Unverified Voracity Guards Seven Layer Dip Comment Count

Brian

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[Bryan Fuller]

Again. Congrats to softball, which won their umpteenth consecutive regional. Their super-regional against Missouri is this upcoming weekend. Wolverine Devotee has assembled the relevant information:

2 Michigan will host 15 Missouri in the NCAA Ann Arbor Super Regional next weekend on May 28-29.

  • Game 1- Saturday, May 28 (3pm/ESPN)
  • Game 2- Sunday, May 29 (Noon/ESPN)
  • Game 3 (if nec.)- Sunday, May 29 (3pm/ESPN)

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 8:30am for season ticket holders and to the general public on Tuesday at 8:30am.

You will not get tickets if you don’t already have them.

Awww yeah. Jane takes the 1986 Hawaii game and adores it:

10. When people tell you they want to see "Schembechler-style" football they mean they want to see a football game that looks sort of like the Battle of Verdun. Typically, the people telling you this will have a carefully-guarded recipe for seven-layer dip. I have no problem with any of this.

11. 27-10 is the score of a game in which one team is much better than the other team but doesn't really want anyone to know it. Like, you score 3 touchdowns but then, "whoa, let's not get cocky."

12. 27-10 is kind of the most Michigan score of all.

Expectations. Many people are expecting a good season from Michigan this year but this might be a tad much:

7 to 1 are the second best odds on the board behind Alabama at 6 to 1. This is not a power poll, many of which have Michigan around #5. Like this one from PFF:

5. Michigan

It’s all about the defense at Michigan, as they’re poised to be one of the nation’s best. They return the nation’s top-graded cornerback in Jourdan Lewis as well as two of the top three graded interior defensive linemen in Chris Wormley and Maurice Hurst. It will be on the offense to find a way to score points, but the majority of the offense returns and the results of their wide-open quarterback race – led by Wilton Speight – will determine just how far this Michigan team will go.

That’s a power poll. The betting lines aren’t. Those take Michigan’s iffy schedule into account. They’re also a collection of sucker bets that has less predictive power than a weekly line that sharps mostly control. (It also emphasizes how incredibly unlikely Leicester City was: you can bet on Navy or Air Force to win the national title at 1000 to 1. Leicester was infamously 5000 to 1.) But the expectations: they are out there.

About that defense. PFF details why they expect Michigan to have one of the best ones in the country again:

2. Their pass rush should be excellent…

As good as Henry was for Michigan last season, he was only the fourth-most efficient rusher on the Wolverines’ defense. Chris Wormley and Maurice Hurst formed the most efficient interior pass-rushing duo in the nation, with Wormley ranking first among defensive tackles in pass-rush productivity (45 total QB pressures, including seven sacks) and Hurst ranking third (30, including three). Hurst only saw 418 snaps last season, so the ability of both he and Wormley to stay productive and on the field will be critical to the Wolverines’ defensive success.

On the edge, Taco Charlton ranked sixth among 4-3 defensive ends in pass-rush productivity, generating 41 total pressures including six sacks.

Charlton did that in relatively scanty playing time as for much of the season he was splitting SDE snaps with Wormley. Only in the last few games did he end up starting at WDE. He could break out in a huge way with incremental improvement and a clear starting role.

PFF also offered up a couple of glimpses into their database that I don’t think we’d seen before, since usually the only hard numbers we get are from the top end. On Michigan’s departures:

The Wolverines only had one player drafted at all – defensive lineman Willie Henry, who went to the Ravens in the fourth round. That’s not to say they don’t have to replace some very productive players. Henry was PFF’s No. 34 interior lineman, LBs Desmond Morgan and Royce Jenkins-Stone both produced at a high level (linebacker in general is a bit of a question-mark position for Michigan), and SS Jarrod Wilson ranked No. 29 at his position after grading well in both run and pass defense.

I didn’t think RJS was that productive—not bad, but not great, either. And Wilson’s ranking is very boring, as is appropriate. A couple departures are omitted, one due to injury early in the year, the other… not due to injury.

Why does there have to be a seamy underbelly? Waco police and Baylor have conspired to keep a series of serious crimes by Baylor players out of the public eye. One of many:

In one case from 2011, an assault at an off-campus event in Waco ended with three football players being charged and Baylor and Waco police discussing the incident. Waco police, according to documents, took extraordinary steps to keep it from the public view "given the potential high-profile nature of the incident." According to a police report obtained by Outside the Lines, Waco's investigating officer asked a commander that "the case be pulled from the computer system so that only persons who had a reason to inquire about the report would be able to access it." The report was placed in a locked office.

