Why does this Forde article give me hope?
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=465…
Forde pretty much rips into Pryor..he was after all the #1 qb recruit. Forde also points out the faith the coaches have in Pryor with some pretty damning stats. I don't know why, but I feel optimistic about our chances against Ohio st. Yes, they are ranked 10th in pass offense and throws the fewest of any team.
In the games I watched Ohio st this year, most of the passes seem to be deep balls. I wonder if this translates to an acceptable risk factor for Michigan, namely to just stop the run every down and shift into pass offense on 3rd and long situations. We have nothing to lose, so RR can be more dangerous in that respect. Will Tressel change things up and let Pryor loose? Probably not, so there is always hope in playing a conservative team. However, if we build up a 10 or 14 point lead, then Ohio st will change gears and play to win, not play to lose.
Thoughts about the game and approach the teams will likely take? Should Michigan feel pressure in the need to win this game to make a bowl game..or pretend the season is lost and just win the game to make up for the season, instead of focusing on the desire for a bowl game? No doubt, Ohio st would love to ruin our season and prevent us from going to a bowl, but is that a strong enough motivational factor for them? We seemed to play poorly when we only needed 1 more win for a bowl, so if we give up that focus, I hope we play like a wounded wolverine and put out our best team performance overall this season.
Remember, this is why we play games to see what the results are, instead of wallowing in our own doom and gloom predictions.
Let's fuck. shit. up.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:32 AM ^
...and go hard
seriously, our season is already "ruined"...they can't do that to us
we have nothing to lose...they have a lot
November 15th, 2009 at 12:48 AM ^
It seems to me that OSU doesn't have much to lose. They locked up their Big 10 title and Rose Bowl bid...I'm planning on OSU sleepwalking into the game and M playing their asses off for the upset. Foolish? Yes.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:23 AM ^
I agree with the "buckle up and go hard" sentiment... but a win next Saturday would effectively un-"ruin" the season because Michigan would get to a bowl game. Not saying there's really anything "to lose" because it's such a long shot at this point but a win would go a long way toward saving the season; if you look back 10 years from now and Hey, Michigan fell apart in the Big 10 but then they beat Ohio State and MAC team du jour in the Little Caesar's Bowl and finished 7-6, that's really not so bad.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:50 AM ^
To quote the movie Hoosiers:
"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen."
November 15th, 2009 at 8:21 AM ^
To paraphrase, "Brandon I want to know what flavor of gum Number 2 is chewing every time you knock him to the ground."
November 15th, 2009 at 2:03 AM ^
You should always do what is most likely to result in a win (barring meaningless games where you just want to avoid injury, like '07 Wisconsin). Pressure should not factor into it.
November 15th, 2009 at 2:17 AM ^
I like your optimism. But honestly fuck Forde. That cocksucker is a total ass. Tressel conservative? Yes he is. Dedicating an entire column to him being a closet loser is a definite no & it pisses me off. Do I think we can win next weekend, yes I do. And its more than just a shot in the dark. But JT's way of winning is what it is and its not his fault that TP isn't that good or fit for his style of ball. Tressel isn't that goddamn conservative. Sorry but he ain't Lloyd. He plays to what he knows and the strength of the players he has on that roster. Do I hate him, yeah kind of, that stiff ass turd sandwich coaches for OSU. But will I totally undermine my enemy just because i hate him?! No. Absolutely not. Tressel & those classless fucks from Columbus are a damn talented and well coached football team. So Pat Forde & his hatred for the Big 10 can go find a dark hole and die in it. I am sick of that piece of shit. He is worthless. Does he bother to rip apart USC for their shit the bed performances?! No or any other big program for that matter. Atleast not in the manner he does teams from the Big 10. I hope we beat the dog piss outta the fuckeye nation next week but i refuse to believe a team like OSU is some total and complete joke because Pat the jagoff 40oz homer says so.
November 15th, 2009 at 2:41 AM ^
But seriously though, how do you really feel?
November 15th, 2009 at 2:53 AM ^
I guess I am just boiling from all the BS I have heard since app state. Total overload. I have never dealt with so much BS and its got me all worked up like my first prom date.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:58 AM ^
Kudos. You just expressed what a lot of others feel.
November 15th, 2009 at 2:53 AM ^
I don't take any solace from this column because Ohio State is simply being used as an example. When Forde says stuff like this about OSU, he's saying the same thing about teams like U-M by proxy.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:40 AM ^
great cathart EZMIKEP. I believe your blood pressure must be close to normal now.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:20 PM ^
it's his team and his stupid, asshole coordinators/assistants/fans that are the people who I wish papercuts to. He's really a quality guy with a good sense or morality. He just happens to be stuck coaching the most depraved university outside of MSU:) I'll back JT as a person, but I'll be hung upside down by my eyelashes before I'll root for the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. When it comes to OSU, screw the Big Ten, they should always lose.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:54 PM ^
lololololololol
November 15th, 2009 at 3:13 AM ^
"maybe because your weak willed and can't think for yourself" Wait was that out loud and I am just pissy about the season and have less then the required "cool post dude" comments to really reflect my feelings in a thread of my own point wise until Monday. SORRY TO THE OP for the rude tone. Forde is a putz.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:17 AM ^
Pat Forde drinks his own poop out of a blender.
