Bolden probable...
October 25th, 2010 at 11:38 PM ^
I feel like as long as we execute on offense we'll win this game
October 25th, 2010 at 11:40 PM ^
Good, I want PSU to be as healthy as possible when we win.
October 25th, 2010 at 11:47 PM ^
this was ralph bolden and nearly shat myself, then i remembered the lack of acl's left at Purdue... don't worry about the freshmen qb's we'll play
October 25th, 2010 at 11:59 PM ^
...if Lavar Arrington and Larry Johnson were probable for this game.
Robert Bolden is nothing to worry about.
October 26th, 2010 at 12:02 AM ^
Considering all the poor decisions Bolden has made at QB, i am not worried about him.
October 26th, 2010 at 12:24 AM ^
Living and dying with a concussed QB is a baddd idea.
Trust me, my pro QB is Jay Cutler, and he's permanently concussed.
October 26th, 2010 at 5:08 AM ^
You may be right about Jay Cutler. I live in Chicago and I'm not sure Jay Cutler is ever going to be the same. Not this season, at least.
October 26th, 2010 at 9:21 AM ^
Jay Cutler is in more dire need of a punch in the face than any other athlete I can think of. I'm a Bears fan too, for what it's worth. Jay Cutler is trying to make me hate football.
October 26th, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^
That game gave me flashbacks of old Sexy Rexy. "F#$k it, I'm throwing deep"!
October 26th, 2010 at 12:25 AM ^
It is also probable that Bolden will suck.
October 26th, 2010 at 1:08 AM ^
RB Brandon Beachum (knee) - doubtful
QB Rob Bolden - probable
DE Jack Crawford (foot) - possible
Saf Andrew Dailey (neck/shoulder) - probable
WR Curtis Drake (leg) - out
T Lou Eliades (knee) - out
TE Garry Gilliam (knee) - out
DE Eric Latimore (wrist) - out
Saf Nick Sukay (chest) - out
TE Andrew Szczerba (back) - out
EDIT: Bolded starters because they're mostly just names otherwise.
Healthy?/Not listed, but previously injured:
"Most productive LB" Mike Mauti
DE Pete Massaro
LB Bani Gbadyu
True freshman LB Khairi Fortt
There may be more, but this is a mess already.
October 26th, 2010 at 4:14 AM ^
Is your picture of some Andy Samberg lookalike who also enjoys wearing what appears to be a Dolphins jersey?
October 26th, 2010 at 4:35 PM ^
Brandon Beachum is most definitely out, as he will be redshirting this year.
My source: his father
October 26th, 2010 at 12:40 AM ^
that Mike Martin will run into him several times.
October 26th, 2010 at 8:32 AM ^
Correction, run over him.
October 26th, 2010 at 1:04 PM ^
That's a haters gonna hate strut by Branch if I've ever seen one.
October 26th, 2010 at 1:22 PM ^
God do I miss Alan Branch. What a beast!!
October 26th, 2010 at 1:02 AM ^
October 26th, 2010 at 7:16 AM ^
Right, but how many of those INT's will we fumble?
October 26th, 2010 at 1:16 AM ^
2 Penn State conspiracy theories if the Wolverines win in Happy Valley on Saturday? haha
October 26th, 2010 at 6:12 AM ^
to get my hopes up just yet until i see the first drive by penn st... to me this game feels like the 2008 purdue game...
October 26th, 2010 at 6:28 AM ^
I'm glad Bolden is feeling better, and I still think we have an edge in this game but it's going to be substantially harder to win with Bolden playing as opposed to McGloin.
October 26th, 2010 at 9:16 AM ^
is dangerous this weekend. Night game, they are coming off a road win, as unimpressive as it may have been to us, it is confidence inspiring for them. For M, with a buy week comes health, but it also brings rust.
I have high hopes for this game, but I am also proceeding with the understanding that Penn State has made short work of M in the last couple of years. There should be optimism, but I think we should assume Bolden is a talented quarterback, remember that they have a dangerous tailback coming off a big day against M a year ago, and that our defense has a lot, and I mean a lot to learn before an inexperienced QB on the other team should mean anything to us except for an opportunity to watch his breakout game.
