Michigan Monday at the Ozone: Channeling Brian
So, I wasn't going to link to Michigan Monday this week, but can't resist. (This is the Michigan column put up every Monday at the Buckeye blog by the name of theozone.net) LINK: http://theozone.net/football/2012/MichiganMonday/MM_12_09_10.html
I swear, Tony Gerdeman is channeling Brian or something. Listen to these quotes:
I was very opposed to Dave Brandon finalizing the Alabama deal, and I'm almost as opposed to him signing the Air Force game as well. This schedule wasn't brave, it was arrogant and ignorant, and the Wolverines were fortunate to come out of it with just one loss.
This game, against an option offense like Air Force, does nothing for the team. Had they lost, Brandon would have been 100% responsible for this team being 0-2 to start the season.
He followed up an impossible game against Alabama with an impossibly tricky game against the triple-option. That's a Football 101 no-no.
Brady Hoke should have a clause that extends his contract one year for every time Brandon screws him over on the schedule like he did with the first two games of this season.
I don't think Gerdeman has anything GOOD to say about Brandon, nor does he have anything BAD to say about Hoke. As usual, there's a fair amount of good content and analysis. Here are a few bullets.
- Denard in this game shows that Borges didn't want him to run against Bama unless absolutely necessary. For the rest of the year, Denard returns to being the most exciting player on the field.
- Our running game is terrible, because our OL is terrible. This is painfully obvious to everyone.
- Funchess already looks like an all-conference receiver, and Denard is doing a good job of getting the ball to the two Devin's.
- The future looks very bright for the LB corps in the coming years, as we see both Bolden and Ross do a great job.
- Ryan already is an all-Big 10 LB, responsible for singlehandedly stopping Air Force on 3 of the last 4 plays.
- Gerdeman really liked BWC. (This is analysis I haven't much heard yet.) EDIT: If true, this gives me much more hope for the remainder of the season, because if BWC can anchor the DL, we MIGHT be able to do something on defense.
- Norfleet is a stud, and will return a kickoff for a TD, soon.
- We still don't know what kind of defensive line Michigan has, and won't know until ND.
As always, go and read the article if you are starved for Michigan info.
September 11th, 2012 at 12:37 AM ^
For what it's worth, I like your recaps of Michigan Monday. If there is some kind of vote or something, I say keep posting them.
September 11th, 2012 at 1:07 AM ^
than 95% of the stuff that's been posted lately.
September 11th, 2012 at 6:53 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 9:14 AM ^
than the original.
September 11th, 2012 at 12:49 AM ^
Michigan's offense still has plenty of work to do if they are going to beat Purdue in the Big Ten Championship Game.
September 11th, 2012 at 4:50 PM ^
This is a fairly funny line indeed :)
September 11th, 2012 at 1:17 AM ^
Can't really argue about the shots at brandon and his scheduling (I think brandon has done a great job outside of scheduling). Scheduling Air Force the week after Alabama just wasn't a good idea. Then next year we play App St again and that is just a lose-lose situation
September 11th, 2012 at 1:30 AM ^
We play Appalachian State in 2014.
September 11th, 2012 at 1:57 AM ^
I agree with everything a bucknut has to say?!
September 11th, 2012 at 3:11 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 3:01 PM ^
The highlighter yellow introduction happened well before Brandon's arrival.
September 11th, 2012 at 3:55 PM ^
Just curious, when did it happen? It is not recent.
My first game at Michigan Stadium was in 1982. I rememeber thinking the first time I saw the team in person, "Man that yellow is bright."
Yet through the mid-70's at least, it was more of an orangy-yellow.
September 11th, 2012 at 3:44 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 5:34 AM ^
Unnecessary Flamebait, Take 1
September 11th, 2012 at 5:35 AM ^
Edit: unnecessary flamebait, take 2
My apologies for wasting your time.
September 11th, 2012 at 2:00 PM ^
I don't think it's guts that leads him to those decisions.
At any rate, I'm pretty sure the Air Force game wasn't his doing but something he inherited. Nevertheless, it was still a small part of a brutal slate for 2011 that shouldn't have made him ever entertain booking that date in Dallas.
September 11th, 2012 at 2:08 PM ^
This isn't Nickelodeon...DB needs to make smarter decisions on scheduling. This means, yes, more big-time opponents like Alabama, but the one-two punch of Bama-AFA was almost too much.
