All that I have to say has to be filtered by the realization that Bowling Green is now 1-3 and currently has to be considered a second division Mid American Conference Team.
The Wolverines answered two important questions for me today.
The first: Does the Michigan Offense go down when Denard goes down? Not hardly. If I were an upcoming opponent I would be much more scared of the Michigan offense today then last week. Previously you could hope that by knocking Denard out of the game you dealt a death blow to the Wolverine offense.
We were barely grazed by the blow today.
Gardner then Forcier then back to Gardner and we hardly lost a step. Granted the offense is truly scary to face with Robinson at QB. But now it's a total offense not just Denard this and Denard that. Both sub QB proved their passing mettle. Four running backs had more that 50 yards rushing, 6 backs in all contributing to a rushing total of 282 between them. 255 receiving yards spread between 9 receivers with only 3 incomplete passes. (I know, it was against the Falcons). The offense improved, the running backs stepped up.
I'm not worried about Denard going down anymore. Of course I want Denard to always start. And extremely glad he'll be back next week. He is truly a genius with wicked running skills, great arm, and he's a real live Heisman Candidate if Michigan can win some games and he doesn't get seriously hurt. But losing him, didn't hurt us at all today. The offense can roll without him.
Second Question:
Will the defense improve? They did. Better tackling. Better running to the ball. Forced two turnovers. Better team play. Good practice for them today. But did they improve enough to face the Big Ten starting next week. No. Lots of mistakes. They let the Falcons make it a one touchdown game in the first half, needlessly. They need more improvement. With another game like this against Indiana next week, we might see them toughen up enough to enable our supercharged offense to carry the day each week and have a winning Big Ten Schedule for the season.
The announcer said something significant today, a great offense with a crummy defense only delivers can deliver no better than fifty percent odds to win against a good team. The team with the ball last wins those games so it's a crap shoot. Just like last year. The defense has to improve.
Speaking of last year: At this point last year the Wolverines were 4-0 and ended up losing the rest of their games except Delaware State(1-AA doormat). So I'm still skeptical of just how good we are. I'm upgrading my prediction from 6-6 to 7-5. We should beat both Indiana and Illinois and pick off one other game. Let's see some improvement on defense next week against the Hoosiers. It will be a tough game because they felt they got robbed last year and will be up for us at their home stadium.
The real evaluation of the team comes the following week against Michigan State.
With Rhythm now...
It's good, to be, a Michigan Wolverine.
Go Michigan, Beat the Hoosiers.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
My Guess on Michigan vs Bowling Green
3-0 Michigan vs 1-2 Bowling Green. Big Ten vs MAC. Used to be easy to call these games.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Michigan is good enough to contend for the MAC Conference title, so we should win.
We'll score about 40 points. With no defensive improvement we should let the Falcons score just under 30.
Wondering if the defense will improve. Haven't seen improvement all seasons. By improvement I mean playing consistently as a team, not as individuals on a team. They haven't played together so far.
It's good, to be, a Michigan Wolverine!
Go Michigan, beat the Falcons.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Michigan is good enough to contend for the MAC Conference title, so we should win.
We'll score about 40 points. With no defensive improvement we should let the Falcons score just under 30.
Wondering if the defense will improve. Haven't seen improvement all seasons. By improvement I mean playing consistently as a team, not as individuals on a team. They haven't played together so far.
It's good, to be, a Michigan Wolverine!
Go Michigan, beat the Falcons.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Getting a good kicker isn't all that hard.
See this post by Michigan fan and grad, John Branston, from the Memphis Flyer.
Interesting comments on the state of the kicking game in general and a few digs at the kicking problem at Michigan.
http://www.memphisflyer.com/CityBeatBlog/archives/2010/09/21/josh-jasper-can-kick
Go Blue!
Interesting comments on the state of the kicking game in general and a few digs at the kicking problem at Michigan.
http://www.memphisflyer.com/CityBeatBlog/archives/2010/09/21/josh-jasper-can-kick
Go Blue!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Week #3 Michigan 42 UMass 37
A win is always a win, no matter how ugly, so I'll take it. This was ugly.
I'm worried about even finishing at .500 based on this game. Great offense, no defense. Good teams have to have some sort of cohesive defensive play. Mouton, Floyd, Kovacs, and Ezeh are all good players, making individually good plays. But they don't add up. The secondary play is non existent. We couldn't stop the run either. Our great offense is going to have to out sprint every team we play because no lead is truly safe with this defense.
