January 1st, 2013 at 10:37 PM ^
Aren't we getting Deveon Smith from Howland, OH. I believe he is a 4 star and All-Ohio in Division II.
January 1st, 2013 at 10:41 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 5:42 PM ^
I did enjoy seeing all those USC players on the sidelines looking banged up near the end of the game...Michigan definitely did not get 'out physicaled'.
January 1st, 2013 at 5:46 PM ^
THE_KNOWLEDGE was wrong. What does this mean for the space-time continuum?
January 1st, 2013 at 5:50 PM ^
- Whatever Floyd and Hagerup did, I hope it was worth it. Sparty or Ohio would have played them. But we didn't, that's why we're Michigan.
- We're short on talent and it's young. Proud of how this team battled against a superior opponent.
- It felt great to be rooting for Michigan on New Year's Day in a great game against a top ten opponent.
- The future is bright.
- Lewan > Clowney, and the scouts saw this, despite the game MVP.
- I will miss Denard greatly, my favorite Wolverine ever.
- When the offense screws up, it's Borges' fault. When the defense screws up, Mattison is blameless.
January 1st, 2013 at 5:48 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 5:49 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 6:27 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 5:51 PM ^
my snowflakes:
1) Pass rushing linemen greatly needed. Also, people that can tackle a QB when they are already hanging on would be nice
2) Secondary really needs to improve, hopefully countess comes back healthy and improved from his injury
3) Gardner really likes Gallon as a WR, it would be helpful to have any other options at WR next year/ moving forward
4) RB needed badly
5) Defense cost us this game but will be better next year and so should this team as a whole
January 1st, 2013 at 5:56 PM ^
and played like an 8-4 team. We didn't play horribly and did some things well, but we didn't make enough clutch plays to win. Our inability to get a sack on the last drive when we had the QB in our grasp twice was just a killer to watch.
It's mystifying why we can't make more use of Funchess.
January 1st, 2013 at 8:12 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 10:16 PM ^
Sometimes QB's make great plays and you have to live with it. Black had the guy sacked and instead he makes an Eli Manning type play to keep it alive. Just ask the 2007 Patriots...
January 1st, 2013 at 5:51 PM ^
Here are some real positives:
1. Denard all time rushing QB rusher (although he would rather have the W)
2. SC is a more talented team, yet we hung with them and we are stocking up on talent.
3. I was afraid of a collapse like the Mississippi St. game, yet our guys hung in there and played their asses off.
4. Borges called a game that put up 28 (30 without two missed conversions) against a SEC defense.
5. My pizza just arrived and I'm hungry.
January 1st, 2013 at 7:23 PM ^
That sounds good.
January 1st, 2013 at 5:55 PM ^
With very few exceptions, everything was there except veteran talent.
We end the season 8-5, with the Great RR Experiment all but done. Carr had 5 seasons with 4 or more losses. I think the coaches did a fantastic job of coaching these kids up.
The players played their hearts out and I couldn't be more proud of them.
It will be at least a decade before we see another 8-5 season.
Go Blue and see you next season for Team 134.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:30 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 6:02 PM ^
Wile can kick.
Norfleet is a solid returner.
Gardner to Gallon will be commonplace next year.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:02 PM ^
Another year of embarassing safety play. Sure Kovacs is a good story and all, but good stories still can't cover deep receivers. Until the safeties in particular are addressed, the defense will continue to lose close games.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:13 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 7:03 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 6:13 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 8:00 PM ^
"continue to lose games"???
they kept us in and won us so many games this year. they gave up one too many big plays tody without a key starter
January 1st, 2013 at 6:03 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 6:15 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 6:41 PM ^
5-loss seasons are what cost Lloyd Carr his job
Carr didn't get fired, if that's what you're implying. He retired on his own. In fact, he wanted to retire a year earlier and Bill Martin begged him to stay on another year.
(Speaking of which, some "insiders" have said that if Carr had retired in 2006, the first guy we'd have looked at was . . . Mark Dantonio. If true, that might explain the gigantic chip he has on his shoulder about us. Is he pissed off that the job he really wanted came open only one year after he went to MSU?)
January 1st, 2013 at 6:44 PM ^
...it was originally posted elsewhere with some old-hat info condensed for a non-Michigan audience.
I'm not implying that Lloyd Carr was fired -- only that if he hadn't suffered a string of 4 and 5 loss seasons, he would likely have coached several seasons longer than he did. That's my opinion, only. Most coaches don't just up and retire if they are still among the elite.