I've seen it.
November 15th, 2009 at 2:09 PM ^
"You've actually seen him eat another man's penis?"
"It was in international waters."
November 15th, 2009 at 4:36 AM ^
To be savagely ravaged by the All-SEC First Team.
November 15th, 2009 at 5:47 AM ^
...but I especially like this quote: "You will demolish Michigan next Saturday, extending a record winning streak over your hated rival to six."
I like it because it may contribute to an upset. By the time they get to Ann Arbor, the Buckeyes are going to think that there is absolutely no way they lose this game. As we have seen over the years, that is usually a dangerous position in this rivalry.
It will continue this way all week; the media will defecate on Michigan while telling OSU that their feces is odorless. OSU celebrates and struts while UM simmers. I don't know if it will happen, but considering how the schools' respective seasons have gone and the personnel differences, this game is setting up ideally for UM. Every article praising OSU and laughing at UM is increasing UM's motivation and sapping that of OSU.
I don't know if it will be enough, but I sure am happy to see the media unwittingly helping UM.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:29 PM ^
from OSU who starts talking trash like they did in the '90s and get the whole team embarassed. I would love to have the D send that jackass Boren, both of them, a message on the same play.
Example:
BG rips past J. Boren and joins Roh('d) Rage to knock his younger brother Zach out of the game with a monster TFL, causing a fumble recovered by a blitzing Brandon Smith and taken for a defensive touchdown.
Upon seeing this, TP and Boren will both cry.
What do you think?
November 15th, 2009 at 8:00 AM ^
...Tressel is going to go overly-conservative on Saturday is insane. There's never been any indication he won't pull out all the stops to beat us. He got some criticism this year after losing to Purdue and USC; I'm sure he know that beating us, even in a down year, still means a lot.
And Pryor? I'm terrified of him. He has more potential than Troy Smith, and we're the team that has made every single Big 10 QB we've played look like a star.
I hope to the football gods that we win. It will be tough though.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:30 AM ^
I agree- he lets Pryor loose this week, and OSU fans wonder why he hasn't done that all year. I'm still picking M though- thick or thin. Mostly thin.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:38 AM ^
Wil come in to this game ready. Problem is the media will have thier heads filled with the notion that the can not lose. We will probably be a 20 pt dog in this one. I don't see how Tressell gets the ready. I think he will try to avoid injurys. He needs to win a bowl game just as much as we need to make one. Everyone needs to go all out. This is it. All the complaints of injurys need to go out the window. The key to this game is getting the ground game going and keeping our defense off the field.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:39 AM ^
A win next week would mean the ability to humiliate the team I hate most, not to mention shutting them up for a whole year and breaking the 6 game win streak against us. But it's the humiliation aspect I love most. Imagine a team like them losing to a "team like us"......It would be a beautiful and wonderous thing. Plus, I could tell the few OSU friends I have to piss off.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:12 AM ^
... there's always hope for next week.
It's just that after the last three games (esp. Illinois and Purdue) it's hard to be very optimistic.
The last team we beat lost to Norfolk State yesterday.
But, no doubt, a win against tOSU would be fantastic!
November 15th, 2009 at 9:39 AM ^
Pryor will end up looking stellar next week with the fact that UM has absolutely no D. Pryor will even surprise himself by making throws he never thought he could make because the D is just that awful. And I don't take pleasure writing this because I really really really want UM to beat OSU and humiliate Pryor.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:57 AM ^
I've said it for two weeks now, if UM has a chance of winning, the fact that OSU has had two big hyped up emotional games at Penn State and against Iowa for the Rose Bowl - maybe they come in a little less focused. All week they'll talk about their focus and how great it is, but it's only natural to lack focus in their situation and almost unavoidable. Michigan needs almost a perfect game to get a W....
November 15th, 2009 at 12:54 PM ^
They just handled PSU and Iowa, we're going to need a prayer fellas.
Not saying it can't happen, but I mean... we're 5-6. We're a little better than last year. We got crushed by OSU last year.
Our defense will have to have its best game of the season (by far) for us to win this one.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:00 PM ^
Hopefully Pryor the "arm punter" turns the ball over and then we have a shot. If not we will probably be in for a long day. I hope Rich has been preparing for this one since last years debacle.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:17 PM ^
It's a good time for a 40th anniversary special. There are a lot of differences from the '69 game but a lot of similarities too. Bo was in his 1st year, not his 2nd, and his team actually was pretty good that year. But OSU was a monster, had whipped us badly the year before (just as they did last year), and probably was favored by as much as they will be this year. If RR wants to make a statement, now is the perfect time. How many of us at the beginning of the year would have taken 6-6 with a win over OSU? Please raise your hand.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:47 PM ^
I find it ironic we will have a 6-6 record with a win over Ohio st because we want to avoid 6 in a row to them.
It will be a good year for me if Michigan goes 1-11 with a huge win over Ohio st. I just know it did not feel good being 11-1 with a loss to Ohio st anyways.