Revisiting MGoBlog for 78-0 over Rutgers
It's Rutgers week and since we have no long history with them and...they're Rutgers, there's probably not going to be much juicy material to work with this week leading up to the game. So let's look back to two years ago when we were seething over a slow start to a 78-0 win.
This is what made up our first three drives:
FIRST POSSESSION -
1st & 10: Wilton Speight pass incomplete to Jake Butt
2nd & 10: De'Veon Smith run for 2 yds
3rd & 8: Wilton Speight pass complete to De'Veon Smith for a loss of 4 yards
4th & 12: Kenny Allen punt
3 plays, -2 yards
SECOND POSSESSION -
1st & 10: Ty Isaac run for 5 yds
2nd & 5: Wilton Speight pass incomplete to Jehu Chesson
3rd & 5: Wilton Speight pass incomplete to Amara Darboh
4th & 5: Kenny Allen punt
3 plays, 5 yards
THIRD POSSESSION -
1st & 10: De'Veon Smith run for 3 yds
2nd & 7: De'Veon Smith run for a loss of 1 yard, Smith fumbled, recovered by Rutgers Darnell Davis
2 plays, 3 yards
Revisiting the start of that live game thread here, our 1st quarter meltdowns seemed kind of tame compared to our first quarter meltdowns of this year. And look, I get it. I wasn't happy at the start either. I guess the moral of the story is, try not to lose your shit if it's still 0-0 a whole five minutes in to the game.
Here's some responses. The screen names have been removed to protect the innocent but if you're curious, you could always click on the link...
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"Well that's a real shitty start."
"I'm sorry that was a shitty play call right there ."
"What a shitty fucking drive"
"I don't think Ohio State punted last week, so this isn't the greatest start."
"Hot garbage already?"
"Perfect fucking start."
"That was about as bad as a first drive can go."
"Shitty play calling to start the game. Awesome."
"Great. 3 and out to start and it's raining."
"One possession in and my dad’s already pissed"
"If we can't run against Rutgers . . . . "
"Wow... Two three and outs against a team that never stops anyone ever"
"Fucking Darboh, he's either hauling in a miracle catch or dropping one that hits him square in the hands. There is absolutely zero in between."
"So another 14-7 game huh?"
"UGH!! Defense has to win it!!"
"Have to get our points through the D."
"Rain is going to make this very difficult for the offense. I'm seeing a close tough battle, ugh!!"
"I hold my breath every time Speight drops back to pass."
"Just playing like shit."
"lol Ohio state is going to beat our fucking ass. Hell Rutgers might"
"This is how you fucking lose games to 30 point underdogs."
"See ya smith. Need to move forward with a back that has a burst and doesn't fumble."
"Guys this is gonna be sloppy and low scoring. So hard to play in rain."
"R 0 0 M"
"I really just wanted to watch them get up big and switch back and forth to the Cubs. No more dicking around fellas. Rutgers is awful."
"So does our offense move the ball at all against our defense in practice? It must get ugly."
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After Peppers ran for 63 yards to set up the first touchdown, our heads were no longer exploding.
November 6th, 2018 at 11:47 AM ^
ok.....
November 6th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
I admit, I am firmly in BPONE-land until we start pulling away from teams. Not sure if any of the above quotes were me...but some of them seem like they could have been.
Mea culpa, and here's to 79-0!
November 6th, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^
i agree, 3 years of inconsistent offense have me guarding my trust carefully despite the strong overall performance this year.
i still worry that just a couple of busted covers from Don Brown's unit could put Michigan on its heels offensively and keep us to 24 points.
may or may not be realistic but i'm still stuck in BPONE
November 6th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^
sometimes perspective just does everything......
November 6th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^
This is why I never post in, or even really look at, game threads.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:10 PM ^
I often wonder who does. The embarrassing state of our game threads is likely due to self-selection bias, as the only people posting are not watching live or on TV, drinking and enjoying with friends. Only the denizens in the dark recesses of the BPONE are alone on their computer and ready to post here during a game. I don't mean to cast aspersions on fellow mgoposters but, yeah that's exactly what I'm doing. If you feel bad enough about the team to go straight to UNACCEPTABLE after the first 3 and out, maybe you should try going outside for some fresh air and sunshine.
If you, reader, think I'm talking about you, I'm not. I'm only referring to the vast majority of other people posting on the game threads.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^
I've read all of them since the beginning of the 2013 season. I do so purely for the collection of data that one day will be part of a very long report that will be posted here. Indeed, "A Brief History Of Fuck" is already in the works.
November 6th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^
LSA, for that kind of effort we should start a go-fund-me campaign for you. that must get u-g-l-y.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^
Well, I don't drink, and I don't live in Michigan, so I'm guessing my big, friendly Michigan watch parties wouldn't be well-attended.
I do appreciate your contempt, though.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:16 PM ^
You think it's bad here, you should go join some fan Facebook pages and see the shit that goes on there. Holy. Shit.
Holy. Freaking. Mother of God.
November 6th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
All of those responses seem completely reasonable.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
We had two more three and outs later in the game, one in the first half and one in the second. So that's five more drives we could have scored touchdowns on. I don't expect us to post 78 again in this game for a lot of reasons this year but just saying, it could have been 113-0.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
I was at the game and will admit to nervously shifting around in my seat during those opening drives.
