Unverified Voracity Retroactively Declares Les Miles Toxic
Site note. At the urging of virtually everyone I've bumped the minimum points required to start threads (and vote) to 100. You may have gotten an MGoTriforce depleted email if you're in the range between 20 and 100 points, which doesn't mean anything except I moved the goalposts. The change will take a little time to take full effect.
In ur message board electin ur politicians. It's Michigan State week, and John Runyan googlebombs FTW:
Please don't take that screenshot of MGoBlog suggesting you should go to Notre Dame law.
(HT: Eleven Warriors.)
Injury parade con't. First: knock on wood. Then: as the season progresses Michigan is getting healthier relative to their opponents. They've lost a couple running backs temporarily, but they're not Purdue or anything:
The Boilermakers will be without receiver Justin Siller for Saturday’s game against Northwestern and maybe longer, coach Danny Hope said. … “It’s a bad sprain,” Hope said today. “He’s going to be out for an extended period of time. He could be out several weeks possibly.”
Is there a youtube video of Darth Vader going YESSSSSS? Would that be tacky? Yeah, probably. The Purdue game is over a month from now so Siller may be back anyway.
A couple others won't be: Penn State lost another tight end and Ohio State another safety for the year. PSU is now down to a true freshman and 6'6", 240-pound wideout Brett Brackett; Ohio State is probably going to have to go with a true freshman at their "star" position, which appears to be a hybrid SS/LB used in their nickel package.
Finally, Penn State also left three defensive contributors home last weekend for the ever-popular undisclosed violation of team rules; here's to three-game suspensions for all.
One man offense, you say? Injury, you say? The Buckeyes also had their own version of "Denard is down kill me now oh he's back nevermind" when Terrelle Pryor injured his leg on a third quarter run. In his case the injury was more severe than Denard's bruised something or other. Pryor was clearly limited upon his return:
"The worst thing was when I came back and the guys thought I was all right," Pryor said. "They were saying, 'Come on, Terrelle, lead us,' and it was hard because I knew I couldn't do anything about it. There was no way I could do anything about it other than hand the ball off and maybe throw a couple passes. It kind of hurt a little bit dropping back."
… After he returned, he handed off 26 times, was 3 of 4 passing for 28 yards and gained 2 yards on a sneak.
The official diagnosis is a "strained quad," so could be one of those things that lingers until the offseason or he could be fine next week. Former Buckeye and guy who strained his quad Dustin Fox thinks it will be the former:
Just so u guys know. There's no such thing as a mild quad strain. As soon as u try to burst it's gonna lock up
If it's a Grade 1 strain he should be fine in a few weeks; if it's Grade 2 he could be limited for up to two months. Re-aggravation is possible since OSU has little choice but to ride Pryor as far as he can take them. Their backup quarterback situation is grim and a lot of their praise for Boom Herron's workmanlike performance reads like it's from Michigan fans hoping Vincent Smith is better than he seems right now. This slight window of hope will be followed by Pryor pulling a Denard against their next opponent, which is… Indiana. (Welcome to the Big Ten season, Hoosiers. Yeesh.)
Penn State jealousy update! Kevin Newsome: still backing up a true freshman. Anthony Fera, who Michigan recruited as a kicker:
By my count, Anthony Fera had four mediocre and one really, really bad punt.
They're still 39th in net punting and Michigan is 88th, but we're catching up after being in triple digits last week. While we're on Penn State, that game continues to look very plausible but I don't like this bit:
Credit where it's due: despite being harried and pounded on for pretty much the entire game (and dealing with a difficult night-game atmosphere in Kinnick; it got LOUD on multiple occasions), Robert Bolden seemed to keep his composure well and he did a nice job of leading the Penn State offense down the field on those two drives on either side of halftime. The coaches made things easier on him by using a lot of quick roll-outs and short passes, but he looked pretty calm in executing that gameplan. Things got more ragged in the fourth quarter and he threw a lot more balls that could have (and should have) been intercepted (including the one that was, by Shaun Prater late in the fourth quarter), but freshmen quarterbacks are going to take their lumps; Bolden seems like he could be a pretty good quarterback for PSU in the not-too-distant future.
