Diaries

I was thinking about Urban Meyer yesterday, and today has only compounded those thoughts with every random article or thread post.

Urban Meyer.  Ohio Head Coach.

No pressure there, right?

Here's a guy whose body couldn't handle the stress of the expectations he created at Florida, the expectations of greatness and regularly performing at champion-caliber football.

Today he'll arrive in Columbus as the most heralded man ever to set foot in that cesspool of a town, praised and worshipped for what every slack-jawed Buckeye native is absolutely certain he'll bring:  National titles, and several of them, in as little time as possible.

"Jus' y'all wait 'n' see-- 'Rbin's gon' take US all da way!"

They are all telling us, ever since Saturday-- just wait.  Just wait til Urban gets here.  He's going to win so many dang football games they'll be saying 'Woody Who?'

Urban will do it.  Urban can do anything.

And, interestingly enough, we haven't even learned of their fate from the NCAA.  If the governing body of collegiate sports actually grows a set and gives these hooligans what they deserve, the noose will grow tighter as every diehard Buckeye swears that 'it won't matter, Urban will win it all for us anyway."

The demands that will be heaped on Urban Meyer will be as ludicrous as the boasts being proclaimed about him this very minute by every scarlet and gray "football fan."  Every ridiculous thing we read about what he'll accomplish or what he'll do to us will add to the weight of what is expected of him.

And if he fails to meet those expectations... well, just ask Jim Bollman what those dedicated wagon jumpers are capable of saying.

Can he meet what is expected of him in Columbus?

Could anyone?

Today he is the Scarlet and Gray messiah, and Heaven help him should he not be able to produce what the Senator did under a blanket of corruption and deceit.  Heaven help him if he isn't able to walk on water they way an entire fan base is today testifying him as being capable of.

Stressful?  Are you kidding me?

I guess, in short, my point is that for a man who feared for his own health enough to walk away from the stress in Gainesville... this is a very curious choice.  The pressure on him is already mountains more than anything he'd ever sufffered in Florida.

I think he'll win, plenty.  Yes, he may bring them a national championship.  But I just can't see the guy there more than four or five years top. 

I hear there was some football game played on Saturday or something.  I wouldn't know.  I was too busy sleeping off the over-indulgence of Thanksgiving leftovers.  Anyone know what happened? 

Well, whatever happened, it is still my sworn duty to provide you guys with a bunch of stuff other people wrote which you could just as easily look up on your own, but I know you won't, you lazy bums. 

Here are the week 13 bowl projections for all our bowl-eligible Big Ten teams, whether they have coaches, don't have coaches, or kinda sorta do but not really but yeah they do hint hint nudge nudge wink wink.  (Note: as of this writing, BTN and CFN/Scout have not yet updated their projections.  I'll revise when they're up)

Also, this will be the final installment of the 2011 season, since I'm assuming the bowl selection show will be on Sunday night after all the championship games are over. 

So what's new, pussycat?  Not much, honestly.  We'll know our bowl fate on Sunday during the selection show, but right now, everyone (except for slowpokes BTN and CFN) have Michigan still projected to go to N'awlins to face Houston in the Sugar Bowl.  I can live with that. 

In other news, Wisco is a lock amongst the prognosticators to whip up on Sparty and head to the Rose to face Oregon.  This means most folks are liking msu for the Outback, with the Cap1 opting for Nebraska (like I said, ignore the last 2 columns for now, which are populated with last week's predictions). 

Pretty much everyone is also calling an osu-Florida matchup in the Gator Bowl.  The Urban Meyer storyline would just be way too juicy to pass up.  I'm guessing they expect Florida fans to make a strong showing with the hopes their team will beat up on their old coach's new team.   Sadly, this means an Ohio-Ohio Pizza Pizza Bowl Bowl will likely no longer be in the cards.  I know, I'm crushed, too.  Rather, you've got either Iowa or NW there, with the other team probably in the TicketCity Bowl.

Penn St and Iowa are currently splitting votes for the Insight and Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowls (seriously - that's the real name). 

Finally, you've got the sad Illinois Fighting Zookers TBD'ers who, on the bright side, may get to go bowling in N'awlins in the Superdome!!!  Woo!!!  Sugar Bo...  Wait, what?  The R+L Carrier New Orleans Bowl on Dec 17?  Well, they were close in proximity to a BCS bowl, at least....

