Couple of quick thoughts on yesterday's action. Starting with Michigan's 28-14 win over Minnesota...
CLOSER THAN IT SHOULD'VE BEEN
I hope Lloyd uses the second half sleepwalk to light a fire in practice this week. If not for the Gopher's TD that was called back or the failure to score with first and goal and three minutes left, anything could have happened in that game. It was a classic case of not finishing off an opponent -- something that haunted Michigan all last year. Yes, this defense is much better, but things happen. A blown coverage, a funny bounce, a bad call and suddenly a sure victory isn't anymore.
NEVER A DOUBT? THAT'S A BAD THING!
Benny and I disagreed strongly on this next point after the game. When I said I wasn't happy at all with the general lack of intesity in the second half, he kept saying, "But I was never in doubt that we would win." To me, that is exactly the problem. The Wolverines played that way in the second half, too. That's complacency. That's how you end up losing games to teams you shouldn't. A team should always think they game could go the other way. A team, while believing in themselves 100%, should know the fickle finger of football fate isn't alwasy kind. As such, don't take your foot off the accelorator until the final whisle. With a 14 point lead most of the way, this game was never over. But we played like it was because we started so strong and because, hey, we're Michigan.
Unacceptable.
If the team learned anything from last season, I hope it was about finishing games. Minnesota is not a good team. Period. They got blown out by Cal and lost to Purdue. Their two "wins" this season were against Kent State and Temple. This game should have been very far out of reach by the end of the third - or before then.
NOT SPECIAL AT ALL
A missed FG that was shorter than an extra point and a botched onside kick recovery were the "highlights" of a crap special teams night.
BREASTON
We're about to reach the halfway point of the season this weekend and he has a grand total of zero touchdowns. For a five yard slant or flanker screen, fine. But on third and 10, do you trust him to make a big catch? He's quickly dropped from Michigan's first receiver to third in terms of who do you go to make a big catch.
RUSHING D
While I didn't expect us to hold Minnie to our pre-game season average of 18 yards, I also didn't expect them to average 4.5 yards a rush. That and a couple big plays the D gave up always give me pause as we enter the most dangerous part of our schedule before the finale with OSU. Also, we didn't sack the QB once yet still gave up a couple long passes.
PLAY CALLING
On the first and goal where Michigan got zero points, I thought the play calling was bad.
Now, the positive...
HENNE
Boy, was he on in the first half. Seemed like he could thread a needle. Even better was the way he was looking off receivers.
HART
Can you ever say enough good things about him? He always runs hard and seems to find yardage where none appears to be. Couple that with the fact that he protects the football like it was a winning lotto ticket and he is one of the keys to the team's chances to go the distance.
THE STOP
First and goal from the seven, a now-shaky 14 point lead, three minutes left. Last year, we can almost see this game ending up on ESPN Classic the next day.
Not this year. The defense, while it had some shaky moments, held strong (although some of the DB play was iffy).
CLASS
Instead of running across the field after the game like they've never seen the Brown Jug before, the Wolverines - as a team - calmly walked over and claimed what was theirs.
"There's been some issues where kids who are emotional sometimes do things that later they regret or wish they hadn't done," coach Lloyd Carr said. "I didn't want any issue after that game. I don't think any of us did."
Gee, Drew Sharp will be so proud.
Now, for the rest of the nation...
UGA or UH OH?
Georgia again struggled against inferior competition, this week against Ole Miss. After last week's miracle comeback against awful Colorado, this does not bode well when they play a team with a pulse
MS-EEWWW
What can you even say about the Spartans today? Illinois hadn't won a Big 10 game since 2004 and they come into East Lansing and beat MSU...on homecoming! How embarrassing. The only good news: I can't wait to hear that sports radio guy talk about this one. Shit, somebody better call the cops.
ENOUGH WITH THE DAMN FLAGS
The Spartans and Illini got in the standard football shoving match after the game when Illinois tried to plant their flag in Spartan Stadium. Look, enough with this crap. Planting flags are for space exploration and winning big military battles, not for football games.
