Recent Comments

I hate to be thus guy, but with Hoke offering another LB out of the blue, could Jake Ryan be seriously considering the NFL after this season?

and my heart shattered into a million pieces

I hope it isn't as bad as it looked

... for the sole purpose of pos banging this comment.

pretty much...
I enjoyed this post.

Just beat them with a stick and say "It doesnt matter, its in the past"

because I want to be with the "in" crowd in this thread.

Perhaps bringing back the free neg-bang for non-established posters (perhaps if someone is under X pts or has been a member for less than a few weeks) but keeping the penalty for negging established contributors. I agree that the stupidity is getting a little out of hand. I find it all to be quality entertainment, though.

I'm not expert, but the first Leshoure wheel route TD looked like it was on the flat defender (T Gordon, i believe).  He had the flat coverage, and looked to me like he should have turned to run with Leshoure, since there was really no chance of anyone else releasing into the flat that late into a play.  When Scheelhaase rolled to his right, he should have known his deep help would move that way.

Not only were all 35 points put up by McGloin, but he did it in just over a half.  Bolden was shut out for most of the first half, McGloin was inserted for the last drive of the first half, and proceeded to lead Penn State to 5 strait TD drives.  McGloin can ball.

Literally just laughed out loud in the library

But not to the same extent.  Yes, RR needs to beat PSU and all that, but your bit about "the damage that's already been done" is a little over the top. 

Its been shown that the NCAA investigation was a witch hunt started by a "journalist" who didn't like RR from the start. 

The worst seasons ever have been covered extensively if you go back and read the archives of this blog from those dark days, but let me summarize: Threet/Sheridan, epic attrition due to culture shock (Lloyd's upperclassman didnt want to eat right or earn their jobs, they felt "waiting their turn" was enough.  RR plays the players who give us the best chance to win, reguardless of age/experience), which in turn forced all kinds of true frosh to play all over the field.  These kids, in most cases were/are not ready, physically or mentally, for the college game.

Just today (front page) Brian overviewed the suckitude of the 2007 class (this year's RsJRs and true SRs).  Those fourth-year guys are supposed to be the veteran leaders of this very young team.  They are basically absent.

In my mind,  RR walked in on the perfect storm and everything imploding under him is not entirely his fault.  There has been one moment under RR where "UNACCEPTABLE" could be deployed with merit, and that was getting blown out by the Zookers last season.  Aside from that, everything else has a plausable explanaition.  Come off the ledge, reevaluate at the end of the season.

EDIT: tomcat, are you pre-meltdown tomhagan?

IU didn't throw deep.  Chappell checked down all day.  Did it occur to you that perhaps Cam had something to do with the fact that IU didn't throw deep?  He didnt let anyone behind him on saturday. 

Granted, they were able to complete a number of 15-20 yard passes in front of Cam over the middle, but he is young and just thinking "dont get beat deep; 20 yards is better than 95." With experience, He will be at least adequate. 

He might not have the speed to jump in front of many of those 20-yard routes to intercept, but when he learns to react more quickly (again, with EXPERIENCE) he will destroy a few recievers who dare go over the middle.  Even if those recievers manage to hang onto the ball, they will think twice about going over the middle again.

To the OP: I admire your effort and dedication, but please employ the use of the thing between your ears.  Your offensive "efficiency" metric is flawed at best, but frankly is downright stupid.  I have two words for you: Field. Position.  I could go on, but i'm sure others will scold you for the lack of basic logic in your idea of offensive efficiency.

Defensively, though, you might be on to something.  Measuring yards allowed versus points allowed will give us a very good idea of how well our "bend but dont break" defensive philosophy is working out.

Side note: The offensive metric could become slightly more useful if you only used it when talking about plays in the red zone, or on plays on the opponent's side of the field, but still probably not too useful.

EDIT: This was meant to be a response to Gene

+1

"Sheer wizardry, my friends"

Perfect call

For any and all Frank Caliendo references

Also, to the OP: You win.

