...talks about how UConn hasn't been in contact and how they're out. (HT: UMHoops)
Rock Bottom
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So Michigan is now a delicate 5-5, fighting for self-respect and bowl eligibility in year two of the Carr-to-Rodriguez transition. The game at Wisconsin (7-2) this weekend is going to be a huge test for the Wolverines. A victory would be something along the lines of a miracle, when one considers the trajectory of the Michigan defense, the road venue and the Badger's rabid intentions to extract revenge for the inconceivable loss to UM in 2008. A Michigan win would salvage the football season for Rodriguez to a certain degree.
A loss to the Badgers Saturday would likely send the Michigan team careening toward rock bottom, or place it there instantly. Michigan fans are already hoping that last week's home loss to Purdue was the verifiable lowest point.
But when will be the lowest point for Michigan?
When Rodriguez became the new head coach at West Virginia in 2001, things went poorly to say the least. The Mountaineers lost all of their road games, and lost to four ranked foes, finishing 3-8. The following year, Rodriguez discovered a way to shut off the turnover faucet, pretty much ceased throwing the football, and focused on establishing the run. He was successful.
But when was Rodriguez's lowest point at WVU?
Some say it was the embarrassing 3-45 loss to No. 1 Miami in the Orange Bowl in 2001. Other say it was the 13-24 loss at 14th ranked Syracuse two weeks later that handed WVU six losses on the year and eliminated them from bowl contention.
I believe it was the 14-17 home loss to Temple in 2001. WVU was 3-6 at the time, definitely staying home for the holidays and facing a very bad Temple team that would finish 4-7 that year. With hated rival Pitt was on the deck the following week, the Mountaineer team lost focus and were douched in embarrassing fashion in front of their home crowd by the Owls.
The last time a Mountaineer football team lost to Temple? 1984. Which also happened to be Rodriguez's senior year at defensive back under then coach Don Nehlen. It was also the last time Temple football had a winning football season (6-5). Sure enough, WVU went on to lose to their chief rival Pittsburgh the following week 17-23. But it was probably the Temple loss that sunk Rodriguez's fledgling program to rock bottom.
Rodriguez's second season saw WVU go 9-4, but it too was chock full of team regression and decisive losses, like the 17-34 loss to Wisconsin in Madison, the 17-48 shellacking vs. Maryland (with former Mountaineer Scott McBrien quarterbacking the Terps to add insult to injury), and a 23-40 bashing by a No. 1 Miami team again in front of a home crowd in Morgantown. All but the Maryland defeat were to ranked opponents.
Yet in between those defeats was a surprising offensive turnaround. The Rodriguez team appeared to have finally found it's identity not only offensively, but defensively as well. By early November the pieces appeared to have been finally forged together just tight enough to spring an unexpected upset victory over a heavily favored and 13th ranked Virginia Tech team in Blacksburg 21-18, followed by a 24-17 Mountaineer win 17th ranked rival Pittsburgh.
Many Wolverine fans today probably consider the loss to Toledo 10-13, or the 35 point defeat to Ohio State back in November 2008 as Rodriguez's rock bottom at Michigan.
Was that really the bottom?
I don't know that we have the answer yet.
Michigan has an opportunity to either reach a new bottom, or recover from whatever destination they arrived at last week courtesy of Danny Hope.
Wisconsin is currently ranked 20th in the land and nobody is giving Michigan much of a shot.
A loss to the Badgers Saturday would likely send the Michigan team careening toward rock bottom, or place it there instantly. Michigan fans are already hoping that last week's home loss to Purdue was the verifiable lowest point.
But when will be the lowest point for Michigan?
When Rodriguez became the new head coach at West Virginia in 2001, things went poorly to say the least. The Mountaineers lost all of their road games, and lost to four ranked foes, finishing 3-8. The following year, Rodriguez discovered a way to shut off the turnover faucet, pretty much ceased throwing the football, and focused on establishing the run. He was successful.