Should I say it? Defensive coordinator Greg Robinson is the problem. The defense looks confused on just about every play, and always seems a second or two too late. Don't get me started on the poor tackling. The defense has been unprepared for three games in a row now. The defense is not going to get better.
The offense not only looked great, but better as well. Denard Robinson didn't have to carry the entire offense this week. Shaw had 125 yards rushing, more than Robinson with 104. And Robinson, a little shaky at first, was effective as a passer, even throwing down field for completions. I'm impressed. We should be when an offense can put 45 points on the board.
Do we know what to do on special teams? They are unspectacularly unspecial. Can't really tell when we will see another field goal. Punt coverage is foolhardy.
Add this all up and I still think 6-6 is a stretch for this team. Should beat Bowling Green next week. Should beat either Indiana or Illinois. That get's us to 5-7, maybe 6-6. We might get lucky against one of the other opponents. I hope so.
UMass was ranked 16th in the FCS Rankings going into this game. This game doesn't hurt their rankings. Seems to me a good FCS team is capable of competing with an average FBS team, which Michigan is. Michigan is over-ranked in the polls. We are an average Mid American Conference team.
Denard Robinson remains a Heisman Candidate in my book. Not the leading candidate, but in the hunt at least for now.
Looking forward to Bowling Green. Could be our last "for-sure" victory.
With rhythm now....
It's good, to be, a Michigan Wolverine.
Go Michigan, beat the Falcons (BGSU)
I'm worried about even finishing at .500 based on this game. Great offense, no defense. Good teams have to have some sort of cohesive defensive play. Mouton, Floyd, Kovacs, and Ezeh are all good players, making individually good plays. But they don't add up. The secondary play is non existent. We couldn't stop the run either. Our great offense is going to have to out sprint every team we play because no lead is truly safe with this defense.
Should I say it? Defensive coordinator Greg Robinson is the problem. The defense looks confused on just about every play, and always seems a second or two too late. Don't get me started on the poor tackling. The defense has been unprepared for three games in a row now. The defense is not going to get better.
The offense not only looked great, but better as well. Denard Robinson didn't have to carry the entire offense this week. Shaw had 125 yards rushing, more than Robinson with 104. And Robinson, a little shaky at first, was effective as a passer, even throwing down field for completions. I'm impressed. We should be when an offense can put 45 points on the board.
Do we know what to do on special teams? They are unspectacularly unspecial. Can't really tell when we will see another field goal. Punt coverage is foolhardy.
Add this all up and I still think 6-6 is a stretch for this team. Should beat Bowling Green next week. Should beat either Indiana or Illinois. That get's us to 5-7, maybe 6-6. We might get lucky against one of the other opponents. I hope so.
UMass was ranked 16th in the FCS Rankings going into this game. This game doesn't hurt their rankings. Seems to me a good FCS team is capable of competing with an average FBS team, which Michigan is. Michigan is over-ranked in the polls. We are an average Mid American Conference team.
Denard Robinson remains a Heisman Candidate in my book. Not the leading candidate, but in the hunt at least for now.
Looking forward to Bowling Green. Could be our last "for-sure" victory.
With rhythm now....
It's good, to be, a Michigan Wolverine.
Go Michigan, beat the Falcons (BGSU)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Preview of the Wolverines vs the Minutemen, Sept 18th.
Both teams are 2-0. Michigan having played Connecticut and Notre Dame. UMass having beaten William and Mary and Holy Cross. FBS vs FCS. This is a payday for UMass and a practice for Michigan. I hope.
After the James Madison victory over Virginia Tech, not to mention that debacle against Appalachia State a few years ago, I suppose you can't be too careful about opponents like this.
My recommended game plan: On offense let Denard run the offense full out for one quarter maybe a little more, long enough to put the game out of reach, then only let him pass or hand off. Get those running backs and recievers lots of work so they can pick up the slack and our offense becomes multidimensional. Get the backup QBs some time, especially Devin Gardner. We know Robinson is going to get knocked out at some time this season, so we need a backup with a good attitude and some snaps under his belt ready to go.
Defense. All out all game. Their goal should be a complete whitewash. No points allowed. Gain confidence, figure out their angles to the ball, work on better pursuit to the ball and get the tackle right the first time, wrap them up.
