Great story about players rallying around Gardner

for the link.

Was at the game and watched Gardner right after he came to the bench after throwing the interception. It was amazing to see so many players, walk ons to starters, come up to him and say something, or just pat him on the helmet. This team truly is a TEAM. We have a bright future

You simply cannot be a championship caliber team without unity and having each others back. Clearly we possess that ingredient

The line about entropy tells me that Daily writers grew up reading Brian.

Groban

''We're not gonna criticize each other. We're not gonna talk about each other. We're gonna encourage each other!''

This is exactly the kind of positive environment I would expect to find on a Brady Hoke coached team.  Watching him across the sidelines from Brian Kelly, I am so glad that he's our guy and not Kelly.  Kelly tearing down his kids, berating them, belittling them, on national television - it's just embarassing.  Then you seek Hoke picking his players up, encouraging them, and setting them back in the right direction with confidence.  That's the kind of coaching I'd want my kid to get if I had one, and that's the kind of coach I'd be inspired to excel for.

I know a lot of sons and daughters who have been yelled at and scolded still love their parents because they understand their parents are trying to get the best out of them. Much like coaches. Now if the coaches are locking the players in closets....

It's funny, on gameday in an interview Gardner was asked about his interceptions last week and how he recovers from them.  He said he'll smile at his teammates and give them winks to let them know he's ok.  After that interception the camera showed him on the sideline and there he was smiling and winking.

want to see how the coaches/team reacted if something went wrong during the game??

Could have picked something less drastic than a 0-yard pick six to make the point...

The Michigan Daily sports writing continues to impress (and dominate bigger, "professional," rags).

FWIW, it was clear on TV that Notre Dame players were going over and thumping Tommy Rees between the shoulder blades and the like, rallying behind him after his flubs too.

The difference is that in their case, that's the only support that poor bastard was going to get.

capable of being published as a feature in any Detroit newspaper. I've always respected the ability of the Michigan Daily staff even after the university dropped the journalism program. It takes a great commitment to be an athlete at Michigan. It also takes a great commitment to work at a student newspaper.

A team and family are never truly tested until they face adversity and find their way through it. After the play was over, you could see the hurt in Devin's face, and you saw his teammates, the Oline members come to him and pull him up. Gardner had escaped before, and gotten away with it. Good teams study your style and recognize what you do when you are in trouble. 

When blitzers were sent to get Gardner Saturday night and missed, they were counseled when they came to the sideline by their position coach, and reminded to blitz with cautionary aggression and react to Gardner by closing off his escape route. And on that play, ND's defenders took away all of Gardner's escape routes and boxed him in, forcing him into a dumb play and a desperate pass, which was doomed now matter what. 

When you think you are invincible,  you believe you can make any play, and that is why Devin did what he did in that situation. And because his teammates know what he is capable of, and have confidence in his ability, and because they are all in it together, and believe in each other, Gardner and his guys could come back, and they knew it, even if their now stunned qb was beside himself in a surreal mode of anger and denial.

You are never tested until you are challenged by your own mistakes and adversity threatens your purpose or goal. And no team will ever win a championship until they accept the challenge and overcome it, and realize that the process is the real journey to success. There will be many more hurdles along the way this season.

But Gardner and his teammates, picking him up off the turf in the end zone in the dead silence of the multitudes, and promising to make it right with him, cleared a big one Saturday night.  Now, we will see what lessons that message has wrought. 

A great story beyond the storyline. 

We all know Devin is good at football, but I don't know if everyone fully apprecaites just how good this kid is and how high his ceiling is. Below is a list of career QB ratings for several Michigan quarterbacks. Now, on the one hand, it's not entirely fair to compare Gardner's 7 starts to guys who have played full/multiple seasons. On the other hand, only 1 of Devin's 7 starts has been against a non-conference cupcake (CMU). The others have been mostly legit opponents, including OSU, ND, SC, NW, and Iowa.

Player Name	QB Rating
Devin Gardner	158.46
Elvis Grbac	148.14
Jim Harbaugh	145.65
John Wangler	145.17
Todd Collins	145.03
Drew Henson	140.82
Denard Robinson	138.65
Tom Brady	136.43
Chad Henne	133.91
Brian Griese	131.37
Rick Leach	130.03
Tate Forcier	128.62
Scott Dreisbach	125.99
John Navarre	125.76
Ryan Mallett	105.69
Steven Threet	105.26