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
While I had to miss the McGuinness viewing...being on vacation...I still was able to watch most of it on TV. It only showed the one pass for TD. I saw the 19/22 of stat and went...whoah! The recaps that I saw were impressive.
ReplyDeleteWhile I feel bad for Forcier...it's survival of the fittest and 5-7 is not acceptable. Notre Dame will be the test...we don't want people saying...you should have taken Kelly when you had the chance (if they lose).
Good idea on the blog, Mike...I'll be back!