Official Vent Thread

Submitted by jsquigg on

It was looking ok until Denard went out and our defense decided to implode and Bellomy couldn't make a throw to save his life.  Commence the bitching.  Oh, and the refs where all around the worst I've seen this year both ways.  Whisky time....

lhglrkwg

October 28th, 2012 at 12:17 AM ^

against teams that can stop Denard from just running all day, the offense can't do crap. 0 tds against ND, MSU and Nebraska and we were lucky to get those 2 against Bama.

cloudman

October 28th, 2012 at 12:19 AM ^

when Denard was injured, and Bellomy went 0 for 10 passing.

when Bellomy had 2 interceptions and failed to score a TD after a Nebraska turnover.

when Touissant failed to break a long run.

At least Borges did not down on the field and run Denard's elbow with a wolverine plush toy.

Hoke certainly has a poker face, when asked tough questions on the field, but what will he do to take away the tough questions.

SF Wolverine

October 28th, 2012 at 12:20 AM ^

When was last Mchigan team to not to score even a single touchdown in three games in a single season?

In 2002, we scored 9 in two games, so I assume no TDs there. In 1998 we had two wins with 12 points -- again, I am assuming 4 FGs. 1984 shows a shutout and a 6 point game against Ohio. 1979 shows two 15-point games -- unlikely, but maybe 5 FGs. 1972 shows two, but one is an 11-point game. 1969 shows two, as does 1967. 1963 shows two -- maybe.

I'm calling this a 50-year record. Team 83 was shut out three times in 1962, and finished 2-7.

We have four games to play.

Guh.

alum96

October 28th, 2012 at 12:27 AM ^

might? even if you believe Bellamy can "manage" a team for a year, who is going to the backup QB next yr if not Shane? Please dont bring Devin Gardner up - he is obviously not what the coaches are seeking

Nathan60

October 28th, 2012 at 12:23 AM ^

Well I would like to vent about this thread ruining TWIS for me I will no longer be able to get a laugh at others expense after this epically fail thread 326 posts in less than an hour.

Amaizeinblue

October 28th, 2012 at 12:24 AM ^

1. Bellomy is not ready to be a backup QB.

2. Where is Rawls? Fitz was ineffective yet again and Rawls doesn't touch the ball.

3. Denard's first instinct was to go out of bounds then cut back in at which point I screamed at my TV and then took what looked like a harmless hit and the rest is history. Lesson learned? Trust your first instinct! You're already hurt and throw yourself into two defenders when you could have went out of bounds instead of trying to stretch that extra yard or two and this is what happens. I firmly believe with Denard the whole game we win this.

4. Play calling was miserable yet again, for example, 3rd and long, blitz in your face coming and you know it and you call a Option play that anyone with a brain in their head knew was going backwards right when the ball got snapped.. What was with all the East/West over and over?

Just a few that I can think of right now.

Sten Carlson

October 28th, 2012 at 12:43 AM ^

1.  Bellomy was thrown into a road game, at night, Lincoln, Nebraska -- a very, very difficult place to play -- against a veteran Nebraska defense.  I thought he looked like a RS Freshman -- he made some good plays, but mostly looked really overwhelmed.

2. Fitz has been ineffective because the OL isn't getting any push, nor opening any holes through which he can run.  I agree that I'd like to see Rawls, but I have to defer to the guys that see the RB's every day in practice.  If he's not getting any meaningful carries, there has to be a reason.  I cannot speculate on what that reason might be, but I am certain that there is a good reason.

3.  I agree, with Denard possessing the ball, the defense remains fresh, and Michigan wins.

4.  I don't know what you were watching, but I thought until Denard went out, Borges was calling a very good game.  He was mixing up the run and the pass, taking shots deep, and actually called runs from the I formation, instead of always running play action (something everyone in here has been complaining about).

I think the entire issue behind this offense is the ineffectiveness of the OL.  They're far less effective than last year's OL, and it shows in Fitz's inability to gain meaningful yards, even against the weaker run stopping defenses on the schedule.  I think everyone needs to re-fucking-lax.  The sky is not falling, Borges is not unqualified, it's just that Michigan isn't able to control the line of scrimmage, and that causes trouble in every aspect of the offense.

