I don't think they changed Les at all actually
Dear Diary
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Dear Diary (Sunday 9/14/08),
I write you after a long sad day in which we lost to the lamest school in the country, Notre Dame. It was one of the most frustrating games to watch as a Michigan. Count me as one of the few michigan fans that thought before the season that this was going to be rough, I mean extremely rough year. I never bought into the '8 or even 7 win season' as a possibility. Not even remotely. I thought we'd be lucky to be .500 after it is all over. I just had a few of my own observations:
---But still. 6 turnovers? 6? Really? This game was so frustrating because (as a biased michigan fan) we should've won. The scoreliine should've been 31-21 Michigan. Matthews catch in the end zone should've been a TD and Grady should've never fumbled that ball. That's 14 right there for us. And well, we can call agree that we spotted ND with 14 in those first two TD's. Now all the idiots on ESPN will glorify ND and feel compelled to admire their return to greatness. Whatever, we killed our chances. We literally beat ourselves yesterday.
----I feel bad for Rodriguez and I don't know why. He's only been with us for 3 games but still, for whatever reason I feel bad for him.
----What get's lost in the shuffle of all the bitching is people forget about how inexperienced and young our OL is. I mean geeeez, don't think if we didn't have a halfway expereienced OL that we wouldn't be putting more points on the board. I mean, we have an f'n freshmen at center and everyone is bitching about our QB play.
---Our defense is good, but not great. I hate (HATE) to say this but I believe our defense is overrated. We basically have been counting on our D to be the savior of our squad this year but that just isn't justified. I understand they were put in a terrible position on those opening 2 drives, but c'mon, why not 6, or even 10 points instead of the initial 14. We HAD to stop them but didn't.
---I'm going to keep on going with the defense, particularly the secondary. WHAT THE HELL. It's easy to bash Stevie Brown and I want to defend him but geez, how many chances does the guy need? Missed tackles and poor communication with the CB's is just not acceptable. But the horror doesn't end there. Morgan Trent and Donovan Warren IMO played their worst combined game as Wolverines. The amount of calls and big plays they let up was just inexcusable.
---McGuffie. I believe he is the real deal. This kid can run and knows how to make plays. Basically, our gameplan should be, when all else fails and we're not quite sure what the hell to do... just give the damn ball to Sam and let him come up with something.
---Threet/Sheridan. Threet now is the obvious starter. He looked good. Sheridan, well..he.. looked like an all-conference walk-on today. But has that really changed from last week? Or the week before? Threet is a gamer. It literally pains me to see Sheridan in the game. I lose all confidence in us having any opportunity to win the game once his ass is behind center.
---Next year; Don't count on Beaver or Tate to come in and turn the program around. The whole 'rebuilding process' isn't a 1 year thing. At his rate Threet will still be the QB next year and one of those two freshmen (most likely Tate IMO) will probably get a cameo role. But don't think either one of those 2 will come in and be the man. That's just laughable.
----Last but not least Recruting; I hope our abysmal season doesn't affect our recruiting. I've seen ND suck it up the last few years and they've still managed ridiculously good classes. I have faith in RichRod that he will still get the talent but i'd be lying if I said to myself that we're safe with all of our recruits we got now and will go out and get even better talent. Attention recruits, this season is not and never will be typical of michigan football.
----And finally, I still believe RichRod will take us to glory. Not this year, and maybe not next, but... well... I guess patience is a virtue. GO BLUE.
September 14th, 2008 at 9:40 AM | 
I agree with most of what you say
I agree with most of what you say
September 14th, 2008 at 10:27 AM |
i was going to use chad henne
i was going to use chad henne
i was going to use chad henne as the rare exception. he obviously did well at an early age but he also had a fellow named Braylon Edwards who could catch anything and everything. chad did have somewhat of a sophomore slump.
i only respect other superfans
September 14th, 2008 at 8:50 AM |
corners
corners
In defense of Warren and Trent, and I don't know this I'm just guessing, but when you're called for pass interference for looking at the guy, maybe it becomes more difficult to cover? Maybe you become more tentative? That PI in the end zone made me want to cry it was so awful.
Don't feel bad for Rich Rod, he gets to coach the greatest University ever. And no one will remember this year in 2 years anyways. No one cares about Tressel's first 7-5 year, or Saban's first 6-6 year (lost to Lousiana Technical community college). Besides, if that offense improves at this rate all year we could still rip off a very good conference record.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:08 AM |
PI
PI
The PI in the endzone made me want to cry, too, but not bc it was a bad call. When you pull the WR's jersey in man coverage like that the ref has to throw the flag. It was stupid, especially since he was in position and didn't need to do it. Now, the PI on the play before the long TD was one of the worst I have ever seen.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:13 AM |
Yeah, Warren's PI in the
Yeah, Warren's PI in the
Yeah, Warren's PI in the endzone was justified, IMO. He pushed off, blatantly (two hands in the small of the receivers back is a giveaway), and the ball was clearly catchable, given that Warren basically caught it in the endzone.
