Mark May just told Lou Holtz that Michigan
Watching college football live finale. Lou Holtz starts going on how Michigan's D will be tested next week at Notre Dame when Mark May interupts and tells him Notre Dame is gonna get Rolled. haha first good thing Mark May has ever said about a Big Ten team.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:30 AM ^
September 5th, 2010 at 12:38 AM ^
You said it. How great was it to be free of the nonstop talk from the know-it-alls and just turn the guys loose to play today? You know it had to be an even bigger relief to them.
These guys take their jobs seriously and they play with a lot of passion. I think they will just leave the yapping, platitudes, whining about disrespect, and running clocks to other local coaches and players.
The players will just keep competing hard in practice like they are becoming known for. Time will take care of the rest. We are seeing that process bear fruit little by little right now. A misstep or loss here and there can't stop us from reaching where this is heading long-term.
I hope the fans stick with it when things dip a little here and there. They do on this blog, which makes it the place to be.
September 5th, 2010 at 2:23 AM ^
Nate, I really dig your posts.
September 5th, 2010 at 1:37 AM ^
Lou Holtz also said Notre Dame would run the table and make the National Championship game last year. He's a homer if there ever was one. UConn beat Notre Dame last year, and Notre Dame was waaaaay better then than what they are now, and we rolled UConn pretty much. I'm sure they'll get some big plays, but overall, Michigan will win comfortably me thinks.
September 5th, 2010 at 2:13 AM ^
I'm sure their defense is better this year than last. This is going to be a real test for the Blue Team. They're ready. (I meant that Michigan was ready when I first wrote this. But I think BK will have his team ready, too.) This is virtually a tossup
September 5th, 2010 at 2:28 AM ^
Their offense is way inferior to last year. And only managed to muster up 23 points against a PU team we've dumped 40+ on each of the past 2 years. Think Purdue improved that much? I don't.
UConn was a way bigger test for this team than Notre Dame will be.
September 5th, 2010 at 9:00 AM ^
making sweeping generalizations about a team's offense after 1 game. That same ND offense that was sooo much better last year? They scored 24 against Purdue.
ND will be a huge test if for no other reason than it's a road game. Michigan hasn't won many of those in the last two years. Total of 1, and that was two years ago.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:31 AM ^
Notre Dame is going to get rolled.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:31 AM ^
I would LOVE for Forcier to get the start next week and go with an Air Raid spread attack just to mess with ND. They'll spend all week trying to figure out how to stop Dilithium now. What better way to throw them off and squash the Tate rumors.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:33 AM ^
That would be insane. Have Tate come out there and scorch ND's D just a week after D-Rob ran all over UConn. Only in a perfect world.
You know what would be better? Having Denard do what he did against UConn towards ND.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^
I'd take any win. Doesn't matter how we get it. Just thought it would be cool to flex some QB muscle.
September 5th, 2010 at 1:39 AM ^
I think Rod playing Denard every play (other than the hip scare) means that he'll be starting until he makes himself lose it, or gets hurt. I don't see the first happening so it'd have to be the latter, and even then, with 15 pounds of added muscle, his durability is much improved.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:37 AM ^
Seems like Denard should be able to do this now...
September 5th, 2010 at 1:04 AM ^
Is exactly what I've been secretly hoping for, I even had the thought that maybe we'd come out of the half and switch it up like that. It's probably a pipe dream though, so yeah.
September 5th, 2010 at 7:50 AM ^
After the half they didn't really show anything new. And that's a good thing.
September 5th, 2010 at 4:09 PM ^
That was the "pipe dream" part. I'm glad we played it like we did, I don't want to show a single play that we don't have to, but at the same time I really feel for Tate, and want to find a way to get him the ball (given the requisite attitude adjustment).
September 5th, 2010 at 8:38 AM ^
..."strategory" of that! If weather conditions are favorable for a passing attack, I'd love to see it to keep the trio of QBs all happy and working together.
However, as we've just witnessed, Denard's passing ain't half bad (19 of 22 is insane, even though most were less than 20 yards).
Therefore, my quarter says DRob is the starter for the foreseeable future.
