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Thank you from Scotland! 

Thank you from Scotland! 

Yay!

It is quite possible, perhaps even probable, that Michigan will have fewer 3 star recruits in this class than any other programme in the country. 

Well, sure, if he proved to

Well, sure, if he proved to be a "TE who can block" that would be super-smashing-great-and-lovely but what evidence exists to support the notion that he can be that guy? Precious little thus far. 

But rather than worry about that let's focus on what he *can* do. Put him on the field, throw him the ball and let him catch it. He can create havoc. 

A monster WR is a pretty valuable commodity. 

Streams are your friend

I live in Scotland. As discussed above, you can sometimes find UM games on ESPN America. The match against UConn seems unlikely to be one such fixture. Even if it is on, there are few pubs in Ireland or the UK that subscribe to ESPN America and even fewer who do who are also likely to put an NCAA football game on the TV at 5pm on an autumn afternoon. 5pm is for soccer results and there's usually an English premiership game on then too. (Possible exception: London which, because it is so vast will have somewhere you can watch the game. If it is on.)

Your best bet, frankly, is to watch online via a stream of dubious legality. Not perfect but, in my considerable experience, generally just-about-good-enough. Most UM games can usually be found at stream2watch.me 

Not as good as watching it on "proper telly" but better than not being able to see it at all. 

livestream?

Anyone know of a stream that's working for people outside the USA? Thanks!

Unbelievably stupid

Did I say unbelievably? I mean all too credibly stupid.

Simple east/west divide* with nine conference games and no protected crossover would have been fine, simple, workable and about as fair as you can get.

This? This is the opposite of that.

*Draw lots to see which division gets Purude and which is left with Indiana.

TV money

It's not just about the BTN (though it is partly about the BTN) but about all the TV monies. the new contract is up to for negotiation in 2017. Adding states with a population of 15 million people to the Big Ten "footprint" makes a difference to the expected value of that contract. It probably also increases the value of the BTN too.

9 conference games

If - unlikely as it may be - we stick at 14 teams but expand to schedule nine conference games then, then playing three teams from the other division each year but scrapping protected cross-overs means you could ensure that you'd play everyone at least four times a decade. Hardly ideal but not much worse than at present.

Even with a 16 team "conference" you would be playing every team in the other division once every four years, not once every eight. Assuming, that is, a 9 game schedule and no protected "rivalry".

Hoops

Well, the Terrapins won a national basketball title in 2002 so I guess they've been "nationally relevant" more recently than, er, we have.

East and West is Best

Of course it's about money. Adding Maryland and Rutgers brings another 15 million people into the Big Ten "footprint". That's worth quite a lot when the next TV contracts are signed.

Maryland doesn't really "bring" the DC market since the Dc market is a) dominated by the Redskins and b) Virginia Tech is probably second there. After Va Tech it becomes pretty fractured with "exiles" from state schools across the country bringing their thing to the party and, incidentally, making DC one of the best places in America to watch college football.

Still, Maryland has room for growth. So, obviously, does Rutgers. And, anyway, if you're going to be expanding (which I'd rather was not the case) who else is left to add that doesn't involve adding someone from the other side of the country? At least Maryland-Rutgers is contiguous and all that jazz.

Maryland doesn't feel like it gets enough respect in the ACC. It won't get any more in the Big10 but at least it will make more money. So it makes some sense from their perspective.

The obvious thing now is to move to a nine game conference schedule and eliminate protected crossovers. If that means not playing for the Jug every year then so be it. A shame but let's not pretend that this would be the end of Michigan football.

Simple east/west divisions would be the best thing: UM, Sparty, OSU, Penn State, Rutgers, Indiana, Maryland in the east. Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota in the other.

Argue about which of Purdue/Indiana goes west. Am fine with whatever choice you make. But for sake of argument our opposite-division games could, for the sake of illustration, go like this:

Year 1: Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois

Year 2: Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue

Year 3: Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois

Year 4: Northwestern, Nebraska, Minnesota

Year 5: Purdue, Iowa, Illinois

Year 6: Wisconsin, Miinnesota, Nebraska,

Year 7: Iowa, Purdue, Northwestern

Year 8: Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota

Year 9: Wisconsin, Purdue, Iowa

Year 10: Northwestern, Illinois, Nebraska

Over ten years that gives you a minimum of four games vs each opponent. Not ideal but better than the SEC's "let's meet once in a blue moon and pretend we're in the same conference set up".

 

Who will replace Notre Dame? Auburn?

