Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween and Go Blue! 

-via BHB reader David and Tec

Let's hope Michigan has some Dog in them when they play Iowa this weekend! 

Michigan Monday: The Race to Indy is a Mess

Just when you thought we knew who was heading to Indianapolis, Saturday happened. 

• Wisconsin lost again on a long pass with a few seconds left.
• MSU rolled over against Nebraska 
• Iowa lost to Minnesota (how did that happen?)
• Penn State is up by 2 games in the Leaders division over OSU and Wisconsin
• Illinois was ranked in the top 25 and now have lost 3 in a row

I think the #1 thing to look at is the remaining schedule of each team in the race.   Michigan State has all their tough Big Ten games behind them.  The only possible loss could be Iowa on the road. 

Penn State hasn't played anyone yet but after a bye they finish against Nebraska, OSU and Wisconsin.   Even though PSU is 5-0 they are barley beating poor teams.   Example is a 16-10 win over Indiana. 

Big Ten teams are not playing well on the road and we have a ton of examples.  Wisconsin the last two weeks, Michigan at MSU, Nebraska at Wisconsin, MSU against ND & Nebraska and Iowa losing to Minnesota last weekend.  

In the Leaders division, MSU has the schedule advantage with Minn and IU at home and Iowa and Northwestern on the road.   MSU will have to play better on the road if they are going to get to Indy.  In 3 games they have scored a total of 26 points and have gone 1-2.

Michigan has a difficult schedule with includes road games to Iowa and Illinois and home against Nebraska and OSU.   Nebraska has Northwestern and Iowa at home and Michigan and PSU on the road. 

Someone is going to have to win on the road to punch their ticket to the house that Payton built.


How would you rate the Big Ten Team right now?  This is tough

#1  Wisconsin - Still think they are the best all around team.  Need better defense under a minute.
#2  Nebraska - Could make a case for #1
#3 Michigan State
#4 Michigan
#5 OSU
#6 Penn State
#7: Illinois
#8: Iowa
#9: Purdue
#10: Northwestern
#11: Minnesota
#12: Indiana

Purdue Post Game

John T. Greilick / The Detroit News

The Race to Indy Continues

This is Michigan Football, boring wins over mediocre opponents.   Seem harsh?  Not after the last 3 years.  Many Michigan fans went into Saturday's homecoming match-up with two thoughts:

1. This should be an easy win and we should be looking at our next two games on the road.
2. I sure hope they don't have a hang over from the MSU loss like the last 2 years.

When the game started the "whole hang over" theory was alive and well.   Purdue took the ball and marched down the field for a quick touchdown.  Denard and the Michigan offense answered and many of us thought the "shootout" was on.   Greg Mattison and the Michigan defense had other plans and shutdown the Boilermakers the rest of the game.  Only giving up a very late touchdown against Michigan's backups on defense. 

Michigan won 36-14 and it shouldn't had been that close with Michigan blowing touchdowns on the goal line in two separate occasions.  Pretty boring game and this type of game are the ones Michigan fans have been missing for 3 years. 

Cheers:

• Fitz running wild against Purdue's Defense
• Mike Martin's best game of the year
• Denard's passing accuracy
• The entire Michigan Defense for stepping up after the 1st drive
• Taylor Lewan for playing hurt

Jeers:

• Big AL and his gimmick plays.  I thought he might be drunk calling some of those plays up in the press box.
• Goal line offense and not being able to get a yard or two for a touchdown.  (two games in a row)
• Defense on the first drive
• Too many face mask penalties

I understand why they want to play Devin and do enjoy some of the plays, but for me it seems that formation are drive killers and takes away momentum from the offense.   The bomb Devin threw that was picked off could have been a game changer against a better team.  There is no reason for that when Michigan is driving for a score.   Al's gimmick calls has a chance to be the tipping point in a game and that is very high risk for a team looking to get its swagger back.  I don't have a problem with Devin throwing a screen or handing off to Denard or another back.  I do have a problem with him expecting to read the defense and throwing down field to a WR. (I doubt he will move off his first read).  He missed a wide open Hopkins for a TD against MSU.  I am not knocking Devin, this is just how it is for a redshirt freshman (we hope) QB.

Michigan now has two games on the road back to back to Iowa and Illinois.  Both teams lost on Saturday to Minnesota and Penn State.  How Iowa lost to Minnesota, I don't know.  Both of these games are winnable for the Wolverines but we know the road is different then Michigan Stadium.   The next two weeks will be a good test for this team.  Let's hope they step up.

Breaking News: Injury Report Kovacs Out

Per Michigan's twitter page:  Injury Report: Safety Jordan Kovacs is out today with a knee injury. Troy Woolfolk will start at safety, Blake Countess to start at CB.

Purdue Preview

Time: 12:00 EST
TV: ESPN 2
Location:  Big House
Weather: Mostly cloudy with a rain or snow shower in spots high of 50, low 29
Line: Michigan -14
Event: Homecoming

There is no love between these two teams.  Purdue has had issues with Michigan back to the Lloyd Carr days.  Purdue coaches have always felt that Michigan eats thier lunch on the recruiting trial.  Some might have thought this started back when Tiller threw the "Snake Oil Salesman" tag on Rich Rod.  It did not, Tiller had issues with Michigan and Carr for years.  He just never called out Carr or Michigan in public.  There were plenty of rumors that Tiller would vote Michigan down in the Coaches poll and other sinster activity. 

So there's that.  There is also 2 recent wins by Purdue over RR's Wolverines, where they pulled pretty much everything out of the play book to get a win.   Back a few years ago, they ran the hook and ladder to win  a game.  So clearly, Purdue and their coaches have this game circled on their calendar.

Ok, Bob Nice Set Up.  Get to the game preview!   (I feel ya, I am up late reading 3 and Out which pretty much pisses me off page by page too, so I'm with ya!)

Purdue has what they always have.  A team that plays like a roller coaster week to week.  This team lost to Sam McGuffie and Rice this year.   Houston put up 73 points on Rice last night.  Their other losses are to Notre Dame and Penn State.    They only have one quality win over Ron Zook and Illinois which happened last weekend, which was their best game of the season.  So Purdue is looking to beat top 25 opponents back to back for the first time since Drew Brees was throwing touchdown passes and Michigan is looking to rebound for their MSU loss during an inland hurricane.