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten

http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/11/27/bowl.projections/index.html

http://btn.com/tag/bowl-projections/

http://cfn.scout.com/2/557866.html

So everyone seems to think that Michigan is going to face Houston in the Sugar Bowl.  Of course, in order for that to happen, Michigan has to finish in the top 14 of the final BCS standings.  The current BCS standings come out at 8:15 pm tonight.  This has been an overanalyzed topic on the MGoBoard, but there are some interesting and somewhat overlooked things that could happen next week to affect Michigan's BCS hopes.  The consensus round these parts has been that if LSU beats Georgia, we should be in the top 14 and thus selected to the Sugar Bowl.  However, even if that happens, there are some other teams that we should be concerned about:

1. Michigan State.  If they lose to Wisconsin in a close game, it is not unreasonable to think that they might stay above us.  Yes, they have 3 losses to our 2, but they beat us by two touchdowns.  They have moved up to 9th (barely) in the Coaches poll and are 11th in the Harris poll.  The computers have us (just) ahead of MSU, so if they drop to one spot ahead of us in the polls, the BCS rankings will probably have us ahead of them. For State to stay in the top 14, they'd have to only drop a couple of spots after a loss.  A State win in the B1G championship game, while deeply unsatisfying to my fandom, would actually benefit Michigan, as Wisconsin would almost definitely drop below us, and with MSU as one of our opponents, it would help our computer rankings.  It would still, however, make me nauseated.

2.  Baylor.  This is the one that really scares me.  The computers LOVE the Big 12.  Two of the computer rankings had Baylor 7th overall last week, even with losses to Kansas St. and Texas A&M.  My guess is that Baylor and Michigan will almost be exactly tied in this week's rankings, with Michigan having a slight edge.  The good news is that they might have dropped a little in the computer rankings, as their win over Texas Tech will not help them as much as South Carolina's win over Clemson, for example.  That same game helped Michigan to move in front of Clemson in several computer polls.  In any case, Baylor's game next weekend against Texas may decide Michigan's bowl fate.

3.  Oklahoma.  An Oklahoma win over Ok. St. keeps both in the  top 14.  I have no doubt that the Sugar Bowl would take us over the Cowboys, but we'd have to make the top 14 for that to matter.  An Oklahoma loss should drop them past Michigan in the human polls, but they were 6th in the computer polls last week.  A loss to Ok. St. (#2 in the computers last week) is not going to hurt them too much, and they'll probably stay in the top 10 in the computer rankings.  That means they'd have to drop to at least about 17th in the human polls to fall past Michigan.  I don't know if that will happen.

The overall math is this: We will be 16th in tonight's rankings.  We need two teams to drop past us with no teams moving ahead of us. (or three drop and one moves ahead of us.) We need the following to happen:

1. Georgia loss to LSU.  A Georgia win eliminates the Sugar Bowl slot.  Nobody, not even Mark Richt's mother, thinks this will happen. 

2.  The B1G loser to drop at least 4 spots in the human polls.  That should happen, but hope for a blowout either way (run it up, Bielema).

3a.  Texas beats Baylor.  A Baylor win probably puts them ahead of Michigan and leaves us at 15th in the BCS, which means we can't be selected over other eligible teams.

3b.  Oklahoma loses badly enough to Ok. St. that the human polls drop them to about 18th, allowing Michigan to slide ahead of them in the BCS. 

3c. UCLA beats Oregon. The Pac-12 championship game should be irrelevant, as UCLA won't beat Oregon, but if they do, Oregon should drop out of the top 15 in the BCS. That would be great, as it would pretty much lock up a spot in the top 14 for Michigan, and it would give the B1G a winnable Rose Bowl.  Go Bruins!

We also should hope that Virginia Tech beats Clemson.  A Clemson win is dangerous because it hurts us in the computer polls, and it gives a bowl game the opportunity to take Virginia Tech as an at-large instead of Michigan (unlikely, but possible).  I don't think Clemson overtakes Michigan in the human polls with three losses, but it would probably be close.

The BCS standings come out at 8:15.  What to watch for: the gap between Michigan and Baylor, and both teams' positions in the computer rankings.  I expect Michigan to be at almost exactly 0.400 overall (probably a little above), and Baylor to be just a little below 0.400.  If the gap is big enough, it could be hard for Baylor to overcome even with a win over Texas, especially if Baylor gets pushed down by other teams in the computer polls.  Last week the computers had them at 0.550; hopefully they have dropped from this spot.

Edit: There has been a lot of consternation in this thread and the others that have popped up tonight about Baylor.  Basically, the fear is that a Baylor win over Texas bumps them ahead of Michigan.  I should know, since I said it above.  Having seen the updated standings, I don't think it will happen.  A Baylor win is not going to help them in the human polls.  We all know that the voters have a tendency to "ladder" their votes, meaning that teams usually only drop when they lose, or if a team behind them has an impressive win.  Beating Texas is not that impressive; a lot of other teams have done it too.  So Baylor should stay two spots behind us in the human polls even with a win (assuming TCU beats a 2-9 UNLV team at home).  In the computer polls, Baylor can only move up about one spot (ahead of South Carolina) if Houston, Boise, Va. Tech and Oregon win (as they should).  The Michigan-Baylor gap is 0.04, which corresponds to exactly one spot on average between the three polls.  Since Baylor can't move up in the human polls, and can move up at most a spot and a half in the computers, that gap should only narrow to about half of what it is now.  Also, either Georgia or the B1G loser should drop between Michigan and Baylor in the human polls, which should increase the gap.  In short, I think the Baylor-Texas game shouldn't matter.  We should just need LSU to win, and the voters to drop the B1G loser below us.

