About last week (in brief)
That wasn't a football game.
In hockey, there's an unwritten rule that an enforcer isn't supposed to go after a goal scorer. There's a reason why guys like Yzerman and Gretzky have teammates like Probert and McSorely. If Gholston wants to fight a left tackle and get suspended for his WWF moves, then he's an asshole and he deserves an ass whooping, but it's not that big of a deal.
But the moment he starts taking cheap shots at Denard, that's when someone needs to 'show him the error of his ways'. In the clip above, Macguire fights Yzerman while Probert is being held by the linesman. Probert can't fight Macquire honorably because the refs are in the way, but a message needed to be sent. "YOU DON'T DO THAT." And if the refs aren't going to do their job (30 yard penalty on the late hit and facemask, ejection for the punch), then someone on our team needs to say "fuck it" and take matters into their own hands.
And frankly, I'm disappointed in our team. We didn't fight back. You can't let that happen to your teammate, you can't let that go unpunished. Charles Woodson wouldn't stand around and take that. He and Marcus Ray would be looking to hit someone.
Hockey players have long memories, will our football team?
Composure
So I waited a while before starting to write this because I didn't wan't it to be a profanity laced rant. (Waiting was only mildly effective.) I hate rewatching losses. And this week, there's really not much point. We lost that game because of pretty simple and obvious reasons.
- We got out hit
- We got out blocked
- We got out tackled
- We got beat on playcalling
- We got beat in the film room
- We got beat in the passing game
- We got out rushed
And even with all that, we were a horrible pick six away from tying the game. Mostly because Pat Narduzzi is a dirty coach.
I'm trying to not be a negative nilly, but holy fuck. How do we not call a single screen or misdirection run when we know they're blitzing up the middle? How do we abandon the running game in the 2nd half? What happened to "manball?" The first drive worked, what happened to the zone reads? Not a single fucking bubblescreen? IT'S FUCKING WEEK 7, WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE BUBBLE SCREENS?
And can we find a defensive back who can tackle Martin? Two field goals instead of two TD's makes that a completely different game.
And to all those saying "Blah, Blah, Blah wind", the wind is a fucking excuse. Good teams adapt.
Keeping it in perspective
I think we can pretty much stop worrying about any division titles. You don't have to be a stats major to realize that the probability of us winning out, multiplied by the probability of MSU losing twice after having already beaten OSU, us, and WISC, (even if it did take special teams and home field miracles) is pretty small. Yes it could happen, but we need to focus on beating a rejuvenated Purdue team. At this point, I wouldn't mind if we end up going 2-3 the rest of the way, so long as one of those wins is against TSIO.
I think we've got the talent and coaches to win out. But having said that, there's not a game on our schedule that won't be a challenge and our odds of winning the last 5 are not that much bigger than losing 4 out of 5.
Keeping up appearances
So, about that jersey stunt, FUCK YOU DAVE BRANDON, FUCK YOU. I'm sure there's a whole list of people I should be directing my anger at (starting with Addidas and Nike and ending somewhere near the equipment manager's office), and Brandon has done lots of things that are good, so it's not a general "fuck you". But regarding the jerseys and the marketing B.S., FUCK YOU DAVE BRANDON, FUCK YOU.
Taking the long view
Mattison is still impressive, but I worry about what's going to happen next year when we lose Mike Martin and RVB. I don't follow recruiting very closely anymore so I hope we've got some studs coming in on both the O-line and D-line, and for crissakes, would it be too much to ask for a 5* runningback? I hear rumblings of a pretty good recruiting class, but we've got lots of playing time available for any blue chips that want to help Michigan get back to our championship days.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:13 PM ^
I think if we wanted to "fight back" we should have done it by beating them soundly in the game of football. Sure a push here and shove there don't hurt too much and might express dominance, but where's the line drawn? Fighting is a part of the game of hockey and is allowed to a certain degree, but it is not in football and back in the days of Sir Charles and Mr. Ray, they may have jaw jacked and tried to phycically dominate guys, but most importantly, they beat their opponents at the game of football.
However, I do agree that some of the play calling could have been better, and we did get pusehd around and beat up quite a bit. The fact that this is THE GAME from Sparty's persepctive means their always going to give us their best, and we need to rise to that calling ourselves in years to come, which I believe we will do.
We have recruited some very solid players along the line this year, and with Pipkins committing as the highly ranked stud DT (although I would have liked to see another DT commit myself), we will be in a great position to win those physical battles for years to come. I feel your pain man, but trust me, the pendulum is going to swing back to our side very soon.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:21 PM ^
we didn't really fight back before the whistles. Yeah, some players did, but as a team we got pushed around and I didn't see the "fight" in our players during the plays.
October 25th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^
I do agree with you on that note, maybe I took the hockey analogy a little to literally. I think we will see fight out of the boys yet though. Just like when you first get hassled by the bullies at school, you learn to adapt and how to beat them the next time.
