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The Poseidon Adventure Begins

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By Brian — September 5th, 2011 at 10:55 AM — 123 comments
Filed under:
  • 2011 western michigan
  • al borges denard fusion cuisine
  • brady hoke gets it
  • brady hoke is the one true notriguez
  • brady hoke killed a guy
  • brady hoke non-hate disclaimer
  • dave brandon creates the future
  • firehorse
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  • game columns
  • graham couch's laughable homerism
  • i am a spread zealot no foolies
  • i am slowly mollifying as the hoke era proceeds
  • jordan kovacs
  • michigan marching band
  • pop evil groom dogs
  • spread punt
  • stadium experience
  • tridents

9/3/2011 – Michigan 34, Western Michigan 10 – 0.75-0

image

Melanie Maxwell / AnnArbor.com

Q: What is awesome about the above photograph?

A: Brady Hoke's Joe Paterno impression. Look, ma, no headset.

On a day that lacked much in the way of emotional import—Brock Mealer did not touch the banner, Denard Robinson did not introduce himself by plunging from the heavens, mostly I felt hot or wet—the thing to do was read too much into the future of Michigan football based on little. We're going on even less than the rest of college football is after their opening-weekend bludgeonings since Mother Nature and inflexible regulation prevented a full game from being played. Things are fuzzy.

They'll remain that way for most of the season. Hell, they'll remain that way until Michigan's OL/DL depth chart crisis passes in two to three years. But I got the things I wanted the most, the things I spent large sections of the offseason hoping for, arguing would be true, or declaring to be the only sane thing a sane person could do.

Those were:

BRADY HOKE IS NOT RICH RODRIGUEZ IN RE: COORDINATOR MEDDLING

Rodriguez's problem was never his selection of defensive coordinators, it was his refusal to trust them to do their jobs. The thing about Hoke is this: he does. At SDSU he hired Rocky Long to run a 3-3-5; Rocky Long ran a 3-3-5, and it was pretty good, and now he's the head coach. He hired Al Borges to run a passing-oriented West Coast offense; Borges ran a passing-oriented West Coast offense that wasn't quite as good as Michigan's in FEI's eyes but was still top 20. If he "gets" anything it's that he's a former defensive lineman with a narrowly defined set of assets that does not include being a genius of any variety—he's never been a coordinator. So he's hired two guys with very long, very successful resumes to do that stuff for him.

PRO STYLE IS INSANE STYLE

Switching to an actual pro-style offense would be doing exactly what Michigan did last year when it installed the 3-3-5 despite the total unsuitability of its personnel for the scheme.

DON'T FRIGGIN TOUCH ANYTHING OR I'LL CUT YOU

denard-shotgundenard-shotgundenard-shotgun

MOAR SHOTGUN PLZ

Check, check, good enough. Michigan was 70% shotgun.

The offseason was spent exploring the a disconnect between Brady Hoke's words and his teams' actions. The fear was that This being Michigan, for God's sake, would change his attitude from "whatever works" to "the expectation is for the position." That latter was the infamous Carr-era slogan that symbolized a stubborn adherence to out-executing the opposition. It led to things like a thousand Mike Hart zone stretches where he made four yards only after dodging guys in the backfield. I really, really did not want to go back to the days when Michigan's running plays could be described as "left" or "right."

Brady Hoke's words said the first play Saturday would be power; Brady Hoke's team ran the QB stretch that was amongst the most frequent playcalls a year ago. As the game progressed it was clear there had been quite a few modifications. It was also clear that there was enough of the Denard offense in there to go to it when Michigan needs to.

This would have been obvious to all if Denard hadn't chucked a QB Oh Noes well behind Drew Dileo on Michigan's final touchdown drive. If that's accurate Dileo scores on a play eerily similar to those of last year and everyone except Craig James is talking about how different the offense isn't.

That's good right now, and better down the road. It's been a long time since Michigan fans could say their head coach hired the best people for the job and let them get on with it.

Non-Bullets Not About Football

Brady Hoke knew this would happen. On the way back to the locker room his team speared themselves some dinner.

hoke-trident

Increment the Grimsrud meter. Last year when Michigan decided that terrorists were likely to explode the stadium with sealed, clear bottles of water, everyone complained until David Brandon rolled his eyes and offered the plebes a freebie for the opener because it was hot.

On Saturday it was ninety degrees and you could buy a not-even-cold bottle of water for four bucks, get a complimentary three-ounce dixie cup, or hit up the Absopure stations. At least until they ran out:

Connor Dean, a Michigan student working at one of the Absopure Hydration stations at the stadium, said his station had exhausted nearly its entire 450-gallon supply of water by halftime.

