Five things to take from this: A Great Start to the Season

I think we saw exactly the offense we should have seen in the second half - maybe even with DR not throwing the ball... The team made sure victory was certain and then prduced 30 minutes of film for ND to learn very little from.
This week I'm going to try to get work done and not spend 4+ hours on this site...

We now have a shot at everyone on the schedule. That being said, we need to improve the options for passing when our opponents begin using press coverage. That seemed to slow us down for a while. We seemed to have more than a few penalties as well. Also, Death should never see the field again and Coner needs to pursue his rap career. It was a great game to watch. Go Blue!

Well said. I believe that, yesterday, we saw the best tackling Michigan football team that has taken the field in years.

IMO, a lot of our success this year is going to ride on the health of Tate

Great to see you writing again Lordfoul!

Pretty much agree on all fronts. The narrative of the season has already changed based on what we saw yesterday, from Michigan and the rest of the league. I am a win next week from calling them contenders for league honors, although I have not stopped drinking the Kool Aid from yesterday. Leftover koolaid always tastes great for breakfast.

I feel that Denard surprised me with how efficient of an arm he has, although he really should bring it down a bit.

But I still think he can learn to run the offense competently if he cuts out a lot of the passing.

If he can learn some semblance of the zone read, the sort of offence Pat Whit ran for his first 2 years - keeper/handoff/bubble screen - then I feel he can be a ridiculously dangerous backup/change of pace as soon as he learns his defensive reads even if he can't sling the rock like Tate.

I say keep Tate's offensive package growing to fit his talents, but instead of stuffing DR in the exact same box, RR should/will basically coach him into Pat White 2.0 - I mean Rich has said over and over that he's staying at QB.

Think of being a defensive coordinator trying to stop that 2-headed monster.

Yesterday was amazing. I fully agree about the tackling, which bodes very well regardless of the opponent, and Tate's poise was incredible. My excitement level is through the roof for the rest of this season. But (it sucks there is always a "but"), we should not be too hasty to judge the O-line until next week. If they are overpowered by a more respectable D, the rest of our offense will look very different from what it did yesterday. I am very optimistic, but am withholding predictions of New Year's Day bowls (or better) for the time being.

I'm new to MGoBlog. Why GERG for Robinson? I checked the FAQs under the "About" drop-down menu up top but didn't see anything about it. Thanks.

As excited as I am, I too will be holding off on any change in predictions from the 7 wins I thought were doable before yesterday. If we start 4-0 I may begin to revamp that, but we have to remember that although Iowa, Illinois, Ohio State (?!), etc looked beatable yesterday, it was only their first game of the season as well. In addition, most of our toss-up games are on the road in some very tough venues. I still think it would take near perfect games for us to beat either PSU or OSU. And don't forget that teams can look totally different from week to week. Just remember how we looked in the Minnesota game last year, or perhaps a better example is the difference between the Illinois that dismantled us verses the one that lost to WMU in Detroit.

The main point is that it is very early and we need to focus on one week at a time, just like the players. I am sure that the Michigan locker room is buzzing with ideas of what this season could hold for them. But if they find themselves looking ahead at any point this season, they could get tagged by an inferior team which is something we cannot afford if we want to make a bowl game.

I am not going to even go into the possibility of injuries at this point because it makes me tremble in fear.

the second half. Western picked up over 200 yards and it would have been more if our offense hadn't controlled the ball for so much time. My concern is mitigated by a number of factors, including: a) Boubacar sitting out the second half b) DBs played off the line of scrimmage in the second half c) Hiller is a very good QB and it was inevitable that he'd get going d) Western only scored 7 points. Overall I was pleased with how the defense played but I think teams with more advanced passing attacks (ND, Penn State) could give us trouble. The key will be getting pressure on the quarterback. Michigan did a good job of that but when Western went to 3-step drops in the second half it negated our pass rush.

shortly after the 3rd quarter started. With 2 freshmen quarterbacks they are limited in the plays they can run this early in the season. WMU was over matched, out played and left this game knowing the better team won. No reason to give the Irish anymore film to get ready for next Saturday. With Tate at QB this offense looked great, his ability to pass on the run still reminds me of Doug Flute. The Irish is a team that I do believe could end up in the top ten. Michigan is the wild card of the Big Ten, anything could happen. This season should set itself up well for the OSU game, by that time Denard will be much harder to defend-I do believe this young man has a cannon of an arm and with time and experience will be great. Greg Robinson -wow-what a job! In Coach Rod I Trust!

I was really impressed by Stevie Brown. Not only did he not = death, his coverage skills in the short passing game have me really excited about our pass defense this year, provided we stay healthy. I think this bodes well for our chances against Notre Dame.

RR did the right thing. why risk tate or nard dawg? RR was thinking of the entire season and not the next day's headlines. When he threw Cone in, i thought, now that is very kewl indeed. RR impresses me more and more. We were lucky to get him.

go blue!

math major?

I understand that everyone including me is really excited for the season after this game. Let us just take it one game at a time though, when we start looking ahead that is when you lose focus.

"Well, let's not start sucking each other's dicks quite yet."

I have no problem with the dinking and dunking passing game WMU employed to some success in the second half. A couple factors were at play:

1) Game in hand, bit of an emotional letdown in second half that comes with having younger players AND the emotional ride over the entire last (since RR was hired).

2) Call off the dogs a bit. Game in hand; if they want to go on an 18 play, 9 minute drive to score a TD, who gives a shit at that point? Most likely, though, they'll eithermake a mistake or the defense will stop them. They did. The long pass? Get the young guys in--they may have to play during times that matter this year. Teachable moments, grasshoppers.