October 25th, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^
The best strategic move for the wolverines would have been a fight involving a bunch of men on both teams. A bunch of guys on each team suspended for the next game. Take the loss against State and then while Michigan's depleted yet rested squad would still be able to best Purdue, a depleted Michigan State would have surely lost to Wisky keeping Michigan's B1G Championship hopes far more realistic.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:13 PM ^
There's taking the high road, and then there is letting your star get destroyed while he is helpless and doing nothing about it.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^
My thoughts exactly. I wouldn't ever want it made public, but I hope in the week before the MSU game next year it's made very clear to the OL that if Denard takes a hit/facemask similar to the one Gholston made, it's open season until the referees break it up, and then open season again on the next snap.
October 25th, 2011 at 3:48 PM ^
I'm sure Hoke preached no retaliation all week in practice, but at some point you have to stand up for your quarterback at some point. Would it have changed the outcome of the game, probably not, but it can inject some energy into the team.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^
I'm not sure if it is a coincidence or not, but MSU had no personal fouls against Wisconsin. Between Hoke and Belema, only one of them would actually consider putting out a hit on an opposing player. I don't think those items are completely unrelated.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:51 PM ^
What blew my mind in that game was MSU apparently not getting called for any infraction, when I think I saw a couple of holds and at least one helmet-to-helmet tackle on Ball (I think) that knocked him out for a bit.
Again, beat the team and nobody complains, but it still drives me crazy to watch some of this stuff occur and not have the refs step in.
October 25th, 2011 at 4:15 PM ^
Mighty Michigan has been reduced to scouring their Little Brother's football games for any evidence of physicality at all. How delightfully ironic.
You want to talk about no calls? Glossed over is Lewan rubbing Gholston's face in the dirt, calling him a racist name, Roundtree's facemask and kick in the face to Johnny Adams, etc.
Did it drive you crazy that those weren't called? Because that would be more ammunition for your purely moral, selfless crusade, right?
October 25th, 2011 at 5:23 PM ^
The Whisky/ MSU rivalry is one of mutual respect not very many penalties and almost no chippy-ness at all. Whereas there is absolutely no respect from or for anyone in the Michigan/MSU rivalry.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:28 PM ^
I was actually surprised that Brian didn't have something to say similar to his 'Animals' post following the 2009 Michigan-MSU hockey game; the first thing I thought of after seeing the helmet twist was the Conboy/Tropp attack on Steve Kampfer. Gholston should have been ejected after the first egregious foul, and his overall actions should see him missing the rest of the season.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:40 PM ^
Brian is kind of a big wig now, he has to be respectful if he's going to be writing for all these 'established' websites and going on radio. I'm free to act like this blog's id, when my posts aren't being censored :-D.
October 25th, 2011 at 3:33 PM ^
There's definitely a balance between being respectful while he's in the spotlight and expressing how he really feels. Given that Angry, Passion-filled Brian is one of the reasons I continue to visit MGoBlog, I was expecting a little more than "Gholston should be suspended for two games," but given that wasn't the biggest story of the MSU game, I can understand why he was up-in-arms about it.
On a side note, I visited your blog and, being an avid FF7 fan myself, thoroughly enjoyed the stopmotion movie that you posted.
October 29th, 2011 at 1:36 AM ^
I just watched to stop motion video as well. That shit was fantastic!
October 25th, 2011 at 2:29 PM ^
October 25th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^
Interesting fact: Yzerman's last fight ever was against some guy named Chris Chelios.
As for your prediction on the rest of the schedule, I really feel that our chances of going 2-3 are less than going 3-2. Purdue and Illinois are extremely favorable, and that leaves us going1-2 against Iowa/Neb/Akron State, which is very, very probable (please God). I have us going 9-3 with a respectable bowl game. I wonder what our Bowl Jerseys will look like....
October 25th, 2011 at 3:04 PM ^
My only problem with this is that I clicked on the Charles Woodson fight clip and went on a youtube spree and watched about 10 videos and forgot I was reading this.
October 25th, 2011 at 3:40 PM ^
October 25th, 2011 at 4:17 PM ^
Wait, doesn't that make Charles Woodson a thug who should never see another snap? A convicted felon who should be tried for ATTEMPT OF MURDER?
Your inconsistencies weaken your argument. You don't seem to care about the glorious purity of gentlemanly college football when it's your players playing tough.
October 25th, 2011 at 2:53 PM ^
I don't want the players to retaliate, because that really isn't their job; the refs are paid to keep stuff like blatant punches and neck cranks off the field. Yes, they assessed penalties for some of them, but when the offender can stay out there and keep playing, the consequence loses its effectiveness.
October 25th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^
everyone is terrified of next year on an interior line perspective.
However, we have more than a few guys who can make strides in 350 or so days, especially given how vastly improved our D is with just 8 months of Mattison.
Im callling right now that Ash will suprise people, and I think he might be one of the younger guys they start to phase in here and there in games to spell Martin.
QW and BWC essentially HAVE to pan out. If they arent getting it done on D we should move Q back to OG asap because we are extremely thin there.
Frank Clark at DE/SLB is something I want to see, as well as Beyer in a stand up rush role only on passing downs.
If Pipkins can just be average our D will be fine
We are going to return everyone except RVB and Martin.