Dean said a hydration station would typically go through about 225 gallons of water for an entire game. “This is crazy for a normal game,” Dean said.

The athletic department got lucky as hell that the skies opened up shortly afterwards. Even as it was the number of people conking out because of the heat overwhelmed Huron Valley Ambulance:

With temperatures on the field reportedly reaching 120 degrees, the heat overwhelmed fans at Michigan Stadium. Huron Valley Ambulance says the high number of heat-related cases it handled caused it to call for backup from the Ann Arbor Fire Department.

HVA officials said a count of the number of fans who've been treated for heat-related concerns would not be available until later Saturday, and they were too busy to provide even an estimate.

"It's extremely busy at Michigan Stadium,'' said Terry Pappas, communications supervisor for HVA. "We have multiple heat-related incidents and the Ann Arbor Fire Department is helping.''

If it's really about safety, the Absopure stations should be handing out 25-ounce bottles of water that cost ten cents instead of providing little cups you have to wait for and can't get back to your seats effectively.  The athletic department's horseshit doublespeak about safety and convenience increased those issues so they could hawk some extra bottles of water. They're using 9/11 as cover. That's appalling.

Apparently posting We Are ND was the right idea for the wrong reasons. We have officially Freekbass'd ourselves, as the Dog Groomers' song was played three times to amaze and delight people who would rather hear these guys…

the-dog-groomers

we are… DOG GROOMERS
we will… SHAVE YOUR DOG'S HAIR INTO A PLEASING SHAPE
also we have a band!

…than the Michigan Marching Band.

We're worse. While they've got a rapping hobbit, We Are ND was an internet-only phenomenon quickly clarified as a student project. It aired once at some banquet or something. We're playing music from The Best of Hot Topic in the stadium. This is the inevitable result when middle-aged middle-managers from Middle America try to be cool: massive failure.

What was so bad about a guy in the band beating out a steady rhythm as the crowd chants "Let's Go Blue"? Why does "This is Michigan, for God's sake" apply to running power off-tackle but not keeping the stadium atmosphere intact? Is there someone in the athletic department who really wishes he was running a regional arena in Charlotte, NC, with an ECHL team and regular WWE visits? Why does the guy on the left still look like an accountant? Who is the guy on the right kidding? Is the bald guy in the middle just photobombing this shot? I fear these questions are unanswerable.

In the spirit of ND Nation banning "Michigan sucks" posts, I will end taunting ND about We Are ND until piped in music is excised from the stadium. We are We Are ND.   

Meanwhile, our band is metal. Western's band said "screw this" and showed up in white T-shirts and shorts so they wouldn't die. Ten of them still had to be treated for heat issues. Michigan's band roared out of the tunnel in full dark-blue regalia; while we don't have casualty numbers for them the mere fact that none of them died before completing the anthem is metal. One firehorse for the band.

image

Analogy to mandatory minimum sentencing goes here. The NCAA's CYA guideline about lightning strikes was the reason Michigan couldn't finish (or all but finish) yesterday's game. The sun had already come out by the time the teams finished getting off the field for the first delay, and that was the reason there was more than a few minutes left on the clock when the seriously dangerous storm rolled in.

Anyone looking at the weather radar could tell you that by the time they delayed the game it was perfectly safe, but lawsuit avoidance rules everything around me, and thus we get a silly abbreviated game that makes the value proposition of a 70 dollar ticket to watch Western Michigan play even dodgier. Boo.

Argh. So last year I'd get to my seat and tweet personnel stuff I noticed in warmups. This year I did the same and just got a bunch of replies that can be summarized as "duh." This is because the U announced suspensions/unavailability an hour before the game. Next time it would be nice if M could do that earlier or not at all. kthxbye.

Non-Bullets About Football

Depth chart/practice rumor updates. The offense was as expected. Brandon Moore got some time as the second TE, which is good.

On defense, Frank Clark had gotten hyped up this fall but it was Brennen Beyer who got a ton of time as a rush end. His main contribution was opening a few cutback lanes for Western. Also infrequently seen: Brink and Heininger. I'm guessing that's an artifact of playing a passing spread… but we'll see a passing spread next week. I'm hoping the massive substitutions were because of the weather and that RVB/Martin/Roh will get way more time against ND. Herron was a surprise starter at WLB and Avery started opposite Woolfolk.

I received a bunch of tweets predicting Carvin Johnson would not score well in UFR, and then he was replaced by Marvin Robinson. Will be interesting to see if that works out.

So weird in so many ways. The game would have been short even if it was long, if you know what I mean. There were all of two drives in the first quarter and Brandon Herron robbed Michigan's offense of two opportunities. As a result the offense only had five and a half drives to work with. They scored 3.5 touchdowns and went three and out twice.

