2008 Michigan Vs. Florida Capital One Bowl - Now BTN

Submitted by NeilGoBlue on

On now.

BRCE

June 16th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^

Fantastic game to watch, but this one made a lot of people think that there was nothing wrong with the previous regime when in reality we went way outside the norm in our gameplan and as a result got our first OSU/Bowl win in what was then over four years.

 

 

WolverineHistorian

June 16th, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^

Did they show the Gator players talking sh*t at the 50 yard line prior to the game? 

A healthy Henne and Hart made a world of difference in this game.  Too bad they could barely walk in the OSU game. 

BRCE

June 16th, 2011 at 10:26 PM ^

Carr was often more aggressive in bowls for whatever reason. The Rose Bowl vs. Texas, the Outback Bowl vs. Florida, the Citrus Bowl vs. Auburn.

Yeah, Henne and Hart got banged up bad that year, but we would have hung 60 on Appalachian State with this kind of offensive innovation.

 

 

 

jmblue

June 16th, 2011 at 10:44 PM ^

But also makes me sad at how badly Henne, Hart, Arrington and Manningham were misused by those coaches. Ugh.

While I don't disagree that DeBord was very predictable at times (which was very frustrating when we played teams like USC, where the situation called for us to take more risks), these guys could have been misused a lot worse than they were. Hart, for instance, rushed for over 5,000 yards despite frequent injuries; how many more could he have realistically gotten in another offense?

BRCE

June 16th, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^

of how he was used (i.e. run to DEATH when healthy). Very few guys could totally hold up with that work load, let alone a dude that size.

He got those yards because he was a great player, but I'd still rather have seen him have a crack at running well 12 games a year as opposed to getting 35 carries in a game we won 38-0 (ND, for example).

 

BRCE

June 16th, 2011 at 11:10 PM ^

No one said he wasn't. Denard had the unfortunate task of being the team's starting running back AND take blows in the passing game. Way too much.

I honestly think Denard's insane work load was the result of the pressure on Rodriguez. The running backs just weren't good enough to ride those critical games on.

 

 

jmblue

June 17th, 2011 at 12:41 AM ^

I don't think so.  Pat White carried the ball 197 times in 2007, despite the fact that Steve Slaton and Noel Devine were available.  That's how RR's offense operates - the QB carries it a ton.  If there are also has good tailbacks available, he'll call more running plays and cut down on pass attempts.  2007 WVU rushed the ball over 70% of the time.

micheal honcho

June 17th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^

Which is why you dont ride those critical games on them. You use them against the patsies to develop them so they are ready for those critical games. Instead of creating a heisman phenom against bowling green whilst those running backs get no reps. We never got to find out if those running backs were any good, hopefully this year we will.

M-Dog

June 16th, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^

One of my favorite games of all time. 

I thought at the time that it felt like such a big win because of Carr and the redemption for the rest of the season, but that over time it would be just, you know, a win in the Capital One bowl.

But I was wrong.  It has stood the test of time.

 

Sopwith

June 16th, 2011 at 10:30 PM ^

Was just posting about this game in the "defensive improvement" thread, but it merits bringing up here, too. 

As you're watching Henne and company put this hapless-looking Gator secondary through this public shaming, think about this for a moment:  that meek, seemingly lost group of Florida DB's turned into one of the nation's finest the next year.  Here are the improvements Florida's defense (esp. pass defense) made the next year, when they won the Nat Title in 2008/9:

Scoring defense went from 46th to 5th. 

Pass defense went from 98th(!) to 20th.

Pass efficiency defense went from 71st to 3rd. 

Interceptions went from 74th to 1st. 

Source:  http://www.gatorzone.com/football/history/2008/review.pdf  see at page 6.

The biggest difference really simply seemed to be that the 2007 team was full of first year starters in the secondary, while the 2008 team, though still young, had that year of bludgeoning to learn from. 

Just sayin'.  Radical improvements in young DBs are known to happen.  Courtney Avery, Carvin, Marvin, and J.T. all took their lumps, but they've got the talent and atleticism to be elite guys. Maybe sooner than anybody thinks.

jmblue

June 16th, 2011 at 10:38 PM ^

The offense we ran in this game might bear some similarities to what we'll run this fall (but obviously, with some more designed QB carries) .  SDSU used quite a bit of shotgun last year.

ntl002

June 16th, 2011 at 10:44 PM ^

I remember watching this game and thinking that Manningham would be an absolute beast in Rodriguez's offense. It's a shame we didn't get to see that

M - Flightsci

June 16th, 2011 at 10:49 PM ^

Hart looked pretty fast that game and I forgot what a shock it was to see Henne alone in the backfield and 4 or 5 wide... looked like a bastardized version of what we were to see under Rodriguez, a dreamlike view into an exciting future.  Oh, and Arrington had an unreal game, he was on another level.  The catch posterizing the Florida DB was out of this world

but you can't forget the dump off behind the back catch after Henne stepped up in the pocket.

SirJack

June 17th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^

"to see Henne alone in the backfield and 4 or 5 wide... looked like a bastardized version of what we were to see under Rodriguez...."

Perhaps you meant that the other way around?