J.D. PicKell: How Michigan can be 'scary' for the rest of college football
Michigan was scary the way it dominated the Big Ten and got to the College Football Playoff by way of running the football and playing suffocating defense.
But On3’s J.D. PicKell pointed out how Michigan could be scary for the rest of college football in 2023. He mentioned a Georgia-type leap from last year to this year.
He explained on the latest edition of The Hard Count.
“So for me the next step, the question that becomes kind of scary for the rest of college football. What if Michigan doesn’t have a plan A to Plan B approach,” PicKell said. “What if for Michigan, they just have to plan A’s? And it sounds kind of funny to say out loud, but what if that’s the reality for the people in Ann Arbor. Then you’re scary for the rest of college football but even (scarier) than you already are. Think about it this way. Would you rather fight a boxer who has a great jab and then when you take away the jab, they have a strong right hook? That’s great. So okay, if I stop the jab, then I can worry about the right hook after that. Then I can eventually, you know, sort of shift my focus when I take care of one piece of this. I can worry about the other way of attack.
“Or would you rather fight the boxer who comes out of the corner, you’re not sure what he’s gonna throw, throws the right hook pretty frequently, throws the jab as well. Best of luck to you. There’s no plan a there’s no Plan B.”
Basically, Georgia evolved its passing attack. Michigan has a change to do something similar because the team has a potentially great quarterback in J.J. McCarthy.
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McCarthy showed flashes of his elite skill but leaned on a stout running game. Perhaps putting it all together makes Michigan “scary.”
“I think the evolution of what they are as a team, and as an offense could trend pretty close to what we saw Georgia do last year,” PicKell said. “Because think about the conversation around Georgia heading into 2022. Defense is probably going to be really good, you really lost some pieces, we know Kirby Smart’s defensive coach, Stetson Bennett, he is what he is. The offense will probably go through Brock Bowers and be physical up front. That was kind of the thought right?
“Well, at one point in the season, Georgia has 37 pass attempts a game. Georgia is not worried about being overly physical in the trenches. They’re throwing the football. Of course they were making that a point to be physical in the trenches, but I’m just saying they were doing both … They were balanced. It was a perfect balance.
“Now for Michigan fans. I’m not telling you to get away from your identity. You’ve been the bully on the block the last couple of years and that’s how you’ve made your hay, that’s how you should get down. I 100% agree. But I’m just saying the balance that would potentially be available to you. With JJ McCarthy taking that next step, I think that’s what allows you to evolve like we saw Georgia do a season ago and then get to that national title game.”