Hoke for Tomorrow Wants Some Gravy

Did Odoms get a majority of snaps or was I just noticing whenever he happened to be in the game?  It seemed to me like he was in a lot more than in any previous week, and unlike earlier in the year he wasn't just in primarily as a blocker.  Was there just more WR rotation in general this week or has he taken some of Gallon or Roundtree's playing time?

Either way I am glad to see it, this guy has really put in his hours and effort and I want to see him finish his career strong.  Class act.

Yes.  Gravy - while wonderful and delicious - is even better when it is unexpected.  If my wife makes a roast with all the fixings, has everything out on the table I'm like, "Yes, this all looks amazing."  But then, almost doing it intentionally, just when it seems like it can't get any better, goes into the kitchen and brings out a huge piping-hot bowl of gravy, well, that's just one of those moments that brings a tear to the eye because it's so phenominal.

Gravy on, Blue!

Ohio State is not gravy.

I agree with what you said.  This team has a lot of upside and will continue to get better.

However, " I have not felt this confident about the future since 2006 at least."?  I hope you meant January 2006, because the "future" past 2006 was the worst stretch of michigan football in about 50 years.  If you would have omitted that line, there would have been no confusion and my mind would not have reeled at the thought.

Keep up the good work though.  I really like these posts.

As a Michigan fan, I think Zook should get an extension.  He is so entertaining.  Please don't fire Zook!

I think the biggest thing for DG was that he actually saw play in two entire drives.  He was very green coming in during the MSU and Purdue games, but he performed well once he settled in.  He will be a good QB here

If Michigan can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball it is a victory.  I know that may seem like a 'well, duh!', but if our Oline creates holes for Fitz and he and Shaw or Smith are patient and wait for those, we will score many.  If the Dline can reign in Burkhead and keep Martinez hemmed in and force him to throw before he wants to, it will be a glorious day in the Big House.

The defence really hasn't had a bad game all year. even against MSU and Iowa they played well enough to with the game, and the offence misques are what lost us the game.

This is exactly the correct perspective.  Except for a few outliers, everyone predicted Michigan at 7 or 8 wins in August.  (I thought 7.)  They have hit that mark and looked good doing it.  They are playing defense.  Defense, bitches, defense.  This season is a success even if they lose the last two games.  It is all gravy from here.  

If this teams serves gravy on Saturday the next two weeks,  we need to carry Hoke, Borgess and Mattison around the streets in celebration.  (There will have to be a lot of us - those are some big fellas.)

because 7 wins with almost everyone coming back would have been an epic failure in my eyes.  I expected 9 wins and still do.  If the team only gets one more please let it be Ohio.  I would much rather put an end to that streak then beat Nebraska though I suspect we can beat both. 

Getting to drop Wisky, Penn St., and IU and pick up Minny, Nebraska, and Northwestern was a great trade off.

Between Denard, devin, Braxton and t Martinez, how do you rank the qbs or the next 2 games?



/shudder

I was glad to see the comment about Fitz having the potential for 250 yards with a tear-away jersey.  Players getting tackled by their shirts has been happening all season.  It may not be a huge thing, but it is annoying to see the Michigan player run past someone where a tackle would normally be unlikely, only to see him pulled down from behind by the shirt.

I think that completion was residue from the GERG era. It's akin to the taint on Saidin. Mattison is cleansing the taint, but it's a tough job. (Any Wheel of Time fans out there?)

"Ron Zook, therefore Ron Zook" - Illinois' program has been around for a century now and should know better.

Anyhow, I tend to agree with the "gravy" statement when this is framed within what our average expectations might have been back in August. I remember saying that my expectation was something in the neighborhood of 8-4 anyway, but if you had asked me based just on the schedule then if I thought we would be 8-2 right now, with two winnable games left, I probably would have doubted that. 

Are Nebraska and OSU individually going to be gravy individually? By no means, but based on our performance to date, 10-2 is at least less of a fantasy than it might have been  before the season. Will we get there? Eh, let's beat Nebraska first. 

It is interesting that despite all that has happened the "fire Ron Zook" movement isn't that strong. To his credit he does have victories over every Big Ten team except for Nebraska. But despite having had individual stars on both offense and defense he hasn't been able to lead Illinois to the next tier. But evidently it is good enough for Illinois.

This was a great game for the defense and the most complete.

The past 3 years were tough on the kids, and this year's success even it ends up at 8-4 shows that the effort was there - they just needed better coaching.