November 1st, 2009 at 11:11 AM ^
Fervent exchange of ideas? That's what you call some of the emotional blather people began writing about firing the coaches and the 'unacceptable' rants? Threads were mushrooming over and over again without any thought. People were just ranting. The situation was just a little out of control.
The problem is that a number of people aren't trying to exchange ides, they are simply vomiting their emotional drivel after a disappointing loss of a football game. That is not discourse.
Hey nobody likes losing but people need to calm down and breathe.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:40 PM ^
OH DAMNIT! I knew I had a wedding to go to today.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:52 PM ^
Restricted or not, at this point I'm more afraid of the truth regarding this team than I am any insult from a troll. Wish the column type thing came on Sunday's instead of Monday.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:58 PM ^
I'm going out to party in Jacksonville. I need to see some smiles.
Also, I will be hammered. \o/
October 31st, 2009 at 9:58 PM ^
But, as I have always maintained. I've never bought into the RR hype especially early in the season and got negged pretty bad for expressing that opinion with facts to back it up but oh well.
For all of those who wanted Carr to go this is what we have to live with. Wasn't so bad before now was it.
I am really looking forward to being at the game next weekend, because this is the kind of blow up that we won't be able to see what was learned from this and what kind of coach we have until we see the performance next week. A loss to Purdue at home next week will pretty much righ RR off in my book.
November 1st, 2009 at 4:52 AM ^
If you're going to come with such an authoritative, bold opinion, learn how to identify and properly use a homophone.
/grammar police
October 31st, 2009 at 10:15 PM ^
I've been living an extended 3 year nightmare in the Michigan football side of my life since Crable's dubious helmet to helmet hit on Troy Smith in 2006. One personal foul penalty from playing in the national champtionship game. 2007, the Horror. The coaching search debacle. 2008. Toledo. 3-9. Illionis (x2). Etc. Etc. I guess the common thread is that I'll be there at the Purdue game next week. Some would call me a glutton for punishment. Maybe. I just love Michigan football.
If what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I'll be a veritable Brandon Graham by the start of next season.
October 31st, 2009 at 11:43 PM ^
i just want to cry.. and i'm not kidding. i'm really, really upset about things...
November 1st, 2009 at 12:00 AM ^
I've come to talk with you again.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:04 AM ^
with you on being that upset. the last time i was that upset during michigan sporting event was the 1993 basketball national championship game when chris did what he did....
October 31st, 2009 at 11:47 PM ^
Sad, but not the worst thing ever. Man, it just does not look like Tate Forcier has had the same confidence since MSU and/or Iowa. That is much more concerning to me than any loss. I'm not ready to hit the panic button, but I understand those who are.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:07 AM ^
I agree...he needs to go to ball handling school for one thing. My god he dropped the ball a lot today...and seemed to go into autorun mode rather than waiting for a receiver to get open like before.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:22 AM ^
Thanks, Brian.
And also, special thanks as always to the mods for doing their best to keep the negativity on the CiL to a minimum, which can't have been an easy task.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:16 AM ^
is to watch an episode of Dexter. And play with cute little kittens.
If I had any, I suppose.
I no longer like the color orange; it terrifies me.
I no longer like Mike Patrick; he terrifies me, too.
A shattered psyche can't string together long sentences. Maybe that's why I can't look ahead in time and make any sense of it. Purdue's not any good, we'll beat them, no problem. And Wisconsin is boring, we'll beat them. And Jim Tressel is a poor playcaller with a shaky quarterback so we'll beat them, too. No problem. Yes. Sleep.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:24 AM ^
So after today and really our performance for the past month or so I've had a few lingering questions:
1) What happened to our motivation? Freep crap aside, were we honestly that much more motivated to play Western than we are any Big Ten opponent?
2) Our O-line was thin, but was losing Molk THAT big a deal?
3) Is it just me or is Forcier trying to be the hero way too often?
4) If you are going to run it 4 times on the goal line - shouldn't Denard be put in for at least one of them?