The best regular season event in college hoops is almost upon us, and for the first time since I added a second school to my college loyalties, UVA and Michigan will face each other in an event I care about.  Who better than your resident Virginia fan to get you up to speed on Michigan's Challenge matchup this year?  Here is your scouting report on the Hoos.

-- Coach

UVA loves Tony Bennett.  Tony Bennett is totally our bishie.  This is a guy who knows how to build a program, he's got UVA hoops fans truly excited about the direction of the team, and if you asked me which coach in the country most resembled John Beilein, I'd tell you Tony Bennett. Both have unorthodox defensive systems that are excellent at throwing off the opponent; both do an excellent job of recruiting while refusing to associate with the shady side of it, both have a long-term substance-based view of building a real foundation instead of flash-and-dashing their way to the top.  Very much your classy, salt-of-the-earth type of coaches, instead of a huckster like Calipari or a class clown like Bruce Pearl.  Bennett is younger and a little more reserved than Beilein on the sidelines, is the only ACC coach to have played in the League, and is still the best three-point shooter on the team.  In fact, he's still the best three-point shooter that college basketball has ever seen; less prolific than J.J. Redick, but his .497 three-point shooting percentage is tops all time.  Bennett was also the national COY in 2007 for making Washington State a successful team.  He is a Wisconsin native and the son of former Wiscy coach Dick Bennett.

-- Players

(Only going to deal with the top 8 rotation players.  If you see someone else, UVA is probably in foul trouble.  This is in order of PPG.)

- Mike Scott (#23)

Mike Scott is the heart and soul of our team, and one of only two non-Dookies-or-Tar-Heels to be named to the six-man (because of a tie) preseason all-ACC team.  He is that good.  Scott is a 6'9ish power forward who is averaging a double-double, and is a fifth-year senior thanks to a medical redshirt last year for an ankle injury.  He plays with a strong emotional streak and has a terrific array of post moves.  He can go up-and-under, and he loves to post then face up and hit a jumper, Sheed Wallace style.  Scott is a ferocious rebounder and has been since freshman year, and he's an excellent free-throw shooter so hack-a-Shaq does not work here.  Michigan will need to get picture-perfect man defense from Jordan Morgan; I think he's the only U-M big man with the strength to match up on Scott.  Even then, Scott will get his points, and U-M would be better served to work on shutting down UVA's younger guards than by trying to stop the veteran Scott, because they won't be able to do it consistently.

- Joe Harris (#12)

"Joey Hoops", as some have begun calling him, is really the key to UVA's offensive attack.  Harris is a 6'6" small forward/shooting guard who can do a little bit of everything.  His best thing last year as a freshman was a crack 3-point shot, and his handle is surprisingly good.  He's also a solid rebounder, and he'll never be a point guard but he can create some as well.  Harris is essentially that white guy that good teams have that drives opponents up the wall and back down.  He is Zack Novak if Novak were simply a really good white guy and not GRITTY MCGRITBOMB.  (Not that Harris lacks toughness, but nobody is Zack Novak.  And Harris is only a sophomore.)  If Harris is hitting his outside shot, that is when UVA's offense is really moving.

- KT Harrell (#24)

No periods.  Just KT.  Keyion Tobias Harrell is another sophomore whose big thing is his mid-range jumper.  He is getting better and better at developing the jab-step needed to clear the space for it, and his handle and creation skills are improving too, albeit at times inconsistently.  Harrell is also a bulldog defender and very quick for his 6'4" size.  Harrell is a quieter, not-very-talky player who prefers to bury that mid-range and hustle back on defense.  He can be turnover-prone at times if he gets too careless on the dribble.  Harrell will likely be tasked with guarding THJ, and that will be a good matchup that both players will get the better of at times.

- Assane Sene (#5)

You won't need the number to identify him.  He'll be the huge Senegalese beanpole standing near the basket.  Two years ago the scouting report on Sene would've been the hoops equivalent of "good field no hit I mean seriously couldn't fucking hit to save his life even off a tee."  Tony Bennett and his staff have fixed that, and Sene's hands of rock have disappeared.  He's now quite good with the left-hand layin especially, and being seven feet tall, is a prolific shotblocker and rebounder.  Horford and Blake McLimans may see a little more burn than usual.  I wouldn't have said that two years ago, but Sene is now a legit offensive threat, and of course, an excellent defender.

