Was it just a sluggish performance after two extremely emotional, energy-intensive games? Whatever it was, it’s extremely concerning. I’m all for Michigan not even scheduling these FCS teams anymore – they don’t seem to be serving their ‘easy win play backups go home happy’ purpose. Last week, the prospects of giving Denard some sideline time and Devin / Tate snaps seemed obvious and likely. Where does the defense even go from here. I think RR said it in the post-game presser – from a defensive standpoint, practice won’t be pleasant this week. And it shouldn’t be. Michigan will lose games this season on poor special teams play alone if someone doesn’t step up – that’s not something to just shrug off. Too many head-scratchers after such a positive start against two supposed quality opponents.

On Offense…

The good first. Denard turned in another denard of 2010-like performance by way of ground and air. Michigan’s attack was balanced with 284 yards on the ground and 241 through the air. The trend of different guys outside of Denard stepping up and producing continues. Instead of Roundtree or Odoms is was Stonum and Grady making big plays. Notables from the boxscore…

• Only 56 plays ran on offense. Significantly less than the 81 against Notre Dame and 83 against UConn.
• Averaged 9.4 yards per play. So yea, if the D gets a few more stops and the offense a few more possessions – the game isn’t close.
• Time of possession 22:22 – not the offenses fault. You score 42 points on 56 plays and average nearly 10 yards per play – I’d say you are doing just fine.
• Stonum finally broke through with 121 yards on only 3 catches, but they were big at the time.
• Denard averaged around 24 yards per completion.

Denard Robinson…
Well, it wasn’t 502 total yards of offense, but it was an extremely solid performance. Through the air he completed 10 of 14 for 241 yards a couple TD’s and threw his first pick of the season on a horrible read where he failed to see the underneath coverage. On the ground Denard didn’t bust one but still managed to get 104 yards on 17 carries. If given more opportunities, I don’t doubt that Denard would have either broke one or padded those stats a little more. Denard put his arm on display beyond curls, hitches, slants and screens by tossing two long balls to Kevin Grady and Darryl Stonum. What you saw is a touch on the deep ball that looks extremely natural and easy for Denard. On the long ball to Stonum – the play is a sprint out to the right that Michigan runs a few different packages out of and Stonum is split out wide to the left. Stonum streaks down the sideline and makes a great catch after the toss from Denard – watch…

Mike Shaw…
Finally a back breaks out and gets beyond the secondary surpassing the century mark. On 12 carries he goes for 126 yards, with a chunk coming on a 50 yard journey downfield that I’ll point out in the second video below. Shaw wasn’t spectacular by any means, but showed speed through the hole that no other back on the depth chart can match. When Shaw can burst untouched he can really fly. Check it…

Shaw showed some decent vision on his 50 yarder, but what you’ll see is Denard Robinson streaking downfield going like 35 miles/hr to block for Shaw. Denard basically outruns everybody on the field and turns around to either block or Shaw get brought down. I mean, Dude Robinson just runs and runs and will always be faster than any other player on the field. I’ve noticed this on a number of other plays, if Denard isn’t running with the ball, he does whatever he can to help out the play until that whistle is blown. Check it out…

Darryl Stonum…
Stonum has wheels and showed it on his 66 yard screen that he took the house with about a minute to go in the first half to bring Michigan within 3. He’s a long strider and is showing the he’s extremely strong with the ball. As I said a week ago, he seems to pull himself out of the first tackler for extra yards any time he’s working along the sidelines.

Kelvin Grady…
Kelvin isn’t typically a deep threat, but made a hell of an over the shoulder grab on a 3rd and 11 that looked as if it could have been a throw away / throw and hope from Denard. I think Kelvin is slowly finding his place on this team and is becoming more reliable. Still haven’t see Kelvin so much in open space – he did have the reverse that went for a nice gain and a first down. Good to see him get to contribute because he is a leader in the locker room and one of the more vocal guys on the team.

