I Found Alum96

Submitted by alum96 on

Hi all.

I came to the site today and saw a post about me.  That was cool. 

Feel a little weird writing a post about myself but for those somewhat interested... (this is where you chant "PUT IT IN DIARIES SUCKER!") ;)

First, I am ok and healthy.  Also not dead.  Which was summarized in the preceding sentence. 

Sorry LSA I didn't get your batcall...or email.

Fresh off my last 6 months as as Trump campaign manager... I have no new MgoKids or anything like that - life just got busy.  One of my "hobbies/side jobs" is travel soccer coaching and I had a huge uptick in responsibility/teams this past year vs prior when I had a lot more free time.  Hence had every Saturday to liveblog my life away; this fall I was on the road most of the games except OSU.  Then I have my normal work.  Etc. 

As would be obvious to long time readers I tend to do something 100% or nothing so I suck at moderation at things like MGo-ing.  So when I couldn't throw 100% into content or following all things Michigan I sort of pulled back totally.  I've been to the site about 5-6x since whenever I left (post 'crootin ballz (tm) season).  I could name you about 5 kids in our current 'crootin class (oohs and aahs from the crowd).

Some general thoughts since really you miss those SoooOooO much:

  • We are lucky to have Jim Harbaugh.
  • I hate that Jim Harbaugh channels Lloyd Carr in 4th quarters of close games vs quality teams and does not act like Jim Harbaugh when we play Rutgers or sad sack teams.   That doesn't mean act stupid, but this stupid f**** Carr shell...why.
  • Championship teams win in the 4th quarter.  See MSU 18 play 9 minute or whatever drive vs Iowa in Big 10 championship game.  UM had been poor in the 4th quarter vs Iowas, OSUs (even MSU but that was probably relaxing) and it makes me sad. 
  • For a line sporting many 5th year seniors + Mason Cole we can't run block much at all vs quality defensive lines.  And certainly not at all late vs Wisconsin, Iowa, OSU type teams ....and again it makes me sad.  #BradyHokeOLRecruitingLives And I'm sure makes Harbaugh sad.  I was expecting not greatness but "our guys are 2 years older than yours and Drevno is going to make them manball when push comes to shove" type of OL.  That was not that.   Drevno and Harbaugh are RUN first guys despite all the QB heroics of Jim Harbaugh development.  UM was simply unable to do what Stanford could do in Harbaugh's late era there.  I blame that a lot more than penalties or the referee last week who wears scarlet and grey panties when he goes sees his dominatrix. 
  • Hats off to our RBs but when is Michigan ever going to have even a Saquon Barkley type again?  Forget a Zeke type.  Wisconsin gets them, hell Indiana gets them.  Ours get redshirted or turn their ankle and gain 25 lbs their freshman year.  Yes part of that is OL but the curse of Mike Hart lives on - no truly special talent has emerged since despite all these uber rated guys.  Frustrating as a UM fan.  A special RB this year could have helped a meh in big game OL.  Maybe it was Peppers.
  • Peppers should have had 4-6 plays in the playbook as a RB only.  Not as a PepperQB.  As a running back.
  • Where was anything special in the playbook for Peppers vs OSU?  Everything was sniffed out by opposing teams by game 7-8 that Peppers was doing in the UM offense and we could not come up with anything new aside from "Peppers is going to pass one of these games - just wait!!" - Herbstreit.  You have 3-4 plays for him waiting that you worked on since August for the OSU game. Instead nothing.  Why is Al Borges running the Peppers playbook?
  • Adoree Jackson was a more impactful college football player than Peppers and if he played at UM would be a LEGIT Heisman candidate this year.  This has nothing to do with who will be better in the NFL.  Both excellent players - Jackson hurt by being on left coast and USC not being good early in the year.  If he had a winged helmet he'd finish 2nd overall in the voting IMO.
  • We are OSU's b****.  So sad.  We had a year (a) their QB could not throw the damn ball, (b) our best DL since 97, (c) a team full of seniors/juniors playing a team of sophomores, (d) a kicker who missed 2 gimmees..... and WE STILL CAN'T WIN.  Forget the spot or the missed penalties.  Forget the pick 6.  We should win that game as we were the better team.  We tanked in the 4th.  17-14 lead and you can't do 1 thing right from that point forward. 5 fucking yards  Ghost of Lloyd Carr. 
  • Don't blame Speight.  Yes he gave points but imagine that game without him based on what you saw the prior week, and what you saw from UM's run game late in the year. That was so weird of a game.  He was nearly perfect for both teams - when we was not throwing INTs he was near textbook perfect in our offense until the 4th Q.  But he had little help from the running game.  And when he flailed in the 4th we had nothing due to our OL run blocking and lack of run game. 
  • Speight's floor looks like Navarre type which seems very promising for a guy in his first year.  He is going to need to be huge next year with a lot of young faces on OL and the entire defense.  Did I mention the defense was going to be young in 2017??
  • That said at least it wasn't Hoke game plan first 3 quarters.  I was thinking if this was a Brady Hoke game he would have run it up the gut 40 times because THATS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU"RE AT MEECHIGAN. (sorry Brady)  Harbaugh went with the only thing working - Speight - to great effect.  Once that went away we had nothing on offense.  Damn you I want Stanford 2010 offense (sans Luck) vs good teams.  2009's would work fine too.
  • When was M Football's last massive road win?  Not a bowl - true road win?  Not vs fraud 8-4 ND type teams... vs a real power.  I can't remember.  Sigh.
  • Dantonio finally ran out of souls to sacrifice.  Thank you world.  For fans under the age of 30 this is what it was like growing up for us in the next generation older.  It was cool.
  • If Wisconsin wins big they should be in the playoffs over UM.  2 very tight losses, some big wins.  Road loss vs UM in a very tight game with 2 very good defenses.  I don't think they are necessarily the 4th best team in the country but they earned their spot with a demonstrative win this weekend (14-17+) . If PSU wins big, fuck them - they should drop to 18th. Nice Big 10 crossovers PSU.
  • I have yet to watch a UM basketball game - I know how it ends, we get outrebounded by X, and we play matador defense against quality teams but as long we hit the 3s we look like a mid major on steroids.  If we don't - we get frustrated.  But I heard Kid N Play is playing well and actually blocks shots.  That's new for a UM big man.  John Beilein is still a saintly man from all accounts.
  • U.S. men's soccer is dispiritng (hi Brian).  Poor Pulisic.
  • We are lucky to have Jim Harbaugh.  Just don't be Lloyd Carr in the 4th vs quality teams until you have Stanford's OL.
  • Hold me BrownBear.

