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Didn't notice it real-time

In the highlights, as Trey Burke hits the last runner around 3:15, the camera pans left and in the top corner you see one of the cheerleaders power spike her pom pom like she's Brady.  Love it.

Suppose I'll take Minnesota

LOLphers still available?  Ha.  Of course they are...

PSN: JoeyIke

 

No sympathy

I have zero sympathy for you.  I'll be in a remote post in Afghanistan for the duration of the season.  Keep it in perspective, enjoy the game, enjoy your mother-in-law's party, not all of us will be so lucky.

Thanks for the pick-me-up

I just woke up here on my last day of what's been a fairly wonderful year in Korea, and watched the entire mess that took place back home on DVR. What should be a wonderful day of hope and joy and excitement is decidedly not so right now. I came here expecting to see the fan base in full melt down mode, and for the first time in the Rich Rod era, feeling a little unsettled myself. Your post along with the "Why I'm not Panicking" post from lunchboxthegoat have been exactly what I needed to read. I have to agree with his comment that I haven't seen anything schematically that suggests we're not on the right track, which is causing part of the frustration. But I never really thought to compare our talent to elite schools, and your post has really brought me back to earth. We still have a lot of holes, and it's going to take time to patch this program up. Thanks for the perspective. + a bazillion.

I'll bite, again

Point is still valid? I don't think that freshman are going to save the team. I don't think the team will need saving. But to paint all incoming freshman as basically useless is just as much missing the point. Hart, Henne, Woodson, Leon Hall, Anthony Thomas, Marlin Jackson, Manningham (he broke out his sophomore year, but he did have some big plays as a frosh) were all pretty big their first fall on campus.

We're lacking depth just about everywhere on defense, our receivers aren't exactly lighting it up, and we're replacing two senior RBs next year. I think there's ample opportunity for one of these recruits to come in and make a splash. And one player can make a huge difference in the overall play of the team (See Molk, David). If all those guys could come in behind years of Carr developing depth ahead of them, I see no reason to write a single recruit off under these early years of Rodriguez. So, my whole issue is with this:

"Chances of Freshmen making any impact from here on out is going to be rare."

In fact, I think it might be more likely to see impact freshman under Rodriguez right now. I think we still only have 70-some scholarship players and he's shown a willingness to play whoever he thinks will get the job done, even if it's a walk-on. I'd think those are actually ideal conditions to see impact freshman step up. But maybe I'm speaking out my ass, I didn't really do any research either.

More to the point

More to the point, I can think of lots of freshman off the top of my head that have been major impact players due to lack of depth. And our depth is not getting fixed that fast. We're springing leaks on defense as fast as we can plug them. While I think the discussion of EVERY recruit as an immediate game changer may be slightly overboard, I don't think it's THAT far from the realm of possibility that a Cullen Christian immediately comes in and provides a huge impact like Woodson or Leon Hall.

Woodson sucked?

Really?

Woodson was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 1995. He was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team by conference coaches, and Second Team All-Big Ten by the media. He led the team with five interceptions and eight takeaways.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Woodson

D-1AA upside?

I think we've found an upside to playing D-IAA teams. If it's going to continue, can we pleeeeease play Southern?

Top 3

1. Brian Kelly - Obvious

2. Butch Davis - Proven winner at Miami, NC is looking up.

3. Gus Malzahn - Someone is going to give him a shot very soon

Coaching

I've actually been of the opinion that the SEC has recently invested more in coaching than any other two conferences combined (I have no idea if this is true). Meyer, Saban, Kiffin, Petrino, hell even Miles, are all fairly new to the conference and all have been major upgrades. Drop one of those guys in any other conference and you'll immediately get a media buzz. But hey, maybe you're right, it could be talent...history bears this out, right??

