Lordfoul

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” 
Albert Einstein

Learn from yesterday...

Common sense tells us that facing a team coming off of a bye week should be a disadvantage.  Give a good coach 2 weeks to prepare for a game and they will have their team refreshed and focused, ready to take advantage of what their next opponent gives them.  Mark Dantonio had the Spartans ready to exploit Michigan's flaws and that preparedness (plus a bit of dirty play) allowed Michigan State to dominate us. Brady Hoke used Michigan's bye week to effectively put the loss to Little Brother in the rearview and had the Wolverines ready to put Purdue away in style.  When Miles faced Saban after each had a bye week the result was one of the most epic battles I have ever seen.  This is what good coaching can do with a bye week advantage.

Ron Zook is a bad coach, this is known.  It is remarkable how bad he is though, when looking at his record after bye weeks.  Over the past 4 seasons (2008-2011) Illinois has had 6(!) bye weeks, with two in both 2009 and 2010.  Their record following these bye weeks?  0-6:

2008: Lost to Penn St 38-24

2009: Lost to OSU 30-0, Lost to Cincinnati 49-36

2010: Lost to OSU 24-13, Lost to Fresno St 25-23

2011: Lost to Michigan (woot!)  31-14

That is epic fail.  Ron Zook should be fired.

It was a very satisfying win for Michigan however.  Yes, the lack of redzone efficiency kept the game interesting for far too long.  This just magnified how much better this defense is than anything we could have reasonably expected.  The zone blitzing destroyed Illinois.  The run defense was smothering.  Even the prevent defense worked almost to perfection, with Illinois needing almost 7 minutes to score when they were down 3 scores with 10 minutes to go.  They kept plays in front of them, tackled in-bounds, and strangled the game.  Giving up the 4th-26 was painful, but by that point it was forgivable.  Greg Mattison has done better than anyone could have expected.

Live for Today…

Several players/coaches should take particular pride in their accomplishments yesterday:

1. Greg Mattison - Seriously, can we get this guy a raise?  I know he already makes a lot of dough, but he has earned it and then some.  This defense makes such incredible leaps forward with each game... just remarkable.
2. Fitz Toussaint - Got his swagger back right out of the gate.  Get this guy a tear-away jersey and he would have had 250 yards.  It makes so much more seem possible when a top running back steps forward.
3. Devin Gardner - Looked much less lost out there.  Clutch TD throw on 3rd and long really put the game away.  Still needs work, but perhaps the future is looking up for DG.
4. JT Floyd - Beautiful anticipation on the interception that kept Illinois from making a comeback.  Played well against Jenkins, really taking away the Illini's best weapon for most of the game.
5. Jeremy Gallon - Great job on punt returns.  Really helped Michigan flip the field position in their favor.

Also of note:  Martavious Odoms nice TD grab, Denard Robinson 2 TD runs, RVB 2.5 sacks, Desmond Morgan blowing up fools, Mike Martin is Mike Martin

Hope for Tomorrow

Michigan comes back home to wrap up the season sitting at 8-2.  The rest is gravy. Every Michigan fan should be pretty happy with how the team is progressing.  I have not felt this confident about the future since 2006 at least.  Nebraska will be a tough test in a week, but I think Michigan will be competitive in that contest.  Ohio just lost to Purdue and is a team that Michigan should beat.  It is the biggest rivalry in all of sport though, so anything can happen. Regardless of how the last two games go though, this team has made this fan happy and excited about seasons to come.  It is great to be a Michigan Wolverine.

Go Blue and stay safe!

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” 
Albert Einstein

I've started this post three separate times now and the agony of defeat has left me bereft of words the first two.  This time no fooling around: Rum makes words happen. Rum and bullet points... prose makes pain.

Learn from yesterday...

What can we learn from yesterday?