- Jontel Evans (#1)

Bub Evans is another bulldog defender and a former running back as well.  A tough player.  Evans is a point guard who sees his job as mainly distributing.  He's got a good shot but doesn't trust it enough; I actually wish he would shoot more, either outside, driving to the rim, or both.  He is the team's best on-ball defender and Trey Burke will find it hard to go around him, but Evans still has work to do off the ball.

- Malcolm Brogdon (#22)

The only true freshman in the rotation, Brogdon has a good shot and the ability to play either point or shooting guard.  Early in the season he was our backup point guard while Sammy Zeglinski recuperating from an injury; now things are shuffling a little bit and Brogdon and Zeglinski are still working on meshing into their roles. 

- Sammy Zeglinski (#13)

Usually the backup point guard.  Sammy is a fifth-year senior, also thanks to injuries; he and Mike Scott are the teams grandpas.  He's always been sort of an average player, but not a bad one either.  There are ways to defend him, but the way not to defend him is to make him take a wild shot with the shot clock at 1; it seems his best basketball skill is to hit a three-pointer while flying sideways into the opposing bench or backwards across the midcourt line with nothing on the shot clock.  Seriously.  He does this.  But otherwise he is sort of a replacement-level ACC player.  As mentioned above, UVA is still working on fitting him back into the lineup after what must be his twentieth injury, and the offense is still finding its way around the newish rotation.

- Akil Mitchell (#25)

An outstanding defender with occasional SUPRIZE offensive moves.  Mitchell is possibly the team's best athlete, and in terms of rebounds-per-40, is second only to Mike Scott on the team, even edging out 7-footer Sene.

- James Johnson (#34)

High future hopes for Johnson, who is a redshirt freshman, but as of now, six games into his college career, is basically a replacement-level big guy.  Has yet to hit his first college field goal, but a serviceable defender and good rebounder.

-- UVA's style

Tony Bennett comes with a reputation of slowwwwwing down the game, and it's not undeserved.  He hates early shots and prefers the team use most of the shot clock, so you will see UVA pass up the occasional open shot.  He is also one of those coaches that eschews the offensive rebound; upon launching a three, UVA's players will immediately head downcourt and set up the defense.  When Brian talks, as he has in the past, about ignoring RPG numbers and focusing on defensive rebound percentages, he could not hardly be talking more about UVA if he tried; the Hoos are excellent on the defensive glass and don't care much about the offensive side of that.  UVA doesn't pass up fast-break opportunities if they're there, but the players are instructed to default to setting up the halfcourt offense if there is any doubt.

-- UVA's offense

Here is where I admit my knowledge is limited.  Bennett openly admitted in his first year that he wasn't fully installing his blocker-mover offense so that he could focus on installing his complicated defense, so I don't really know where the old offense ended and the new one began.  UVA does like the three-point shot, and will make use of the elevator screen and other tricky screening methods to set it up.  This year, because of Scott and of Sene's offensive metamorphosis, they will go inside much more frequently than they have in the past.

Based on the season's results so far, there's a lot of work to be done on this end.  Shots aren't falling like they should and the team still needs to gel on the offensive end; you could see that in their very first game against SC State and it didn't help that the rotation got a shakeup three games in.  The TCU and Drexel games were offensive ugliness defined.  On Friday against UWGB the team started returning to form a little, so things are on the upswing, but there's a ways to go, I think, before the offense is ready for the nightly February grind of ACC ball.

-- UVA's defense

Fortunately, the defense is fantastic.  KenPom currently has it ranked 9th in the country, with opponents being held to 37% EFG%.  UVA employs what is known as a pack-line defense, and this isn't Beilein's 1-3-1 where it's brought out in fits and starts to confound and piss off the offense.  This is an every-possession philosophy.

The pack-line is one of the most complex defenses employed in college basketball, and it's taken these two-plus years to get it working.  I don't know every facet of it and neither does anyone but some of the real gurus, but the basic concept is simple.  Imagine a line the shape of the three-point line and about four feet closer to the basket - that is the "pack line."  Defenders are instructed to guard the ball closely when their man has it and sag inside the pack line when he doesn't.  In this way it is a man-to-man defense that takes on several aspects of a zone.  It is very difficult to drive against.  Post defenders will front their man and deny the entry pass; because of this, there is no baseline help and Bennett has drilled it into his players' heads never to allow the baseline.  From the very first practice players admitted that Bennett would "lose his mind" when his guards would allow a baseline drive, in that sheepish smiley way that says "we've all been chewed out for that."

