We are becoming Notre Dame

I know the defense sucked, but the offense was as exciting as ever, especially in the second half.  Is it fair to say that Michigan got embarassed with such a great offensive showing?  Am I fooling myself into trying to stay positive?

I agree, essentially with your point.  However, I would have been considerably more embarassed if we laid an egg like MSU vs Iowa (I don't bring MSU up to say, "Hurr, SPARTY!" but rather as a point of comparison to another important game that same day in which the opponent built a huge lead).

B/c the defense was embarrassing/frustrating/stomach-churning, I literally was ready to stop watching before the second half started, but decide to stick it out.  The way UM fought back to make a game out of it, I was at least satisfied the team had not quit.  Watching a team quit and/or get bombed 49-7 (or whatever) is truly embarassing.

1.  Recruiting - His recruits would be at most true junior / redshirt sophomores.  In general, these players are at least a year away from becomming dominant players.  Harris, Woodley, Graham didn't become dominant players until their upperclassmen years, and Graham was even at times a liability on the field as a freshman/sophomore.  Underclassmen tend to not play as well as upperclassmen; I thought that was already an accepted idea on this blog.  RVB and Mouton are the only recruits from 2006 and 2007 who are positive contributors on defense; Rogers, Banks, Patterson, Sagesse, Ezeh, etc are all just below average space fillers.  Without making this a counter-productive Lloyd vs RR argument, the fact is that there exists a giant void in our roster of upperclassmen talent on defense and I would have to believe that both men are to blame.  RR's recruiting is not why our defense sucks; even if we recruited lights out 5 star guys, I'm not sure they would have made a difference in their freshman/sophomore years.  Manti Teo will be very good for ND but he hasn't exactly been stellar for ND the past two years, Jelani Jenkins redshirted his freshman year at Florida, William Gholston hasn't seen the field much for MSU this year; they were all highly-touted consensus, 5-Star, top 50 guys.

2.  Donovan Warren - I wish the guy luck; he played hard for Michigan.  He, however, made a very bad decision when he decided to enter the draft.  He also kind of got screwed b/c there was some sort of official player evaluation list released by the NFL that said he would be drafted somewhere in the first couple of rounds.   He, however, decided not to wait for additional feedback from the NFL as RR had advised.  I'm not sure what more RR could have done to get Warren to stay; he asked/advised Warren to wait for better information which Warren ignored.  Some guys just want to get to the NFL as quickly as possible, and I respect Warren's decision (even though in hindsight it was a horrible decision). 

Are you asking me to satisfy you?

drilled out melons for others.

The OP is essentially saying anyone who is upset with the result on Saturday is giving up on the coaches and players.  If I'm missing something let me know.  And I never said to fire anyone before the season is over.  I will admit, there are still positive things that can happen to change my feelings.  I just don't know how you can try to spin positives out of anything we've seen on the field and pretend like things are getting better before they are getting worse.

There is a good chance that our b10 record will be the same this year as it was in 2008, which is where I'm coming from.  But you're right, "sinking ship" was not a good phrase to use. I apologize for that.

However, I guess I don't have a problem with your premise of giving him one more year.  If that is the decision Brandon makes, I won't complain.   I do get upset when people make excuses and blame the fans for not enjoying getting beat every week.

What is there to lose by giving the guy one more year (when his first full recruiting class will be juniors and RS sophomores)? 

A ton.  Next year, we have the combination of a veteran team and favorable schedule that should have us thinking Big Ten title.  But our complete lack of visible progress over the past month now makes that look like a pipe dream.  And if we're going to dumb down expectations for next year - RR's fourth in the program - then it's clear that he isn't the answer.  A program that enjoys 40 consecutive non-losing seasons does not need to go through four years of rebuilding.   When Minnesota holds its coach to a higher standard than that, we've lost our way.