DonAZ

October 17th, 2015 at 8:00 PM ^

I've been following Michigan football since 1973.

I experienced the loss to Colorado on the last second hail-mary.

I experienced the loss to Appalachian State.

This is the worst way to lose.  An unforced error.  Entirely on Michigan. 

Things that went wrong:

  1. Snap was low
  2. O'Neill bobbled it
  3. O'Neill didn't fall on it
  4. O'Neill flicked it into an MSU player's arms
  5. No tackle prior to the endzone

There's no sugar-coating this one.  Harbaugh can't be pleased. 

This was a total fuck up of epic proportions.

991GT3

October 17th, 2015 at 8:04 PM ^

we have less than an average QB and when we play better teams it shows. Give MSU credit, they played toe to toe with us. They dropped a number of important passes and yet found a way to win. 

The important thing to take away from this is Michigan is no longer a door mat for MSU. They had to fight for their lives for this win. The programs are now in balance.

ska4punkkid

October 17th, 2015 at 8:05 PM ^

Guys lets not go turning on each other over this. We are all fans of the same team here. I am devastated as well but this was an absolute fluke. We owned them the whole game and our team knows it. Things will swing our way for years to come. HARBAUGH never forgets. At least the pressure of winning out to make the CFP is over. We can focus on winning each game going forward including THE Game. Our team is a pleasant surprise in year 1 under HARBAUGH and will only get better. Go Blue!

Princetonwolverine

October 17th, 2015 at 8:05 PM ^

Can you imagine being a recruit on an official visit?  How can the coaches and players put on a happy face for these high school guys?

Stringer Bell

October 17th, 2015 at 8:05 PM ^

The defense played by far it's worst game.  A ton of big plays given up through the air, and that play to their fucking fullback that went like 80 yards after we had just taken a 9 point lead was sickening.  2 fumbles on special teams sucked also.  All around a very disappointing game.

Puget Sound Blue

October 17th, 2015 at 8:12 PM ^

Defense wasn't what we expected, but MSU is a better team than most of the others U-M's played and Cook is the best QB U-M will probably face all year. Having said that, there were any number of plays that could have gone better for U-M on either side of the ball, and then the scenario of this fumble wouldn't have been a factor.

FidelioHorelick

October 17th, 2015 at 8:08 PM ^

Notwithstanding the end of game bs, Rudock essentially lost this game. Not counting the RR era fiasco of Threet/Sheridan, Rudock is the worst "legitimate" starter I have ssen with Michigan. He suffers from poor decision making, awkward instincts, and is just incapable of throwing the ball down field. Most MAC teams field QBs with better throwing ability. 

I think when Harbaugh proclaims Rudock is #1 and its not even close he is doing it to protect the QB situation as well as just being old school about it. There is no way Wilton or Shane are behind Rudock in throwing ability. 

To me, Rudock staying as the starter is the same as the 3 straight goal line calls today. It's like the decision was made, damn the results, and this is what we are going to do.

All in all, still an amazing start, but it seems it is despite Rudock, and despite some of the run calling, and nowhere near because of it. I love when the O gets a great play from a great scheme, but it would be nice to get some good plays just out of normal qb play.

cGOBLUEm

October 17th, 2015 at 8:11 PM ^

Bullshit. Michigan as a team lost this game. They shot themselves in the foot. That blown targeting call led to an MSU TD. The Willie Henry personal foul led to another MSU TD. This is not on Rudock. Michigan played well enough to win, and the game came down to the punter. That is all.




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TennBlue

October 17th, 2015 at 8:23 PM ^

Rudock is a mediocre journeyman, it's true. However, when Harbaugh says he's the best we've got, I believe him. We knew QB was going to be a huge hole last spring. Getting Rudock turned that into a medium-sized hole. There isn't anybody one the bench that's going to make it any smaller this year.

It's one of the big reasons we were all expecting  a so-so season going in. The great defensive play didn't change that the offense was going to be pretty mundane no matter what.

My gripe today was actually with the defense. After playing like rabid hyenas the last few games, they were thoroughly tamed today.  Too many plays with no pass rush and busted coverage. I don't know if Durkin deliberately schemed it that way or if they were just off, but they weren't good in any event.