EDIT: for those of you who don't know:

embed fail.  Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s8BZjcP3qU

This is because THE KNOWLEDGE is infinite.  Today, though, after VT's best rendition of THE HORROR there is no way any human being can justify projecting Boise in the NC game.  I am not doubting THE KNOWLEDGE, only Adelson's ability to comprehend basic logic.  Only THE KNOWLEDGE could predict something so outlandish.  No human

Crist does not suffer from Greg Oden Syndrome

For being a reasonable human being

BOOM
UPVOTED

I almost always agree with you, but here I can't.

Biden was not feeding on hatred. He just found something they all had in common. He brought that room together. I'm sure a lot more people were thinking "yeah my (dead relative) sure was pissed about RR" than people were thinking "forget this funeral we gotta pick back up the RR anger"

I think there might have been a decent point in there, but...

Go back to...... whichever message board you came from please where punctuation..... is optional so you can... write like this all u want there....

My head hurts

Yes, the article is well written, but I noticed a pattern:
He is attacking Tom Cable, who recently took over a once-proud team, has been accused of misconduct, and is losing at an alarming rate.

Sound familiar?

If Tom Cable had won a few more games, is this article even written?

Please note: I am NOT comparing Rich Rod to Tom Cable, I am just noticing Rosenberg's pattern

Mike Gundy coaches basketball from the Rutgers dugout?

Best Case scenario: Braylon with bigger hands

More likely: A big, reliable target a la Adrian Arrington

Is Jackson working with the 1st team offense and Stonum with the 2nd team? Is Stonum in the doghouse? Is Jackson that good? That was a pretty catch in the corner...

I think Stonum is due for a breakout season. I think he is a Braylon caliber talent, but he hasn't figured that out yet. Hopefully Stonum finds his swagger this season, and Tate has the patience and the protection to look beyond the slots to Stonum, Hemingway, and Co to stretch the field.

Throws rhymes AND dimes...

It's his dual-threat

he's bigger than you. and Birkett

He'll definitely redshirt, but no one is really talking about string bean

I want to +1 you for a great, positive, morale-boosting contribution to the board, but I also want to neg you for not only being a facebook creeper, but starting a new topic just to tell everyone about your creepy stalkyness. I'm really happy you found this, though. Great info. I will not vote either way.

I think the consensus around here about shaw is great speed, great moves, has the ability to make any defender look like a fool in space, but lacks the between-the-tackles vision and durability to be an every down RB at this level.

Personally, I like shaw quite a bit. Just not when he's taking handoffs. I love watching him catch the ball out of the backfield, away from the big uglies where he has a chance to take it the distance.

It's ok to consider this defense a 3-4.
HOWEVA, if you call it a 3-4, then ROH MUST BE A LINEBACKER

Whether u call it a 3-4 or a 4-3 depends on if u consider Roh to be a LB or a DE. If you think Roh is a DE, then we run a 4-3. If you think Roh is an OLB, then we run a 3-4.

What in the world makes you think Wilkins is a 3tech DT???

He is already a weight room monster, and his frame is much fuller than your typical frosh.

He is 6'3'' 244lbs and won't be putting on as much weight as your typical "never seriously lifted before" freshman.

I hope I misread your post, and you really didn't mean to imply that Wilkins might be a DT and then (ironically) tell the OP to do some research.

I agree with you on JRob, though. I'm equally as excited about him as Ricardo

Brian is only 6 votes behind first place. Lets hijack this poll like we've done with DocSat's all-decade teams.
The MGoCommunity is an unstoppable force!

Vinopal certainly does not lack speed. I'm pretty sure they saw a white guy and profiled him.

I know track speed doesn't necissarily translate to football speed, but...

Vinopal led off the 4x100 relay the WON DII state meet in ohio last year.
http://www.ohsaa.org/Sports/tf/2009/results09.htm

Brian.

I admit, I had to google gary bettman to find out who he was, but now this comment is funny.

Great minds, my friend. Great minds.

