Michigan 27, Northwestern 19
via @cjzero, obviously
I can't. I just... I can't. Thank you, Northwestern, for being Northwestern.
Consider this an open thread to celebrate(!) a victory(!!) featuring multiple touchdowns!!!
(Shhhhhhh, don't ruin it by mentioning the multiple overtimes part.)
Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog
November 16th, 2013 at 9:37 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 11:22 PM ^
It also takes a special kind of person to decide what another person would or would not complain about in the event of a hypothetical situation.
November 16th, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 8:28 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 9:10 PM ^
November 17th, 2013 at 2:56 AM ^
go for it on 4th down, but I didn't like the play call. I did like the fact that Hoke was aggressive there and went for the win.
November 16th, 2013 at 10:30 PM ^
I think 4th and 2 inside the 10 was a good time to go for it, I just question the play call, if you got the balls to go for it, then call a damn play action pass the one time it ought to work!
November 16th, 2013 at 9:17 PM ^
They went for it twice on 4th and 4... tie game they punt it back. They may have lost the game in regulation giving the ball back after a 3 and out and 1:30+ left on the clock.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:01 PM ^
and we get an OC for next season. Period.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:04 PM ^
After it was good, I didn;t care if we won or lost..that play was awesome!
November 16th, 2013 at 8:07 PM ^
Not me - I totally still cared.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:42 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 10:21 PM ^
amazing execution.
November 17th, 2013 at 2:23 AM ^
November 17th, 2013 at 8:13 AM ^
Analyzing it in the wrong way. Gibbons started moving backwards before the line was set and then he never got set for a full second. It was an illegal shift. But, hey, I'll take it!
November 17th, 2013 at 10:24 AM ^
I'm pretty sure that N'Western had 12 guys on the field for the FG. It's hard to get a clip with the whole field, but I've got a clip with 11 and the next millisecond there's a 12th player about 15 yards to the right. I suspect he was a special team player coming on, but he was on the field.
November 17th, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^
I don't see that from any of the televised angles. I see nine near the line, one much further away toward the sideline, and then one even closer to the sideline. Besides, if they tried to call that, it would bring up the whole "defense gets a chance to substitute deal."
I think it's pretty clear that we caught a huge break.
November 16th, 2013 at 11:22 PM ^
i don't think i've seen a FG unit rush the field and be successful on an end of game kick like that in at least 20 years.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:05 PM ^
You know how sometimes the score doesn't tell the whole story?
This game is the definition of the principle. The picture in the dictionary, etc.
At this point, with no real goals left, disaster around every turn, and the spirit beaten out of the fanbase, this win... was a very pleasant surprise. Michigan tried to give the game away perhaps a dozen times, but somehow managed to pull it off. The upside was that, after that field goal, everything I saw was fun again.
This might be our last win this season. It's nice to get. That field goal was the stuff of legend.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^
I actually think Iowa will be easier than NW - I just think we match up against them better, and despite records, I think NW is the better team (albeit not by a whole lot). Now, we still might lose, but I bet we don't.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:17 PM ^
Winning the way they did at NW will be huge for the Iowa game too. This team needed some confidence and this game should give it to them. Good gutty (lucky) win on the road. Should make for a much more spirited week of practice.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:21 PM ^
Yeah. I was worried about the staff losing the team--the losses on the field are bad enough, but real program chaos is the sort of thing that #2 overall recruits decommit over, and stuff.
And while the world thinks OSU will roll all over us, I still have hope. Because the actual players are pretty good--if Michigan can catch lightning in a bottle, they can win.
November 16th, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 8:23 PM ^
From what I remember, Iowa doesn't blitz that much - which I sure hope holds up as true next week!
November 16th, 2013 at 9:34 PM ^
Iowa's run defense is much more physical and the somewhat holes we saw today will not be there next week. That said NW LBs and DBs should have had maybe 3-4 INTs today. Maybe more. Iowa DB are very Mattison like - play way off the ball and conservative so maybe the windows for receivers will be more open next week.
Anyhow, it was a cripple fight as someone else said. The third down conversion sadness replaced the negate rushing yardage sadness - sort of like a ship that plugs one hole only to see another spring. We'll take it but in the big picture other than giving these kids some reward for hard work, and maybe helping a recruit or two not decommit not much there to cheer for other than lifting a very dark mood over the program for a week. I did think the defense did well today, although still confounded by why so much bend is necessary...
November 17th, 2013 at 9:58 AM ^
The defense seemed to play a much more aggressive style and gave the team a chance to win. To me this was a glimse of what we will see out of the team next year. Once we have Peppers, to go with Countess and some of the other young guys, I see a defense that is even better. I have seen progress and they need to play the same way at OSU. You may get burned by a couple of plays, but be aggressive and leave it all on the field. Give the team a chance to win that game.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:13 PM ^
Well put. This is a nice relief after the disastrous last two weeks. The win wasn't a thing of beauty, but you have to be happy for the team, which clearly showed it's still fighting. It deserved to win one of these.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:19 PM ^
describes the path to winning. It includes losing badly, followed by losing close games, and then pulling out a close game. A little confidence can go a long way, and adversity forges bonds that are unbreakable.
