Grading the Bucks: Week 14: TTUN

Short writeup as finals are breathing down my neck. In short, very nervous to have lost JT.

Offense: B
This will be a repeated mantra throughout this post: Michigan is terrible.  With the way this offense has been chugging, this should have been a massacre.  Yes, the UM defense is 'statistically' pretty good, but teams didn't have to score on offense to win.  I am very concerned with the lack of carries by Elliot (which should change this week).  He's a beast and needs to be fed.  JT is still my boy, but the play calling was really weird.  The deep bombs where absolutely perfect so credit to JT (Braxton can't make those downfield tosses).  With that said, there was far too many punts for my liking.  I think Wisconsin's defense is comparable, but we need more dynamic play.  Dynamic doesn't necessarily mean flashy...maybe a SLANT or SCREEN.

Defense: C
See above: Michigan sucks.  That first toss by Gardner was the worst throw I've ever seen...and yet, he was able to move the ball fairly consistently which is unacceptable.  The wolverines haven't run the ball with success...until facing this team.  Funchess returned to form but I wonder if that was due to Doran Grant having what I consider a terrible game.  Our run defense has been shaky all year (not happy about Melvin next week), but the pass defense has been pretty good...until this week.  There is no excuse for letting the Wolverines score multiple TDs with as anemic as there offense has been.  Yeah, they scored a defensive TD to seal it, but the stupid plays (looking at you Bosa) outweigh the good.  Need to tighten it up...not worthy of the title Bullets this week. 4 drives of 75+ yards....unacceptable.

Special Teams: B
Nothing special here.  One good thing: no kicks out of bounds...YAY!! But...Jalin, CATCH THE BALL!!  Yes, he picked it up and ran well, but stop putting the ball on the ground! Good punting and decent return game.  That's all I have to say about that.

Coaching: C-
Yes, the 4th down call worked, and I'll give credit for a great play design, but I still don't understand the refusal to sneak the ball on 4th and inches with a MONSTER at QB.  Cardale ain't come to play school, but he came to push people around.  Let him do it.  Also, Zeke's helmet came off an he exited the field on a 3rd and 1...so the coaches made the obvious play call and ran the scat back up the middle into a pile...stuff...punt.  Huh? What's with the call? Samuel isn't a bruiser.  If you need him in there, don't run a play that runs counter to his skill set.  Offensively and defensively, this was an oddly coached game.  They'll need to earn their pay as we're on to option 3 at QB facing a beast at RB (but we've faced some other good backs too).
One side note: I've heard people blaming the coaches for JT's injury...that's stupid.  JT made a bad read and got hit.  It was a fluke injury and in no way the fault of the coaches 'putting him into harm's way'.  Violent game leads to unfortunate injuries from time to time.

Overall: B-
No JT can potentially be devastating to this team. I am very nervous for Cardale, but let's hope the things the coaches say are better than coachspeak.  Wisconsin is a much better offense than Michigan so game on.