Michigan 12, BYU 9 FINAL (Sat, 3/1/08)

[Sonny]

I agree. Quint does a great job as an announcer.

It's BYUtv. Their network, their announcers. When we get MCLAtv covering our games independently, you can be more critical. Until then, count yourself lucky that we have any of our games on the tube. TV is VERY expensive.

Michigan Press release is up with a few photos:
http://www.collegelax.us/news/?p=6910

[Sonny]

BYU press release is up with a few pics now:
http://www.collegelax.us/news/?p=6918

[Has No Left]

WATCH the video replay here. Follow the on-screen instructions.

[Dan Wishengrad]

Congrats to JP and the Wolverines for a huge road win. Michigan is playing very well out of the gate. These early results should mean a significant shake-up at the the top of the polls next time...

[Zamboni_Driver]

I just finished the BYU-Michigan game online. I have a few comments, and was wondering what some others thought. (Now these are inherantly critical, but they are not meant to be disparaging against either team - I think both are very talented and will be at the top at the end of the year)

Overall: Very talented, hard running guys on both sides of the field. But I was suprised at the amount the ball was on the ground. Now I'm not referring to how many times the ball was taken away and happened to go on the ground. More was referring to how many times scrums were formed as guys tried to get the ball out.

BYU: BYU is more athletic than Michigan, but Michigan appeared to have more lacrosse players (if that makes sense). With that said, I don't think BYU has the foot speed they had last year, especially at the attack position. #2 and #22 looked good, but didn't look like they could shake the Michigan D, like #4 (Ferrin) could do to D-men last year. (That may be a factor of Michigan's D-men). I also noticed that they are running a 3-1-2 (from the topside), instead of their 2-2-2 and 1-4-1 that I saw they run in videos from last years. I was suprised they didn't continue to run a more motion offense - especially since Michigan was running a 3-1-2 as well, which meant BYU was running an offense that Michigan's D see every day in practice. As a result these guys took more outside shots than what I remember last year. And they weren't a problem - unless that man-child #34 was taking them. These guys still have a great ride. So that raises the question of how did Michigan fare against it compared to Chapman and UCSB - I remember both teams cleared effectively against BYU (but those might not have been settled clears).

Michigan: After fall ball, I saw some video of Michigan's face off man beating the Army man, and at that time I thought some D1 or D3 coach must be kicking himself for not getting that kid. Their face off man is stellar - but I think he ran off the field very fast on some face-offs and let the ball get doubled. Other teams may pick up on that later in the season. I think I saw them running a 3-1-2 in the first half. In the second I think it morphed to a 2-2-2 and that is where they got a few back-doors and inside looks. They have very good draw and dump looks. Looked like a great adjustment (which was smart - why run the offense the opposing defense sees everyday)

I'm sure both sides will make some adjustments.