On Defense…

WTF, right? This was a horrible, awful, sorry sorry defensive display that confused me and took me down this path of, initially The Horror, then to the defense of 2009 that liked to give up 35+ points week after week. As I’m watching, the only conclusion that I could conjure up was that Michigan’s defense was simply getting out played and out coached. UMass wasn’t being Boise State out there running trick plays, using misdirection, etc. They were running right through the heart of Michigan’s defense and receivers were wide open 90% of the time. Needless to say, it was extremely extremely frustrating to watch. This is not a defense that can afford to come out sluggish – and it showed in a big way. Guys physically got beat, lost contain, missed tackles, etc. What stands out on the boxscore…

• Right away – Michigan gave up 3 touchdowns, that’s like, 20 points – all in the 4th quarter.
• UMass had 26 first downs, that’s like, too many.
• UMass completed 22 of 29 pass attempts, that’s oh, around 76%.
• Allowed 217 yards on the ground and 222 through the air – totaling 439.
• Allowed UMass to convert on 6 of 12 third down conversions and 2 for 2 on 4th down conversions.
• Ugliness ensues – UMass went 6 for 6 in the red zone – 5 of them touchdowns.
• UMass’s running back Griffen was 1 yard shy of 100 yards, which would have given UMass two 100 yard rushers for the day.

The exercise of going through the boxscore was eye-opening in and of itself. 6 for 6 in the red zone? Allowing the opposing quarterback to complete 76% of his passes? I mean, that was truly bad, and Rich Rod echoed how horrendous it was by saying it was an extremely quiet winning locker room. Can anything good come out of this performance? Absolutely. Maybe it’s better that this happened with a 2 loss Bowling Green team next up on the schedule as opposed to last season when Michigan’s D was really exposed against Indiana – then had to go on the road to play Michigan State and Iowa. Hopefully, Michigan doesn’t play this poorly again…Craig Roh says so…

“We were terrible on defense. We just didn’t look like we were prepared to play and we didn’t make adjustments during the game. I promise you’ll not see another game like that from us again.”

Jordan Kovacs…
Jordan made the play of the game with just under a minute left in the first half. Michigan, I’m going to say luckily, winds up being ahead 21-17 at halftime because Kovacs is a playmaker. After Michigan gives the UMass back a good 20 yards up the middle, Kovacs yanked the ball right out. As a function of the poor linebacker play and Kovacs typical solid run support, he led the team with 11 tackles and one for loss. If only he was like, way faster in coverage! Good overall game from Kovacs.

Mike Martin…
Martin is and was a beast on Saturday. Martin had two tackles for loss for -14 yards and one sack. Even when Martin is double-teamed, he is still either getting through or getting to the ball.

Ryan Van Bergen…
Was non-existent on Saturday and for most of this season for that matter. On the boxscore RVB assisted on one tackle. He’s not getting pressure on the quarterback and cannot beat his guy when Michigan drops eight in coverage and only rushes three. Going to look for much improved play from him over the next few weeks.

On Special Teams…

More WTF’s on special teams. First, CATCH THE FU&*ING BALL. Will Hagerup makes a big mistake, and yes he is only a freshman, but you cannot be making those mistakes late in the game. Along with the Cam Gordon post-interception fumble, Hagerup’s flub cost Michigan a quick seven. Michigan is now 1 or 5 on field goals for the season. That’s, umm, not good at all. Someone has to step up and take control of the kicking game – and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be Brendan Gibbons. Enough on kicking. On punt returns, Jeremy Gallon gets a FAIL once again. He tried to make a play on the ball and be aggressive and it’s hard to fault a guy for that, but you have be smart back there and Gallon is not performing. I’m all for putting Stonum, Roundtree or Odoms back there to catch punts – guys that have more game experience.

EXTRAS: hit up MGoBlog for all related highlight and post-game interview videos, MVictors has what AP voters voted for Michigan and where they ranked ‘em.