Tale of the Tape:

Michigan Offense vs Purdue Defense =  Edge to Denard
Michigan Defense vs Purdue Offense = Edge to Purdue
Special Teams = Purdue
Coaching = Michigan
Intangibles = Michigan coming off a bye week and a loss to MSU (Purdue could be over confident and Michigan is angry and won't let their season slip this year)

Purdue will spread out the field and try to run the ball as much as possible.   They will try to get the Michigan defense out of position for big plays.   We will see if Greg Mattison has coached his guys up over the last two weeks to stay in their gaps.  Michigan's LB's have not played well this year and were totally absent from the MSU game.  If they take the Purdue game off, it could be a long day for the defense.

I am looking for a few things from the Michigan offense after the MSU game:

1) More plays to the middle of the field.  Which was 100% open most every blitz MSU ran.   I want to see a RB there or a Tight end in the middle for a quick dump down pass.

2) Less gimmicks, more running.  Need production from the RB's and not just Denard. 

3) Shorter passes to help Denard get into rhythm in the passing game. 

4) I like Devin a lot but we are all in with Denard.  Unless Denard needs a rest.  Please don't take him out.


Sing Hail to Victors if....................

• The Michigan offense line can protect Denard
• Michigan has a running game
• Denard throws it to the guys in the blue jerseys. 
• The Michigan defense knows how to defend a running spread.
• The Michigan defense continues to get turnovers.

Say here we go again if......................

• The game becomes an offensive shoot out
• The Michigan D doesn't have an answer for the Purdue running game
• Denard is throwing off his back foot
• Big Al didn't learn anything from the MSU game

Just like two weeks ago, there are no mysteries here.  Purdue will spread Michigan out on defense and try to get them into bad positions.    Purdue has a good defensive line and will try to pound Denard just like MSU did.   Expect a ton of blitzes and the Michigan O Line to struggle at times.   (AL please have some quick drop downs and make them pay for blitzing the most electric player in college football!  Please!).  Michigan is the more talented team and should win this one easy if they play clean.  Meaning they don't turn the ball over on offense and the defense keeps Purdue under 21 points.  Look for big days from Roundtree, Fitz and a pick from the Count. 

Michigan 31 Purdue 14

GO BLUE

Michigan Thursday: Recruiting Tidbits

Michigan will find out next week if 5 Star Power Forward/Center Mitch McGary will join the Michigan Basketball Program next year.  The early signing period starts November 9th.  His final 3 are Duke, Florida and Michigan.   Keep your fingers crossed! 

• Jordan Payton has Michigan and ND tied for his leader.  He plans to announce anytime in the next two weeks. 

• Zach Banner visited Oklahoma last weekend and now has Bob Stoops crew as his leader.   We will have to see how his recruitment plays out.

• WR Jehu Chesson will be visiting Ann Arbor this weekend for the Purdue game.  He is a 3 star prospect to most sites.  With Darboh not scheduled on campus until the OSU game and with Jordan thinking, this could be an interesting visit.

• I don't have any information to validate this theory but if I was a betting man, I would guess that if Brionte Dunn wants to come to Ann Arbor he will announce his intentions in January, when he is already enrolled at U of M.   He is very concern over backlash from OSU fans if he changes his mind.   Just a theory.

• Remember when it seemed like everyone and their brother was leaving Ann Arbor when RR took over?  Florida is down to 72 scholarship players right now.  85 is where you want to be.

Big Ten Preview Week 9

The Big Ten has a couple of high profile games this weekend with Wisconsin at OSU and MSU at Nebraska.  MSU's hail mary probably will keep the Badgers out of the NC game and MSU is hoping that wins over OSU, Michigan and Wisconsin will lead them to a victory over Big Ten newcomer Nebraska. 


Big Ten Game of the Week:

MSU at Nebraska:  Both teams try to play good defense and have looked both great and terrible at times on offense.   When MSU has struggled this year it has been on the road with a head scratching loss to Notre Dame and a low scoring win in Columbus.  Nebraska on the other hand look pretty bad in Madison but did rebound in the second half and just got by the Buckeyes.   

MSU has the better defense when they are not making stupid penalties and have a senior QB that likes to play in big games.  Nebraska is much better at home then on the road and has been getting ready for the Spartans since they beat OSU weeks ago.  If this game was played on a neutral field, I think MSU would be a 7+ point favorite but for this game Vegas has them as a 4 point underdog.  

If MSU plays clean, I think they win this game easy but lets face it, the Spartans always does something that keeps the game close.   (MSU was just inches away from losing the game on Saturday night when he fumbled on the last drive).  I think Nebraska sneaks this game out since MSU thinks they have an easy road to the Indy.  Nebraska 28 MSU 24

Other Games

Wisconsin at OSU:  Wisconsin is mad they lost on a hail mary last week and OSU is mad they have 3 losses this year already.   OSU did play better before their bye week and is hoping to continue to run the ball effectively.   OSU won't be able to be one dimensional against Wisconsin and will have to find a passing game somewhere.   Wisconsin is a 7.5 favorite, if OSU has a chance they will need to score on defense and special teams more then once.   Wisconsin 27 OSU 14

Northwestern at IU:  Northwestern continues to play well on offense but has a defense that just won't hold up for 60 minutes.  Neither team has a Big Ten win yet.   NW is favored by -9 points and is really a much better team then their record.   Northwestern 41 IU 28

Iowa at Minnesota:  Iowa is really quiet this year and seems to be getting better each week.  Minnesota on the other hand, played their best game in week 1 and has been awful ever since.   Iowa is only a 15 point favorite.   Iowa 38 Minn 14

Illinois at Penn State:  These teams are a mystery to me.  Illinois has done it's regular October fall back after a good September.  Penn State has looked pretty bad most weeks (they scored 16 points against IU) but continues to win, with only a loss to Alabama on their record.   I have been wondering when Penn State's Big Ten schedule gets tough.  The answer is the next 3 weeks with Nebraska, OSU and Wisconsin.  PSU is favored by 5.5 points.   Zook 17 JoPa 14


The Big Ten has spaced out their TV games on Saturday with MSU/Neb at noon and Wisconsin/OSU at 8:00.  I will preview Michigan's homecoming game on Friday morning.

Wolverine Wednesday: Sailboat Bill Blew It and Blew It Big

Good leaders are never surprised because they have a contingency plan for pretty much every situation.   Data centers in Iowa have back plans if a hurricane hits.

When Bill Martin was the AD of Michigan, he didn't have a plan to replace Lloyd Carr when he retired.   Which is un-explainable because Lloyd wanted to retire after USC beat Michigan on January 1st, 2007 and Bill talked him out of it.   So when Lloyd retired 11 months later, Bill was caught off guard.   How did that happen?  How could you not have plan?  How could you not have gauged interest in who might be available and who wanted the job?  Was the plan to give it to Mike Debord or Ron English?  Mike had a terrible run at CMU as a head coach and Ron's defense had just been embarrassed by App State and Oregon on back to back fall weekends. 

