Kansas State 31, Michigan 14
Photo via
Shane Morris had a solid debut as a starting quarterback.
He also led Michigan in rushing. By 29 yards. Over Devin Funchess.
The defense, meanwhile, couldn't put together a real stop until the second half. KSU receiver Tyler Lockett's three first-half touchdown receptions were more than enough to defeat the Wolverines on their own, as the offense fared no better, failing to reach 300 yards of total offense for the 11th time under Al Borges.
The 2013 season is mercifully over. Michigan finishes at 7-6, blown out by a mediocre Big 12 team. It's 1:30 in the morning. Goodnight, and here's to a better tomorrow.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:38 AM ^
The defense continues to disappoint. Oh well, nothing like getting blown out in a middling bowl game.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:42 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 9:59 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 9:19 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 12:19 PM ^
In the second half, KSU had four real drives (I'm taking out the drive after the INT and the kneel and the game ender) - two of those were 60 yard drives that took a combined 13:23 off the clock, one included three first downs before the fumble, and the other got extended twice by Michigan penalties before KSU ultimately had to punt on 4th and 5 from the Michigan 45.
If Bill Snyder and KSU wanted anything other than to make the second half as short as possible (which they did - KSU had the ball for 21 minutes in the 2nd half), the score would have been worse.
December 29th, 2013 at 4:15 PM ^
I think it's also worth noting that the fumble happened the play after Tyler Lockett dropped what would've been his 4th touchdown reception.
December 29th, 2013 at 6:36 PM ^
The defense did not perform "brilliantly" in the second half. KSU controlled the clock and punted once. They continued to move the ball at will and the only reason the drives ended was a result of turnovers. Stop the propaganda already!
December 30th, 2013 at 11:34 AM ^
Yup, the extended drives were the result of the inability of the Defense to prevent KSU from picking up 1st downs.
December 29th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^
ksu had the game in hand and, with class, dominated the possession clock and chose to secure the game with controlled offense and sturdy defense. Kinda like how Michigan used to do.
December 29th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^
LB's are constantly too shallow and the safeties are constantly too deep on zone coverage. Corners give 15 yard cushion on 5 yards to go 3rd downs because the threat of a a deep route failure by the safeties. LB's are the kings of covering empty patches of grass. D-line has consistent containment rush that still allows the QB to sneak through for 10-15 yards gains with ease. Defense became an abject failure at the end of the season unfortunately.
It appears that no single part of the defense has trust in the ability of any other part to complete its job effectively. You end up with a passive display of ineptness,
December 30th, 2013 at 11:29 AM ^
Yup, it was frustrating to watch the D willing to just "take it".
December 29th, 2013 at 2:32 AM ^
Ironic that another product of Columbus/Ohio is what brought Michigan to the greatest heights in his respective sport.
Give 'em heck Trey thanks so much for those years.
December 29th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:06 AM ^
Actually that is a pretty good example of irony. Ohio is the "Worst State Ever," but produces a lot of good athletes for us.
December 29th, 2013 at 3:44 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 2:04 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:41 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:41 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:44 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 3:45 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:45 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:42 AM ^
Neuralizer, but "you don't need half of your med school classes being erased from your memory."
December 29th, 2013 at 1:47 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:47 AM ^
and pile on if you wish. But I feel worse than I did after 2008. In 08 it was a new coach, new system, and basically a walk-on QB or journeyman QB in the wrong system. You knew it would be bad and it was.
This is year 3 of resurecting the old ways, we are weak, uninspired and frankly a very poorly coached and prepared football team in every way. In 08 I at least had a feeling it couldn't get worse, that it had to get better but right now we went 7-6 and by all rights could have been 5-7 with little sign of improvement or development of "his" players. This could get worse, I just don't have the faith it will be better under this status quo.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:53 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 2:03 AM ^
With this staff, there is a huge number of guys on both sides of the ball who have looked the same from year to year. There are a few guys who we thought would light it up this year, who got better, but not better enough. But most guys got a year older, if they got a year better, it was almost accidental.
The goal of the coaching staff is to have 5 star college players. So, you can take 3 star HS guys and make them 5 star college guy (MSU), or bring in all 4-5 star high school guys and get them developed into 5 star college guys (Bama, OSU).
Unfortunately, we are bringing in 4-5 star HS guys and making them 3 star college guys.
I think THAT puts us in a bad way, more than this year's W/L record.
December 29th, 2013 at 2:09 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 7:27 PM ^
Agreed on every point. Until this team can start showing us something on the field I have to say I as a fan have reached the point of skepticism. I no longer have faith in any of the coaching staff and the players, while they try, are not prepared, coached up or even taught to execute properly. If it's on the players I then have to believe that all of the sudden these guys can't understand how to do what they're being taught, which again comes down to coaching.
Until we can begin seeing tangible improvement I just don't see any reason for any optimism. I'm tired of hearing year after year how much the QB has improved in the off season, how great the WR's are geling and catching everything thrown their way, how the OL is impressive, etc, etc, etc...
Quit feeding us a line of optimism that has no foundation in reality. Our program has become a second tier program, we're no longer a top tier program that's had a bump in the road and is rebuilding. I say this to the coaching staff and the rah-rah cheerleaders here and in the media. All season long we've seen little glimpses of what could be if things just start clicking. Instead of looking forward to Devin's senior year when he should explode I feel sorry for the young man as he faces andother year of being a tackling dummy and exhibit A for laundry soap. Let's face facts, we're 6-8 years of consitent good recruiting and coaching up before we can hope to regain our former status. If the roster has been that depleted then FILL IT UP WITH TALENT!