“When you run a quarterback 25 times, you’ve got to have toughness,” Kelly said after Saturday’s game. “I’ll let Coach figure out whether that’s the case for 10 games — Coach Rodriguez knows his team better than I do. But we hit him pretty hard today.”

The gripers, the whiners, and the scurrred fans of Michigan’s remaining opponents are confident that there is absolutely no freakin’ way this guy can make it through an entire season. That’s what you’re hearing right now – “…there’s no way this kid is going to make it through the Big Ten, no way! and he’s had to come out of both games with an injury!…”

What happens down the line remains to be seen, but I’m tired of hearing that THERE IS NO WAY HE CAN MAKE IT through an entire season. Good bajesus how about we let the season play out already. Through two games Denard has carried the ball 57 times. Has he been hit by 250+ pound defensive linemen 57 times? No. Has he been hit by physical linebackers 57 times? No. In fact, Denard is often times going to fast it’s nearly impossible for the defenders to even attempt to get a direct hit on him. I’ve taken a look at the awesome “Every snap..” videos from MGoVideo and broken down each of Denard’s runs into four different categories.

1. Defensive front 7 hits – or simply a hard hit where the impact of the blow is significant. So this could also come from a 2nd level type player if it’s a real shot.
2. 2nd level hits – where Denard has already gotten 5+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage and is generally running full speed
3. Fallen on / little contact / or a slide – Denard may not feel any impact from a defender at all, or just a small amount because he has gotten down before receiving a hit
4. No touch on him at all – where Denard jets it 87 yards into the end zone, goes out of bounds, etc.

Conclusions go below…
We know some thangs after two games. We know that Denard is the fastest player on the field. We know, if I’m using the same terms that the NBC color guy used during Saturday’s game, that Denard is a “quick-twitch athlete” (he pointed out that a few guys were good or had the edge because they were “quick-twitch guys” – dude needs to not do that again). After two games, it’s clear that for as many times Denard is going to either go down, dive before he gets tackled, or save his body – he is going to be flying towards a first down and take on significant contact.

1. Front 7 hits = 23 Avg. / game = 11.5
   A normal workload for a featured running back in most pro-style offenses. It’s fair to assume that your prototypical running back is going to get hit harder and more often than the elusive Denard.
2. 2nd level hits = 16 Avg. / game = 8
   More often than not, Denard is going too fast for a guy to get him good. However, times like below – are when Denard is going full-speed because it’s 2nd or 3rd and however long. In this case…Denard getting hit = me cringing.

3. Denard Slides or goes down easy because he’s Superman = 14 Avg. / game = 7
   On most of these runs Denard is going down before the contact can get to him as the defender intends. Typically, there’s less cringing from yours truly on these plays.
4. Not touched = 4 Avg. / game = 2
   Hmm. Let’s see what one of these plays looks like shall we?

Knockout Hits…sort of, not really though
Denard has left each of the first two games after a nice run up field. Both times he returns after one or two plays. He left the UConn game after converting on 3rd and 15 – for two plays. Let’s take a look see…

And now against Notre Dame – not sure what happens here – I thought Denard may have gotten the wind knocked out of him, but usually when that happens rolling around on the ground ensues.

she does what she wants

EDIT: Figured I’d add this to the top of the page – you’ll enjoy this link of the now known Melanie Collins.

Holy damn man it’s been one hell of a wild second week for Michigan fans and players at fall camp. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a message board meltdown quite like the couple that have so damningly went down this week. First, it’s the rumor and story that Troy Woolfolk is very hurt and went straight from the practice field to the hospital to be treated for a leg injury. FARFIGNOOTIN!! Or, something like that. But, damn that is one guy that Michigan probably couldn’t afford to lose. It’s not the end of the world, or end of the season as most message board frequenters seemed to place it. But, in the end it just leaves you shaking your head. Damn.

