Cowherd on Michigan

Submitted by Knappster on

Crazy Cowherd just gave his opinion on Michigan.  Key Points...

  • Freshman and Sophmore's all over. 
  • Win 7-8 this year
  • Super fast offense
  • Running RR out now would be stupid....he is going to succeed
  • Ripped on the old school fan thinking of him not being Bo/Big Ten football.
  • Next year sets up for possible Nat Championship run (Wisc and Iowa both lose QB's, and we have a nice schedule)
  • He talked about explosive teams (Florida, Oklahoma, USC, and mentioned UM as well.

Take it FWIW.

briangoblue

September 6th, 2010 at 11:23 AM ^

but he's been very positive on Rodriguez at Michigan from day 1. He was extremely harsh and unfair regarding Lloyd Carr and frequently bashed him and the program for being stuck in the past and on the downslide. Cowherd crowing now is more "I told you so" than bandwagon jumping, as much as I hate to admit it.

jmblue

September 6th, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^

He's always sounded kind of like a frustrated Michigan fan.  He would use harsh language to speak of Carr, but honestly, there was justification in a lot of what he said.  I love Lloyd, and think he was good at most aspects of his job (hence the excellent record).  But he wasn't the greatest gameday strategist. 

clarkiefromcanada

September 6th, 2010 at 2:54 PM ^

Now I am a big RichRod advocate and am happy with the outcomes on Saturday and looking forward to ND and BK getting a lesson in the spread offense next week....but there is no need to come down on Lloyd Carr. He may not have had the most explosive of offense nor the most exciting football but he was successful. Very successful. 

As for his gameday strategy...I think his last game was instructive of what he was capable of...that onside kick was pretty sweet, btw.

jmblue

September 6th, 2010 at 9:22 PM ^

I am not one of those people who plays Carr and RichRod against each other.  I like both.  As I said, Carr was good at most aspects of his job.  But on the whole  - the UF game was a welcome exception - he was not a good strategist.  He made up for it by being good at everything else  - recruiting, player development, motivation, etc.

The frustrating thing about Carr's teams was that they were almost invariably fantastic in the downfield passing game, yet Lloyd seemed reluctant to use said downfield game unless we were behind.  Under Carr, we morphed into more of a finesse offense, yet we called plays as though we excelled at power football.  We ran on first down the vast majority of the time even though our YPC was frequently mediocre.  And time and again, we had to turn to the "scoring offense" in the fourth quarter to pull us out of a jam. 

Rico616

September 6th, 2010 at 11:59 AM ^

I hate Cowherd 98% of the time.

But you're right. Colin was been pretty supportive of Rich Rodriguez and was one of the few that actually liked him. Jessie Palmer was on there too talking nothing but good things about Denard Robinson. He was juicing all over Notre Dame too. Even if Michigan does win 7 games this season, I think Coach Rodriguez has to be kept. Another coaching change would be devastating.

All I can say is next Sat is gonna be awesome.

kdhoffma

September 6th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^

Even though he picked UConn, Cowherd actually was pretty positive about Michigan before the season started.  I happened to catch a few minutes of his show last week and he was talking up the Big 10... saying OSU was loaded, Wisky was a dark horse and Michigan was going to be a lot better than most people think.

HHW

September 6th, 2010 at 10:23 AM ^

Pre-UCONN he thought M would win 7-8 games so he was on the bandwagon along with Feldman early on.  He's always liked RR, you can tell when he has them on the show.  If/When M is B10 and National title contenders they will be all over Cowherd's show.  He loves teams like RR's.

Clarence Beeks

September 6th, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^

Yep, this is right on the money.  I don't really like Cowherd, but a common misconception about him is that he doesn't like Michigan.  That's not really true.  What he didn't like was his perception before Carr retired that Michigan as stuck in the past and an underachiever.  He was really high on the Rodriguez hire at the time and, as others have said, he LOVES teams that play the style of offense that Michigan showed on Saturday.

newfoundhbomb

September 6th, 2010 at 10:24 AM ^

i love listening to Colin Cowherd, yeah some things he says are annoying.. but its cool that he gave Michigan some props.  But we all have to remember that last year 4-0 ended up being 5-7.  one game at a time.

