Level headed thoughts on a lop - sided result.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:00 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 9:19 AM ^
grumble grumble wall of text.
Understandable if it's from a phone.
September 7th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
..................but I sure could not have anticipated last night. That being said - I know of a few lopsided games we won against ND that were very unexpected too.
I think (HOPE!) it was an outlier and the remainder of the season progresses positively.
Sorry for you - it hurts when the expense and the experience are poisoned by such a bad event.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:01 AM ^
Michigan's a "powerhouse"? I guess I get what the service academy's have been clamoring about for half a century now.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:10 AM ^
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September 7th, 2014 at 4:51 AM ^
USC won 1 game against a ranked team. They haven't turned it around yet
September 7th, 2014 at 6:43 AM ^
USC won a road game against a ranked opponent, something Hoke has yet to do in 4 years.
September 7th, 2014 at 7:46 AM ^
that is younger than ours. Looked like a lot of youth playing all over as well.
September 7th, 2014 at 8:09 AM ^
Did Sark win the Sugar Bowl? Not trying to toot Hoke's horn here, but acting like USC is now back in the Carroll days is premature. I didn't get to see the USC- Stanford game, and a win is a win, but from what I heard it was a sloppy, weird game. Also, Shaw is a game theory dinosaur.
September 7th, 2014 at 8:29 AM ^
2 true freshman at guard, two sophomores at tackle and a true junior at center and they could run the damn football something we haven't been able to do or should I say can't do unless we are playing a cupcake.
While Shaw may be a game theory dinosaur he still has a superior record to Hoke while playing in a harder conference. What would you call Hoke with all his "manball" BS. Even with the lack of talent on the 2008 O we at least managed to score points. We haven't scored a TD against State in two years and now shut out by ND. Except for a couple games last year Michigan football was close to "unwatchable" and this wasn't any better. I know I spent more of the second half watching the other two Big 10 schools then I did watching my team. Boy, I hate to imagine what would have happened if Hoke didn't have a "good plan" as he stated during the week.
September 7th, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^
Not sure why this is a reply to me
September 7th, 2014 at 11:43 AM ^
Dude they're playing with 60 scholarship players. 60.
September 7th, 2014 at 9:10 AM ^
I think the USC/Sark comparison is justified, especially when you compare these two games. While I think it's a bit premature to assume that Sark has brought USC back after just two games--if they can go undefeated heading into the UCLA/ND games...then, ok...maybe--it is a great start for him and the program. The USC alumni here in LA that I know appear to be very fond of Sark. He just seemed to be more prepared than Hoke.
Sark was up to play Stanford, not just because it was his first rivalry game as head coach but also because of the tension generated with David Shaw last year in the Washington game when Sark accused the Cardinal of faking injuries to slow the game down. Listening to him speak this past week, he sent coy signals--he was very private with injury information on Cody Kessler and Leonard Williams, for instance--that didn't apper to fit his normal personality. Sark is a very open and gregarious guy, even with the media, so for him to act this private made you wonder, "What is he up to?" I like that.
Another point of observation: even though the USC defense bent to the Stanford offense, it did not break. Granted, the USC defense caught several breaks, but it was agressive and created opportunities that allowed it to overcome the disparity in yardage (Stanford outgained USC 413 yards to 291). They got to the QB, generated a lot of pressure, and looked like a really cool agressive and young defense...things I was hoping to see from Mattison's defense. No matter how poorly our offense played yesterday, if our D was really elite (as many of us have expected) we would have been able to create an intense low-scoring atmosphere.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:02 AM ^
Wait until mid season to see if this game was an isolated incident or not. If we lose more games then you fire Hoke around October ala USC a few years ago to mitigate the effect of the transition and give the new coach time to keep the class together and recruit.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:09 AM ^
I like this sort of rational thinking tonight.
Novel, really.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:17 AM ^
Mid-season? How will that help anything? Beating up on mid-majors isn't going to give us much more informaiton. We have all that we need already. Fire Hoke.
September 7th, 2014 at 3:46 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 5:29 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 2:17 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 2:19 AM ^
I get the youth on the Oline. The Dline got pushed around all day long. We constantly missed tackles. In fact I think it's worst we've looked in d in a long time.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:21 AM ^
Did we really not have another receiver "stepping up"? It sure looked to me on a lot of plays our receivers were getting open and there was a pocket to throw in but Devin panicked and then took a sack or ran for a few yards before going down. I think he has lock on syndrome with Funchess exactly like he had with Gallon last year. It's brutal.
I don't think the O-line was great by any means but they weren't as abysmal as Gardner made them seem. I really hate to critique the guy because he's been through one of the most challenging periods in Michigan history and basically destroyed himself last year for the team....howeva, he played very terribly today and did a lot to cost us even a hope of being competitive. Sadly, he was still our best option to put in at QB.