Perspective Be Good Man!
So, what’s done is done and it appears as though Michigan is not going to be taking the field with any player of proven caliber in the secondary. This could (umm, will) be a big problem on the field, but for what it’s worth, it’s probably a good idea to take what little positive you can out of the situation. Troy is one of those guys that will step his game up in times of adversity. He’ll be a great teammate and more like a coach on the sideline, at practice and in the locker room. You have to feel for the guy – apparently he was in the greatest shape of his career and was amped up to embark on a great senior season. Luckily for Michigan and for Troy, he didn’t redshirt his freshman year. So he will be able to snag a medical redshirt – assuming he is out for the entire season – and come back strong next year.

Message boards definitely got out of control upon word of Troy’s injury. It’s actually quite hilarious, but man you have to maintain some type of perspective to some degree. Troy is one guy – and one guy doesn’t make or break your team. While his absence will no doubt be felt, rest assured this 2010 team is one that nobody has ever seen take the field before. Michigan will field an offense that may be stronger than any other Michigan offense in a decade – with maybe the 2006 offense being an exception – Henne, Hart, Manningham, Long, etc. So yeah it sucks, and if you frequent MGoBlog, it apparently warranted a relentless amount of dong punches and crys of WHHYYYY?!?! to the Angry Hating Gods of Michigan Football. Nevertheless, my expectations for the 2010 Michigan football season do not change because Troy Woolfolk will have to sit out with his leg injury.

Little side note – I don’t believe they’ve announced what type of surgery or rehabilitation Troy will have to undergo to get back to full speed. It could be out there – but all indications from the Michigan twitterers and mgobloggers of the world is that of nothing so far.

Message Board Meltdown – Take II
So, and it’s well documented by now, smokin’ hot Melanie Collins tweeted the following at approximately 7 or 8ET lastnight.

Very reliable source telling me Tate Forcier requested a transfer from #Michigan this AM. NOT yet confirmed, will update as I know more.

I’m driving as I see the post over at Mgoblog about Tate possibly transferring. Let’s just say that it probably wasn’t too safe to be driving around me at that time – I was apparently more interested in the rumor than I was with preserving my own life. Fortunately, it wasn’t too long after that where Mike Forcier indirectly told the world that the rumor had no merit to it and he wouldn’t endorse the idea of Tate transferring.

The Days of Old.
I have to admit that, while I’ve always been a huge Michigan fan, I’m much more in tune and into the daily media binge while the team is at camp and preparing for the season. I think it’s that way for all fans – as great blogs have only been around for a handful of years. I can remember hearing about Drew Henson’s broken foot on ESPN. Or, in 2004 when Chad Henne and Mike Hart were two guys nobody really even knew about before the season got underway. I must say, I do enjoy seeing the press conferences with Coach Rodriguez and the players – and the snippets of practice that we get from the Countdown to Kickoff videos – but let’s face it – it’s stressful as hell! The days of old were when you found out your two-deep depth chart the week of the game and went to identify who was who during the pregame warm ups of the home opener no longer exist. Nowadays, more notably in 2009 and 2010, NO NEWS IS DAMN WELCOMED IF YOU ASK ME!

Smoke at the Peak of your Buzz.
You know, when you are finishing up your tailgate and/or heading towards the stadium – because the smoking ban goes into effect this year and you can no longer smoke anywhere in the stadium. WSJ Article.

CNNSI Article on Michigan football.

Quickly – On JT Turner…
I’ve gotta say – while a lot of fans felt as though JT Turner’s departure was that of grave significance to an already inexperienced secondary – I’m telling you right now it has virtually no impact on this year’s team. There’s a reason that the highly touted, #1 player to come out of Ohio in his recruiting class, didn’t see the field last season when Michigan’s secondary needed help badly. And they needed help in the worst way. It’s simply a case of a highly touted recruit not living up to the hype that was created amidst the duration of his recruiting phase. Here’s a decent article from Michael Spath at Rivals – who points out that the media and general fan perception of the player attrition during the Rich Rodriguez era has been largely blown out of the water. Snippet:

Since Rodriguez was named U-M’s head coach in December 2007 a total of 16 Wolverines to have set foot on this campus are no longer with the team – again either forcibly removed or having chosen to leave on their own accord. Of those 16, which include high-profile names such as quarterback Ryan Mallett, offensive guard Justin Boren, tailback Sam McGuffie and, most recently, Turner, only three count as Rodriguez recruits. The rest were originally offered scholarships by former coach Lloyd Carr for fits in his schemes.