September 5th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
haha, just kidding, I don't have a quarter.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:31 AM ^
Mark May has said good things about Big 10 teams in the past, Michigan included. Besides, if you worked with Lou Holtz and had to put up with his yearly "Notre Dame are gonna be National Champs" predictions, you'd throw down the occasional smack talk on the Irish.
I certainly would like to see this happen next week, but we still have a lot of preparation to do. The Irish are no Huskies, and Kelly is (sadly) no Weis (miss you, big guy xoxo).
September 5th, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^
"The Irish are no Huskies..."
True.
Every indication (until today, arguably) was that the Huskies were a bigger threat.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:43 AM ^
I know some people saw the Huskies as a bigger threat to us given their experience and depth at various positions, especially offense, but when it comes to our depleted secondary, I consider the Irish to still be a more formidable foe. Crist, Walker and Floyd are still very big threats for our DB's to have to account for, regardless of Crist's inexperience, IMHE. Agree to disagree.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:58 AM ^
I don't believe they're nearly the threat that Clausen, Tate, Floyd, etc...were last year. Especially with a first time starter at QB and a new coach/system. I'm not convinced they'll get much of a chance to test our DB's (relative to what they'll need anyway). We'll see how Crist reacts with Martin and Roh in the backfield.
I don't see them being able to hold us... Our offense should be able to take alot of pressure off the D as well.
September 5th, 2010 at 2:21 AM ^
Precisely. I now see the offense doing what I hoped they would do last year; sustain long drives and give the D a break. Plus, I think that the speed and athleticism will be an advantage.
September 5th, 2010 at 8:08 AM ^
they only had 203 yards passing against Purdue. I was really concerned about DRob as a passer going into yesterday as he hadn't proved to me he could do it in a real game. Denard threw for almost 200 so....
Just trying to say that what things look like on paper aren't always the truth. ND does concern me because of how BK has run his offenses in the past, but he didn't show much of that in game 1. They definitely weren't slinging the ball all over the field like I expected ND to.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:33 AM ^
I'm just surprised you understood what Holtz was talking about.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^
I just watched that, God if that happened, it would make me a pretty jolly fellow. I could possibly be going to that game. I sure hope so.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:35 AM ^
I'm not convinced. Notre Dame is probably the best positioned team on our schedule to exploit our weaknesses in the secondary.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:39 AM ^
Contain Allen better than the UConn rb today, and keep tabs on Floyd for sure.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:39 AM ^
I'm worried about ND to be sure. By all accounts Crist is good and Kelly is a good head coach. Plus Kelly is a spread guru and as such likely has some ideas on how to shut it down.
Still Purdue's defense, yeah Purdue, managed to contain ND. So I have hope we can hold ND to under 30 and pull out a win.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:39 AM ^
With a freshman QB? I know they have fantastic receivers, but a team like Iowa, Wisconsin, OSU and possibly MSU have better tested QBs than ND right now. I doubt we'll roll, but I don't think ND is going to be the pest passing offense we face this year by a long shot.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:41 AM ^
Little Brother or the Rose Bowl Version of Pryor are likely the best passing attacks we'll face IMHO. Basically if ND shreds us, assume we're in trouble when we face those attacks.
September 5th, 2010 at 9:10 PM ^
I don't know about that. Michael Floyd is probably the best WR we'll face all season, and Rudolph might be the best TE.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:56 AM ^
Crist is a redshirt sophmore (3rd year in the program)
September 5th, 2010 at 1:08 AM ^
you're right. Don't know who I was thinking of. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:43 AM ^
Honestly I think the ND team of 2009 would have a better chance of beating the 2010 Wolverines. Their Pro-style offense would have cut-up the secondary with their two really good receivers. Now they're down to one and have a new Spread Offense with a new coach. Michigan practices every day against a Spread team; one that is MUCH FASTER than ND's version of the Spread.
September 5th, 2010 at 1:12 AM ^
I'm sure they would, but the fact is that they'll be at home. Home field definitely played a part in winning us the game last year.
September 5th, 2010 at 9:03 AM ^
No we were better than ND, that played a part. Only ND fans believe that homefield advantage had anything to do with our victory last year. And so on to my 1 week of the year hating Notre dame, and the 3 weeks of being annoyed of excuses on why we won. Domers!!!
