Let me tell you a story to calm you down

Submitted by Eye of the Tiger on

Once upon a team there was a football team.  This team had just finished a disappointing season, when it didn't do as well as its fans and coaches expected.  But it started the year fresh with a series of fairly easy games at home, which it win.  Then it managed to win a couple big ones against serious teams.

Along the way, though, this team had to play a tough team on the road, one with a veteran quarterback and impressive defense.  They lost, 37-6.  

Around that time there was another foootball team, which had high hopes for the season.  This one bulled through the first four teams on its shedule and looked pretty darn good, until it played the first team in our story, that is.  On the road.  They lost 34-24.  

The thing is, though, that despite these disappointing--and emphatic--losses, both of these teams went on to finish 11-1 and share the conference title.  Both went to BCS bowl games.  

The moral of this story isn't to say we'll finish 11-1 or are a perfect analogue to 2010 MSU or Wisconsin, but rather to show how one loss--however crushing it seems at the time--isn't the end of the world.  A win over Purdue at home and another at Iowa and we're back on track to a expectations-beating season.  

For the record, neither of those teams is as good as MSU.  Let's keep all this in perspective before assuming we're melting down a la 2009/2010, okay?  It's still way too early for that.  

glewe

October 16th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^

Denard said it: the B1G championship is still out there. 11-1 is still out there. 10-2 is still out there. Hell, 9-3 is still out there.

nowayguy

October 16th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^

Errr...let me tell you of a team that went 7-6 in their first year with a new coach. Once that coaching staff got to spend more time coaching the players and added their first real recruiting class, the following team went on to go 12-0 before losing their conference championship game. The year after that they won the NC.

934SState

October 16th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^

I'm not hollering "mealtdown" yet either.  But you're being naive to treat this as an isolated example.  The parallels between this first half and the last two are certainly there.  Were we not coming off two straight seasons of epic meltdowns that began with a crushing loss to our in-state rival, people might now be pushing the panic button so frantically.

Just win more games (and based on out defensive improvement, I think we will).  However, until we do that, there is no difference between this season and last.

 

 

 

chatster

October 16th, 2011 at 1:46 PM ^

Sorry, but those words always remind me of that song. But to your point. . .

Is this hole any deeper than the hole that Michigan football was in on September 9, 2007 after the devastating home losses to Appalachian State and Oregon?

Granted, the current team lacks the talent and depth of the 2007 team that finished 9-4 after beating Heisman Tim Tebow and Florida in the Capital One Bowl, but there are some good football players on this Michigan team. They might not be as talented as the top teams in the Big Ten and they might be the underdogs in every game they play after Purdue (just as they were underdogs against Michigan State), but if they can regroup and manage to win at least two more games this season and get to and win one of the January 2 bowl games, then the despair being felt among Michigan fans today might be buried along with yesterday’s loss.

. . . and may the losing vs. MSU never return!

Wolverine15

October 16th, 2011 at 1:48 PM ^

10-2 is still a very realistic possibility. msu's pash rush was too much to handle yesterday, but there isn't a team left on the schedule with the personnel of msu. I honestly think they are the best team we play this season, with the exception of wisconsin if we get there. yes, very tough to take, however, this team is on the right track. and once again THIS IS NOT 2010!!!

snowcrash

October 16th, 2011 at 1:59 PM ^

I think OSU's defense is capable of replicating what MSU did. (So could Penn State, who we don't play.) Our OL will have to play a much better game to hang with them. Illinois isn't quite as good, but they could do something similar. 

Anyway I agree that we could still win 10, but we will have to play to much better than we did yesterday on both sides of the ball to have much of a chance to beat any of them, including Purdue. I think the effort yesterday represented the team's worst case and they should be better going forward, but our worst case is lower than I thought it was before yesterday.  

allintime23

October 16th, 2011 at 1:48 PM ^

You really think States that good? So for the rest of the season if we play a decent team, should we pick three defensive players and tell them to try to hurt the best player on the opposing teams offense? We can eat 100 penalty yards if it takes the talent away and breaks the players will right? You think that's a good team or a team that has to embarrass their school on national tv by acting like neanderthals? I wish I could tell you if state had a good team. I can't take anything away from what I saw yesterday.

BlueTimesTwo

October 16th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^

I think MSU is a pretty good team, but we also made them look a lot better than they are.  For all of the talk on ESPN about MSU's dominating performance, we were down 7 inside their 20 when we failed to convert on that horrible 4th down play (after it looked like the 3rd down play clearly had enough forward progress to get the first).  If we convert that, we don't have to press, the pick-6 probably doesn't happen, and then who knows what could have happened.  We played like crap, on the road, and were within striking distance of a ranked team late in the 4th quarter.  This is not the end of the world, and we can learn from this and get healthy for Purdue.

And yes, MSU is a bunch of neanderthals and their coach is a hypocrite.  I still don't understand how a person can continue to be called a disciplinarian despite all evidence to the contrary.  When a team consistently plays as dirty as they did yesterday, that comes right from the top.

goblueva

October 16th, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^

JT Floyd makes that tackle on 3rd down when Sparty scores their 2nd TD (I believe) and the D forces MSU to kick a FG the whole 2nd half changes. 

UM played poorly, didn't execute and, IMO, was poorly coached. That being said, they had chances to win. Hopefully, look at the film, educate, coach, learn and DON'T overreact, they'll come out ready for the 2nd half of the season.

LB

October 16th, 2011 at 3:25 PM ^

There were no fuzzy animals, no Josh Groban, no tears, and no excuses. I pity the fool that can't see where we have gotten in a very short period of time. Ok, the Cool Starry Bra is full of win!