Understated wins

I really think the negativity spewed towards these teams is overstated. Utah beat Alabama last year, WVU(from the Big East!) has SMOKED SEC and Big XII opponents semi-recently, TCU over Oklahoma? How about Boise? BYU? So, while I think it's a little ridiculous to judge totally on straight results (how many times out of 10 would those teams actually win?), I also think it's ridiculous to discount those wins due to recruiting, NFL draft picks, or any other measure of "talent" that exists.

Not a one time performance

And Royster's previous poor YPC was a DIRECT result of the outstanding line and linebacker play on Syracuse, Akron, and Temple's part? PSU's OL isn't good.

Koger

I love the way they've used Koger in that H-Back position. I think the versatility he provides there is going to be a defensive nightmare all season.

For those still opposed to the Freep

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/11288/index.htm

Not sure about that

Why not? Personally, I'm not sure who I'd take. Clausen has a cannon, but Clark presents a totally different bag of issues for a defense to deal with and isn't a bad passer himself. I think it's easy to discount Clark because he's not as good of a passer, but he's a terrific game manager and his mobility can cause all kinds of problems for a defense.

WR depth could hurt

I might put us better at TE (Koger!), and Darryl Clark is still probably the best QB in the Big Ten. But other than that, I agree. As long as the OL blocks like they did against us, I think that's one of the best offenses in the nation. One concern, has anyone heard about the status of Floyd? I think that would be a major injury and could stymie their effectiveness the rest of the way. Shaq Evans didn't look quite ready for prime time.

Resume voting?

I guess that you're resume voting, but if that's the case BYU should be top 3 after knocking off Oklahoma. And given that curious choice of not ranking Oklahoma, I have NO idea why you have Tennessee ranked at all.

2nd Down

The second down call might be questioned, but the third shouldn't. They needed the first down more than they needed us to burn a TO there. And, more importantly, it was open.

As to the second, if the tables were turned and that was us, I wouldn't mind Coach Rod making that call. I wouldn't love it, but I don't think it cost them the game. And if it hit, that's game over (and it had hit ALL game). I don't think Weis has a history of great coaching maneuvers, and has failed miserably in providing his "decided schematic advantage", but I thought he called a pretty damn good game yesterday.

Te'o

I know ND fans are excited about Te'o, but does this bode well for our run game? Seems like a freshman might be a little more susceptible to the misdirection and more likely to make poor reads.

"Sweet Glasses Mark May"
I

"Sweet Glasses Mark May"

I assume this is meant sarcastically. If not, it's kind of just creepy.

No go

Appreciate the thought, but apparently neither Hulu or Dailymotion stream to Korea. Ah well, two more months.

Why bring basketball in?

If your ideal is a BCS football conference, you have to include Hawaii, and especially Fresno. Fresno's "Play anyone, anywhere, anytime" motto has been great for college football IME, and would be great for a new conference. And if you're going entirely off current coaching, why not include June Jones' newest location, SMU?

And if this is a football specific reform, there's no need to make it into a basketball reformation. Get rid of Utah State and UNLV. Basketball seems to have their tournament on track as is.

Not exclusive

Almost every team will have early season hiccups. If you watched, you would've seen a lot of the same in the NC St-USC(East) game. That "extra practice" will hopefully help us in this regard.

I don't know who negged you,

I don't know who negged you, but I can totally relate to this sentiment. Yes, it's way fucked up to hit someone in the face, but (and I might be alone on this one) it's way shittier to entice this behavior, which I think the Boise player was doing. Winning with class is MUCH easier than losing with class. Neg away.

Being unfair

I think you're being a bit unfair because you haven't learned all the ins and outs of the new gameplay. If you check the Season Showdown standings you'll see that Michigan is far and away leading the standings in Underdog victories. This isn't a mistake. Here are some tips:

You're semi-right about the offense. To make Michigan's offense run against anyone decent you HAVE to use the Gameplan. Sell out more on the impact blocks, and try to roll the pocket (adjust the OLs blocking pre-snap). Be careful with the gameplan though, if you go aggressive on the "hold blocks" you take too many big holding calls. Ditto on the "strip ball" option and facemask calls defensively.