September 5th, 2010 at 12:47 AM ^
Ummm.. Notre Dame scored 34 on us last year.. unless our defense got considerably worse, I don't see them scoring more than that. Kelly is a good coach, but Weis' weakness was never on offense, and that team had Clausen and Golden Tate... Expecting anything worse than the results from last year is terribly pessimistic.
The outcome of this game rests on how much their defense progressed during the transition. If their defense improved more than our offense, then we might be in trouble.
September 5th, 2010 at 1:27 AM ^
September 5th, 2010 at 2:13 AM ^
wasnt there a diary on this topic earlier in the yr?
TOP is not an advantageous stat for the most part. it is merely an indicator of how a team controlled the ball. if one team runs a pass heavy offense while another plays a run heavy offense, it is only natural that the run heavy offense will have a higher TOP. Our long drives obviously shorten the game and decreases the number of drives the opponent will have, but it also decreases the number of possessions we get.
The single advantage of a high TOP is that it increases the probability that we will have the ball in the final possession of the half/game.
September 5th, 2010 at 7:45 AM ^
So controlling the ball is NOT advantageous? When there was 13 minutes left in the game and UM was up 20 points with the ball, the thought that UConn only had 2 possessions left to score 3 times, if TOP continued, was a HUGE advantage.TOP is not an advantageous stat for the most part. it is merely an indicator of how a team controlled the ball.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^
but despite it, and your very reasonable explanation, I still believe that when your weakness is defense, you are generally better off winning the TOP.
I guess I should modify that statement a little: as long as you are scoring TD's and not FG's, it is to your advantage to slow the game down and keep your D off the field. I liken it to what the Pats did against the Colts. And I think it is especially important when you are thin on D to keep them off the field as much as possible.
September 5th, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^
What about making the other team's defense very tired and giving our defense time to rest? Remember when our defense never had time to rest? Remember how bad they were? I mean, sure, there were other reasons for being so bad but being exhausted all game is definitely one of them.
I don't remember this diary post and if there are lots of stats to back you up that's fine but intuitively it doesn't make too much sense.
A lot of TOP leads to long drives which leads to shorter games which leads to less series where our defense could get blown open. This is a positive in my book.
September 5th, 2010 at 2:33 AM ^
The outcome of this game rests on how much their defense progressed during the transition. If their defense improved more than our offense, then we might be in trouble.
This is a "prediction based on flimsy evidence", but after what I saw today I don't see how their defense could possibly improve more than our offense. Furthermore, I think any improvement in their defense would be nominally offset by an improvement in our defense, and I think we all agree that their offense certainly could not have done anything but regressed.
Furthermore Furthermore, my post doesn't seem to make any sense and I feel as if I have yet to fully recover from today's 18 pack.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:35 AM ^
Mark May has been way off before. I think I'd feel better if he picked ND to win.
But Grandpa Lou? He needs to retire like 10 years ago. His logic is about as good as Beano Cook's.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:48 AM ^
The only difference between Lou and Beano nowadays is that Lou doesn't have an anti-flatulence product named after him yet.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:38 AM ^
By the way...DRob has to start. I would love to see Tate in there but if he can't step it up and mature he won't see the field.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:42 AM ^
I've got it on the replay, but find other things more interesting. Casual observations:
Purdue can't tackle
Cierre Wood looks good (see #1)
Crist looks v. average
Marve =/= Tebow (despite commentator comments)
September 5th, 2010 at 12:45 AM ^
Brian Kelly is a super coach and leader of men. He knows exactly where he is going with that program and the steps it takes to get there. In a couple years, it is going to be very apparent that one of the major universities in this state whiffed big time when they didn't look his way a few years ago. I ain't talking about Michigan either.
They have players and they'll be home. I'd rather worry about them Monday and just eat up all the great observations from you all on our team for the next 24 hours.
I know where this program is headed in the long term and what happens next week down there will help us get there.
September 5th, 2010 at 1:05 AM ^
IIRC, MSU not only looked his way, but they interviewed him and turned him down in favor of Dantonio.