WTKA Roundtable 5/11/2023: I Like ’Em All

TCU After UFR:

• How disjoined was the offense? Lots because they weren't calling their run game on 3rd & 2, and they weren't calling their passing game on 2nd & long.
• Play-action was getting 25 yards per play because TCU was not going to leave their safeties back. They should have run the flea-flicker on the next play, and again after that, until the safety stayed back.
• RUN OUTSIDE! Frustrating that they didn't use the end-arounds and McCarthy's legs in the offense until very late in the game.
• Perspective: They still put up 45 points despite two turnovers inside the 2, a horrible touchdown-overturning review, and two pick-sixes.
• Constant wins against their nose didn't count because they'd throw another LB inside and bring down the safety. First Iso was fool's gold: Edwards beat a safety who came down at 3 yards.
• Michigan took way too long to figure out they could PA and attack on the edges.
• Passing game: haven't developed some of the things you do with a QB like JJ. Remember he was a young QB though. JJ's mechanics caused the first turnover, his lack of input contributed to the 2nd one.
• Guessing teams will use this strategy next year instead of sitting back like Iowa did. Teams are going to interpret Illinois/OSU/TCU as successes, and Kirk Campbell was part of the PSU Bombs Over Baghdad offense.
• QB run game? Michigan used a dumbed down version of the Ravens tricks with Lamar Jackson, but college players are too well trained and become free hitters. Find a medium between that and the way PSU beat the hell out of Trace McSorley and Sean Clifford.

Q&A Portion

• Breakout WR: Tyler Morris, then O'Leary, then Clemons is the order right now via Sam. Morris a chemistry with JJ, see him as a Ronnie Bell type. Seth notes Morris was on the field in high-leverage situations. O'Leary is a type they don't have with anyone else. Clemons is a year away; he's your next CJ.
• Mullings as a runner: They hadn't developed him for that situation. Seth: Fullbacks practice that dive play a million times because it's a high-rate fumble situation with how fast the snap comes. Appreciation for Khalid Hill: need a guy to spend time practicing that, and Mullings was practicing linebacker.
• Helow to Partridge? McNamara to McCarthy. LB is hard to coach, Barrett was a success story, Colson you wanted to see him further along after two years of starting. Helow did some work on the recruiting trail. Ernest Hausmann could be the best of them.

Portal Portal

• Spin from MSU is pathetic but they can't say the truth, which is outside of things every P5 school has (money, playing time) there's nothing to be loyal to.
• Hunter Dickinson: Tried the soft way, now he's speaking truth. Probably underrating what he got at Michigan because he's only talking about the real NIL versus projections—basketball, Dickinson excitement also came in well below projections. That's the NIL from the John Q. fans, which is our business too, and the amount of money you make in that business is correlated to success.
• NIL vs "NIL." The NIL from major donors is what he's getting from Kansas. When you sit down with these schools they tell you want the deal is, because they're used to operating that way. Michigan will get there, but even if the program is on board, their donors also need to be converted from old school thinking, and that's going to take time. Football donors are there; the basketball collective effort isn't there yet.