And goes to say…

What does this all mean? Well, it should take ammunition out of the hands of those loading up on even more criticism of Michigan’s current boss. Certainly, his 2+ seasons at U-M should not go unscathed but be sure to know the facts before you start firing misinformed cannon balls. And in this instance, any such claims that he’s running off players or cannot keep players happy are misguided.

Friday’s Full Pads – See it if you must…
Pics from today’s practice.

Earning Your Wings? …
I haven’t really gotten the full scoop on this, but apparently some players have to “earn their wings”. You can see Tate in this picture on the right has an all blue helmet – no wings yet. Could be something interesting developing here…Click the picture if you want to see it larger. EDIT: 30 seconds of research yields indications that Tate’s helmet had wings all week – and the fact that he doesn’t today means absolutely nada. Neat.

From the Big Ten Crew…
This is from BTNBrentsBLogs Twitter page.

• Dave Brandon was at practice to observe this morning
• Devin Gardner can’t put a pass in the wrong place here early on. Rapid fire drill, he’s on the money with everything
• Vladimir Emilien just made a bone-crushing hit on a 1-on-1 drill. The entire defense celebrated the hit
• Gardner definitely looks like he could get snaps. He’s very impressive, but Denard has improved as a passer quite a bit
• One thing’s for sure Michigan coaches are very intense and vocal
• Denard Robinson looks like a completely different passer. Add the threat of pass to his running ability, and Michigan could give d’s fits
• Roundtree on how he’d define success this year: “Everybody playing for eachother.”
• Mike Martin on difference between this year’s defense: “I think we’re a lot closer.”

Oh yea. I had to post this picture of Ohio State’s J.B. Shugarts. Man, dude needs to grow some facial hair or something – might be giving people the wrong impression with that look!

With a clean slate in both the win and loss column – August tends to distribute rather overwhelming optimism and pessimism among fan bases across the country. Hence, I delve into the depths of the mere possibility of an absolutely terrible 2010 season for Michigan. If all goes wrong and the team can’t seem to pull it together. If there appears to be little offensive and defensive improvement, the losses will begin to pile up quicker than a Denard scamper.

The Nightmare Begins…

Connecticut.
This game has been talked about all summer as a very difficult opener for Michigan. Facing a confident team that has experienced success in each of their last three seasons. The Nightmare starts with Michigan struggling all day to move the ball consistently and the all too familiar upside down turnover ratio going against the Wolverines. Michigan winds up keeping it close but struggles all day and loses a close one. The fan base is uneasy after a not so stellar outing in the opener and the season begins at 0-1. Nightmare Record: 0-1

@ Notre Dame.
Notre Dame opens their season against a Purdue team that could very well beat them, so both teams could be heading into their second game feeling a hair desparate for a big win. I think this season’s game in South Bend will be a typical rivalry game – neck and neck with a few WTF type turnovers from each team. Should Notre Dame beat Michigan, Brian Kelly catches Michigan off guard with some play calls that Michigan simply isn’t prepared for. Michigan, again loses a close game for the second time over two September Saturdays. Nightmare Record: 0-2

Massechussetts.
Well, the 0-2 Michigan squad gets a breather at home against a team that even Michigan’s 2008 team led by Nick Sheridan would have eased by. Nothing feels better about the season even with a royal beatdown of Umass. Michigan wins by at least three touchdowns and the Michigan faithful limp on to another week of practice. Nightmare Record: 1-2.