Other than the win and the FG to tie, what I enjoyed most was watching Koger head-butt Gibbons after the kick - bare head to helmet!
November 16th, 2013 at 8:49 PM ^
And everything before that FG... not so much fun!
November 17th, 2013 at 1:38 AM ^
Call me the eternal optimist, but despite only 9 points in regulation, I saw a lot of little things that moved in the right direction. The OL was opening some holes, and generally getting a little push. We also seemed to be picking up the pass rush better and went away from teh slide protection scheme. Green ran much harder than earlier in the year, dragging a few guys and always falling forward. Those 2-3 yards may not seem like much, but it's the difference between 3rd and long and 3rd and short. Gardner seemed to get some of his speed back and didn't seem hobbled, despite the weather and muddy field. And yes, even Al made some nice adjustments: the full back passes, draw plays, short route quick hitters, etc.
There were still way too many WTF moments, and we still don't have an answer for 3rd and long other than to eat a sack, but overall I saw incremental improvement and that's encouraging. Besides, I don't care what the Debbie Downers say, a sloppy, meaningless win is still a hell of a lot better than a loss.
November 17th, 2013 at 10:10 AM ^
I still question the playcalling, but I really like Green and Smith in the backfield. They both run with power and usually don't get negative yards. Also, liked their blocking. They need to stay with that combination.
The Line was much better and if I see the progression, I will be optimistic about our chances next year and especially in 2015. The offense reminded me a lot of Alabama (in style only, NOT IN PERFORMANCE), but without the horses. Still more development needs to be done, but hopefully they continue to get better.
Imagine 2014:
QB: Gardiner
RB: Green, Smith
WR: Amara Darboh, Drake Harris, Chesson, Canteen, Ways
TE: Funchess, Butt
Interior OL should be better blockers, we just need to get some Tackle development in before the end of the year.
Now 2015:
QB: Shane Morris
RB: Green (yr3), Smith (yr3), Damien Harris
WR: Darboh, Chesson, Harris, Campbell, Canteen, Ways, etc.
TE: Funchess, Butt
Offensive line with mostly Juniors and Seniors.
I think that we could be a hell of a team in 2014 and especially in 2015. The defense looks just as good even with the loss of Hands. Peppers could be that special kind of player like Woodson.
November 17th, 2013 at 10:51 AM ^
I want Gardner back, or Morris if need be. This Gardiner kid won't prove out, trust me.
November 17th, 2013 at 10:24 AM ^
November 17th, 2013 at 11:26 AM ^
IMO, NW isn't a bad team. They lost some games due to being injury issues and then some close heartbreakers. They played Ohio to, what, 3 points (excluding meanlingless TD from the turnover). I feel a lot better about improvement against NW than I do against Indiana. As Brian said in the preview, they're defense is middling, which is where we should be measuring ourselves right now. Hell we looked worse against worse defenses so I'll definitely take it as a good sign.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:06 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 8:10 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 8:17 PM ^
He's the best three quarter coach there is
November 17th, 2013 at 4:54 AM ^
He needs to find a country where college football games are 45 minutes.
Edit: Actually, just 59 minutes and 45 seconds will do.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:38 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 9:19 PM ^
I wouldn't call losing to a hail mary pass and, today, to an almost miraculous field goal with a second left, a fourth quarter collapse. Let's be fair.
And just be glad his team's secondary can't catch a football.
He's a much better coach than the one we've got -- by far. What would the score have been if the talent level of the teams had been switched?
November 16th, 2013 at 9:35 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 11:25 PM ^
I'd say he has done a pretty good job considering he has either the hardest or second hardest academic restrictions of any major BCS school. And he is doing it at a school with almost no history of football success.
November 16th, 2013 at 10:30 PM ^
He's a much better coach than the one we've got -- by far.
Based on what? He's 26-36 in B1G play and seems to specialize in losing close games. He seems to be a classic play-not-to-lose coach, as evidenced by his punt on 4th and inches in the fourth quarter.
November 16th, 2013 at 11:28 PM ^
i couldn't believe he didn't take a safety up 6 pts and punting from the back of his endzone in a big wind. UM still would need a TD to win. Then the shank. The people around me then said, ya, you're right. Should've taken the safety.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:10 PM ^
That was fun to watch, as stephenrjking said above. The best part was Hoke on the sideline not changing expression after every good thing that Michigan did. He was focused, and it seemed to rub off on the team down the stretch.
I feel bad for Northwestern as every break seemed to go Michigan's way. But it was a classic college football game...
November 16th, 2013 at 9:47 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 8:10 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^
In the last minute, it's pretty much a free-for-all.
November 16th, 2013 at 8:42 PM ^
November 16th, 2013 at 9:07 PM ^
the PAC 12, "This is how it's done"
- BIG TEN Officiating
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