Post-game Comments/Thoughts

it should have ever been that close, even with us playing terrible. Akron got demolished by UCF, barely beat James Madison. I know, I know, I know, let down game, but really? And I spent all week talking smack to all these assholes I live with in Columbus, OH about how good we are, strength of schedule, etc...I believe we are a top 10 team and maybe a scare like this was needed but holy mother of God!
I guess it shows the difference in coaching staff and I should be grateful. Under RRod we would have lost, under Hoke we won.
Let's go Blue! Use this as a lesson and go on a tear the rest of the season!

1. Devin and ball control. Must fix, should not work on anything else next week. 2. Punting. Bad x 3 games. Will cost us a B10 game if not fixed. Who is next man up?

Happy to see some people step up verbally, but at some point players not going in the first round of the NFL draft should actually perform better.

offense: with the interior OL so weak, we can probably forget about being a power running team. We will have to beat teams with Gardner's arm and feet, and Gardner will have to focus on running or throwing it away instead of throwing into coverage. The offense could still be pretty good if he would quit throwing picks.

defense: the back 7 actually hasn't given up too many big plays, which is a good thing because the only way this defense will be effective is by mixing up a lot of different types of blitzes. The defense has no one who even approaches being a difference maker.

I'm just annoyed that the 8-yard slants were there for Akron. All. Damn. Day. Do we really not have the players to cover AKRON'S receivers a little tighter than that?  Hint:  10-yard cushions on 3rd and 6 don't tend to work out too well.

Well, they certainly do not have the right to rush four, and frankly it was pissing me off that Mattison didn't blitz earlier in the game.  The longer you let a team like Akron hang around, the more hope you give that team.  Michigan needed to stomp them early, blitz them early, take the wind out of their sails early.  Instead, Michigan gave Akron more and more hope. That was awful to watch.

Call me a troll, but Funk needs to go.  The guy is not nor has he ever been a good OLine coach.

Michigan needs to do it better next time.

middle on running plays I wouldn't mind Bryant getting some reps if he's healthy. He's very physical and fits what we're trying to do. Last week it was not a problem because of ND's big nasty dline. Whats the excuse this week?

It's all on the OL, Funk while a great recruiter, has been a step down in OL coaching from the previous regime in my eyes.

This team is still a zone blocking team and I would hope Hoke/Borges accept that and go with it. No point in forcing something your players can't do.

good job students and the athletic department. entire upper bowl of the student section was empty.

Knowing Hoke & Co. they will reinforce what poor decision making equates to this week... but chances are the kids learned the lesson some point in the 2nd half...

Also, Fitz should come out feeling confident in his play and playing under a tense/stressful situation, our young o-line should be able to come out having more trust in themselves and each other.  

Watching the OL today, that wasn't a coaching problem, that was a talent / experience problem.  Akron was blowing our line up play after play after play.  That was more or less the same story against ND except Gardner wasn't always trying to throw to the wrong team.  

I think this bodes poorly for the rest of the season.  I want to be positive, but damn, we were out played by Akron nearly the entire game, not just one quarter.  I hope I'm wrong, but unless line play is much improved, I can't see how we win any more than 7 this year. 

After spending a week explaining to all how the two PI calls we got last week weren't weak or flukey....the refs bailed us out big time.  We got two  PI calls that were bogus while a ref staring at our corner maul their receiver in the end zone threw no flag.  We even got a few favorable spots.  The last 10 minutes or so of the game I was watching thinking 'thank god the refs arent goign to let us lose,' we almost did anyways.  That was the least enjoyable michigan game I've watched in a long time :(

omg the sky is falling!!!!!!

Some of you need to step away from the keyboard and take a breather. I just went to the gym and cleared my mind and I'm not nearly as all doom and gloom as I was after the game. Bad games happen, TO EVERYONE!

...is that this is an extremely young team.  Young teams make a lot of mistakes and are prone to mental weakness, including things like letdowns.  The upperclassmen can be great leaders, but young kids are going to be young kids.  A few kids listen to their parents the first time not tell them to touch the hot stove, but a lot of kids learn by getting burned.  

We've been seeing a lot of mistakes in every game, even the 50 point blowout in week 1.  Too many penalties of the false start/offsides variety.  The interior of both the offensive and defensive lines are very inexperienced and will be outplayed until they have enough games under their belts.  Don't expect that to happen until late in this year or next year.  Some guys even lose confidence and never become the player they can.

The disappointing aspect of all this is a senior QB with plenty of big-game experience as the starter, plus an entire off-season of preparation.  It was admirable of Lewan to try to accept responsibility for not giving Gardner enough time, but every one of those TOs was when Gardner was not under pressure and simply made horrible decisions.  The #1 job of a QB is to keep the ball from the other team.  The only players on the team who should be giving it to the oppponent are the punter and kick-off specialist (and I do mean specialist, b/c it's time to put Kenny Allen back there).

Let's all pray we can grow up quickly.

Hey I think the coaches know more about who should play since they actually go to practice and know the players. Yeah let's just start plugging in new guys. Do you know how good they really are? No. If they were better, they would be playing. I don't understand why people complain about who's playing. You don't know the team as well as the coaches. 

Let's scoop that turd off the driveway and throw it in the trash can. On to Connecticut for the win we should have put up today. GO BLUE!

football game, so I missed the whole second half.  (phone was not working)  Cannot believe that almost happened.  But there is no "Win, Loss, should have lost".  Only 2 columns.  That being said, I think a lot of fans treated this game like the players did.  I said in the "where to watch the game on Mars" thread that I was shocked everyone kept saying "It's Akron".  Yeah, Akron.  Scary stuff. 

Also, I know people talked about Green's weight gain but he really looked like a butterball out there today. Not sure why I noticed it so much more today