Big Ten Network analyst Marcus Ray had a feeling this one might be coming. On the podcast, the talks about how Michigan-Penn State played out.
Ray broke down the breakdowns on defense, and Michigan's game-but-overwhelmed efforts on offense in the 42-13 loss. He also talked about what's ahead for Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines.
Here's the podcast…
Here are some podcast highlights, including Ray on…
• Penn State’s lopsided win over Michigan: “Number one, Michigan can’t match up with Penn State, when Penn State has the football. That’s just glaring.
“I didn’t make any predictions. I don’t want to say out of my mouth that Michigan is going to get blown out. I believed that in my heart, but it just doesn’t come out of my mouth right, publicly. That’s not what I want to happen.
“I watched this team play man-to-man against a team you can’t play man against, especially in the red zone, especially putting a receiver against linebackers. Penn State out-coached them, they out-schemed them.
“Offensively, I thought Michigan did okay. I wasn’t all the way upset with the offense. I thought [fifth-year senior quarterback] John O’Korn showed some stuff. He fought back. Those kids were fighting in that running game, trying to get it going.
“Do you know that when [sophomore cornerback] David Long got that interception, they were in Cover Two to that side, something that would have beat Penn State? But you want to go man-to-man and blitz and have nobody in run support? That’s the kind of stuff that scared me.”
• PSU quarterback Trace McSorley hurting Michigan with the run: “It killed Michigan. On Thursday night, on the Big Ten Network, they asked which quarterback was going to have the best performance this weekend. I said Trace McSorley.
“It’s got nothing to do with anything other than what Penn State runs versus what Michigan does defensively. It’s like Kryptonite. A mobile quarterback, you play all this man-to-man, and when you get misdirection … Michigan State showed you that.
“All you’ve got to do is get a little misdirection, and then eyes go bad, guys are in the wrong spot, and you outnumber them. You just can’t do that. You can’t do that against a mobile quarterback…
“Trace McSorley is legit. He plays in a great system, too. You can’t play man-to-man and blitz and expect these linebackers to put their eyes on a running back and then come back and help tackle the quarterback.”
• Michigan fighting back to make it a game at the half: “Michigan won that field position battle in that second quarter. That’s what Michigan has to do to help their offense. They barely got in on the fourth down.
“You had fourth-and-goal, and thank goodness that No. 7 [Koa Farmer] for Penn State jumped inside, rather than forcing the ball back inside to his help, and [junior running back] Karan [Higdon] made a play.
“David Long made a great play and saved the blowout, in the first half. But once Michigan fought back, they spent their money. Penn State took Michigan’s best punch. Michigan missed the extra point.
“They never made it a game again, for Penn State to have to be worried. They knew in the second half they were getting ready to run off with it, because they’ve got the pieces and the scheme to out-man you and what you do …
“I think Michigan is two years away from being really good.”
• Too-high expectations for this team coming in: “It’s three things. It’s drinking Kool-Aid. You drink Kool-Aid, and it tastes good at first … then it makes you sick. That’s Kool-Aid drink talk.
“The other one is ooo-wee. It’s smokin’ that ooo-wee. When you smoke it, and then then you look at the score, you go, OOO-WEE! Right?
“Then there’s the matrix. There’s the red pill, the green pill and the blue pill. Then when you take that pill, you say, ‘Oh, wait a minute.’ There’s a game within the game.
“You’ve got pill poppin’, Kool-Aid drinkin’, and ooo-wee smokin’. That’s the maybe talk. But then there’s a guy who is completely sober, saying, ‘This ain’t looking good, but I’m fine with it. This ain’t the time. They’ve got a better team. This is what’s going to happen, and let’s keep it movin’.’”
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