PhillipFulmersPants

September 6th, 2010 at 10:27 AM ^

"just win" mantra and how all the negativity starts to go away. Tools like Cowherd can be useful when things are going well, but he's among the national mouths who'll change his tune at the drop of a hat. 

We'll know a lot more about this team in October. Just as with the negative stories, the team needs to tune the accolades out and focus on the next game, next opponent. "Focus" seemed to be an overwhelming theme coming out of the post game press conferences. 

Beavis

September 6th, 2010 at 10:30 AM ^

I get the point about freshmen and sophomores all over - but those sophomores played last year.  And the freshmen that are starting are only on defense. 

How I like to think of this season is this:

We will probably only win 7-8 games, but there is a chance we could win 10-12.  Why not enjoy this and hope for the best?  As Michigan fans we have been through so much shit over the past two years that I feel we really need to take the time and enjoy what could be this season.  If it doesn't materialize, then we at least FINALLY know the potential is there.  The most "telling" stat is that UConn lost all of their games last year by a combined 15 points.  And they returned a ton of starters.  And we just beat them by 20 in a game where they were clearly outmatched.

So..... let's just enjoy it guys.

Don

September 6th, 2010 at 10:35 AM ^

It's not only dusting we need to do, we need to reinforce the suspension, put in some heavy-duty axles, and install four-wheel drive with low-range gearing. Plus a trailer hitch to pull all the latecomers who can't fit their fat asses on the main vehicle.

Shoelaces_Pfft

September 6th, 2010 at 11:22 AM ^

-Looks like the same team from the last 20 years -Thick and slow -No speed, athleticism, or explosivness -Only 1 or 2 outstanding players -In 7 weeks Florida & Oklahoma would crush ND -Grass needs to be mowed

Juice41

September 6th, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^

You do know he picked Michigan in overtime vs uconn and also picked Michigan as one of his 3-4 most favorite teams to win over their predicted win total this year

MGoRob

September 6th, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^

Cowherd is yet again making claims without really knowing the facts:

Next year sets up for possible Nat Championship run (Wisc and Iowa both lose QB's, and we have a nice schedule)

Our 2011 schedule does not include Wisconsin, therefore they are a non-factor.  Iowa is key though I don't think anybody is afraid of Stanzi.  It'll be more pertinent to know Nebraska's 2011 situation since we play them the week before OSU.

Geaux_Blue

September 6th, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^

runs through the championship game. not exactly saying he was on top of it with his comment but it is true that a struggling Wisconsin, albeit in a different conference, is one less team to beat in that final game. 

not that looking at a possible MNC run isn't a bit (A LOT) optimistic but, etc

Srock

September 6th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^

To that end, I watched the BTM Recap show again, and I am surprised (maybe not) at how slow ND's defense looked. Marve's TD run looked like Tate's vs. ND. Also, the DE got completely messed up on the read opiton, and now they have 1 week to prepare for Dilithium. Oh, can I see another 2006 result in SB? I'd love hanging "half a hundred" on TD Jesus. My first concern is the 5 wide sets ND will come out with, but then if there was an offense our D was mande to play with, it's a quick spread offense.

I'll see you all in Section 115 in SB Saturday!

Go Blue!

exmtroj

September 6th, 2010 at 12:18 PM ^

He can be kind of a blowhard, but I love his college football opinions, especially his staunch opposition to Boise State or TCU getting anywhere near the BCS title game.  I also like it when he goes on random, sports-unrelated tangents, like women being horrible drivers, etc.

BlueTimesTwo

September 6th, 2010 at 4:39 PM ^

Sure, except that the Broncos might just be one of the best teams in the country.*  They are doing all that they can in scheduling two OOC games with good teams in VT and OSU (NTOSU), and moving to a better conference.  

Because they have done so well recently, teams are not lining up to play them (same chance of losing as against other top programs, without the cachet of beating a Florida or a Texas).  Also, because of their small stadium (about 36K, looking to expand into 50-60K), home-and-home games are not very appealing to big time programs.

People also forget that while it is true that they don't play as many quality opponents, they also have a far smaller margin of error in getting to the BCS.  A Big Ten, SEC or Big 12 team can lose one or sometimes two games and still play for the NC.  BSU has to be undefeated and win convincingly every game.

Just some food for thought.

 

* - In the interests of full disclosure, I just moved to Boise about 6 months ago, so it is hard not to pull for BSU.