This is bigger than the football program. The Title IX “Dear Colleague” letter that we became familiar with when Brendan Gibbons was belatedly expelled from the university is very much in effect at Baylor despite its private status, and there are a pile of accusations that the university has been operating like it’s still 1950 in this department. That could lead to serious repercussions for Baylor as a whole.

Via GTP, Chip Brown is reporting that Art Briles may be safe despite the fact that his teams seem to have a ton of bad behavior going on:

Multiple sources connected to Baylor told HornsDigest.com football coach Art Briles has a better chance of keeping his job after the school’s rape scandal than BU president and chancellor Ken Starr.

The sources said Starr will probably be reassigned to a position in BU’s law school as a result of the failed leadership displayed after multiple rape claims made by female Baylor students against five BU football players all but went ignored…

Briles, who has taken an irrelevant football program to two Big 12 titles in the last three years (including a bunch of new athletics facilities),  is sometimes referred to by Baylor brass as “Moses.”

Brown titles this piece “Starr—Not Briles—Will Be BU’s Fall Guy,” which is wrong. A fall guy is someone who takes the hit for something that wasn’t his fault. Scott Shafer was a fall guy for Rich Rodriguez. Here, Ken Starr is certainly responsible for massive failures and should be booted. You could make an argument either way for Briles, but it’s indisputable that Title IX stuff is above his paygrade.  (Uh… figuratively.)

That’s not to say that Briles isn’t under a lot of heat:

"If you don't (release the findings), it's going to look like you're hiding something given all of these allegations that are now out there," he said. "There's just been so much of it. All of that (Shawn) Oakman stuff. Now this."

And this is a salient point:

"These guys kept playing?" the coach said. "The message you're sending is, 'This isn't a big deal.'" … "This is a guy (Briles) who prides himself in being a players' coach and coaching his team like a high school team. It's really hard to believe that he didn't know about any of this stuff."

Michigan would still have Logan Tuley-Tillman on the roster if they acted like Baylor evidently has. The goings-on in Waco make Michigan’s participation in Baylor’s camp a dubious proposition. We’ll see if it continues as scheduled—Sam Webb mentioned there was some discussion of it but they still planned to go forward with it.

Still, this is more a story about Waco police corruption at the behest of Baylor’s administration more than it is a football coach. Someone’s head has to roll and unusually it look like the—or at least a—correct one will. Whether or not Baylor actually changes as a result is very much in question.

Praise to a sensible thing. More details on Big Ten hockey’s revamped playoff format have emerged, and they are equally devoid of neutral sites:

The tournament would be played over the course of three weekends and feature three best-of-three quarterfinal round series, two single-game semifinals, and one championship game. All games will be hosted on campus of the highest seed.

I assume they meant “higher” seed, not “highest” seed, FWIW. While I’d prefer best two-of-three to continue throughout the tournament, that change is close enough to what I’ve been advocating since Big Ten hockey started existing that I’ll take it. It’s more hockey, and a much much better environment for it. I assume the single game semis and finals are for TV purposes—the league can say we have these three games at this time and televise it without having to worry about if-necessary games. There would seem to be no other reason to have the above format.

While the story linked above seems to assume that the Big Ten will stay at 7, the format will obviously accommodate an eighth team without much disruption. Arizona State’s announcement they will join the NCHC means that particular bad idea is off the table, so the options are 1) swing for the North Dakota fences, 2) wait for a Big Ten school to add hockey or 3) take Miami, I guess.

BTW the comments here are 90% Minnesota fans bitching about Big Ten hockey…

Wow, it's been 24 hours since I thanked the Big 10 for ruining college hockey.  Thanks Big Ten!!!!

…and one North Dakota fan trolling. My favorite is the guy that imagines Minnesota has leverage:

Cleaning up this mess is Coyle's first priority as AD.  We need to force ourselves out of this debacle and back into regionalized hockey as soon as possible. He needs to play hardball like Alvarez played hardball in forcing Minnesota to accept this terrible idea.

They’re gonna make Minnesota hockey great again by playing hardball. That’s the ticket.

Etc.: Manuel on scheduling. Manuel on Harbaugh. Ian Boyd on how teams protect their matchup nightmare TE when he’s not a killer blocker. Relevant to our interests. Conference distribution numbers show the SEC and Big Ten on par, at least temporarily. Billy Donlon, defensive coordinator.

