The Game Reactions or How I Stopped Defending Al Borges and Want Him Fired

Loyal readers, I'm a very vocal sports fan.  I feel bad for anyone who has ever had to watch a game with me.  I spend the entire time pointing out this and that and getting very loud for both good plays and bad.  It's especially noticeable during Spurs games, Red Wings playoff games, and Michigan football rivalry games.  Today's game might rank as one of the all-time worst to have spent watching with me, I officially lost it during the second half, and it was all thanks to one man.

Ladies and gentlemen, the architect of the Michigan offense

Al Borges called a great first half of the Ohio State game.  He got the ball to the edge with Denard, he stretched the field with Devin throwing to Gallon and Roundtree, and he used a good mix of roll outs and play actions to get Devin into a groove.  The ball was moving, the points were accumulating and the defense was resting.  That is, in my book, all you can ask for from your offense.  Did they have a flawless first half? No, but it was a good playbook that was taking advantage of the Buckeyes' biggest weakness: open space tackling.

I've watched my fair share of Ohio State games this year, as some of my best friends from school are OSU fans.  Every Saturday, we get together and watch the Michigan and Ohio State games and all season long, Ohio State has struggled at tackling.  Purdue, Cal, and Indiana all stayed close in games they had no reason to be in because they got to the edge and the Buckeyes couldn't tackle.  Michigan State and Wisconsin lost close games because they refused to go outside, opting instead to rely on their shaky quarterbacks and runs up the gut.  The Michigan strategy in the first half played off the weakness I saw exploited by Indiana, Purdue, and Cal (three teams that went a combined 13-23 this season).  Three mediocre to terrible teams stuck with this undefeated Buckeye squad because of this weakness and here we were exploiting it.  At halftime, I was confident in our ability to win and just wanted the defense to tighten up a little.

Before I enter full-rant mode and call for the firing of Al Borges, let me just point out how utterly different his defensive counterpart has been for us.  Greg Mattison has transformed a terrible (and I mean, historically terrible) defense into a near juggernaut capable of shutting down anyone on any given day.  Take today's game as an example of Mattison's time here at Michigan.  Time and again, the Wolverines defense was put in a tough position in the second half.  After a first half where Ohio State was able to move the ball pretty well and scored 20 points, they easily could have folded and given up another 20+ points.  Instead, Mattison made some adjustments to the secondary, blitzed a little more often on third down (which truly caused havoc), and held Ohio State to only six points the final 30 minutes.  Mattison's adjustments and play-calling tightened up the defense and left the offense needing only to score six points in the second half to win.  Of course that did not happen and that is why I am writing this today.

Al Borges needs to be fired.  Show that man the door.  He has shown flashes of brilliance (see the Devin/Denard combo against Iowa, the play-calls against Notre Dame last season), but more times than not, I am left scratching my head at the completely illogical play-calling.  Today Stephen Hopkins missed block after block in the I-formation.  Rawls, Denard, and Smith all showed an inability to move the pile or bust a big run up the middle.  So WHY DID HE KEEP CALLING FOR RUNS UP THE GUT FROM THE I?!? The second half adjustments made no sense.  They were a reversion to Lloyd-ball.  Run, run, pass. Instead of bringing Denard in as a RB or WR, time and again, Denard was trotted out as a wildcat (only way to describe him because he presented no ability to pass, and thus instilled no fear as a quarterback).  Ohio State as a result would flood the box and have everybody pursue the ball.  How about once having Denard roll one way and have Funchess sneak back-door for a throwback on the flat?  How about once using Denard as a decoy?  Instead, the entire second half saw Denard take the snap and run right into the teeth of the Buckeyes defense.

Was that the worst of it? No and that's because his refusal to use Devin and Denard together led to a clearly flustered Gardner fall apart late in the game.  Where were the rollouts and short passes to get Devin into a groove again?  Instead, Devin was the designated cannon.  Great for the big play, but terrible for sustaining a drive.  Gardner looked out of sorts the entire second half, and I have to believe it was because he no longer was a quarterback.  He wasn't controlling the pace, moving the ball, and punishing the Buckeyes.  Instead, he'd get a chance on 1-2 plays every four downs to throw a deep out or post, then he'd return to the sideline to watch Denard run it right at Ohio State for no gain and now have to face another tough third down situation.  By time Devin was the full-time quarterback again, the offense was stagnant and Ohio State was buzzing on defense.  Why? Why did the offense from the first half (where Denard was in at QB 5 out of 12 snaps, which included three at quarterback when they were intending to run out the clock before he took it to the house) get mothballed?  I cannot determine any logical answer to this question and that is what is driving me crazy.

Could I have taken some time before writing this post? Yes.  Should I have? Probably.  As a result of not waiting, I probably sound like a raving lunatic, but I felt that I needed to get down in writing this feeling that is gnawing at me, burning a hole in my soul from the inside out.  What is it that is causing this breakdown of my football fan psyche, that is shredding the inside of my mind, rending it into tatters?  It finally dawned on me as that game ended.  Al Borges is supposed to be an offensive genius, a quarterback guru to led us into the promised land.  My dreams of Michigan football returning to any level of prominence relies on this man's ability to do what has been promised.  My hopes rely on a man whose second half game plan against a flawed defense reminded me all too much of Mike Debord and Terry Malone's Carr-era offenses.  This is the reason my football fan brain is in panic after that game, this is the reason I feel tattered and torn on the inside: a fear is growing larger, a fear that the Lloyd Carr offense I hated and despised has returned to my life and stomped out the last burning embers of hope I had of rooting for an intelligent, innovative offense at the University of Michigan.