You forgot Dan Lefevour. He's basically an NFL arm on Tebow's body. He'll be the fourth QB after Clausen, Bradford, and McCoy. Hell, I might even take him before McCoy

If Michigan was placed in Division A, and OSU and MSU were placed in Division B, then UM would obviously choose their guarantee game to be OSU. This does not mean we would not play MSU. In fact, there would still be a 40% chance of use playing MSU. Assuming 8 conference games, you play all 5 in your division, one guarantee from the opposite division, and two of the remaining five from the opposite division.

Of course, the system is far from perfect, but its as good or better than any permanent divisions I have seen.

Also, there are many ways to work the guarantee game. Would two schools from opposite division have to agree to play each other? or does every school get its pick of one other?

For example, could Michigan pick OSU for the guaranteed cross-division game, but then MSU pick michigan?

Jerome Jackson

We need a Grammar Nazi Renaissance
Earlier today I saw someone write "their" when it obviously should have been written "they're" but I kept my mouth shut for fear of being negged. Thank you, sir, for stepping up.

According to the ACC, geography need not have any bearing on the setup of divisions. So, here are some of the assumptions I am working with to create some reasonable divisions for the "Big North."

- Each team plays every team in it's division every year, gets one intra-division game every year, and a rotating 2 of the remaining 5 teams from the opposite division every season for a total of 8 conference games

- Michigan and OSU must be in the same division, but not Penn State. This would allow The Game to continue as the regular season finale, and it would not be a rematch in the Big North title game.

- Preserve as many trophy games as possible:
- Michigan-MSU
- Michigan-Minnesota
- Illinios-Northwestern
- Indiana-Purdue
- Indiana-MSU
- Iowa-Minnesota
- Iowa-Wisconsin
- Minnesota-Wisconsin
- Illinois-OSU
- Illinois-Purdue
- Minnesota-Penn State
- MSU-Penn State

Division A:
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Illinois
Northwestern
12th Team

Division B:
Penn State
Purdue
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Indiana

Cross-division annual games:
Mich-Minn
OSU-Penn State
Illinois-Purdue
MSU-Indiana
Northwestern-Iowa
12th Team-Wisconsin

With this setup, 11 of the 12 traditional trophy games are played every year, the only exception being the MSU-PSU Land Grant trophy, which who cares, and, Ohio State continues their recently heated rivalry with penn state.

Michigan would only have to see Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Purdue 2 out of 5 years each with a guaranteed game every year with MSU, OSU, Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota, and the 12th team.

This is my ideal situation. Thoughts?

EDIT: Another potential issue here: A lot of people are assuming that the 12th team will be pitt, and pitt would need to play penn state every year. This could be solved by putting Northwestern and the 12th team into Division B and moving Indiana and Purdue to Division A. Of course, that means Michigan and OSU have guaranteed snacky cakes every year with Indiana, Purdue, and Illinois in their division. Then penn state could play pitt, and (i think) 11 trophy games would still be played annually.

I'm still in favor of bringing in a MAC team. I know it wouldn't help the major sports much, but...

Miami (OH) has great academics and would make a B10 hockey league a better possibility. Simply being in the B10 would allow the major sports to eventually catch up.

Central probably doesn't cut it academically, but they would have been 5th in the conference in football this season. They are like Cinci without the successful basketball program.

Temple. Why not?

Buffalo? I don't know much about Buffalo, except they would expand the footprint a bit, and the football program had some relative success under Turner Gill.

As soon as the B10 adds a MAC team, then GVSU makes the jump to D1 and starts winning MAC championships!

Ingram got yanked in a rivalry game for his true freshman backup

There are at least 5 guys more deserving:

Suh
Gerhardt
Gilyard
Spiller
Kellen Moore

Is it possible that RR is encouraging kids who seem to marginally be in academically to go to JC for a semester anyways (a la Adrian Witty)? If he can convince 4 or 5 guys that this is the right move, then we could have a huge class.

Is that unethical? I think it could be a weird way of looking out for the kids' best interest: ease into college classes at JC before being thrown into the fire of UofM classes having barely passed the NCAA standards...

Thoughts?