As mentioned above, Georgia is one possibility. But the likes of Oklahoma, Texas, USC, LSU, Florida, FSU are pretty unlikely. So too many of the next tier of teams (eg Virginia Tech has already announced home and homes with the likes of tOSU and Wisconsin).

There's one good possibility, however: Auburn. I could cope with a home and home vs those Tigers. At present they seem to have no-one scheduled.

http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa/sec/auburn-tigers.php

Even so: home and homes aren't the same as a regular rival. It will be good to get back together with ND so let's hope that happens.

Sad news

Which is more interesting? Games against ND or games against Baby Seal University? Hmmm. Not a difficult question!

So if this is more than a mini-hiatus in the series this is a shame.

I'd like to see us play two decent non-conference games a year with Western/Central/Eastern etc rotating through the schedule as a local warm-up.

How likely is that? Not very, I guess and especially not if we move to a nine-game conference schedule.

 

Yeah, except...

There is no reason except that this is football and sometimes things happen for no reason. If every game were decided by "talent level" there'd be no need to, you know, actually watch the games. It would be quite boring.

Depressing

Dave Brandon: because nothing says class like sneering at the opposition's teeny stadium wherever it is located in football-palookaville and suggesting, openly or not, that UM is far too big and grand and old to play in your back yard.

Michigan is, what, one of the five wealthiest athletic departments in the country. It doesn't really need an extra couple of hundred thousand dollars.

Anyway: I'd rather play at UConn than host some of the non-conference games Brandon is scheduling.

ESPN Gives Ohio to Michigan

Nevermind how Michigan is recruiting across the midwest; focus on Ohio instead. By ESPN's estimation michigan is going to land a greater number of the top 20 kids in Ohio than will tOSU. UM has 8 so far; the best Ohio State can manage (on present rankings) is 7.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/databaseresults?f…

The dumbest thing...

is ranking Va Tech ahead of Clemson. They played twice this year and the combined score was Clemson 61 Virginia Tech 13.

Also, annoying though it is I think I'd probably rank Sparty ahead of Michigan. If I were being honest and all that. Going 1-1 vs Wisconsin is not a disgrace.

Still, you know, am kind of super-gla it's the Wolverines in the BCS and not anyone else from the state.

 

Comically unpersuasive

104-23 in a three-school career kinda makes it obvious that Meyer is more than just the guy fortunate enough to have Tim Tebow. He's been a success everywhere; he will be a success at OSU too. No reason to suppose otherwise.

Doesn't mean he will have a Tresselesque record in the Game but it's dumb to try and kid yourself into thinking he's not "really" that good a coach. The facts suggest he knows what he's doing.

Like a Rugby shirt

Weird to have a throwback jersey that ain't much like anything Michigan has ever worn. On the other hand they're not so different from the Otago (New Zealand) rugby jersey circa 1999-2000:

Yeah, right

You'll correct me if I'm wrong but I think the only Big Ten team with more recruits in the current ESPN top 100 is Ohio State. So, yeah, that's pretty underwhelming. The incoming class is shaping up nicely.

The boys are doing ok for a team that doesn't currently have a superstar and is one of the youngest in the country. Patience is sometimes rewarded, you know?

 

Up to a point...

Point taken. But RichRod was brought to Michigan to install his system. It wasn't stubborness that made him do this, it was what the university wanted when he was hired. Otherwise he would not have been hired.

Sign me up for a dirt nap then.

When you disparage the Oregon offense as "basketball on grass" that ain't proper football and can't work just days before Oregon plays for a feckin' national title against another spread team then you are, my friends, a certifiable oaf.

And, lo, here is Coach Hoke proudly sporting his Oaf Badge. Being dumber than a bad of rocks ought to be enough to disqualify him from further consideration for the UM job. Sadly, the reverse seems to be true for some.

Impossible? Maybe.

Year One was always going to be difficult. Perhaps even impossible. Not only did few players from 2007 return, UM was switching its football philosophy. The most predictable major program in the country was going sexy.

But without a QB to run the offense it was doomed from the start. And since UM had hired RR to install his system it's daft to argue that he should have adapted it to suit Sheridan and Threet. The whole point of RR was to change things.

So Year One was essentially Year Zero and I think you can make a decent argument that RR has been fired after just two "proper" years in which he had players (albeit young) who had some idea of what he wanted and aptitude for it.

Of course there were mistakes, most obviously on defense. And the results and all the rest of it do make it hard to make the case for keeping RR. You can see why it has panned out this way. But if getting Harbaugh was a reasonable and consensus First Choice for next year I'd say that giving RR one more shot was a reasonable Second Choice.