Short term prognosis: grimmer? Less grim? We'll have to see what the UFR looks like but Western went up and down the field against Michigan in a manner reminiscent of everyone against last year's D… and scored ten points. Michigan forced two turnovers with QB pressure and held the best quarterback in the state to 5.9 YPA.

Hack out the Kovacs sacks and WMU averaged 4.9 YPC, which is not good when you're playing a MAC team with two fresh JUCO transfer backups at guard. Also hoping that's a result of the heavy rotation.

The offense had those three and outs, and because of the weird nature of the game that was enough for their output to seem somewhat worrying. They did give the impression they were about to blow the doors off when the game got called, having just blown down the field in three plays and moved the ball into the Western half of the field when the game was called.

Pressure existed. When Mattison figured out rushing four wasn't getting home he turned things around by blitzing like mad. One series late in the first half saw him go cover zero three straight times. On each play a Michigan player would tear up the middle unblocked, forcing Carder to chuck it off his back foot. JT Floyd made a play on the first; the second two were hypothetically open but Carder couldn't get it right because he was busy eating someone's facemask.

Hurray lack of GERG.

Running backs. Toussaint's getting good reviews everywhere and it'll be no different here. To me his most exciting moment was an eight-yard run late when he was cutting behind the backside tackle. He momentarily looked like he'd head inside of Lewan, sucking the linebacker inside, then burst back behind him to pick up good yardage. That was a "whoah, he can do that?" moment reminiscent of his high school film.

My only complaint is that on his long run he tried to truck the safety instead of angling away from him and probably cost himself 10 more yards. That mentality is helpful when he's running up the middle, maybe.

Kovacs preview 2012 preview. There is a 100% chance this is one of the images used for Kovacs next year:

jordan-kovacs-murders

Via David Guralink @ the News. Also here is Alex Carderp and Taylor Lewan making nice with his second most hated enemy: referees.

Things I miss. A couple tactical decisions that seem suboptimal:

  • The spread punt. I thought it was remarkably effective at holding down return yardage because it gave you six gunners instead of two. When Michigan punted, if the returner got past the first two guys he had 15 yards before the next wave showed up. The only disadvantage is the near-impossibility of faking from it.
  • No huddle offense. I liked the concept of tempo as something you were capable of shifting on a regular basis, and it seemed like a good idea to remove the burden of calling audibles from the quarterback.

This is not an endorsement of Rich Rodriguez. Hoke uber alles.

COUCHDATE! Alex Carder, pictured above, just turned the ball over three times and averaged a terrible 5.9 YPA—more than a yard less than the national average—against last year's #108 defense. What do you think this means, Graham Couch?

This weekend — considering the performances of Carder, Denard Robinson and Kirk Cousins — in everyone's eyes, it should be a viable argument, even if not a certain one.

… Even though I truly believe Carder is the best college QB in the state, this column was an interesting social experiment alone, though it wasn't intended to be. … the argument against Carder by so many who had barely heard of him — and the manner in which they argued — was absurd.

It was an interesting social experiment: can a beat writer actually get criticized for being an embarrassing homer by a fan of the team he's covering? Survey says:

As a Western alum living 2k miles away, I really wish the Broncos had a better beat writer.

Sorry GC but I hate your style and you come off as a whiny, rambling, non-objective homer. I can appreciate the passion you have for defending our boys but just put the shovel down because you're digging a deeper hole for yourself. Just stick to the facts and give us information about our teams. You lose all credibility and professionalism as soon as you try to sell the reader your opinions.

Circle gets the square. /gameshow'd

Elsewhere

Slideshows from AnnArbor.com, MNB Nation, MNB Nation again, and the Detroit News. "Michigan Rewind" for WMU.

AnnArbor.com surveys the changes at the golf course and find people are happier this year but still a little peeved that there had to be any changes at all.

MVictors and John Kryk find previous times when Michigan games have ended before full time. They're mostly from the days when you could accidentally play a 23-minute third quarter before anyone noticed. Greg also explores whether or not Brandon Herron's interception return TD was the longest in Michigan history or if Tom Harmon has him beat.

Shooting Blue returns with a long gameday review. Pop Evil "could only be worse" if the lead singer clubbed seals while Godwinning himself. Maize and Go Blue hit up Oklahoma this weekend and returns with a trip report.

