Michigan football coach Brady Hoke has 'marathon' list of issues to correct this week
The Michigan football team won its opener by 24 points, yet coach Brady Hoke has a “marathon” list of issues he said he needs to address.
Two of his most-pressing concerns after Saturday’s 34-10 victory against Western Michigan: Miscommunication in the secondary and faulty special teams.
Brady Hoke, left, says there are plenty of areas for the Wolverines to improve in before facing Notre Dame on Saturday night.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
The Wolverines face Notre Dame on Saturday in the first night game of Michigan Stadium’s 84-year history. They are seeking their third consecutive win against the Fighting Irish (0-1).
First, though, Hoke hopes to tighten up coverage in his secondary, which he said blew several assignments against the Broncos.
“We had some missed alignments that were based on communication that you can’t have — or lack of communication,” Hoke said.
Hoke mentioned sophomore safeties Marvin Robinson and Thomas Gordon as two players who need to improve their communication in the backfield.
“Marvin was getting his feet wet a little more in game-atmosphere kinds of situations," he said. "There’s a lot with the communication we need to have more of back there. He’s got to be more vocal. He’s not a real vocal guy anyway.
“I think Thomas played well, but there’s some things that I know that he wasn’t satisfied with that he needs to improve upon. But he’s had a tremendous camp.”
Part of Gordon's struggles stemmed from playing a little out of position after starting cornerback Troy Woolfolk went down with a left ankle sprain and did not return. Overall, though, Hoke said Gordon did well making the adjustment.
“We asked him to do a lot because Troy went down,” Hoke said. “He moved into nickel in that situation. I think we were OK there. I think there’s a lot that we need to do a heck of a lot better this week.”
On kickoff coverage, Michigan allowed the Broncos’ Dervon Wallace to average 31.3 yards per return, which could precipitate personnel changes on coverage teams this week.
“Our kickoff coverage will get a lot of attention, from where we place the ball on the kick to how we get off blocks going down the field,” Hoke said. “There could be some different faces out there. It’ll be a fun week, we’ll put it that way.”
Elsewhere on special teams, Michigan placekicker Brendan Gibbons had an extra-point attempt blocked.
“You can’t get knocked back, and that was part of the one that got blocked,” Hoke said. “A big part of it was because we got knocked back too much. Another problem was that the snap was too high. It took Gibbons a little longer to approach the ball because of that."
On offense, Hoke saw two areas for improvement: “We've got to do a better job staying on some blocks down the field, because there are some opportunities for some other bigger plays in the run game.
“Our routes, we broke a couple of them off early. Our receivers have got to be more disciplined within the scheme.”
Of course, through all the first-game faults, there’s one very important reality: Michigan won the game by 24 points, and it addressed some of its defensive struggles by layering in various blitz packages midway through the second quarter.
That matters more than anything else, Hoke said. But, these are the flaws he said he’ll try to remedy this week as he breaks down film and prepares his team for the Fighting Irish.
Kyle Meinke covers Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2588, by email at kylemeinke@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @kmeinke.
Comments
Keith
Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 12:37 a.m.
It is awesome to see a coach that is holdong the TEAM accountable, and not placing blame on talent, empty cupboards or individual players... Beat ND and Go Blue!!!
truebluefan
Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 12:19 a.m.
Here are the issues as I see them, in order of importance: 1) Getting pressure on the QB without having to sell out on a blitz. Our defense was very pedestrian when not catching WMU like a deer in the headlights on a blitz. 2) Kickoff coverage. Enough said. The ND game will probably come down to the wire, like last year. A field goal by either team will be the difference.
bigblue
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 11:06 p.m.
I really like Michigan's chances in this game. kelly put a whole lot of pressure on rees. last year when rees was lighting us up he came of the bench. now he has to think all week about that Mattison D. kelly has even more pressure on him than his qb. he is gonna be on the hot seat if he loses this game. the irish were supposed to have a "easy" schedule this year. if they start out 0-2 they might have to struggle just to stay .500. with the video tragedy of last year and his outrageous performance on the sideline last week, kelly is treading on thin ice. this could end up being one of those Michigan over N.D blow outs that we've seen a few of the last 10 years.
Meangoblue
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 6:02 p.m.
there is this one guy that I know, and he said.......... MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEANchigan football will return from the smoke, Do not fret MEEEEANchigan faithful, we have a great leader in Hoke! I will be doing an autograph signing session at half time of this weeks historic night game at the Big House. I will be outside section 72. Look for the guy surrounded by voluptuos ladies wearing size 48 levis, a milwuaukee"s best t-shirt and custom made blue and gold rhinestone cowboy hat and boots. Please no MCC members.......
cutty240
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 5:25 p.m.
Notre Dame will play much better than Western Michigan did.Western Michigan just came and picked up a Check.Remember you got over a Half Million a year invested in your DC.
DonAZ
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 5:40 p.m.
That presumes Western Michigan did not care if they won or lost, and that's simply not true. I assure you they would have loved to win that game AND pick up their check. A victory over Michigan would have done good things for their program. Consistency of thought and reasoned logic is a good thing.
heartbreakM
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 4:21 p.m.
All of the media seems to be writing this is as a Notre Dame win based on Michigan's poor defense last year and based on Notre Dame's returning talent and finish of last year. Thing that doesn't make sense to me, though, is that DR had a record breaking performance last year and should be better given another year of seasoning (not to mention a better O-line and better running back support, at least on paper). Why does nobody figure that Notre Dame still cannot stop DR? I think that bodes well for Michigan, but Floyd scares me a lot and this is Notre Dame after all, against whom weird things happen all the time!! I think it will be another high scoring affair and will be a typical down to the wire game. I like Michigan's chances and hope that the run defense shores itself up.