Peace out brothers (and the 4 sisters who read the blog).

DonAZ

December 2nd, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^

Peppers should have had 4-6 plays in the playbook as a RB only.  Not as a PepperQB.

I will forever wonder if Peppers has much ability to throw the ball with any accuracy.

If yes, then why in the hell did we not see that during 2016?  That would have messed with DC heads, big time.

George Pickett

December 2nd, 2016 at 2:22 PM ^

"a team full of seniors/juniors playing a team of sophomores"

I really wish this myth would die. OSU has 18 starters that are junior or seniors.

alum96

December 2nd, 2016 at 2:46 PM ^

"Full" was egregious language to exaggerate the effect.

10 of their starting 22 in THE GAME (tm) were RS SO or younger.

1 of 22 for UM.  (Maybe they mislabeled Peppers as I thought he was a RS SO, so that is 2 if so - woo hoo)

Yes they certainly had older guys.  But a lot of young bucks.  Pardon the pun.

Roles will be completely reversed next year - we will be the young team at home; they will be the experienced team on the road. 

Source: Ourlads.

George Pickett

December 2nd, 2016 at 2:56 PM ^

It makes no sense to differentiate between a RS SO and a JR.  This was a game of 3rd and 4th year players vs. 4th and 5th year players.  Yes, Michigan was more experienced, but it wasn't anywhere near the disparity people are claiming. 

Nobody should be surprised when juniors recruited by Urban Meyer outplay seniors recruited by Brady Hoke.

Tecumseh

December 2nd, 2016 at 3:04 PM ^

By my count, OSU's starters had 68 collective years in the program and M's had 90. So, 3.1 yrs vs. 4.1 yrs. I make no judgment as to whether that difference is significant or not.

However, I think in some cases the "old" vs "young" is used to show that OSU is going to be very experienced next season as compared to Michigan. In that case, the class year matters a great deal. OSU can, I think, return 21 of 22 starters, in theory. Michigan can bring 3 or 4. That's significant.

