Pile it On - More Saturday Observations

Well, I must say that was the best game I have ever attended.  Not necessarily the best played game (the jump balls, the penalties, the turnovers), but definitely the most entertaining and BY FAR the best atmosphere at Michigan Stadium.  

Ran into Zach Banner and Jordan Payton on State St. (mistakingly called Zach, "Josh" since I thought it was Garnett and I had no idea either would be there.  Apologies to Mr. Banner on that one for sure.).  Banner is an absolute beast in person.  It is not often you see someone 10 years your junior and think "that kid could beat the sh*t out of me".  Payton looked more like an 18-year old (obvious statement of the year), and is more like 6'0" than 6'2".  

Tailgating was an absolute mess.  Unless you had a hookup in one of the lots right next to the stadium, you were in trouble on gameday.  Ever wanted to tailgate at the Salvation Army?  Shutting the golf course down for this was probably the "right" idea, but it made it VERY inconvenient to drink before the game.  The other tailgate spot was a good 30-40 minute walk from the Salvation Army and as of Monday morning, my feet are still sore.  

The maize pom-poms were an excellent idea - perhaps the best idea Dave Brandon has had since he took over as AD.  I watched the game on TV yesterday, and while it looked good that way - being there in a sea of maize pom-poms was surreal.  

The tribute to Des before the game was amazing.  I don't know how much of it was shown on ESPN (if any - I caught the BTN replay), but it was first class.  Seeing Des get so choked up before he could even talk was an emotional event for sure.  I am also in full support of Brandon's idea to delegate certain jersey's with a patch, instead of retiring that number.  

Halftime show WTF.  Anytime your halftime show needs its audience to be on MDMA to get the full experience - it's probably not a good halftime show.  Still, light years beyond last year's Wisconsin game.  I wonder how the people felt that had to dress up in those black, full body spandex suits with lights all over them?  How could they see at night?  

Players that looked good from the stands - Brandin Hawthorne.  I didn't notice him get into the game as early as he did (2nd quarter at the latest per the replay I caught on TV).  He made some big plays in the fourth quarter.  Jeremy Gallon is a new person.  Jibreel Black is clearly better than Craig Roh.  Will Campbell ate some space and played much of the 4th quarter.  Jake Ryan is one of our 3 or 4 best defensive players.  Kovacs looked good but not quite as good as last week.  Offensive line was sick.  Denard, of course.

Players that didn't look good from the stands.  Any RB - Hopkins was probably the worst.  It looked like he would just dive forward, no matter what.  Made no attempt to use his ball carrier vision (or lack thereof).  Marvin Robinson would have earned high marks from me until he was responsible for the TD at the end (clearly a Cover 3 and he had deep middle).  Craig Roh is really starting to worry me.