Who hates quick rollouts and short passes? You do, because Michigan can't defend them. That's another game in which I have no idea what will happen. That's a big step forward from the beginning of the season. As a bonus, JoePa punted on fourth and six down 14 with 4:36 left: that's not a game in which fear of Denard will make coaches go Romer.
All hat. Remember when we were all excited about getting Les Miles and despondent when he said GTFO?
(HT: The War Eagle Reader.)
Dodged an enormous penis-shaped bullet there. What looked like enormous balls and a refreshing ability to do that Romer stuff we've been talking about all day turns out to be an inability to comprehend the conventional wisdom or the clock rules. You've seen this, right? It's seven minutes but if you didn't see how this went down you have to repair this immediately:
There are no words. If you insist that there are, Orson has you covered:
The clock runs. You do two things when you might want to stop the clock on the goal-line down 14-10 with a running clock. You may spike it---wait, that's not happening. There's a thing about spiking the ball at LSU, if you'll recall. They could call time out, but they have no timeouts because Les Miles is pretty sure the federal government demands those back at the end of the year if you don't spend them all. Though they've been on the two yard line ever since the pass interference penalty, the LSU offensive staff suddenly remembers OH MY GOD WE HAVE A GOAL LINE PACKAGE and sets off a fire drill the People's Republic of China would call "disgracefully hurried and chaotic."
Imagine if the smoldering tire fire that is Michigan's secondary was inside the head coaches' skull. LSU recruited Russell Shepard, a five-star dual threat QB Michigan thought was more talented than anyone they've recruited at the position and moved him to wide receiver so Jordan Jefferson could play. Guh.
BONUS: The Alphabetical's D, E, and F all concern the Michigan-Indiana tennis match, with Denard ascending past Woody Danztler in Orson's pantheon of spread quarterbacks.
Etc.: Stencil this across the world. Football coaches are focused on play success, not drive success. Chait is with me: just say no to punts.
October 4th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^
Regardless of how this season ends, I will never, ever, ever, ever again wish that the Hat was coach at U-M. He crazy!
October 4th, 2010 at 8:21 PM ^
Les Miles is like that completely crazy girlfriend some of us have. The gal who is still knocking back shots of Wild Turkey while you're comatose, driving on the spur of the moment to Las Vegas with her other gal pals with no money or change of underwear, who shows up at your door at 3am with no warning demanding hot animal sex, who's constantly bouncing her checks and borrowing money from you with promises of more hot animal sex, flying into a spittle-flecked rage because you brought home moo-shu beef instead of szechuan pork, and then calling you meekly three hours later for you to come bail her out of jail after her third DUI, followed by especially hot animal sex. Eventually you just get exhausted and are secretly pleased one morning when you find the hastily scrawled note announcing she's feeling cramped and in need of new spaces to get crazy in. Oh, and she emptied your checking account because she's broke.
October 4th, 2010 at 8:38 PM ^
This has to be one of the funniest things I've read on here in a while. Bravo, sir. Very nice.
October 4th, 2010 at 11:33 PM ^
...up to now, Les Miles had never reminded me of hot animal sex, but now I get it. Thanks, Don.
October 4th, 2010 at 5:48 PM ^
The Alphabetical's A is the funniest thing I've read in a long long time.
October 5th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^
Absolutely. Brian, thanks for linking to that. Hiliarity ensues when Orson writes about Les Miles.
October 5th, 2010 at 11:11 AM ^
Ooops. I means Spencer (?)
October 4th, 2010 at 5:50 PM ^
reads like it's from Michigan fans hoping Vincent Smith is better than he seems right now.
Another cheap shot thrown Vincent's way.
Does everyone hate Vince Smith because he isn't Mike Hart?
October 5th, 2010 at 9:17 AM ^
On a personal level, he is a very likeable and root-for-able (totally a word) guy, but at the same time, since his surgery he hasn't shown the same moves he showed his freshman year. I'm sure with time he'll get it back and I look forward to that day.