The thing about the last play was that it was so unlike Harbaugh. Last year we would have just rolled our eyes and chalked up another one to Hoke's bad coaching. Harbauh has always focused on attention to detail and getting all the little things right. To have that play go so horrendously wrong was like the exact opposite of everything we've seen all season. It's the last thing we would have expected to see.

BlueGoM

October 17th, 2015 at 10:57 PM ^

"No way Wilton or Shane are behind Rudock"

Have you seen Speight play?

What, if anything, has Morris ever done on the field to prove he's good enough to start?

Hoke left us with no  QBs other than Morris and Speight, which is why Harbaugh brought in 9 thousand QBs in the off season.

 

CompleteLunacy

October 17th, 2015 at 8:08 PM ^

After wanting to throw up again, realized that had he just fallen on it Michigan still wins most likely. They're out of FG range but they could have attempted an improbable Hail Mary.



That's gotta be on the coaches at least a little bit.



Fuck. Fuck fuckity fuck.

victors2000

October 17th, 2015 at 8:12 PM ^

will I? Just when I was feeling comfortable that the game was finally in hand and I wouldn't have to hear from the Sparties at work...the only time I remember feeling this desolate and lost was the Bird steal in game 5. Not even the Stewart Hail Mary hurt this much. But.They.Aren't.Our.Rivals.

CompleteLunacy

October 17th, 2015 at 8:12 PM ^

Anyone saying this loss is on Rudock - fuck you. Honestly, you are the worst kind of fan. They won the fucking game! Until the punter dropped it. That's not on Rudock. Stop blaming everything on Rudock damnit. It's infuriating.

Bando Calrissian

October 17th, 2015 at 8:20 PM ^

No, this loss is not on Rudock.

But you must admit that things would be far different with a quarterback that could make decisions under pressure in the pocket, look to more than one receiver, deliver a deep ball that was on point, or, hell, manage an offense that could get a first down when it needed one.

This offense is anemic because we have a really suspect quarterback that pretty much can't move the ball. There's no way around it--it would still be true if Blake O'Neill and the long snapper connected and he punted the ball to end the game.

Bertello NC

October 17th, 2015 at 8:50 PM ^

Yup! I guess harbaugh and this team are getting victimized for playing physical and playing through the whistle. The ncaa needs to reevaluate the basis of the targeting penalty IMO. It needs to be understood that it's a penalty when it's a malicious act. Outside of that they need to keep the effing flags in their pocket. I can live with the one called on Ross but Boldens was an absolute joke and the ncaa and these refs should be ashamed of themselves. Let these guys play, it's a rivalry game for heavens sake. The one on hurst or Henry whoever it was was pretty weak to. It wasn't like he attacked a single player long after the whistle.

It was those hidden yards that kept drives going for state, kept our D on the field and resulted in points for them more so than Rudock missing on throws. Yes Rudock is limited in some areas but for a few drives we were playing 11 vs 12 or 13

CompleteLunacy

October 17th, 2015 at 8:37 PM ^

He is what he is, but you're still not giving him enough credit. His run game was practically nonexistent. He made a few really nice downfield throws. Helped his team put up 23 points. 62% completions. Zero turnovers. Against MSU, with our D? That should be enough. It pretty much was anyway. At some point we have to accept Rudock for who he is..,we have to STOP blaming him for things that we should not be expecting him to do! He could have been better, sure. But he was good enough today. That's all we can really ask for this year.



My thought before the game was get to 20 and we win. I was almost right.

HollywoodHokeHogan

October 17th, 2015 at 11:24 PM ^

           It's never fair to blame one player for a loss. That doesn't mean Rudock was any good.  At this point our coaches and opposing coaches have realized that he cannot threaten down the field.  This puts the offense is pretty damn tough spot since it's a pro-style system.  The safeties are down in the box and there's only so much you can expect an OL and RB to do working against that.  With even a modicum of down-field threat, this team would be 6-1 or even 7-0.  The receivers are passable and the OL is much better in pass-pro than run-blocking, but the QB just can't do it.  I don't hate the kid.  I don't think he should tranfer or quit football or any other crazy shit.  But he's just not very good.  Announcers always talk about the rushing yardage stat in MSU/UM games but in the last decade plus the team with the better quarterback has won.  Cook and Cousins were better than Denard (as he as used), Gardner, and Rudock.