Another big key, which shouldn't be a problem for any regular reader of MGoBlog, know your personnel. I run Denard exclusively out of the 5 wide set and he's usually pretty killer. If they play man and none of the WRs come open it's usually at least a 9 yd scramble. I'm always running a slot on a fly route in case they blitz from the inside. And I almost always have one WR attacking the short sideline, in case they send the corner blitz. Look to run Minor inside, or just off-tackle. And Moundros is actually a pretty good quick hitting run option in 10. Don't use him solely as a blocker. I like to throw Brown in for the quick pitch.

Oh, VERY important to my run game: audible your WRs to block down. On those off-tackle runs or pitches this usually puts your RB on a CB so you can cut it up for a few. OR if you can smoke the corner, it's a big gainer.

Defensively, I give up 12 points/gm consistently playing online against OSU, Florida, Bama, USC, etc. This defense is heavily OVERRATED in my epinion. I run the 4-2-5, but if you run any 4 man front RVB is a more than solid DE. Because of this, you can get pressure on the QB rushing only the front 4. Hence the reason I run 5 DBs out. I almost always show blitz because I don't like how deep the secondary drops in their zones naturally (and I almost always run zone). Also, it makes my opponent comfortable with the defense being that close to the line. So, when I do blitz it's usually pretty effective.

Pre-snap calls: These are very important defensively. They can make big plays for you or cost you big plays. This is where the game is most improved I think. Notice where your opponent is running. If he's always running option to the wide side of the field or the strong side of the line, it's pretty safe to slant your line against the run to that side. When you've taken him down for a 7 yd loss and put him in 3rd and long drop into coverage, pre-snap play pass, and let the D-line pin their ears back and go get the QB. (Note: When you play the run don't show blitz, it takes your secondary wayyyyy out of position)

Bottomline:
1a. Get the lead
1b. Stuff the run, force your opponent to be one dimensional and then jump on the pass (Pre-snap option)
3. ?????
4. Profit.

Whatever you do, be patient and don't become one dimensional yourself. Now that you know all my secrets, my handle is JoeyIke if you feel like looking me up and smoking me. I'm usually on at weird hours though, because I'm in Korea. Good luck.

........

I'm slightly appalled at how long this is. I clearly spend too much time on this game. Maybe I should go back to alcoholism.

I don't totally disagree with

I don't totally disagree with you. But, when Dennis Dixon was healthy in 2007, Oregon was probably the best team in the country. Unfortunate bit of scheduling that we had two great teams that were both horribly underrated/under-respected entering the season to open up that year. I think, even if we beat ASU, we still get rocked by Oregon.

To the point, Oregon 03. Our first road test after we had just laid a 38-0 shit stomping on ND. We entered ranked #3 and looking it. That was a letdown game that could have propelled that team into a title game. There were no undefeated teams that year and our only other regular season loss came to Iowa on some bad special teams play. I don't know that we would've matched up better with LSU than USC, but either way, it was a huge loss.

Picking up the check

When the independent investigation comes back with nothing, can we pass the bill to Rosenberg?

Couple Yost Quotes

Might need to give a little history lesson on Yost if you want to use these, but I've always liked them.

To me, no coach in America asks a man to make any sacrifice. He requests the opposite. Live clean, come clean, think clean. Stop doing all the things that destroy you mentally, physically, and morally, and begin doing those things that make you keener, finer, more competent.
-Fielding H. Yost

"True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise - the other, loyalty."
— Fielding H. Yost

Powers Catholic is notorious

Powers Catholic is notorious for using undersized, but extremely quick, athletes on the DL. You probably noticed the pint sized NT trying to run Hayes down on the sideline. Undersized DE/DT is giving 50 at least, probably closer to 75+, lbs to the LG. That might account for the bouncing off. Anyway, I for one, am impressed by the elite level speed the NT possessed. We should probably recruit him. He can always move to slot, right?

Pessimistic much?

