Two Game Changing Drives

Submitted by bklein09 on

In the last two games, Michigan has had an offensive drive that has seemingly turned everything around and led to us completely falling apart.

Last week against PSU it was the three play debacle that resulted in a safety snapped through the back of the endzone.

This week, it was a 70+ yard pass that resulted in a 1st and goal from the 1. Somehow, someway we couldn't punch it in, and it was all Illinois from there.

Now, I'm not saying we would have won either of these games if these drives hadn't happened. What concerns me the most is how our team is responding to bad stuff happening.

I cannot remember another game like today's, where the favored and seemingly superior team was completely dominated after one momentum swing.

There have been tons of situations where a big play allows the sleeping giant to awaken and go on to dominate (see Iowa toady, even though the refs helped). But I can't remember a team like Illinois pulling something like this off.

I have to say that this one hurts a lot. I'm going to hold back on any doom and gloom comments because I think they are a bad idea in the heat of the moment. But things look pretty bleak right now.

Mostly I'm just completely stunned. I don't want to see anything sports related for the next three days, which is a big shame because I had been really looking forward to tonight's games. Oh well.

NJWolverine

October 31st, 2009 at 6:48 PM ^

I knew someone was going to make this post to try to deny the problems currently facing the program. I disagree. Illinois was going to score regardless of what happened on the goal line stance. The defense has never been consistently disciplined and sooner or later that option was going to work and it did. Sooner or later Illinois was going to realize Forcier can't run so he was always going to give the ball to Brown. The game might have been closer if we had cashed in the drives in the first quarter, but it doesn't matter. Illinois's DC should have made the adjustment in the 2nd quarter like PSU and just stopped the read "option" with Forcier immediately.

So, to summarize. The offense is woefully predictable and the defense is undisciplined, impatient and lacks talent.