Sure, there would have been pressure and intense media speculation and a new DC and all that. But we'd also be better placed to see if the building could be finished, even late and over-budget, than is the case now that we've abandoned a half-completed project and are looking for a new architect to finish it in, well, lord knows what kind of style.

So good luck to RR wherever he lands. I understand why it's happened this way but I can't help but feel somewhat sad about it all.

Unbelievable

Possibly the most ridiculous post in the long history of ridiculous internet nit-pickery. And so, therefore, a peculiar, if appalling, kind of awesome.

Hmmm

Who knew so many Michigan Men secretly hankered after becoming Notre Dame?

Recruiting a QB

Another reminder that, despite other needs, we could still do with a QB in this coming class. There's a pretty good chance that either Denard or Tate leave soon. It might be useful to have more than 2 QBs on the roster. (No offence to Jack Kennedy).

All will, I guess, become clear soon enough. Mercifully.

But, yeah, you keep DG off the field even if that costs the game.

Can you really have too many Ninjas?

I have no idea whether Prince Holloway can be a credible threat at the next level. But Rodriguez has taken two guys for the slot in each of his two most recent recruiting classes so it should not, perhaps, be a surprise that he's doing so again.

As for "positions of need" well, sure, on the face of it slot isn't a priority. On the other hand I think RichRod has some idea of what he's doing, not least on the offensive side of the ball.

Personally I'd still like to sign a QB since we're only a couple of injuries away from that becoming a super-high risk position.

But perhaps we should all wait until Holloway actually commits? Then again, where would be the fun in that?

Still, if he becomes a Wolverine then good luck to him.

Deaf...

Wouldn't it be sensible to use sign language when describing music to a deaf man?

Just sayin'. 'Cos you can't sign on Mgoblog...

Hey

Too bad none of these Auburn "points" actually count. First-half scoring is all that matters, dude. :-)

Hmmm

Or, you know, you could just piss off.

Yup

Agreed. Great post Brian. At the moment defending RichRod - while acknowledging the real problems on the defense - feels a bit like being one of the lads at Rorke's Drift. There are an awful lot of Zulus circling the outpost, armed with very sharp spears...

But we know how "Zulu" ends, don't we?

Anyway: there seem to be some people who expect perfection on every drive and think that the offense is failing if that's not achieved. Way to guarantee disappointment, eh?

Slow start?

Yeah, why can't we ever score on the first play of the game?

Maybe

Fair enough. But it is, to an extent, a question of picking your poison. The secondary's youth means they have to be protected wherever possible. Inevitably that has an impact upon what you can do with the front 7.

You say "excuse". I prefer "reason" and not just because it's a less pejorative term. Of course we'd like to see more production from the linebackers (in particular). But Obi Ezeh was not likely to suddenly become a stud while Mouton is merely uber-Mouton this year.

Before the season started we knew there would be problems there. Moundros tells you that and so, alas, does the thankfully-abandoned attempt to fit Roh in at linebacker.

So we shouldn't be shocked - shocked! - that LB play has still been a problem this year. Some of that can probably be ascribed to coaching but some of it is down to talent too.

You're right that the secondary's youth can't explain everything but it is an important factor nonetheless. These problems aren't the product of any single problem (if they were it would be easier to solve them quickly) but a combination of factors which, when taken together, multiply the damage.

Nevertheless, it *is* reasonable to suppose that some, maybe most, of the defensive players will improve next season. (Some of them won't but that's a question of ceiling and the fact that not every recruit has the career we'd hope for them.)

Experience matters

A good old 'un will beat a good young 'un. We know this to be the case but hope - and it really is just hope - that this young Michigan team will find ways of making a mockery of this tried and tested adage. We shouldn't be surprised when this turns out to be asking too much of them.

Obviously wins and losses matter more than anything else. But when you're building something the wins and losses aren't the only things that count. A young team - and it is much, much younger than, say, Wisconsin - is a recipe for frustration.

But, look, 2008 showed what happens when you try and play football without a QB. 2009 shows what happens when you have a true freshman QB. 2010 what happens when you have a true freshman/1st year starter secondary. Keep this in mind and the frustration remains the same but the record can't, objectively speaking, be a great surprise.

Of course it's annoying. Of course it often hurts. Of course we'd rather see more rapid and consistent improvement on both sides of the ball. Of course there have been some curious decisions and sometimes we've not helped ourselves. But let's not pretend there's been *no* progress. There has, even if it has been uneven and imperfect.

(Side note: it's unfortunate UM has missed Northwestern and Minnesota these past two years. We wouldn't be a better football team if we'd had them on the schedule but the Win-Loss record would probably look rather better. Equally: it's a shame Wisconsin, returning so few starters, slip off the schedule next season. Beating Minnesota next year won't have the same "kudos" that beating a young set of Badgers would have earned - even if victories against Wisconsin next year will be "over-valued".)