The_Doc

October 28th, 2012 at 12:24 AM ^

This night could not be any worse. Loss to Nebraska, Tigers down 3-0, Sparty wins in OT, and Notre Dame beats Oklahoma and is now a real threat for a national title. These are the types of days I crave Zingermans to cheer me up. At least I have the mighty Lions to look forward to tomorrow....

asstastic

October 28th, 2012 at 12:29 AM ^

This season we acquired two appropriate sized receivers, where one has good hands and the other has insane athleticism, yet we don't really play the long ball card when they have single coverage why?! Where did our explosive offense of last year go?

andrewG

October 28th, 2012 at 12:33 AM ^

Watching that game after Denard went out was like being in surgery awake and totally aware but unable to tell the doctor so all you can do is lie there in horrible pain and wait for it to be over.

cloudman

October 28th, 2012 at 12:38 AM ^

Starting QB: Devin Gardner (no we need him as WR), Russell Bellomy (oh the horror, oh the horror), and Shane Morris (pray he gets over mono and does not get injured) or one of the many freshman QB's you can't name offhand.

Running back: Justice Hayes (if he does not transfer), Dennis Norfleet (if he does not get injured on special teams), or Thomas Rawls (after he finishs his Redshirt season, if that happans).

WR:  we lose only Roundtree, but the real question - can any of them hold onto the ball, if by chance it gets thrown to them reasonably.

TE: we have Funchess, but there is another 5-6 TE's we never see.

OL: we lose only Patrick Onameh, Ricky Barnum, Elliot Mealer.  Do we get a couple internal linemen, i.e. center or guard, who can shore up the protection for rushing.

Furthermore, will the QB always have to look to the sideline to get the play, or will Borges consider running a no-huddle offense or at least a hurry-up offense.

Can we improve our percentage in the red zone, or at least score a TD on defense, if not on offense?

 

 

Newbs

October 28th, 2012 at 12:38 AM ^

Soooo.... When does basketball season start. This game was a fucking disgrace.  I usually try and stay positive however tonight there are NO positives. When you don't score a TD for 2 fucking weeks in a row and 3 of 8 games there's something going on. THIS IS FUCKING MICHIGAN. If one guy goes down we should be able to have more than 1 guy able to play the QB position. The defense played their hearts out but when the fucking offense leaves them on the field for an entire quarter they won't be able to keep it up forever. FUCK EVERYTHING!

c1s2m0466

October 28th, 2012 at 12:40 AM ^

is very disappointing to me. He has killed Denard's mojo and natural instinct by forcing pocket passing on him. It is frustrating that our D is championship caliber while our offense has been stagnant and lacks explosiveness when we have the MOST explosive player in the country!

That being said, we need to win out and hope for some help along the way. Season is far from over.

Sten Carlson

October 28th, 2012 at 12:48 AM ^

Did you see Denard flinging the ball downfield tonight?  One was ruled incomplete, but was perfectly thrown, and the other was caught.  Borges was taking his shots, and has NOT killed Denard's mojo.  Honestly, I don't know what some of you people expect, nor what the hell you're watching. 

c1s2m0466

October 28th, 2012 at 10:40 AM ^

That on several occasions Denard stand in the pocket, patting the ball 5-7 seconds and then throws either a late, inaccurate short pass or hurls it deep, the majority of the time inaccurate or a wr can't make a play. These instances are clearly Borges hammering pocket passing in Denard's head when he should be taking off and running, gaining 7-15 yards a pop. I think Denard is a playmaker with his feet and his arm in a spread offense and he is not utilized to his full ability in Borges' hybrid offense. Watch Braxton Miller with Ohio and watch Denard this year. You think there is a difference ? Ohio has a one man offense and they are explosive because he runs the football when his 2nd read isn't open, not running through 4 progressions and throwing the ball late. So yes, I know what I'm watching each week.

Bill the Butcher

October 28th, 2012 at 11:24 AM ^

You are absolutely 100% wrong.  Look Borges has fucked up and we can all agree on that.  But blaming denard hanging out in the pocket too long and not running cannot be pinned on any of the coaches.  I've said this 1000 times and it continues to be true.  Denard, for whatever reason, has always been a guy who looks and looks and waits and waits for something to come open rather than taking off.  It was true under coach rod and its true now. RR and Borges/Hoke have all said on numerous occasions that they wish denard would just take off sometimes when nothing is there downfield.  

Brian commented on this numerous times during UFR's in 2010 when RR was here.  Finally, last year (in the Nebraska game no less) it looked as though Denard had turned a corner and finally decided to make his legs his third read instead of continuing to wait.  That turned out to be an exception rather than the new rule.  

Borges has done plenty this year and last to deserve being questioned, but if you have watched Denard over his three years as a starter, you would know that him hanging out in the pocket too long and refusing to give up on plays downfield has been a constant throughout his career.

ole luther

October 28th, 2012 at 6:37 PM ^

Thank you for that response. Stan,s only reply to anyone is always "I don't know what the hell you were watching, but.....". 