Column type things: Wojo references the "numbingly familiar" defense. Get Rid of the Seaward is enjoy its first Michigan season in a while with normal LDH levels, which means cancer remission. Denard on Toussaint. Maize And Go Blue recaps the game. Holdin' the Rope:

As the rain fell and Brady Hoke patrolled the field as if he'd been around for a while already, as if it was undeniably his field and his program and not one that had just been handed to him only 8 months ago, it was hard not to come away with certain vague feelings of goodness, that something that was more good than bad had just transpired, a feeling of warmth that may or may not be ephemeral. The Era of Good Feelings continues. James Monroe's got nothing on Brady Hoke.

Aaaaaand the Hoover Street Rag "writes under the influence of muscle relaxers and pain killers."

More bullets can be found at TTB…

Apparently it doesn't matter who coaches the special teams, whether it's an offensive or defensive guy, etc.  Some Michigan fans hated that defensive backs coach Tony Gibson was in charge of special teams because he was one of only four defensive coaches under Rodriguez.  Now an offensive guy (tight ends coach Dan Ferrigno) is coaching special teams, and they're still bad.  Kick returner Kelvin Grady doesn't look like anything special and made a bad decision to leave the endzone.  Brendan Gibbons had a low extra point attempt blocked.  Western Michigan averaged 31 yards per kickoff return and consistently had excellent field position.

and The Wolverine Blog.

And if you're looking for a few bullets on Michigan State, A Beautiful Day For Football provides. Sounds like that OL is going to be a problem. Also Minnesota and Northwestern had meaningful outings—Heiko will debut a weekly thing covering opponents tomorrow.

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September 5th, 2011 at 10:57 AM
#2
Drbogue
Drbogue's picture
Joined: 07/22/2011
MGoPoints: 3713
Ironic

That the season team prop is a trident?

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:13 AM
#3
Yale Van Dyne Fan
Joined: 11/29/2010
MGoPoints: 99
Music in the stadium...

...played by anyone other than the band is an absolute abomination against everything the Michigan tradition allegedly stands for, and I respect the hell out of Brian and this blog for continuing the crusade against it. And the water situation is beyond unacceptable... you were the freaking CEO at Domino's, go on weather.com, see that it's gonna be almost 100 degrees and make the necessary arrangements. It's not rocket science. Hey, at least we got freakin' Arby's logos plastered all over for the Big Chill.  Cut the athletic department some slack, right?  The regional manager/Charlotte/ECHL rant is about as spot-on as it gets.

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September 5th, 2011 at 2:23 PM
(Reply to #3) #4
BeantownBlue
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Joined: 08/25/2008
MGoPoints: 1257
Yes, this. ^

I nearly wrote the exact same paragraph, or something close.  I second all of your points (and Brian's), particularly in regards to piped in music.

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September 5th, 2011 at 3:25 PM
(Reply to #84) #5
Red is Blue
Red is Blue's picture
Joined: 05/13/2010
MGoPoints: 9840
I'm with you guys.  We should

I'm with you guys.  We should never change anything.  Those leather helmets worked great for a long time and were our tradition.  Now we're stuck with these damn plastic things.

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September 5th, 2011 at 6:11 PM
(Reply to #102) #6
03 Blue 07
03 Blue 07's picture
Joined: 07/01/2008
MGoPoints: 3494
That comparison is so

That comparison is so apples-to-oranges, it's shameful. Seriously. Yes, evolving player safety is TOTALLY analogous to game day logistics and things done for the sake of "entertainment" of the fans.

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September 5th, 2011 at 7:11 PM
(Reply to #102) #7
Bobby Digital
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Joined: 07/05/2008
MGoPoints: 2390
This might be the dumbest

This might be the dumbest thing I've ever read.

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September 5th, 2011 at 5:43 PM
(Reply to #4) #8
cjpops
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Joined: 09/01/2009
MGoPoints: 1945
Agreed

I had to google that song after reading this post.  That song is a complete facepalm and now I feel chagrined for ever laughing at "We Are ND."  That tune sucks and I completely agree with Brian as to his frustration by the "tradition" of Michigan only applying to running off tackle.

Spot on, Brian.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:19 AM
#9
Indiana Blue
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Joined: 09/19/2010
MGoPoints: 4913
What's the over and under ..

for Brian not bringing up Rich Rod is any of his posts as a comparison to anything?  I think it's somewhere around 3 years!  C'mon Brian ... lets move on.  RR is gone, his theories are gone it IS a new Coach and system.

So, WMU moved down the field on its first possession (against a vanilla defense) and it was 7 - 0.  Actually that is the way the 1st quarter ended.  So in just less than 30 minutes of football Michigan, with it's NEW style of offense and defense outscored WMU 34 - 3 ... and we were going in for another 7 when the game was stopped ... so let's make that 41 - 3, and yet people on the board are still bitching!  

