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)
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI agree with just about all your comments about the great offense and awful defense. Greg Robinson has to go.
Now...we have to finally KICK a field goal to get 45 points LOL...we only had 42.
I agree with you post last week about the poor judgement by the young, immature Ohio State fans. I know Reeb wouldn't appreciate their behaviour. I practically forbade any of our younger guys from going over their last year during their Purdue loss. Maybe something was said to them...none but the nice ones came over this time.
Jim Jackson predicted UMass success against us...but doesn't predict the same for BGSU. We'll see.
It's still good to be a Michigan Wolverine...GO BLUE!
Mike Schooler
Thanks for correcting me on the score. Changed it. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteWe need a kicker. We need a defense.
We'll see how well we stack up against a Mid-American Conference team with BGSU. We might could win that conference. At least be in the hunt;-)
ReplyDelete