Michigan Monday up at The Ozone

Michigan Monday is up at The Ozone.

Spartans Prove Stingy Hosts in Rousing Moral Victory!

Just reading it now. Hear are a few quotes:

my prediction for this game was Michigan 31-20. Sometimes when you go on the road, making sense isn't always going to be an option. You have to substitute history and location for a good bit of common sense when looking at games like these. The actual concerning item in all of this for Michigan is that Mark Dantonio's decisions were hurting Michigan State as much as Jim Harbaugh and Don Brown's were. The Spartans left points on the field and gave at least five points away, and couldn't take advantage of the opportunities they had. Of course, had they actually done those things, then I don't think you'd see Michigan go into coast mode and I think they'd keep their cleats mashed onto the accelerator. This was a learning experience for the Wolverines, and a bit of a wakeup call. Both of these are very good things.

The Wolverines rushed for 192 yards on 42 attempts (4.6 ypc). They were led by freshman receiver Eddie McDoom's 53 yards on two jet sweeps. Honestly, pulling a jet sweep or end around against this Michigan State team is like throwing deep when you're up by 49 points. It borders on classless because of how unable to cope the Spartan defense is. The passing game was very calm and collected for quarterback Wilson Speight. His offensive line protected him like Jim Harbaugh protects those around him at baseball games with his glove. Any time a screaming liner came at Speight, left tackle Ben Braden was there to snag it, never once dropping his beer. Or his milk. I forget how the rest of this analogy goes. Speight had so much time to throw the ball that he could have looked over to the Michigan State sideline while dropping back just to check out random Mark Dantonio scowls. "Hey, I haven't seen that one before. That scowl looks like nobody asked him to homecoming. Well, back to the game, oh hey, Amara Darboh is open 40 yards down the field...but let me take one more look over at Mark first..."

The most glaring thing to me is that Michigan State was one of the few teams that has been able to get their running backs into the second level, and when they got there the linebackers seemed to be caught off guard. They are generally the aggressors, but they were caught flat-footed several times in this game. Gedeon and McCray also had some trouble tackling in space.

What Does It All Mean? It means that Michigan now knows what a true road game feels like. Eventually, they'll even find out what it feels like to play a good team on the road. The great news for the Wolverines in this game is that they took Michigan State's best shot in the first quarter and ended the half with a 17-point lead. It was over at that point and I think the UM players knew it. It also means that Michigan cannot let up. Interestingly, I think this is probably the first time this particular complaint has been levied against the Wolverines this year. However, had Dantonio not lost this game first, Michigan could have very well taken their first 'L' of the year against the Spartans with the way they closed this one out. Instead, the Wolverines move to 8-0 on the season and 5-0 in conference play. They have road games against Iowa and Ohio State remaining and no matter how well they play in those two games they cannot let up. They'll never forgive themselves if they do.