UMass will be up for the game but intimidated by the Michigan Tradition and the Big House. The video of the coach on the UMass site indicates he's wondering why this game was scheduled.
So am I.
With Rhythm now...
It's good, to be, a Michigan Wolverine
Go Michigan, Beat Massachusetts!
After the James Madison victory over Virginia Tech, not to mention that debacle against Appalachia State a few years ago, I suppose you can't be too careful about opponents like this.
My recommended game plan: On offense let Denard run the offense full out for one quarter maybe a little more, long enough to put the game out of reach, then only let him pass or hand off. Get those running backs and recievers lots of work so they can pick up the slack and our offense becomes multidimensional. Get the backup QBs some time, especially Devin Gardner. We know Robinson is going to get knocked out at some time this season, so we need a backup with a good attitude and some snaps under his belt ready to go.
Defense. All out all game. Their goal should be a complete whitewash. No points allowed. Gain confidence, figure out their angles to the ball, work on better pursuit to the ball and get the tackle right the first time, wrap them up.
UMass will be up for the game but intimidated by the Michigan Tradition and the Big House. The video of the coach on the UMass site indicates he's wondering why this game was scheduled.
So am I.
With Rhythm now...
It's good, to be, a Michigan Wolverine
Go Michigan, Beat Massachusetts!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Week 2 : Michigan 28 Notre Dame 24
Give me some oxygen baby. I need it after watching this game. It was as exciting of a football game as one could want. Maybe too exciting. This is what College, Michigan, and Big Ten Football is all about.
You got to love a come from behind victory at Notre Dame when Michigan scores on it's last series, after the Irish embarassed our offense and defense for almost the entire second half. Especially after the Irish scored on a 98 yard pass play to take the lead with two minutes remaining.
Michigan stepped up and played to win and did against incredible odds. What a character building experience.
Denard Robinson is an incredible football player. A genius with speed and game face. Setting records for total yards that are out of this world. He'll be a Heisman candidate before long if he keeps it up and Michigan keeps winning. And he's only started two games so far. What will happen when he gets more experience like this under his belt. Watch out.
At the same time in spite of this incredible victory, I'm not changing my predictions much for the season. I don't really see us going better than 6-6. Call me pessimistic if you want.
Just before the game I was giving a speech to students of the University of Memphis, on Leadership and the book, Good to Great, by Jim Collins. In my talk I reviewed one of the key characteristics of great leaders that Collins studied in his book. The willingness of the leaders to "Confront the Brutal Facts." I can't help myself. So lets confront the brutal facts of this game.
We missed three(?) field goals.
The Irish Defense stopped us cold for almost the entire second half.
Our offense is one dimensional, Denard Robinson, albeit one helluva dimension.
The Irish ran roughshod over our defense the entire second half. Imagine if their starting quarterback hadn't sat out the first half with an injury.
The Irish were able to make second half adjustments to stop us and to move on us. We didn't do the same. RichRod has failed to prove that his staff is capable of this for two years now. This is a coaching problem. This used to be a characteristic of Michigan Football, that scared other teams. No longer true.
We can't throw the long ball.
Our running backs are average at best. After a team adjusts to Denard and our offense we don't have another real running threat. Yet. They are getting better.
We can't run up the middle or with power.
Any good team watching the film of this game will be able to duplicate Notre Dame's efforts in the second half. We have to improve to keep winning.
I'll admit the offense improved since last week. Not the defense. We could win a lot of games and we can lose a lot of games. We have to keep learning and improving. Not Denard, mind you, the rest of the offense has to, and the defense has to and the coaching staff has to.
Still after a barn burner like this one, you can't help saying....
It's good, to be, a Michigan Wolverine!
Go Michigan, Beat the Minutemen(UMASS)!
Aside to the Ohio State Club of the Mid-South: It's pretty rude to walk into our football gathering and cheer against us at our own party. Bad Form. If the goal of the three fans of yours who did this today was to make enemies with us, Mission Accomplished. Oh How I Hate Ohio State!
Go Blue! Hail to the Victors!
You got to love a come from behind victory at Notre Dame when Michigan scores on it's last series, after the Irish embarassed our offense and defense for almost the entire second half. Especially after the Irish scored on a 98 yard pass play to take the lead with two minutes remaining.
Michigan stepped up and played to win and did against incredible odds. What a character building experience.