• That it is not indicative of how well Michigan will play, nor fare going forward.  Every game remains winnable.
• That this Michigan team is still composed of personnel that does not match up well with Michigan State, especially when the wind is howling.
• That strong winds + Kirk Cousins > strong winds + Denard Robinson.
• That punting to the moon is not necessarily the best idea in a windstorm.
• That Dantonio is a good coach that hates Michigan more than anything in the whole wide world and is willing to overlook, if not coach his players to play dirty and take cheap shots at anyone in a winged helmet.
• That sometimes you can just punch a guy in a game and it's all good.  No need to get hasty and eject anyone.
• That having in-laws that went to MSU, and are smart, respectable people does not seem bad at all until Michigan loses to little brother 4 years in a row and they make sure to call and rub it in even though they would be totally embarrassed if they had actually seen the game and how the representatives of their fine university conducted themselves.
• That yesterday sucked.

Live for Today…

Only two things to hang my hat on:

1.      Brady Hoke – Despite everything that transpired on the field, our team looked well coached and kept their composure.  There was not a whiff of retaliation and we should all be proud as fans of how classy our team was.  More than anything else so far, the game yesterday showed us that this is Hoke's team, and that Michigan is still in the business of coaching young men to greatness on and off the field.  

2.     Michigan's Seniors – It would have been easy to let emotions take over and start taking cheap shots at the end.  These guys took the high road, kudos to them.  They are the ones that will bring this team back together to finish the season strong.

Hope for Tomorrow

We may look back at that game as strong medicine, a vile tonic that both humbles and gives that fire in the belly that can lead to great things.  There couldn't be a better time for a bye week to regroup.  Then the season begins anew, with a warm-up against Purdue before the real tests begin.  Michigan was never out of the MSU game until that pick-six.  They were right there to tie it up late in the 4th and are again the equal of the Spartans at least.  Two weeks to coach off of that game film will yield dividends for a disciplined group such as this.  Hopefully everyone can stomach the 4th loss to Sparty in a row and keep their faith in our coach.  He will have Michigan a team to take pride in, and he is doing it the right way, the Michigan way.

Go Blue and stay safe.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” 
Albert Einstein

Learn from yesterday...

6-0 starts for Michigan are rare.  

Most of my life (33 years) has been spent rooting for a Michigan team that would win most Saturdays, live in the national rankings, and stub their toe early in the season.  4-0 or better starts have only occurred 11 times in those 33 seasons:

4-0: '78 '96 '09

5-0: '85 '95 '99 '10

6-0: '86 '97 '06 '11

The starts to the  last three seasons have been a stretch that Michigan fans have not witnessed since the dawn of the Carr era.  That exciting time back in the mid-90s culminated in a National Championship with the two seasons before ending in disappointment.  We have had the disappointment x 1,000,000 these past two seasons (but thanks for the excitement RR); perhaps we are on the brink of something special again.

Looking back reveals that the last 4 teams* to start the season undefeated through six games have gone on to have very memorable seasons:

'86 - Jimmy Harbaugh guarantees victory over Ohio and delivers as Michigan goes 11-2 losing the Rose Bowl to a tainted ASU team.

'92 - Gary Moeller with a senior Elvis Grbac goes undefeated, winning the Rose Bowl over Washington and finishing 9-0-3 in the days before overtime.

'97 - Michigan goes undefeated  at 12-0 and clinches a NC, winning the Rose Bowl over Washington St and a Heisman for one Charles Woodson.

'06 - Michigan starts out 11-0 leading up to the Game of the Century against #1 Ohio; Bo dies and Michigan ends up 11-2 after a loss to USC in the Rose Bowl.

That would be 1 National Championship, 3 B10 Championships, 3 11+ win seasons, and 2 wins in 4 Rose Bowl appearances.  These are good tidings indeed.

*1992 not included in the 4-0 or better teams because of a tie against ND in the season opener.

Live for Today…

Halfway through the season, several Michigan players and coaches** should take pride in  accomplishments thus far:

1.      Brady Hoke – My pride in my team and the way it is coached couldn't be higher right now.  Brady Hoke should be the clear front-runner for coach of the year at this point.  He is the glue.

