Auburn @ 13 is a little high, Arkansas will probably finish ahead of them in the sec west. Hogs Defense was one of the worst in the league last year, but like UM was really young and has only gotten better, Ark Offense will be the best in the SEC. Behind Mallett is a corp of stud RB's and one of the best groups of WR's in the country.
In a time that pretty much everything in the program has been the exact oppisite of what it was Graham has been everything Michigan Football stands for through the toughest of times. Good Luck at the next Level, BG. We will all be watching and rooting for you.
Would be "That Moment", in which we could all say "That" was the moment that everything turned around. Toledo, Illinois, Purdue, and even the Horror would all be but a distant memory. Michigan is BACK, and this is the moment that everything came together and the Rodriguez era truly began. All would be right with the world, the investigation and all the struggles would be but an afterthought, and all it would take is a win saturday.
GO BLUE.
That Pete Carroll is crying about someone running the score up? When they played Arkansas a few years ago he was still passing the ball up like 60-something to not very much. I hate the whole "I'm just a cool guy trying my best to point these kids in the right direction" persona that Pete Carroll is all about, and Just Love seeing him get a spoonfull of his own medicine.
Smith played a really good game today, b ut no Minor means no Ball control, and the usual Badger "Shove it down their throat, then throw to the TE" offense wore down the defense and kept them on the field pretty much the entire second half. Not freaking out about today's game, Wisky is a decent team with some good Players and it was our young team on the road. I can deal with Losses like today (I'm not saying I like them, I'm saying I can deal with them). It's losses to teams like freaking Illinois and Purdue that drives me nuts.
But he said the other day he didn't. I would assume that Reckman was suspended before RR had any contact with the Big Ten about it, but I could be wrong. Either way what's good for the goose...blah...blah...blah.
I responed "If Brandon Graham is playing his tail off and is waving his hands like he wants me to stand up, I'm standing up". No Response, and no more Sit Downs.
I watched the Reckman incident again, and I was suprised that this is such a big deal to Hope, mainly because it was such a stupid play. The NIU player slides down to end the game, and Reckman Stops in his tracks to change direction AFTER THE NIU PLAYER IS DOWN, and drops the forearm on him after the play is obviously over. That's what pisses me off about the way Hope has acted about the whole thing. He must've seen that play god knows how many times to make an argument to the conference, and it's just obvious what a boneheaded, busch league shot Reckman took at an already downed player. Yet, Hope apparently thinks this kid somehow got the short end of the stick, and RR made one comment, so its obviously his fault the kid got suspended.
Big Ten: Coach, what excuse does your player have for such an action?
Hope: HE WAS PLAYING HARD!!!!! BOILERS PLAY HARD!!!! WE NEVER GIVE UP!!!!
Big Ten: Thanks Coach, for such an intelligent response, that'll be one game for Mr. Reckman.
For Hope to disregard the play totally, and pull him into a confrontation with RR like Reckman is some kind of victim just shows what a freakin' Jackass Hope is.
After the Illinois game I was not on the "Fire Rich Rod" bandwagon, but i was to the point that I needed to see improvement from both RR and Forcier before I got back to the "Let's see where we finish, and see what we can do next year" side. Saturday I did see improvement from Tate, now alot of it could've been because they were playing Purdue, but that effort could help him alot going into the final to games of the season. Overly optimistic? based on what we've seen this year, yeah, probably so. As far as RR showing me improvement, I think Minor's effort showed that when he has all the pieces he needs then his offense can be Very impressive, especially the running game and the slot position.
Now am I saying everything is all "Tea and Crumpets"? Hell NO, If hopson is coaching a group of very athletic, yet very clueless LB's, and he's not contributing to the team by recruiting very well, then he needs to go. Robinson should get one more year to get these kids where they need to be. If it doesn't work out then odds are that RR will probably be gone too, so we'll be looking for a whole new staff not just a DC.
We all know that the "OMG...what if they lose this game..." part of the schedule is behind them. I've said it on another post, but after seeing RR's reaction to the Danny Hope ordeal at the press conference He just looked really pissed off that they are where they are, and I think the next two weeks he's going to coach his ass off. Will it make a difference? Hopefully, but maybe not. I think thats the best we can expect at this point, and move forward. I for one am willing to give this staff one more shot and hopefully they won't let me down.
GO BLUE.
If we had a Jake Loyd caliber tackle on this team, then you would see Minor running left alot, and it might be boring to some, but it would be pretty damn effective, and we would be a better team for it.