I think that's why it's a "Bold-Ass" prediction. Also, we finished last season with 1771 rushing yards. So, I guess you're not looking for much improvement on that? Here's my go: 2600-2700 rushing yards as a team to lead the Big Ten. Tate completes 62% of his passes.

Oh wow! Awesome. Five days

Oh wow! Awesome. Five days after I bought a Slingbox! Hopefully I get deployed a lot to get a great return on this investment...

Medicine Woman Sister

My sister worked really hard for that MD. So, she's probably REALLY going to hate me calling her Medicine Woman. And a well earned +1 to you, sir.

GB

Throughout high school, it always struck me how much talent Grand Blanc had. I was glad they never managed to make use of it. Good to see some Flint area guys getting some recognition though.

For all the men who aren't

For all the men who aren't really into white women (just me?) in no particular order:

Alicia Keys
Freida Pinto (chick from Slumdog Millionaire)
Kelly Rowland

Don't you talk that way about Section 25

Section 25 is great and I loved the season I spent there (2004). Obviously has a great view, and if you're totally shameless about supporting your team who cares what the rest of the section is like? My feeling is that the better the view, the better the section. You can make the crowd experience better by being embarrassingly loud yourself and encouraging others to get that way as well, especially in the student section.

Wisconsin 05

When we lost to Wisconsin during the year of Infinite Pain, I went outside and started breaking...things (it was a pretty wide variety of breakable objects) on a tree. I actually walked out before the last snap. Sometimes, late at night, I still hear the haunting sorrow filled scream that Ann Arbor collectively released as Henne fell without even getting the final Hail Mary off. Ugh, just describing that moment makes me want to go break something now.

Judging from my vast NCAA 10

Judging from my vast NCAA 10 experience, I think these are all probable, nearly guaranteed weekly. Judging from my own perception though, I think the least likely is Graham with 4 sacks. I'd like to see if non NCAA 10 Michigan can manage three 100 yard rushers in one game.

Tight Ends

What role will Kevin Koger, Brandon Moore, and Martell Webb play this season? Follow up: What do you envision the role of the TE being in the evolution of the Rich Rodriguez spread?

Impressions from the interview

I think a great insight to take from the article is that Coach Rod has talked to Stephen Ross, owner of the Dolphins, about Pat White. Clearly, Coach Rod is still looking out for his guys as much as he can. Personally, I like that loyalty to his guys, even after the fan backlash. Questions that I would have:

Does Ross talk to Rodriguez about White if he's not coaching for Michigan? Does he pass on White in the round he was taken?

I honestly don't know if White was taken over where he was expected but, I think Miami was a great spot for him to end up. I think most NFL teams saw White as a WR, not as a QB. If Rodriguez aided in that choice at all, I think it speaks to how he feels about his players and his teams at WVU that he was willing to vouch for his talents as a NFL QB prospect. More importantly, I think it speaks to how they feel about him that the bridges haven't been burned between coach and player, despite WVU's desires. A fan backlash is one thing but, if the players had been pissed I would've been suspicious of Rodriguez. Nothing I've ever read has hinted at a player grudge and that helps settle any doubts I've ever had about this transition.

The only other thought that really hit me was that Rita sounds really well grounded and she seems like she's bought into the program. I know she's taken some shit from all corners throughout the hiring process but, from that short interview, I like her. I really don't mind a "First Lady" of Michigan football helping to coordinate crowd involvement and fundraising...as long as she isn't into maize jerseys.

All I can think of...

You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when my sister brought TomVH home, I knew he was one of my own. And my wolf pack... it grew by one. So there... there were two of us in the wolf pack... I was alone first in the pack, and then TomVH joined in later. And six months ago, when the internet introduced me to you guys, I thought, "Wait a second, could it be?" And now I know for sure, I just added three more guys to my wolf pack. Five of us wolves, running around the desert together, in Las Vegas, looking for strippers and cocaine. So tonight, I make a toast!

Congrats to all, looks to be a great move.