2.     Greg Mattison – The defense continues to improve and despite looking overmatched at times they never quit.  The half time adjustments against JNW were remarkable, forcing 2 turnovers and shutting the Wildcats out for the second half.  If not this season, coming seasons will feature a top-10 ranked defense and a return of Michigan dominance.  Mattison = Gary Moeller++.

3.     Al Borges – Naysayers can go sit in the corner because Mr. Borges is having none of it.  Al Borges is having the time of his life, making use of the treasure trove of speed and talent left to him by Rich Rodriguez.  His understanding of the talent he has, and how to most effectively make use of it, grows with each passing week.  He has this team rolling, and even a 3-turnover 1st half can't derail their confidence.  I can't wait to see what he has in store for little brother.  Al Borges is a Mad Magician.

4.     Junior Hemingway – Senior Junior is what bails out the shortcomings of a Denard-led offense.  His ability to go up and get jump-balls stretched the JNW defense and forced them to give up more space for Denard's feet to do what they do.  We are lucky he stuck around, because without him this team is probably 4-2.

5.    Denard Robinson – Junior Denard overcomes his mistakes.  Credit has to be given for how he shook off that dreadful first half to win the game for Michigan in the second half.  There has never been a player like shoelace, and there will never be one like him again I bet.  His humble attitude, always positive, always smiling... it allows for turnarounds like we saw yesterday.  You just can't keep him down.  He obviously took the coaching-up at half time and came out a different player.  I told my wife before Devin Gardner's TD that Denard was not really injured bad, he just wanted Gardner to get his shot.  Just remarkable.

Also of note:  Jeremy Gallon, Roy Roundtree (nice to see some production), RVB, Kevin Koger, Jordan Kovacs (Probably the only player that could rip off the QB's helmet without drawing a flag), Devin Gardner (clutch TD run), every position coach and basically everyone on the team.  Great job guys.

*Adding coaches in here this week because this team is truly a reflection of their hard work and dedication.

Hope for Tomorrow

Of those 4 seasons, the current one reminds me most of 1997 so far.  Much like in 1997, Michigan is coming off of consecutive seasons that started hot only to end in disappointment.  In '97 Michigan started the season ranked fairly low by the standards of the time, and had to win over hearts and minds with each passing week.  There was a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire win over Notre Dame after trailing at half time.  There was a gritty, come from behind win over a B10 opponent (Iowa) for the 6th win that overcame a two-score half time deficit.  That '97 team got better with each week and won through a very tough November schedule that included Top-5 ranked Penn St and Ohio teams.  

I remember that '97 Iowa game well.  That was the game that showed the difference of that team, of that season.  Instead of folding yesterday, Michigan again showed that fight and persevered to stay undefeated.  This team is starting to believe in itself and I am feeling big wins in their future.

I realize that this team is not on the level of the '97 team, but if you squint you can see some similarity.  The '97 team had a dominant defense centered around a Heisman candidate that supported an offense with several nice pieces to it.  This 2011 squad may have the opposite in a sense, though it is far too early to predict this team's ceiling.  The upcoming opponents are perhaps less intimidating than those the '97 team faced down the stretch, so there is reason to hope.  Championships are a distinct possibility; which ones remain to be seen.

Go Blue and stay safe.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” 
Albert Einstein

Learn from yesterday...

After a beat-down like what we witnessed yesterday there is much to say, but perhaps not so many new things to learn.  It was a statement game, a confirmation by Brady Hoke, Al Borges, and Greg Mattison that leaves no questions as to their intent nor their identity.  No one questioned the talent differential between Michigan and Minnesota as the 20 point line neatly points out.  But the difference between being a 20 point home favorite and the utter deconstruction that was yesterday's contest is vast and there is nothing that I saw that would make the final 58-0 score in any way a fluke.  Brady and Co. have this team pointed in a direction more right than we fans could have dared hope.  The old ways and the new are coming together in what looks to be a very promising new era for Michigan Football.

