Al Borges' Michigan career should end with the season
There are many reasons why the offense sputtered time and time again this Saturday. Michigan's interior offensive line is atrocious. Devin Gardner is prone to turnovers and has no run game to lean on when times get tough.
With all that said, Borges still needs to go. Michigan capitalized on an errant Connor Cook pass by coming out and running the ball, instantly putting itself in a hole and squandering any opportunity to score. Everyone in football knows what you do when you've got your opponent reeling: get freaking aggressive. Al Borges saw the eyes of Pat Narduzzi and became scared.
The game plan was poor in general. Michigan failed to exploit the flats against Michigan State's coverages, continued to use play action despite it being totally ineffective, and managed to run for the fewest yards in school history. ESPN continued to pound away at the idea that the team with the most rushing yards would win the game, only to watch as Michigan ran for -48 yards. Negative forty-eight.
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This game didn't show us all that much. We knew Michigan's running game was terrible before we entered Saturday, and Michigan State's defense exploited it. We knew Devin Gardner was prone to turning the ball over, and we knew Al Borges could be utterly incompetent at times. We were also aware of Michigan's inability to pressure the quarterback. Everyone on Michigan's schedule is capable of beating the Wolverines.
I will say this: My faith in Brady Hoke's ability to manage his roster–coaches included– will be severely dampened if he makes the decision to keep Al Borges on the staff. Keeping Borges would only lead to mass panic in Ann Arbor, bringing back the nightmares once brought on by Mike DeBord. Michigan's roster will soon be elite from top to bottom, and no one wants to see that talent squandered away by someone ignorant enough to run into the teeth of a Spartan defense following a major change of momentum.