In the past, the three-point shot has been the bane of the UVA defense under Bennett, but as players get more instinctive and mentally quicker, they've greatly improved their ability to step out and defend that shot.  Bennett has also allowed more freedom outside the pack line as the players get experience in the system.  You'll often see UVA's players step out for a quick harassment double-team of a player on the wing before retreating to cover their man again, and there is more denial of wing-to-wing or key-to-wing passes than in the past.

That's basically a five-minute rundown; the pack-line involves a lot more than that, and many facets of it require an incoming freshman to unlearn all he once knew about man-to-man defense, and do the opposite.  But the results so far this year have paid off in spades.  Opponent quality notwithstanding, UVA has yet to allow 60 points in a game this year, and has held two opponents under 40.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how this defense looks against a tournament-level team.

-- The arena

John Paul Jones Arena is not named after the admiral, no, but there is a portrait of him in the lobby if I'm not mistaken.  It's a very new building, just five years old, and admittedly oversized.  (Designed as a concert venue as well, hence the 2,500 seats that we probably don't need for hoops.)  Hopefully the opponent will draw a crowd.  The student section is L-shaped and somewhat larger than at Crisler; it is behind the benches and wraps around behind the end of the court that has the columns.  U-M will shoot at that end in the second half; it can be a tricky shooting background for opponents because of the student section and the indoor pergola behind.

-- The town

Many of you who might be going to the game have probably already been to Charlottesville, and it's not like this is a football weekend, so I won't go crazy here.  In fact this section only exists because I like to tell people that if they visit Charlottesville and don't eat at Littlejohn's if given the chance, they're doing it wrong.  It's on the Corner, on University Ave about a couple hundred yards from the Rotunda.  Go.  Eat amazing sandwiches.

-- The game

This is UVA's first test against a tournament-level team, maybe even an NIT-level one.  On the flipside, I will venture to say that U-M has not yet faced a defense like UVA's.  I'm no bookie, but I will guess that the line will be set at about seven points in favor of Michigan.  The best individual matchups will be Evans against Burke, Harrell against Hardaway, and Scott against Morgan.  Scott will get his points, and I think UVA is stronger on the interior than U-M is.  But Michigan has an explosion of guards that should eventually overwhelm the Hoos, if both are playing up to their best.  I expect a low-scoring game, perhaps something along the lines of 67-60, Michigan.

As for me, I've always said that if ever UVA and U-M met on the court, or the field, I would probably end up pulling for the team that needed the win more.  That would be Virginia in this case.  Michigan just got two very tournamenty-looking neutral-site wins.  UVA dropped a bad one to TCU and needs a win over a quality team to make up for it, and Michigan is the best team we'll play in the OOC schedule.  This would be a very good road win for Michigan - because I expect UVA to end up with a solid ACC record - and could be worth half a seed, so I won't exactly be all sad if Michigan wins.  But I think and I hope UVA is a tournament team this year, and is certainly a bubble team no matter how you slice it, and UVA needs a feather somewhere; this is a good opportunity.

“A fundamental vibration is excited when one such quantum of energy is absorbed by the molecule in its ground state.  When two quanta are absorbed the first overtone is excited, and so on to higher overtones.”

Wikipedia - Molecular Vibration

Nebraska was the first quanta, then came The Game...

Before getting into the game, let me give my heartfelt thanks to the Buckeye fans that offered to help my cousin jump his dead battery on the golf course, only to take off when the time came to actually help out.  For a few horrible seconds I thought I was going to have to reconsider my position towards Ohio.  Way to uphold the stereotype, assclowns!

By halftime of The Game yesterday an all too familiar feeling had crept over me. Michigan had looked like they were about to pull away in the first quarter, only to have the game brought back to a neck-and-neck battle when Ohio flipped the narrative in the second.  Only there was that one point, the tiny difference between a FG and a safety, and it loomed large in my consciousness.  It looked and felt like doom.

Honestly I had little doubt that this team would rally in the second half.  It was that the offense would lead the way to victory that caught me by surprise.  Denard was an absolute beast, and more in-tune with the flow of the game than at any other point this season.  His passes were on the money, whether screen, seams to Koger, or darts into coverage for TDs to Hemingway and Odoms.  Then the waggle-like PA to Koger - gods that was nice.  But through it all, that single point still weighed heavy on my mind. 

After Mattison's defense very uncharacteristically gave up the quick TD to make it 37-34, Denard turned to his legs to sew things up.  Following a spectacular pass and catch by Dileo, Denard tag-teamed his way down the field with Toussaint.  The added run threat that Toussaint gave Michigan made the read option deadly and Denard again and again gashed the Buckeye defense.  Then Toussaint scored the game sealing TD, don't even try to play like he didn't - even Spielman claimed it wasn't incontrovertible.  The refs though, they must have decided before the game to keep the finish exciting if at all possible.  Turning that TD over was scandalous.