Live for Today…

Several Michigan players should bask in the glow of their accomplishments:

1.      Fitzgerald Touissaint – I don't recall seeing running like that since the A-Train rolled out of town.  Great cuts, jab steps, and acceleration showed on the stat sheet with over 100 yards on only 11 carries.  The future for Fitz is bright indeed.

2.     Vincent Smith – Scoring a TD rushing, receiving, and passing the ball is remarkable.  Coupled with Touissaint, Smith gives Michigan a potent 1-2 punch out of the backfield that was desperately needed.

3.     Denard Robinson – His feet are a given, but it was nice to see him connecting on the  short hitches and seams taylor-made to bring back his confidence.  Borges is molding the offense around him and playing more and more to his strengths.  8.9 YPA is quality.

4.     Blake Countess – Countess looks like the best Michigan defensive back on the field. He was blanketing receivers all day, breaking up passes, stripping the ball, making sure tackles.  Hard to believe he is a true frosh.

5.     Michigan's Defense – Pitching a shutout against any opponent is impressive, as is forcing another 2 fumbles.  Minnesota barely sniffed Michigan's side of the field, and when they did threaten Michigan came up with the timely turnovers.  This unit is gaining swagger and could be pretty good by November.

Also of note:  Jeremy Gallon, Mike Shaw, RVB, Junior Hemingway, Kevin Koger, BWC (showing that fire in the belly), Thomas Rawls (nice debut, young man), Devin Gardner (haz moves too), Gibbons (3/3 is 3/3, no matter how long) and basically everyone on the team.  Great job guys.

Hope for Tomorrow

My trust and confidence in this coaching staff was already pretty solid going into this game. I actually DVR'd it, a Michigan Big 10 opener, which is not something I would have felt comfortable with at any point in the past that I can remember.  Yes, the opponent was obviously overmatched but it was still a Big 10 game, against Big 10 athletes that had a lot to prove to the world.  I am a big believer in luck and karma, and a firm believer that watching a game live contributes to both, so this wasn't a decision I made lightly.  In the end my trust in Brady and Co., coupled with the lure of great deals on Amish made furniture* at a local auction, made it OK.  I still squirmed with discomfort when I ignored my phone going off several times during and after the game.  Family and friends were trying to reach me to discuss the game and my first instinct was apprehension bordering on conviction that it was all going horribly wrong.  

After watching the game later I can honestly say that such feelings will not again occur while this coaching triumvirate remains intact.  I checked the score when I got home, not wanting to make my family deal with my uncertainty, and was of course more than relieved at seeing 58-0.  I then watched what I assumed would be a series of ridiculously fortunate events leading to such a ridiculous score.  There was none of that though, only near-perfect execution by a team that looked so well coached that my pride as a fan went through the roof.  That was a domination that harkened back to watching Bo's teams crush the "little-8" back in the day.  This is no coincidence either. The parallels between then and now is a head coach with strength of will and vision for what Michigan Football should be, coupled with the quality of coordinators needed to make that vision a reality.

It is not hard to see the qualities of Bo in Brady Hoke.  At first I cringed at his seeming overconfidence, at his seeming overuse of Bo-isms, and wondered if he was trying too hard to win Michigan fans' hearts with his bravado.  I don't doubt the man any longer. Brady Hoke has a Bo-like level of expectations for those he leads.  He has expectations of effort, execution, and yes "toughness" that no coach since Bo has required from both his players and his staff.  Hoke isn't making Michigan great again by being an innovator on either side of the ball; he is acquiring the best available parts, constructing a beast-machine, and driving the thing to eventual domination.

Greg Mattison is Greg Mattison.  He is everything he was advertised to be and is turning this defense into a capable unit quicker than anyone could have hoped or expected. His experience since his last stint at Michigan, especially in the NFL, have given Michigan an advantage over the competition.  Give the man a few years and he will have Michigan's defense back amongst the best in the country.  Mattison will prove to be to Hoke what Gary Moeller was to Bo, only better.

