The WTF RR/It's like Manny getting benched threads all week.
October 10th, 2009 at 11:54 PM ^
Heartbreak? When Tate got pulled back off the field...ouch.
October 10th, 2009 at 11:56 PM ^
I could but I choose not to sob while making art. This topic cuts me deep. To my core like Baxter.
October 10th, 2009 at 11:58 PM ^
Understood.
October 10th, 2009 at 11:56 PM ^
..on the A2.com chat. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those idiots had a "fire RR" website tomorrow. Sadly, though, all they are doing is exemplifying the stereotypes that our friends in EL make about UM fans.
It makes me appreciate mgoblog even more.
October 10th, 2009 at 11:57 PM ^
Coaches made a decision, they are smarter than us. Fact is Tate was a half-way decent play by a MSU defender away from losing the State game before we even crossed the thirty on that final drive. Same with the Indiana game in terms of mistakes. D Rob got in when he was rolling with the offense. IF he checks to Odoms underneath, UM is about in FG range, and this whole "wTF RR" post is pointless.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:01 AM ^
"IF he checks to Odoms underneath, UM is about in FG range, and this whole "wTF RR" post is pointless."
But the fact remains that he didn't. For all his athleticism he hasn't progressed enough as a passer to develop that kind of awareness. And as coaches, it is up to them to recognize that this is the case and put the best person in to put us in a position to win this game. Maybe Tate was injured and all this is moot, but to bench a QB who has led 3 consecutive game winning/tying drives in the 4th quarter because of 1 bad possession is, in my drunk eyes, quite idiotic.
October 11th, 2009 at 8:29 AM ^
... and you said it perfectly. Sometimes coaches make mistakes. Choosing DRob to QB the final drive in that environment when all we needed was a FG to win after all the late game heroics we've seen from Tate this year was a mistake. It doesn't make RR a bad coach and it doesn't mean we would have won the game if he put Tate in for that drive, but it was definitely the wrong decision.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:31 AM ^
actually probably not smarter than a lot of us on the board who attended Michigan. But, that's irrelevent. They do know the game better than us. And, they sure as hell should know the players better than us.
So, why again do you think that Denard left us a better opportunity to gain 50 yards in a minute than Tate?
October 11th, 2009 at 12:43 AM ^
Saying something like this makes you look dumb because intelligent people realize that there are different kinds of smart. In his sphere of expertise, Rich Rodriguez is on par, not with the kids who go to Michigan, but with the most brilliant faculty at the school. In fact, he's more like a Harvard/MIT faculty level (among the best 5-20 people in the world) when it comes to football intelligence. This doesn't mean that he never makes bad decisions or decisions that look bad in retrospect. But for 20+ years, he's experimented with schemes and pushed kids to excel at levels far beyond what's expected based on their talent level.
He made his decision today based on a much better understanding of Tate's struggles and Denard's capabilities than any of us have.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:03 AM ^
Those threads are inevitable. If nothing else, it'd at least be nice for them to be consolidated into one thread rather than clutter the board.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:04 AM ^
By letting DR finish the game. He earned it. Tate looked very desperate on his last 2 drives. DR forced Iowa to adjust on the fly and it paid dividends for us. It's unfortunate DR ended the game in such a manner but it's quite tough to win any game with 4 turnovers (not counting last) let alone do it against the #12 ranked team in the country.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:49 AM ^
No matter what RR does on that last drive, if we fail, he's going to get second guessed. The fact is, Denard just led the team down the field, something Tate hadn't looked capable of doing at any point after that first TD drive.
If Tate came in and threw a pick to lose the game, everyone would be yelling about how RR went away from the QB who had proven effective on the previous drive.
The fact is, no matter who RR brings in, they're in a very very tough situation. Hostile environment, one of the top defenses in the country, no timeouts, 1:30 left on the clock.
One other thing: No one here saw the exchange between Tate and RR. Maybe RR saw the way Tate was acting and decided he didn't have the "stuff" to win the game. I'll say this: from where I was sitting, Tate sure seemed rattled.
Am I frustrated? Sure. But less about DRob's pick or RR's QB decision than about the Matthews/Grahm (two seniors) punt fiasco. Or about Minor's (again a senior) fumble in Iowa's half. Those two plays, more than anything in the end game, cost us the game. In the end though, most of the mistakes seemed to be "effort" mistakes, kids trying to make plays and just coming up a bit short.
The kids played their hearts out. I'm proud that we had a chance to win despite all the turnovers. I'm proud of the defense. I'm proud of DRob for leading us down the field despite Iowa knowing exactly what was coming on every play.
We have a lot to be happy about. Don't forget that.