October 4th, 2010 at 6:01 PM ^
"LES MILES IS HAVING FUN ON THE LES MILES RIDE BECAUSE EVEN HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING"
October 4th, 2010 at 6:09 PM ^
What's going on?
October 4th, 2010 at 5:54 PM ^
I've bumped the minimum points required to start threads (and vote) to 100.I love you.
October 4th, 2010 at 6:17 PM ^
If only this had happened just a couple hours earlier...
October 4th, 2010 at 5:53 PM ^
Now that their top 2 guys are hurt they're stuck playing a true freshman on defense. HAHA wouldn't that suck!
October 5th, 2010 at 8:57 AM ^
Living in Columbus as I do, I have a few friends who are of the Buckeye Fan persuasion who aren't total dicks (it's shocking, really, though in fairness I'm married to one so she kinda has to be nice to me). One of them claims that losing Moeller will really hurt them against UM because he's their best true "QB spy".
October 4th, 2010 at 5:53 PM ^
I love me some stenclin', but that link is a dupe of The Alphabetical.
October 4th, 2010 at 6:47 PM ^
Yeah, I wonder what that link was supposed to be. The world may never know.
October 4th, 2010 at 6:19 PM ^
I don't understand why there are high-profile coaches out there who can't seem to manage the clock correctly. Maybe they should play more Madden...seems to give most fans the idea that they know what to do.
October 4th, 2010 at 6:32 PM ^
The very next MGoLink I clicked on produced an ad that asked me if I was sure I was ready for Michigan State football and offered me great sparty apparel.
October 4th, 2010 at 6:41 PM ^
Thank you Brian
Sincerely,
Someone below 100 pts who enjoys a troll free board.
October 4th, 2010 at 7:36 PM ^
And for that, you get the honor of no longer being "Someone below 100 pts." :)
October 4th, 2010 at 6:51 PM ^
Huge men sprint off the field and onto it. The clock winds. Les Miles is seen throwing live chickens onto the field. Who knows where he got them, but they're all part of the plan now.
Mind you, in the same article, he made a case for Alabama's defense being Catenaccio, from the Italian football tradition, so the man is multi-faceted to say the least.
October 4th, 2010 at 6:56 PM ^
He isn't there yet, however, he showed a good ability to move around for a pocket passer. His night could have been much worse if any of the 10 or so balls that were batted around or were deflected landed any differently.
October 4th, 2010 at 7:01 PM ^
Les Miles has sure made a lot of money for not knowing what he's doing. He's taking a page right out of my playbook: make employers think you're worth much more than you really are.
October 5th, 2010 at 12:20 PM ^
I hope your employer doesn't know your blogger moniker (lol). The fact that Vincent is healthy and contributing to the team speaks volumes about the young mans' toughness. So, given the fact the kid is ready to play on Saturdays makes me wonder why anyone would want to reflect negatively about him in any way. I guarantee you RR liked having Vince in the lineup, especially when he looked at the injury report at the beginning of the week prior to the IU game. One thing for sure, that was one hell-of-a block on the IU linebacker (last play of the game) that cleared the way for 'Unchained Lightnin' to ease on in to the end zone.
October 4th, 2010 at 7:02 PM ^
Dude, you have to be kidding me
It's your blog and all, but lay the Eff off Vinny Smith
Wolverines lose last Saturday without him.
No sugarcoat
He has 8 touchdowns in 115 career touches
I'll take that on my team anyday.
October 4th, 2010 at 7:20 PM ^
The haters club used stats to downplay his effectiveness (ignoring everything else he has done well), then he churns out 8.9 YPC and a TD against a B10 opponent and the script stays the same. "Oh, anyone could have made that run." Ridiculous.
October 4th, 2010 at 8:10 PM ^
Now listen, I'm not saying Vince Smith's a bad guy - but he hasn't been too productive this year. He has 2 rushing TD's against not-BGSU, and against Indiana he had a great run, and then 8 rushes for 24 yards against a D that hasn't been able to stop the run against bad teams. The "anyone could have made that run" implies that any of our RB's could have broken it big with that hole, unfortunately only half of them were healthy.