Hiring a new head football coach would be Bill's biggest job as AD at Michigan.  Not expanding the Big House, hiring the basketball coach or getting the athletic department back in the green.   It was hiring a football coach. 

As you can tell by now, I am deep in the middle of reading John Bacon's 3 and Out, which clearly details how Sailboat Bill completely screwed up the coaching search, which alienated pretty much every group associated with the University including; Alumni, former players, President Mary Sue Coleman, the media, and all Michigan fans.   If you think about it, being able to piss off so many people was quite an accomplishment. 

The Sailboat weekend pretty much went as we thought.

• Les Miles wants the job and tries to contact Bill.
• Bill doesn't return the messages and takes off for a long weekend (side note: when you are in the middle of the most important thing you do in your job, it's probably not the best time to take a long weekend)
• Bill gets a new cell phone and doesn't know how to use it.  Really?  How do you not know how to answer a phone?
• Herbie breaks the Miles to Michigan story
• All hell breaks loose and Bill is on his sailboat and listening to a Kansas CD.
• Bill doesn't realize what has happen until he gets home from Florida.  
• Complete disaster

Let's be clear about one thing.  Les Miles is hated in Ann Arbor by some powerful people and never would have been the head coach of Michigan.  Never.  If Les was ever offered the job in Ann Arbor he would have taken it a New York minute.  He never got offered before or after RR.  He turned those non-offers into two contract extensions with LSU.   So the next time Brent Musburger (who said just a couple of weeks ago) says that Miles turned down a couple of opportunities to coach Michigan is completely false and exactly what I would expect to hear from Musburger.

I am not beating down Sailboat Bill today because he didn't hire Miles.  I am beating him down because he was completely un-prepared to find the next Michigan coach and was trying to hire the Rutgers coach or was focused on guys like Tony Dungy (who was never going to come here).   It was a complete cluster of a coaching search and they panicked and hired the first big name that said yes. 

Lloyd Carr even called Rich and sold him on the job in Ann Arbor because he didn't want Miles.   (Be prepared because Lloyd will be taken to the Big House Blog Wood Shed in later posts).   Who Mary Sue was starting to have conversations with, when it was clear Sailboat Bill wasn't getting it done. 

So you might be asking, "Why bring this stuff back up?"

A few reasons:

1.  We haven't played a football game in a week and half and there isn't much Michigan news out there right now.
2. Three and Out came out yesterday
3. I have been waiting for the truth for over 3 years on what really happened. 

My last point is when Rich Rod took the Michigan job 3 + years ago, the Michigan community was split and upset at Bill and the program for many different reasons.  Rich had a target on his head starting day one.   I think Rich made a ton of mistakes of his own and had to be fired earlier this year, but consider one thing for a minute:  Are we blaming the wrong guy for Michigan's disaster for the last 3 years?

It seems to me Bill Martin was the guy that was asleep at the wheel and created this mess.  Rich was just the sucker who said yes.  Bill didn't do any research or know anything about Rich's situation at WVU.   Rich was having his own serious problems at WVU and was looking for a way out.  Bill gave him that platform and escape to Ann Arbor.   This entire transaction feels to me like a guy looking for a watch on Times Square and a buys a Rolex for $100 thinking he got a great deal. 

 BTW: don't buy that Bill retired a year or so ago, he retired just like Jim Tressel retired from Ohio State.     

(I don't want to diminish Bill's entire time at U of M.  He did some good things like expanding the Big House, hiring a number of good coaches for other sports including John Beilein)

Michigan Tuesday: Delays Decision

It was expected that Michigan was going to get good news in WR recruiting today with the possible commit of Jordan Payton.   Jordan visited South Bend this weekend and really enjoyed it.  He now won't be making a decision today.  Which is clearly a bad sign for the Wolverines.  Jordan has already been committed to USC and some have speculated that he made a silent commitment to the Michigan coaches after the Night Game at the Big House.   So Jordan has witnessed two ND losses this year and it sounds like he now might be considering them.   Stay tuned on how this one turns out. 

Not much news out of Coach Hoke's Press Conference on Monday.  Taylor Lewan has a wrist and ankle injury but is expected to play on Saturday.  Team has practiced well last week and we might be seeing more of Frank Clark, Brennen Beyer, and Raymon Taylor. 

• OL Josh Garnett will visit Ann Arbor for the Nebraska game.

• Michigan Iowa game will be a noon kickoff on ESPN

• Well That's Strange?  MSU didn't have any penalties against Wisconsin on Saturday.   That is compared to 13 penalties for 124 yards against Michigan.  Draw your own conclusions here.

• Today is the official release date of Three and Out. 

Michigan Monday: Shades of Gray

Ok, lets first touch on what happened in East Lansing on Saturday.  I have to give Sparty some credit, they beat Wisconsin on Hail Mary play.  It seems the Spartans love ESPN's College GameDay and night games.  As far as the call after the replay, I thought it could of gone either way.   My first thought was that they weren't going to overturn it because it was so close and he was backing in.   After seeing the line on ESPN after the game it looked like it was the right call.  (I wish that replay ref was doing the Michigan - Illinois game 2 years ago, where it looked like Michigan scored 3 out of 4 times on the goal line).

Looks like the Big Ten won't have a team contending for the NC this year after the Wisconsin's loss.  The Wisconsin loss also pretty much kills Michigan's shot at making it to Indy this year for the Big Ten Championship game. 

• Zook and Illinois did have a hang over from the OSU game and lost at Purdue.  The Boilermakers now come to Ann Arbor this week with some new found confidence.  Right now Michigan is favored by two touchdowns.

• The Michigan coaches spent the bye week traveling to see kids they have been recruiting.  One of the coaches stopped by and saw grayshirt verbal Jeremy Clark.  The Michigan coach was so impressed what he saw, they took the gray shirt off and asked JC to join the 2012 class.   The word is Jeremy has had a great senior year and this is wonderful news for him and his family.  your next question might be: "Where are they going to find the room?"  There is a rumor that true freshman (who enrolled early) Greg Brown is thinking about transferring.   Greg played well in the Spring Game but we haven't seen him on the field at all this year.  The mill says he is going to Cincinnati. Update: No longer a rumor, Greg has left the team.   Blake Countess passing him on the depth chart probably didn't help this situation.

