football

Sadly I missed the game....hoping someone would be able to upload / torrent the thing? Please let me know....

I've been waiting so long for another Michigan Football championship hat from a major bowl.

My aunt (alabama fan who lives there) ordered me the blue championship t-shirt right when Gibbons made the FG and the game was won. Told her "thank you so much, but your team is done on 9/1/12".

Also picking up the nike (!?) lockerrooom hat. What gear are you getting?

Though Crete (IL) Monee receiver Laquon Treadwell maintains he has no favorites, Michigan has been a constant presence in his recruitment and they are, at the very least, among his leaders. Treadwell picked up offers from Nebraska and Indiana in December to go along with early offers from Michigan and Notre Dame, and the four-star receiver recently was named to the MaxPreps 2011 Junior All-American first team after a stellar junior season. I caught up with Laquon this afternoon, and he talked about the status of his recruitment, including an early top five:

ACE: First of all, I know you added a couple offers in December. Which teams are having the most contact with you right now?

LAQUON: The teams with the most contact would have to be Ohio State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Michigan.

ACE: Three of those teams have come through with offers—Nebraska, Michigan, and Notre Dame—and you've also got one from Indiana, correct?

LAQUON: Yes.

ACE: Would you say you've got any favorites right now?

LAQUON: I don't have any favorites, but I do have a top five that I like.

ACE: And what's the top five?

LAQUON: Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Nebraska, and then Tennessee—oh yeah, I've been hearing from Tennessee, too.

ACE: Did you get a chance to watch the Sugar Bowl last night?

LAQUON: No, I didn't. I was actually watching the [Semper Fidelis] high school All-American game, and then I didn't get a chance to watch.

ACE: How is everything going for you with your basketball season?

LAQUON: It's going good. We're 12-3 right now, just lost in the championship game of a Christmas tournament, but it's going pretty good.

ACE: Are you planning on making it to any junior days or camps during the offseason?

LAQUON: I haven't made any plans about any visits because a lot of coaches have been pretty busy lately and I haven't heard from them, so I haven't had the chance to make any visits happen. I plan on over the offseason trying to do Core 6 [a training facility for high school athletes in Illinois]—they have a showcase thing with Fox [news coverage] and all that.

ACE: We just came out of a dead period for recruiting, but have Michigan's coaches been in contact with you at all recently, or has it been quiet on that front?

LAQUON: It's been quiet, for all the coaches actually. I haven't heard from a coach in about a week, a week or two.

Lewan described winning the Sugar Bowl like this, "So many emotions, but if I had to put one thing down, I’d say it's like a box of kittens. Have you ever seen a box of kittens? It’s the feeling you get when you see a box of kittens. You’re excited. You’re happy by it. ... It feels all warm and fuzzy. I feel warm and fuzzy."

Taylor Lewan & the rest of 132 are awesome.

LINK: http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/michigan-football-team-validates-triumphant-season-with-triumphant-finale/

Sorry to see Garmon go there, I think we will be pretty good. However, he has to know that it is a cursed position with that team. They lost their #2 RB McCall to transfer on Tuesday. They leave, get hurt, can't qualify, have a mysterious disappearance (Coker best guess is cheating of some sort, but someone was cheating off of him?) or become All-B10. A bit of a grab bag I guess. 

You can check the drama at BHGP

http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/

I am so glad Michigan won, but this game kept me on pins and needles. I had a sick feeling in my stomach, and the resolve of the team in pulling this out was tremendous.

There are so many different things to credit for the win. And there are also numerous things NOT to credit. To wit,

• Our running game was virtually non-existent. Between our OL, their blitzes, RPS, we barely got off any signficant runs.
• We kind of stopped their running, but I saw a lot of missed tackles, and both Wilson and Thomas got a significant amount of yardage.
• Our passing stunk. While Hemingway's TD catches were great, those were thrown up for grabs, really jump balls, and the first one could easily have been an interception. We were fortunate that one interception was called interference (correctly,), and that a second pick was called back because of the ground.
• Their passing was decent. It seemed they shredded our secondary quite a bit. We were fortunate that other than Posey and Ohio, (and ND somewhat,) we didn't face too many accurate QB's combined with tall, fast receivers. Our secondary has got to improve.

Given our non-existent running, our sketchy passing, their running, and Thomas's ability to be patient and find receivers, I would never have believed we would win. (oh ye of little faith.) I remember thinking with a couple minutes left in the first half how fortunate we were to only be down six, and how VT really was very vulnerable by not scoring any TD's.

Why did we win? Well, there are all kinds of reasons.

• The special teams. That's too general, especially given the poor punting we began with. But we caused and recovered a fumble just before the first half. We stopped them on a trick play in the second half. We benefited greatly from the roughing the kicker penalty. Gibbons hit three field goals and missed none. (yeah Brunettes!!)
• Turnovers. Between their fumble and Clark's interception, we scored 10 points. Huge turn around. You also could include the two interceptions they had which were overturned by official review.
• Red Zone defense. Stopping them at the four yard line was huge.
• Good fortune, or making the most of your opportunities. Not only did we get turnovers and stop them several times on fourth down, Michigan capitalized on these opportunities.

I loved this game, and hope it is a great portent of things to come.