Positive Note Today Amidst A lot of Bad Ones

I'd say Stonum was a pretty positive note today. Shaw too. 

I think Lewan totally destroying the same people that Huyge struggled with was a nice positive..

heck almost every run in the 2nd half we behind Lewan/Schilling....if he can keep it up our OLine just got a whole lot better.

Just start him already.   He litteraly engulfs people and eats them alive.  

... +1.

Win by 1, win by 100--who cares?

Every team has a letdown/trap game.  Good to get it out of the way now.

The defense is who we thought they were, even before the injuries.  

The nearly pathetic negativity from small people who have never stepped out and risked anything in the arena is mind-boggling.

Now on to watch ND dismantle MSU!

There were a lot of positives on the offensive side of the ball: 

-Denard shrugged off an early INT to have a great day throwing the ball (10-14-1, 241 yds, 2 TD).   

-The deep ball returned to the offense.  Grady, Stonum and Hemingway each hauled one in.

-Stonum was a real playmaker out there.  Two of his grabs were TDs and a third was a deep ball.

-Shaw may have seized control of the tailback position with his career day (126 yards, 3 TD).

-There were a lot fewer penalties than last week.

Denard's passes were looking very nice today. It's good that he's shutting up the haters who said that he was only dumping the ball off in the first few games.

Also a pretty positive note on the day.

Also, not sure if it was posted or not (there's a lot of unhappy posts to look through), but I was really happy with how, at least the student section, acted when UMass's band took the field.  No one near me booed, everyone cheered and most people stood up.  I was really proud of how everyone acted.

True - nice to see him back.  He's a relatively big WR too so he'll be  a help on those downfield blocks.   He's been injured so often it'd be nice to see him have a big year.

I thought Denard's decision making was excellent.  When he pulled the ball down and ran early on, he was able to avoid major contact and get to the sidelines.  That's smart football.

Denard's downfield throws looked very good when he made them (Stonum made him look better.)

Michael Shaw and Vincent Smith played MUCH better in the second half.  They were finding seams and breaking tackles.

Denard found six different recievers to varying degrees.

Kelvin Grady made some exceptional blocks and at least one very nice catch.

So yes, there are many positives, build on those.  Work on the flaws.  Polish the stone.

It seems to me we're playing exactly as everyone on this board expected we would before the season started, and perhaps even better. No one knew Denard would be as developed as he is as a passer and a team leader. The defense is struggling, as we suspected, but has shown glimpses of excellence. The secondary is barren, as we suspected. The kicking game is suspect, and sad. 

Two things are making us crazy. 1) We all got a taste of the national media attention. How many posts were on this board last week linking to some story about Denard and the Heisman? A lot. RR says don't swallow the poison, and I think he means us, the fans, too. And 2) It's just dang hard to watch. 

Another positive note: The continued presence of the Slippery Rock score and the very nice ovation given to the UMass band by the Michigan Stadium crowd.

As bad as it was, we won despite:

1)  A botched snap by freshman punter resulting in blocked punt deep in our end;

2)  Cam getting greedy and turning his interception right over for a 10 yard UMass gain;

3)  The uncalled PI that cost 'Tree a TD, and then we missed the FG;

4)  The refs stubborn and ongoing refusal to throw a flag when Martin and Roh get held.

5)  Etc.;

6)  Etc.

In the last two years we don't win a game like that, even against a AA opponent.  Today we did.

My positive for the day was Denards downfield passing, minus the early interception.  Just another thing he makes defenses prepare for.

Loved watching Lewan today.  My son plays that position and it was great to show him how Lewan kept driving until the whistle.

Fitz Tousant (not sure of correct spelling) was.  i know that  75% is not 100%.  i did think he was supposed to play.  shaw ran hard, was patient when needing to be and hit holes hard at the right times.  VS ran hard as well.  very nice to see the run game goingggggggggggg!