The phrase "cost him his job" was poorly chosen, though, and I'd agree it makes him sound like he was fired.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:51 PM ^
Carr was 62 and reputedly suffering from some health issues when he retired. For a guy to step down at that age, after 13 years at an elite program, is not surprising in the least. College coaches work 100-hour weeks during the season, have to recruit basically 365 days a year, and face intense scrutiny. The toll that all takes is pretty heavy. Nowadays, if you can get a decade out of a coach, that's pretty good.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:05 PM ^
....Wile punted 3 times for an AVERAGE of 70 yards.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:12 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 6:17 PM ^
It's not. I was surprised when I saw it in the Yahoo box score. I should've checked again -- ESPN reports a 48 yard per punt average, which makes more sense.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:20 PM ^
...the Yahoo box score. Still showing 70/per right now.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/boxscore?gid=201301010029
January 1st, 2013 at 7:42 PM ^
..............a 52 yd FG
January 1st, 2013 at 6:16 PM ^
Pretty sure he averaged 48. Which is still pretty damn good.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:16 PM ^
Uhh that's straight up not true... 3 punts for 144 yards, average of 48.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:07 PM ^
-Hung tough with a top-10 SEC team, led them for a decent chunk of the game.
-Did not get out-physicaled.
-The defensive line looked good. It will only get better.
-Denard owns the record.
-Gallon looked real good today.
-The team did not quit when it could have. They gave South Carolina all it could handle, and made their fans have a much more uneasy day than they thought they would have.
-Aside from absolutely leveling V. Smith (one of the hardest hits I've ever seen in a football game), the O-Line forced Clowney into a relatively quiet day.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:16 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 6:27 PM ^
and in a loooong time, at least it feels that way.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:19 PM ^
My heart sank when Black went in out of controll and missed that easy sack. :(
January 1st, 2013 at 10:23 PM ^
If you look closely the QB was about to go down if Black holds onto him and flass down but instead he tried to spin tackle him and helped him stay on his feet. I watched the play over 10 times and it will keep me up all night... HE HAD HIM IF HE JUST GOES DOWN WHEN HE MADE CONTACT AAAAAAAAAAAAH its almost as bad as the near block in the Rose Bowl against Texas.
January 1st, 2013 at 6:26 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 6:32 PM ^
I was traveling and only caught the second half of the game....but, where was Demens? Did he get injured? I didn't see him in there.
January 1st, 2013 at 7:13 PM ^
January 1st, 2013 at 6:33 PM ^
- Al Borges..... I'll give him a B-. First two drives an F, but he came out of it. I would have preferred more plays to get the ball to Denard in space. And I wonder why Funchess was bascially non existant.
- Lewan.... Great job against Clowney. Wish he could stay another year, but CHA CHING is pretty loud.
- Gardner..... made some great throws, and some great plays with his feet. He missed 6 wide open receivers, at least two of those on 3rd down plays that would have resulted in 1st downs. Felt like he hung on to the ball too long at times. Looking forward to seeing what he can do next year with full focus on being a QB.
- Gallon.... slot ninja turned into stud. Played fantastic.
- Mattison....I'll give him a C because his secondary got lit up, and at the end of the day that's on him. Pick your poison though: blitz and hope your guys get there in time, or sit back and get nickle/dimed. I was glad he was aggressive. Our D line crashed in on the QB a lot, and almost made enough plays at the end to win.
- D Rob.... looked good as a RB. Wish they'd have got him the ball out in space more. Would have been interesting to see him return a kick. Love that kid, miss him already. I hope he goes to a good team that can use his talents, probably situationally. Hard to see him being an every down player, but he has been proving people wrong his whole career.
January 1st, 2013 at 7:50 PM ^
................I do not think he was out coached by the SC D coordinator or their offensive coordinator. I am thinking more like an A-
Mattison was better than a C. Calling a defense and players not making plays are two different things.
Our guys made some mistakes and SC capitalized
January 1st, 2013 at 8:48 PM ^
The results on the field are an acceptable way of judging a coaches performance with respect to an individual game.
B- for Borges because I thought he could have done a better job of being creative about getting Denard the ball in space, and because we lost.
I agree the players make (or don't make) the plays. Coaches have to put players in the best position to make plays. Mattison chose to be aggressive, I would have done the same thing. The results for the D were half good, half bad: front played pretty well but ultimately needed to make one or two more plays and didn't, and the secondary got lit up. Sounds like a C to me.
January 1st, 2013 at 8:59 PM ^
B- for Borges because I thought he could have done a better job of being creative about getting Denard the ball in space, and because we lost.
So if our defense could have gotten a stop on South Carolina's final possession, you'd have given our offensive coordinator a higher grade?
January 1st, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^
No. An offensive coordinator has nothing to do with plays called on defense.
But I'll retract that single sentance because I see your point.
EDIT: Basically what I meant is the offense didn't play well enough to win, which contributes to a lower grade.
January 1st, 2013 at 10:57 PM ^
How much of that is poor play calling versus poor execution by the players? I thought Borges called a good game. As others have mentioned, Gardner did OK. He missed a handful of receivers who were open that would have been big gainers. UM's offense also had a few penalites at really bad times.
January 2nd, 2013 at 10:32 PM ^
Your points are legit. I just think Borges wasn't creative enough in how he got Denard the ball. I wanted him out in space more. Most plays D Rob ran looked like the ordinary RB variety. Creativity level was better than it was against Ohio, but not as good as it was against Iowa.