OHIO STATE IS VERY GOOD
The Bucks went into Austin and spanked Texas and now they go into Iowa City and dominate the Hawks. Sure, part of that is probably the fact that Iowa wasn't as good as their undefeated record indicated, but in the big games, Ohio State is playing its best football.
VIRGINIA TECH EXPOSES ITSELF EARLY THIS YEAR
Each year, Virginia Tech starts with huge expectations. Each year, after a strong start, they fold down the stretch. This year, in an attempt to change it up, V-Tech decided to expose itself in a meek home loss to Georgia Tech. One thing this game did do: it made ND's season opening win at G-Tech look that much more impressive (although their near loss to MSU looks even more baffling).
NEBRASKA STILL NOT VERY GOOD
Nebraska needed OT - at home - to beat Kansas. In their only real game this year, Big Red was beaten fairly easily by Southern Cal. Now they're going extra innings with teams they used to regularly beat 52-0.
SPEAKING OF NOT VERY GOOD…
Let's talk Miami. 14-13 against Houston? Ouch. And that after the 'Canes went for it on 4th and short deep in their own end very late in order to run out the clock. Who'd'a thunk it would have come to that against Houston. Wow.
WHO DESIGNED THAT SHIT?
Did you see Florida's helmets yesterday? What was the thinking there -- you know, let's go with a font and design as boring as Nebraska's? The "F" yesterday stood for "Fucking Awful."
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Sunday Morning Quarterback
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Mr. Assclown actually had some nice things to say about the Wolverines in his column today (freep.com)
Yost,
not our best game for certain, but still a good showing. first, giving up 108 yds rushing isn't the end of the world. they've been zone blocking longer than we have. since the gopher's avg bout 250+ yds a game, it's a pretty good result.
second, for the first time, the O was explosive out of the gate.
even as we pissed around in the second half, you knew if we turned it back on, we would finish them off. that's exactly what the D did. and that, having the starters come back in and play again- isn't easy but they made it look so.
Lloyd is never going to run the score up on anyone, and unless the other teams quits (say, like, this coming Saturday),we'll always have games like this. '97, '99, & '03 were like this damned near every week.
finally, tosu does look good. certainly one of the top teams in the country, but they're no juggernaut. here's the link to last nite's boxscore-
http://ohiostatebuckeyes.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2006-2007/05iowa.html
teams (all of them, not just the UT's) are playing tight w/them, staying in the game, at least until late. PSU was an 8 pt game w/ 3 minutes left. Cinci led at half. tosu is good, but no one else in the top ten, including us, should be over awed or afraid of them.
I agree that the Wolverines need to "Finish the Play" as I always say, in this game it was Finish the GAME! My boyfriend wanted to change the channel with several minutes remaining in the game, and I yelled, "it's never over until that clock runs out." No sooner do I say that than the Gophers score and get the onside kick! SCARY.
Defense held stong on that last effort to stop the score from getting tooooo close for comfort, but they did give up a few big plays. Henne looks sharp and very focused. Hart...like the commentators said, he is the "Hart and soul of this team."
THANK you for walking across the field with class...ENOUGH of the planting of flags!!
Overall, not a bad game...
Next up Spartans....think they will show up with a little fire in their bellies? Because they sure as hell got burned this week.
OSU lead UC 13-7 at the half FYI.
Funny that you guys had the same conversation I had with my buddy. I said, "We don't look good here and I want us to just close this darn game out." He said, "Who cares, this game is over!" Of course, he'd been drinking since 1 PM. With Michigan, my frame of mind is always "nervous until proven otherwise."
I believe those Florida helmets were throwbacks and were the exact style they used to wear. Better than that stupid Nike sleeve they did for a few games last year. Another reason it's great to root for Michigan. When you have the best uniform in football, there's no reason to mess with it.
About the Florida uni's ..
They were throwbacks from the 66-67 season. I kinda like them. Much better than the sleeve, Wash St, or any of Oregon's 380 uni combos.
Other andrew, have you looked at out uni's?