Denard Robinson is an incredible football player. A genius with speed and game face. Setting records for total yards that are out of this world. He'll be a Heisman candidate before long if he keeps it up and Michigan keeps winning. And he's only started two games so far. What will happen when he gets more experience like this under his belt. Watch out.
At the same time in spite of this incredible victory, I'm not changing my predictions much for the season. I don't really see us going better than 6-6. Call me pessimistic if you want.
Just before the game I was giving a speech to students of the University of Memphis, on Leadership and the book, Good to Great, by Jim Collins. In my talk I reviewed one of the key characteristics of great leaders that Collins studied in his book. The willingness of the leaders to "Confront the Brutal Facts." I can't help myself. So lets confront the brutal facts of this game.
We missed three(?) field goals.
The Irish Defense stopped us cold for almost the entire second half.
Our offense is one dimensional, Denard Robinson, albeit one helluva dimension.
The Irish ran roughshod over our defense the entire second half. Imagine if their starting quarterback hadn't sat out the first half with an injury.
The Irish were able to make second half adjustments to stop us and to move on us. We didn't do the same. RichRod has failed to prove that his staff is capable of this for two years now. This is a coaching problem. This used to be a characteristic of Michigan Football, that scared other teams. No longer true.
We can't throw the long ball.
Our running backs are average at best. After a team adjusts to Denard and our offense we don't have another real running threat. Yet. They are getting better.
We can't run up the middle or with power.
Any good team watching the film of this game will be able to duplicate Notre Dame's efforts in the second half. We have to improve to keep winning.
I'll admit the offense improved since last week. Not the defense. We could win a lot of games and we can lose a lot of games. We have to keep learning and improving. Not Denard, mind you, the rest of the offense has to, and the defense has to and the coaching staff has to.
Still after a barn burner like this one, you can't help saying....
It's good, to be, a Michigan Wolverine!
Go Michigan, Beat the Minutemen(UMASS)!
Aside to the Ohio State Club of the Mid-South: It's pretty rude to walk into our football gathering and cheer against us at our own party. Bad Form. If the goal of the three fans of yours who did this today was to make enemies with us, Mission Accomplished. Oh How I Hate Ohio State!
Go Blue! Hail to the Victors!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Michigan Notre Dame Prognostications
What I want is a huge victory. I'll settle for a win.
The Michigan Faithful needs a big -a__ whomping victory that shows them that this team can be believed in. And what better place than in South Bend. The offense needs to score at will and control the game. The defense needs to swarm the ND quarterback and welcome him to big time and Big Ten College football. shutting downn their offense. We waited through two years of turmoil. Time to end this right now. End the doubts. Engender loyalty. Renew our passions in Michigan Football.
Not going to happen tomorrow. Notre Dame is motivated to win. They have just about as much to prove as Michigan does. It will be a head to head battle and a close game that I hope will be a Michigan Victory.
My son says the key to victory is beating up the Notre Dame quarterback. He's a high school superstar who hasn't really been hit hard so far. Bang him up a bit with a few sacks and clean hits and rattle him and the Notre Dame offense goes down. Michigan Victory.
I think this is the key also. Would like to see it happen. Don't think so. The 3-3-5 didn't show the ability to do this against Connecticut last week. Unless a massive improvement we won't see it tomorrow. It's anybody's ball game right now.
Prove me wrong Rich Rod. Play with excellence and with passion tomorrow.
The Michigan Faithful needs a big -a__ whomping victory that shows them that this team can be believed in. And what better place than in South Bend. The offense needs to score at will and control the game. The defense needs to swarm the ND quarterback and welcome him to big time and Big Ten College football. shutting downn their offense. We waited through two years of turmoil. Time to end this right now. End the doubts. Engender loyalty. Renew our passions in Michigan Football.
Not going to happen tomorrow. Notre Dame is motivated to win. They have just about as much to prove as Michigan does. It will be a head to head battle and a close game that I hope will be a Michigan Victory.
My son says the key to victory is beating up the Notre Dame quarterback. He's a high school superstar who hasn't really been hit hard so far. Bang him up a bit with a few sacks and clean hits and rattle him and the Notre Dame offense goes down. Michigan Victory.
I think this is the key also. Would like to see it happen. Don't think so. The 3-3-5 didn't show the ability to do this against Connecticut last week. Unless a massive improvement we won't see it tomorrow. It's anybody's ball game right now.