But when was Rodriguez's lowest point at WVU?
Some say it was the embarrassing 3-45 loss to No. 1 Miami in the Orange Bowl in 2001. Other say it was the 13-24 loss at 14th ranked Syracuse two weeks later that handed WVU six losses on the year and eliminated them from bowl contention.
I believe it was the 14-17 home loss to Temple in 2001. WVU was 3-6 at the time, definitely staying home for the holidays and facing a very bad Temple team that would finish 4-7 that year. With hated rival Pitt was on the deck the following week, the Mountaineer team lost focus and were douched in embarrassing fashion in front of their home crowd by the Owls.
The last time a Mountaineer football team lost to Temple? 1984. Which also happened to be Rodriguez's senior year at defensive back under then coach Don Nehlen. It was also the last time Temple football had a winning football season (6-5). Sure enough, WVU went on to lose to their chief rival Pittsburgh the following week 17-23. But it was probably the Temple loss that sunk Rodriguez's fledgling program to rock bottom.
Rodriguez's second season saw WVU go 9-4, but it too was chock full of team regression and decisive losses, like the 17-34 loss to Wisconsin in Madison, the 17-48 shellacking vs. Maryland (with former Mountaineer Scott McBrien quarterbacking the Terps to add insult to injury), and a 23-40 bashing by a No. 1 Miami team again in front of a home crowd in Morgantown. All but the Maryland defeat were to ranked opponents.
Yet in between those defeats was a surprising offensive turnaround. The Rodriguez team appeared to have finally found it's identity not only offensively, but defensively as well. By early November the pieces appeared to have been finally forged together just tight enough to spring an unexpected upset victory over a heavily favored and 13th ranked Virginia Tech team in Blacksburg 21-18, followed by a 24-17 Mountaineer win 17th ranked rival Pittsburgh.
Many Wolverine fans today probably consider the loss to Toledo 10-13, or the 35 point defeat to Ohio State back in November 2008 as Rodriguez's rock bottom at Michigan.
Was that really the bottom?
I don't know that we have the answer yet.
Michigan has an opportunity to either reach a new bottom, or recover from whatever destination they arrived at last week courtesy of Danny Hope.
Wisconsin is currently ranked 20th in the land and nobody is giving Michigan much of a shot.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:09 PM | 
"That's Rock Bottom
When this
"That's Rock Bottom
When this
November 13th, 2009 at 8:51 PM |
The Snark Bit Me
The Snark Bit Me
I was going to say something snarky about the "wisdom" of hard knocks-schooled 25 year old multimillionaires, but I IMDB'd him and he's fucking 37 years old!
And he was born in fucking KANSAS CITY! He ain't all Detroitz and shit!
PLus, he was a zillionaire by 26 so fuck him. Sellout.
That being said, it is what it is.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:17 PM |
I think it's a lot like the stock market
I think it's a lot like the stock market
When everyone thought that the stock market was over and the world was going to end. When every television and magazine said that the world was going to end that was the bottom.
So until the bile and bs reaches a fever pitch we will not be at the bottom. But I think that we are getting pretty close.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand"
November 13th, 2009 at 5:40 PM |
A declining stock market has a phenomenon
A declining stock market has a phenomenon
called "capitulation", which is at the point a which the people who have been holding out from selling finally say "The heck with it." and sell, causing the market to go down further. But then, with no more sellers, the market starts to recover as buyers are rewarded.
If such financial analogies pertained to sports, the Detroit Lions would be leading their division, and favored to win their third consecutive Super Bowl. Clearly, this is not the case.
Taking it one week at a time
November 13th, 2009 at 5:54 PM |
Sure it does
Sure it does
I'm a buyer of Michigan. I own 10k shares and I'm buying on the way down.
RR is a great CEO of the Michigan brand and will have great earnings next year. We might even surprise next quarter!