No problem though, Denard has it covered!  Around on the bootleg and in for the score! Ballgame!  What?  A HOLD???  That's not a hold!  His hand is on the guys breastplate for crying out loud!!!  And a personal foul?????!!!  He was just blocking the play!  Goddamn zebras!  This isn't right you conniving criminals!!!  It isn't your goddamn place to try to influence the outcome of the game!  Gaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Then, after Gibbons nailed his career long, that point was just sitting there, ready to tear out our hearts again and leave us clutching our dreams as the turned to ashes.  It seemed predestined.  But the gods had mercy on Michigan fans everywhere, and did not allow the zebras their triumph.

And lo, the highlight package from 2003 was laid to rest for all eternity.  May we never be forced to view them again during The Game.

Live for Today…

Several players/coaches should take particular pride in their accomplishments yesterday:

1. The Seniors - Van Bergen. Martin. Woolfolk. Koger. Molk. Hemingway. Odoms. Heininger. Huyge. Watson.  It was more than could be asked of even Michigan Men to put up with the infighting and general incompetency of the last 4-5 years. May double-digit victories including over Ohio, and (hopefully) a BCS bowl birth serve in place of a Big 10 championship.  You guys rock.
2. Fitz Toussaint - Denard is light-years more effective with a true home-run threat in the backfield with him.  The read option becomes almost impossible to stop if read correctly.  Only having 2 negative yards against Ohio in 20 carries is remarkable.  It is a crime that the zebras took your TD away, go get 3 next year.
3. Denard Robinson - Hands down the best performance of the season on the biggest stage.  If Denard can find this level consistently nest year Michigan would have to be the odds-on favorite to win the Big 10.  Clutch.
4. Martavious Odoms - Odoms made plays.  His double-catch for the first down was simply an amazing display of physical prowess.  His TD catch after muffing the pitch from Denard was just Odoms being Odoms.  This team will miss him as much as anyone.
5. Al Borges - When the defense was reeling, Borges came to the rescue in a brilliantly executed second half.  Michigan had an answer for every challenge, a response for every score.  The final TD that was scandalously taken away was a great call.  The Waggle-Like-Substance the TD before was even better.  Anyone that wants to question what Borges is doing should be required to re-watch this Game first.

Also of note:  Desmond Morgan and Kenny Demens - Linebackers should be leading the team in tackles, Hemingway and Koger and Dileo and Gallon - Cause Denard can only throw it - someone has to catch it, Mike Martin and RVB - Disruptive forces that will be nigh impossible to replace, Kovacs - 2 TFL on nicely timed blitzes and tenacity on the sack, Hagerup - Despite losing us 17 rushing yards and almost costing us the game, this moment will live forever for its hilarity:

Kudos to orobs for the gif.

Hope for Tomorrow

This season is officially awesome and my faith Michigan's coaching staff is sky-high.  I hope these guys stick together and retire together, because if that happens I think Michigan will end up with 1-2 more MNCs and rule the Big 10.  The pieces are in place for a remarkable run, both with current personnel and through top-notch recruiting.  I haven't been this content since 1997 at least.

It's great - to be - A Michigan Wolverine!

Go Blue everyone, and stay safe till bowl season!

    Today put the exclamation point at the end of a regular season marking a new era in Michigan football; an era that allows Brian to write a post-game wrap-up story about Michigan beating Ohio. No pressure Brian, but we’re all expecting something epic. It’s also an era in which my 7 year old son gets to watch Michigan beat osu*. It is an era where the TEAM wins games, not the offense, not the defense, not the special teams, just the TEAM. Although, let it be noted that the offense that Rich Rodriguez envisioned put up 40 points on one of the better defenses in the country. After leaning on the defense for much of the season, the offense was machine-like in its efficiency. I found that appropriate. But that is well-worn territory, and not worth discussing any further here.

    This week, I will leave the cat photos, picture-page analysis, and masterful photoshops to those who do them much better than me. And on this, the weekend after Thanksgiving, I will give my thanks to all the excellent content-generators on this site. It was truly a memorable season. I will play my part on this Blog’s team and do what I do. Give you the link, and dive into the numbers.

* I prefer the lowercase “osu” to the uppercase “OHIO,” because uppercase letters are reserved for proper nouns, and there is nothing proper about that school.