And for the record, Mike Hart's Drive and Motor made him perhaps my favorite wolverine of all time. I could never get tired of watching that guy run.
The guy should be up for National Coach of the year seeing as how he lost Pike, and is still undefeated, and appears not to have lost much from his QB.
I was at the game, so like everyone else I could not tell what the ruling would be, but I DVR'd the game, and replayed that play many times. The Big Ten Network (as usual)didn't have the best angle to show whether or not it was thrown forwards or Backwards. From what I saw while Brown was getting pulled out of Bounds His arm did not look to me like it was going forwards, and The lineman was clearly behind him before he stepped forward to catch the ball. So without knowing what angle the booth had, there was no Evidence to overturn the call on the field. I could be wrong, and there could be a better angle of the play I have not seen, BUT from what I saw on the BIg Ten Replay, there was no evidence to over turn the call on the field. That's just my take.
check out Outlander with Jim Caviezal. It seems like a low budget sci/fantasy Flick, but once you get into it it's actually really good. Alot like The 13th Warrior with Antonio Banderas.
Comedy, any Cohen Brothers movie, and The Goods is really good.
And one thing I noticed was RR just looked Mad as Hell. Hope had just pulled his little busch league stunt, and RR was already frustrated with losing the game. It looked to me like he knows what to expect from the press and the media after a tough loss (God knows we've had enough of them lately), but now He's got the freaking coach at Purdue, going out of his way to take a cheap shot at him right there on his own field, a shot that was even cheaper than the one Reckman landed on the NIU player.
I look at him in that press conference, and I for one LIKE IT. It looks to me like he's got more drive in him right now instead of just "Letting the Process run it's course", and I would not be suprised if we didn't see this team's best effort since the NOtre Dame game at Camp Randall.
Did the same song and dance at Miss. State, building a decent program off of NCAA Violations and Jr. College Players, only to bow out right as the NCAA started taking notice.
Is there really any hope for things to get better? I know we've been over this a million times, we know we are goiung to Lose Graham and perhaps Warren, but if Big Will can emerge, and Martin keeps improving, do you think the improved play on the inside could openb things up for Roh and RVB on the outside, giving the secondary a little bit more of a cushion than thye are getting now? I'm praying (Please, please, angry Football God, we've felt your wrath and endured much pain...) that Campbell and Turner can step up, and that would move Woolfolk back to Safety, and help a little bit with the depth in the secondary. Also has anyone heard anything about how Lalotta is doing? Perhaps if he comes along then maybe he could add some depth to the D line, or fill the stand up spot Roh has been playing this year. Just grasping for anything positive when It comes to the defense, guys.
Thats what had everyone so excited is that RR had done so much with so little at WV, so while Lloyd had done so little with so much for MI. How the defense can make the same mistaqkes and blow the same assighnments week after week for 2 years in a row is beyond me. I think Gerg should get another year just because of his excellent track record as a DC, and to see if a little continuity helps, but I think some of the position caoches need to be looking for Jobs, mainly Hopson.
As for Danny Hope, I just want to thank him. After the game, I had my doubts about the transition, about the coaching staff, and about the future of the program. Nothing has really changed, but such a douche bag move has me back directly behind this Team and it's coaches and players, just to see them turn this thing around, and after we beat the dog out of what will still be a bad Purdue team next year, maybe RR can walk across the field and tell that Jackass "Thanks for what you did".
GO BLUE.
Listen I'm all for trying to put in the spread offense, It works for other programs, It worked at WVU, it's working as we speak at Florida.... BUt The 3-3-5 is a situational defense that should be used more as a gimmick than a base. It didn't work well at WV, it obviously isn't working at Michigan. If this is their answer to making up for bad play at safety, then this is just a bone headed move. They try and answer the problem by taking a DL out (which has been the strength of this team) and allowing opposing QB's even more time, making things harder on the secondary.
BUt It might be kinda cool to use like conference USA, and see who's the first one to get invited to a BCS conference. I'm down for what ever, so just hit me up on XBL and let me know what we're doing, or I'll just keep checkingf back here.
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Auburn @ 13 is a little high, Arkansas will probably finish ahead of them in the sec west. Hogs Defense was one of the worst in the league last year, but like UM was really young and has only gotten better, Ark Offense will be the best in the SEC. Behind Mallett is a corp of stud RB's and one of the best groups of WR's in the country.