"A house divided against itself cannot stand"
November 13th, 2009 at 5:19 PM |
I don't really understand the
I don't really understand the
I don't really understand the point of this post other than to make people feel like shit. You are free to post whatever you want, but I don't really see any productive contribution here. I'm not aware of any technical definition of "rock bottom" anyway. All I know is we are down, and I'm looking forward to getting better...not speculating on when we will get worse.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:34 PM |
I took the point of the OP
I took the point of the OP
to be that week-to-week most fans get too caught up in recent history to see the deflection points in a team's trajectory. After a couple of wins, we feel our team is unbeatable. After a couple of losses, we feel like there may never be another victory. Through hindsight, the OP says the truth is often somewhere in the middle.
I appreciated the description of WV seasons, of which I am not familiar.
Taking it one week at a time
November 14th, 2009 at 12:35 AM |
A slightly nerdy correction
A slightly nerdy correction
I believe you mean inflection points rather than deflection points. But I like the calc analogy.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:48 PM |
You are correct, +1
You are correct, +1
these past two seasons have taken their toll. ):
Taking it one week at a time
November 13th, 2009 at 6:08 PM |
Rodriguez
Rodriguez
was impressive quickly with moderate talent at West Virginia. I too question many of his moves thus far at Michigan, and also think that Rodriguez's pre-Michigan success has been slightly overblown. However, I don't think you can deny his success at West Virgina. That was his baby from the get go and they were a force to be reckoned with at the end. To say his losses in a 9-3 holy shit type turnaround season were low points is rediculous. Michigan has seen its low point and it was last season. I don't think that there is any question that Rodriguez will be successful at Michigan, there is just a question as to what level of success. A lightning in a bottle "dangerous" team that can often knock people off, or the Maize and Blue recking machine that many believe can and will exist.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:24 PM |
Illinois was more of a bottom
Illinois was more of a bottom
To me, going from stepping on the throat of a 1-6 Illinois, to a rout in the opposite direction was the low point for this season. Purdue was an improvement.
As for the transition -- the App State loss or the Toledo loss.
November 13th, 2009 at 7:01 PM |
This season is not a total loss ... YET
This season is not a total loss ... YET
If, at the start of the season, someone had said, 7-5 with a win over OSU, would you have taken it? After last year, I would have. This has probably been the most excruciating route possible to get there, but it's still within reach.
That's the thing about this team, the thing that wasn't there last year -- a sense that they can win any game they're in.
[Edit: Agree with previous comment that Illinois is the low point this season, no matter what happens in the next two weeks.]
November 13th, 2009 at 8:26 PM |
"Yet in between those defeats
"Yet in between those defeats
"Yet in between those defeats was a surprising offensive turnaround. The Rodriguez team appeared to have finally found it's identity not only offensively, but defensively as well. By early November the pieces appeared to have been finally forged together just tight enough to spring an unexpected upset victory over a heavily favored and 13th ranked Virginia Tech team in Blacksburg 21-18, followed by a 24-17 Mountaineer win 17th ranked rival Pittsburgh."
Hmmmm...
Wisc is 20th in the AP, OSU 11th. Wisc is heavily favored, OSU is our rival. RichRod was 8-4 in year 2 at WVU. If Michigan wins out (HUGE "if"), we will finish 8-5. Our offense is starting to come together.
Is it possible it takes exactly 22 games for RichRod to get a team into shape?
November 13th, 2009 at 8:34 PM |
But when will be the lowest
But when will be the lowest
But when will be the lowest point for Michigan?
The game of football is shockingly mental. Ditto for football fandom not-so-shockingly. I expect we'll arrive depth-most in the chasm of both arenas by end this season. Afterwards, we'll climb back out pretty quickly and begin to claw our way onto our rightful pinnacle. Sorry to steal Lloyd's 1997 meme. But we're in the worst of things, now, and it will increasingly grow better soon (not soon enough, damnit!). Appreciate rockbottom for what it draws later.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:18 PM |
Rock Bottom
Rock Bottom
I never was a fan of the Rock Bottom. But I still hold out hope that we'll give Wisconsin and Ohio State the People's Elbow.