I only was saying it in response to BG's TD. Not to bolster Suh's heisman resume for this season

If you are a Michigan fan and a Yankees fan

Then there are two possibilities:

1) You have multiple personalities, or

2) You really really really like things labeled "tradition", and aren't actually a fan of sports at all.

Shaw is there for no other reason than his experience.
Toussaint because he is our only RB who has been compared to Noel Devine.

My biggest concern about V Smith's injury is: Do we have a RB who can help out in pass protection?? Last season we used Minor, Grady, and towards the end of the season, Smith. I never saw Mike Shaw throw a block in pass protection.

Serious Barwis porn.
Thanks. I learned something today.
I was concerned about recruiting 190lb "linebackers" but now I'm sold. I'm very glad he's moved to the inside. I was starting to think we had way too many SAMs

Here's hoping that Lewan is half as good as our last #77... How sweet would that be?

Cinci's unis are so badass.

But I couldn't edit anymore.

I totally forgot Mardy Gilyard

1) Suh
2) Gerhardt
3) Gilyard
4) Moore
5) Spiller

MUAHAHAHA NO SEC PLAYER

well played
Terrible puns are always worth a +1 in my book

As much as I love B. Graham,
There is no force in the college game equvilant to Suh.

Have you seen Suh's stats this season?
82(!) tackles, 22 TFL, 12 sacks, 10 PBU, 3 blocked kicks, and a pick. BG only wins in the TFL department, even though DEs tend to have better numbers.

So, Suh has the sack and TFL numbers of a freakish DE (a la BG), makes tackles at the rate of a LB, and breaks up passes with the regularity of a DB. And he has a pick and 3 blocked kicks to boot.

Keep in mind this guy is a 300lb DEFENSIVE TACKLE. Those would be gaudy numbers for an MLB, a position where it not unheard of to put up gaudy numbers. Those numbers are literally out of this world for a DT.

BG is a freak, but Suh is superhuman

GIVE IT TO SUH!

And only 3 of them were blocked

From an amateur perspective, he seems to have a lot more upside on offense.

At 5'9 184lbs, he played LB for his team instead of safety. Maybe the coach just wanted to get his playmaker closer to the LOS, but I think that might say something about his ability in pass coverage...

On offense however, the video produces near McGuffie-level "wow" IME. Not only that, the guy is a touchdown machine. Junior stats (per rivals) count 23 TDs on only 106 carries. A TD on nearly every fourth carry??? again, wow. After seeing his moves in the offensive highlights, and knowing that as a high school LB he didn't shy away from contact, I actually really like him on offense.

ALSO: Kid only caught 6 passes as a junior, but went for 246 yards and half of those catches were TDs

Three words: EX PLO SIVE

Hennessy all around!

Now if only they can get the money from the state to build the new library...

I'm so freaking jealous of your |point total|

Nick Saban has been negged 700+ times in the last hour and a half, and, personally, I have only negged him on this thread.

Anyone care to talk about the GAME???
Great throw from Iciek to Smolen for a grand valley TD

Makes me more valuable to the workforce than a message board troll. And I dont have my degree. Yet. I am done responding to your posts.

Besides a starting RB with some legal trouble and a few D1 caliber recruits who couldn't cut it academically?

Some links, perhaps?
It cant be half as bad at GVSU as the thugs 80 miles east in EL. Who recruited some of those guys? Oh, right, Nick Saban.

Yeah he's had legal troubles before. GVSU takes these kids because Allendale is in the middle of nowhere and it is actually really difficult to find trouble there. Some kids are a lost cause and find it regardless. Someone has to give kids a chance, though

M Defensive backfield of my 2010 dreams (everyone living up to their potential)
CB: Warren plays like senior all american
CB: Turner plays like the 5* talent he is
Nickel CB: Christian
Deep Safety: Woolfolk makes plays with blazing speed
Box Safety: M.Robinson plays better than Williams
4th in B11Ten in pass efficiency D

More probable (Warren Leaves):
CB:Woolfolk plays solidly
CB:Turner shows off his talent, but plays like a freshman at times
Nickel CB: Christian
Deep Safety: Kovacs or a Frosh
Box Safety: Mike Williams again
9th in the B11Ten in PED

Cosigned

I've said this before, but it's especially scary how he finds/develops his QBs. Cullen Finnerty, who won two or three NCs at DII Grand Valley is in the NFL, then he recruited Dan LeFevour at Central. When he came to Cinci, Tony Pike was 5th string or something like that. Pike would be a heisman finalist if he had been healthy all year. I, too, am terrified of the idea of Brian Kelly at ND

Rodriguez acted swiftly in the Feagin case.

