Bennie Joppru's take on scrimmage last night
I apologize for making two threads in a row. That being said, former UM TE Bennie Joppru took in a scrimmage last night and had this to say:
Saw scrimmage in the stadium last night, take way, defense is the fastest I've seen & offense is explosive
— BennieJoppru (@Umich83) August 18, 2013
Some good news
August 18th, 2013 at 8:53 PM ^
Just win!
August 18th, 2013 at 9:16 PM ^
Except that Joppru was on the team from 99-02.. which had some pretty solid defenses.
August 18th, 2013 at 11:00 PM ^
August 18th, 2013 at 11:34 PM ^
None on the talk and fluff means a damn thing.
August 18th, 2013 at 8:53 PM ^
Good ole' Bennie Joppru, I loved this guy when he was at Michigan! I love seeing him pointing out the speed of our defense. I remember the speed of the South Carolina D in the bowl game, so with adding speed plus highly rated players should bode well for our D in the near future.
August 18th, 2013 at 9:02 PM ^
I loved Bennie. That guy never dropped a pass. I remember wishing Navarre threw to him more often.
August 18th, 2013 at 8:53 PM ^
I imagine you got the lead on this from the previous thread. If so, you should give credit to ohioNblue33.
August 18th, 2013 at 8:54 PM ^
1 minute difference makes me believe they saw it at the same time.
August 18th, 2013 at 9:09 PM ^
Tweets, especially those from well-known people, don't really need to be sourced.
August 19th, 2013 at 2:35 AM ^
August 18th, 2013 at 9:32 PM ^
August 18th, 2013 at 9:32 PM ^
Well let's hope he's right. I like all the reports coming out of camp, whether its from Bennie or BTN, but none of it means anything if it doesn't translate over to Saturdays.
But that defense is only going to get faster over these next few years with guys like Dymonte Thomas on the field now, and especially with Jabrill "The Commissioner" Peppers coming into the fold next Fall.
August 18th, 2013 at 9:54 PM ^
none of it means anything if it doesn't translate over to Saturdays
True ... and we won't see much of it for CMU. We'll see enough to beat CMU, but there'll be a whole bunch of cards-close-to-vest in reserve for Notre Dame.
Still, one can hope that what Joppru wrote was out of a sense of astonished awe. :-)
August 19th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
For those doubting BJ wouldn't say something negative about Michigan go check his Twitter feed after last seasons OSU game.
August 18th, 2013 at 9:45 PM ^
I'm sure the team looks good, but I'd be surprised if a former player would have anything but positive things to say about this team. Still think team will be good.
August 18th, 2013 at 9:48 PM ^
I completely understand if you blocked that out of your memory.
August 18th, 2013 at 10:06 PM ^
August 19th, 2013 at 9:37 AM ^
Oh, I remember those times, but those players were ragging on the "interlopper" who was trying to change the culture at UM. Hoke is pretty well loved by everyone, so I'm not expecting any Real Talk out of former players to that degree. Plus, I don't remember even those guys knocking the current players or team as much as the guy(s) at the top.
August 18th, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
He probably wouldn't have said anything negative, but he didn't have to say anything at all. Is there any fanbase more skeptical and pessimistic than ours?
August 18th, 2013 at 11:04 PM ^
August 18th, 2013 at 11:47 PM ^
August 19th, 2013 at 12:12 AM ^
It wasn't a joke at all because the polls are based a lot on how teams finished the last season, as it should be. The national champion should always be #1 to start the next season, because no one has anything to base a preseason poll on other than the last season's games.
August 18th, 2013 at 11:54 PM ^
We often finish higher when ranked lower at pre-season (97, 99, 06, 11) than when we start out ranked high (98, 00, 07, 12). That says more about the people doing the ranking than the teams we field, however--usually the preseason ranking is based on how you finished the last season.
August 18th, 2013 at 11:11 PM ^
The answer to your question is no. I love being a Michigan fan, but that one thing about our fanbase is the one I like the least. Every other team in the country takes the attitude "This is the year we win it all!" and Michigan fans are all like "No way this is a top-15 team."
August 19th, 2013 at 6:53 AM ^
...and yet we also think most of those other schools' fans are delusional.
Personally, I appreciate honest opinions.
August 19th, 2013 at 11:19 AM ^
August 19th, 2013 at 12:34 AM ^
August 19th, 2013 at 3:23 AM ^
August 19th, 2013 at 8:46 AM ^
August 19th, 2013 at 10:18 AM ^
So not predicting that Michigan will go undefeated and win the NC is a sign of "emotional cowardice?"
For the record, I think Joppru's comments are noteworthy and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand the way some are here.
August 19th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^
No, predicting them to lose every game not played against a MAC squad or assuming every single recruit over 3 stars will pick someplace else is the "emotional cowardice" he's talking about.
August 19th, 2013 at 9:39 AM ^
I'm not disagreeing, but I'd counter that if someone puts a microphone in your face and asks what you think about the current team, you are going to be conditioned to say positives.
Honestly, I have all the hope in the world about this team, but I'm just skeptical that former UM great Bennie Joppru is going to hold a wholly-objective view of his former team.
August 18th, 2013 at 11:32 PM ^
August 19th, 2013 at 8:26 AM ^
but there is a difference in saying nothing and saying something bad. If he thought they didn't look too good he simply could have said nothing and moved on. The fact that he chose to say anything tells me he at least believes what he is saying, even if it might be seen through maize and blue glasses.
Edit: I can't get the hang of the new format on the forums. I thought the comments to your post had concluded without anyone pointing out exactly what I just said. Alas I was undermined by this new layout and apologize for the redundancy of my point.
August 19th, 2013 at 8:21 AM ^
August 19th, 2013 at 9:33 AM ^
I've only been following Michigan football seriously for a few seasons. I've done my best to educate myself about years past, but this is the most excited I've been about a Michigan team yet. I can't wait.