Comments

Lanknows

May 23rd, 2016 at 3:03 PM ^

 I thought we had a Buck LB (instead of a WDE) and that that guy was RJS (backed by Ross and then some Marshall in the Citrus Bowl).

Last season feels so long ago, but I thought Charlton was almost exclusively a SDE?

thomas54969

May 24th, 2016 at 11:53 AM ^

 
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Brhino

May 23rd, 2016 at 3:07 PM ^

Is that the same Ken Starr who was so involved in the Clinton impeachment?  Wow, yes it is.

 

I don't know if this counts as irony or not but it's pretty damn close.

NotDudeButGuy

May 23rd, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

Their 5th consecutive regional.  Lost one in there over the last 13 years.  Still incredible. 

SAMgO

May 23rd, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

Is there a liquid secondary market for the super regional softball tickets? I don't live in Michigan so I'm really just curious, but I do wonder what people would be willing to pay for these games on the free market.

Alton

May 24th, 2016 at 9:39 AM ^

I don't know when they sold out, but I can say that I was online clicking F5 from 8:25 am to 9:30 am today and the ticket sales website never opened up.  I called the office several times too, never got through, and now they have a recorded message saying that tickets are sold out.

I guess I will order 1 season ticket next year just so my family, friends and I can go to regionals and super-regionals.

ak47

May 23rd, 2016 at 3:16 PM ^

Not sure why you are so soft on briles here.  The man knowingly signed a guy that had sexually assualted someone at another school, then continued to play the guy after helping cover up another sexual assault.  Its a pretty clear example of a man willing to put winning football games over the lives of people.  Its pretty much no different than what Paterno did.  

mgolund

May 23rd, 2016 at 4:10 PM ^

I'm okay with him giving the guy a second chance. But, as soon as he blew that chance, he should have been booted. Instead, he was suspended from the team pending the outcome, but the team was actively telling folks he would come back and play. Baylor then had the worst ever investigation/response.

The fact that more and more accusations against football players are being leveled leads me to conclude that Briles has no control or doesn't care. And, that's where I think your analogy to Paterno is strong.

Tater

May 23rd, 2016 at 4:53 PM ^

"Michigan would still have Logan Tuley-Tillman on the roster if they acted like Baylor evidently has."

Sparty would have had Payne and Appling on their roster for four years if they acted like Baylor evidently has.  Oh, wait, that's exactly what happened. 

matty blue

May 23rd, 2016 at 3:31 PM ^

...is that football programs that are historically, deeply crappy and suddenly experience 'sudden' turnarounds often do so by shaky means, either via academic shenanigans or (as in the case of ole miss and baylor) 'other' stuff.  recent exceptions are places like stanford (yay!) and boise, where it was the simple power of an individual, or oregon or oklahoma state, where money and facilities flooded the program.

bronxblue

May 23rd, 2016 at 5:14 PM ^

It's funny, thoght; TCU has been a consistent winner mostly because they signed a good coach and seem to have found a style that works for them.  Obviously they'll need to continue that trend when Patterson leaves, but I don't hear anything particularly bad about TCU.  

I think what surprises people is when historically bad programs with little else to sell for themselves become really good AND are terrible at hiding indiscretions blow up, it's usually because of stuff like this.  I'm not saying sexual assault cover-ups happen everywhere, but the good programs have a way of self-policing so that a 1-day story doesn't become a 1-month one.  Some of that comes through recruiting a particular type of athlete and making sure that you really do monitor and watch their actions (unlike, it seems, Briles did), but it also means you have an infrastructure in place to handle problems quickly and efficiently.  I think Oregon is shady as all get-out with the Phil Knight connection, but they seem to be able to handle problems reasonably quietly.  MSU, for all their warts, seem to be good at it as well.

matty blue

May 25th, 2016 at 11:41 AM ^

in my head, they were a program that came out of nowhere with the arrival of dan hawkins.  but a) they were a pretty good program for several years before that, having some very good seasons with dirk koetter and the late pokey allen (in d 1-aa, but still), and b) have been able to sustain it through several regimes.  that doesn't fit the 'god of the program' model i had in my head.

WolverineHistorian

May 23rd, 2016 at 3:33 PM ^

I echo Jane's frustration. It wasn't until the late 90's that they kept the score on screen all game long and not just flashed it at the start of commercial breaks. Down of distance didn't start until 1997ish.