There aren't any infractions, it is a witch hunt.

Would you have beat Michigan without Glenn Winston this year?

And what facts are you talking about? An angry gang of large men raged into a dorm room and beat the hell out of women and engineering students... er... women

The reason we are all bitching about Dantonio is because these players have been suspended and will probably be back just in time for the bowl game.

or, like, ever

FRONT PAGE?

I was thinking more along the lines of Urban coaching QBs and calling plays but I suppose those two could be interchangable

A win over Pitt will almost certainly allow Cinci to jump TCU in the BCS. After that, all it would take for Cinci play for a MNC would be for Texas to lose and for the SEC title game to be a bit lopsided. Highly unlikely? Yes. Impossible? most definitely not.

Trying my best to avoid redundant "Dileo" joke...

... Not named Ricardo Miller

There are lots of 2011 guys "interested" in M on this list
I know it doesnt mean much to be listed in the "schools of interest" on scout, but it appears RR is targeting defense again this year:

5* DT Tim Jernigan
4* WR Arnett
4* DE Jadeveon Clowney
4* MLB Lawrence Thomas
4* CB Doran Grant
4* OLB Trey DePriest
4* WR DaVaris Daniels
4* DE Jalen Grimble
4* S Karlos Williams
4* QB Cristian LeMay
4* QB Braxton Miller
4* DT Kevin McReynolds
4* WR Jarvis Landry
4* OT Christian Westerman

It's early in the process, but all of those guys have Michigan listed in "schools of interest." That seems like a lot of highly rated guys to me... yay

They almost beat Cinci a few weeks back.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but that's my good friend in that video... We talk trash all year long leading up to The Game, but lately I havn't had much to say. It would be nice for that to change this year.

Mouton (definitely)
Moundros (almost definitely)
Wright (probably)
Sheridan (probably)

Wow. Fail.

Jabba recruits defensive players?

You weren't even close on that one.
The name issue was cleared up weeks ago
"Cornelus"
Cornelius
Conelius

I think many people have forgotten that RVB was being hyped like crazy at DE going into this season. He was forced to move inside because of depth issues, but DE is his true position.

If Campbell mans up and locks down the Nose, allowing Martin to move over to the 3-tech DT (where he is better suited, IME), then RVB loses a bit of his DT bulk from this year, gets faster, and slides out to his true position.

Of course, this depends heavily on Campbell stepping up. If Campbell is who we think he can be next year, then RVB will be all conference at DE.

Or does the guy wearing the costume look a little like Urban Meyer + 10 years?

EDIT: Maybe not that much older, but could definitely be related.

I know Scout tends to hand out a LOT more fifth stars than Rivals. Could the relatively high frequency of 5* players on scout versus rivals have anything to do with the discrepancy? The two sites obviously have different standards for 5* players.
Currently, rivals has 21 5* players and scout has 50.
I like your analysis, but I think we would get a better feel for which recruiting site is more accurate buy lumping together all the 4* and 5* and figuring out which site is more likely to overrate a player. This would require some kind of metric to define a player as a bust. Now I'm just rambling. Anyways, just my $.02

EDIT: Maybe you could judge a player's "true rating" by their draft position in the NFL?

If RR has tricks up his sleeve, this is the week to use them. All of them. We need THIS win. If we had beaten Illinois last week, I would have been fine saving the tricks for OSU, but we need to get to 6 wins. If we dont beat purdue, then I don't see us making a bowl game. If we beat purdue, then that confidence MIGHT create a surge to knock off Wiscy or OSU.
Bring out all the stops RR, and assure us (at least) of a mini road trip to motown.

