Five things to take from this: We must recalibrate our expectations
By no means is this an unacceptable loss. If we take away the emotional aspect of getting beat soundly by our little brother two years in a row, this was almost a given. We were playing a team with decent talent, a potent offense, and a desperate need to win. Our opponent had to have this one, and they played like it. But still...
I hate losing to State. It is humbling in a way that is just too personal. So much smack has been spoken, just within the family, and over so many years... I will be hearing about this one for a while. There is nothing to say back this time. Michigan was thoroughly outplayed and had no right to even be in this game. The Spartoons managed to drive 130 yards for their first touchdown. State was killing themselves in true Sparty-NO! fashion, taking killer penalties, gifting Michigan the ball with regularity, and it almost cost them. Never underestimate the power of the Forcier.
Five Things:
- The fake punt. What the hell was that? I gather that the decision was made by Zoltan. There has been no worse conscious decision made in recent Michigan Football history. Yes, there was a lot of game left to be played, and yes, we held them to a field goal which they probably would have managed after a punt from there anyways. That was still a move that should never be allowed to happen. That is why I don't blame Zoltan for that. I understand giving him the read on punts and taking what openings he sees, and bad reads will happen. At the same time there should be set-in-stone limits to this, like when we are punting from our own 17. On fourth and inches. I put this squarely on the coaches.
- I don't know whether to defend GERG or throw him under the bus. It is even more obvious that he is dealing with a completely inept secondary. The way I see it he has two options to deal with this: 1) Drop everyone, Safeties, CBs, and LBs, back into coverage and rush only the line or 2) Blitz like crazy. It seemed to me that getting shredded by Cousins led to GERG trying 1 for most of the game and Cousins killed us with his feet. 1 is the path of no contain. Our defense had Sparty bottled up (or Sparty was killing themselves with penalties) for 3rd and 7, 3rd and 8, 2nd and 25(!), 3rd and 8 again and we would drop into almost a prevent defense only to get burned by Cousins. Only late in the game did we start to go to 2 and it made a big difference in our effectiveness.
- We can all be excited that this Michigan team has no quit in it. No two score lead is never safe against us and that is going to be exciting for the rest of the season because we are certainly going to face many more 4th quarter deficits with this crew on defense.
- Two more streaks of note went down in this one IIRC. The long streak of no 2 years in a row to Sparty, and I believe this was our first overtime loss. They both felt strange, ya know? Oh, well - Wipe the slate clean and all that...
- Congratulations to Michigan St for getting pumped up for the game and handing our asses to us. They played very well and deserved the win.
- Tate Forcier - Wow. Can this kid get any more exciting? It seems like it would get boring always bringing him up for accolades but he is just amazing. Stay healthy young man. You could yet be the best we have ever seen in a Michigan uniform. Super Clutch.
- Kovacs - I am officially behind this guy 100%. No, he is not a great option at safety. He has an amazing ability to time blitzes, shed blocks and make tackles though. I almost could see him as a linebacker if he could put on some muscle. Just an amazing performance for a walk on.
- Zoltan - Sorry to say it but Zoltan was not good in this game. Many short punts and of course the bad read. I still love the guy though.
- Woolfolk - This guy may be fast, but he can't tackle at all it seems. Kovacs is not a good safety, but he is better than Troy.
Looking Ahead:
This game illustrates further that we should be happy with 7 wins and a bowl game this year. Iowa isn't unwinnable, but it isn't likely that we take one at night in Kinnick IME. I think we will probably be at 5-3 after Penn St and looking for 2 wins the rest of the way. Those wins look like Illinois and Purdon't (nice choke job boilers), with Wisky a possibility as well. I hope we don't have anything riding on The Game as with nothing to lose, I think we win that one.
Have a safe week everyone. Go Blue! Beat those Hawkeyes!
October 4th, 2009 at 8:47 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 8:54 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:57 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 5:24 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 9:04 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 10:18 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:33 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 5:28 PM ^
October 5th, 2009 at 3:06 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 9:09 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 10:14 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 10:50 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:04 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:30 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:32 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 12:47 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 2:28 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 2:52 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 3:38 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 4:44 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:36 PM ^
October 5th, 2009 at 3:30 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 8:38 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 10:16 PM ^
October 5th, 2009 at 2:45 AM ^
October 5th, 2009 at 6:03 AM ^
October 5th, 2009 at 7:07 AM ^
October 5th, 2009 at 7:19 PM ^
October 6th, 2009 at 4:58 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 10:56 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:41 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 12:46 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 1:02 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 9:17 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 9:41 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:44 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 9:43 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:30 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 9:52 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:22 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 10:18 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 11:00 AM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 12:11 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 1:20 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 5:42 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 4:50 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 1:03 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 1:45 PM ^
October 4th, 2009 at 4:59 PM ^
Comments