• The rumor mills is saying that Jordan Payton had a really good time at ND this weekend.  He might be re-thinking his press conference for Tuesday's announcement.   Cancelling would not be a good sign for the Wolverines.   Other recruits that visited ND this weekend include: Diamond, Kiel, Banner, Marshall and Armstead.   It amazes me how well ND keeps recruiting after all the years of disappointing losses and seasons, including the one on Saturday.

• Michigan is #17 in both polls.

• 2012 LB recruit from Ohio Kaleb Ringer has a sprained MCL and will sit out the rest of the year and is planning to enroll in January. 

Michigan Friday: Hoke and Staff are Recruiting HS All Americans for the 2012 Class

The past 3 years Michigan would be lucky to have 1 or 2 players in the top High School All American games that are played during the bowl seasons.   The top 2 games are the Army and Under Armour games.   

Here are a list of recruits that have been picked for the following games:

Army All American

Royce Jenkins Stone - Michigan Verbal
Jordan Payton - Michigan Recruit
Arik Armstead - Michigan Recruit
Ondre Pipkins - Michigan Verbal
James Ross - Michigan Verbal
Kyle Kalis - Michigan Verbal
Mario Ojemudia - Michigan Verbal
Tom Strobel - Michigan Verbal
Zach Banner - Michigan Recruit
Yuri Wright - Michigan Recruit
Erik Magnuson, Michigan Verbal


Under Armour
Terry Richardson - Michigan Verbal
Josh Garnett - Michigan Recruit


USA vs World Game
Blake Bars - Michigan Verbal
Caleb Stacy - Michigan Verbal

Let me know if I missed any players.  The Army site isn't 100% updated on their latest selections.

Gholston Suspended by Big 10

Oct. 20, 2011


Park Ridge, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference office announced that it will impose a one-game suspension on Michigan State University football student-athlete William Gholston for violating the Big Ten Sportslike Conduct Agreement during Michigan State’s game against Michigan on Oct. 15, 2011.

The Big Ten determined that Gholston’s actions at the end of the third quarter of the Michigan contest violated Big Ten Conference Agreement 10.01.1.A.1 - “Striking or attempting to strike or otherwise physically abusing an official, opposing coach, spectator or athlete.” The conference office also publicly reprimanded Gholston for his actions.

The Big Ten Sportslike Conduct Agreement states that “It shall be the responsibility of each member university to ensure that all of its students and all individuals employed by or directly associated with it comport themselves in a sportslike manner when representing their university, especially at intercollegiate athletic contests.”
The Big Ten Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment.

Michigan Thursday: A Funny Did You Know?

Here is a trivia question for you:   Can you name the former Wolverine that was traded for current Washington Redskins starting QB John Beck?  A hint is, the trade happened August 2, 2010 and the other team was the Baltimore Ravens.   Still don't know?  Yes, you guessed it, the answer is the famous Doug Dutch.  So the trade was for a starting QB vs a college WR turned into a NFL CB. I believe Doug is no longer in the NFL.

• TomVH now of ESPN interviews Jordan Diamond.  The key comment is, he won't be making a decision until signing day.  I am pretty sure that won't work for the Michigan coaches.

• New 2013 WR offer Laquon Treadwell is now a 4 star prospect via 24/7.

• Michigan recruit Zach Banner was named the HS Gatorade National Player of the week.

• There is a new D1 Instate WR recruit that is having a real good senior year and programs like Michigan are starting to notice.  The players name is Eric Wilson from Redford and he is 6'2 205 pounds and I expect will be getting some bigger offer in the near future.   (Michigan is looking strong for a couple of WR's already but if for some reason these guys fall through Eric could be a good late pick up near signing day)  

 

Big Ten Preview Week 8

Like I mentioned early in the week the Big Ten Office took a gut punch this past weekend.  2 undefeated teams lost and the Crown Jewel (Wisconsin) of the conference looked like they were playing a college team from Canada.  To top things off, they have to deal with another top match up this weekend between MSU and Wisconsin and have to deal with the William Gholston situation and the pressure to suspend him. 

With suspensions at LSU and Miami yesterday the pressure continues to grow on the Big Ten office.  So we will see what happens there, lets get to the games

Big 10 Game of the Week:

Wisconsin at MSU:  Game day is in East Lansing and this is one of the biggest games of the week.   Wisconsin looks like a National Champion contender and MSU has proven they have one of the best defenses in the nation.   Something has to give.     I expect the Wisconsin coaches have spent a ton of time watching film on the Michigan and OSU games against MSU.  I also expect it might be cold on Saturday but not a tornado like the game last Saturday.   

Even though the game is in East Lansing, State is getting 7.5 points against Wisky.  I expect a low scoring close game with two good defenses but Wisconsin's offense will win the day.   Wisconsin 24 MSU 20


The rest of the games:

Nebraska at Minnesota = pain for the Gophers.  Nebraska is only a 24.5 favorite.  I expect a big score here.  Nebraska 42 Minnesota 7

Illinois at Purdue:  Hangover warning!  Zook lost to OSU where they only threw 4 passes and completed 1.  I know OSU and Danny Hope is no Luke Fickell, wait maybe he is?   Purdue played Penn State close last week and they always have one win at home each year they shouldn't have.  Is this the one?  Vegas is not buying Illinois right now and only has them at -4.  My gut tells me this will be an upset even though Illinois is the better team.   Purdue 27 Illinois 23

Penn State at Northwestern:  Somehow Northwestern hasn't won a game in the Big Ten this year.  They have an offense that will pick up apart and a defense that will give up big plays.  Penn State has a good defense but struggles to move the ball on offense.  Northwestern has some strange deal with the BTN and this is their 3rd 7:00 game in a row.  Penn State is -4.   Northwestern 28 Penn State 14

Indiana at Iowa:  Iowa isn't great but they are better then Indiana for sure.  Iowa is - 23.5 in this game.  Iowa 31 Indiana 14

Ohio State is off this week and has Wisconsin next
Michigan is off this week and has Purdue next

Wolverine Wednesday: The Fruit Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

We all know that Mark Dantonio's mentor is Jim Tressel.  We also know now that Jim's run at OSU was fraught with rule breaking and deception.  We probably have only learned a small percentage of what really happened in Columbus.   Mark's biggest problem is he does what he thinks is in the best interest of him and his program.   He never sees the bigger picture or what is the best interest for the player, University or the Big Ten. 

Examples:

• After many off field issues the past 3 years.  He went on record to say he has a zero-tolerance policy for discipline issues. 