The PI on the long pass was a miserable, miserable call on a great play.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:16 PM |
PI on Warren
PI on Warren
You're right, two hands in the back (with both arms fully extended)
will draw a flag every time... but that said, Warren really didn't push
him hard at all and didn't impact the receiver's movement.
Also, Warren was a yard or two behind the receiver and wasn't able to
come down with the ball in bounds... there is no way this was a
catchable pass.
I don't think it was a terrible call... but it wouldn't have been a bad
no-call either. It's a really bad penalty for Warren to take because
if he does nothing, the ball sails harmlessly out of the back of the
endzone.
Perfect example of how Michigan beat itself yesterday.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:20 AM |
I feel bad for Rodriguez and
I feel bad for Rodriguez and
I feel bad for Rodriguez and I don't know why. He's only been with us for 3 games but still, for whatever reason I feel bad for him
He'll live. And he's getting well compensated at that. We should all have it so tough. Besides, I saw a lot of improvement, as he did, and am encouraged.
Because of the new system and young players, this team will continue to improve through the year moreso than an established program with veteran players. By the end of the year, this will be a solid team.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:56 PM |
Don't feel bad for Rich Rod.
Don't feel bad for Rich Rod.
Our great University just gave him the deal of a lifetime and paid 2.5 million $$$ of his tab as well. Ask any coach in the game what the best college coaching job is and they will invariably come up with Michigan high on their list. Michigan doesn't fire coaches except in the most serious of circumstances. Deep down I'm sure Rich Rod gets giddy moments still thinking about the talent he will be able to stockpile.
September 14th, 2008 at 5:14 PM |
Disagree on one point
Disagree on one point
I dont believe you can just chalk up 7 points if Grady doesn't fumble in the redzone. Our redzone offense looked really limited yesterday. We didn't seem to have any plays we could run. In fact, I think the best redzone playcall of the day was the pass over the middle to Butler that Sheridan threw and was picked off. We had so few passes over the middle and in the redzone you can't afford to eliminate an entire 1/3 of the field, there isn't enough room. You either have to be able to pick up yards over the middle, or run it North-South through the line. Not having those threats hurt our offense a lot, and I think we were looking at a FG attempt on that drive.
September 14th, 2008 at 11:05 PM |
Sam Bradford
Sam Bradford
I am pretty sure that Sam Bradford started as a true freshman for Oklahoma last year. There have been a decent number of good true freshman quarterbacks over the last few years. Also, the fact that Forcier and Beaver are both planning to enroll early will help them develop and learn the offense much quicker. I am not saying that one of those two is going to be a lock to start for us next year, but I am saying that it is within the realm of possibility.
September 15th, 2008 at 10:20 AM |
I agree with most of the
I agree with most of the
I agree with most of the points in the lead post. There are some bright spots covered by a pile of turnovers.
My 2 cents:
- I was upset by our D after the game, but when I had a chance to think about it, they gave up something like 260 yards and were put in some tough spots by the TOs. Were they dominant, no. But they were certainly decent to good. It was really the big plays that the D should regret. Trent had a rough day.
- Steve Brown missed one tackle yesterday, following a missed tackle by Warren. He seems to come roaring up to make a big hit, as opposed to breaking down as he approaches the tackle to increase his odds of making the hit. The bomb up the seem was Trent's responsibility.
- And regarding true freshman QBs. The few that are successful are generally surrounded by lots of talent -- on the OL (primarily) and at WR and RB. Bradford last year was behind what was probably the best OL in college football. Henne had a good OL and what turned out to be a good RB in Hart, and one of the best WRs to ever play at Michigan. It is highly unlikely that Threet or Forcier/Beaver will have an OL of that caliber to play behind next year.
One other observation: ND designed a smart passing game to combat their OL weakness. Their big pass plays seemed to occur with Max Protect and only two guys in routes (excluding the pitch and catch with the Warren and Brown missed tackles). This greatly minimizes our DLs ability to pressure the QB.
I hope that with a dry field we will see improved DB play.
Go Blue!! Viva La Revolucion!!
www.wolverineliberationarmy.com
"Next year; Don't count on Beaver or Tate to come in and turn the program around. The whole 'rebuilding process' isn't a 1 year thing. At his rate Threet will still be the QB next year and one of those two freshmen (most likely Tate IMO) will probably get a cameo role. But don't think either one of those 2 will come in and be the man. That's just laughable."
Improbable, maybe, but laughable? See: Chad Henne.
"Last but not least Recruting; I hope our abysmal season doesn't affect our recruiting. I've seen ND suck it up the last few years and they've still managed ridiculously good classes. I have faith in RichRod that he will still get the talent but i'd be lying if I said to myself that we're safe with all of our recruits we got now and will go out and get even better talent. Attention recruits, this season is not and never will be typical of michigan football. "
Thankfully, football players are about 100x better than your average fan at objectively analyzing football games. Our recruits won't be going anywhere.
We're headed in the right direction.