2009 Michigan Football

The UM vs ND game from last season is being replayed right now on BTN for those who are able to watch. It was on this past Saturday too, great game to watch to get excited for the upcoming season, GO BLUE!

Now that Hopson is out, who gets the job now? I honestly have absoulutely no idea, and thus am very interested in your opinions.

Kovacs is up for the "Rudy" award. It is an award for the college football player with the most heart. Yes, I know this was posted a week ago, but it has slipped down the board and I thought I would post again as a reminder. Also, it looks like you can vote more than once, so go ahead. We definitely could use the positive PR.

P.S. Any chance we could get a button on the home page for something like this? A win would be as much a victory for the power of the MGoBlog as it would be for Kovacs because my guess is many (most?) of his votes will come from here. Now, if we could only get them to agree to give us a vote in the BCS.

http://www.collegerudyawards.com/Nominees/76/Jordan_Kovacs.aspx

I don't know about the rest of you, but I had my first good Saturday in a long time last weekend. It was great. I got a ton done, I was in a good mood and I didn't realize why until the end of the day when I was watching a thrilling Arkansas - LSU match on espn. I was hugely pleased that no matter which team won, it wouldn't be crushing. I was actually able to enjoy watching football for the sport itself again. Marvelous.

I'm expecting another good Saturday this weekend. It is nice to be able to expect good Saturdays until next September. I still wish Michigan had made a bowl game, but it is okay with me to be able to just let my football nerves rest as the players train during the off season. I'll hopefully be rejuvenated enough to grind my psyche to paste again for 12 straight weekends and, who knows, we could be good.

As we near the end of the football season, there will be much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth concerning where M ended up in national rankings in various categories (offense, defense, etc.).

Before getting too excited (good or bad) keep this in mind:

The difference between being ranked in the top 25 and being ranked below #80 is usually just +/- 10%.

For example: Total offense: #55 = 390 Yards/Game. Subtract 10% and you get to 351 and rank #82. Add 10% and you get to 429 and rank #23.

My point? It does not really take a huge improvement on the field to change the national rankings. Is it unreasonable to expect M could get 10% better next year?

Also, the national rankings include the FCS teams as well as the BCS teams. This has a tendency to muck the works also.

For example: 6 of the top 10 ranked teams in Total Offense are NOT from the BCS.

What are his chances?

One of the nation's top defensive players, University of Michigan football senior Brandon Graham (Detroit, Mich./Crockett Technical HS) has been named one of seven finalists for the 2009 Ted Hendricks Award as the nation's foremost defensive end.

Graham leads the nation in tackles for loss (26) and is 15th with 10.5 sacks. An All-Big Ten first team selection, he posted career highs in tackles (64) and TFLs (26) while contributing two forced fumbles, two pass breakups and one fumble recovery. Graham also blocked two punts and returned another for a touchdown. He posted at least one sack in seven of the final eight games and collected at least one TFL in 11 of the 12 contests. A preseason All-American, he is the only player in the nation to rank in the top five in TFLs two straight seasons (first in 2009 and second in 2008).