I'm a fan of Mac but not so much endeared to his approach to the bowl. But then again, I'm a relic and many of my views are 20 years old or more. My opinion is clearly our team was not focused in terms of efficiently and consistently competing with the goal of defeating Michigan as the primary goal.
I think we moved the ball well enough in the first half to score more than a single TD (on a trick play no less). Much of it can be attributed to Treon and his legs, though he did make some good throws. However, his poor decision-making reared its head at a most inopportune time and our OL play was extremely poor yet again. Goolsby's drop of what may have been one of Treon's better throws this season summed up, to me, our lack of focus offensively.
Defensively, I think we played with more aggression (front seven) than we did proper technique and discipline. Brantley and others on the DL got way too far upfield too often trying to make a big play and the result was leaving an unprotected gap that the Wolverine backs could read and exploit. Likewise with the LBs. Davis (prior to his stinger) and Morrison took too many false steps that allowed them to get penned by a backside OL, leaving a wide cutback lane that, again, the UM RBs easily found and gashed us with. The secondary play, for the most part, just plain stunk. Safety play, or lack thereof, stood out. When we were in one or two-high man, the safeties were often not in position to help the CBs. Hargreaves, as has happened some the latter part of the season, played undisciplined, got burned, and wound up looking like anything but a lock as a first rounder. Clearly, his head was elsewhere. Poole, bless his heart, was no factor.
All told, what had been the lynch pin of the team and was largely responsible for our ten wins wilted at the end. Again, I am both proud and a little surprised still that we won ten and the east this season, but the last three games kind of knocked the shine off of what was accomplished. I'll be interested to see how the bowl affects us in preparations for next year as well as a strong finish in recruiting, as I don't see all of the positives just yet. Losing a hard fought, competitive game is one thing, but getting trounced with an inconsistent and, dare I say, a lackluster performance is quite another. If winning the game was not paramount, then we either have some prioritization that needs adjusting or my way of thinking does not and will not jive with that of the era we find ourselves in if yesterday is any indication of such.
