Kudos to RR: 7-3

Submitted by MGrether on

For all the crap that has happened this off season, there are 1000 reasons why this season could have completely gone into the tanks. From losing 3 recruting classes worth of Secondary players, to the NCAA investigation, all the questioning about his job, continual rotation of injuries... RR has our boys 7-3 with a garunteed winning season and a bowl game.

This is not where we want to be as a final product. It has not been pretty. However, these are steps in the right direction of getting there, and I am looking forward to seeing the product that steps out onto the field in 2011-2012, and us making a run for the first championship in the new Big X(II).

Now, let's get our heads wrapped around Wisconsin coming to town next Saturday, and the chance for an 8 win season!

befuggled

November 13th, 2010 at 6:36 PM ^

Sheridan, Threet, Forcier and now Robinson. Both our starting quarterback and our backup are true sophmores.

I would agree that kick returns are still troubling. While we have improved since 2008 we still have not eliminated the problem.

shtheva

November 13th, 2010 at 3:57 PM ^

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I think most of the crucification talk was coming at the beginning of the season after The Horror, and being blown out by Oregon, at home, when nobody knew Oregon was THAT good. The talks definitely died down. 

 

Of course, our standards have fallen, but giving a head coach time to get his players in, and starting to see success once a coach is playing with his players, and being happy about it, isn't too much of a drop in expectations.

M-Wolverine

November 13th, 2010 at 4:11 PM ^

To remember when any time we lost 3 games people would call for the coach's head, and even if you lost 2 there'd be grumbling. These are the impossible standards Michigan Football used to be held to. If anything, the last few years have made them more reasonable.

SC Wolverine

November 13th, 2010 at 4:00 PM ^

Thankfully DB is a more analytical thinker than you are.  This team is moving forward.  Whatever happens the next two games, we get the bowl practices, hopefully we win the bowl game, and then it is a completely different team that takes the spring practice field in '11. 

I loved Lloyd and will always honor him.  But the program was not moving forward with him.  RR is moving forward.

MileHighWolverine

November 13th, 2010 at 4:00 PM ^

LC took the #5 team in the country who had the following individuals on offense:

Chad Henne - 4 year starter at QB
Mike Hart - holder of all sorts of records as RB
Jake Long - #1 draft pick at LT
Mario Maningham - starting WR for NYG
Adrian Arrington

and a JR/SR laden defense that was ranked in the top 5 the previous year and lost to APP STATE at HOME!!!!

Does our situation today compare at all to that list?  Hell no.  FR/SO all over the place including QB.

Did you really expect our team to be awesome this year starting 9 FR/SO on D and with a 1st year starter at QB (only a SO)?  If so, you really need help setting your expectations.

UMMAN83

November 13th, 2010 at 4:07 PM ^

  • 1996: 8-4 overall; 5-3 Big Ten (T-5th)

  • 1997: 12-0 overall; 8-0 Big Ten (1st)

  • 1998: 10-3 overall; 7-1 Big Ten (T-1st)

  • 1999: 10-2 overall; 6-2 Big Ten (T-2nd)

  • 2000: 9-3 overall; 6-2 Big Ten (T-1st)

  • 2001: 8-4 overall; 6-2 Big Ten (2nd)

  • 2002: 10-3 overall; 6-2 Big Ten (2nd)

  • 2003: 10-3 overall; 7-1 Big Ten (1st)

  • 2004: 9-3 overall; 7-1 Big Ten (T-1st)

  • 2005: 7-5 overall; 5-3 Big Ten (T-3rd)

  • 2006: 11-2 overall; 7-1 Big Ten (T-2nd)

bdsisme

November 13th, 2010 at 4:31 PM ^

If we fired our coach every time we went 8-4, all of our coaches would be 1-and-outs.  Whenever you have a new coach, you have to have some growing pains (not to mention if the system is changed).  If there were no growing pains, you'd have no reason to fire the previous coach!

bleedzblue

November 13th, 2010 at 4:47 PM ^

Right... Because we were also on top previously with Llyod, we won a national championship 13 years ago and in between those a bunch of 2-3 loss seasons. I love Llyod and respect him so much for the way he represented Michigan, but there is no way you can say we were on top. You do realize Tressel owned him right.