So we are where we are. And we're not the only outift having a difficult season. Look at Texas (5-6), Miami  (7-4), Notre Dame (6-5), Tennessee (5-6), USC (7-4), Penn State (7-4), Georgia (5-6), Florida (7-4).

Sure, some of those teams are better than we are. But all those mentioned are major programs who are suffering through disappointing seasons. As others have observed, college football - from top to bottom - is much more competitive than it was 40 years ago.

True, the *manner* of some of our losses has been more dispiriting than the actual fact of the losses themselves. But this doesn't mean we can't or won't make progress before next season.

"Those who stay will be champions" we like to say. And that applies to fans as well as players.

Hmmm

Sounds like you will be supporting tOSU next week. Or, ar least you will find an "upside" to a UM defeat.

USC

Coaches have been told to exclude USC this year. AP voters are often dumb but they're not dumb enough to pretend that a team simply doesn't exist. 

Measuring improvement

Here's one way of looking at it: everyone agrees that the offense had a poor day. But we still moved the ball for 400 yards. Despite five turnovers. In a monsoon. That's not nothing.

Finished article? Of course not. Moving in the right direction? Definitely.

A tough day for the haters, mind you.

No

RichRod is referring to a very small, but loud group of fans who spend their time professing their undimmable love for the Wolverines and prove the depth of their feeling by deciding that the programme as currently constituted and led must be blown-up so it can be rebuilt with a true "Michigan Man" at the helm. We must destroy a village to save it. That sort of thing.

This kind of attitude is a long-way removed from your ordinary, perfectly reasonable, criticism or disappointment with how certain results or games have gone.

In effect, RichRod is suggesting that, from his perspective at least, some of these "I bleed Maize and Blue, but..." types are false-friends to the school and the wider Wolverine community. They keep saying they're "only thinking of the health of the programme" while doing precisely nothing to help it and, in fact, most likely revelling in every setback or piece of bad news since, objectively speaking, any such reverse is Good News if it means RR and his motley crew of West Virginian yahoos are run out of town and Michigan can shuffle off in search of Ye Good Olde Days.

(And nevermind that times change, things move on and those Good Old Days are gone. For better or for worse. What's done is been and gone and all you keep, as a wise man once sang, is the getting there.)

Interesting Games Are What Count

Scheduling on the off-chance that this is the year you're going to make the MNC game is impossible, not least since schedules are set several years in advance. If the team is going to be good enough to reach that game then they're probably going to be good enough to play a respectable OOC schedule.

That doesn't mean playing Bama, Texs, USC etc every year. But there's no need to be playing Baby Seals either.

As for the financial side of things: well, Michigan is one of the wealthiest schools in the country. And with increased revenue arriving from the BTN that will only continue to be the case. In other words, if any school can afford to give up 1 home game every 2 years it's a school such as UM.

So who to play? I'd have Eastern, Western and Central on a 3 year rotation. Then there's ND and, who knows, perhaps occasional blockbuster games such as against Bama in 2012. But for the final game, home and home's with the likes of: UCLA, Texas A&M, Arkansas, UNC, Pitt, Arizona, Clemson etc seem like a good way to go.

Not only would these give UM fans in other parts of the country a greater chance of attending games, they'd also increase exposure in other parts of the country. More to the point, a strong UM should win most of these games and benefit from their opponents success too.

It's a shame UConn flopped against Temple; but were they to go on to win the Big East we'd look better still. An OOC game each year that gave the chance for that sort of kind-of reflected kudos would be good thing. That's an argument, actually, for scheduling respectable teams from wide-open but not terrifying conferences such as the Big East and the ACC. Sometimes you'll strike it rich and have an additional victory against a team that qualifies for a BCS bowl itself...

LSU?

The Tigers have been horrible and barely squeezed past a Tennessee (Not That Tennessee) outfit. I think you could put them behind Stanford, Miami and Arkansas. Maybe even behind Iowa too. Sure, LSU is "undefeated" but god knows how. 

Not New News

This game was announced years ago. But, yeah, the poor students: imagine the horror of having to spend a few days in Ireland. During school-time too! The shame and pity of it all.

Here's an idea: UK-based Wolverines should attend this game. Wearing UM shirts and Navy hats obviously.

Unpersuasive

Yup, you're overthinking this. You're also crossing bridges prematurely and counting unhatched chickens. Let's get through 2010 first, ok?