Bowling Green.
The thought and fear of another loss to a MAC team is there, and let’s not beat around the shrubbery, it’s a frightening thought. Michigan looks less then steller and gives up way too many yards to Bowling Green’s offense. Fortunately, Bowling Green can’t handle either Tate or Denard as they split time (as we all know will happen regardless of who starts any particular game) and put enough points up on the board to make the win look respectable on the ticker. Nightmare Record: 2-2.

@ Indiana.
Last year’s win against the Hoosiers was one of those games that pretty much sucked to watch. At that point, Michigan’s defense hadn’t truly been exposed and the team showed it’s first real signs of the meltdown that would come as the season pushed on. Michigan will walk into Bloomington hoping to add another notch to the win column, however, Indiana has different thoughts in mind. The Indiana offense again abuses Michigan’s defense and a couple costly Michigan turnovers gets Indiana enough on the board to stave off a late Michigan rally led by Forcier. Nightmare Record: 2-3.

Michigan State.
At this point, Michigan fans are ready to throw Rodriguez to the streets as the preseason optimism lingers in fans minds and all wonder if it’s possible to get this thing turned around. Afterall, it’s still early October with a lot of season left to be played. Michigan puts together a solid performance for the first time this season and takes full advantage of a couple early Michigan State blunders. Michigan gets its hopes back up after their best game of the season. Nightmare Record: 3-3.

Iowa.
Iowa enters the Big House on a roll with an unblemished record and a top ten ranking. This game will be much like last years, where Michigan competes but is never really out front and never really looks as though they are better than Iowa. While it’s a good game, Iowa’s defense proves to be too much for Michigan to ever establish anything positive on the ground – Iowa’s offense does enough to get 20+ points on the board by chewing up yardage and the clock with a solid ground game. Nightmare Record: 3-4.

@ Penn State.
Michigan comes into the game with a proclaimed renewed focus after a solid week of practice. Much like many of the games in 2009, Michigan can move the ball and the offense looks great at times, but as the game progresses Penn State seems to be the more dominant team. Michigan does not produce any big plays and it’s inexperienced kicking game misses a couple key field goals. Michigan leaves Happy Valley quite discouraged as it seems like this was just another one that slipped away in the latter stages of the game. Nightmare Record: 3-5.

Illinois.
With the season looking a lot like 2009, Michigan’s chances of getting to a bowl game seem to be less and less likely as the losses pile up. A Juice-less Illinois team strolls into Michigan Stadium hoping to get a big win as Illinois is having a terrible season. Michigan plays up to par as they did against Michigan State earlier in the season and gets another solid, turnover-free performance out of all three units. Michigan still is hopeful to get to a bowl game and finish the season on a high note. Nightmare Record: 4-5.

@ Purdue.
What the hell is it about Ross Ade Stadium – because over the years Michigan has really struggled to come out of there with wins. Just this week, the Big Ten Network was playing the 2000 game, where a Drew Henson / David Terrell / Anthony Thomas led offense blew a 28-10 lead against the Drew Brees led Boilermakers. Much of the same to be expected here, a high scoring affair that leaves Michigan with a sour taste and rotten bus ride back to Ann Arbor. Some Purdue player is sure to have a career defining game. Michigan goes down. Nightmare Record: 4-6.

Wisconsin.
Wisconsin comes in not living up to the preseason top fifteen type expectations everybody set in August. That being said, Wisconsin takes advantage of some sloppy quarterback play from Michigan as a frustrated Rodriguez shuffles both Denard and Tate in and out of the game – hoping one of them will perform. Michigan loses a stinker and a low scoring game on a dreary November day. Bowl hopes again – dashed. Nightmare Record: 4-7.

@ University of Ohio State.
Well, once again Michigan is faced with a “well if we beat Ohio State down in Columbus it will almost make up for everything that went wrong all season.” As nice as that sounds – it ain’t happening. Ohio State is too solid in all three phases of the game and the game is almost a direct repeat of 2009. Michigan moves the ball, but doesn’t have enough firepower to look like the better team on the field or the scoreboard. Nightmare Record: 4-8.

