2011 western michigan

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Previously: 1879, 1901, 1918, 1925, 1932, 1940, 1947, 1950, 1964, 1973, 1976, 1980, 1985 p.1& p.2, 1988, 1991, 1999

Special Guests: Craig Roh, author of The Pass Rush Bible and Denard Robinson

[Writeup and player after THE JUMP]

1. Setup

(starts at 1:00)

The leadup: Rich Rod era, Practicegate, The Clans, The Process. Sap & Seth try to guess the membership and standings of the Legends & Leaders divisions. Introducing Hoke and his staff. And then, magically, the seniors step up and decide nobody's going to transfer.

2. The Team, with Craig Roh

(starts at 25:07)

Rich Rod left a team recruited for outside zone, big runs with the quarterback, and 3-3-5 defense. Craig helps us go through the roster and how they transitioned to the new staff's concepts.

3. Introducing Denard: Coaching Change.

(starts at 1:01:04)

Talking to the Wonderful One about his recruitment, Rich Rod, and that time he was so quiet yelling hike only Lewan jumped.

4. The WMU Game and Setup for UTL

(starts at 1:14:56)

The Jake Ryan coming out party. Brandon Herron was the most athletic dude on the team. Denard had no idea Dave Brandon told WMU's AD they're conceding. Lewis Kapron-Moore buys a man a drink.

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MUSIC:

• "Year One, One UFO"—M83
• "I Do"—Young Jeezy ft Andre 3000
• "No Time for Dreaming"—Charles Bradley
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Download link. (right-click, download)
• What's with the theme music?

He's like a square.

Ron Bellamy Day. From WH. Part II is here.

THE QUESTION:

Remember that one time an otherwise obscure/disappointing player was a superstar for a day?

Ace:

Full game is on the youtubes.

BiSB: If we're talking games: Spiiiiiiiike!

Smoothitron: I went through his game log not that long ago praying that wasn't his career high, and it's not, but it's close.

 

The pinnacle stretch of Spike's career was tragically unfun.

[Do NOT hit THE JUMP if you prefer to fondly remember erstwhile highly hyped Michigan scatbacks]

A man in my position cannot afford to be made to look ridikuhlis.

Ace: Brian and I did a segment on this week's podcast in which we each listed our top five most ridiculous games of the Hoke era. Not only were our bottom three picks entirely different, but between Twitter and the comments at least a dozen games that didn't make the cut were suggested as meriting inclusion, and... it was really hard to argue with a lot of them.

So let's try this again. List and explain your top five, perhaps mention a few dishonorable mentions, and feel free to explain your methodology—I'm intentionally leaving "ridiculous" open to interpretation.

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BiSB: I just drew up a quick list of candidates. There are 16 games on that list. I HATE ALL THE THINGS.

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Ace: Now remember that the very first game Hoke coached featured two Brandon Herron touchdowns and was called due to a biblical storm before the third quarter ended...

Even the wins, man. Even the wins.

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[After the jump: we discuss 60% of the games under Hoke]