Smith has averaged fewer than 4 yards per carry for 3 of our 5 games, and outside of that 56 yarder last game, his longest run was 13 yards. He hasn't done anything receiving either, 4 catches for 21 yards (albeit one was a TD). I'm not saying he's bad, but he's not a guy to get really excited about just yet.
October 4th, 2010 at 8:12 PM ^
Hell can anyone bash V.S. when there is nothing to bash him about!? V.S. is the epitome of what a UofM player should be! The kid is all class, humble, full of heart, a team player, self-sacrifices, tough, has suffered and battled back from adversity to continue to be an impact player for us! He is by far my most favorite running back on the team!
October 4th, 2010 at 8:20 PM ^
No one mentioned anything about his character, which is about all you mention here. And did Brian really "bash" VS? He said that Michigan fans are hoping he's better than he seems. Let's not exaggerate, that's hardly "bashing" him. M fans were hoping he'd be a star, and instead he's about average for a true sophomore coming off a pretty bad injury.
No one is calling for Smith to be cut, or even permanently benched. But I think a lot of people are hoping he either steps up his game, or that Toussaint and Shaw get healthy so they can all battle it out.
October 4th, 2010 at 8:44 PM ^
It's a long story and goes well beyond Brian's comment up above
Get on the Smith Bandwagon with me now or enjoy an anchovie, mushroom and olive pizza with Magnus
Actually I've been meaning to get over to his blog. He actually wrote Vinnie Smith had a good game and I didnt think it was in him.
Our bandwagon is still more fun. He has 8 TDs in 115 career touches. I think he needs to be part of the gameplan based on that.
October 4th, 2010 at 9:42 PM ^
Were you also on the Pierre "Touchdown" Rembert bandwagon? My friends and I gave him that name because he scored TDs on like 4 of his first 5 carries. We were convinced he was going to be amazing (not really). He did rush for 1743 and 15 TDs in his senior year.. for Illinois State.
The point? There is none.. just a story that your post reminded me of. Sorry.
On topic: I like V.Smith, but he's been a little underwhelming this season. Still think he could be a very solid back with some consistency and as he gets further away from that injury.
October 4th, 2010 at 8:51 PM ^
production we should expect from a 5'6", 175 lb middling 3-star recruit. OTOH, I expect a bunch more from Shaw and Toussaint.
October 5th, 2010 at 12:52 AM ^
Smith is solid, hangs on to the ball, falls forward, blocks well etc., problem is with this defense a punt is almost as bad as a turnover. Smith sputtering for 1 or 2 yards contributed to 3 of the 5 punts in the second half. With Michigan's oline and Indiana's defense that is unacceptable. Against better defensive teams Michigan needs more from the running backs than tough and reliable.
October 4th, 2010 at 8:44 PM ^
I wouldn't bash him or anything, I just don't think he's "back" yet. I was extremely excited about him at the end of last season. But this year, it's clear he doesn't quite have it. He's still productive and is someone you can count on, he just doesn't have the pop that he had last year. I think he'll get it back, just not sure it happens this season.
October 4th, 2010 at 9:36 PM ^
Stays healthy? Check, even recovering from a torn ACL in 9 months.
Breaks tackles? Check
Blocks like a mountain goat? Check
Sure-handed out of the backfield? Check
Keeps the ball in his hands and not on the ground? Check
Scores touchdowns? Check
Given we've spent the last 3 years watching Hart, Minor, Brown, Shaw, Toussaint, and McGuffie all be banged up for the majority of the seasons, I'm more than happy to have Smith as the go to back.
EDIT: Hip tosses Mike Martin? Check
October 5th, 2010 at 11:22 AM ^
You're right about most of these things great blocker, doesn't seem to fumble but I don't want to jinx him he's probably just been lucky so far let's move on, great receiver, seems to be a heady player. Can sometimes show the shiftiness to make the first guy miss.