While i think long term Mattison wants a 3-4, we ndont have the guys for it yet.
October 25th, 2011 at 3:12 PM ^
If only we would have got Hankins. He's doing a really good job at Ohio.
October 25th, 2011 at 7:38 PM ^
October 25th, 2011 at 3:52 PM ^
based on? Because I would love to share it. But he's not been on the field nearly at all this year, and it's not bc they're trying to preserve a redshirt (he got that last year). If he could play like we hope, he'd have seen time by now.
Ash, Wilkins, and Washington - I was certain we'd see them start contributing this year. These are all 4* kids we need to have on the field in 2012. They should be able to move past walk-ons on the depth chart. (yes, yes I know Ash and Wilkins are only RS freshman)
October 25th, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^
is that I think Hoke was trying to preserve them and get them reps. I have no real opinion of QW, but I saw Ash in the spring game look serviceable (caveats apply)
Ash is a NT.. and it has to be hard for Hoke/Mattison to take out Martin and/or RVB for Ash to get reps and leave BWC on the sideline. Heininger leaves a lot to be desired and I seriously wonder what the coaches are thinking leaving him in the game
If I had a say, my DL would be starters
SDE - RVB/Brink
NT - MM
DT - BWC/Ash/Wilkens rotation by platoon.
Passing downs: Shift Both Black and Roh to DE, RVB to DT.
RDE - Roh/Black
Now, this is where things get interesting.
Brink runs with RVB at the SDE as does Heininger allowing RVB to slide inside. Id like to see this not happen. If we put in Brink, let RVB rest and let either Ash BWC or Wilkens to be the DT. If things work out ok, let Ash slide to NT to let MM get some 1 on 1s,.
October 25th, 2011 at 3:11 PM ^
I can't wait for next year, and I believe that Hoke is mad as heck, and so is Mattison, and there is going to be some serious payback within the rules, and if Gholston tries any of that crap next year, the refs are going to throw him out immediately, and if Dantonio complains, the refs are going to assess 15 yards against the sideline, and next year, Denard is going to be able to take advantage of them, and we're finally going to be ready for their rush, so that they have a ton of offsides penalties, and our defensive line and linebackers are going to knock their freshman quarterback out of the game, and their backup QB, and Hoke is going to wait to see if Dantonio takes it like a man (just like Hoke did last week,) or if Dantonio whines and complains to the media.
October 25th, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^
Can we get a "there are" thread for the spraty game next year?? Where is boyzndapahokee???
October 25th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^
because it doesn't do any good. It only shows that they are able to get under our skin and makes us look bad. Plus, haven't we learned over time that it is the retaliator who gets the stiffest penalty, even in hockey? I mean, how many times does someone get slashed, have it not get called, only to return the favor and go for a 4-minute double minor? Happens all the time. Maybe there was a way to fight back without a penalty, but I don't know what that would have been. Besides like I said, it says something about having a little bit of class and self control. We aren't good enough to lose any self control.
Plus, I hold our boys to a higher standard. Just yesterday (keep in mind this is now 9 days after the game) a facebook friend of mine felt the need to post the "wal-mart wolverine fan" youtube video and further taunt michigan fans that MSU had won. He went on to talk about how Michigan fans are whiners, losers, and blah, blah, blah....all AFTER what had to be the most exciting finish over a top ten team in my memory.
Let their actions speak for themselves. This isn't the NHL where that behavior is tolerated. It's college football.
October 25th, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
A big difference next year should be us having the senior QB on his second year in the system. Going into this game I had a bad feeling. How often does a team with a senior multi-year starter QB lose a rivalry game at home? (I know, Chad Henne, but he was playing with a clipped wing against Ohio that year.)
That's if the coaches get the gameplanning and management issues solved. This game continued a pattern of Michigan being outcoached in rivalry games (State and Ohio) that you can trace back at least to the 06 Ohio showdown. Hell, Tressel ALWAYS had a better game plan, always with new plays and little wrinkles. Now it's been Dantonio et al. getting into the act the last few years.
Take the snap count. As Brian says, that is on the coaches and it is inexcusable. It's easier to take a loss when 18-22-year-old kids make mistakes or are physically outmatched. When there are obvious coaching deficiencies, that's tougher to swallow. Carr was not good at that part of the game. Rodriguez wasn't either. I had high hopes that Hoke, Mattison, and Borges would fix that stuff. First time out they whiffed, but they have Ohio coming up as a chance to right the competence ship. I dream of a rivalry game where our coaches manage a game better, win the chess match and have a whopping RPS advantage.
October 26th, 2011 at 2:23 PM ^
to Iowa. ...by at least 30pts. That is a given.
A loss at Nebraska and our hopes will live again!!
October 26th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^
but I did get a chuckle out of it... now that I've calmed down a bit as well. MSU has always been, and will always be a dirty program, especially when they play Michigan. I'm completely surprised they didn't get a single penalty against Wisconsin! That said, I think they could win the rest of their games... but I don't see them beating Wisconsin again. I hate to even think that but I know it to be true. Boo!
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