Postgame Presser Notes: Wisconsin

horrid Spiderman III with the huge sandman figure swatting at the fleet but small spiderman. Spiderman never beat him - he just went away.

Every man on the UW team seemed to be 100lbs heavier and 6" taller than the Michigan player.

Is there stats for the biggest college football team? This year's UW team looked like the largest college football team ever assembled.

JJ Watt was a nightmare - almost Brandon Graham scary.

Tough loss, but it's painfully obvious we got caught looking ahead to Ohio State*.

* Star dot thingy denotes presence of sarcasm

I think it's over.  I think Rich Rodriguez will have success as a big time FBS coach, but I think he will be fired at the end of this season.  

Dave Brandon has repeatedly said he will evaluate many factors when making his decision and at this point I think the totality of it all points to the end of this era.  This team is simply not competitive against the top tier of the Big Ten.  UM is pretty clearly looking at a 7-5 season where 3 wins were decided in the last minute of the game and all four losses were blowouts, with three of them at home.  Of the seven wins, at most two of those teams will be bowl eligible and will top out at a record of 7-5 (maybe, Illinois).  The defense is an absolute disaster.

The offense is starting to feel like a mirage against top level competition.  In the four losses to the point, the offense has scored 10, 7, 10, and 0 in the first halves leading to halftime or third quarter deficits of 21, 21, 21, and 24 points.  The offense made some plays in all four games after falling into big holes, but it was significantly too little, too late in every occasion.  

Perhaps most importantly, perception is reality.  Perception drives recruiting, donations, and media coverage.  There are valid explanations for a lot of the issues this team has (decimated defense and all), but in the grand scheme of things, that doesn't really matter.  The above failings are what the world at large sees, and that is what they take in.  Mgoblog is a wonderful website for all of us hardcore Wolverines, but I don't think we realize how insulated we become from the perception of this program in general.  Rich Rodriguez's tenure at UM is a joke to 95% of the world, and that is a huge problem.  As I drove out of AA this afternoon and lost 1050's range, I shifted over to 97.1.  No one wanted to call in and talk about State's dramatic comeback win to keep their Rose Bowl hopes alive.  They all wanted to call in and talk about the disaster that is Michigan and Rich Rodriguez.  That matters.  UM is still clearly number one in this state, but that can change.  That can change very quickly.  Just look at UM and MSU's respective basketball programs for evidence.  

There are a lot of reasons that this team should be considerably better next season.  We've been over that.  The one thing that isn't going to get magically better is how this team is seen as long as Rich Rodriguez is in charge.  It's not fair to Rodriguez, but the best way for this team to get better faster is for the pieces that Rodriguez has put in place to be taken to the next level by a new coach that has positive capital in perception in the media, on the recruiting trail, and in the big donors pocket books.

This team still needs bigger,faster and better running backs. Not much production from them,which would give the offense another threat.  DR needs to get better with his throws.He missed wide open receiver early in game that would have been a t.d.  Receivers are very good,but they drop passes a little too much and need to make receptions to keep drives alive. The defense needs to get bigger ,faster and older.. Need more depth at D line and linebacker.  The special teams need vast improvement especially at kicker. I was listening to the game on the radio and the announcers said that after our kicker missed the short field goal it looked like it demoralized the D.  A good kicker is very important to the team. It can cost you a couple of wins a year .

Sick of this crap. If you can't see progress, I don't know what to tell you. I will make sure to tell the driver to speed up when all you haters are trying to hop onto the bandwagon next year. I eagerly anticipate the droves of " RR is a genius " next year. Until then, I wish you all a great night.

- Wisconsin fans have got to be the nicest fans around.  I had quite a few near me in the stands, and all I heard them do was cheer for their team, relatively quietly I might add.  Only once did the Wisconsin fans start a "let's go Badgers" chant that I heard.  This team is 10-1, they've got a right to some swagger, but they had none.  They were almost too quiet.

- I also had an "UNACCEPTABLE" Mich fan behind me.  He started screaming himself hoarse just before the half.  Actually, he was kind of entertaining.