Rushing game

I have nothing against his writing, but I just want to punch Rittenberg in the face. All the time. Also, if Minor goes for 1,300 I think him and Brown/Shaw will comfortably combine for 2000+. Last year the best rushing team in the Big Ten was Wisconsin at 211/gm and 2745 for the season. I think (hope) we can put up similar numbers this year.

In order

1. Arkansas - I love it when we whoop on the SEC.
2. Georgia Tech - Johnson will have them competing at the top of the ACC for awhile. Plus, we get all off season to prep for their offense.
2. Pittsburgh - I think they might step in and fill the vacuum left by Coach Rodriguez's departure from the Big East.
4. West Virginia - Already stated hype train that would roll through.
5. Okie St. - Just to throw a decent Big XII team in the mix.

No Pac 10. I guess I'd prefer not to have to make a return trip out West, where we historically play terrible.

Next...

Who's the most likely "big name" now? Seems like everyone else already had their schedule filled or had another big game on the slate. Oh well, hopefully Martin can pull something off.

Great to be a Detroit fan

I was actually having this discussion recently, about childhood sports heroes and how great it was to be a Detroit sports fan in the early-mid 90s. I had Dumars, Sanders, and Yzerman. I loved the way they played, great but in a quiet, humble way. My favorite Tiger was Mickey Tettleton though, only because he always had the biggest dip in. Those were pretty golden days for Detroit sports idols.

Today, I cheer for Lamarr Woodley, Steve Breaston, and Jake Long in the NFL. They were all guys I met while at Michigan, and all impressed me in some way or another. In basketball, I pull for Tayshaun and Chris Paul. Baseball...pretty much all of the Tigers these days. And in hockey, I like Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Franzen. Actually, now that I think about it, these aren't such bad days to be a Detroit sports fan either.

Attrition

I think, possibly, the most important factor to a recruiting class' actual value is how well it stays together. Because of key departures, whether they be due to disciplinary, academic, or personal choices, some of Lloyd's last few classes didn't live up to their billing. On offense I don't think the argument should be that the cupboard was bare, but that the cupboard was raw. We have plenty of talent, but it wasn't quite ready for primetime and it hurt us on both sides of the ball. I think it's too early to really pass judgment on what kind of players those guys from last year really are. Most of them will have their legacies written over the next two seasons. And, I think looking back in 3-4 years, we'll be a lot happier with the kind of team, coaches, and players we have than I think some of us are right now. I'm not concerned about this recruiting class or this season because I think we're coming back into some recruiting classes that have stuck together better, and it will show very quickly on the field. As long as Coach Rod can bring in classes that are willing to work hard and can stick it out I think we'll be good in the long run. I guess my entire argument can be summed up like so:

Those who stay will be Champions.

I'm just hoping this class will gut it out.

That link to Tomahawk Nation

That link to Tomahawk Nation was intense. Great read and decent discussion in the comments. Not an FSU fan, but definitely gained some more respect for their fan base. It hasn't been mentioned much (maybe because expectations are low), but hopefully, our D-line can rebound from last year and provide a consistent presence throughout 2009. Seems like the coaches have a couple solid pieces to work with in Graham and Martin. And I've been reading this site daily since about 2005? So, I guess now is the time to actually jump aboard the comment train. Just in case.

Sounds familiar

Like one of these guys?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Weasel

Actually seems kind of fitting to me.

Every single one of my

Every single one of my preseason predections was shot down with the previous posts. Vlad, Woolfolk, Huyge starting? Stonum, Omameh not? ...Wild. I think the one thing that seems to be sure coming out of spring ball is that there is legitimate competition at nearly every position. Personally, I think this is a fantastic development. No worries Michigan fans, we're coming back this year.

LS&A '07. South Korea til

LS&A '07. South Korea til Bowl Season.

Maybe it's tick tack, but I'm

Maybe it's tick tack, but I'm pretty sure Hynes is a Junior this year. Great write up other than that.