• After that policy was in place he let Chris L. Rucker play in a game at Iowa, 48 hours after leaving jail.

• Now with Gholston actions on pretty much every major network, MSU is still reviewing the situation, 3+ days after the game.

"We are thoroughly reviewing the entire game and utilizing all of the available resources: coaches' video from midfield and end zone cameras, TV copy as well as still photographs," Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis said in a statement Tuesday. "Once the internal review is completed, we will forward a written report on to the Big Ten. The conference office won't discuss a timeline for this process and neither will we."

Other comments:

Asked about dirty play after the game MSU DC Pat Narduzzi called it "60 minutes of unnecessary roughness".

Asked if he was offended on the insinuation that his team plays dirty, Dantonio response:  "No, not at all. Very proud how our program plays."

On how Dantonio would characterize Gholtson's actions:"I wouldn't characterize it as dirty play, I would characterize it as reaction"

Bottom Line is coaches like Dantonio and Tressel can get bye with pushing the envelope and making sure players are getting paid and have other special benefits.     Does Dantonio give the special benefits that Tressel took a blind eye to? (I am not accusing MSU of paying players, my point is that Dantonio uses "other" methods to gain a advantage or blur the lines between right and wrong)   I don't know.  What I do know is, these guys eventually fall and fall hard.  Dantonio called Tressel earlier this year a hero for what he has gone through.  I call it a bunch of fools who know how to coach but feel they have to cheat to become Big Ten Champions.

Dantonio can clearly coach football but it's the other aspects of his job where he seems to be a big  buffoon.  The Big Ten should not only suspend Gholston they should also suspend Dantonio for his tactics.  I wonder if this would have been resolved by now if MSU was playing Minnesota or IU on Saturday?

• California 4 star WR Jordan Payton has set his announcement date for next Tuesday after his visit to ND this weekend (ND vs USC).   Jordan was verballed to USC earlier this year.  All signs point to good news for the Wolverines.

• All Michigan Commits Need Not Apply:  This past Saturday,  Farmington Harrison teammates Funchess and Ojemudia  (Michigan commits) wanted to go to the game with MSU Commits Burbidge and Vento.   The MSU coaches told Funchess and Ojemudia that they couldn't come.  Normally, I would agree that you don't want kids that are committed to the other school on your sideline, but Farmington Harrison has been a MSU feeder school for years.  I wonder how that played in the football office at Harrison?
  

Do you want to know what makes me more upset then a terrible 4th and 1 call?

You know I have been pimping the book 3 and Out by John Bacon.  He was asked a number of questions from the readers of Mgoblog and is responding to them in a series of posts on the top Michigan Blog. 

Here is an excerpt from one of those posts which makes my blood boil: 

The Rodriguez reign was fatally damaged by two main causes: the harm done by detractors inside and outside the program, and his own missed opportunities – from PR problems to those seven lost match points in 2009 and 2010, any one of which would probably have been enough to deliver him to a new era when he could focus more on football than survival. In particularly, I believe the 2009 game against Illinois, which blew up when Michigan failed to score on a first and goal from the one-yard line, marked the Continental Divide of the Rodriguez Era.

So, it’s not true that Rodriguez had no chance. He had seven. It is true, however, that his chances were greatly diminished by detractors inside and outside the program.

Assigning blame essentially boils down to weighing the factors above. But on one crucial point – really, the most important of all – there is absolutely no shade of gray whatsoever. Rodriguez, his staff, and his players (after the 2008 team graduated) worked extraordinarily hard to win every game.

Some powerful insiders, however, were working just as hard to see them fail. That is not a matter of degree. It’s a clear-cut, black-and-white difference – something I have never seen in all my years researching Michigan’s long and admirable history. But the people who suffered the most were the least to blame: the players.

Let me understand this;  you use your power, influence and money to help destroy the program that you love?  You actively work to hurt that program because you don't agree on the hire of the head coach?

Let me be 100% clear:   You love and support this program un-conditionally a 110%  or you can get the Hell OUT!   I am not saying you have to agree with everything that happens in the program, I sure haven't.   Everyone has the right to their own opinion, what I'm talking about is different. 

I don't care if you were a coach for Michigan, attended Michigan, played for Michigan or lived in Ann Arbor your entire life.  If you proactively try to hurt the program for any reason, you need to get the Hell Out and should never be welcomed back to Schembechler Hall ever!  

Congratulations Insiders!  Your plan worked, RR is gone and so is his staff.   It only cost us, 3 seasons and the hard work of 100 young men where their only reward was a butt whipping in Jacksonville.   As John points out above, the people that were really hurt in this process were the players.

I am happy where the program is headed but I don't think we needed to ruin lives to get here, I really don't.  If Bo was alive he would never have let this happen, never!

Michigan Tuesday: Sparty Wins But Loses

We had two interesting games and events in Michigan this weekend and the two events over shadowed the games.   The two games were Michigan vs Michigan State and the Lions vs 49'ers. 

MSU beat the Wolverines and the 49'ers beat the Lions in close games.    But the games are not the story this week, it's the end of the game handshake between Harbaugh and Schwartz and MSU's dirty play.  

The NFL has already ruled there won't be a penalty for the coaches for handshake-gate but what about MSU and Will Gholston?  William had two personal foul penalties including a punch and a twist of the face mask.

The Big Ten usually lets the team handle this type of punishment, meaning MSU takes the lead on punishing Gholston.  If MSU elects not to punish him (for example they have a big game on Saturday against Wisconsin), the Big Ten will step in and suspend him.   The rumor is that MSU will announce a punishment for Gholston in a press conference today.    I guess the bigger question is did the MSU coaches teach the players to commit a p

So now the question is why does the media focus on the dirty play and the hand shake instead of the big wins by the Spartans and the 49'ers?    The reason is, someone has to win and someone has to lose every game and that is pretty boring to report on.  What the media grabs a hold of is things that happen out of the norm.   Love or hate ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd but his take on this type of stuff is right on point.  He doesn't care who wins or loses, he just wants some type of controversy so he can talk about it.   Both games had it this weekend and both events were bigger in the media then the wins. 

• Arik Armstead a 6-7 280 pound offensive lineman was verballed to USC and has decided to open up his recruitment and is considering a visit to Ann Arbor.

• 4 star WR Amara Darboh visited Iowa this weekend.

• 2013 IL WR Laquon Treadwell got offered my Michigan last week (which was his first offer).  He got his second offer this weekend from ND.

Michigan Monday: Bad Weekend for the Big Ten and The State's Top Teams

Lets first look at the Big Ten. 