It's been 6 years since this roller coaster started. It's been 3 years since the last coaching change just because the last one wasn't working. How long must the program, the alumni and fans be patient? If we stay the course will it be another 1-3 years of a mistake or will we come out on the sunny side of life having stayed the course to success? I don't have any answers and luckily I don't get paid to decide either.
Go Blue! Let's pray that 2014 at least gives us a glimpse of hope for the future.
December 29th, 2013 at 3:00 AM ^
And 2009. This year is equivalent to '10. i think Snyder could of hung 50 + on us. He backed off in the second half. We looked as pathetic in a bowl game as the '10 team did. The defense sure played as dismal. But now, I don't want a coaching change. Give Hoke his 5 full seasons. RR did not get 5 seasons, and I'm not sure if that was a mistake or a blessing?
December 29th, 2013 at 3:18 AM ^
On a neutral field, in this bowl season, who wins; the 2013 Michigan Wolverines, or the 2013 Arizona Wildcats?
December 29th, 2013 at 8:50 AM ^
Oh do we want RR back now? Are we going there? Come on.
December 29th, 2013 at 11:17 AM ^
... if this team would be ready take on Appalachian State next August 30. But the question I posed (hypothetical Arizona v. Michigan) seemed a bit more interesting and less painful.
December 29th, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^
We get it, you're president of the Rich Rod Fan Club. Give it a rest.
Rich Rod was not the answer here. Whether Hoke is the answer is up for the debate. But the solution isn't to go back to the crappy coach we had before the current one.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:53 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 5:46 PM ^
Whether you like it or not, the present trend for michigan football has been a downward trend for its record since Rich Rod left. The 2013 record is just as bad as the 2010 record including a loss in the bowl game. Both defenses have been mediocre, but if you want to hang it on RichRod and forget about GERG and the Free Press led jihad with the NCAA, go ahead.
Michigan has good recruits but no offense leaders and no rushing offense. If the 2014 team is no better than the 2012 team, how long will we wait until the team begins to lose confidence. Before they can win the Big10, they have to first win the division, and with competition including OSU, MSU, and PSU (perhaps without their current head coach), that is a challenge.
Oh by the way, looking at Arizona, RichRod seems to be bouncing back with upset wins against Oregon and Cal. We can wait and see how they do against Boston College in the Independence Bowl on New Year's Eve.
Pardon me to those, who feel that I offend the dogma of Michigan Football, but there are better coaches out there, and having no effective running backs and a mediocre inside OL does not lend confidence. Having grown up in AA during the Schembechler era, would Bo stand by and tolerate this kind of performance. Maybe we could bring back Mike Barwis to improve conditioning, since he live less than 15 miles away.
So let's see if Michigan can do better than 8-5 record with a post-season bowl win next year.
December 29th, 2013 at 6:01 PM ^
Than this Michigan team.
December 29th, 2013 at 6:39 PM ^
Arizona has an out of nowhere stunning blowout of Oregon on it's resume this year and that is literally it. Their other 3 Pac-12 wins combined for 3 conference wins among them (Utah, Cal, and Colorado). They got torched by their archrival by 37.
Great OC and offensive mind that disguised his liabilities as a head coach while defenses needed to play catch up in the last decade.
The apex of RR's career were the minutes before the 2007 game against Pitt.
December 29th, 2013 at 11:49 PM ^
Agree. They should have had 10 more points if it wasn't for a missed chip shot FG and the dropped TD pass.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:50 AM ^
This team blows. There's no sugarcoating it. And I don't think it's the kids' fault - this team is sloppy in all facets of the game and lacks discipline and aggressiveness on both sides of the ball.
We have an AD that micromanages to the point of looking over the coaches' shoulder, an incompetent OC, and players that look lethargic (I miss Barwis) out there.
I'm not quite drunk enough to belt out a "FIRE EVERYONE" yet but I'm close.
Hoke's seat should be warmer, Borges' should be scorching, and Dave Brandon's should be heating up by the minute.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:50 AM ^
...as well as enraging.
- We have a 2-time All-American LT.
- The leading single season WR in M history.
- A senior RB who ran for over 1,000 yards his sophomore year.
- The top RB from last year's recruiting class.
- Devin Gardner. Devin Funchess.
I mean, any team in the country would salivate at this much talent, and yet:
- This offense has now failed to score a TD 5 times over the last 2 years, I believe?
- They have now failed to accumulate 200 yards 4 times this season.
- And we LEAD the country in tackles for loss allowed.
The team is an entire group, but you can't tell me that just because we're young at Center and Guard, that it makes sense for this team to be LUCKY to be a game over .500 on the season.
I'm not calling for anyone's head, b/c it's easy to want Borges gone, but this offense is being run in a highly inefficient manner. Someone needs to account for that.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:54 AM ^
before Brandon wakes up and admits his mistake.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:57 AM ^
Thanks to the kids for playing their hearts out this season. Congrats to Gallon. And I look forward to seeing Lewan play on Sundays.
December 29th, 2013 at 2:03 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 5:52 AM ^
Not even close...
December 29th, 2013 at 9:33 AM ^
Comments