Link: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/112611aab.html

Burst of Impetus

• In a game where the lead changed hands five times, the impetus was getting whiplash. First, osu scored, then we tallied 16 in a row to take an insurmountable lead. At least, at that point, I thought there was no way the 118^th ranked passing offense was going to score 17 points, let alone 34. I don’t think this game had momentum changes, as much as it was just a case of two on-fire offenses holding serve.
• It seemed like UofM was playing a grind it out game, demonstrating our superiority on a play-by-play basis, only for the big plays to swing momentum back osu’s way. The long pass(es) from Miller, the fumble by Denard, the fumble by Hagerup. I kept waiting for osu to return the favor, but they never did, well, until the very last play of the game. Hagerup’s fumble was actually recovered by him, so it goes down as a failed 4^th down conversion. The turnover battle saw each team losing one, and each team going 1 for 2 on 4^th down. It just so happened that osu’s two (interception and failed 4^th down conversion) came on the same play.
• Why do I suggest we were grinding it out? Well, we did have 277 yards rushing to their 137. We had 444 yards total offense to their 372. We had 35:10 of that worthless TOP to their 24:50, and 23 first downs to their 18. But something kept them in the game. The big play. Fortunately, they fell one big play short, the Miller overthrow on their last drive. Even then, I believe Denard would have lead us back to victory like he did twice against ND, because on this day, Denard would not be denied. It was time for him, and us, to eat.

Filthy

• Filthy gets moved up in the normal pecking order this week, in honor of the original “Filthy,” Denard Robinson.
•  I think it’s safe to say that Kovacs may be a captain next year. I’m not sure who gets the nod on the offensive side, as there isn’t a senior lineman like Molk returning. I wouldn’t be surprised if Denard gets elected captain. It very clearly is his team. The players respond to him and you can see the belief on their faces that he WILL LEAD THEM to victory. OK, enough commentary, how about some numbers.
• Denard gained 170 yards rushing on 26 carries, for an average of 6.5 yards per carry. He had a long of 41 yards and two TDs rushing. In the process he passed my favorite all-time Wolverine, Rob Lytle, for third place in yards rushing in a game against osu. I was six when Lytle went for 164 yards against osu. My son is seven.
• Denard was 14 for 17 passing for 167 yards. He threw 3 TD passes. 5 TDs in one game? Filthy.
• Toussaint pitched in 120 yards on 20 carries, for a nice round 6 yard per carry average. He had a long of 46 yards. What was I saying about osu getting all the big plays? Hmmm, I’ll have to rethink that.
• UofM was 5 for 11 on third down, but that includes an 0 for 4 start. Once the offense got rolling, osu had trouble stopping us, and a lot of that was due to some QB draws that went for double-digit yards.

Trash Cans Full of Dirt

• Morgan and Demens lead the way with 10 and 8 tackles, respectively. Gotta love it when 2 LBs are your leading tacklers. Gotta hate giving up 34 points, though. But hey, it was arguably the greatest Wolverine win in my lifetime considering all the baggage and 7 years crap. The National Championship Rose Bowl victory is the only other contender. If I was a year older, Bo’s first victory over Woody would be in the mix.
• Six players combined for 7 TFLs, lead by Van Bergen and Kovacs with 2 apiece. Four of the seven TFLs were sacks. Only one of the sacks was for meaningful yards, a 10 yarder by Kovacs. I am not looking forward to facing Miller three more times. If he learns how to throw he will be dangerous.
• 15 players got in the defensive stats section, and the TEAM was listed for a bunch of dots. I’m not sure what the TEAM did, but hey, it’s nice to give a shout out to the TEAM.
• Avery did get credit for an interception for the last play of the game. Avery also forced a fumble, on a kickoff IIRC, but osu recovered it.
• Van Bergen was the only one who got credit for a BrUp, but I’m pretty sure Countess broke up a pass, too.
• We were credited with no QHs.
• The play of the game, or at least one of them, is not recorded in the boxscore in a meaningful way. After Hagerup’s failed 4^th down conversion, osu took over at our 31. They got down to our 5 yard line, and had 1^st and goal. A couple strong defensive efforts lead to 3^rd down. On the next play, according to Chris Spielman (we were never shown this,) osu tried their TD pass to Stoneburner play, the one that got him TDs on ~ half his receptions this year. Only this time, Kovacs stayed with Stoneburner, and forced Miller to keep it. Jibreel Black (Jibreel Black? Yes, Jibreel Black) kept outside leverage, wrapped up Miller and forced the FG. At the other end of the field, we did the same thing, only their 3^rdstring strong safety, Storm Klein, bit on the playfake leaving Koger wide open for the TD. (It may not have been Storm Klein, but for the purposes of this narrative, I’m going with Storm Klein.)