Umm.. yellow piping(which really isn't terrible) kinda looks like an MLS uniform. And what's up with the half and half jerseys now? I hate nike putting their hand in everything.
And .. is Gonzalez really THAT good? .. he looked pretty damn good yesterday.
Anon,
my bad. it was 13-7 @ half. it was 7-6 for most of the half. still not impressed. were you?
I have a feeling (maybe wishful?) that we could see the whole structure of college football change, in the offseason. Imagine Michigan and Ohio St. going into their game, with winner going to the BCS Title game - hence showing why conference championship games are so lame.
And, imagine the winner playing an undefeated USC, while an undefeated Auburn gets left out of the BCS Title game again. Them folks in the SEC will be leading the change to a playoff.
I didn't get to see much of the Michigan win being that was a more important game on, but (and not to be so cliched), it looks like the showdown in Columbus will be an incredible matchup - so as long as you guys don't loose to some crappy team in the middle of the season, like you usually do.
"fickle finger of football fate" Try saying that three times fast.
The horror of that Michigan State/Illinois game simply cannot be overstated. It was watching a kindergartener beat up on a disabled second grader; it was malnourished street dogs fighting over a sack of chicken bones. Just when it looked like Sparty was going to flip tables and have their own fourth-quarter comeback: implosion. For an awesomely craptacular team to plant a flag against poor enfeebled Sparty, culminating with a brawl, just oozed suffering.
The Florida Unis were throwbacks from the 60s, back when Spurrier was playing. It's part of the whole 100 years of Gator football celebration in Gainesville.
They could have been worse. They could have come out in the 1980s orange jerseys.
Michigan and Ohio State...will decide the big 10 and who is going to the National Championship....
I got highlights up on YouTube. Links on my blog.
Extra bonus clips of an amazing catch Desmond Howard had in the 1990 game, and a brief history of the Jug.
No offense what so ever intended in my post.. read that, none. I see tOSU going to play in the championship game if they win out. I'm not so sure about Michigan. Who do you see them replacing if AU or UofF and SoCal are undefeated? If UofF runs the table, a small part of me says they shouldn't have to play anyone for the trophy because of their ridiculous schedule (no bias - I hate UF). But a matchup fopr UF against tOSU, Big Blue, or SoCal should be a great game.
tOSU has beating UT and the luck of a preseason #1 ranking to secure their berth if they run the table. If they didn;t have the UT game, the competition in the rest of the Big 10 (excluding Michigan of course) this year would hurt their chances as well. Call them lame, but a conference championship does get you that very helpful game against a highly ranked opponent to show pollsters you're the real deal. Big Ten has it this year with a championship, but that is not always 100% guaranteed.
This year (and it's a rarity that this many teams are less than brilliant in the BIg 10 in a season) beating UW, Illinois, Iowa, MSU, PSU, or Purdue just doesn't impress like wins against UGA (may be back to form when their #1 QB returns), LSU, Vols, and either UofF or AU are. Of course the BCS is _supposed_ to adjust for all this- it's a good thought, but the BCS sucks. I hate to see anyone left out in the cold, but if a top tier team like Michigan, AU, UofF, SoCal runs the tables but doesn't make it- I definately hope a playoff system would be considered by the powers that be.
It's certainly not Michigan's fault that except for Ohio State, the rest of the conference hurts their strength of schedule component of the BCS (ND was a very nice boost), but them's the apples.
Question- if Michigan runs the table, and so does SoCal and the SEC champ, who do you see not making the big game? I vote SoCal, but can imagine avacado embargo that the State of California would put on the rest of the country if that happened?
Proof-reading sucks - I meant the BIg Ten has a pseudo championship game this year in that the top 2 teams do face each other near the end of the season. That's not always the case.
There goes surrounded in Columbus again with his nose in the OSU box scores trying to find some reason why they are not as good as they are ranked.
Maybe I missed something, but isn't the final score the score that matters? Everyone knows Tressel plays much more conservatively against lesser teams. Will BGSU hang around the first half this week? Yes, will OSU win by 35? Yes.