November 1st, 2009 at 1:30 AM ^
I'm inclined to agree with you on question 3. He seemed VERY reluctant to get rid of the ball.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:24 AM ^
I think the criticism of Tate yesterday was that he held the ball too long when he should have thrown it away. I consider that progress from earlier in the season (think: Iowa) when he was throwing up jump balls whenever he scrambled. The thing everyone has to keep in mind is that regardless of how clutch he was against ND, he is still a true freshman. Expect perfection and you will be horribly disappointed.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:21 PM ^
Isn't holding on to the ball too long and trying to make something out of nothing trying to be a hero?
November 1st, 2009 at 1:12 AM ^
I don't think I've ever seen a team so rattled in my life.
They just lost their cool. Completely.
Blaming coaches = jumping the gun.
Panic = unnecessary.
Tate = freshman.
Starting safety = walk on?
please, people. quit calling for the coaches' heads. it's not necessary. It was a little demoralizing today, sure. In my experience with Michigan football, there's fairly often a whipping boy when things don't go 100% right. When I was there, it was Navarre - and then Carr. I never liked that very much.
Down years suck, but we'll get out of it. In the meantime, keep your cool, and keep rooting for Michigan. That's all you can do.
November 1st, 2009 at 4:48 AM ^
Please be right. Please. Please?
November 1st, 2009 at 5:21 PM ^
I don't understand why there's two walk-ons playing crucial positions that are getting burned on nearly every play. I *could* understand if it's because RR is trying to get through the season without wasting a few defensive redshirts, which benefits everyone in the long run...but man, where the heck has Obi Ezeh been the last five games? When Jordan Kovacs and Kevin Leach are on the field more than their skill players, something isn't right. :(
November 1st, 2009 at 3:15 AM ^
By a whisker.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:45 AM ^
Recalling Hunter S. Thompson's statement “There is nothing more helpless and irresponsible than a man in the depths of an ether binge,”
I, for one, am all in....for ether!
November 1st, 2009 at 6:51 AM ^
Look on the bright side. We can use the same song for next year's hype video.
November 1st, 2009 at 7:32 AM ^
because I was swearing at the TV so loudly.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:11 AM ^
did the same thing. but then one of them came and jumped in my lap after the game to comfort me...problem is she weighs 40lbs...
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:33 AM ^
I've got a 70 pounder that does the same thing, thinks he's a damn cat.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:25 AM ^
Yeah I have two boxers that think they're toy poodles. But I wouldn't have it any other way I guess plus they're great with my son.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:44 AM ^
My entire family had to leave the room in the third quarter yesterday because I was yelling and screaming at the TV so loud. I really don't know what to say anymore. I hope Brandon Graham comes up with some crazy motivational speech before the Purdue game.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:06 AM ^
Do not make up for the inability to execute the game plan.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:50 AM ^
I'm not calling for the heads of any coaches. But the facts are the facts. Repeat this sentence to yourself repeatedly and slowly: "Rich Rodriguez was outcoached . . . BY RON ZOOK." The decision not to take the points on 4th and 1 was positively Mornhinwegesque. RichRod was driven by testosterone, not intelligence. He was thinking with the wrong head. And the defense? I'll bet Scott Shafer had a beer and knowing chuckle when hearing about the game.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:10 AM ^
On the road w/ a crappy defense that is like a ticking timebomb you can't win w/ fgs. I just don't understand where all this outcoaching talk is coming from. RR is not the reason that the offense couldn't execute in the redzone. Regardless of how bad Juice had been this year, did anyone have faith that our defense would stop him all game?
November 1st, 2009 at 12:46 PM ^
I respect your point but we have to accept that the head coach is ultimately responsible for the product on the field. Even with the talent we have/had last year, rr is underperforming. That being said, I don't think he should be fired or anything, I'm just starting to get worried. At some point offensive ineptitude and a chronic inability to execute on both sides of the ball is a trend and not some isolated occurence, as we all would like to believe this is. Here's hoping we've got something up our sleeves to beat a purdue team that needs a w as bad as (actually more than) we do.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:16 PM ^
True, and I'd be a lot more worried if RR didn't have an extremely solid resume. We didn't just hand the reigns to an unknown quantity here, and while possible, I doubt his coaching ability just evaporated away by coming to Michigan. For now, I have to think that it's the personnel he's been dealt.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:07 PM ^
You should almost always go for it. If you don't (assuming there's no obvious strategic reason like "we're down two in the fourth quarter"), you're telling your team that you do not trust them to gain one yard. Bad message to send. Complain about the execution or the choice of plays all you want, I think going for it is the right call.