IF YOU SMELLLL what the CONER IS COOKING.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:46 PM |
Rock Bottom was Toledo loss - followed by 42-7 at OSU
Rock Bottom was Toledo loss - followed by 42-7 at OSU
As ill has I have felt seeing the team go 1-5 after a 4-0 start, the offense is clearly better (sans PSU game after the 1st drive and 2nd half of Illinois starting w/1st and goal at the 1) than anything we saw last year.
Throw out the DSU game, and we are still averaging about 28 pts per game. Last year, we couldn't get more than 16 vs. a bad Miami (OH) team and 10 in the lowest point vs. Toledo. We scored one offensive TD vs. NW at home.
The D was clearly blown, but we lost a lot of guys from what SHOULD have been a rock solid D last year.
Let's be honest here - Illinois '09 is way better than Toledo '08. Illinois was a talented team in a major funk. Too bad we woke them up, but I was concerned about their talent before the season. Not surprised that Illinois won at Minnesota either. If Juice can play, I think they beat NW as well.
What I've seen this year (been to 4 games total, including at Iowa) is a team whose offense still makes rookie mistakes but has the horses to score on people. If Molk can come back next year, we'll be fine on the OLine.
Purdue, as much as I can't stand Danny Dope, did almost beat ND and beat OSU, making Pryor look really bad. They have a good chance to finish 6-6 and go bowling.
As I look back at RichRod's era, I now throughout the 2008 season as if it didn't exist. We had NO QB and a D made up of "lazy" guys (Brandon Graham's term, not mine). So, this is RichRod's first year with his kind of QB. Yes, I won't be happy with 5-7 but at least I can see the future will be better here.
The real question: will RichRod plateau around the 8-4, 9-3 records that finished out Lloyd's career, or will we finally breakthrough to a 10-2 season by 2011? That will define whether he keeps his job or not.
November 13th, 2009 at 10:34 PM |
"Rock Bottom"
A-yo!
This song
"Rock Bottom"
A-yo!
This song
"Rock Bottom"
A-yo!
This song is dedicated to all the happy Purdue fans
All the idiot Ohio State people who have real nice lives
And who have no idea whats it like to lose to fucking Purdue
(oh, I forgot about that...sorry)
[Verse One:]
I feel like I'm walking a tight rope, without a circus net
I'm popping percocets, I'm a nervous wreck
I'm Michigan dammit I deserve respect; but I fumble too much and my defense is a wreck
Bout to burst this mess, at somebody to reverse this defense
"Regression" claims got my adrenaline caged
Full of venom and rage
Especially when, like Brandon Graham I'm triple teamed whenever I'm engaged
And Danny Hope's down to his last diaper
RichRod's suspension demands got his ass hyper
I pray that god answers, maybe I'll ask nicer
Watching Michigan ballers
Hell, Zack Novak's flossing in his Pathfinder
These overnight stars becoming autograph signers
We all long for the O to blow up and leave past games behind us
Along with the small fry slots and those other three star half pinters
every second COMMENTATOR OVERCAPITALIZES and they bitch like they have vaginas
Cause we see them bowl dollar signs and let the BCS blind us
UM football will brainwash you and leave your ass mindless
while snakes like Tressel slither in the grass spineless
[Chorus (x2):]
That's Rock Bottom
When UM football life makes you mad enough to kill
That's Rock Bottom
When you want wins bad enough to steal
That's Rock Bottom
When you feel you have had it up to here
Cause you mad enough to go ALL CAPS dammit
but then you sad enough to tear
[Verse Two:]
My life is full of empty DB commits
And broken linebacker dreams
I'm hoping things will look up
But there ain't no better CB's
I feel discouraged hungry and without direction
Living in this Big House with newbie fans in insurrection
And I'm sick of hearing impatient fans with nothing relevant to say
And I'm tired of RichRod being hired and fired every fucking day
But fuck it, if you know the rules to the game that UM plays