2 out of their top 3 top teams lost games, both teams were undefeated.   MSU for the second straight year has seemed to have taken Denard Robinson out of the Heisman race and Illinois lost to OSU when they completed 1 pass.  Let me say that again, Ohio State completed 1 pass and Illinois couldn't stop the run all day. 

Penn State barley beat a poor Purdue team. 

Wisconsin looked like they played a high school team in Indiana. 

Northwestern and Iowa played a decent game.

MSU got a win over their instate rival Wolverines but had a number of personal foul penalties (5) and we will see if the Big Ten will suspended Will Gholston for his punch and late hit, twisting of Denard Robinson's face mask (2 personal fouls).   If you are wondering, neither of those plays are "playing hard or playing emotional" those are clear examples of playing dirty.  Gholston should be suspended at least for the Wisconsin game and should have been thrown out of the Michigan game.

How a bad weekend got worse:

• Tigers get blown out in Game 6
• The Lions lose to Jim Harbaugh and 49'ers in a close game.

Look at this weeks games:

Illinois at Purdue:  Look for a Zook hangover from the OSU game

Wisconsin at MSU:  ESPN Gameday in East Lansing for a prime time game.  Then Sparty goes on the road to Nebraska.  

Nebraska at Minnesota: = Bye week

Penn State at Northwestern:Watch out for the Wildcats here.  Persa can pick a team apart and PSU is having serious QB issues.

Indiana at Iowa:  Iowa easy.

Michigan and OSU have bye weeks. 


I sure hope Michigan gets some good news on the recruiting trail because it could be a long week of updates on the health of Troy and Denard.   If you feeling down about Sparty, they could easily lose their next two games. 

4th and 1 the Turning Point

The NFL has a new show called the Turning Point, it is based on the one play in a football game that dictates the outcome.  That play in the Michigan - MSU game was the 4 and 1 play call in the 4th quarter with Michigan down by 7 points in the MSU red zone after a Spartan turnover.

Normally a turning point has one mistake like a fumble or an interception.   I am here to prove there were a ton of huge mistakes on just this one play.

Mistake #1:  Comes at the end of 3rd down.  I thought Gallon got a terrible spot on his reception.  It seemed to me he was on the 1st down mark when he caught the ball and the tackler pushed him back.  The spot should have reflected the forward progress.  There was an opportunity to challenge the spot, the Michigan coaches did not. 

Mistake #2:  This mistake comes straight from Coach Hoke.   No timeout was called.  Per his press conference:    Looked like you were trying to call timeout. Did you see something you didn’t like? “Yeah, I saw the 25-second clock rolling to zero. I think we got away with one, to be honest with you.”  I'm not sure the result of that play call was "getting away with something".

Mistake #3:  Play Call:  This is the biggest mistake of them all.  From Coach Hoke:  What happened on that fourth-and-one call? “We’ve gotten many first downs with that play. Same play. The guy jumps, we send the one guy in motion. We’ve gotten touchdowns, too. This was just an extension of that play.”

Why was this the worst call possible?  A number of reasons:

1. You have the most dynamic player in football, you need less then a yard and you have him passing the ball?  (I assume it was a pass play).   Denard had been having trouble throwing the ball all day and that is the play when the game is on the line?  I would rather have the ball in Denard's hand trying to get a first down then faking a hand off and doing the hidden ball trick. 
2. The fake does not work with Denard.  Why, because Denard is a running QB and the key to the entire MSU defense.  When you fake the hand off and do the hidden ball trick, all that does is let the MSU DB make up ground hitting him.   I am willing to bet, Denard could beat that DB to the corner and pick up the first down and probably a touchdown.   You can't do a delayed fake with all of MSU defense a yard away.  That play works with a QB that doesn't run and is expected to hand the ball off.  Not Denard. 

Mistake #4:  The safest call is to kick the field goal.  Why? Because now if Michigan gets another stop on defense they have a chance to win the game with a touchdown.    Since it was 4th and 1, I agree with going for it but with a better play call.  

This is how you lose games, by not understanding the importance of the key play of the game.   I think Hoke should have called a time out and made sure the right play and personnel was called.  In fact, he should have challenged the spot, so he could of had time to confirm the right call.   If, he wins the challenge he keeps the time out.   I understand Al makes the call but it's up to the head coach to confirm that is what he wants on such a key play.

I know it's easy being a Sunday morning QB, but damn there was a ton of options available to the Michigan coaches and they didn't take any of them.

Michigan Blows it

The wind blew

Borges game plan blew

Passes blew over the head of Michigan WR's

The kickoff to start the second half blew

The 4th and 1 in the 4th quarter blew chunks.

Some Michigan defenders tackles got nothing but air. 

True statements:  Michigan State played better and deserved to win the game.   Michigan State is a DIRTY team.  No doubt about it.  Gholsten should have been thrown out twice and is likely to get suspended from the Big Ten.    How many personal foul penalties did they get?  With that said, they made the plays and won the game as Michigan continued to shoot itself in the foot.

I thought the Michigan defense kept the Wolverines in the game.  The MSU offensive line played very  well.  Michigan didn't have any sacks.  Cousins made the throws he needed to and didn't make any bad decisions.  

Borges got way out coached by MSU's DC.    Was it the wind?  Was it Denard's missed throws?  It was like Borges didn't have a game plan.  Michigan had plenty of opportunities to score a ton of points in this game and they didn't.  Some of that was good defense but a lot of it was terrible play calls.

There is 4:00 left and your down by 1 touchdown and you have a RB at WR?  Are you freaking kidding me?  He knows what a hot read is?   Come on Borges, that is just terrible. 

BTW:  The QB rotation was just wasting downs.  We are all in with Denard win or lose.  Let him manage the game.  Do that sh*t against Minnesota and MAC teams not against MSU.

Borges isn't alone on bad coaching decisions.  That 2nd half kickoff, what was the point of that? 

How about a couple of reviews guys?  The MSU backwards pass.  I don't buy that Michigan didn't recover it right away.   The 3rd down pass to Gallon, I thought was a terrible spot.  Review it!    Hoke get a headset on, talk to the guys upstairs and make a decision! 

State was aggressive on defense, which gave Michigan problems but that was known going in.  The WR routes I saw on TV were too far down field.   There was never a quick outlet for Denard to throw. Where were the plays designed for an aggressive defense like screens and draws?

Borges lost this game and should take most of the blame in my mind.  MSU didn't do anything that wasn't expected and Michigan didn't do anything about it.    Terrible game plan, just awful. 

