Go Beavs!

I know some, like Jerry Pettibone, are not digging the audio thread. So, general thread until game day.

I found this article interesting.

Sounds like the NFL might have to start their own developmental league after all…

Some interesting info on “the big house”…many say it is not loud, despite the size.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/08/27/randy-edsall-says-michigans-football-crowds-are-big-but-not-loud/

http://hokesmadmagicians.blogspot.com/2012/03/hot-topics-is-big-house-loud.html

As some who read this blog carefully might know, I’m a self-taught audio engineer. I don’t claim to be an expert, so let’s that get out of the way. A few things I know (or think I know…again, self-taught through books and experience/listening, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong):

1. Bass waves travel further than treble waves.
2. Low frequencies move through barriers (e.g. why you hear bass emanating from a car, but not treble).
3. Treble waves reflect off surfaces. Engineers go through great measures to prevent this, and it’s why most studios have diffusion or padding on walls. Bass waves more through surfaces (think how you can hear bass but not treble through your neighbor’s walls).
4. I’d consider sub bass anything below 40hz. These frequencies are only audible on systems with sub woofers and tend to be powerful, boomy, etc. Bass frequency I’d say is 50 to 200hz, and treble 1khz and above (up to 2okhz, where we can no longer hear frequencies, but some claim we can “feel” them as “air”. These are somewhat subjective ranges but generally agreeable. Low midrange would make up the difference, 200hz to -1khz. We are fairly sensitive to low midrange, and it has properties of both bass and treble waves.
5. The ear is most sensitive in the high mid range, so 2khz to 6khz. Above and below that fades off quickly. This happens to be the frequency most voices fall into (evolution is genius, right?).

Given all this, I think the theory that “the big house” is quiet for its size makes a lot of sense.

1. It doesn’t have a lot of reflective surfaces for the treble waves to bounce off of.
2. The fans who are far away would be better off chanting in a low, deep voice, else their treble waves will get lost while moving through air. Simply, they are too far away to be heard, so tens of thousands of them (the ones far away) won’t have any effect unless they can chant in a very low, booming frequency. This likely rules out the women.
3. The Beavs will be hearing a lot of 1khz to 6khz frequencies — the speaking/screaming voices. These frequencies are weak and tail off quickly, as they simply do not travel well through medium like air (again, think of a car stereo where you hear bass and no treble if you’re outside it).

A better stadium design, if loudness is the goal, would probably be a small stadium with highly reflective surfaces and noise/frequencies in the 2kz to 6khz range (so, screaming fans, audio speakers with little low end, etc). Think about this: playing an electric guitar outside versus playing an electric guitar in a basement with concrete walls. Which is going to be more raucous? Obviously the basement — you have reflections from every direction bombarding your ear, whereas outdoors those will fade into the medium (air).

Now if we look at a photo of “the big house”, we see it is open, the fans on the outer ring are far away and their treble ridden screams will not be heard, and there are few reflective surfaces. I don’t see noise being a huge problem. Honestly, I have probably watched only a few Michigan games in my life, and I never had this in mind, so maybe I’m wrong and it’s excessively loud? But that would defy basic audio principles. I’m expecting moderate loudness and only the fans closer to the field to have an impact dB levels.

I think Gary Andersen summed this game up best, when he said the Beavers will leave Michigan knowing exactly how physical a team they are, and each player will know how physical they are, too. He said something like, “put your pants on or get run out of the stadium.” lol. Michigan is an old, mature team and they’re at home. This is some David and Goliath shit right here.

The defensive side of the ball looked physical last week, so I expect them to be fine, provided the Beav’s offense doesn’t put them in a bind. The offensive line needs to get more push. Period. Isaac’s mulligan card has been played. He has to go all out or sit. Josh Mitchell has a lot of Riley left in him, and he needs an exorcism, statim. The wide receivers need to do a better job blocking on the edge, too. Left some big plays out there last week on sweeps and wide plays because of soft blocking. Again, remnants of Riley. If the Beavs leave plays on the field this week they will lose.

The offense had a one step forward, two steps back rhythm last week. That’s an easy way to put your QB in a bind, which won’t end well on the road. Beavs can’t kill themselves with sloppy play and procedural and holding penalties. It’s probably the #1 factor in winning this game. #2 would be, as GA said, being extremely physical.

From the Beavs perspective, I think they need to put their corners on an island and use the other parts to cause as much disruption as possible. Based on what we saw of the MI QB last week, if he beats OSU’s corners 1 on 1, so be it, tip your hat, but he was a weakness, and the Beavs have to force him to win the game. Andersen beat this QB twice while at Wisconsin (last year he threw for 300 yards and 2TDs).

Andersen said he expects Michigan to try trick plays, double moves, and a physical run game. He seems to know this QB and knows what Harbaugh wants to do.

Keys to the game:

• Can the Beavs get a ground game going between the tackles?
• Force MI QB to win the game.
• Eliminate the ghost of Riley (procedural penalties, holding calls, soft play).
• Hit the big plays when they are there (this will be a test for Collins).
• Baldwin needs to call a better game — can’t call a screen in your endzone. The play calling was rough, but I think that was to (a) give MI nothing and (b) baby Collins/MM. I expect a wide open playbook and more exciting offense this week, with more big play opportunity and more TE involvement.
• When adversity strikes, which will probably  happen early in this game, they  have to be mentally tough and overcome it.

Regarding Collins and MM, I don’t want to get into that each week. For now it’s Collins, and that’s just the way it is. If he can throw the ball to the WRs at an acceptable clip, I’ll gladly back the guy and hope he leads OSU to victory. He definitely has the confidence (ignorance is bliss?) to win a game like this. I’d label him a wildcard in this game. I’m expecting a bad game passing, several INTs, but hoping for the best. But, Collins can go nuts for all I know and put up 400-500 total yards. Just don’t know enough at this point. Incomplete data set.

In summary, Michigan isn’t vintage, but they’re experienced, physical, and have Harbaugh. It’s going to be a battle, possibly a blood bath. My gut tells me: the Beavs have a shot if all goes perfectly and they hit every big play, have no penalties, mentally and physically are “up” for the game, etc, but realistically Michigan has everything in their favor.

27-13, Michigan