Football strategy is all about adjustments ... this is what makes a good coach.  And I for one, believe the our defensive adjustments were simply outstanding!  And if you cannot realize how much better they played vs any of the last 3 years of defense ... then you may be beyond help.  No is wasn't perfect - how many first games are?  But they are going to get better understanding this system with every game - and I think it is going to be a hell of alot fun to watch.

Go Blue!

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:30 AM
(Reply to #5) #10
befuggled
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Joined: 07/01/2008
MGoPoints: 2646
Considering he referred to Carr...

I think it'll be more than three years.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:50 AM
(Reply to #8) #11
Indiana Blue
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Joined: 09/19/2010
MGoPoints: 4913
Oops ..

I must have pissed off some of the disciples ...  I also am going for the over.

Go Blue!

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:03 PM
(Reply to #17) #12
dnak438
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Joined: 08/12/2009
MGoPoints: 6956
Reading comprehension

You got negged because your response made no sense. How do these quotes elicit your response in a sane world?

As the game progressed it was clear there had been quite a few modifications. It was also clear that there was enough of the Denard offense in there to go to it when Michigan needs to. ... That's good right now, and better down the road. It's been a long time since Michigan fans could say their head coach hired the best people for the job and let them get on with it.

Hurray lack of GERG.

 

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:07 PM
(Reply to #23) #13
Indiana Blue
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Joined: 09/19/2010
MGoPoints: 4913
My apologies ..

my first comments did address the RR comparisons, but the remainder of the post dealt with several other threads on the board that complained about defensive execution (especially the first drive) and not necessarily what Brian had posted, though I doubt Brian is as yet a full Hoke supporter.

Go Blue!

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September 5th, 2011 at 1:00 PM
(Reply to #29) #14
dnak438
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Joined: 08/12/2009
MGoPoints: 6956
Okay, but still, the comparisons to RR are in Hoke's favor

Hoke hires first-rate coordinators and lets them do their job (whereas RR did not). These coordinators are flexible in terms of their system and in terms of in-game adjustments (whereas RR was not so much). I thought that was the point of the comparison to RR.

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:20 PM
(Reply to #23) #15
Firstbase
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Joined: 09/30/2009
MGoPoints: 6376
Who could ever grow tired...

...of this guy? I mean. Seriously.

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September 5th, 2011 at 3:05 PM
(Reply to #17) #16
jwfsouthpaw
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Joined: 01/14/2009
MGoPoints: 259
Really? It's both natural and

Really? It's both natural and constructive to compare Hoke's regime to the regime that just exited the door. After RR arrived, there were countless discussions here about Lloyd this and Lloyd that, and Lloyd did this and why isn't RR doing that. We can't pretend the last 3 years never happened, and it's helpful to know we're moving in a new direction. I recommend you get off your every-RR-comment-is-an-insult-to-Hoke horse.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:46 AM
(Reply to #5) #17
Wolverrrrrrroudy
Joined: 11/30/2010
MGoPoints: 160
Not going to happen

Of course there will be comparisons to last year.  Why would anyone care as long as it is when appropriate.

Completely agree on your comments on the adjustments.  I certainly felt like I was watching a completely different team on Defense.  Certain things seem to have changed overnight that I expected would take some time.  Solid tackling, limited mistakes, adjustments that worked, agressiveness to the football.  I for one feel much better watching a game where we get better as the game goes on.

I'm actually excited to watch our defensive series again.  I cringed over the last couple of years everytime they went on the field (which was a lot).  The defense seemed to be working cohesively as a unit yesterday, even when Western had long drives, they held together and didn't panick.  We have to make big plays happen on defense, and yesterday that's what they did, as opposed to having big plays happen on you.  Last year (again I think it is appropriate to compare), it seemed like everyone was on their own little island on defense and mostly the wrong side of the island.  The TEAM the TEAM the TEAM, creates heroes like Herron yesterday.  He was in the right place at the right time because of the TEAM.

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:23 PM
(Reply to #16) #18
wile_e8
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Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 6033
  Really, I don't

 

Really, I don't remember any of these complaints about bringing up the previous coach after Carr retired. Mentioning Rodriguez for compare/contrast purposes will continue to be appropriate at least for this year, and his recruiting will continue to directly affect the football team for a few more years. I'm pretty sure the people who whine about it in the comments every time Brian mentions Rodriguez are the ones with the obsession.

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:11 PM
(Reply to #5) #19
FGB
FGB's picture
Joined: 09/24/2009
MGoPoints: 3495
That

Schembechler guy gets dropped in a lot of stuff here too.  Talk about living in the past.  I'm all, "we only talk about coaches who coach for MICH!"