The Odds of the Nightmare Happening?

There is about a 8% chance the season plays out this way. While I won’t totally discount it, and using history as a guide, Michigan should at the very least be on par with last season and most likely show marked improvement. BUT, you never know, as we thought the seasons and product on the field were mere impossibilities before the 2008 and 2009 seasons actually happened.

Worry not my friends. ANYTHING can happen – but I don’t foresee the Nightmare becoming part of our reality in the near future.

Connecticut received enough votes to fall 33rd with Notre Dame coming directly after at 34th.

We all love the rankings when our team is in part of the party. Unfortunately, Michigan has been ranked sparingly over the past couple seasons. Last year, Michigan popped into the top 25 after beating Notre Dame and going 4-0 – and we all know how that played out. Michigan will need to win it’s first five games in order to show up in the rankings in 2010. Should they beat Connecticut, Notre Dame and win at Indiana – they will have a perfect record going into two tough home games against Michigan State and Iowa.

Lastly, I have to be honest. I could give a shit that West Virginia has trouble with the NCAA now and everyone wants to point the finger at Rodriguez again. How about the University of Michigan and their football team start practice next week, get the meeting with the NCAA committee out of the way on August 13th, and go win some football games. As we’ve seen in the past – winning cures all – and it will in 2010.
]]> http://mgofootball.com/2010/08/06/usa-today-pre-season-poll/feed/ 0 http://mgofootball.com/2010/08/04/6-things-to-look-forward-to-in-2010/ http://mgofootball.com/2010/08/04/6-things-to-look-forward-to-in-2010/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:30:28 +0000 Mike P. http://mgofootball.com/?p=1619 I’m down with 10+ wins this season, but you are only fooling yourself if you think Michigan can jump from three in 2008 to five wins in 2009 to 11 wins this season. The marked improvement on both sides of the ball and on special teams is what I’m looking for and what I’m most excited about. Players like Jeremy Gallon and Terrance Robinson. New recruits that will no doubt see time on the field.

Here are six things to look forward to in this 2010 season regardless of your love or hate towards RR, your disdain for the spread offense, or your general negative attitude towards the Michigan football program in its current state…

1. A new era for Michigan Stadium. If you love all things college football and Michigan is your team, then no doubt do you love the Big House. It’s it’s latest form, this season kicks off the output of money well spent. Officially, Michigan Stadium now holds a capacity of 109,901 fans. Since I’m not going to be frequenting any of the boxes anytime soon – I’m also going to enjoy, hopefully, shorter lines to the bathrooms. I don’t want to have any more accidents in that stadium. Damnit.
2. Experience, Yessss... Well well well what do we have here? You mean to tell me that the same players AND coaches are returning for a consecutive season? My goodness. It’s true indeed. That alone will give this team confidence and afford them the opportunity to gel into units that function and execute as they are intended and trained to do. This is the first time in Rich Rod’s tenure that he is returning a starting quarterback. This is the first time the defense gets year two with it’s (essentially) coaching staff in place from the previous season.
3. Another fall and another season. Need I say more. Autumn leaves, crisp air, hoodies, tossin’ the rock around, tailgating, brats, beers, friends, family, cornhole, the Victor’s lot, the Victor’s walk, 3:30 games, and on and on it goes. For me, it gets no better than the fall and there is no better atmosphere than the buzz of a college football campus and environment.
4. Potential break-out players will, well, break out. This team is stocked with second and third year talent that hasn’t seen the field yet. There are a whole mess of players like Jeremy Gallon, Terrance Robinson, Cam Gordon, Mike Cox, Fitz Toussaint, and Justin Turner that could make a huge impact on this team. Same goes for several incoming freshman that are sure to see the field in extended action. So don’t discount the players that RR has recruited and doled out a redshirt.
5. A momentum storm in Ann Arbor unlike any before….If the wins come. Collectively, this fan base is so freakin’ thirsty for a successful season, not just a few wins here or there, but something that is put together over the course of twelve weeks and an entire season. Even if Michigan finishes with 8 wins that is enough improvement to warrant crazy momentum going into what could be a highly ranked Michigan team going in to the 2011 season.
6. You’ll run into some wonderful people at the Big House!