Denard has achieved what he has because of his instinctive play, not because coaches have told him what to do and when to do it.  They not only took away his mojo, they may very well be taking away his shot at any position in the NFL other than good practice material for the starters.

CoachBP623

October 28th, 2012 at 12:44 AM ^

Denard is supposed to be a senior leader!!!



Anyone else notice several times when the camera was on him that he was smiling and laughing? Not once did I see him try to fire anyone up or encourage Bellomy at all. I'm sorry but if you're the best player and you're nicked up you need to try and get the guys hyped.



I'm tired of al Borges. However as the coach of this team Brady Hoke needs to step up, put on a fucking headset and tell Borges to go with something else. It's like Borges is running an experiment to see what works and then when it doesn't he uses it to keep the defense honest. I can't tell you how frustrating it is.



Remember last years full house formation with Denard and devin in the backfield? Where has that wrinkle been? Every good defensive team appears to know everything we run before we run it. I really think its time for Borges to prove his worth. You might say well he has a proven track record. Well there's a reason he's never gotten a head coach job....

Wolverine Devotee

October 28th, 2012 at 1:04 AM ^

  • I refuse to blame this loss on Russell Bellomy. Yes, he didn't perform well at all. But he has had little playing time. None with ANY significance. About 98% of it was in garbage time. He is a RS Freshman going into one of the most hostile environments (nice fans though) in the conference. At night. Oh, and it happens to be one of the most important games of the season and has HUGE division significance.
  • Denard is going to be okay.
  • New defensive front for most of the game I noticed. DE-DT-NT-DE = Beyer-Black-Washington-Roh
  • Smith is the new #2 RB. Rawls didn't play at all.
  • Mario Ojemudia was seen limping off the field (Per Mark Snyder). Leg injury supposedly.
  • Defense is elite. No help from offense though doesn't exactly keep the defensive players from not being exhausted.
  • This is where I have really just started noticing the departure of Darryl Stonum really hurting the team's passing game.
  • Gardner is ineffective at WR. Need to get him back to QB ASAP and start prepping him for next year.
  • PLEASE STOP WITH THE OBVIOUS SUB INS OF REYNOLDS AND JACKSON WHICH ARE RUNNING PLAYS. K?

Jmilan

October 28th, 2012 at 1:07 AM ^

This was the last week I planned on rooting against sparty anyways so for now I am hoping that msu runs the table because it only benefits us. It may be too late to say this, but I really hope we don't become the main joke for twis this week. Keep the faith ladies and gentlemen lots of season left.

uminks

October 28th, 2012 at 1:32 AM ^

How the zone run blocking has failed the RB. Most of the time it seems there are 3 defenders in our back field ready to tackle our RB after he takes a hand off.  A lot of the time Robinson will make a big play by running up the middle. I have to blame the O-line coaches for failing on technique since we do have some talented OL!

Never liked the idea of moving Gardner to WR! He should be the back up QB and be in the competition next spring for starting QB next fall with Bellamy and Morris.  Gardner has much more talent at QB than Bellamy and should be the starter when Robinson is out.

At the beginning of the year I had Michigan losing to AL, ND, NE and OSU to finish 8-4. After noticing how average NE and OSU looked,  I thought this was a good year for us to run the table in the B1G.  If Robinson is injured and cannot play for the remainder of the season we may end  up losing at home to Northwestern and IA.

We may have to get use to the 7-5 and 8-4 records for the next few years. Once we get more depth and better skill players, we should turn it around by 2015 during Shane's RS Sophomore season.

 

WingsNWolverines

October 28th, 2012 at 1:36 AM ^

even uglier while he was gone. I think we pick ourselves up and Denard will be good to go against Minny next weekend. All I care about now is winning out which I still think we  can do. Yes Ohio St looks tougher now but keep in mind how poor their secondary is at adjusting to the passing game. I have confidence in our DL but our defensive secondary fell asleep way too many times downfield tonight and allowed some major yard gains for Nebraska. Put this game in the back seat and focus on keeping the LBJ in Ann Arbor for another year. We're still very much alive. I hate to admit this though but if Denard can't stay healthy thru the rest of the season up to the OSU game then we are in serious trouble. I am still stunned Borges won't give Gardner a shot at backup QB. Weren't we told he was the better backup?

markusr2007

October 28th, 2012 at 1:38 AM ^

Michigan's defense played well most of the football game. But when you're on the road in a veyr loud, hostile stadium, your offense has to get first downs and score some points on it's own, otherwise the momentum gets out of hand. Nebraska's defense shifted the momentum completely the other direction.

The refs were bad, but they effed over Nebraska too in this game on a number of plays.  I'm sure Pellini is going to ask that crew be shit-canned after the game - even though Nebraska won said game.

