Positive Post: All Hail Khoury, Demens, and Forcier
All came off the bench and manned up. Sure, Tate made a few costly mistakes but he did keep UM in the game. Khoury did a great job at center considering the circumstances. And Demens stepped in and filled the gaps and made some great tackles for a team that really is struggling to tackle.
addendum: Reason Kovacs isn't listed here is because he started. I am hailing those that came off the bench and performed pretty darn well for not being starters or getting a lot of playing time. But yes, Kovacs did a hell of a job and has a lot of responsibility put on his shoulders considering just how porous the D is. He gets no help what so ever.
October 17th, 2010 at 11:23 AM ^
he may have blocked well, but for the love of God how can he still be having the same shotgun snap problem a full year later. At least a half dozen plays were blown from the start because the QB doesn't get the ball where he's supposed to.
Obi Ezeh should never see the field again, period. There was no greater public example of how terrible he is than when Demens comes in right of the bat and get two tackles, Iowa goes nowhere and has to punt. First time Ezeh is on the field Iowa gashes the D for big running plays and eventually answers the first Michigan TD and changes momentum. I'm sure Obi is a great kid, but he is simply a terrible Division 1 linebacker at this level.
October 17th, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^
Khoury just had some jitters in his first real game experience of the season
October 17th, 2010 at 12:04 PM ^
Who was having the snapping problem last year.
October 17th, 2010 at 1:47 PM ^
when guys get their bitch on...anything goes.
October 17th, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^
of seeing OL arms around Martin's & Van Bergen's necks and no holding call. If we can't get a freakin call at home, what are the odds we'll get one on the road? Zero. MSWho and Iowa did everything short of BF our DLine and got away with it.
October 17th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
Witvoet. That guy's always had it in for us. I'd take any ref over Witvoet. The day he retires the Wolverine Angels in Heaven will rejoice.
October 17th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^
i agree i give them all credit but i don't trust Tate in game winning/tying drives. last year and yesterday he presses and turns the ball over way to much.
October 17th, 2010 at 1:02 PM ^
Yesterday was not a game winning or game tying drive....last year he executed game winning/game tying drives his first 3 chances to do so of his true freshmen career(ND, MSU, Ind) If I recall correctly he was 4 for 4 as his only other chance was Purdue, but we missed the 2 pt conversion. You can critical of Tate but saying he has not been clutch is absolutely moronic.
October 17th, 2010 at 1:07 PM ^
My list of positives:
- Tate came in and played his heart out. He's all in, and that's all we can ask for.
- Demens was an unquestioned upgrade. I made a point of watching Demens on the first two drives, and he came up big. Attacked the right gaps and even put a good lick on a slanting receiver that dislodged the ball and forced a punt. If what Don said about Coach Rod calling for Demens is true, then he and I had the exact same reaction to Ezeh's insertion and play on his half drive. It was like saying to Demens, "Hey, fantastic job out there...now go ride the pine."
- Personally, I could tell that the secondary is making some progress. Yes, they got blown up on several occasions; however, it seemed like they were working more as a unit and the mistakes they made were freshman ones that are correctable (e.g., chasing after your guy like you're in man when you're supposed to be in zone and allowing an easy touchdown underneath).
- We scored the first rushing touchdown from the line of scrimmage Iowa has given up all year. Boom.
- My number one positive, though, has got to be the intensity of the crowd. In my four years, I've never experienced more noise and enthusiasm. It was deafening and exhilarating. Bravo to everyone who was around me.
So that's it. We lost by 10 to a really good team, and put 28 on a really good defense. If we can get a defense that improves even incrementally over the next 2 or 3 years, we'll be playing some really high-caliber football and winning a lot of football games.
October 17th, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^
Denard rushes for 105 yards in 2.5 quarters against one of the top run defenses in the country, and almost no one noticed, much less considered it a positive. We're taking him for granted.
October 17th, 2010 at 1:17 PM ^
Everybody is freaking out - Michigan is still 5 -2 and lost to two top 15 teams! At one time yesterday they had 8 freshman on defense - they will learn and get better. They even held Iowa to 5 3 and outs. The offense put up well over 500 yards with mostly freshmen and sophomores with a backup quarterback and their best lineman (Molk) out most of the game. Remember the 2007 team (Hart, Henne, Long, etc.) loaded with 4/5 year players?? Their regular season record was 8 - 4 with 3 home loses. This year's team has a good chance to still win 8 games. Imagine what is yet to come....Go Blue!
October 17th, 2010 at 1:57 PM ^
It's easier to piss and moan about the play of a defense comprised of too many guys who, under any normal circumstances, would never see the field for D1 football until after a redshirt (see Avery, Courtney, Vinopal, Ray, Black, Jibreel, Johnson, Carvin). It's easier to pile on GERG and his hair about defensive calls/scheme - you can't make chicken salad out of chicken crap people. But it's not going to be that way forever; not when these guys have experience. Also, apparently any and all mistakes made by the players (INT, bad reads etc.) are the coaches responsibility. And it's okay also to crap on players or personally attack them (see Ezeh, Obi).
It's easier, it seems, to regurgitate that crap in repetitive topics than to look at the point you're making that places the team in context and adds perspective.
Our day is coming.
October 17th, 2010 at 3:33 PM ^
I thought pulling Ezeh was a great move. I dont know if Ezeh was such a bad player that it made Demens look good, or if Demens is actually a really good linebacker? I hope the bye week allows Michigan to not only rest but muture more.
October 17th, 2010 at 3:40 PM ^
Demens looked good. I think it will be a relief to see him out there in the upcoming weeks (compared to Obi). Other than the first int Tate threw, I was pretty impressed with him. FWIW I was just looking at the boxscore on mgoblue and Obi Ezeh did not have a SINGLE tackle yesterday. Demens had 8. You would think a 5th yr senior and 3 yr starter would learn to pursue plays a little better.
October 18th, 2010 at 6:25 AM ^
Good post, nice to see so many positive posts after another tough loss. Can't wait to see this team start firing on all cylanders. It seems that the coaches are bringing in some talented players and they are begining to take some positive steps forward in their development.