Denard is not a starting QB right now. He is an extraordinarily gifted athlete, and that works very well for him in his current role: a CHANGE OF PACE QB. A starting QB needs to be able to break down a defense. He's got the arm, but he's not mentally ready to be a starting QB yet.

He'll start at MIKE next year and Obi will replace Graham at DE

Chris Martin attempting to set the record for the number of times he can say the word "football" during a football broadcast.

Normal human being: "on defense"
Chris Martin: "on the defensive side of the FOOTBALL"
he tries to insert the word "football" any place he possisbly can. Good analyst, knows his stuff, but a terribly annoying speech pattern, IME

This is almost as annoying as Larivee's ability to pronounce names (second only to Pam Ward)

But, I agree with you, MH20, there is that silver lining...

"Coaches can't catch the ball for Koger"

or Roundtree
or Grady(19)
EDIT: I forgot about Martell "Bricks for Hands" Webb
or throw the ball for Denard and Tate
or hang on to the ball for Denard
or hang on to the ball for Carlos Brown

Seriously, you can't blame fumbles/interceptions/dropped passes on the coaches. Time and time again, RR put in the right call, and a first down catch was dropped. Credit PSU's defense for stripping the football. Not one of those four turnovers were the coaches' fault. Interceptions happen with frosh QBs

Since Warren is most likely gone next year, I really hope Woolfolk can continue to develop on the way he played against Iowa. I think he clearly cemented himself as a good #2 corner with potential lockdown ability. (Was anyone else wowed by his PBU when he fought the ball out of McNutt's hands the whole way to the ground?) I also think Woolfolk had something to do with Stanzi throwing more at Warren than any other QB to date. I guess I'll wait for Brian's UFR, but I thought Woolfolk played a hell of a game at corner

Did OSU not storm the field?

Absolutely. Tate needs to rest up and get healthy, and Denard really needs the experience. Part of Denard's apparent inability to pass the ball any considerable distance has got to be his trust in his receivers. Even if he throws 2-3 INTs (which I don't think he will, even if he plays the entire game) on Saturday, he should complete some longer passes and start to gain confidence in his receivers and himself.

If Tate is cleared to play, let him get some reps to stay sharp (he is still our guy, after all), but I hope to see DRob start and DRob finish this game

His resume speaks for itself.
Everywhere he has been, he has won a lot and found NFL level QB talent. Even at DII Grand Valley State (where he won 2 national titles, and his recruits won 2 more after he left for central), he drew Cullen Finnerty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cullen_Finnerty) away from Toledo to play for GVSU; he's now in the NFL. He recruited LeFevour at Central, who is a future NFL pick, and now he's turned Tony Pike into one of the scariest passers in the country. His recruiting ability should be of no concern to anyone. In fact, after LC announced he was retiring, I was screaming for Brian Kelly here at M (nothing against Rodriguez, I love the direction he's got us moving now)

In conclusion, you're entitled to your opinion, but you're wrong about Kelly. He's a damn good coach, and as long as he is there, Cincy will be a team to be reckoned with

Also, on topic with the OP, I would be ecstatic if Cincy joined the B10

Porcello is looking good right now...
He has retired the last 7 batters, 4 by strikeouts

of buckeye "class" in the video in my signature.
Sorry I don't know how to embed

They are the least impressive 5-0 team in the country. As much as I hate watching Florida win, They are going to win at LSU by 2 TDs without Tebow, 3TDs if Tebow plays

He's a stud LB from Connecticut

He has come up with some big catches in his young career, but I don't ever recall him having a huge GAME. I think he's due for one. 5 catches, 90 yds, and a TD this game for Koger, and a crushing block to spring Carlos for a long TD.

MSU has 3 legit recievers. Unless the DLine can sack Cousins/Nichol every time they drop back, we will need to have better-than-terrible coverage from Cissoko and/or Floyd.

The good news is that it seems like Mike Williams is good to go, so we will probably see much less Kovacs this game.