Perspective from a Wildcat.
The tab near the upper left says: Create Content.
I haven't utilized it much, and never when sober, because I recognize that I have had no content. On much of anything. Steve Sharik and (in his day) Coach Simmons had the X's and O's, Tom VH and others had the recruiting, Brian seems to have read Infinite Jest more recently than I have, so there were very few instances where I felt that I had something unique and valuable to contribute.
Which brings me to the lone category where I may be the MGoExpert: Northwestern football. Which has been decidedly OT up to this point, but in the aftermath of the Illinois debacle, in the painful shadow of 3-9, and on the day that my Wildcats played three quarters of great ball against the same Penn State team that a week ago shellacked Michigan, I finally have something to say.
In a nutshell: I know inconsistency, mediocrity, poor defense and the stabbing pain that results from being on the wrong side of a talent differential. Having cheered a team on the wrong side of that differential, I also know the manic joy of watching pure offensive genius overcome it. (exemplum fucking gratium UM-NU '00) so I also know the thrill of the underdog victory. I've known great coaching, and recognized it even without BCS, or even (too often, sadly) bowl invites.
In 2009, Brandon Graham, Donovan Warren, Mike Martin, Greg Mathews, Kevin Koger, every Michigan RB, and Zoltan Mesko have one thing in common: they would undoubtedly start for Northwestern. That's it. Both of NU's safeties (when healthy), at least one of NU's starting corners (and likely the other one as a nickel) would start for UM. Mike Kafka would be a profound upgrade at QB while Andrew Brewer, Zeke Markshausen, and even Jeremy Ebert would be welcome additions at WR, more reliable while perhaps less explosive than Hemingway, Stonum, and Odoms/K(lv) Grady. I love Craig Roh, but I'll love him even more if in three years he's 3/4 the player that Corey Wooten is now.
I say this not as a jab against Michigan's current roster, but as a plea for patience among fans. Everyone loves to say "ah, it's just Northwestern." No respect, no expectations. This bugs me as a Wildcat fan, but that's not what I'm getting at. You (we) are fans of a Michigan team that, at this moment, is approximately equal to, if not less talented than Northwestern. The 2008 Wolverines were a worse team than that.
My question is simple: how can you assume that NU is an untalented also-ran, and at the same time presume to judge Rodriguez on the results of the talent-challenged '08-'09 teams?
Given the state of cupboards and all, given the bizarre new normal where we expect true freshmen to save us from mediocre established veterans, I say RR deserves at least six years to prove himself. So far I've compared UM and NU emphasizing their current similarities, but the fact is that this is a once in a lifetime situation. The recruiting pipeline to Ann Arbor is deeper and more awesomefabulousterrific than it ever will be in Evanston. This is the nadir for UM, and it's all about talent. Give a Michigan coach the time to coach Michigan talent before he's judged by Michigan standards.
Go Cats,
and Go Blue.
Thank god they don't have to play each other this year or next.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:51 PM ^
Excellent post, except the last line. I think Michigan would do fairly well against NU. I really wish they were on the schedule.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:53 PM ^
but I didn't intend that line to be understood that way. I just meant that I love years where my divided loyalties aren't put to the test.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:56 PM ^
Oh I know you didn't. I still couldn't help but thinking it. Just like when you said great game, I couldn't help but thinking one of the ugliest grudge matches ever. Sigh...
October 31st, 2009 at 10:02 PM ^
in hypothetical '09 UM versus NU I would bet on the under, drink too much of something fittingly mediocre (I'm thinking Pabst: history inversely correlated to greatness) and pray for no injuries.
October 31st, 2009 at 10:04 PM ^
I wish Big 11 would follow the Pac10's lead and play full conference schedule. Forever to remain a wish, to be sure.
October 31st, 2009 at 11:35 PM ^
I don't! Right now, it doesn't look like they will do fairly well against anyone and northwestern is probably better than illinois
October 31st, 2009 at 9:59 PM ^
I think it's time we stopped automatically thinking we'd do well against anybody from a BCS conference. We're really bad.
October 31st, 2009 at 10:03 PM ^
Touche.