I am not disappointed that Michigan lost, I am upset on how they lost.  MSU did what MSU does (get penalties, turn the ball over and play good D) and Michigan didn't do one damn thing about it.  What a waste.  Take that damn countdown clock down because Borges didn't notice it was there.

Michigan State Preview

Time: Noon
Location: East Lansing
TV: ESPN
Weather:  High 56 Partly Cloudy
Line: Michigan +2

The key match-ups in this game are very clear to me.  

#1:  Denard's Arm vs the Green and White Gold DB's.
#2:  Michigan D vs The Spartans Running Backs

MSU's offensive game plans this year in big games have been terrible.  MSU has a very solid defense and ranked #1 in the nation in some categories.  Thier defense played well enough to beat ND but their offense had serious issues.   Dantonio's game plans are always the same.  Don't forget he coached under the "Vest" (I wonder what type of "raffles" they run in East Lansing?) and MSU will be pretty Vanilla on offense.    MSU wants to run the ball, which they did very effectively in Ann Arbor last year and throw the ball to Cunningham. Cousins is not particularly good when he has to throw the ball and State's offensive line is really bad and the reason why State has not got their running game going yet so far this year. 

State has had a two week rest since they beat OSU in Columbus and I am betting they spent 90% of their time on offense on blocking and getting the running game going and 90% on defense on stopping Denard.   The game plan is crystal clear for the Spartans; run the ball, stop denard, pass to Cunningham and maybe fake a field goal. 

State has a decent defense and like all decent defenes they will try to take away Michigan's/Denard running game.   They will ask Denard to beat them with his arm.   MSU has a pretty strong DL with Worthy and Gholsten.  That DL made it impossible for OSU to do anything productive on offense. 

(BTW: Brian Kelly was on ESPN last night and was asked about the Michigan - MSU game since he played both teams.  His two comments were Denard is hard to stop and Greg Mattison has the defense putting pressure on the QB - Nothing on MSU)

Tale of the Tape:

Mich O Line vs MSU D line =  MSU
M WR vs MSU Secondary = Push
Denard's vs Int = Michigan's chances for a W
Mich D Line vs MSU O Line =  Martin and Big Will
Countess vs Cunningham = MSU
Intangibles = Push (MSU at home, Brady game 1 vs. Sparty, Michigan seniors don't want to leave losing to MSU 4 years in a row)

These are one of those heart vs head games for me.  I clearly want Michigan to win but I also saw how MSU and other good defenses stopped Denard last year.  Denard will have to pass to open the run and that hasn't been his strength at times this year.  If he starts throwing picks the game will be over and over soon. 

On the other hand, MSU's offensive line is the worst unit on the field.  Michigan will try to pressure Cousins and shut down State's running game.  If Michigan fails in either one of those two things, they won't win.  Even though Cousins isn't that great when he has to pass, he is a senior and has an NFL worthy WR to throw to against a young and banged up Michigan secondary. 

Sing Hail to the Victors if..............................

• Denard doesn't turn the ball over
• Big Al has a "great" game plan
• Michigan's Offensive Line holds up against MSU's D line
• Michigan's pressure on Defense flusters Cousin all day
• Michigan D doesn't give up big plays in the running or passing game

4 in a row are you F'ing kidding me..............................

• Cousins and Cunningham go over 100 yards through the air
• Denard starts throwing picks
• State's OLine has their best game of the year
• State's running backs are finding holes and go over 150 yards
• Michigan has 2 sacks or less

This game comes down to which coaching staff can come up with the best game plan.  Can the MSU D beat the Michigan O?   Can the Michigan D hold up against MSU's O?   One of these battles will be the difference and one will create turnovers that effect the outcome.  

I look for someone like Kevin Koger to have a big day and be the difference.   So do I go with my Head or Heart?  I have faith that Borges and Mattison can out coach Dantonio's crew.     I expect a low scoring game and both offenses will look lost at times.  Heart wins.

Michigan 21 MSU 13 

GO BLUE

Vincent Smith Shooting Down the NW Defense

Michigan Thursday: Has a Couple Recruiting Nuggets

• Sam Webb does his weekly piece on Michigan prospect Zach Garnett.  I apologize I missed that he is Lincoln Kennedy's son.   Having a this 6'9 youngman in Ann Arbor would be huge for both the football and basketball programs.  Zach plans on making his decision in the next month or two but only telling his head coach, so he can pick a hat at the Army All American game in January.

• Jason Avant called a players only meeting for the Philadelphia Eagles to try to get them all on the same page.

• Remember Austin White?  He showed up out of shape his freshman year to fall camp and after RR and Barwis put him through some intensive training to get him back in shape, he decided to transfer to Central Michigan.  Well, Austin is now suspended from the Chips. 

• Nebraska announced that DT Jared Crick is out for the year.  This is a big loss for the Cornhuskers.

• Sorry I missed this, but Michigan offered another offensive lineman for the 2012 class last week.   It's Alex Kozan from Colorado.  He is a 4 star guy and comes in at 6'4 295 pounds.  With a new offer comes some interest from Alex on visiting A2.  This is a clear sign that things are not good for Michigan in Jordan Diamond's recruitment.

Big Ten Preview Week 7

Wisconsin and Michigan State took Week 6 off, Michigan and Nebraska had come back wins and Illinois keeps beating non-ranked teams.  This will be the first year in a long time that OSU is not part of the Big Ten Title race.  I hope the Vest is enjoying his retirement his suspension from his NFL audio - visual job.   "Tressel, we need tape of the Texan's game last week! and get me a cup of coffee!"


Big Ten Game of the Week (that's not in East Lansing):

OSU at Illinois:  I don't know what to make of Illinois.  On one hand Zook seems to be building a talented young team on the other, I remember the game in Ann Arbor last year where neither defense could stop the other.  Illinois gets another team not ranked in the top 25 this week but it's the Buckeyes. 

We all know that the Buckeyes struggle moving the ball on offense but they did find a spark with the true freshman under center.   Either way this a must win for both teams.  The Buckeyes host Wisconsin next week and Illinois needs to beat a big boy on the block.   Zook is favored by just over a field goal -3.5.   OSU 17 Illinois 7

The Rest of the Games

Indiana at Wisconsin:  The line tells you everything you need to know about this game.  Wisconsin -40.  Yes, Forty!   Wisconsin 44 IU 7

Purdue at Penn State:  I guess in John Bacon's book, Rich Rod calls Danny Hope a "Junior High - No Class A-Hole" after that whole "you got my player suspended" thing a few years ago.  You might be wondering why I included that?  Really, no reason then I thought it was funny and this game is really boring.   Penn State is -12.  Penn State 28 Purdue 10

Northwestern at Iowa:  Both teams lost winnable games last week.  Iowa lost at Penn State and Northwestern gave up a 10 point lead at home to the Wolverines.  Both teams are sort of stuck in the middle of the Big Ten but have a  litle bit of talent.   Iowa likes to run the ball and play good defense.  Northwestern prefers to spread you out and then out score you.   It seems Northwestern has a lock at the 7:00 BTN spot.   Iowa is a 6.5 favorite.  I think NW pulls the upset.  NW 24 Iowa 14

Nebraska and Minnesota have bye weeks. 