I take nothing away from UM and I am hoping they are 11-0 and ranked #2 when they come to Columbus. But to say OSU is not impressive because it was 7-6 in the 1st quarter of the Cincy game is stupid.
"Statistics are like women; mirrors of purest virtue and truth, or like whores to use as one pleases." ~Theodore Billroth
Yeah, the piping. I guess I was thinking of the helmets and colors more than anything else. I'm not in favor of the piping, but it doesn't bother me much. We don't have that on our home jerseys, do we? That would look silly.
Regarding whether UM could jump other undefeateds if they run the table, I see no way that Michigan wouldn't be in there. Michigan is on the rise because the others keep having close games where Michigan has not lost by less than 14. Ohio State is so revered by the pollsters at this point, that if Michigan beats them in Columbus, regardless of the score, we will take the #1 ranking. I don't think any SEC or Pac Ten team will run the table (USC still has to play Oregon and Cal and will lose one of those).
Which sets up a UM/OSU vs WVU/UL championship game. But whadoiknow. Put the cart back behind the horse. Let's go beat MSU.
"Instead of running across the field after the game like they've never seen the Brown Jug before, the Wolverines - as a team - calmly walked over and claimed what was theirs."
In 2004 I saw the Michigan players start to grab the jug from each other... just to be the one getting the most airtime or being the one front and center in the team picture. Reminded me of high school. So props to Carr... TEAM UNITY.
1. there IS no strength of schedule component in the BCS - someone posted that there was
2. surrounded in columbus should change his name to knee deep in columbus. OSU has beaten three ranked teams - two of them in very hostile territory - by 17, 22, and 21 points. The Cincy game was a 30 point victory. Who the hell cares if any of them were close at any point? Now we have a favorable schedule between now and November 18th. I know WE'LL be undefeated going into that game. And we'll have the next 6 games to make sure we're all on the same page for that game.
You can look up boxscores to your heart's desire - when all is said and done, we're by far the most impressive team in the country and every poll and commentator agrees. Except of course those that are knee deep in columbus.
Beating Iowa is not that impressive. Period. Hostile field? Puhleeeeze. I saw their field on TV, it looked like a high school stadium in Texas. Beating Cinci is not impressive either. You have something to brag about by beating Texas the way you did in Texas, but to elevate yourself more than just retaining the #1 pre-season ranking because you haven't lost is ludicrous. Play a tough schedule and then point to your halo. It's not Michigan or Ohio State's fault, but the Big 10 isn't the toughest football conference in the land this year so running the tables in that conference up to the big game doesn't mean squat.
And whoever thinks that the winner of WVU-Lousiville will be playing for the national championship must be smoking something. Utah demostrated that running the tables doesn't mean shit if you don't play tough teams. Auburn proved it as well when the SEC was down in 2004. Let OSU, Michigan, WVU, Louisville, or SoCal run the SEC gauntlet this year and see who comes out unscathed. I'm guessing one might, but not more than that. That one needs to be in the national championship. It's an odd year for football, many of the big conferences are way off and unfortunately for the SEC teams, their conference is downright fierce this year. I'm not saying that's where all the talent is, certainly not, but penalizing teams for having to play the toughest schedules in football this season when they drop one game, and letting the Big Easy champ in to play OSU/Michigan would make a mockery of the game. Who has Lousiville or WVU beaten this year? Who's Miami- they're having a fantastic season aren't they?
Speaking of class, it was nice to see Lloyd Carr not wearing his cap indoors in the Metrodome. His momma taught him well.
Tradition? Throwback? Florida? Why would a school who only began playing competitive football in 1990 want to celebrate their "football tradition?"
If they wanted to honor Spurrier, they should have worn uniforms from the '90s, when they actually started playing football they could be proud of down there. Until he arrived as coach, Florida had won ZERO SEC titles.
Yo Beast - thought you were a Horns fan? If you're not careful, people will mistake you for a Bama, Auburn, Tenn, or UGA fan with honest comments like that!
I HATES the Gators!!! (But I have to give Spurrier credit.)