October 31st, 2009 at 10:07 PM ^
Watching this team, I do get the sense that the talent level just isn't that good. It's sobering. We're obviously very undersized, but we also don't seem particularly fast or athletic, either. (It seems like other teams' skill-position guys, for instance, have an easier time outrunning our defense to the endzone than ours do.) A lot of guys are going to have to put in a great offseason with Barwis to get themselves physically where we need them to be.
November 1st, 2009 at 4:18 PM ^
The majority of the problem IMO is the mental problems. The defense in particular makes a ton of mental mistakes. They need a ton of help on the simple fundamentals of the game -- staying in lanes, good angles for tackles, even making a tackle. All the Barwis time in the world ain't gonna fix any of that.
October 31st, 2009 at 10:05 PM ^
great post, that actually did help me put some things in perspective, and maybe help some of these others fans take a step back from the ledge...bad games do happen, especially for such a young/inexperienced team where they could go through a stretch of bad games
October 31st, 2009 at 10:16 PM ^
Would have given you plus 50 if I could.... great post!!!
October 31st, 2009 at 10:27 PM ^
The world doesn't have enough athletes named Zeke.
October 31st, 2009 at 10:32 PM ^
Michigan fans have taken for granted the skill of the players present. We have assumed it was our birthright . . . that we would always have better players than most all the teams in the conference, and as good as any in the question. We have been smug about our stadium, our University, our campus, our alumni base.
It is not just the players who make the teams good, but it is by far the most important factor. We are forced to have a much greater appreciation for the great talent differential that has existed between Michigan and their so-called competition.
I hope that these years will sober us, and remind us of how fortunate we Michigan fans have been. Not only have we been fortunate in the past. Before too long, when RR has a solid stable of strongly skilled players taking the field, the proper equilibrium of the football universe will return, and we will re-assume our right place in the world.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:16 AM ^
just what I needed to read. Thanks. I hate to say this but Tate is making the kind of mistakes now that are absolutely killing drives and offensive momentum. I don't know how many times he was sacked when an easy dump off was available. Mentally, he's off right now. Add insult to injury, the O line is not making things any easier on him. RR tried like hell to Lloyd ball it today but the O just dug one hole after another and we couldn't climb out of them.
And the D. Oh the D. We can't cover and we can't defend outside runs very well at all. God help us when BG leaves.
Recruit like the wind, RR.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:36 AM ^
I just woke up here on my last day of what's been a fairly wonderful year in Korea, and watched the entire mess that took place back home on DVR. What should be a wonderful day of hope and joy and excitement is decidedly not so right now. I came here expecting to see the fan base in full melt down mode, and for the first time in the Rich Rod era, feeling a little unsettled myself. Your post along with the "Why I'm not Panicking" post from lunchboxthegoat have been exactly what I needed to read. I have to agree with his comment that I haven't seen anything schematically that suggests we're not on the right track, which is causing part of the frustration. But I never really thought to compare our talent to elite schools, and your post has really brought me back to earth. We still have a lot of holes, and it's going to take time to patch this program up. Thanks for the perspective. + a bazillion.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:36 AM ^
before he's judged by Michigan standards."
Wow. Just wow.
Fantastic line.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:02 AM ^
Well done and thanks, really enjoyed reading that. One comment - not sure that Kafka would be a "profound" upgrade over Forcier. That seems to be a bit of piling on a true freshman quarterback who seems to be hitting a mid-season wall, but a great post and I agree. Thanks.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:07 AM ^
but I'm really not piling on Forcier. I think he'll be grand one day. I say that Kafka would be an upgrade because he's doing what he's doing (2nd in the Big Ten in efficiency, I think, too lazy to google after this many beers) without a real RB complement. He's no Basanez, Kustok, Henne or whathaveyou, but he's a true dual threat QB with a decent arm, good decision making, and a lot of heft that Tate (pre-Barwis) lacks.
Which is to say: he's not the ideal RR QB, but he's savvy and big and fast, and RR could do wonders with Kafka at the helm.
November 1st, 2009 at 2:29 PM ^
We have freshman qb's. Molk getting injured is the biggest injury we probably could have had happen and that has killed any cohesion our o-line developed last year and throughout the spring. Our D could be average but we're getting into situations where our young offense is putting them in a bad position regularly and they are definitely not good enough yet to compensate.