Not to mention the fact that it was cold and rainy.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
In fairness to the posters quoted here (and no, I was NOT one of them) what the hell do you expect their reaction to be after that start? What was yours watching at home?
I know I wasnt high-fiving my wife and yelling "WOO- THREE AND OUT. SUCK THAT RUTGERS." "OH COOL - ANOTHER THREE AND OUT - GOT EM RIGHT WHERE WE WANT THEM NOW."
"AND A FUMBLE? OH MAN COULD THIS GAME BE GOING ANY BETTER RIGHT NOW??????"
November 6th, 2018 at 1:34 PM ^
You could just remain calm and continue observing while thinking to yourself, “ok so it’s probably impossible to be 100-0 now but surely 75-0 is still on the table and if I’m being honest with myself I would be fine with 50-10 and there is plenty of time for that.
November 6th, 2018 at 3:23 PM ^
I thought this was America? Our founding fathers fought for our right to be irrational fucking assholes during a football game until our team pulls away, regardless of how long it takes.
November 6th, 2018 at 7:39 PM ^
exactly right.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
Don't overlook Rutgers, they had a magical season in 2007, in which they are still basking. They just lost by 3 to NW, and are playing much better, though nowhere near great. I expect this to be another 35-10 type of day with limited action from starters, and limiting Shea for protection reasons. Expect this to be a game for Peters and Milton, Milton will then have 2 RSE* games left which will be reserved for either strategic deployment or for injury.
*redshirt eligible
November 6th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
I don't see much upside to burning a Milton game by playing him Saturday unless he's well ahead of Peters, to the point where he'd get time if Shea got hurt. I figure they'd use the Milton package @OSU and then have two more opportunities; either the Big Ten championship and bowl game or two playoff games. I think they give Peters as much time as possible to get right the next two weeks, in case he needs to come in under duress later in the season.
November 6th, 2018 at 1:35 PM ^
"We 5-0"
Well you know that's from a long time ago then. Sad thing is, that first year they were in the big ten that were actually respectable and went 8-5 then went 4-8 and decided Kyle Flood wasn't good enough. That worked out.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
I'm morbidly curious to find out the score if Michigan just punted every first down.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:40 PM ^
My favorite part of that thread is where everyone melted down when Rutgers picked up their only first down late in the game.
November 6th, 2018 at 12:58 PM ^
Newsome's season-ending (and ultimately career-ending) injury came the week before. JBB was inserted and then got injured on the first drive.
Despite having rolled the non-conference (and handling Wisconsin) I think we were still largely stuck in BPONE. The previous visit to The Land of Rutger was in 2014 when Michigan lost (not that anyone was concerned about losing). That game came on the heels of Shane Morris getting concussed against Minnesota (and staying in the game), getting national attention. De'Veon Smith was quoted as saying he was glad that Michigan had a road game to get away from Ann Arbor for the week.
But by the time Harbaugh ran a fake point after with Garret Moores running in to go up 29-0 in 2016, I think we all felt a bit better.
November 6th, 2018 at 1:48 PM ^
you were in bpone after we kicked the crap out of penn state and beat a top-10 wisconsin team that had beaten #5 lsu and #8 sparty? yikes.
November 6th, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^
Yikes is right. That's the power of BPONE. I don't expect to feel it again until Nov. 24.
November 6th, 2018 at 1:16 PM ^
M00R.
November 6th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^
No, I'm sorry... the correct answer is M00P
November 6th, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
That was an extremely fun game to watch. It was Rutgers big recruiting weekend. They had some crazy number of recruits on hand. Their fans still had the memory of the 2014 game fresh in their heads. And then the next three and a half hours happened. I think my favorite part though was when someone on here posted the reactions from the game thread on NJ.com. The collective meltdown of the people on that thread was some great reading.
November 6th, 2018 at 1:31 PM ^
The game threads are overreaction city. I'm pretty consistent with my reactions over the years. Unless we're down 3+ scores in the 4th Q, I'm still keeping my head until it's clear this ain't happening. Then I lose my shit in post game reactions.
Yet boy all mighty. The reactions from losing a yard on first down some times while up 14...nuts.
November 6th, 2018 at 1:43 PM ^
and that, right there, is why i would rather drink bleach than visit the live blog.
November 6th, 2018 at 1:56 PM ^
I remember missing that game because it was my birthday and I was busy having dinner in the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I got up that morning to board the train to London and checked the score on my phone and cracked up laughing. My wife asked me what was so funny and then I told her the score. It was a great trip that day. Go Blue!!
November 6th, 2018 at 2:26 PM ^
It wouldn't have been R 0 0 M, since we were the away team - it would have been M 0 0 R.
November 6th, 2018 at 2:54 PM ^
M00P... the card says M00P
November 6th, 2018 at 2:57 PM ^
That doesn't say M 0 0 P you jerk. It's a misprint.
M 0 0 R!
November 6th, 2018 at 2:42 PM ^
One game at a time.
November 6th, 2018 at 7:23 PM ^
All seem like reasonable comments. A lot of people probably said a lot of the things out loud but didn’t type/post them.
go blue!
November 7th, 2018 at 7:32 AM ^
Needs more points.