If Michigan and OSU were to win out, the winner's going to the Championship game, OSU because they've already got 99% of the first place votes in the polls, Michigan because they would presumably pick up at least 80% of those votes.
And there may not be a direct strength of schedule component in the BCS, but the computer polls certainly factor that into their computations. I've already heard some analysts say that an undefeated West Virginia won't have the strength in the computer polls to overtake a one loss Florida, Texas, Auburn, LSU, Michigan, or Ohio State in the BCS standings, as long as that one loss team is ranked immediately below WVU.
Right now, WVU is around 15 in the computer polls I have seen.
Srudoff/Anon,
god but what a fragile ego you guys have. i said you were very good but not a juggernaut (and dared cite box scores to support it) and you come apart because i don't think you're the unstoppable force? puhleeze.
two weeks ago the world (and the polls) loved ND. media are fickle, stats don't lie or change regardless of what they mean (or don't). plus,i notice you didn't try explaining or arguing the numbers- just a lame, "they don't matter" excuse.
and yes, i'm pretty much always knee deep in crap in columbus. or don't you read the dispatch or listen to wbns?
on a lighter note- kudos on the stats quote from anon. i always use the "liars, damned liars, and statisticians" one for explaining away numbers i don't like. yours certainly was more poetic.
Ron English was allowed to wear his cap indoors because the sun never sets on being a fucking badass.
Did anyone else get goosebumps when, during the Minnesota late drives, they'd cut to English on the sideline and he'd have that look of absolute fury and disgust on his face?
Jerimy,
Good call on English. The man was pissed, and rightfully so. I hope he tore the d a new one in the dressing room.
My perspective:
CLOSER THAN IT SHOULD'VE BEEN
Sure, I'd like to see a wider margin of victory, too, but a two touchdown win over a team with one of the better offenses in college football isn't quite as bad as it seems. When a team has a dominating defense and the ability to eat up a lot of time a two touchdown lead is bigger than it seems.
What is troubling is that Michigan has only two ways to rise in the rankings. Either teams ranked higher than Michigan lose—which Michigan cannot control (with the exception of Ohio State)—or Michigan can win more impressively than those higher ranked teams—which Michigan can control. With USC and Auburn getting narrow wins, Michigan could have strengthened its position with a blowout. We all know that that isn't likely to happen, though. It could be that Lloyd Carr is thinking that since Michigan has to beat Ohio State anyway, that win will get Michigan up to at least a #2 ranking. Or, he could be not even thinking about it at all and just focusing on one game at a time which is really the smart thing to do.
NEVER A DOUBT? THAT'S A BAD THING!
I have to side with Benny on this one. I think being uncomfortable with a two touchdown lead over a team that is struggling to move the ball consistently says more about us as fans—and the lingering effects of last season—than it does about the team. We've complained about Lloyd Carr coaching to not lose for a while now. Perhaps being comfortable with a two touchdown lead just speaks to the confidence he has in the defense this year? I was never worried that Minnesota was going to win—to the point that I was desperately wanting the officials to overturn the original call on Minnesota's first touchdown lest that be used as an excuse—and was merely worried about the margin of victory at the end.
NOT SPECIAL AT ALL
The missed field goal definitely sucked ass and the kickoff coverage wasn't good either, but there was a punt from Zoltan Mesko that pinned Minnesota at their 8 yard line which—especially considering they only managed to gain 12 yards before a miserable 20 yard punt giving Michigan the ball on the Minnesota 40 yard line—could be considered an actual highlight. Maybe I'm being charitable, but to me "crap" special teams is Michigan at Oregon, 2003.
BREASTON
Steve Breaston is what he is. And it's not Braylon Edwards, which isn't say that he's not an asset to the team. I've pretty much accepted this fact and can't really be too critical of him not being a great wide receiver. I still think he's a special talent and brings a unique threat to Michigan's offense. It's just not catching 50 yard touchdown passes.