September 7th, 2014 at 2:36 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 2:32 PM ^
long-time lurker...this game finally brought me out
Remdog...let's not kid ourselves
ND was LEAGUES ahead of Michigan yesterday....I'm still kinda faded so I'll do it on a point by point basis:
- three boneheaded turnovers? First off, if you looked at those turnovers, it wasn't like the Denard turnovers from 2012; ND actually FORCED those turnovers with some very aggresive secondary play; god, I wish Michigan's secondary was like that...that's just called being out-played....also, as someone else pointed out in this thread, it was 21-0 in the first half with no turnovers
- Definitely agree that the 2 missed FGs were terrible
- but let's not blame the refs
- Michigan also lost while "out-gaining ND" because ND made up for it on Special Teams...their average starting position was at their 40 yard line..Michigan's average starting position was at their 18 yard line...please, let's not stick with the old "ohh but we out-gained them! so that means they're not that much better, or that means we lost the game ourselves (I know you didn't say this one specifically, but I've seen a lot of people do this)"
Also, one more thing...Michigan didn't run a play in Notre Dame's red-zone once
September 7th, 2014 at 3:31 AM ^
It was only one game. Yes, it was an embarassing ass-kicking, but it counts the same as a 31-30 loss in the standings. ND has playoff-caliber talent this year. Michigan will not face another team with ND"s talent this year because Golson is a major game changer.
Ohio State may have better talent elsewhere but not at QB. Sparty is not that much better than Michigan, despite the excuses the media were making for them about the game being "closer than the score."
Michigan is 1-1. There is a lot of football left to be played. I am not writing this season off quite yet.
September 7th, 2014 at 4:28 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 7:35 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 9:09 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 9:59 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 5:33 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 8:48 AM ^
How soon you forget.
September 7th, 2014 at 8:49 AM ^
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September 7th, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^
Richrod ran his own offense - which sucked thoroughly against anyone with a pulse
He also insisted upon running the 3-3-5. No respectable DC was coming here except maybe Casteel
Honestly, I'm starting to see Richrod as just a good-to-ok coach. He obviously did well at WVU with Pat White and Steve Slaton but he sucked at Michigan and his results at Arizona have been pretty meh so far. I wouldn't consider him an 'elite' offensive mind anymore like a Sumlin or a Malzahn. He's just pretty good
September 7th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 7:04 AM ^
Michigan played their hearts out.
The O line is a LOT better than last year. We can run the football, and I think we out-gained ND on the ground. Pass blocking was mediocre, but that takes more time and experience. It will improve.
Gardner does not play well under pressure. His turnovers killed us.
3rd down conversions were non-existent, and I put a lot of this on Gardner and/or poor pass blocking.
A big factor was penalties. I predicted the refs would give ND 7-10 points, and they certainly did.
The D actually played pretty well, and really stifled the ND running game. They needed more pressure on Golson.
Golson is a beast. ND is a very good team.
Do not underestimate the Michigan team. Yes, they got an ass-kicking. Hopefully this will leave a chip on their shoulder for the rest of the season.
Thank God I do not have to watch NBC sports ever again.
September 7th, 2014 at 7:29 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 8:28 AM ^
September 7th, 2014 at 8:56 AM ^
ALL THE CHIPS
September 7th, 2014 at 9:23 AM ^
Based on what evidence?
We gained a whopping 100 yards total on 31 attempts for a sparkling 2.9 yds per carry.
Rice gained 141 yards on 40 attempts for 3.5 yds per carry.
The fact is that our running game against teams with a pulse remains pathetic.
September 7th, 2014 at 10:20 AM ^
I won't go so far as to say Gardner doesn't play well under pressure. He can, he didn't yesterday, it almost feels like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders when things start unraveling, he damn near kills himself trying to fix it, which leads to mistakes.
Thanks also for saying that the refs would give them 7-10, I remember your original comment to that effect. I'm glad someone is allowed to say that here without always getting downvoted. In fact I think people who use the downvote should identify themselves and explain why they are doing it.
Earlier this week on the WTKA morning show a caller stated that Gholson would be the problem for us. He sure was on the money...
September 7th, 2014 at 8:40 AM ^
Once the game reached 21-0 I knew it was over. I think everyone was surprised at how badly we played. We could not put up any points be it offense/ special teams and the defense looks as leaky as last year. I have absolutely no faith in our team to win road games at this point. I wouldn't feel this bad if we looked somewhat competetive for more than 1 quarter of football.
September 7th, 2014 at 8:41 AM ^
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September 7th, 2014 at 8:47 AM ^
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September 7th, 2014 at 9:01 AM ^
" ... makes you seriously wonder if race isnt involved here. with Gardners record, being white, he would have been blasted. Look how bad people ripped Navarre...and Navarre won! still hardly a mention of gardner. Wake up folks. Judge gardner on his merit, and dont give him passes for race...if you do this youll realize he shouldve been benched last yr. surely youll point to OSU...he still lost."
What the hell are you talking about?
September 7th, 2014 at 9:27 AM ^
That's just my take, though.
September 7th, 2014 at 9:23 AM ^
Hard to believe at first that this is a serious post. So awful you'd think it has to be a joke (albeit a bad one).
But on second reading, I think this guy really believes this drivel. Which is all the more horrific.
September 7th, 2014 at 9:52 AM ^
The slums of La Paz are too good for you. Dick.