 

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September 5th, 2011 at 1:24 PM
(Reply to #5) #20
mgoO
Joined: 10/11/2010
MGoPoints: 708
Actually, if anything, I

Actually, if anything, I thought that the game showed RR's offensive theories are here to stay...or at least while Denard is around.

A good chunk of our offense was taken directly from last year's playbook and for that I'm thankful.

As for the defense, the aggressiveness was nice was but playing cover zero against a quality team with our secondary is a recipe for disaster if we can't generate a pass rush with our front 4.

This whole game was very similar to the opener against UConn last year.  We controlled the clock, committed only 1 penalty, no turnovers, forced a turnover in the shadow of the endzone, etc.  Let's not make too big a deal either way about 3 quarters against Western.

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September 5th, 2011 at 1:30 PM
(Reply to #5) #21
somewittyname
Joined: 05/15/2009
MGoPoints: -2510
Why wouldn't

we compare our team to last year? Why wouldn't the former coach, who recruited 75% of the current team, ever be brought up? Are we not supposed to say his name like a fucking Harry Potter character? Get over Brian already having gotten over RR.

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September 5th, 2011 at 1:30 PM
(Reply to #5) #22
Seattle Maize
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Joined: 03/24/2011
MGoPoints: 302
Based off of those

Based off of those adjustments and the staffs focus on fundamentals, the thing I am most pumped about is that this team seems like it will improve significantly as the season goes on.  We will see the teams best football in November instead of in September.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:24 AM
#23
Bleedin9Blue
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Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 1928
How to email about music?

Does anybody know if fans/alumni/anybody can email Dave Brandon to give their thoughts regarding the stadium atmosphere (i.e. Pop Evil)?  I went searching on MGoBlue.com to find how to contact him, but the closest that I got was this.  Does anybody have a better way to make our opinions known to those in power?

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:52 AM
(Reply to #6) #24
dnak438
dnak438's picture
Joined: 08/12/2009
MGoPoints: 6956
Justin Dickens?

Perhaps we could directly e-mail Justin Dickens, the associate director of public and media relations (football). Here is his profile on mgoblue.com. But perhaps someone more connected to the AD could suggest a more appropriate option.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:25 AM
#25
Sopwith
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Joined: 06/29/2010
MGoPoints: 21267
Two problems I had with the rain procedures.

1.  It seems prudent and utterly reasonable, from a legal perspective and common sense no less, to require fans to leave the bowl when lightning is in the area.  What seemed remarkably lacking in common sense was to force people out of the stadium altogether (i.e., out of the concourses) and into the streets, telling them to go back to their cars which are sometimes a 20-minute walk away.  That's what was happening during the second and ultimately game-ending delay: stadium personnel were walking around telling people (nicely but firmly) to GTFO of their concourse.  

I mean seriously, it's been 9 years since I took my torts class at UMLS, but it seemed to me they may have increased rather than decreased potential liability by driving folks out into dangerous conditions like lemmings off a cliff (which I should note were caused by overzealous photographers driving them off a cliff and not, per the myth, as a result of mass suicide).  Not all personnel seemed to be on the same page, either-- we moved away from gate 20 after being shooed and told to GTFO, but after moving over around gate 18, we weren't hassled.  If being near the gates was dangerous, OK, move folks away, but at that point it seemed the cure (GTFO) was worse than the disease.

2.  The first called delay was ferociously premature, even if Mike Patrick (who was on my flight back to DC the next morning and looked more stoned than the WMU horse mascot) called lightning within the talismanic 6-mile radius, the single best stretch of weather for the day was the cool, sunny stretch during the first delay.  The sun was out and the last blue sky of the day overhead before the players had even finished filing into the tunnel.

Oh, and piped-in music during the touching of the banner was atrocious.  I'll chalk that up to first-day timing issues with the sound guy and the band mike or something, because I believe as others noted that the band was actually trying to play them in with the Victors, but may not have been coming over the speakers.  Different issue, but saves me another ranty post.

On the upside, there were some sweet wet-Ts in section 20.  Hoo-boy. 

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:19 PM
(Reply to #7) #26
remdog
Joined: 05/14/2009
MGoPoints: 927
Prudent and utterly reasonable??

I beg to differ.

Can somebody tell when, if ever, somebody was injured by lightning at a Michigan football game?  In 130 years or so of Michigan football?

The risk of driving to and from the game, let along getting out of bed in the morning, is probably astronomically higher than the lightning risk at Michigan stadium was on Saturday.  There is no risk-benefit analysis made.  So we get stupid rules that try to eliminate all risk just to avoid legal liability.

The delays and suspension of the game were utterly ridiculous - not utterly reasonable.

 

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September 5th, 2011 at 2:36 PM
(Reply to #36) #27
Michiganian for Life
Michiganian for Life's picture
Joined: 11/04/2009
MGoPoints: 268
You obviously didn't watch

You obviously didn't watch the Marshall game...