I will say this. Nebraska fans I met with and sat next to were a class act - very gracious, laughing and having a good time talking with Wolverine fans. Some were drunk, but they were very happy after what happened in this same game last year. They kind of realize that they beat a Michigan team that was not at full strength today and the drop off with Bellomy was very surprising to them.

The guy behind me lamented after Denard Robinson ran for another first down "That kid is just such a phenominal athlete!"  And NU fans around him nervously agreed. That was the highlight of the night I'm afraid.

GO BLUE! BEAT MINNESOTA!

 

 

bo_lives

October 28th, 2012 at 1:58 AM ^

A lot of people got sent to Bolivia tonight, but most of them deserve much worse. And let me be the first to say I believe this is the worst loss of the last two years, given the way we just totally threw in the towel. But the season is far from over. Stop trying to make TWIS.

I realize there's a wee bit of drinking going on but please, read through your post at least once before saving...

smwilliams

October 28th, 2012 at 2:00 AM ^

My fiancé is a physical therapist and said an ulnar nerve injury which is what sensed had could take a day or a month to heal depends on how badly it's damaged

BeantownWolverine

October 28th, 2012 at 3:58 AM ^

 

It would certainly limit Denard in his rushing no matter how severe the inury is, at least for a few weeks. You do not want to keep Denard hitting the ground with his right elbow in the near future. What bothered me most was that he didn't do anything on the sideline during the game, which means that the damage could be rather severe.

CoachBP623

October 28th, 2012 at 3:21 AM ^

I think a lot of tonight's over reaction has to do with expectation. A lot of us were spoiled per RR years we didn't know what losses like this felt like. Then after the RR debacle I feel like we accepted losing a little better but then we go to the sugar bowl and back come the expectations that we should win, or at least be in every game no matter the opponent save Alabama. So when games go like this it's gonna be TWIS. I am guilty of overreaction but only because I hate to lose, and any team in red. Not to mention that with virtually the same team as last year urban Meyer has OSU at 8-0 without any of his own recruits. I'm just so worried of a repeat of the 7 years that we rarely can close

AMazinBlue

October 28th, 2012 at 9:00 AM ^

is based on the play of the QB.  If was mainly based on a RB we would still have a passing game.  Without Denard, this offense comes to a grinding hault.  Let's face facts, the  oline isn't very good, aside from Denard we haven't rushed the ball well all season.  5'-9" or 5'-10" running backs won't get very far in the B1G.

If Denard doesn't play again this season, we'll be lucky to get to .500.  This is why I hate having running QBs and why the NFL shys away from them.  I probably shouldn't say this, but hiring RichRod will cost this program more than the three years he was here.  The oline will be behind for another year or two and we have no experienced RBs to count on.  The QB situation speaks for itself.

The rest of this year and all of next year won't be pretty.

Glen Masons Hot Wife

October 28th, 2012 at 9:50 AM ^

You cant blame this loss on richrod. Hoke didnt have to bring a mediocre pro-style OC with him.

He could have hired a spread option guy to work with our talent. HC's are capable of changing offensive philosophies with success.

Schembechler changed from the option to pro style when the time was right. Les miles plug and plays successfully with OCs when his good coordinator gets hired away.

A lot of the pieces are there. A great DC. Hoke is a great recruiter and im sure his players love and want to play for him.

But lets face it, he fucked up with his OC hire. Borges is not proven as an OC, beyond average or slightly above. Borges could have prepared gardner as both receiver and backup QB.

Antwaan Randle El started his senior year as a receiver in training camp because he demanded to start his prep for the nfl. Randle El saw that the qb in his place was shit, so he switched back -after the season had started and had another great year.... so dont tell me we couldnt prepare gardner for both positions this year.

When you have a dual threat qb of denards stature, injuries are a very real likely outcome. Leaving nobody home to back him up was a blatant fuck up to say the least.

In reply to by Glen Masons Hot Wife

Sten Carlson

October 28th, 2012 at 10:11 AM ^

You're "bullshit" dude.  I'm getting sick of all your belly aching, you throwing blame at Borges, and refusing the see the obvious -- Michigan lost some key players on offense, especially on the OL and it'a making it very hard to do anything on offense.  Open you fucking eyes for fuck sake!

Glen Masons Hot Wife

October 28th, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^

So sorry its getting old for you. Whats bullshit is that people (including you, dipshit) dont acknowledge what a complete failure it was to leave nobody behind denard when we could have prepared devin.

I saw plenty of plays where bellomy had all the time in the world and still made horrible throws/decisions. Granted, he is young, inexperienced and may have a future. But right now he has no business seeing the field with devin on the roster.

Open your fucking eyes.