I can't remember when the yellow line for first down became a normal thing.




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kevin holt

May 23rd, 2016 at 3:36 PM ^

I wouldn't say being reassigned to another position at the school (in the law school---probably even a cushier job to be honest) is having his head roll. That part made me mad and you didn't fisk it.

Mr Miggle

May 23rd, 2016 at 3:38 PM ^

Not Navy winning the nat'l championship odds, but maybe ours.

 

Still, this is more a story about Waco police corruption at the behest of Baylor’s administration more than it is a football coach.

 

We just heard the story of Knoxville's PD. Whenever UT players got into trouble the chief called Butch Jones directly. I'd wager that cops are far more inclined to do personal favors for a big time football coach than respond to any university administrator. Further, these coaches like to be the one in charge of their players. They don't want people outside their staff getting involved in discipline. That even included Joe Paterno when he wasn't very involved in actual coaching anymore.

This was one of the first cracks in the saint Joe veneer. http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/15/us/triponey-paterno-penn-state/

charblue.

May 24th, 2016 at 10:10 AM ^

authority who set the precedent and bar for future coaches and programs in Bo. I mean if you want to know how he operated, all you have to do is read about it. Because he talked and was quoted about how you handle problems like this and he used to get calls from police about his guys.

And he he used to get calls about guys even after he wasn't coach, just because. Harbaugh knows how to handle this stuff but he had a pretty good role model and mentor and template to work from and history shows what happens when you let things get out of hand to accommodate self-interest even at Michigan.  

On Warde and Harbaugh's new-found work relationship and his international satellite camp tour and schedule, I find most don't seem to understand that this coach has a greater mission in mind than simply spreading the message about Michigan near and far, it's saving the sport itself from the kind of negative safety arguments and criticism that is slowly going to undermine the game and its ongoing growth.

While promoting youth football in Ann Arbor, the coach was clearly aiming to make that the keybote point of his appearance just as I believe that issue is paramount to him as he travels about the country and elsewhere. In places like football-mad Texas, that issue seems hardly a concern, but Harbaugh seems on a mission with his own agenda to continue to spread the word about football as a game of life, achievement and success with saftey concerns that are being addressed as never before. We have a coach who not only thinks outside the box about his program but about the future and prosperity of the game for his university and beyond. And for that, we are blessed.

 

 

PopeLando

May 23rd, 2016 at 4:01 PM ^

I like the Ian Boyd article on TEs. I noticed that Jake Butt isn't often asked to make a critical block, but a couple times last year they did a Tackle Over thing where technically Cole became a TE on the right side and Butt became the LT. Surprise surprise, they ran right, and it looked like all Butt was asked to do was get in the way of the middle linebacker.

I think he's... competent. Which will do just fine, considering his massive receiving upside. Basically, he's Gronk Lite.

I'm no expert. Does this fit with what you guys see??

gwkrlghl

May 23rd, 2016 at 4:10 PM ^

I know the rumor came out but was quickly squashed by the NCHC office and I thought it had been quiet since then. I actually thought it was looking increasingly likely that ASU was joining the WCHA, no? Did I miss some news here?

ST3

May 23rd, 2016 at 4:23 PM ^

1. Hawaiian cheerleaders. Ohh, man.

2. She mentions Bo doesn't age, but what about Mike Patrick? Is it possible he's a vampire?

3. So many of my all-time favorites are on that team - Harbaugh, Bob Perryman, Jamie Morris, Greg McMurtry, Mike Gillette, Dieter Heren, Mark Messner, Paul Jokisch

4. Harbaugh was such an underrated option runner

5. If you ever wondered about Harbaugh's sideline antics, check out Bo's freakout on McMurtry's "drop". Why was Bo so mad about that missed call? There's no way he saw it as a catch since it was opposite him, and McMurtry did bobble the ball. That was obviously a, "it's 3-3 against Hawaii? I've got to do something to fire up the troops" moment.

6. The sun is very bright in Hawaii.

7. THE WISHBONE!!!

8. Our O-line was moving the line of scrimmage a good 2-3 yards on every play. I guess the Hawaiians hadn't discovered the Samoans yet.

dragonchild

May 24th, 2016 at 7:35 AM ^

People keep going on about how much bigger today's athletes are, and it's true.  There were bigger guys (most notably William Perry) but they usually lacked the speed to be effective.