Fortunately, OSU will suffer significant early entry attrition. I'd expect both CBs and Hooker to be gone, along with McMillan and Lewis, with Baugh, Barrett (according to OSU people), Hubbard and maybe even Worley candidates to also jump.

alum96

December 2nd, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

"Fortunately, OSU will suffer significant early entry attrition."

We said that last April too.  And it happened.  Probably the most early attrition in CFB history to 1 team? 

And we still lost the next year.  Sigh,

Gotta get it done on the field somehow someway when Luke Fickell is not the head coach...

doggdetroit

December 2nd, 2016 at 4:41 PM ^

First of all, there is a difference between starting and just being on the roster. There is no substitute for game experience. If you're a starter, you're getting it. If you're just on the roster, you're not. So yes, OSU had 3rd and 4th year guys on the roster but most of them had not started, they returned 6 starters.



Secondly, to suggest that OSU is not inexeperienced or not that much more inexperienced than Michigan is uninformed. Per Bill Connelly, OSU was ranked 127th in the country in returning experience:

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/2/5/10921918/2016-ncaa-fo…

There is only one team in the country that was more inexperienced. Michigan was 76th.



Also your 3rd and 4th year player vs. 4th and 5th year player comment needs some clarification. The class breakdown of OSU's starting 23 is as follows:



5th year - 1

4th year - 7

3rd year - 9

2nd year - 5

1st year - 1



OSU's 3rd year players are the plurality. Here is Michigan's class breakdown of their starting 24:



5th year - 8

4th year - 12

3rd year - 2

2nd year - 1

1st year - 1



The vast majority of Michigan's starters (79%) were 4th and 5th year players. But again, that doesn't tell the whole story. Most of Michigan's 4th and 5th year players had starting experience. Most of OSU's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year players did not.



Also you make it seem like Hoke's recruits were a bunch of bums. The classes of 2013 (4th year players) ranked #4 in the country (on par with OSU's class that finished #2) and 2012 (5th year players) which ranked #6 in the country (on par with OSU's class that finished 5th). The talent gap this  year was zero. That's what we saw on the field.



Now, I would argue that at this point in the season experience or lack thereof is irrelevant but entering the season there is zero question that OSU was by far the most inexperienced of the two and literally one of the two most inexperienced teams in the country.



 

maizenbluenc

December 2nd, 2016 at 5:19 PM ^

emailed me a pic bragging about OSUs 44 Freshmen beating our 43 Seniors and I emailed him back a NSFMF note with Ace's FFF diagrams and exact accountings - there were 17 3rd and 4th year players - only 5 1st and 2nd out of 22.

MGlobules

December 2nd, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^

or the referee last week who wears scarlet and grey panties when he goes sees his dominatrix."

There did seem to be a touch of that in the guy's eye, didn't there? I love it when corruption wears a lascivious grin.

1VaBlue1

December 2nd, 2016 at 2:39 PM ^

You're playing not to lose when trusting the defense for an entire quarter.  Playing to win means keep doing what got you the lead to begin with...  

The Iowa game was off.  

Iowa:Jim Harbaugh::MSU:Urbane Meyer

But OSU?  That was a shell game in the 4th.  Some of it had to do with Harbaugh tendency (tighten up and not lose by TO), but I'll also put some blame on Speight getting more and more sore as the game went along...

funkywolve

December 2nd, 2016 at 3:35 PM ^

After Michigan went up 17-7, the possessions went:

1) Starting at UM 12

1st down run for 4 yds

2nd down pass incomplete

3rd down pass for big gain (screen to Smith) but brought back by Cole facemask

3rd pass for 13 yds

1st down run for 4 yds

2nd down - INT

2) Starting at UM 25

1st down pass for 8 yds

2nd down run for 3 ys

1st down pass incomplete

2nd down run for 5 yds

3rd down pass incomplete

3)  Starting at UM 38

1st down pass incomplete

2nd down run for 0 yds

3rd pass - sacked

4)  Starting at UM 20

1st down run for 2 yds

2nd down run for 4 yds

3rd down pass incomplete

 

The only possession where they went run, run, pass, punt was the last one of regulation.  The other possessions were a nice mix of running and passing on 1st down.