The man that has the potential to put Michigan in National Championship contention as soon as next season is Al Borges however.  All reports on the man were positive when he came in with Hoke, but all reports also sold Borges far short of reality.  If we can take anything from the first 5 games of 2011, it is that Al Borges is in no way married to any system.  Instead Borges is both humble and extremely intelligent.  He has taken this offensive personnel, with all of their considerable talents, and used the soft part of the schedule to tinker and learn.  He looked at what worked last year and used it to beat a good Notre Dame team.  He used his knowledge of SDSU and Rocky Long to make that contest look easy.  He played with the parts he has and got to know their strengths and weaknesses and displayed much of what he has learned against Minnisota.  My first reaction to seeing such elaborate trickeration was he should be  "keeping it in the bag" to be used when needed.  As the game evolved, and the offense rolled out new wrinkles seemingly every drive (for the first half at least), my thoughts changed to how on Earth was the next opponent supposed to game-plan for this?  Al Borges may make this offense look like a modern version of the Mad Magicians by year's end, and it will be in a genuinely humble effort to do what it takes to win each game.

I realize this is a lot to take from a single game against an overmatched opponent, and that these words could look ridiculous in a month's time.  I don't care.  I'm calling it now: Michigan is back and better than ever.  They may not (probably don't) have the pieces to run the table this season, but if this staff stays together it won't be long before Michigan rises to the top.

*Seriously the only uniquely nice part about having to live in south-central PA.

Go Blue and stay safe.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” 
Albert Einstein

Learn from yesterday...

Michigan is undefeated again in September and yet I am nervous for the future. Perhaps because similar starts to the last two seasons filled me with unbridled optimism for Michigan's return to the nations' elite.  Mayhap the reason is that for a second week in a row I felt like the final score did not accurately reflect the play on the field. Michigan won by a lot but didn't get much play for their reserves, Devin Gardner most notably.  I am made nervous by Denard's heavy load running the ball and seeming inability to hit the broad side of a barn down field, to the sideline, or even on screen passes.  Looking closer at each aspect of Michigan's play: 

1. Michigan's defense is the most awesome "bend-but-don't-break" defense I have ever seen so far.  Seriously, allowing 11 trips by SDSU's offense into Michigan territory and yielding only 7 points is both extremely lucky (no doubt at least partly true) and also a part of a trend at this point.  Turnovers are the key of course, coupled with keeping the play in front of them/not giving up the big play.  SDSU was the first team to win the TO battle against Michigan this season, but only because the stat doesn't include TOs on downs.  Michigan forced three of those by jumping out to a big lead and by getting big stops at points on the field where SDSU was almost compelled to go for it on 4th down.  The reason for this success is owed in large part to the longest plays given up Saturday being 30 yards, both on the ground and through the air.  This defense makes big plays, but more importantly they give themselves enough chances to make them.
2. Michigan's offense continued to slide towards one-dimensional with each poorly throw ball by Denard Robinson.  Luckily Michigan didn't need to throw much with SDSU's defense yielding over 7 yards per carry, having no answer for Denard's legs.  It was also good to see the OLine open up some running lanes for Smith and Fitz en route to 320 yards on the ground.  I fear that the level of competition and lack of SDSU size up front made the running game look better than it should have been.
3. Michigan needs Hagerup back.  Maybe Hagerup isn't the only answer.  Wile's kicks are improving it would seem, both on KOs and punts, possibly because his nerves are settling down.  Kickoffs regularly made it to the goal line and only 1 of 4 punts was returned for much while they averaged 49 yards per with a long of only 51(!).  Now if we can get him a chance at the FG duties, maybe he can be an upgrade over Gibbons (doesn't seem possible to be much worse).
4. The coaching staff continues to impress in all phases of the game, save possibly being willing to give Gardner a shot at a real drive.  Borges again went with what is known to work until Michigan had a couple of scores lead before inevitably trying to force Denard under center.  Mattison had a great game plan dialed up, containing Ronnie Hillman and rattling Lindley with constant pressure.  For the first time this year it seemed like our D-Backs were the most suspect part of Michigan's defense, as they should be, and even there we have a few rays of hope.