Same thing with The Horror II. Totally unnecessary game, and he's loving all the negative attention. Sometimes I think DB is just an attention whore. He does do some great stuff for us, though.
September 11th, 2012 at 4:01 PM ^
He points that 'ole marketing cannon at anything that moves. Sometimes he scores a big hit like UTL, sometimes he fratricides his own guys with Unifromz. That's just the fun of the wild ride he takes us on.
Brand-on, Dave.
September 11th, 2012 at 6:41 AM ^
the Michigan take on the OSU take on Michigan football.
Thanks for posting as it pains me too greatly to visit the OSU site.
September 11th, 2012 at 7:19 AM ^
"Yes, Air Force rushed for 290 yards against Michigan, but it took them 71 carries to get there. That's barely four yards per carry, and against a triple-option team that you can't really simulate, that's not too bad."
This should provide folks with some minor comfort regarding the defense anyway. On a high level, it probably didn't look like what the numbers say, but we did make them work a lot harder than normal to get those 290 yards and we kept them to mostly subpar AFA statistics on offense. In relative terms, we did OK here against the triple option the 11 billion looks that AFA gives it. While there is obviously work to do, I agree with him that it is hard to define this defense given the first two games this season.
Good, thoughtful analysis really. I can't believe I went to a Buckeye site either.
September 11th, 2012 at 7:21 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 7:39 AM ^
What has me a bit confused is the "I was very opposed to Dave Brandon finalizing the Alabama deal..." quote coming from a Buckeye. Why does Gerdeman care enough to be "very opposed" to what games Michigan schedules?
September 11th, 2012 at 8:42 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 9:02 AM ^
That or he was worried about the Big Ten's perception
September 11th, 2012 at 7:28 PM ^
I would guess/hope it is a bit of both.
September 11th, 2012 at 8:43 AM ^
I really like the recaps, and they stop me from giving page hits to that terrible website.
September 11th, 2012 at 8:55 AM ^
So let me get this straight?
Our top-of-the-country rushing attack last year was not the result of Lewan, Schofield, Omameh, or Barnum, but of Molk and *Huyge*?? Let's be real here.
September 11th, 2012 at 10:04 AM ^
Molk was a huge, huge, huge loss. Anytime he went down our offense completely stalled. We went from the #1 center in the NCAA to converted center because Molk's backup is THAT bad. Remember what happened the few plays Molk had to go out for during the Sugar Bowl. Our O went to shit.
September 11th, 2012 at 3:06 PM ^
Little nitpick: Khoury (Molk's replacement in the Sugar Bowl) only played one series. The first play we gained five yards, but then the next two plays his shotgun snaps were wild. If he could have snapped okay, we might have done decently. We put Molk back in because he could snap better, but he had no mobility with his bad ankle.
What's tough now is that not only Molk is gone, but Khoury, who was expected to be his replacement, is also gone. Not many people were expecting Mealer to be starting this year. I don't understand exactly why Khoury didn't return for his fifth year.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:07 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 3:27 PM ^
Troll on bro. Troll on.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:14 AM ^
I really don't understand the amount of complaining about scheduling Bama and Air Force. If you want to be considered with the best, you need to play the best, period. So we got waxed by Bama, big deal. In 3 years, we won't get waxed. This only helps wake up the team in the long run.
What would be better? Scheduling 2 or 3 baby seals to open the season instead? Whether we like it or not, the B1G is a piss poor conference at this point and having a strong OOC schedule goes a long way with voter's perception, IMO.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:28 AM ^
I think the reasoning is two-fold. First, the perception is that we knew when these games were rescheduled that Michigan was likely to still be rebuilding. So scheduling a 2012 season opener against a national power seemed premature.
Second, Air Force has a unique offense that we won't see again this season - certainly not in the B1G. They put up a lot of yards on teams and are difficult to defend. And defending them requires different skills and assignments than our typical defensive schemes. While it may be fine to provide Michigan one challenge in the non-conference schedule, it seems a bit reckless to have a game like this on the heels of a neutral-site game against Bama.
Put together, you have Michigan facing a test against Bama they were almost sure to lose, followed up by a team that is notoriously difficult to prepare for and whose offense we'll not see again any time soon. There's not much profit in that plan.As the Bucknut guy noted, we're fortunate to have gotten through this gauntlet 1-1.