But, if we must look at schedules in quite such presumptious fashion, next year's is not as favourable as you suggest. Or rather, it looks good  -in theory - for winning heaps of games. But that's not the same as it looking ideal for a trip to the Biggest Game (which is what you are hinting at.)

As always, much depends on what happens in other contests. But unless Iowa is both really good and, just as importantly, seen to be really good, that schedule does not have a marquee road win. (Unless you want to count the Big Ten Championship). One can easily envisage circumstances in which the absence of a really big road win costs a 1 loss Michigan team a shot at all the marbles...

So, sure, hypothetical speculation is fun. But let's concentrate on winning games this year first. OK?

Hell yeah

Mark May is also an arse but the only time he ain't insufferable is when he's ragging Old Lou. But it's a testament to how ghastly Mark May is that even when he's on the side of the angels he's all but unendurable.

What a duo!

Drew Sharp Remains a Total Arse. Surprise!

Here's how this cretin finishes his piece:

 

"This could’ve been called the Wishful Thinking Bowl.

Michigan and Notre Dame are mirror images of each other, two of the bedrocks of college football royalty mutually stumbling in the dark in the hopes of finding a new identity more consistent with the game’s modern spirit.

Who would’ve ever guessed five years ago that both would run some variation of the spread as its base offense?

But both have deluded themselves into believing that any lapse into national irrelevance (today was the third time in the last four years that they met with neither ranked among the top 25) can’t help but be short-lived, if only through the sheer force of their tradition and quality brand names. It’ll be difficult, if not impossible, for both programs to join Ohio State among the northern football programs regularly ranking among the top 10 nationally."

I'm guessing that this was written before the game even started. But, and speaking as a journalist myself and accustomed to sports-writing on tight deadlines, you know not to publish your preconceptions when said preconceptions have been routed by events on the field.

I'm also guessing that Sharp never thought Alabama could ever return to national prominence either? Or maybe even he was just sensible enough to realise that dormant programmes - more dormant than UM has ever been these past 40 years - can regain their mojo. Which means that his latest hackery is dreary even by the stringent standards required to qualify for hackish hackery of the most banal and witless kind.

I feel bad even noting his latest dreary, witless, cvntish "article" but there you go.

TartanAlex

Thanks to this blog I reckon I could go head-to-head with just about anyone here if the subject is Michigan football in the Latter Days of Lloyd and the New RichRod Era. Then again "here" is Scotland so, um, maybe that's not quite so impressive. Dang.

Er...

'Cos that's how Tom rolls.

(Also, it's Twitter dude. Twitter...)

Good luck Tate. Your time will come this year.

Tate's dad is quoted thus - "We knew disciplinary action was coming."

Let's not judge the kid too swiftly. Perhaps he could have done better on the sideline today but let's also try and imagine - and empathise with - what he must have been feeling.

I suspect that he'll play a fair bit this year. If he gets his head right...

I hope that happens.

Discipline

From Tom's twitter feed: Tate's dad is quoted thus - "We knew disciplinary action was coming."

Let's not judge the kid too swiftly. Perhaps he could have done better on the sideline today but let's also try and imagine - and empathise with - what he must have been feeling.

I suspect that he'll play a fair bit this year. If he gets his head right...

I hope that happens.

Great Win!

Great stuff today. A very good win against a team plenty of folk thought would leave the Big House (which looked great) with a victory.



But because this is Michigan and because of the last two years I'm still a little worried. That is, Michigan is going to be a highwire act this year. A lot is going to need to go right and it's going to be excruciating to watch them. Going to need a) drink and b) nerves of steel to get through it.



Key stats today: Denard was 19 of 22 passing. That won't happen every week. And UM was 14 of 19 on 3rd downs. That won't happen every week either. UConn passed for 11.8 yards per catch. That might happen every week.



And if UConn could catch the ball - especially the early drop on the 2 yard line - then this might have been a different game.



On the other hand, UM (finally!) got some luck with fumbles and so on. May the regression to the mean continue.



And Denard was at times magnificent. There's something almost terrible about how quickly you can fall in love with a QB...



Still, let's hope UConn win the Big East now. (Though I don't think they will.)



This was a big, big win and great to see. Let's hope Denard continues to progress and that this wasn't his best performance of the season....



Even fucking Lou Holtz  - who was chuckling about the App State game earlier - had to admit UM was quite impressive.

But today's game went about as well as we could have hoped. Onwards and upwards!

Lovely post...

But you do know that some people will now refer to you as "Brian Cook, a lapsed Spartan..."? :-)

If you're in Europe..

Or the UK at least, the UConn game will be shown on ESPN America. Hurrah!