I'll admit that I'm a bit sentimental when it comes to Breaston. His incredible effort in the 2005 Rose Bowl is what kept Michigan in that game. His 41 yard kickoff return is what made Mario Manningham's winning touchdown catch possible against Penn State last year. When he does get one of those great kick returns, it's sort of the equivalent of starting the drive with a 20 or 30 yard pass reception. To me, he's a niche player and has few unique things he brings to the offense and special teams and to expect more from him is a bit unreasonable.
It also makes me wonder why he hasn't exactly lived up to what some Michigan fans feel is his potential. It's no secret that he's not the biggest guy on the field. At 6'1" and 180 pounds he's smaller than I am. It's also no secret that he's been hampered by injuries in the past. Could it be that his slight frame means he just gets beat up out there too much? When he fields punts, the gunners seem to take extra delight in smashing into him. Even on the on side kick, the Minnesota players seemed to be going after him more than the ball.
It could be that his smallish size and susceptibility to injury is why he drops so many passes—he wants to get the hell out of wherever he is before he gets killed—and why he can be such an incredible yards-after-catch guy in the secondary—again, he might just feel like he's running for his life.
I think apparent emergence of Arrington does mitigate Breaston's weaknesses. Also, the threat of Breaston's strengths—the flanker screen, the end around, or the reverse—set up Manningham's strengths—40+ yard touchdown receptions—well by keeping opponent's defensive backs in close. I'm actually wishing Michigan would use those plays more to lure the defensive backs closer to the line of scrimmage.
RUSHING D
Michigan's lackadaisical second half effort yielded the following to Minnesota's offense—which was at the time ranked 8th in the nation in running and 20th in the nation in scoring: 21 yards rushing, 131 yards passing, and one touchdown. Additionally, Minnesota's 8th ranked rushing offense has now dropped to15 and Michigan's #1 ranked rushing defense remains first. Not the highlight reel producer the Notre Dame game was, but not bad.
Yes, I wanted to see Michigan beat up on Brian Cupito and force turnovers, but this was not a defensive disaster. Cupito had been completing about 63% of his passes; against Michigan he completed 50%. Sacks and interceptions would have been nice—and more fun to watch—but I think the lower completion rate shows that either there was some pressure there or Cupito was simply releasing the ball quickly and before his recievers were ready.
Also, anyone notice Ron English's expression? He looked a lot more pissed off about it than any of us. I'm not too worried about the defense not showing up when they really need to.
PLAY CALLING
I wasn't exactly thrilled with the play calling—especially in the second half—and did think Michigan should have scored more points, but it wasn't all bad. Michigan's time of possession was 37 minutes and 39 seconds which is pretty damn impressive against a team that wants to run the ball. I also liked the emergence of Adrian Arrington who has looked good in previous games and gives Michigan an additional threat down field.
And, how can any Michigan fan not love an 80 yard, 10 play drive that consists of eight rushing plays—including six in a row—and a touchdown? That was just incredible to watch. And, way to set up the 37 yard touchdown pass to Arrington and the 41 yard touchdown pass to Manningham.
On the first and goal where Michigan got zero points, I thought the play calling was bad.
HENNE
It's funny, during the game I kept focus on the overthrows and dropped balls but he did indeed have an excellent game. Henne's strength is throwing deep and now that Manningham—whom I was still unsure about at the start of the season—has emerged, he has a reliable target.
HART
As impressive as his numbers are, I don't think they begin to completely reflect his contributions to the offense. I am worried that the combination of him getting three more yards than he has a right to and protecting the football—which makes him just about the best tailback ever to grind out the clock by running into defenses who are waiting for him—means he's carrying the ball too much.
THE STOP
Yes! So that's what a fourth quarter stop looks like.
Morgan Trent was definitely missed. Hope his hand heals quickly.
CLASS
Agreed. I think it speaks well of this team and of Lloyd Carr's control over them. Watching Michigan and Minnesota players pat each other on the back makes me wonder what the fuck is wrong with teams like Miami and Michigan State?
About Breaston: Would you like to see him in another Big 10 uniform?
Hell no. If there are any doubts, Youtube for Breaston highlights. it made me rethink my stance on him.
Go Blue.
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