Big John R. Studd Referee Section

• B. LeMonnier was the referee. He and his crew mostly kept their flags in their pockets, until they decided to throw 2 on us on the same play, and swing the game from UofM covering to osu. I’m not suggesting anything nefarious, only that a lot of money changed hands on that play.
• We had three penalties for 29 yards. After beginning the game like another B1G state school, osu settled down and only committed 5 penalties for 47 yards. So congratulations, Sparty, you were the team most lacking in sportsmanship that we faced all year. To sink lower than the buckeyes? Pathetic. Enjoy getting beat by the Badgers next week.
• On the play where Touss scored a touchdown, only to have the replay official overturn the call, I was livid. In the extended boxscore under double birds given, you will see ST3 with 1. (Fortunately, my son was in the other room at the time.) As I understand it, they can only overturn the original call if the evidence is indisputable. Well, I’M DISPUTING THAT CALL! When they said put the ball down on the 1 foot line, I nearly flipped. The one or two inch line, maybe, but 1 foot?!? I was actually questioning at that point whether the top of the grass counts as the ground or the actual ground is the ground. There is no way that should have been overturned. But as I’ve written before in these diaries, I’m an incredible M homer.
• On the next play where Omameh held, osu was lined up offsides, and the Watson penalty was really weak. I’m just saying.

San Diego49ers

• We had 7 players catch passes, with 5 players catching at least 2 passes. Kevin Koger lead the way with 4 receptions for 40 yards. He had one TD.
• Koger, Hemingway, and Odoms caught TD passes.
• Gallon had the block that sprung Denard for his 41 yard TD run.

Hexadecimal Points

• Hawthorne was the only M hexadecimalist to show up, with 1 tackle. Our string was kept alive by one tackle.
• I hate osu, but their team is loaded with hexadecimalists. Shazier is 1A, and they have three other players listed as 5E, 1D, and 1F.
• Both teams wore their normal uniforms. Obviously lacking on osu’s helmets were a lot of those buckeye stickers. That’s what happens when your best players are suspended for 5 to 10 games, and the rest of your guys are mediocre. They just don’t give those out for completed passes, apparently.

Derpan Meyer

• I will keep this section short, because the focus should be on the game. What I don’t understand is why ESPN won’t allow Kirk Herbstreit to predict the outcome of games he is calling, but Spielman can call an osu game (and Matt Millen can call a PSU game.) It would seem like there is an obvious solution to this. LET HERBSTREIT PREDICT THE GAMES! Sorry about that.
• Spielman reminded us that he was a senior on Earl Bruce’s last team (the Fedora game.) I don’t need to be reminded of that game, OK, thanks.

We Haz Special Teams

• Net yards per kickoff was a push, 46.6 for them and 46.0 for us. Each team had 4 touchbacks, and I think they were all in the north endzone, as a southerly wind of 10-20 MPH was blowing. (Does “S 10-20” mean the wind was blowing from the south to the north, or vice versa? I’m no meteorologist.)
• Net yards per punt were 40 for osu and 47.5 for us. So, for punts we were able to get off, derp derp derp, we did very well. Two of their punts landed inside the 20. They only punted 3 times, and we only punted twice. Remember, there were very few turnovers. Almost every drive ended in points.
• Gibbons hit his season long of 43 yards, to put us up 6. It’s possible osu could have gotten down the field for a tying field goal, but when Gibbons hit the FG, it made it that much tougher for osu, especially since Fickell wasted a time-out on our previous drive. Gibbons, you put it through the uprights. Thank you.

Opponent Bullets

• Zach Boren got a holding penalty. Ha Ha.
• When I was in 8^thgrade, Sports Illustrated had a full page picture of Mike Boren in his UofM uniform in their preview issue. I put that up in my locker at school. He broke his arm that year and didn’t play much if at all. It’s been all downhill for me and the Boren’s since then.
• Screw the buckeyes, if you want to see their stats go to 11 warriors.

Random, as Yet Unnamed, Bullets

• I NEED MOAR NUMBERZ! 57-44-6. Strike that. It’s now 58-44-6. 2926 days. Strike that too. How does “zero” sound to you? {I wrote this on Saturday.} It’s music to my ears.
• Both teams had 6 scoring drives. We had 5 TDs and 1 FG, they had 4 TDs and 2 FGs. That, and the safety, was the difference in the game.
• Denard pitched to Odoms once, leading to one of our fumbles, that fortunately we recovered. Hey Brian, maybe that’s why they don’t pitch on the pitch play.
• My son saw me taking notes during the game, and he wanted to participate. So in my notes, I have “Good kick return” written by my son for Gallon’s return. We may have a future blogger in our midst.
• After writing 12 of these diaries, I feel like writing a diary about writing diaries, sort of like Kramer’s coffee table book about coffee tables.
• Overrated (only slightly): Lloyd Brady sightings. Underrated: Lloyd Brady’s grass man friend sightings. Seriously, what’s that supposed to be?
• Brady Hoke’s smile at the end of the game was awesome. He must be elated. What a dream come true. Congratulations, Brady, Mattison, Borges, the rest of the staff, and to TEAM 132. 10-2, 8 home wins, and maybe a BCS Bowl invite. Just incredible.
• One last input from my son, at the end he said, “write, ‘one happy ending.’”

I couldn’t agree more.

ONE HAPPY ENDING!