"They gave us the game and we still sucked!"
In reading the live blog of the game and message boards, I came across a lot of the "they're giving us the game and we still are losing!" comments and claming that the only reason why we were in the game was b/c they kept screwing up. Well, as some noted in the live blog, it's really not that simple and it is incredibly frustrating to see that we cannot give our guys credit for anything.
Fact of the matter is, penalties are penalties for a reason. Example: A pass interference is usually committed by a defender that has been beat by one of our receivers. If our receiver beats their man, he deserves to have a shot at the football. On most occasions in this game, our receiver EARNED the call by beating their defender and forcing him to grasp on to anything to stop a play. If it was like the NFL, we'd deserve more than 15 and an automatic first down, so they are lucky in that sense.
When their QB intentionally grounds, it's b/c he's beat by our guys and thinks he could possibly get away with throwing the ball away. Their offense should not get that benefit. If he doesn't commit the penalty, that's a sack and their offense should lose the yardage they deserved to lose, no? Same goes with a holding call...that's a sack or an incompletion, maybe even an opportunity at a fumble. If our guys earn their way into the face of a QB and are unlawfully kept from doing what they earned to do then their offense should pay. Utah didn't give the game away on penalties...our guys forced those penalties and earned the benefit of them.
If they don't commit the PI, that could be a TD catch or huge gain. If they don't hold or intentional ground, their QB is more than likely dropped for a huge loss or fumble. What about those penalties did we not earn?
They did have a personal foul penalty, false start, and unsportsmanlike conduct. Those aren't necessarily earned like a PI, holding, or IG penalty is, but those were the minority in the penalties they committed. Either way, we gave them our fair share of those "unearned errors" as well.
As far as their turnovers, they did not give us anything we did not give them right back. The only difference is we didn't get such an easy opportunity at a pick 6 and they did. They were as lucky to be in the game as we were if not moreso.
Basically, the mistakes were a part of the game that were not a net positive/negative for either team. I just think Utah was the better team at this point, and that is why they won. It was close b/c the teams were evenly matched overall, not b/c Utah "gave" things to our team. Thinking the penalties gave either team a significant edge over the other goes into the "what if" realm, which is always a futile argument.
August 31st, 2008 at 3:13 PM ^
agreed. terrible outcome for any Michigan game but we did have a few things working in favor of Michigan that they did not get credit for.
i still HATE losing.
August 31st, 2008 at 3:13 PM ^
August 31st, 2008 at 4:10 PM ^
Glad to see there's one thread where the reasonable people can hang out...
Good post!
August 31st, 2008 at 4:16 PM ^
August 31st, 2008 at 5:12 PM ^
August 31st, 2008 at 5:43 PM ^
After the Guff funble:
1/G at the 9. W. Johnson busts through the line. Chases down and sacks QB for -9.
2/G at the 18. Sub Infraction Utah -5
2/G at the 23 Pass into the flat. +10 Play is in front but Trent w/ an assist from Stewart wrap up and prevent any RAC.
3/G at the 13. Ezi INT w/ an assist from S. Brown who jumps route, breaks it up and causes the deflection which Ezi easily scoops up.
So, only one penalty, which did not really impact the drive. The Johnson sack was a huge play on first down taking them almost out of the red zone. A fifth year senior not going quietly.
Gotta give the D credit here. And this series makes Kgh10's argument stronger.
And, the PI you refer to, they interfered with the player the pass was being thrown to....well, if you consider it a throw.....lol.
August 31st, 2008 at 6:27 PM ^
we did get at least one ryan mallett special, throw it deep and just let the defender get a pass interference call on a crucial 3rd down. i always loved that play.
oh and #65 for Utah getting 3 penalties in 2 plays. that was also awesome.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:45 PM ^
Just one thing though. Not all of the "earned" penalties are really earned. Like the PI in the end zone - their CB had our guy (forget who - Mathews maybe?) pretty well blanketed - and the throw was so off target that even if our receiver hadn't been interfered with, he likely wouldn't have caught it anyway.
And let's be honest - if that's a good team instead of Utah, and not even OSU good....like, Wisconsin good, I think we get shut out. Our longest scoring drive? 33 yards. Every single drive started in our own territory ended badly. First touchdown off a muffed punt. Field goal after a stupid personal foul. Third touchdown came after a Utah fumble, and our offense gained exactly one yard on the drive. The rest - penalties. Second touchdown was the only really earned one. If Utah was a better team, we lose by 30.
Love the defense. Offense needs serious work. Offensive line needs remedial run blocking lessons.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:16 PM ^
Utah, not a good team. Look through our schedule. Who can you say is a better QB than the one we played yesterday?
I'm not sure I would take Wisco, PSU and Illini over Utah on a nuetral field. They wont play head to head, so its a straw man argument either way. But to say if were playing a good team yesterday we would have been blown out is a little short sighted. We did play a good team yesterday.....a really good one, which might be the second best team we play all year.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:26 PM ^
September 1st, 2008 at 10:09 AM ^
Canceled out a two-yard loss by Threet four plays before. So only one yard total. Throw in two incomplete passes and two penalties which we didn't earn, and you get a touchdown handed to us on a golden platter with solid silver utensils and parsley on the side.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:35 PM ^
This needed to be said. Among the many Michigan-deriding claptraps I've read, Matt Zemek's "Instant Analysis" at cfn tries along the same lines to steal credit from the two forced fumbles Michigan recovered.
...and what's with the "Michigan Loses Home Opener for Second Straight Year" headline I'm seeing? Talk about telling half the story. Everyone pile on, I guess.
September 1st, 2008 at 12:21 AM ^
September 1st, 2008 at 9:40 AM ^
Listening to Beckman and Brandstatter, I thoght Michigan was robbed on that one. When I saw the replay at home in HD, the replay official got it right. The ball looked like it was wobbling out of Minor's arm right before he hit the ground. He might have had control, he might not have had control, but it was not conclusive and the ref called it a fumble on the field.
We simply have to play better. Obviously.
(Not that Beckman and Brandstatter are alone with viewing replays through rose colored glasses. George Blaha had a coronary over the overturned Mark Dell TD in the first quarter on Saturday night, and it was pretty clear that Dell didn't catch that ball. Home town announcers should always be taken with a grain of salt.)
September 1st, 2008 at 10:43 AM ^
September 1st, 2008 at 10:57 AM ^