Hope Springs Eternal
Although right now I may be down on our 2009 team's chances, inevitabely between now and August 30th hope will spring eternal and I will believe Michigan is going to some awesome bowl in 2009. What reasons am I going to have for deluding myself?
1. 11 returning starters on offense
2. If a true frosh starts, that will mean he is better than Threet, so the qb play will be improved no matter what.
3. I'll be subjected to another 9 months of EEEE BARWIS talk and all the players talking about how much they've improved physically.
4. The players will work on fielding kicks. That alone probably cost us 2 games this year.
5. We will have even more ninja slot dudes. Although we all like Tay, we have no one else to compare him to, so we don't know how good he is compared to the other electrons Michigan recruited.
6. The offensive line will have a lot more experience, along with some good 2008 recruits contributing and hopefully the return of Zirbel.
7. I believe in Gsimms. Whenever I am down on the defense, I read Gsimms, and somehow he is able to get me to rebelieve in Schafer. Even with the loss of 6/7 starters, In 4 months I will honestly believed we will be improved on Defense.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...
8. Rivals practice videos. I'll be able to watch Tate and Beav throw the ball around with no defense, Fitz Touissant truck someone in the M drill, and our defense practicing scoop and score drills. Then I will exclaim OMG WE ARE SO GOOD!!!
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:23 PM ^
Love this post. I'd like to add this, my mantra of the day: We can all sleep well tonight knowing that this is as bad as it will ever be.
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:41 PM ^
There's at least some chance Stevie Brown is gone and a sure thing that Charles Stewart is.
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:33 PM ^
i could be wrong here, but i thought steve brown did not have his worst game today. FWIW. and mouton was good again, i thought.
November 22nd, 2008 at 11:50 PM ^
IICR he was at fault for the first long touchdown pass and you can fault either him or Ezeh for the Wells TD run. I think he's morphed from being an utter abortion back there to a guy who will give you one great play and 1-2 horrible plays. So...I think that's progress?
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 AM ^
Hopefully he can learn geometry in the off season and we won't have to worry about plays like that again.
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:24 PM ^
Brown made a nice INT in each of the last two games (though, sadly, we didn't convert either into points). Maybe he's starting to figure things out.
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:16 PM ^
I didn't even know about this site until today. My name is Scott. I live in St. Louis now, but I'm a fourth generation Detroiter and a lifelong Wolverine fan.
My Dad, David, was a U-M grad. He passed away suddenly this past March; he was only 62. He lived for U-M sports, and passed that love along to me. This football season has been especially hard for me, for obvious reasons.
But my Dad was also an eternal optimist. He really believed that, no matter who coached the team, Michigan would always be Michigan. After tough loses, he'd always say that they were "as glorious in defeat as they are in victory. Michigan always makes things interesting".
I have no idea if Rodriguez is the answer. What I do know is that we should all be happy that we're around to find out.
Scott
PS - Thank God for Michigan Hockey!
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:44 PM ^
Man that pretty much sums it up. "Electrons", that is exactly right. LOL Great things to come.
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 PM ^
...but I'm having a tough time seeing how the defense is better next year. The defensive line was the only above-average unit on the entire team and even if Brandon Graham comes back they'll struggle mightily without Taylor, Jamison and Johnson.
Of course, this year's defense was put in horrible positions all season long. The turnovers and inability to move the ball on offense meant the D was constantly on the field, often coming with the ball on our side of the 50.
Hopefully the offense improves for all the reasons you stated, which will not only translate into more points but an easier time for the defense. Even if the defense takes a step back (which I think is inevitable) they could end up being more effective if they get more rest and have longer fields to defend.
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:49 PM ^
the D had some nice schemes early in the game. it's unfortunate (and also inevitable) that the offense couldn't build anything on that. we never had any momentum, and it was a matter of time before the doors were blown off the hinges
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 AM ^
I think the DLine was a 9-10 this year. LBs were a 5 and the DBs were a 2.
I think if Graham stays, then we have Graham, Campbell (please), Martin, Van Bergen/Butler, which I will hope to be a 6-7. I hope that the LBs can improve to a 6-7 and with Stevie Brown showing some improvement and some RS Freshmen coming in with some good talent, the DBs may look competent at a 5 or so. Even though the line may not be dominant any more, the rest of the defense will hopefully be competent enough to keep the opponents' scores around 20, which our offense should be able to outscore next year.
November 23rd, 2008 at 1:45 AM ^
I think the biggest defensive improvement will be more offensive consistency.
November 23rd, 2008 at 2:10 AM ^
The coaches have a lot of fodder for coaching this offseason. I am sure they will use it well and get the team rockin and rollin for next season. Mark it, dude.
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