But Vincent Smith breaks tackles like Carlos Brown. Seriously, I don't know where people got this idea. Just because he's short, that doesn't make him Mike Hart. Not only does he usually fail to break tackles, he also usually fails to go forward more than a couple of inches after contact - dude just goes down, hard. It's not a question of toughness, it's just that he's a freakin' midget, and sometimes physics simply has its say.
Smith will likely play a key role for Michigan throughout his career, but he's not a star back now and I question whether his size and speed limitations will ever allow him to be one. We'll see what Barwis can do there. Smith is a bit like the offense's Kovacs - just because fans point out that he has limitations and that it would be nice for someone with more athleticism to demonstrate the same understanding of his position (a la Marvin Robinson) and take over his spot ... that doesn't mean we're bashing the kid.
October 4th, 2010 at 7:55 PM ^
"They were saying, 'Come on, Terrelle, lead us,'..."
For real?
October 4th, 2010 at 8:14 PM ^
Yeah, I LOLed at that one. No way they said that. In his head though, they totally were.
"Come on Terrelle, we need you. You mean the world to us. Show the world you're as awesome as we all know you are. Lead us!"
October 4th, 2010 at 8:02 PM ^
Thanks for another step toward a troll-free board!!
Also, Les Miles probably deserves to be fired over his horrendous clock management the past few seasons. If he didn't have a championship on his resume, he might've been gone Sunday.
October 4th, 2010 at 9:11 PM ^
It's truly amazing to me how often Miles and LSU win dramatic close games out of sheer luck and horrible clock management. There are no words.
October 4th, 2010 at 9:56 PM ^
When I hear these stories about Les, I can't help but wonder does Kirk Herbstreit appreciate the irony as much as I do.
And I'm sure its been posted here before, but take a moment to enjoy: www.thequotablelesmiles.com
October 4th, 2010 at 10:20 PM ^
So, this is Bo's former assistant coach whom everyone (read:me) wanted hired so badly that we fumed at Bill Martin and Kirk Herbstreit (not necessarily in that order) when marlin fishing took precedence? Per SBNation:
Tennessee's already doomed in theory as the inferior team late in the game even on basic football princlples before you activate the computer worm capable of crippling the entire football matrix as we know it: Les Miles.
Actually, that makes Les Miles sound pretty cool.
October 4th, 2010 at 10:38 PM ^
Somehow he seems to keep pulling these out...wow what a embarrassment to coaching. Can we swap their Defense and keep our offense?
October 4th, 2010 at 11:52 PM ^
Mike Gundy gets my embarrassment to coaching vote. Especially since Mangino isn't waddling down any sidelines. Les, however, is moving up the ranks quickly.
October 5th, 2010 at 5:55 AM ^
But he's a man! He's 40!
October 5th, 2010 at 1:11 AM ^
Please don't take that screenshot of MGoBlog suggesting you should go to Notre Dame law.
...But that doesn't mean I can't use this one, right?
October 5th, 2010 at 8:11 AM ^
i would like to learn more about this free breakfast
October 5th, 2010 at 8:15 AM ^
Let's not forget that Miles, even though he's got his impression of the Bo Cadence down pat, is one shady motherfucker. I have heard that Okie State was a lawless place when Gundy came in, and I know their graduation rate was piss-poor. Now, at LSU, we have the grey-shirting fiasco. Oh, and then there's the lying, negative recruiting about Lloyd's health while at LSU.
Miles would have been an unmitigated disaster as a hire in every aspect. I'll admit I was on the fence about him at the time of the coaching search - I didn't know much about his game-day idiocy, I knew he had some success, and I was hoping that if he came to Michigan he'd have enough respect for the program -and enough stern talk from Dolla Bill and Mary Sue - to keep his ass on the straight and narrow.
But thank heaven we got Rich instead.
October 5th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
Rich Rod will have us back in the promised land within a few years. Maybe not his year due to our very porous 'D', but I like our chances of winning another Big Ten (Twelve) Championship in the next few years. If we have success recruiting some defensive studs we'll be back...you'll see. One more thing, Les Miles' clock management is a joke...
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