]]> http://mgofootball.com/2010/08/04/6-things-to-look-forward-to-in-2010/feed/ 0 http://mgofootball.com/2010/07/27/fall-fever-and-talking-um-footballs-future/ http://mgofootball.com/2010/07/27/fall-fever-and-talking-um-footballs-future/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:51:50 +0000 Mike P. http://mgofootball.com/?p=1483

Hot Damn! Didn’t you think it was coming after last years win over Notre Dame!? I sure did. I thought it was coming last year after starting with season out with four straight victories. In the end, it was not to be. Michigan fell apart game after game. Even after losses against Michigan State and a close one at Iowa – it seemed as though a good season was still in order. But again, it was not to be. Lately, as a new season approaches and hopes for success remain high I’ve reflected a little bit on how great it will be once Rich Rodriguez finally turns this train around.

Fall Sweet Nothings. August is a great month of football without really having any football. It’s great because the optimism in the air and surrounding the team is all over the place and spewing out of just about everyone’s mouth. You’ll have fans, players, and even coaches talk up the team and certain position groups as if Michigan has never seen these type of guys before. Remember how Fred Jackson talked about Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw before 2008 debacle of a season – saying they were the two best freshman he has ever seen! I fully expect more of the same coming from Fred this fall – he’s already provided a few nibbles when asked about Fitzgerald Toussaint…

“He’s as talented as anyone who walked in the door,” said Jackson, who has coached Michigan career leading rusher Michael Hart, Chris Perry, Anthony Thomas and Tyrone Wheatley, to name a few. Jackson said he had never before heard of a player breaking his shoulder blade. But before the injury, Jackson saw budding talent. “He’s got great feet, acceleration, strength, power,” Jackson said. “I can compare him to somebody — he’s like a fast Chris Perry. He’s going to be very good.”

Said hype typically provides an end result of a bunch of fans walking into the stadium on September 4th thinking about how great the team performed during the fall practice season. Don’t let me fool you, I am the biggest sucker out there for all of the daily practice reports and player features. I tune in on a daily basis. So you have to take what you see and hear during the fall practice season with a grain of salt – and realize that all 100+ major college football programs in the country are having shining fall practice reports. Well, maybe not Eastern Michigan, but just about everybody else.



We Be Fallin’ Up. Never fallin’ down… Well, Michigan football most definitely has fallen down on hard times. And it’s thoroughly documented by both local and national media outlets. I can’t remember a program and a coach more riddled with negative media scrutiny than that of Michigan football and Rich Rodriguez. Obviously, this coming season is huge, one that could impact the Michigan football program for years to come. The big question everyone wants to discuss revolves around Rich Rod’s job security – “how many wins saves his job”. Nobody truly knows what that answer is – I can confidently say that he keeps his job with seven wins – any less and I don’t know if I can really support and justify RR staying. I’m a RR supporter and always has been since he arrived in Ann Arbor.

The Fall Up Will Be Great. If the media attention is reciprocated for Michigan’s rise back to success – then cheers to that being enjoyable as hell. There are a lot of great things happening around the stadium and off the field – and perhaps some wins on the field will bring more light to what those great things are all about. I’ve never put too much stock in how momentum impacts a team’s performance, but it seems as though Michigan has really not dealt well with negative swings in momentum over the last two seasons. With so much more experience on the field this year, I expect there to be more positive swings in momentum than negative – so I expect that to snowball into better play on both sides of the ball. Will it lead to a complete resurgence of the program? Remains to be seen, but I’m hopeful because that fall fever is about to kick in and I’ll be ready to see some action in that win column!

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Here’s a decent interview with Craig Roh. He talks up the chemistry and bonding of the team this summer in the wake of the NCAA allegations.

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