Having to settle for 3 would have been a huge momentum swing the other way anyway. May as well take your chance at punching it in, and if you fail they're pinned at the 1 yard line and odds are you're going to get good field position back. Didn't work out that way this time, but going for it is the percentage play.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
I generally agree, except when the FG puts you up by 2 scores, which means that a defensive mistake in which a guy goes 80 yards right through the center of the D doesn't mean you've given up the lead.
November 1st, 2009 at 4:54 PM ^
The decision not to take the points on 4th and 1 was positively Mornhinwegesque.
Umm, no.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:32 PM ^
Give me a friggin' break. You set up in the I and pound the ball. I would've puked if we went for the FG on 4th and 1.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:29 AM ^
It's dark, and so cold...... Where am I?
November 1st, 2009 at 10:32 AM ^
If anyone hasn't read shitmydadsays on twitter, I recommend it. Funny stuff. One quote seems very appropriate to the "it reeks of armegeddon crowd" around here since yesterday. Here it is:
"Just pay the parking ticket. Don't be so outraged. You're not a freedom fighter in the civil rights movement. You double parked."
Which can be turned into: "You lost to a supposedly shitty, albeit talented, Illinois team. Don't be so outraged. You're not a freedom fighter in the civil rights movement. You lost a football game."
November 1st, 2009 at 10:36 AM ^
Halloween was supposed to be fun. Had to drink alot to forget that one. I'm cool with going for it on 4th and goal. Angry Brandon should've run all 4, although he wouldn't need 4. Is he injured more than we know? I like Carlos between the 20's, not at the goal line. We can make any QB look like Mike Vick pre-prison. I hate our defense. We need to decommit all 2010 except Gardner and give 24 defensive scholarships. The announcers during the game love the Kovacs story, but they fail to mention that "wait, how does a student body walk-on beat out all these highly recruited defensive players coming to the great U of M?" "What's that, we haven't recruited a decent defensive player since Brandon Graham then Warren?" "Oh, that's how." I'm more angry at this team than last year's team. I think I'll throw up now. Where's the tylenol.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:58 AM ^
1. Starting QB is a Freshman (2 yrs in a row)
2. Starting QB has a bum shoulder and suffered a concussion this season (and you are crazy if you believe his shoulder is 100%. Look at his mechanics before/after the injury. Completely different throwing motion, dropping his elbow/arm a ton, his accuracy is down significantly and he seems to have lost all semblance of touch on his throws).
2. Young team (85 Freshman and Sophomores)
3. Injuries galore to players other than the QB (Molk/Minor have been HUGE losses. We are much softer without them and seem to be dancing around out there instead of trucking fools over like we used to).
4. Serious lack of depth across the entire team.
These things change over time and will eventually work themselves out - just not this year.
November 1st, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
relief if his shoulder is bothering him more than he lets on. That would explain some of the misses over the past couple of weeks after he looked lights out the first couple of weeks. The biggest problem seems to be the consistency or lack thereof, and obviously turnovers, but then again one leads to the other.
November 1st, 2009 at 11:24 AM ^
with one of my buddies last year about Illinois. Something to the effect of 'holy h*ll, every time I've watched Juice Williams this season he hasn't been able to hit the broadside of a barn when he's throwing.' I guess Michigan's defense is just has holes the size of a giant barn the length of the football field for him to throw through? The thing thats really disappointing is that it doesn't seem like there are any leaders on this team. I see no intensity and no spark. For the last couple of year we had a definite leader on offense and several on defense. Hart got in people's faces and showed people with his playing the intensity he expected. How long until any of these guys develops into that kind of player?
November 1st, 2009 at 11:40 AM ^
We have some problems, yes, but the future is still bright, it's just going to take longer than we thought to get there.