This to me, feels a lot like Illinois week last year. Blind expectation of success when the previous years outcome against the same team suggests we have a battle on our hands. There is no reason for us to believe that we are going to go into Happy Valley and dominate. I watched actual nuclear devastation to this Blog after the Illinois game last year, and would like it if we could all stay meltdown free for at least one week if things don't go our way.
October 26th, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^
Michigan has not shown they can be as physical with a big ten team as they need to be under RR, even the bad ones.
This is not a gimme game, by any stretch.
October 26th, 2010 at 9:48 AM ^
I think this feels exactly like the ILL game last year as well.. I won't be confident till the clock hits 0 and we win by 1 or 30..
If we turn the ball over i doubt we win the game
October 26th, 2010 at 10:06 AM ^
1) We're going against a freshman QB, not a senior who knows how to run the read option very well
2) Penn St is facing far more key injuries than any team we have played in the past 2 years
3) Penn St gave up 430 yards to the big bad offense of Minnesota (8th in the Big 10)
4) Penn St had a 350 yards against the only defense in the Big 10 that's comparable to ours and now ranks 82nd in the nation in total offense (by comparison Indiana 40, MSU 22, Iowa 43)
5) You say by weeks make you rusty, but IMHO we were rusty as can be the last two weeks
Look I know you're worried, but if we don't win this game it's not going to be just MGoBlog that has the meltdown. It's going to be the entire M nation and RR jumps back to the top of every hot seat list.
In sum though, we should win big.
October 26th, 2010 at 10:17 AM ^
1) We have an inexperienced quarterback who is still learning the spread with the same number of starts under his belt as Bolden
2) The only team more decimated by unexpected losses than Penn State is, your Michigan Wolverines, down Turner, Vlad, D. Warren, Wolfolk, Odoms, with Martin and Molk dinged
3) We gave up 400 yards to the UMass Fighting Marcus Cambies
4) Your right, that is weak
5) Inconclusive
In sum, we probably win, but very close where you really can't sit down and are squirming back and forth between your TV and couch, drinking beers at a feverish pace in a fruitless attempt to calm your nerves.
October 26th, 2010 at 10:46 AM ^
Did you just compare Bolden to Denard?
October 26th, 2010 at 2:45 PM ^
God forbid the NCAA hears tell of our buy week.
October 26th, 2010 at 12:39 PM ^
"In sum, we probably win, but very close where you really can't sit down and are squirming back and forth between your TV and couch, drinking beers at a feverish pace in a fruitless attempt to calm your nerves."
Wow that is about the most accurate description of my fall Saturdays that I have ever seen. My heart can't take much more of this.
October 26th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
"and that our defense has a lot, and I mean a lot to learn before an inexperienced QB on the other team should mean anything to us except for an opportunity to watch his breakout game"
I'm convinced whoever plays QB for PSU this weekend will have their best game of the year. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but I just can't see this defense stopping anyone with as many errors as they make. They should be able to slow them down enough to win the game, but I really don't envision a blowout.
October 26th, 2010 at 12:34 PM ^
I'll take a 1 point win and be completely happy with it. With our defense, you can never expect a blowout.
I'm actually a little worried about Penn State's defense. They held Iowa to 17 points in Iowa City until the final minute of the game when Bolden threw a pick 6. They did a much better job against them the Hawks on the road than we did against the Hawks at home.
They traveled to Alabama for a night game and only gave up 24 points. If we traveled to Alabama for a night game, we'd most likely give up much more than 24 points.
Penn State's defense isn't great but they're better than our defense. Combine that with a night game, white out...this is going to be a very difficult game to win.
October 26th, 2010 at 12:43 PM ^
Would you say that the difference between M's offense and PSU's offense is greater than the difference between PSU's defense and M's defense?
