M-Dog2020

October 17th, 2015 at 7:58 PM ^

We were fucked all game by the officials. Too many penalties were bullshit calls - targeting and then Henry''s PF ? - each was like a turnover giving MSU life followed by points. We should never been in that position at the end of the game - should have been up 2 TDs.

M-Dog2020

October 18th, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^

First Downs
UM 10
MSU 10
Officials 10

That was just pathetic. Let them play football. The B1G needs to replace that head guy because he just has no command of the game. Why does he show up only when ESPN covers our games? And who was that replay guy ... the targeting was a joke and the refersal on that toe-tap pass was not conclusive enough to overrule both line judges who simulatenously signaled out in the replay. I mean it was like splitting one of those hairs on Judge Thomas' Coke can.

vablue

October 17th, 2015 at 10:03 PM ^

The refs were terrible, but the Henry call did not end up costing us anything as we stopped them on that series on 4th down and ultimately probably ended up with better field position.  That said, the defensive holding call on Lewis, which was wrongly called on #86, cost us an interception and was a very questionable call.

sivaDavis

October 18th, 2015 at 10:57 PM ^

"meant we had to play the entire game down at least one starting LB and several minutes down two."

Damn that sucks... Now Michigan only needed to lose like 8 more starters to be in the same boat as Sparty.

Blaming officials for a game Michigan should have won by 2 touchdowns, classic. Blame your coaching staff for not recognizing you should've counted the Spartan defenders in the box and went max protect. There was no need to have gunners since no one was back to return it. Good to see this loss knocked some humbleness back into this fan base.

Hey you'll always have those 3 shutouts in a row though! Jesus

UM76

October 19th, 2015 at 1:13 AM ^

Ah, maybe I need to go over to a Sparty site in order to correct the things they're saying to reflect the Wolverine point of view. They surely never whine about the refs ... It's always, I'm sure, self-critical analysis of their team's flaws.

Wait, I thought we were the arrogant ones. What's going on here.

Sparty played well, we played well. You won and we lost. Please go away.

By the way, maybe you need new S & C coaches so you won't have to cry so much about injuries. You sound like Hayden Fry.

J.

October 18th, 2015 at 1:08 AM ^

There was definitely defensive holding on that play -- it was directly in front of me, and I saw it before they threw the flag.  But, if memory serves, it wasn't on Lewis, even though they called Chesson's number 86.  It was on Peppers, who was beat on a slant (I think) across the middle and grabbed the receiver to keep him from breaking wide open.  There may have been a *second* defensive holding penalty, since the flag I saw was near the same yard line but across the field from Peppers, but, regardless, it was coming back.

ThoseWhoStayUofM

October 17th, 2015 at 11:03 PM ^

it's not just the number of penalties. it's when they were called, and the lack of true merit for them. they were called with the intent to preserve Michigan State drives, and snuff out Michigan's. Not only were the calls hugely impactful, they were arbitrary in virtue. That was not targeting which gave MSU an undeserved touchdown Henry's unnecessary roughness was bullshit. The defensive holding that overturned the INT was garbage. The hold on Braden was a complete joke of a call.

So not only were the penalties horribky wrong, they were called in situations that massively impacted the outcomes of the game.

This is how I know it was deliberate. The referees called the game with the intent to keep the game close until the final drive. ever call was calculated with ill intent.

So I ask, when is it acceptable to blame the refs? If not now, where I'd the line where you can say, "Yes, the refs are responsible for this loss."? I refuse to grant refs this notion that they are impervious to responsibility for affecting the outcomes of games.

getsome

October 17th, 2015 at 11:56 PM ^

There's a reason they did not and have not thrown much downfield - they don't have the personnel. Unfortunately rudock does not have a great arm and his receivers are not great at gaining separation, tracking the ball and adjusting, and plucking the ball with their hands.

Rudock missed numerous open downfield throws both long and underthrown. He missed chesson long on would-be TD, severely underthrew chesson on that 25 yard completion, etc. And when he did lace it in there like on slant to darboh, crossing route to chesson, etc the receivers dropped balls. In big games vs good teams, TDs or huge chunk plays (or committing huge penalties, allowing ling conversions, etc) are the difference bw sweating it out and giving yourself margin for error at end of big games vs good teams.

MSU dropped plenty of passes and M made some nice D plays on the ball but Cook, whos typically on time and accurate, hit burbridge for at least 5-6 key fades or back shoulder type throws and king for 1-2 (where the QB laid out nice balls and receivers made athletic plays). They do not have the personnel to air it downfield as suggested - even if the receivers stepped up, rudock does have good enough deep arm.

Tim Waymen

October 17th, 2015 at 8:15 PM ^

Well the universe has us on one fucking short leash. Seriously, of all programs in college football, does Michigan really deserve shit that much more than others? Are Dantonio and MSU really on such higher moral ground that Mike Hart's relatively harmless little brother comment merits Dantonio's self-righteous response proving to be prophetic? Fuck no, especially considering that Dantonio mocked that very player--an amateur athlete, mind you--in almost the same breath.

We banned no goats from the Big House, sold no coach or player out. The Ed Martin scandal was bad, but curses don't often work across sports. What beef do the football gods have with us? 

On the other hand, we win in EL next year.

megalomanick

October 18th, 2015 at 9:31 AM ^

It was a figure of speech, Rainman. Football gods, karma, "general bloodymindedness of the universe" etc.

If you go in to a shell and let a team like Sparty keep clawing back, one fluke play can end up being the difference. It was.

Mazzy

October 18th, 2015 at 5:52 AM ^

I agree ALMOST-completely with MGoTyronne.



I did not see a team playing scared the entire game, but what I did see, what I was shouting at the TV about in that last 1:40, was Harbaugh's choice to just try to run down the clock. I KNEW MSU wasn't going to give up. Now obviously that last play was freakish, but still, I never once felt it was out of the realm of possiblity - even in that ten seconds!! - for MSU to try their damnest to score one more. I kept saying "you HAVE to score here!! You HAVE to! Shut them down!" Instead, Harbaugh had them dick around with a ball for two minutes and figured that'd be good enough. I saw Hoke out there, not Harbaugh: the coach that never goes for it; the coach that plays it so safe that his team comes up short for it. Michigan didn't run plays to actively try to score there; they ran plays to just get by until they could -safely- be in a place where (they thought) MSU couldn't possibly score again, and even having that mentality against a team like MSU was the deathnell for Michigan. I hope Harbaugh learns from this and corrects, unlike what we saw of Hoke.