Live for Today…

Several Michigan players should bask in the glow of their accomplishments:

1.      Denard Robinson – With a stat line so much like last game it is spooky, Denard again dazzled with his untied shoes en route to 200 yards on the ground.  Again he couldn't seem to get in rhythm with his receivers, looking like shadow of 2010 Denard at least in terms of efficiency.  Over 20 carries/game is going to get him killed, but maybe not as much a last year.  He seems to have a better idea of how not to get lit up, getting out of bounds or to the ground before contact much more often than last year.

2.     Vincent Smith and Fitzgerald Toussaint – If these two continue to rotate in that would seem fine the way they both are playing.  Both looked tough to bring down Saturday, breaking tackles and picking through traffic for YAC.  Smith in particular looks to have that shiftiness back that excited the senses so much in 2009.  Fitz should also be the #1 choice at FB, with his tough running style, decent size, and good ball security.  

3.     Michigan Defensive Line – These guys looked great finally, creating constant pressure in the SDSU backfield and forcing Lindley into less than 50% completions.  Roh came alive, sacking and forcing a fumble.  RVB was in there making big plays, and Mike Martin was held 100 bazillion times or else he would have sent Lindley to the hospital I have no doubt.  This performance was extra encouraging since the SDSU OLine is supposedly pretty good.

4.     Blake Countess – In his first really extended appearance, this kid showed why his hype is justified.  I'm sure some completions were on his head for being out of position, but I saw him blanketing a receiver on a slant (that was completed despite great coverage) and making a great play on a fade to keep SDSU at 7 points to finish.  I look forward to what UFR has to say about Countess's play as a whole.

5.     Matt Wile – As noted above, Wile's play is improving steadily.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him keep punting again next week and hopefully get a shot at the next FG try.

Hope for Tomorrow

Last week I said:

Bask in 3-0 for now, because this team is looking to be on much the same course as last season so far.  I think that our reliance on Denard Robinson will actually help us next week against SDSU, because our offense will not look like what Rocky Long remembers a Borges offense looking like.  Then again, our run defense might get gutted by Ronnie Hillman.  SDSU will put a scare into us at least.

I think I was right on the first part (at least theoretically, does anyone really have an answer for Shoelace?) while being thankfully wrong on the second (though Hillman did rack up pretty good numbers, he didn't kill us), and now we can bask in 4-0 and another undefeated September.  So what can we hang our hopes on that this season is not doomed to end up like the last two?

I'll just stick with what I thought a week ago:

Our biggest hope for the whole season may actually be Borges's willingness to adapt to Denard's strengths as well as Mattison's willingness to use naked aggression to mask our defense's glaring flaws.  

The only caveat to this reason to hope is that we are going to need a QB that can hit is receivers in BIG 10 play.  The athletic abilities of BIG 10 defenders are going to both bottle up and punish Denard if he can't keep them honest through the air.  With Denard's struggles throwing so far, I am both surprised and made nervous by Devin Gardner's lack of playing time.  Is Gardner just not impressing enough in practice that Hoke/Borges feel it important to get him some meaningful snaps?  Is the success of the team so far goading the coaches into keeping all of the eggs in the Denard GO! GO! GO! basket?

Though it would be a knock against the coaches in my mind, I hope it is the latter.  I mean, maybe Denard lights it up in practice, completing ropes 30 yards to the sideline and hitting his TEs in stride.  At some point this is going to have to become reality in games or else the one-dimensional nature of our offense will get Denard hurt, and leave us wondering yet again what could have been.

Go Blue and stay safe.