Daily Brews: Urban Meyer on Michigan offense says ‘something that wasn’t right got fixed’

Michigan fans have made it well-known that they do not care much for Urban Meyer or what he has to say about the program, but even if we believe this stint in broadcasting is but a detour before taking another coaching job, anyone who has a shred of objectivity has to at least respect a little of what he has brought to the table as an analyst.

His latest takeaway from Michigan football is how the team has clicked over the last game and a half and has finally started to look like the team we expected to see in the preseason. His thoughts on what was going on in Ann Arbor mirror a lot of what fans and voices close to home have said about the team.

“I made a comment several weeks ago that people that are out there started blaming the players and that they have bad players … that’s nonsense, or bad coaching, that’s nonsense,” Meyer said during an appearance this week on Big Ten Network. “There was something wrong. We saw it and I watched it against Wisconsin. I watched it really closely. I know the players they’ve got. They’ve got very good coaches and very good players.

“Something just wasn’t right. Whatever was not right got fixed. That’s a credit to the coaching staff and leaders on that team. They played that way the second half vs. Penn State, a great, great game. You started to see that enthusiasm and energy and toughness they’re known to have. Against Notre Dame, that was a thorough A to Z beating. The energy and effort on defense. Shea Patterson staying alive, moving his feet and making plays down field,” Meyer said. “That’s what we all expected out of them.”

We’ll have more on some theories that expand on this line of thinking later on today. The main takeaway is maybe things were never as bad as we thought they were.

Michigan named one of SI’s biggest winners from weekend

Laken Litman has named the Michigan Wolverines as one of the biggest winners from college football action last weekend and, like Meyer above and most of the rest of us, is seeing a team rebound from a rough start and give itself a chance to do something special with this season.

Here’s why the Wolverines came out as one of the top winners:

“On a wet evening in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines beat the Irish with quarterback Shea Patterson completing just six passes (!) while relying on a running game that racked up 303 yards. Hassan Haskins led the way with 149 yards on 20 carries while Zach Charbonnet had 79 yards with two touchdowns.

Michigan has two losses, an inexplicable one to Wisconsin and a close call against Penn State. Both were on the road. But it’s looking more like a team that’s found its way and still has time to prove itself. They almost certainly won’t make it to the Big Ten championship game or the College Football Playoff, but the Wolverines will still get a shot at rivals Michigan State and Ohio State, the latter being a potential monumental—and first—win for Harbaugh.”

On the flip side, Notre Dame was named the biggest loser of last weekend. And, well, you just hate to see that.

Other Brews

• The NCAA has begun the process of to move forward with potential player name and likeness compensation. This does not mean what a lot of people think it means in terms of this being done and over it, and the NCAA has laid it out here. There’s a lot of work to do and the NCAA isn’t quite out of the woods on this issue yet.
• Here’s an interesting tidbit via a reddit poster. Assuming both Michigan and Ohio State win out heading into their showdown on Nov. 30, this year’s edition of The Game will see the winner emerge with the highest winning percentage in the history of college football.
• PJ Fleck’s team is firing on all cylinders, but during an off week, he’s giving playing goalie a try for the Gophers’ hockey team.