Kirk Herbstreit called Michigan's first game of the season against Minnesota and he came away extremely impressed with how the Wolverines played, specifically how the offensive line and running backs took the pressure off QB Joe Milton and allowed him to do his thing.
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But as impressed as Herbstreit was with the Wolverines in their first game, he was equally unimpressed with their performance against a Michigan State team that was coming off a terrible loss to Rutgers.
On Monday, Herbstreit was on the CFB Podcast and he said the Wolverines were “exposed.”
“I keep wanting Michigan to get back to being Michigan so badly for the Big Ten and I think it's great for college football,” Herbstreit said on Monday's episode of the CFB Podcast with Herbie, Pollack & Neghandi. “They're one of those brands like a USC or a Texas or Florida State. It's great when they're good.
“To me — I haven't broken down the entire game. I watched a lot of it. They didn't look like they were — the Minnesota game, I called, I walked out of there like, ‘My gosh. Four new offensive linemen. These four (running) backs they got. Controlling the line of scrimmage. Taking it off of (fourth-year junior quarterback and first-year starter Joe) Milton, letting him be efficient, not for him to win the game. They don't have a dynamic receiver, but that's OK if they can control the line of scrimmage.'
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“And in the Michigan State game, I think they got exposed for not having that offensive line that looked so good against Minnesota. They were not controlling things up front. And then when they couldn't, now they've got to rely on Milton and these receivers that are just kind of solid at this point but nobody that you can hang your hat on.
“And I thought, defensively, (coordinator) Don Brown — we all know what he's going to do and (fourth-year junior quarterback Rocky) Lombardi throws for 323 with three touchdowns and the young freshman (wide receiver), Ricky White, I think he almost had 200 yards receiving by himself. So you've got to have corners to run that system that he runs and that game I think their corners got exposed.”