SC Wolverine

November 13th, 2010 at 3:55 PM ^

If you had told me two months ago that we would lose Wolfolk and Floyd and would be starting 3 freshman in the secondary, I would never have believed that 7-5 was possible.  This season is a credit to the leadership and character of RR and the players.  Years from now, we are going to look back on this team with real fondness.  Especially when they pull off the stunner against an unwary OSU.

McFarlin 2.0

November 13th, 2010 at 3:57 PM ^

I'm glad we are now beating the teams we are supposed to minus Penn State. That is progress, but we need to start beating GOOD teams. Otherwise Rich Rod needs to go.

Hoek

November 13th, 2010 at 4:01 PM ^

The fact of the matter is, we will have to win games like this every year. This is the Big Ten there will be cold, nasty day, but this team did not fold they stayed strong, and the d won the game. I for one can not be more pleased with RR after this game, his team has won in close games (3ot vs ILL, ND,UMASS) but he has also led this team in nasty weather and won games when his O is not working.

For those that still want RR fired look at the games around the Big Ten today, Iowa lost to NW and ILL lost to MINN, RR is going to loose games in the Big Ten. However we are 7-3 that is on pace with alot of Loyd Carr years, this team is going to be great.

For the record, I'm drunk so there is my rant. Also there was a user with the name Beeline who kept saying fire RR in the live post, my message to you Mr. Beeline shut the fuck up or go find a new team to root for, I for one am a Michigan fan till the day I die, and no matter who the coach is I will root for them to succeed.

GO BLUE!!!!

EDIT: Where are you BeeLine, I want to see what you have to say now?

jcgold

November 13th, 2010 at 4:06 PM ^

Dude, spot on.

Things are getting better, not worse:  the first sign of an improving ball club is securing/pulling out close victories.  The offense had a bad day, but the defense stepped it up and held Purdue to under 300 yards.  

The important thing from here is to finish up strong, win at least one more game (bowl or reg season) and get momentum rolling for next season.  Go Blue and Hold the Rope!

panthers5

November 13th, 2010 at 4:02 PM ^

we have beat a 4 win team that may start the worst QB in the country, a 5 win team that just got beat by the worst team in the conference, and an Indiana team that has yet to win a Big Ten game? Wake me when we beat someone worth a crap.

Let me say this---we have an entire offense in place that is made up of a good mix of Carr and Rich's players, yet we are so gawd awful on defense and it is just bad luck and not on RR?

 

So if we lose the next two we have beaten 1 team (Minny 08) with a winning record in Big Ten play in 3 years. Real progress.

shorts

November 13th, 2010 at 4:26 PM ^

Wait -- "a good mix" of Carr and Rodriguez's players on offense? I suppose you could count Molk, Hemingway, Webb and Stonum as Lloyd's recruits, but Schilling and Dorrestein are the only offensive players who actually played under Carr.

I stopped reading after that, but I'm pretty sure the rest of your post is just rabble rabble UNACCEPTABLE rabble.

SwordDancer710

November 13th, 2010 at 4:12 PM ^

Considering that we lost to those teams with losing records over the last two years, that IS progress. Are we elite? No. Are we decent? Yes. Have we improved? Yes. Will we continue to improve? Yes.

7-5 is acceptable for this year given that we have a horrible defense and special teams and most of our team are freshmen and sophomores. If we go 7-5 in 2012 when most of our team are juniors and seniors, then we can talk.

akblue

November 13th, 2010 at 4:14 PM ^

I was listening to Gameday this morning and they were talkiing about the implosion at Texas... one item mentioned was the entitlement attitude of the players and the lack of leadership on the team among other things.

The inference was that the team did not have heart. Players were not working for their wins and fans were expecting wins just because they are Texas.

Our team has come a long way from this attitude. They never stop working. They have a competitive attitude, desire and work ethic. RR is recruiting high character, gym rat players, and leaders are stepping up all over the place on the team..the team, the team.

This is a long term culture change that really will pay of in developing a sustainable championship caliber program. The hard part is getting there-- ther harder part is keeping it once you've got it.