David Vande Bunte
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 3:54 p.m.
RichRod would have patted Gregg Robinson on the back for that performance, and Hoke points to lingering issues. This is why I love Hoke. Okay simply is not good enough, he demands excellence, even when the team wins convincingly. I believe that you only get from your team what you hold them accountable for, that if you don't demand excellence, you won't get it. No resting on laurels. I love that Brady Hoke is holding the team accountable for poor decision making, even during a huge blowout win.
Blu n Tpa
Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 3:17 p.m.
DVB "Boys, what did I teach you about shooting?" "Aim small miss small". Which translate's to try to be perfect and IF you miss, it wont be by much.
David Vande Bunte
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 9:24 p.m.
If you don't expect much, you won't get much. It's as simple as that, Blu.
Blu n Tpa
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 7:57 p.m.
DVB You talk like a coach or a teacher, same thing in my book, and like a lot of us here abouts understand why success wasn't to be had by the WCSiMFH circa 2008-10. (I know UM played 1/1/11 but they weren't coached during that game so I don't count it.) You have to set the bar as high as you can and then make sure everybody understands that "almost" isn't good enough. TiM Go Blue!
David Vande Bunte
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 6:42 p.m.
Defensive touchdowns are part of the game. They happened. It's also possible that had they not been returned for touchdowns, the offense would have scored anyway. Either way, 24 point lead before the end of the 3rd quarter is a blowout, and Michigan was driving deep into WMU territory to score more. By the end of the 3rd it could have easily been 41-10. Once Michigan adjusted defensively, the game was over. Once Mattison started putting pressure on Carder, he folded. Yeah, there is still work to be done, there always is. No defense is ever perfect, not even our beloved 97-98 team that won the National Championship. There is ALWAYS room for improvement. But c'mon guys, given the weather, coaching staff changes and changes to both defensive and offensive schemes, Michigan did just fine for a game 1.
lugemachine
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 5:53 p.m.
Not sure I'd call that a "huge blowout win". Had the pick-six and the fumble return not happened, the score may have been very different going into the second delay... and they likely would have had to finish the game. Can't rely on defensive touchdowns every week. Much work yet to be done on defense and special teams.
DonAZ
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 5:46 p.m.
Rodriguez would have look across the room at Greg Robinson and said, "Who is that guy, anyway? What does he do?" Someone would answer, "He's your defensive coordinator, coach." And Rodriguez would say, "Defense? What's that? I don't know anything about that."
MRunner73
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 3:27 p.m.
It is refreshing to see this Head Coach not afraid to point out what needs fixing. There are basically three more non conference games to fix things before we get into the Conference part of our schedule. By then, we should be more consistent. Either Minnesota is a much improved team or USC was greatly overrated to escape with close win over MN, so the Wolverines need to be ready in October. I am confident Coach Hole will make the adjustments needed to see an improved kick off return team coverage. It would be nice if our guys could kick the ball deep in the end zone, wind permitting. Hopefully, Will Hagerup should be able to do that, but he will sit out three more games.
BlueGator
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 7:04 p.m.
If I recall correctly, lugemachine, Hagerup did do quite a bit of the kickoffs late last season, so I think DonAZ is correct in that regard.
lugemachine
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 5:48 p.m.
Coach Hole was fired. ...and Hagerup is a punter.
DonAZ
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 3:27 p.m.
I'm not quite as optimistic as chiro19 above. I think Hoke and staff are correct in sounding a cautious note about progress achieved. I suspect Notre Dame is a better football team than the loss to South Florida suggests. They are not, however, a great football team. But neither is Michigan at this point. So while Michigan has a realistic opportunity to defeat Notre Dame this Saturday, it is not a sure thing. Which is why Hoke and staff are not taking their foot off the gas pedal.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 8:31 p.m.
Indeed. ND had three turnovers in the Red Zone. Much as we cannot count on our having 14 defensive points this week, we cannot count on ND going into the Red Zone three times and coming up empty. Good Night and Good Luck
chiro19
Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 3:14 p.m.
So if the game on sat. was continued what would the score be and would Mark May still be disappointed? I think it would have been around 51-17 and Carder may not be alive (most likely he would have been removed from the game at the end of the 3rd quarter). On a lighter note: ND is now ranked 1st in the nation because of there great loss against USF! The only voter in this poll was Lou Holtz. What a goof ball. ND may lose 8 games this year. I have a sneaky feeling this game on Sat. is going to be a lot like 06', ND is suppose to be the greatest team ever (Brady Quinn could play for most NFL teams) and michigan stomps them! The only part of the game I dont see as a miss match in favor of michigan this coming Sat. is the kickoffs and linebackers. The linebackers from michigan need to trust their positioning and they would have had 2 more interceptions against WMU. The Defense for michigan is not as good as previous ones prior to 07' but it is already tremendously better than 08'-10'! The fundamentals are starting to show. The positioning of Herron and Dbacks was much better, the D line didnt get great penetration but were tackling much better as well as the linebackers. There are only about 5-10 qb's in college right now that can handle a consitant blitz package, even if it is getting picked up (Luck, Jones, Moore, Barkley, Keenum). Pressuring the QB and forcing him to make accurate quick passes wins football games and is exactly what we saw against WMU. Herron was not lucky or fortunate, he was in great position to make a huge play twice and good for him! Carder I will admit is a talented QB with a lot of upside if he can get protection. Plus, it is great to see positive records being broken and not negative ones! Go Blue and smash ND!