Chicago Trib article on game
There is a decent article on the victory over ND in the Chicago Tribune. Especially amusing is the comments section. This certainly brings great schadenfreude to Michigan fans. Most of the comments are from ND fans. Almost all feel the following:
1) ND has more talent and is the better team.
2) Charlie must go . . . the sooner the better. The feeling of one commenter is that if they don't can him now he just might by some miracle salvage the season with the talent he has there, then it would be more difficult to fire him then. Cut your losses and pink slip the pinhead.
3) The loss is not because Michigan was better, nor because of the refs. The loss is because of the coaching by Weis. Particularly, his decision to pass twice at the end of the game, when ND should have been milking the clock.
It is irritating that they give so much credit to the ND team.
Also, the author seems like an ND homer. He makes the observation that for ND fans, this was much more painful than the 38-0 loss a couple years ago. The author closes the article by writing, the slipshod play, imploding coaching decisions and flaws laid bare -- all that raises doubts that were ignorable before. While this analysis isn't bad, it won't help Michigan if Charlie Tuna is canned.
September 13th, 2009 at 2:50 AM ^
To Hell with Notre Dame
September 13th, 2009 at 2:53 AM ^
They're right about Weis. Either they fire him midseason this year, or he's there until they run out of foodstuffs and he's forced to ride his Rascal off to greener pastures.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:30 AM ^
+1 for saying "foodstuffs"
September 13th, 2009 at 10:21 AM ^
I'm kinda rooting for Charlie b/c I think over the years we could handle them. It's better for them to have a coach we are comfortable with than them picking up a Tressle like coach we can't seem to beat.
September 13th, 2009 at 2:55 AM ^
I find it hilarious that they want him fired because he called a pass play on 2nd and 10 and maybe gave Michigan one extra play in today's game. I mean, there are so many better reasons to fire him. How about this one: This is his fifth year and he is such a total failure as a coach that his team is not as good as a team that was 3-9 last year and has a freshman quarterback who can barely shave and is only playing in his second game since graduating from high school?
September 13th, 2009 at 3:02 AM ^
I think they want him fired because he's a megalomaniacal, overconfident slob who has consistently made awful coaching decisions and who lacks any kind of personality to make him at all redeeming. Charlie can recruit and that's about it.
September 13th, 2009 at 6:51 AM ^
On any possible fiing of Charlie Weis: There is no doubt about one thing: He can recruit. Would their next coach be able to recruit as well? The would probably lose Tenuta also.
What I'm trying to say is I don't fear anyone taking that job. I won't go to the Urban Meyer card because I don't think he has any intention of coaching there. And right now, he is the ONLY guy that would scare me.
September 13th, 2009 at 8:10 AM ^
The guy who would corcern me if ND hired him is not Meyer rather Brian Kelly. It has been discussed that he has enough issues or skeletons that ND would probably pass, but the though of all of the talent ND/Weis has recruited molded by Kelly is very concerning.
September 13th, 2009 at 2:53 PM ^
Notre Dame has to be overly cautious after the O'Leary situation. I don't think they'll even seriously consider Kelly. I ultimately think that Skip Holtz is the next Domer coach for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the spread option.
September 13th, 2009 at 8:33 AM ^
I for one think ND has a hell of a team and we should enjoy yesterday's victory like victors do. ND is going to lay the wood on Sparty next Saturday and with the schedule they have will have a successful season.
I am for Charlie Weis keeping his job at ND like I was John Cooper as tOSU.
Lastly, upon waking up this morning there was only one dominating thought in my head...
It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine.
September 13th, 2009 at 7:39 AM ^
but that pass on 2nd down was wide open and should have been completed. It was a freshman WR that ran a bad route. If he catches that ball...first down...UM may not have gotten the ball back...ND wins...and ND nation is calling Jabba a genius.
My cousin and her husband went to ND and her hubbie is a diehard. He is calling for Jaba's head and thinks Gruden is their next coach. That hire would scare me just a little bit...at least until I immediately remembered that we'll have Tate under center for three more years!
September 13th, 2009 at 8:18 AM ^
Charlie is catching grief unfairly for the play calls on their last possession. M had not been able to effectively defend against the pass all day, ND has excellent WRs and a likely Heisman candidate in Jimmah. With two shots, it was likely they would pick up the first down. It didn't work out.
For the media to crap on him is BS. Anyone who watched the M-Colorado game in 1994 knows full well that trying just playing to burn the opponents TOs doesn't guarantee victory.
September 13th, 2009 at 9:27 AM ^
I disagree. It was a cocky move. Common football sense says to run the ball and the clock out. They ran all over us all day and they may have easily ran the clock out. He went for a in your face knock out punch.
September 13th, 2009 at 9:53 AM ^
Their best RB was hurt, and their backup had not been able to get positive yards all day. I think the pass play was the smarter call, as the odds of them making a first down running were not great.
If they're going to fire CW for anything, it should be for the costly mistakes/penalties, not the play-calling. Offensively, his game plan was quite impressive and really had our defense off-balance in the first half. But the coaching staff is also responsible for the discipline of the players, and the sheer number of penalties should be worrisome to any ND fan.
ND is a good team. They displayed some impressive talent yesterday, and I expect them to win 8 or so games this year.
September 13th, 2009 at 10:50 AM ^
i don't fault weiss for calling a pass play. however, at that point in the game, a first down is all ND needs to ice the game. so why throw a 50 yd bomb??? it has they same impact as a 10 yd out route. but which is more likely to be completed? ask yourself.
it seems to me that the arrogant weiss was trying to actually score another TD, so the game wouldn't appear as close as it was. and he failed miserably.
thank you many times over charlie.
GO BLUE!!!
September 13th, 2009 at 3:05 PM ^
In those end-of-game situations, the defense moves extra guys into the box to keep the offense from running the ball and running out the clock. Weis was attempting to counter that by taking advantage of his talented passing game against the resultant man coverage, rather than running his back-up running back against a defense stacking the line against the run. He gambled and lost, but it doesn't mean the gamble was made out of arrogance, or to run up the score.
I agree with others that criticizing Weis over this point is weak. It was a gamble. Had either pass been completed, ND Nation would be enjoying their victory and praising Weis for his guts.
September 13th, 2009 at 10:16 AM ^
I have NEVER understood the ND homerism shown by the Chicago papers. It's like Northwestern isn't good enough for them (granted NW was really bad for a long time) so they had to 'import' a school from another state. Even today, NW is granted "bastard step-child" status. The better TEAM won yesterday, plain and simple. Irregardless of superior athletes or "decided schematic advantage", the better TEAM won (that includes coaching staff). Why people seem to think they can hype one aspect ("superior athletes") and discount another (inferior coaching staff) is beyond me.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:00 PM ^
Notre Dame is like an hour and a half away from Chicago... it's closer than Illinois, as a matter of fact. Northwestern? Come on, man. That's like asking why the Cleveland papers cover OSU instead of Kent State. There are more Notre Dame fans and alums in Chicago than any other team.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:08 PM ^
That phenomenon is also why the Toledo Blade sometimes seems to be torn between supporting Ohio schools and the University of Michigan.