- Booing at end of halftime -  I can't imagine that had a very good impact on the visiting recruits.  That said, I hate RRs decision not to call TO.  You can't play the game with a goal "not to screw up".  Be aggressive, let Denard chuck a few downfield and see what happens.

- Is it just me, or was there less RAWK music?  I remember specifically one time in the 3rd on a critical 3rd down where I expected crap from the speakers, and instead they let the band play The Victors.  Please do more of this.

- I loved the first onside kick call, even though we didn't recover it.

- I'm getting tired of hearing "they kick great in practice."

- Keep RR, send GERG on his merry way.

- I bet we beat tOSU next week.

The defense didn't stop Wiscy but they did get in there way. In the first half the defense put the offense in position to have the lead, and build on a lead. The offense did nothing! The defense clearly played hard, but became worn down. The offense seems to score only when the opponent scores.

My questions (2), why did they wait until the second half to turn it on? Why does RR continue to try fgs when he obviously doesn't have anyone who can kick one?

Pre-season, I thought 8-4 was realistic.  Based on 2009, I figure we could beat either MSU or Iowa at home after near misses on the road.  I chalked up Wisconsin and OSU as loses.  Consequently, yesterday’s loss was not unexpected.

Nevertheless, there were certain troubling factors:  (1) our defense really is weak.  Not just weak as in bad, but physically weak.  Chris Speilman pointed out that Michigan’s scheme wasn’t the problem, it was how weak and small we are.  Once our players get blocked, they’re done.  They don’t shed and recover.  Even Mouton was getting destroyed.  In contrast, when I watched Iowa v OSU, I noticed that even on perfectly blocked plays, defenders on both teams were able to recover and prevent the ridiculous long plays that Michigan gives up every week. (2) The coaches don’t seem to see the same personnel weaknesses that we as fans see.  Why is Gallon still returning kicks?  He’s not just bad, he’s horrific because he can’t hold on to the football.  Why did it take 11 games to get Stonum back in the kickoff return game?  Why 11 games before trying Dileo?  Same with the kicking game.  Broekheizen (sp?) is not the answer.  He blows.  Gibbons is on scholarship.  If RR is going to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, why not the kid we’re paying to play?  The defensive side has been debated all season, but yesterday confirmed to me that right now Cam Gordon may look good in a uniform, but he is not a good football player.  Poor tackling, poor angles, etc.  The one position I never noticed until the massive changes was the spur position.  Why did the coaches feel the need to mess with that?  (3)  3-3-5 doesn’t work in the Big 10, at least with our personnel.  The elite teams in the Big 10 have huge offensive linemen and like to run the football.  It’s no coincidence that these are the teams trouncing us.  The 3-3-5 may be good against the spread, thus wins over IU, Purdue and Illinois make sense, but it doesn’t hold up against MSU, Iowa, Wisconsin and soon OSU.  We need bigger bodies, not speed to compete with Big 10 elite teams.  Why don’t the coaches understand that.  We don’t need 3 safeties.  We need 4 really big dudes on the line.  Roh and Black are small.  Wouldn’t they be better as weekside DE’s in a 4 man front.  If Martin isn’t 100%, wouldn’t our line be more effective with 2 guys in the middle like Patterson and Washington?

My guess is the RR will be back, but I pray that DB gives him an ultimatum about the defensive side of the ball.  RR needs to fire GERG, hire a big name DC and get out of the way.  The other thing Speilman pointed out was that we don’t have 5 stars on defense.  I believe that this is caused by GERG and RR.  I think any big time recruit would look at us and say “why the F would I play in a 3-3-5 scheme if I want to go pro?”  It’s a valid point.  The only way to get around that is to bring in a great defensive mind that will attract great players.  I can’t imagine anyone dreaming of playing for GERG because the Broncos were awesome in 1997 or whatever.

of the Capital One Bowl, Lloyd's last game. The defense was big and fast, AND BLITZED THE QB. Where have the big D-line and LBs gone? Why do we never blitz anymore? Obi Ezeh was a freshman in this highlight, and he played well. Shows you just how bad a coach can make a player. Ron English was a good DC. WHY THE HECK DID HE LEAVE? So, now we've got Gerg for hopefully only one more game (get a interim for the bowl game), recruit some big boys, and START BLITZING. It actually works!