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September 5th, 2011 at 3:02 PM
(Reply to #87) #28
Raoul
Raoul's picture
Joined: 09/29/2009
MGoPoints: 13957
Are you referring to the

Are you referring to the rumor that someone was struck by lightning at the WVU-Marshall game? Because that's all it turned out to be--a rumor.

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September 5th, 2011 at 6:22 PM
(Reply to #98) #29
wolverine1987
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Joined: 07/07/2008
MGoPoints: 11607
And even if a fan had been hit

that would still not invalidate his point. It would have been a terrible shame, but one in a million things will happen, but that doesn't necessarily mean policies should be changed for them. What in the world is wrong with perhaps temporarily suspending the game if lightning is clearly present--and then letting each person decide for themselves whether or not they should leave the stadium?

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September 5th, 2011 at 6:44 PM
(Reply to #111) #30
dnak438
dnak438's picture
Joined: 08/12/2009
MGoPoints: 6956
I mentioned this on the liveblog, but I've seen someone struck

by lightning in a stadium (although, as it was pointed out to me by a liveblog moderator, that stadium, namely RFK in Washington DC, is crappy), 100 feet in front of me. She was sitting in the lower deck of the stadium. Here's a link to the story if you don't believe me: BBC News. It's serious stuff -- here's how it was reported by a local station 10 years later:

Lightning struck just after Dave Matthews finished up. Lisa's sister was knocked down but could get up. "There was just blood everywhere. I turned her over, and there was no heartbeat. There was nothing," said her sister. A doctor and paramedic were nearby in the crowd and stabilized Lisa. "She's very fortunate and lucky," said the doctor. Her inner ear shattered. Ten years later, she still struggles with balancing. She has memory loss, but she did not miss one day of law school that year.

 

 

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September 5th, 2011 at 2:36 PM
(Reply to #36) #31
Michiganian for Life
Michiganian for Life's picture
Joined: 11/04/2009
MGoPoints: 268
You obviously didn't watch

You obviously didn't watch the Marshall game...

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September 5th, 2011 at 2:40 PM
(Reply to #36) #32
M-Wolverine
M-Wolverine's picture
Joined: 10/04/2009
MGoPoints: 42199
You're wrong to differ

There were some sweet wet t-shirts.

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September 5th, 2011 at 6:16 PM
(Reply to #36) #33
wolverine1987
wolverine1987's picture
Joined: 07/07/2008
MGoPoints: 11607
You are utterly correct IME.

I'd bet that the risk to getting people quickly out of a 110,000 seat stadium are greater than the possibility of a fan getting hit by lightning as well. 

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:33 AM
#34
blueguard5
Joined: 07/18/2011
MGoPoints: 84
the water situation was

the water situation was ridiculous. the absopure water was so warm, i went to buy a couple of water bottles because the people around me's looked cold. they....weren't. so i paid $8 for larger quantities of warm water.

 

thank god for that rain.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:33 AM
#35
Brhino
Joined: 09/08/2009
MGoPoints: 7064
"Kick returner Kelvin Grady

"Kick returner Kelvin Grady doesn't look like anything special and made a bad decision to leave the endzone."

 

This was my initial impression as well but after further consideration I think it made sense.  As we know, Grady fielded the ball about 8 yards deep in the end zone, ran it out, and got tackled at the 12.  Michigan then took a knee and then went in for the half.  It's easy to call a decision that puts the ball on the 12 rather than the 20 a bad one, but consider this: If the decision had already been made that Michigan would take a knee from the 20 as well, then Grady was left to chose between:

touchback/knee, end of half

and

a large chance of poor field position/knee/EoH but also a small chance of a big play that could result in a score and/or Michigan having good enough field position to be aggressive with the small amount of time remaining before halftime.

 

Now, I don't know if that was the actual decision making process or not.  But, if so, Grady did make a correct choice.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:36 AM
(Reply to #10) #36
Michigan Arrogance
Michigan Arrogance's picture
Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 15310
either that or a fumble

either that or a fumble setting up a WMU FG/TD

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:04 PM
(Reply to #10) #37
FGB
FGB's picture
Joined: 09/24/2009
MGoPoints: 3495
Considering he hesitated

before coming out, it was clearly not a decision made in advance. 

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September 5th, 2011 at 1:14 PM
(Reply to #26) #38
MGoBender
Joined: 03/26/2010
MGoPoints: 14934
Or, he knew he was coming

Or, he knew he was coming out, but since the kick ended up so deep to the point he would normally not return it, he hesitated.