And props to the OP - hearing no nay votes I think the motion is carried and you should continue posting these recaps.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:30 AM ^
In regards to the Bama game, wasn't Alabama the one who initiated the game?
September 11th, 2012 at 9:32 AM ^
I don't want this to seem like anything other than an honest inquiry, but why does that matter? Both schools need to agree to the game and the contractual details (e.g., home-and-home vs. neutral site, payouts, etc.).
September 11th, 2012 at 10:11 AM ^
I don't recall how the game was first booked. I could be wrong, but I thought Saban requested Michigan as an opponent. I think it is different if DB accepted a game, which was akin to a bowl in game in early September, than scheduling a home and away with Bama like Penn State did. I think you take that offer every time, regardless of how where you think your program is at the time.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:44 AM ^
I understand that thought process, but it still doesn't strike me as anything but whining. How does playing AF not help? It's experience with another skill set the team would have otherwise probably never seen. Not to mention, there's more to it than X's and O's sometimes. Just my 2 cents though/
Also, what it sounds like your saying with Bama is: don't schedule a team if you don't think you can win/I'm going to take my ball and go home mentality. Not a fan of that.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:48 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 11:02 AM ^
Taking on cut blocks isn't going to help? Hmmmm
September 11th, 2012 at 12:28 PM ^
Is all about assignments and discipline. Which is important for every game. You can get by on just athleticism vs. Cupcake U., but you're going to have to do the former to beat good teams. This showed the players they have to do that even against so-so teams.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:57 AM ^
I never said "don't schedule a team if you don't think you can win" and sure didn't mean to imply that. I said the reasoning is that you don't schedule a game against a unique (cut blocking and multiple option) team a week after what's sure to be a physically punishing game against a national power. It's the decision to schedule these games sequentially that's a source of irritation for many.
BTW, I like the fact that we played Air Force in the sense that it's good to play (and have a chance to honor) the service academies. I just wouldn't have put it on the heels of what was likely to be the most challenging game of the year (at least until November).
September 11th, 2012 at 12:35 PM ^
Bama was scheduled to be in Rich's 5th year, not Hoke's 2nd. If you think we should pull out because things didn't work out, I guess you can, but that probably looks worse than a beating. It worked out to be bad timing, but I don't know how anyone could have known at the time.
And I've said below where it adds an advantage to the rest of the season. But everyone has missed one big advantage...it was a more interesting game than Whatsamatta U. I worry about statements like "hile it may be fine to provide Michigan one challenge in the non-conference schedule, it seems a bit reckless to have a game like this on the heels of a neutral-site game against Bama. " Because it sounds like one wants to play one tough game, and then a bunch of patsies. And then when the schedule is ND, two MAC teams, and a lower division team, people complain how boring the games are, what they're paying for them, how they can't resell their tickets to these games and have to give them away, and how much the home schedule sucks. That was the popular view this year...the home schedule sucks. So one of the OOC games is TOO good now...where does that leave one for scheduling? It's damned if you do, damned if you don't.
September 11th, 2012 at 2:07 PM ^
Dave Brandon knew when the deal was made (Summer 2010) that there was a good chance there would be a coach in his first or second season at Michigan.
At that time he seemed to go out of his way to tell people that RR's job status was "under evaluation." Not exactly a vote of confidence.
September 11th, 2012 at 3:33 PM ^
He'll definitely be back." Then that season happens, and its "Oops, nevermind..." Or "he's out of here!" and somehow the season doesn't tank and he wins 10 games and then "Oh, changed my mind...we really want you here!"
Frankly winning one more of the right games that year and he's probably still the coach. Even if any game that mattered at the end was close it might have been different. Hindsight after a bad year is a wonderful thing.
September 11th, 2012 at 4:18 PM ^
Well, to say it was supposed to be RR's fifth year is presumptious given the timing of the contract signing. I think that was his point.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:45 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 9:40 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 9:41 AM ^
For the millionth time, Brandon did not schedule this game. That was Bill Martin. And if I recall correctly, it was scheduled early in the Rich Rod era, when pretty much everyone assumed he was going to be staying until at least 2012, and by then we would be good.
It didn't quite work out that way obviously. I'm over it.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:53 AM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 10:02 AM ^
EDIT: I was referring to the Alabama game, not Air Force. My bad.