The primary problem is the defense is so thin that the Olsen twin has started puking again out of jealousy. We have way too little size and speed on that defense and the only way to fix that is recruiting. That takes years. The sad part is that we have one of the best defensive players ever and he is being hidden by the weaker play of his teammates. Years from now we'll look back on Brandon Graham (who had a beautiful decapitation of Juice) and be amazed at how great he was.
The other issue with the defense is the basics are lacking. Not wrapping up the player, taking bad angles, not shedding the blocks, etc. This does fall on the coaches. I remeber the stories of Bo walking around with a yard stick or whatever blunt object he could get his hands on and calling the linemen (offensive and defensive) to get into their position measuring the distances between hands and all and cracking them with said stick if the distances on their positions weren't perfect. If you aren't doing the basics, you can't do the rest. They need to learn to tackle with a hit and bury the ball carrier, not hold on and get pulled for 5 yards. When Pryor gets the ball and motions a hand off, even if you don't know if he has the ball, HIT HIM HARD anyway. These are basics the coaches can and need to work on. They probably have been and will continue to.
On offense, our QB is a bit rattled, yes, but a good game agaisnt Purdue will cure that. Wisconsin just blew Purdue out so that win against OSU was hopefully just a fluke and is their bowl game this year. Plus next year, we have a stud every bit as studdly as Tate coming in with the express intent of putting Tate and DR on the bench by outplaying them. No, Devon hasn't said that out loud, but if he's still coming here, he must think that he can bench Tate and Denard. Competition brings out the best. Look for Denard to really pick it up in the offseason. He didn't have the extra time Tate did. Next year the QB's will be better and we'll have some more receivers too. Add some meat on the line and we're good to go. Again, that's recruiting and takes time. We'll get better each year.
Finally, I know people like to say well, we're 2 plays from 3-6 right now. That last drive against ND or IU goes bad and we're at 6 losses. Yeah and we're also 2 drives from 7-2 (MSU, Iowa). Plus put that ball in against Illinois on that now infamous goal line stand and we're probably 8-1. Great teams get all the breaks, crappy teams get none of them. We're in the middle so we got half. That's a step up from last year even if the record isn't showing it as much as we would like.
It is hard to watch. Like a lot of the posters here I cleared the room of animals because I was stomping and screaming. But I'll be back to cheer again. Next Thursday, I am taking my kids out of school at lunch and loading the family up. We're going to drive the 12 or so hours from North Carolina to Ann Arbor (more if the kids drink too much soda) and scream like hell for the boys to beat Purdue and get bowl eligible. It will be my first game at the big house in 21 years and I can't wait. Because even in the midst of turmoil, I love my maize and blue team. And nothing, not a loss to Illinois or MSU or Iowa or even Purdue will ruin that trip or dampen my dedication.
Go blue!
November 1st, 2009 at 12:57 PM ^
You are obviously a glass is half full kind of guy. I like that, I try to be like that, and one of the reasons I love this blog is that same kind of thinking.
But, man, sometimes it's tough to be that way. Four plays from inside the one is bad. And three of those were the same play, with the fourth the same to the other side, but with Minor instead of Brown. Where was the quick pitch, the option read, the tight end pass? Where was Denard, maybe even a sneak? What's that definition of insanity?
I'll feel better tomorrow. I've seen a few games like this in 39 years and I know "This too shall pass."
My glass is half full. But it was a lot fuller a month ago.
November 1st, 2009 at 2:13 PM ^
Exactly how I feel, couldn't have said it better!
November 1st, 2009 at 2:25 PM ^
different than RR on the 1. You have horses in the backfield. Line up in the I and pound it in. We couldn't and that speaks volumes about our O line right now. It was Lloyd ball nearly all day with more pro style stuff than I've ever seen out of RR, and this team couldn't even do that right. So, for anyone that thought we would've been WAY better off with a pro style offense the past two seasons...think again.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:58 PM ^
See if we could stretch out the defense and get a hole that way. But you are right. We'd be no better with a pro style offense. Remember Mallet? He's in Arkansas and I happened on the Florida/Arkansas game where Arkansas was getting beat because their offense was stuck. Mallet begged to get in the game and when he got in, he stunk. Had he stayed, I don't know if he would have been any better than Sheridan.
We have a young team. Patience is painful, but it will payoff.
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