsewhere