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To be fair, Alabama does have to play itself every week in practice.

But do we absolutely need a SAM in this class? Could Marshall or even Shallman be able to fill that role? Is the 2015 class look to be loaded at the position? It'd be a (minor) blemish on an otherwise epic defensive class that could have a monster DL and a monster secondary.

I took a graduate course in algebra from Phil Hanlon while I was at Michigan. I did my PhD thesis to extend the cocycle super-rigidity theory of Robert Zimmer (president of the University of Chicago). I love seeing these mathematicians leading such fine universities.

Amen. The year I won the office pool was actually only slightly more fun than the year I missed the deadline to submit a bracket and just had fun watching upsets and rooting for all the cinderellas.

This is the part where I say that I don't care about moral victories and whatnot. I only care about the fact that with a 4 point lead with under a minute and in clear foul to salvage any hope territory of the game, we couldn't make a god damn free throw. Not McGary, not Hardaway, not POY Burke. We didn't need all of them. We only needed two god damn free throws, at home, with the B1G for the second year on the line. Whether we deserved to be up by 4 with seconds to go is irrelevant. All I'll remember is that we needed two god damn free throws and we didn't get them.

Two free throws and a backbone against Penn State and we'd be sitting atop the B1G alone. I don't care how long we were in the wilderness, this team had the talent to be champions, and champions make free throws and don't loose to league basement dwellers! There is no sugar coating this loss, or drawing moral victories from this season short of a final 4 run, IMO.

At a certain point, satisfaction with career and legacy mean more than a few million to a guy who's worth that much. I'm not Tom Brady rich, not even close, but I pass up high paying jobs all the time because I make enough to be part of the 1%, but value my career enough to stay where I'm at because I actually like my employe and job.

The experiment is to compare Penn State to several controll groups or schools over the last 30 years to see if joining the B1G had an appreciable effect on its research budget. One could also compare the CIC schools before and after PSU joined against other AAU or broader control groups to see if PSU joining had an effect on existing members. Small sample, yes, but PSU it could still be enough to rule out the null hypothesis at some meaningful confidence level. If I can find individual school research budget data, I'll do the analysis at the next bank holiday.

It's always possible that the answer is simple if unsatisfying. Delaney tells B1G presidents that 16 team superconferences are inevitable, and that it's better to be the first to 16 than the last. Presidents say if we have to expand, can we get closer to being the public Ivy? Delaney looks at the list of poachable AAU schools, sees that there are a few in nice fat TV markets, and says that he can probably do that. Everyone is blissfully unaware that the final B1G has a research footprint that could make it a force to be reconed with if it ever became self aware. It's possible. It just wouldn't be very smart.

From the University of Maryland itself...

While no one is arguing that membership in the CIC was the primary motivation behind Maryland’s conference swap, it played “an essential and significant role,” in the decision, said Brian Ullmann, Maryland’s assistant vice president for communications and marketing.

Ullmann, the Maryland spokesman, stressed the importance of future research opportunities stemming from the CIC.

“When big grantmaking institutions, whether it’s the government or a foundation, when they’re giving out research dollars or grants, almost always those are given to multi-institutional groups,” Ullmann said. “It’s very rare that you get a large grant that just goes to the University of Maryland. Being a part of an $8 billion research enterprise we think will ultimately generate new incremental research funding for the university.

Link:

http://cnsmaryland.org/2012/12/04/maryland-set-to-join-big-ten-academic-alliance/

So you may be right, maybe the research dollars and CIC membership isn't the number one motivator for expansion (it's still athletic dollars), but it certainly seems like CIC membership and research $$ is a real part of the equation.

I definitely appreciate the first hand input you provide. I'm happy to admit that I may have overestimated the effect of AAU membership as an explicit force in the peer review funding process.

That said, direct earmarks for universities totals about $2 billion dollars (Link). That's not chump change, and it is undeniably politically motivated. I linked a study by an U of Illinois professor who looked at the funding allocation process who concluded that as much as 40% of the money is influenced by congressional representation through district affiliation or by alumni status. The study is more about the appropriations committee itself, than about general members of congress, but my thinking was that after the B1G adds Rutgers and Maryland, and then maybe two of UVA, UNC or GT to the fold, it would be adding a total of 45 congressmen and 8 senators to the list of potential govt benefactors. That would bring congressional representation to about 25% of the house and 25% of the senate. That's some clout if the B1G can get it to work together.

I totally grant you that congressmen aren't calling NSF to make sure Prof. Xavier gets his $300k request to fund his telekenisis study, but the study I linked to in the post still seems to suggest that congress can funnel money where it wants. Maybe as you say it's more general reallocation of funds, but I'm sure Barbara Mikulski pushes for NIH to get more money, she knows Johns Hopkins is getting another $100 mil.

I'd also say that it's not just my opinion I'm going on. Mary Sue Coleman has said publicly that she thinks schools like the University of Michigan should recieve special treatment by the federal government to step in and make up for failing state funding. That schools like Michigan are so important to the country as established research institutions, that the federal government should make sure that the population trends shouldn't be allowed to lead it into slow decline with its home state. Now, if the President of the University of Michigan says that in public, you can bet that all the other B1G presidents echo it. And if she is saying it publicly, she is lobbying congress with the same message. And it certainly would help matters if she could align with other top public research schools to amplify the message.

This may not be part of the expansion calculus at all, but Delaney has said that the university presidents want expansion to be restricted to good research schools. So even if I'm wrong about why, the reputation score still applies. 

Yeah, the score probably over penalizes a Pitt for belonging to a state already "covered" by the CIC. I'm sure the politics is more nuanced, and I debated trying to normalize a state by how many ways political influence would have to be split. I also thought about how to include appropriations committee membership, as that clearly has an effect, but couldn't think of a good way to do it. There is also the idea that the political influence has to be split between a state's AAU members and non-members. Virginia would rank higher if I considered how many AAU members a school shares a state with, since it is the sole AAU member in VA, and Syracuse would lose most of it's luster, since it shares NY with Cornell, NYU, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Stony Brook and Columbia.

The overall conclusion of the analysis doesn't change much either way though. The ACC is a richer target than the Big 12, Pitt is still doesn't add much, Texas is still aces, and Florida State would be a top target if it were a solid AAU member. The point was that by going for a congressional district rich southern states just makes a lot more sense than targeting more midwest or northeast states. 

Also, the score doesn't measure research dollars that come from private sources. The research triangle is a very attractive property to add to the CIC. If it takes both Duke and North Carolina to deliver it, then it's probably worth it.

Ultimately, I'd guess that the target list is UVA, UNC, GT, and Duke, in that order, and the B1G would take all four if it could.

True, but then I acknowledged that Nebraska wasn't a great fit for the CIC, and got in because it was a premium football brand. Nebraska was Jim Delaney, not Mary Sue Coleman.

The post tries to explain some the motiviation for adding Rutgers and Maryland and other ACC targets. Nebraska was a premium football brand that got the B1G to 12 teams, allowing a conference championshipe, etc. There's no doubt that it was added for mainly athletic reasons. It got through the CIC approval gauntlet because it was AAU at the time, but there has been some rumor that it wouldn't have if it had lost AAU status before. That some university presidents are having enough buyers remorse to rethink how active they should be in the strategy is not that big a stretch, really.

Plus, I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I'm pretty sure the corollary is never attribute to stupidity, that which can adequately be explained by bribery.

You'll be doing a victory dance over the blood stained white suit you were wearing the night you and a few thug friends stabbed a couple other thugs to death at a night club after the Super Bowl in 2000? Interesting. 

And she spends her off time in Melbourne? My mother lives in Melbourne. I need to start visiting my mother more often.

Nah. The pope was following Manti's lead, coming out to say that the concept of God is the biggest case of Catfishing in history.

Agreed. With Meyer recruiting more out of SEC country and being a spread guy, we have to get used to more grew up an Ohio fan but didn't get an offer from Ohio, so choose Michigan because we're still a major power in their back yard. Are we supposed to let ND have these guys because we can't stand a Michigan player having positive residual feelings about the school birthplace made it highly likely they would grow up liking. It's a little embarrressing how some Michigan fans reacted to this. People need to keep this all in perspective.

You should watch the ESPN "it's not crazy, it's sports commercial" about the Man U vs Man City fans. Then you should remember that a 4 year scholarship is worth about $120,000. Then you will understand why what you just said is stupid.



Forget football, if my son got a full ride to OSU, but would have to pay to go to Michigan, I would tell him he was stupid to not take the schollie.

Or they thought a speight in the hand was better than a cronwell in the bush. Or he Borges just gets along with speight better. The coaches don't have to disagree with the recruiting sites to have made the offer they did.

Ram Big Red IPA while out at a (smallish) chain micro brew restaurant.

Jim Harbaugh, amending the topic slightly to coaches. I can't express how much I wish we had hired Harbaugh instead of Rich Rod. Turns both Stanford and San Fran around. Guy knows how to compete and coach. Bare cupboard or no, Harbaugh plus Mallet would'nt have done worse than 8-4, and would've been BCS bound in 2008, and NC contenders by 2010.



I love Hoke, but would trade him for Harbaugh plus no RichRod fiasco six days a week, and twice on Sunday.

Can't stop wondering if Woodson could have made the difference containing McNabb to start the '98 season. Could we have repeat as NC with Woodson back?

University of Chicago is rejoining? Now that is news.

JUCOs are there for academic reasons, that don't often improve enough for UMs standards. Ohio's standards are less of a problem.

and if Clowney had been half a step faster, it wouldn't have mattered if Ron Dayne was in the game, Clowney would've taken the handoff himself for the first ever handoff pick 6.

Insider hype has been positive on Rawls, but that hasn't panned out. I hope you're right, that Kalis is legit, but I can't shake the feeling that he wasn't redshirted because they wanted to save his eligibility. He obviously wasn't ready to beat out Barnum or Omaheh. Since they were not all that great, that says something. If the hype hadn't been that he was a college ready freshman, I wouldn't be concerned, but it was, and he wasn't.

If there is an impact on Derrick Green's recruitment, I'd think it would have a lot more to do with the things it says about a program that a top half of the first round draft pick would come back out of loyalty to his school, his coaches, and his teamates. Find me a guy like Taylor who'd make the same choice for a school like Auburn, Tennessee or Miami (YTM).

With Lewan back, and the coaches now seemingly aware of his decision for some time, the late year desire to add more OL is bad news, IMO. I've read some people say it's because Chris Fox tore an ACL, but unless it's a career ending injury, I don't buy it. He was getting a redshirt year anyway, so there's plenty of time for him to recover and compete for playing time. What makes a lot more sense is that the coaches have dropped the career potential expectations of some of the 2012 OL commits. Since the coaches seem to be targeting more guards, I can only assume they don't feel comfortable with either Kalis or Bryant, or both.

If we see Schofield at guard this year with Braden at RT, its going to mean whichever of Kalis or Bryant that isn't at the other guard spot is not going to be an option going forward. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see another explanation.

Ask me again after we know if Green is going Blue and we know if Toussaint is going to be back, and if Miller puts on the weight he needs, and if Kalis looks good in Spring ball, and Bryant isn't carrying a lot of bad weight in August...



Lewan back could be huge, but only if Kalis, Bryant and Miller are real upgrades at guard and center, and a RB treat actually emerges. Otherwise, all Lewan returning is going to do is allow Gardner a little more time to run around before he is sacked. No run game = Death, and Lewan and Schofield can't block everybody.



I was 8-4 before, and I'm 8-4 until I see some evidence that we can produce more than 2ypc on the ground without Denard.

Haha! ND band laying theme from back to the future. Yes, only time travel will return ND to glory.

+1

The NHL season has always been at least two months too long anyway. I mean, hockey from Mid-October to mid-June is a bit much. Half the league makes the playoff anyway, so losing two months off the regular season isn't a bad thing, IMO.

Yeah but, it's January. You go visity USC, UCLA, Miami (YTM) or something. Places that are warm, have hot chicks, and have been known to have boosters who like to have a layer of hundred dollar bills in their hand when they shake yours so they don't get your germs, and who know said hot chicks and can set up a little one on one time if you like. You don't go to Ann Arbor Michigan in January unless you've got serious interest.

If he steps foot on a football field again, this year or next, then he's a braver man than I. Having my foot almost ripped off probably would have been it for me.

Somebody needs to go through every snap of every game Denard played and compile the stat that tracks how many yards Denard had running while missing a shoe. I bet he has that FBS record hands down.

No. There is no job that Brady can offer him that will pay NFL DC money, doubly so with Mattison at the helm of the D at Michigan. I'd tell my brother to stay in the NFL if it were me.

And missing the playoffs is missing the playoffs. Hell, I'd rather have Detroit's record if they were going to miss the playoffs so they could up their draft stock high enough to take Lewan.

I think he ends up in this class. Just becuase the kid doesn't tweet #GoBlue! every other tweet doesn't mean he doesn't really want to go to Michigan and keeps looking for a reason to go elsewhere. He sounds to me like a kid who's trying to not make an emotional decision, but a rational one based on playing time and program mix that gives him the best shot at making it to the NFL and where he feels comfortable being. Every recruiting expert seems to agree that Michigan makes the most sense for him based on his own stated factors, and Green has named Michigan his leader and said there really isn't a number 2. 

Now, It's true that emotion can trump rational decision making, but up to now Green hasn't seemed to have that emotional connection to any program that would make him throw his rational process out the window. This definitely includes Michigan (or he would have committed already), but as others have said, it also includes all the other programs he's seen. I just don't see any other school really generating that emotion, so when all is said and done, I think he goes blue. 

Does that mean only 3 can participate in spring practice? Would a kid want to EE if there was no spring practice? I guess you could get some coursework out of the way, but I thought spring practice was the draw. Also, do the backdated scholies count against eligibility? Is it effectively burning a redshirt? Sorry, just ignorant of this aspect of recruiting.

All respect to the cadets, but this bowl pits 6-6 air force against 6-6 rice. Nobody should watch this abomination of a bowl game.

So you want to go back to a time when the input from the players didn't matter, and they had to entertain you on your terms, not theirs? Got it.

Don't forget, he launched a D1 lacrosse program at a time when other schools (cough..Maryland...cough) are cutting back.

If BTN collapses, a lot of Michigan fans would pay for Michigan only streaming coverage. DB doesn't set B1G policy, so it's not a fair criticism anyway. Also, asset markets collapse, not markets for entertainment. People have claimed the collapse of pro sport prices for a long time, but it ain't happening. DB didn't create the moar money strategy. He was hired to execute it.

So the kids who are performing for your entertainment shouldn't have a say? So you want a large, complex organization to run itself and field respectable teams, all so you can watch and be entertained, and you don't want to pay for it? Give me a break.

The marijuana statement is a canard. Comparing mild modifications to uniforms to illegal activity is dishonest. By your logic, no parent should allow their kid to pick out their own clothes because giving in to their fashion demands is equivalent to giving in to their drug use demands. Just dumb.

I didn't realize Dave Brandon was a trickster. I thought he was an athletic director whose knowledge of income statements has never really been in doubt until you brought it up.

Kids...As in the kids who are on scholarship and wear them on the actual field and stuff. DB has repeatedly said that the jerseys are popular with the current players on the team, that they want to wear them. He's also said that the jersey line item on the athletic department income statement is actually very small after the retailer and addidas get their cut, so contrary to popular belief, it ain't about selling more jerseys.

As an alum, I feel I have a stake in how the team represents my alma mater, but that takes a backseat to the players on the team right now. The alternative jerseys haven't been my cup of tea, but it's a stretch to say they refelect poorly on the university as a whole, so I have to respect their choices.

Maybe if you weren't a gramma nazi you'd know you used a double negative.

/Boom Grammar Nazi Nazi'd

Not sure how many guys submit to draft advisory board if they're not interested in taking their shot if then answer is "high first round".

Arrington + Manningham = Massington?

A Texas home and home would be awesome. I have a buddy in San Antonio and my company has an office in Austin, so I'd go for sure.

What happened was we became ND fans.

ND can't be independent if CFB goes to 4 super conferences with guaranteed tie ins to a 4 team playoff. It has said so much itself. If B1G takes UVA and UNC, and SEC grabs VT and Clemson, the ACC will implode. FSU and GT will go to Big XII, and the ACC will literally be filled with ex big east members. ND will be forced into the Big XII, and have to share power with Texas. If ND joins ACC as a full member, it can hold FSU and replace UVA and VT with WVU and other Big XII schools. The PAC, SEC and B1G might grab some Big XII members, forcing Texas and Oklahoma to join PAC.



In other words, there's no room for five super conferences in a 4 team playoff.

Rumors already that VaTech and SEC are making eyes at each other. If VT goes to SEC, Virginia to B1G is a done deal.

AAU membership + New TV markets will drive the inevitable expansion to 16. This means the B1G targets next will be Virginia and UNC, followed by Duke and Pitt as backup plans. I can't remember who, but I wouldn't count out Toronto either. Syracuse is a distant option.

If Michigan really does see a boosting revenue from TV expansion into NYC and DC markets, the benefit would be to ensure Michigan never has to become a Maryland. Bank the money for the future in case Michigan demographic change in ways that threaten the sports teams stability.

If the Leaders and Legends teach us one thing, it's that the B1G cared about competitive balance when it formed the divisions. An East division with OSU, Mich, PSU, MSU would be heavily lopsided. It'll never happen that way. Swap OSU for NW, and your East/West proposal might work.

As for names, I'm thinking we're going to dump Leaders and Legends for Masters and Comanders.

5/4ths of grammar mavens have trouble with fractions.

I think the Mathlete diary on the value of a 5 star should be mandatory reading on MGo.

"On offense dreams of 5 star skill position players are fun, but coaching, player development, system and luck play a much bigger role in future success than they do on defense."

The piece last week on Borges philosophy on offense plus the Mathlete's actual data based justification puts the recruiting in a perspective that gives me a lot of confidence that we're going to do just fine even if we don't ever land that "elite" skill position player (except at QB, where we have Shane and a OC whose been very picky about who he's giving a 2014 offer to). Amazingly, the Mathlete's study shows that QB is the only offensive position where 5-stars really correlates to team success.

Just thinking about lining up any three of Dukes, York, Jones, Chesson, or Darboh, in a trips package, with Butt or Funchess at TE and Shallman, Houma, Smith, Rawls, or Green (maybe?) at back just leaves me tingling with anticipation. For all the Borges is so predictable talk, with that personell he could run a dozen different plays that capitalize a dozen different ways on the slightly different advantage each brings to the table, and the defense would have zero keys to play off of.

I'm really excited for Da'Mario, because as I understand it, he's worked his tail off compensating for the run heavy team he was on by putting in extra hours and traveling every weekend to work with his uncle. That's the kind of kid I want in a winged helmet and who's likely to succeed in a Borges offense. Lots of guys like that and a QB who can throw to anywhere on the field and run through progressions is as good a recipe for success as I can imagine.

Mark Andrews has an offer for 2014 and is 6'6". Derek kief is likely to get one and is 6'5". I think Borges wants a tall, physical receiver. He also seems to want a big, bruising back. They seem to want to recruit multiple guys at the same size to maximize the odds one of them works out.

Remember when Denard was asked to pass a lot and everyone was like "WTF Borges?!" and "Enough with the arm punts, just have Denard run the damn ball!!!" and some people were like, "maybe running Denard that much will lead to injury" only to be shouted down by lizard brains who couldn't comprehend how much worse this offense would be if Denard got injured (what could be worse than 4 INTs in a non-conference game, amirite?)? Yeah, me either.

Yep. Schools will only take this seriously once ex-players start suing for malpractice.

You win, Borges has never run any zone reads or bubble "laser" screens, nor helped the team to a BCS win. Clearly, there is an idiot in the room.

I like it when people call me a colossal idiot while simultaneously making my point. Up vote for you. So you say RR was hired to run the spread, came in and did exactly that with no apology? Gee, sounds a lot like what I just said. I guess that makes us both colossal idiots.



Borges was brought in to run a pro-style offense, and has still tried to adapt to Denard and his reward is to be apportioned blame weekly by idiots like you despite delivering you all a BCS bowl win and a victory over Ohio and Sparty, instead of a 3 win season. So yeah, criticizing RR while cutting Borges some slack on the evaluation period is defensible if you have half a brain.

The difference is that Borges is trying to adapt. He may be doing a poor job of it because he's not a spread guru, but he's trying. And when his attempts to force too much of his perferred scheme on Denard have failed, he's backed off. Finally, and most importantly, he and Hoke worked hard to keep Denard here.

RR let Mallet go without a fight and said, "F@*# you pro-style guys, there's a new sheriff in town, and he runs the spread!". There's a big difference between that and a guy who never claimed to be good at running the spread, trying and failing. I'll give the latter guy more of a pass.

It always tells me a lot about whether to take a Borges critic seriously or not in how they talk about Auburn and about his ability to run the offense with his current players. Discounting Borges skill becasue he had players who could execute, and then criticising his skill when he has players who can't execute, is a straw man. You can't have it both ways, and to his credit, Brian seems to get this. If you want to discount Auburn because he had great players, fine, but you then have to throw out things like this year where he doesn't have the personel. If you're the type of person that discounts every good year Borges has had, and don't let him off the hook for any of the bad ones, you've clearly got an axe to grind and are too biased to take seriously.

Given the level of offensive recruits coming in so far, the reality is that the plan at Michigan going forward is to return to a pro style offense that's executed by NFL level talent, and to use that personel advantage to beat your opponent. In that case, all you need is an OC who's capable of not screwing that recipe up. Borges has shown he can do that. Take a look at USC and Texas if you want some evidence that having that having an OC who can get a team full of NFL talent to go undefeated isn't a lot harder than it sounds. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if an underperforming USC doesn't make him an offer to take their NFL laden squad and guide it to an undefeated season like he did at Auburn.

Cannot wait till Alabama destroys Oregon in the NC game so the spread crazies can try and rationalize it. Should be most entertaining.

Yeah, let's fire a competent pro style OC right after our spread QB graduates and our 5 star pro style QB starts his college career. Then we can be just like ND. In case people forgot, Borges did call a good game plan against Alabama and ND, if Denard had been Tom Brady. Even Brian conceded this. Now you want to fire him when Tom Brady 2.0 is about to enroll at Michigan? Can we fire you?

Yeah, because Urban inherited the absolute worst fit for a spread style QB to run his offense in Braxton Miller. But hey, lets fire Borges just as Denard is graduating and his pro style 5 star is about to arrive.

Anything that relieves stress and temporarily makes you forget about life is potentially addictive.

Sad to hear about Treadwell's uncle passing away. Sort of puts his visit cancel in proper context.

Not sure what to make out of the sudden silence from Green post visit. Sounds like he's hunkered down with his family after an extended visit. Rumors out of Auburn are that Jordan Wilkins might be considering a flip to Vandy. Auburn is a dumpster fire this year, but that would leave Green a very good shot at an early starting role on a high profile SEC team with decent OL recruiting recently. Gotta think he's about to make a decision one way or the other.

That, and that bubble screenz just are Borges strong suit. Denard is who he is as a passer, and Borges is who he is as a playcaller.

17 UM - 6 MSU

Go SeaWolves!

I didn't say calling PA was a good idea, just that we didn't lose because Borges called it. We lost because a senior QB threw the ball to the other team. If Denard had zero turnovers, and we had lost because Denard kept throwing the ball away on PA passes because he just couldn't be the pocket passer Borges likes, I'd blame Borges. but we didn't. We lost because Denard threw the ball to the other team.

I get the Mallet running the spread comparison, but it's wrong. The correct analogy is if RR had run Mallet in the spread, and we lost, not because Mallet got tackled because he was slow, but that Mallet couldn't make the Zone reads and had 4 unforced fumbles.

"If it's not the structure of the offense, what is it? Is Denard in Flowers for Algernon?"

Asking a QB to line up under center and execute a play action pass is really not supposed to be asking too much. Even if it's not his strength, he should still be capable of throwing the ball away when under pressure, because obviously. The problem isn't that Borges is a bad OC, it's that Denard is a bad quarterback.

Saying that it is Borges fault that he can't work around Denards glaring deficiencies as a QB is like saying it's the wife's fault that her husband cheated when she let him go on that business trip because everyone knows the dude always cheats when he goes on business trips.

Wrong, because Carr would've had him run PA. He might have gone down as one of the best RBs in Michigan history though.

I pray Oregon plays Alabama in the MNC game. It will be so entertaining to read the creative excuses that Brian tries to come up with to defend the spread after 'Bama eviscerates the Ducks.

Reading this post, I couldn't help but think of that song about what to do when your girlfriend catches you cheating.

-"She caught you creepin' on the bathroom floor."

-"It wasn't me."

The only real criticism of Borges I have is that he didn't bench Denard for at least a series. Not in punishment, but just to calm him down. This loss was mainly on Denard trying to win the game on one play, every time. Even the horrible biased NBC announcers were like, "dude, it's ok to punt the ball sometimes".

Denard shoulders most of the blame for the loss. Defending him by shifting primary blame to Borges is supreme Denard homerism.

No, 5 TDs and one 2 point conversion.

MSU struggled to put up,points on a bad Boise State Defense. ND shutting down State doesn't say much about ND. Maxwell got sacked when the pocket collapsed on the blitz, Denard would've taken that over pursuit to the house. Transitive law inapplicability and all that, but ND struggled against Purdue, and while the laid it on Navy, so did the pathetic Penn State offense. This game makes me a LOT more confident against Sparty. Their D is still good, but we should still be able to put up 21 or 24 against them, and I now doubt they'll score more than 17.



I agree ND is due... due to have their hopes crushed yet again. Their secondary is going to get Funchised. I think our O Line will finally start to play to their potential, even though Teo will have a few nice plays. Our D has some issues, but our offense looks like it has all the pieces to be potent once everyone just settles into a rhythm.

White corn is almost always labeled as such at the supermarket. Yes corn can be many colors, but if you ask people what color corn is, they'll say yellow, not burnt orange. Personally, I'd rather highlighter yellow over burnt orange.

Bingo! People need to think more in terms of MBA student getting a hiring offer in the fall before graduation. The company can yank that offer anytime, and the smart MBA never stops looking for something better. I want my employees committed, but I also want them to know my offer was a fair one.

So RichRod struggles against MAC teams, and has an offense that looks dangerous in September against teams with no run D. Hmmmm..... Where have I heard this before.

You could have had to UFR a RichRod approved 3-3-5 defense. If having RR here to utilize Denard better would've resulted in Michigan gaining an extra 35 yards on the ground, having RR here would've given Alabama another 10,000 yards on the ground.

The team Michigan faced Saturday would've beaten RichRod's best WVU team by 70.

#HowEasilyWeForget

It wouldn't matter one bit if Rich Rod were running the offense. Alabama was going to crush any run based offense, especially a run based spread like Rich Rod devised. Borges wasn't trying to use Dendard the way RR would have because it stood NO chance of working.

Just take a look at the box score for the 2010 Alabama-Auburn game. It is eeirily similar to the Michigan-Alabama game. Cam Newton had 39 yards on 22 attempts! Heisman trophy winner Cam Newton playing in an offense designed for his talents. Running uber athlete and dual threat Cam Newton got Auburn exactly dick.

The score was 21-0 in the first quarter, and was on pace for a major beat down of Auburn, and exited the half up 24-0, having utterly stymied Auburn with Feet of Newton during the first half. You know how the eventual National Champs beat Alabama? Ingram and McElroy fumbled preventing the Tide from scoring twice more in the first half. Cam started throwing short dink and dunk passes in the second half, mixed with a few bombs that went for scores. His feet were only a positive on broken plays.

The difference between National Champion Auburn and Michigan is that Cam was 13-20 passing with 0 INTs and Auburn had 0 lost fumbles, while Alabama lost two fumbles that both were in the red zone, costing Alabama 6-14 points. If 'Bama doesn't lose those two fumbles and scores TD's, and if Cam had thrown an ugly TD pick 6, the score of that game would have been 41-21, and that's with Auburn's D adjusting to hold 'Bama to just 3 points in the second half.

I was initially pissed with the Borges game plan, but now I realize he just looked at the Auburn game and decided that the only hope was to try and have Denard beat 'Bama with his arm the way Newton did. He probably realized the chances were small, but better than trying to poke the bear, which trying to run Denard on Alabama was.

You clearly never watched Tishmanga Biakabatuka run up 300+ yards on Ohio. We were heavy underdogs in that game.

A Michigan man defuses hype with statistics. Love it.

Anyway, what's missing from this is the other side of the coin, namely how each offense stacked up against opposing defenses. How well Michigan stacks up against Alabama, and whether we are unfairly being labeled a huge dog in the game, is really dependent on an unbiased look at how our offense stacked up against solid defenses (you can claim 'Bama's D wasn't as epic as it would seem, but they were still a top D, and will still be a top 25 D when we play them), as well as a look at the reverse, how did 'Bama's offense do against a Michigan caliber D.

'Bama struggled offensively with Penn State a little. They would've still won, but sans turnovers on PSU's part, 'Bama didn't have a monster offensive output. The same goes for when they faced LSU. A good D that forces their offense to face a long field can hold them to under 24.

Conversely, Michigan's Offense was stymied by ND (1st 3 quarters), MSU, and VT. A good D can cause our offense to sputter. A solid run D can hold michigan to under 24.

I tend to feel that this game will be a low scoring affair. One of 'Bama's main strenghts is their depth, but depth isn't that important in game 1. Everyone will be completely healthy. This game will come down to turnovers (and by association, Denard's passing efficiency). If turnovers go in Michigan's favor, I could easily see Michigan get up by 14, and then hang on to win by 4. If they go in Alabama's favor, I think we end up losing by 10 to 17, depending on if we get some late garbage points or not.

Injuries in football happen, and what happened to Wormley and to Pipkins could happen to anyone on the team, but I do know that tendons, ligaments, and bones of 18 year olds are still maturing, and often don't mature as fast as as skeletal muscle. That's why throwing freshmen on the field is dangerous. They may look college ready, but often the parts that break under stress are not as ready as they need to be.

Based on last year, and his general reputation for drawing up plays, I'm going to say we see a QB-trips formation this year, with Bellomey under center, and Denard and Gardner lined up in the slot and on the outside, respectively. Between flea flickers, HB pass, and reverse and double reverse options that could all at any point be runs or throws, you'll put opposing secondaries into eplileptic shock.

I hope Erik pushes D-Linemen around as well as 4 time World Strongman competition winner Magnus fliped giant construction vehicle tires over.

I like the attitude. It's sad that even when we're trying to be optimistic we're still pessimists. So, if we win, it might be because we got lucky, but what if it's because BWC finds his potential and eats some vaunted Bama OL double teams? What if Denard has RG3 like passing game, and smokes the Bama secondary? What Rawls lives up to his Jacsonian billing and becomes Mark Ingram, only faster? what if Countes has a second year that echos of Woodson? What I'd Darboh has a Watkins like year? Or Gardner does see significant time at WR? What if Nortfleet channels a little Devin Hester? Nobody saw the 1997 team winning it all after an 8-4 season. When we beat Alabama, it will not be a fluke, and commentators will say that the better team did win. We will go to #3, and then when we crush ND we will go to #1. We will cruise through a weak B1G, hammering Nebraska at home, takin a second straight against Ohio, beat Sparty, beat Wiscy in the B1G championship, and play USC for the title.

It didn't have to. Point is that in 2001, Joe wasn't strong enough to survive any allegation that he dropped the ball. It would have been used as over the hill evidence, and he would've been gone. So in 2001, he had motive to cover up.

I initially was for the death penalty, but I agree, it doesn't punish anyone involved, only the innocent. I think vacating all wins since 1998 or 2001, and pulling down JoePa's statue is sufficient. It punishes Joe, and puts a knife in the cult of personality, without taking away from the good things the man did. Also bar him from any hall of fame publicly, like Pete Rose. If that's not enough, dock PSU 10 scholarships for 14 years, with the money being used to establish a permanent sex abuse professor chair in the sociology dept, and ban PSU from having a coach for more than 10 years tenure. That will quell the culture a bit.

As a doctoral degree holder from PSU, and a undergrad Michigan degree, I have a unique perspective, I think. I have a loyalty and respect for Penn State the academic institution, but I'm a wolverine when it comes to sports and the college experience in general. 

The death penalty has some appeal, but I don't think it would work to stop the football is king hysteria at Penn State, so I'm torn about it. Especially if the NCAA levies it, it will just entrench the fanbase even more. No, I think what Penn State needs to do is to publicly repudiate everything that is Joe Paterno and the grand experiment.

Tear down the statue. Remove the name from the Library, and refund the Paterno's money. Vacate all of Joe Paterno's wins. All of them. Every cupcake, every regular season win, every bowl, and both national championships. All of it. Prove once and for all that no one man is bigger than the university. Prove that football is secondary to the academic mission.

This hurts none of the current players, but makes it clear that Penn State is going to make a meaningful break with it's past.

I'm inclined to believe this. Lost Hello posts have April Fool's Day written all over it. If there were such things, we'd have all gotten punk'd by now. Brian seems like the type of guy to screw with us just for the fun of it.

You've got a good point there, but this is pretty cut and dry even for guys like Kiffin and Saban. A second beating up your girlfriend charge is gonna get you kicked off any team if the charges stick, and given Ohio's NCAA troubles lately, it's not hard to see why he would take that approach.

To be more cynical, by adopting a guilty till proven innocent on a 2 deep, Ubz is bolstering a "disciplinarian" rep. Then if he wants to go soft on a guy he likes (Percy Harvin, wink, wink), he'll have a statistical tough guy record to keep criticism sounding partisan.

That said, I'll be flying to Dallas for the 'bama game, and it'll be the only one I get to attend, so winning that one would probably give me a memory that would last a hell of a lot longer than not ending the Sparty losing streak. Sigh.

I agree. Beating 'bama would be nice, but nobody expects us to. Losing by two TDs is not going to hurt us too much reputation wise. ND is usually a toss up game, and I expect even if we lose it'll be close. ND is due statistically, so this again won't hurt too much.

If we then went on to beat two of Sparty, Nebraska, and Ohio, win the legends and the B1G championship game, we'd go to the Rose Bowl. Hoke would have guided us to a 11-3 or 10-4 season with two consecutive BCS appearances. The commentators would be saying that this means Michigan is back, and it would help recruiting enormously. 

On the other hand, if we beat 'bama and ND, but then faded in the B1G, there'd be no end to the RichRod early start-late fade meme, and nobody would be talking about us come bowl time. Or worse, they'd say things like, "they had those great wins over alabama and ND, but then fell apart late in the season." The tone would be of disappointment and missed expectations.

Just don't get blown out by 'bama and ND, win the legends and the B1G championship game, and don't get embarresed in the Rose Bowl, and that would be considered a good season in my book.

Not to be OT, by I was really glad to see you got work in that Clash of the Titans movie. Was sure LoTR had type cast you. Fire breathing Demon to Fire breathing Earth elemental is what I call range.

How does this kid compare to LeMay? Watching his highlight reel, he spends time at WR, CB, and punt returner. He may not be the fastest kid on the field, but he's clear got good hands and good cut ability, otherwise I couldn't see him being the punt returner over LeMay.