So this is probably more a sign of a bygone era, but I had to marvel at Bob Perryman.  Dat FB dive out of the wishbone for the 2nd TD.  It was a clean leap into the endzone.  He also covered on the 82-yard punt and broke the game open with the 55-yard TD run.  He was a fullback!  Today's athletes are a more deadly combination of size and speed, but that isn't to say Michigan didn't have some crazy athletes even back in the 80s.

P.S. Dunno about #5.  When the ball pops out it usually hits the ground first.  McMurty went into fetal position (i.e. he didn't land on the ball since that's NEVER ruled a catch) and the ball never hit the ground.

Kevin13

May 23rd, 2016 at 4:49 PM ^

is disgusting, but it's not out of the norm. John Krakuer has a book out called Missoula which has the same undertones of this ESPN article. Football players assualting woman and it all gets swept under the rug and that it happens a lot at college towns. It is sad that people would put a sport ahead of a crime against a woman.

I read this stuff and worry about my daughter, who is in college. I will tell you this, if something like this happened to her and the police didn't pursue and punish the player who did it...... Well, let's just say they would have a visit from me and a couple of buddies and they would've wished the police had done something....

Don

May 23rd, 2016 at 4:57 PM ^

On what planet can you seriously make an argument in favor of Briles? That like Steve Fisher, he just gosh, gee whiz, really had no idea what was going on behind the scenes?

And whatever Steve Fisher was guilty of, it PALES in comparison to what Briles has been condoning.

Everyone Murders

May 23rd, 2016 at 6:21 PM ^

Presented for ... oh, no reason in particular!

We were criticized throughout that investigation for being too thorough, for taking too long. But time has proved the correctness of that approach.

In contrast to what most prosecutors do, we try to treat all individuals with complete fairness.

We must combat misinformation that is being spread.

You're making me feel like a skunk at the garden party.

 

 

kevin holt

May 23rd, 2016 at 5:59 PM ^

Warde doesn't have "change the effing Big Ten schedule bullcrap" at the top of his list. That's disappointing. I hope it's at least ON his list.

The Man Down T…

May 23rd, 2016 at 7:08 PM ^

Is it was a time when Michigan would go in at the half and come out a new team and tear the opponent a new one.  Bo knew the perfect combinations of cussing, screaming and cajoling to get them going after a bad half.

Henry Arulingverder

May 24th, 2016 at 1:09 AM ^

Mentioned to one of my ND alum co-workers that our softball team ate their lunch this weekend. I shouldn't have been surprised that he had no idea what I was talking about. I don't watch the team during the reg season but last year I watched their playoff run & I'm pretty excited to see them hopefully do it again this year - ultimately beating Florida in a best of 3 rematch this time around. 

I Want To Believe

May 24th, 2016 at 2:12 AM ^

Going to a 9 game conference schedule makes me not want to play any top 15 teams in non conference play.

I completely get why SEC schedules cupcakes at least twice a year. I've always felt that the first game should be against a team that should be an easy win to get the team in proper form. The second game should be against a top 40 team. The third game a top 25 team.




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Mpfnfu Ford

May 24th, 2016 at 9:50 AM ^

Short term? I mean, it just requires one extra game a year against the Western division, which is total butt right now and for the immediate future unless Nebraska/Wisconsin get their mess together. Whether it's 8 or 9 games, Michigan's already going to be playing all the Big 10 teams worth a dang because of how unbalanced the divisions are.

lub77405

May 24th, 2016 at 7:08 AM ^

William . I can see what your saying... Raymond `s article is surprising, last week I bought a top of the range Acura from making $4608 this-past/month and-a little over, $10,000 this past month . with-out any question its the easiest work I've ever had . I began this five months/ago and almost straight away startad bringin in minimum $82 per-hr 

tlhwg

May 24th, 2016 at 9:38 AM ^

I have no doubt that Michigan's secondary is going to be one of the best in the country.  And I know that you added Gary but how good do you expect your pass rush to be (e.g., top 10, top 25, etc.)?

Bez

May 24th, 2016 at 10:57 AM ^

I was in vegas last week and the odds for Bama and Michigan were the same, 6/1.  I'm glad to see they are tempering expectations.

Boner Stabone

May 24th, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^

Love watching the 80's games. Brings back good memories of Harbaugh, Morris, etc...  Most of these games I only listened to on the radio.  It is cool to see highlights of those games.