Prove me wrong Rich Rod. Play with excellence and with passion tomorrow.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Week 1: Michigan 30, Connecticut 10
A Meechigan Victory. Outcome of the Game Never in Doubt. Exciting Offense. Mistake free football. Played a pretty good team too. So why am I underwhelmed?
Watching the game at Dan McGuinness' Pub was an indication. Normally a boisterous experience, no one spontaneously started singing Victors after any of the TDs. Clearly we enjoyed that Denard Robinson was running the Spread like clockwork. But we were somewhat disbelieving of the success, or at least suspicious of it. RichRod's boys ran off 4 straight wins to start last season. Only to stall and never get better through the rest of the season. Don't want to get burned again. I'm bitter that after a lifetime of winning seasons and bowl games, we had to go through the drought we did the past two years. I feel I'm owed something better this season that what we aren't getting. Here's to hoping Rich Rod really does have the right players and is coaching them instead of just coaching a system. Coaching at Michigan is about coaching Michigan Men the Michigan Way. Not just football. We need to see significant improvement each week if we want a winning season and to beat the Buckeyes. I don't see it happening.
Denard Robinson played mistake free football with confidence. Running was genius. Passing was confident and controlled. Never went long, but it probably wasn't in the game plan. Cool and collected. Not mercurial like Forcier
Smith and Shaw and Odom show promise. Offensive line didn't appear to have even on misplay. Controlled the line. Great execution. But not from a power perspective. Must improve if to contend with the big guns of the Big Ten.
Defense was lucky. A dropped pass on our 5 and a forced fumble kept Connecticut from making it a game. They were knocking on the door. Pass rush was okay. Only one sack, but rushed their quarterback's throws many times. But if Connecticut's receivers could have caught the ball we were toast. Dropped at least 7 passes that were catchable. Backs seemed confused. I'm doubtful the a 3-3-5 can hang against a power team.
Special Teams. Shoddy. Pour punt returns. Missed field goal and PAT. Kick off coverage average. Kickoffs good, except for the first one.
Coaching staff. Didn't seem like they made many adjustments as the game went on. But I'll give them credit for the passing display in the second half.
I hope the old adage is true that the most improvement made by a team is between the first and second games. Lots of improvement will be necessary to beat a motivated Notre Dame team next week at South Bend.
Go Michigan, Beat the Irish.
It's good to be a Michigan Wolverine
Watching the game at Dan McGuinness' Pub was an indication. Normally a boisterous experience, no one spontaneously started singing Victors after any of the TDs. Clearly we enjoyed that Denard Robinson was running the Spread like clockwork. But we were somewhat disbelieving of the success, or at least suspicious of it. RichRod's boys ran off 4 straight wins to start last season. Only to stall and never get better through the rest of the season. Don't want to get burned again. I'm bitter that after a lifetime of winning seasons and bowl games, we had to go through the drought we did the past two years. I feel I'm owed something better this season that what we aren't getting. Here's to hoping Rich Rod really does have the right players and is coaching them instead of just coaching a system. Coaching at Michigan is about coaching Michigan Men the Michigan Way. Not just football. We need to see significant improvement each week if we want a winning season and to beat the Buckeyes. I don't see it happening.
Denard Robinson played mistake free football with confidence. Running was genius. Passing was confident and controlled. Never went long, but it probably wasn't in the game plan. Cool and collected. Not mercurial like Forcier
Smith and Shaw and Odom show promise. Offensive line didn't appear to have even on misplay. Controlled the line. Great execution. But not from a power perspective. Must improve if to contend with the big guns of the Big Ten.
Defense was lucky. A dropped pass on our 5 and a forced fumble kept Connecticut from making it a game. They were knocking on the door. Pass rush was okay. Only one sack, but rushed their quarterback's throws many times. But if Connecticut's receivers could have caught the ball we were toast. Dropped at least 7 passes that were catchable. Backs seemed confused. I'm doubtful the a 3-3-5 can hang against a power team.
Special Teams. Shoddy. Pour punt returns. Missed field goal and PAT. Kick off coverage average. Kickoffs good, except for the first one.
Coaching staff. Didn't seem like they made many adjustments as the game went on. But I'll give them credit for the passing display in the second half.
I hope the old adage is true that the most improvement made by a team is between the first and second games. Lots of improvement will be necessary to beat a motivated Notre Dame team next week at South Bend.
Go Michigan, Beat the Irish.
It's good to be a Michigan Wolverine
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