I think injuries are the key here and I like the matchups. It's been some time since we've faced a subpar QB that can't light up our secondary. I don't expect Bolden to be able to read zones and find the open receiver like Chappell, Cousins and Stanzi
October 26th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^
I haven't even been thinking about comparing the offenses because I'm always worried about our defense. They always leave players wide open which is probably why our opponents so effortlessly make every 3rd and long they face against us. I guess the best I can hope for is Bolden to keep missing his open receivers. Kind of like the UConn game in the season opener. Their receivers were open all day against us but their QB kept overthrowing and underthrowing them...even when he wasn't being pressured.
This will probably be one of those games where Denard will need 500+ yards for us to pull out a close win. But PSU's defense is better than ND, Bowling Green and Indiana. So that too could be a tough task.
October 26th, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^
Essentially we need a near perfect game offensively to win this game? 500+ yards isn't easy to come by even against a decimated PSU defense.
I just don't see PSU being that good. Penn State is still 110th in offensive FEI, 24 spots behind BG of all teams...and oh yea they are 91st in defensive FEI (Michigan is 83rd).
I also must have more faith in our defense. They did make some key stops the last two weeks, and were extremely limited without Martin in the lineup against Iowa. They aren't going to turn heads on Saturday but I wouldnt be surprised if they hold them to about 20 points and 350 yards (they put up 350 against a terrible Minnesota defense).
I see it the other way around, we need to not shoot ourselves in the foot and we should win this game. There isn't anything to make me think we should lose this game, even with our erratic defense.
October 26th, 2010 at 3:00 PM ^
but I am just cautious of the "M v. inferior opponent" mentality. Many don't seem to grasp that we ARE that inferior opponent and that we need to bust our ass every week to get a win. M should win this game, but I have learned the hard way the last two years how little that means. Bottom line, if we turn the ball over and our special teams = disaster again, we lose, if we can make improvement in those areas and run the ball with our backs, not just Dilthium, we win.
October 26th, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^
I will gladly take a sloppy opening drive or two to shake off the rust if the bye week allowed us to get healthy going into the game.
October 26th, 2010 at 9:55 AM ^
probable to start. once contact with mike martin is made, unlikely to finish.
October 26th, 2010 at 10:01 AM ^
a 100% backup is often >>> a starter or even a star playing through or coming off an injury. Bolden will be a split second slower with his decisions, possibly be more tentative, have to hand off more often, etc etc.
Even if a lot of people come off their injury list they won't be nearly as good as they should be. If I knew how to bet on sports I'd be placing large bets on the Wolverines.
October 26th, 2010 at 10:07 AM ^
coming off an injury, huh? Well that makes two of us I guess. Only difference is theirs gets to be at home.
I am no stranger to a friendly (or not so friendly wager), and I can't get far enough away from this game.
October 26th, 2010 at 10:55 AM ^
comparing Denard and Bolden you are dumber than I initially thought.
October 26th, 2010 at 3:05 PM ^
If you are really one of those that believed the Heisman chatter, you are even a bigger jackass than your post would suggest. We have a young inexperienced talented QB, just like them. True, this is not a dominating Penn State team, but they are not UConn either.
What did you think about this game at the beginning of the season man. Same game, nothing has changed.
Watch for Captian Obvious' post game meltdown, as reality may only then be setting in.
Pull for your team, but lose the delusion.
October 26th, 2010 at 3:26 PM ^
to go 6-6 and lose to UM before the season started. So, derp.
If you are waiting for me to melt down over a college football game you will be waiting....well, forever. My life doesn't suck that much.
Thanks for the tips on how to be a fan, though! Much appreciated!
Douche.
October 26th, 2010 at 3:33 PM ^
well.
You missed nap today didn't you?
October 26th, 2010 at 10:37 AM ^
Maybe by seeing two of every DB on the field with double vision, our secondary will play better.
October 26th, 2010 at 10:52 AM ^
Everything looks nice for the game. Sunny and 53 in the afternoon, clear and 40-ish by game time. Stay focused Blue... "Stay thirsty my friends."
October 26th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
I do not think Bolden will miss this game. Whether he finishes it or not remains to be seen, but I fully expect him to play.