Common sense says that if they knelt on the 12, they likely were going to kneal on the the 20, thus bringing it out was a good decision.

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:43 PM
(Reply to #10) #39
turd ferguson
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Joined: 12/09/2009
MGoPoints: 26489
posted from iPhone

I agree. I thought that bringing it out was obviously the right move. It seemed like a coach should have told him that in advance, though.

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September 5th, 2011 at 2:43 PM
(Reply to #53) #40
M-Wolverine
M-Wolverine's picture
Joined: 10/04/2009
MGoPoints: 42199
Yeah, the only way we try and score there

Is if we get a decent return and good field position. Because even at the 20 a Denard OH NOES is a disaster. Take it out near mid-field, we try and see what we can do in 50 seconds.

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September 5th, 2011 at 1:21 PM
(Reply to #10) #41
Magnus
Magnus's picture
Joined: 07/17/2008
MGoPoints: 122915
It's possible that Grady was

It's possible that Grady was told to return the kick regardless of how deep it was kicked, but if that were the case, he shouldn't have hesitated.  And if he wasn't told to return it no matter what, then he made a bad decision to run it out.

While you might be right that he was told to take the ball out of the endzone, I still think it was a bad decision in one way or the other.

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September 6th, 2011 at 6:10 AM
(Reply to #10) #42
Magnus
Magnus's picture
Joined: 07/17/2008
MGoPoints: 122915
By the way, Brady Hoke said

By the way, Brady Hoke said at his press conference that Grady made a bad decision to bring it out.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:34 AM
#43
Mark
Mark's picture
Joined: 11/26/2008
MGoPoints: 135
Toledo

Didn't they return an interception for 100 yards?

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:05 PM
(Reply to #11) #44
Trader Jack
Trader Jack's picture
Joined: 04/27/2010
MGoPoints: 8547
Thank you.

I was in a good mood and now I want to kill myself. Thanks.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:34 AM
#45
Eye of the Tiger
Eye of the Tiger's picture
Joined: 09/14/2009
MGoPoints: 6273
"Pro style = insane style"

Huh?  Brian, you must have been watching a different game, because when I saw Denard under center running West Coast sets...they worked.  So did the spread option and hybrid sets.  

What we appear to have here is an offense with a bigger, more diverse repertoire.  

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September 5th, 2011 at 1:13 PM
(Reply to #12) #46
mgoO
Joined: 10/11/2010
MGoPoints: 708
What Brian said was that the

What Brian said was that the offense was 70% shotgun.  Most (all?) of the big plays came out of spread looks.  The base formation was a 3x1x1 out of the 'gun which just so happens to be the same as 2010.

Meanwhile, what's a hybrid set?

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September 5th, 2011 at 1:54 PM
(Reply to #63) #47
Eye of the Tiger
Eye of the Tiger's picture
Joined: 09/14/2009
MGoPoints: 6273
This was in block quotes

"Switching to an actual pro-style offense would be doing exactly what Michigan did last year when it installed the 3-3-5 despite the total unsuitability of its personnel for the scheme."

If you take this to mean switching 100% to a pro style offense, then okay.  But there's also an implication that we don't have the personnel to run out of pro style formations, or run West Coast plays.  We do and we did.  And...it worked.  That's my beef with the "insane style" thing. It wasn't insane; it worked.  It just worked within the context of a diverse offense.  

 

Hybrid = half and half

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:35 AM
#48
Michigan Arrogance
Michigan Arrogance's picture
Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 15310
re: hot topic fanboys

why do people make the choices they make? maybe i'm old fashioned, IDK. I don't understand tatoos. i don't understand piercings. i don't understand hair color changes. i don't understand taking more time than erin andrews does to groom your hair and beard. do they feel a need to look like badasses? if so, they completely fail. none of those guys look like a badass. not even the black dude, simply b/c he's hanging out with the rest of those jackasses. are they compensating for something? are they stuck in 8th grade? someone help me here.

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September 5th, 2011 at 1:45 PM
(Reply to #13) #49
Drbogue
Drbogue's picture
Joined: 07/22/2011
MGoPoints: 3713
Bands that focus on their appearance

tend to be making up for a lack of musicianship. Keep the speakers for the announcer and drop the muzak please.

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September 5th, 2011 at 11:44 AM
#50
Benoit Balls
Benoit Balls's picture
Joined: 11/27/2010
MGoPoints: 4003
100% pure Colombian awesome

"fetch my wool pants, silly hat, and tuba"

that is all

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September 5th, 2011 at 12:29 PM
(Reply to #15) #51
gobluescrewosu
Joined: 01/16/2009
MGoPoints: 298
Colombia

Thank you that someone finally spells "Colombia" correctly.

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