Cause when we die we know were all going the same way
It's cool to be an offensive player, but it sucks to be the fan
Of a defense often likely
To lose track of the safety's man
Too comfortable and roomy that misread looks like six
Oh Jesus Christ we got walk-ons in the mix
All these gloomy lunatics though
They post constantly depressed going on about how improvement
Is constantly regressed
And Notre Dame went by so quick it seems like it was just today
Tate he wants to throw the ball
Denard he's ready to play
Five games this season fucking nice
Throw the rest away
[Chorus]
There's people that love me and people that hate me
But it's the MgoBlog that made me this vindictive and angry
I want the recruits, the five stars, the mvps, and the top 100
That means I'll end up burning in hell
Along with Pete Carroll
That means I'm stealing Tressel's checkbook and forging Pryor's name
BCS bliss for eternal torture and pain
Right now I feel like just hit the rock bottom
I got problems now everybody in Ann Arbor's got 'em
I'm screaming like those nerds when Carson Butler beat on 'em
Holding two beers, I hope I can keep Kevin Grady off 'em
Dammit, my safeties ain't got no scollies on 'em
And them 97 rings you see Lloyd wearing look like they got a few rocks on 'em
And while he's flaunting them things
Danny Hope would be taking them to shops to pawn them
Tressel got an O1 ring and a 08 Fiesta Bowl watch you want 'em?
Cause it's gonna be a couple years
But then RichRod's on 'em
If the haters don't hate you then you're doing something wrong. - David Cone
November 14th, 2009 at 12:11 AM |
I learned this in church
I learned this in church
"The wise man built his house upon the rock"
So, we're in a good spot, right? Rock bottom? The place to be?
November 14th, 2009 at 12:23 AM |
I thought this post
I thought this post
Was about Michelangelo's marble sculptures. Huh. Guess not.
"If life is the road, then Ohio is simply a place to stop for gas." -- Scott Burgess, Detroit News, 9/16/2010
November 14th, 2009 at 1:13 AM |
Surprised
Surprised
WV played a game two weeks after the 2001 Orange Bowl?
November 14th, 2009 at 7:34 AM |
Miami played their home games
Miami played their home games
Miami played their home games at the Orange Bowl back then...
OP: who really thinks road losses to ranked teams are worse than a home loss to Temple?
November 14th, 2009 at 10:30 AM |
Hopefully we have already seen the low
Hopefully we have already seen the low
Despite the recent disappointments Toledo has to be considered the low. Nothing positive happened in tat game and it was a wretched loss.
As to Wisconsin being "up" to avenge last year's loss I'm not a huge believer in that. They will have been talking it up and will come out pumped up but I think that dissipates as soon as the game starts, especially if Michigan does something good early.
Get off to a good start in this game and Wisconsin will be on their heels.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:05 AM |
Rodiguez's record
Rodiguez's record
Rich Rod won in the Big East after the departure of VA TECH, BC, and MIAMI. That was a pretty watered down league. The second half of games is my problem. Why is the offense so pitiful in thesecond half. I think the spread is a FAD, and other coaches have figured it out. They have no chance to win today or next saturday.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:08 AM |
Not going to a bowl was the
Not going to a bowl was the
Not going to a bowl was the rock bottom. Missing one two years in a row, a brand new rock bottom. I agree with Wolfolk. A win against OSU would make it all better.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:49 PM |
rock bottom
rock bottom
is losing to OSU 6 times in a row
Burn The Ships
"That's Rock Bottom
When this life makes you mad enough to kill
That's Rock Bottom
When you want something bad enough to steal
That's Rock Bottom
When you feel you have had it up to here
Cause you mad enough to scream but you sad enough to tear"
-Eminem