Michigan at MSU will be previewed on Friday morning.

Wolverine Wednesday: Updates Some Rumors and Recruiting

• The Michigan coaching staff has offered 2013 WR LaQuon Treadwell from Illinois.  LaQuon is a teammate of 2012 Michigan verbal Anthony Standifer.  The buzz on LaQuon is that he loves Michigan and might just end his recruitment real soon.  He is 6'3 183 pounds (doesn't have a star rating yet).

• California WR Darius Powe still has Michigan in his top 5.  He plans to visit Ann Arbor after the season.

• Kyle Kalis had a funny comment about his commitment to Michigan (bold is mine) :   "It was just the great family atmosphere at Michigan. All the kids in the class … I'm close with Tom [Strobel] and Bri'onte [Dunn] - Bri'onte's not in the class, but I'm close with all these guys. Chris Wormley, all these guys - Maggs [Erig Magnuson]. The coaches - it just felt like a family there. It felt like home."

• Anyone think MSU is a little nervous on what is going on in Columbus?  They gave Dantonio an extension this week.  If OSU calls he is gone in a New York minute.

If you haven't seen what Sparty is wearing this weekend, check out below. It's like Colorado State and San Jose State had child and this is what happened.  Also expect a least one penalty for a Spartan showing the fans this exact logo.  Count on it:

Michigan Tuesday: Big Ten Weekend Review

What did we learn this weekend in Big Ten play?

• Minnesota yikes! At least they scored 17 points.
• Ohio State didn't do the Wolverines any favors.   They were up big against Nebraska and let the Cornhuskers come back to get the victory.  Your first response might be, "Bob, its never a bad thing when the Buckeyes lose!".  Your are correct BHB readers!  But, Nebraska is in our division and would of had two loses in the Big Ten if OSU had held on.
• Watching Iowa at Penn State was like watching paint dry.  Yes, they both play good defense but neither team could move the ball all day.
• I'm still not buying Illinois yet.  Ron Zook and crew struggled with IU for awhile before they pulled away.   I think they have some young talent on offense but I'm not sure on the defense side of the ball.  Beating OSU this week, will go a long way in changing my mind.  After that game they go on the road to Purdue and Penn State before hosting the Wolverines. 

I am sure OSU is loving thier Big Ten Schedule right now:  MSU at home, Nebraska on the road, Illinois on the road,  home for Wisconsin.   For a program trying to find it's footing after a terrible off season, that is a murders row where they could go 0-4.

Nebraska finally gets an off week as they travel to play Minnesota this week.

Michigan Mash Report

• Troy is still banged up but Blake Countess is playing well.  I still question why they played Troy against Minnesota.
• Ricky Barnum is still questionable for Saturday.

Random Thoughts

• Arizona fired Mike Stoops on Monday, they are 1-5.  Does Rich Rod's offense fit in the Pac 12 better then the Big Ten?  I would think so. 

• Al Davis last draft pick was Terrelle Pryor.

• Vegas has Michigan as a 3 point underdog on Saturday.

• TCU has now either been in or invited to 3 different leagues in the last year as they accepted an invite to Big 12.  The Big East is now looking at the service academies to fill out their open spots.  TCU beat SDSU late on Saturday 27-14.  BTW: Brady Hoke's former school SDSU wants to be in the Big 12 as well. 

• Is Saturday's Michigan vs Michigan State game a Legends Division Championship game? 

If your looking for some Michigan tailgating plates, napkins and cups check out mypapershop.com.  They even have MSU stuff if you have a split family this weekend.  They have quality stuff so check them out!

Michigan Monday: 3 and Out 1-100

I'm not a big novel guy.  I don't read fiction, it really doesn't interest me at all.  My parents growing up tried to get me to read novels but I just wasn't interested.   If I was going to read something it was going to be the sports page in the newspaper.   I found it much more entertaining watching a movie then ever reading a book.  

All my life I have been watching the most intriguing movie ever written, called Michigan Football.  From the days of Anthony Carter beating Indiana to now watching the electric Denard Robinson.  I still get that nervous feeling on game days and can't imagine a better Saturday afternoon then watching football at the Big House or on TV with the family. 

Like most Michigan fans, I have been eagerly waiting for John Bacon's book called 3 and Out regarding the behind the scenes soap opera which has been the last 3 years of Michigan football.   I have been looking for the answers to all my questions:

• How could have Bill Martin not been prepared to replace Lloyd Carr?
• Why was the coaching search such a train wreck?
• Why did the Freep have it out for RR?
• How did RR not see how bad the defense was?
• Where was all this negative information about RR coming from?
• Where the hell was Lloyd Carr?
• Was Tate just lazy and didn't want to go to class?

The past 3 years has had more questions then answers for Michigan fans and I hope John's book will give us the answers we deserve being life long fans.  

IBooks has the first 100 pages available to download with the release of the book due out in a couple of weeks.   I sat down and read them in what seemed like a few minutes last night.   The first 100 basically starts to paint the story of John getting behind the scenes access through a common connection with RR.  The goal was write a success story similar to Fielding H. Yost who grew up in West Virgina and became a Michigan legend.   As we know, that story never played out and Rich's story became an Ann Arbor tragedy.

John does a good job telling the history of Michigan football and Rich's early coaching experience.  None of what I read really surprised me, except one thing.   John talks about how Michigan Football changed the day Bo died.  I never really thought of it that way, but boy was he right.  Even when Bo wasn't the AD or Head Coach he still controlled the program.  The day he died the Maize and Blue world changed and it wasn't a change for the better.   Michigan lost 4 straight games after Bo died and we all know the stories of those on the field losses.   

What I didn't realize until reading this book was that Lloyd Carr wasn't really the head coach, Bo was.  Even if he was President of Tigers or sitting at home. He controlled Michigan Football, sure Lloyd and his coaches recruited and called the plays but Bo still had his finger on the button.   I personally never felt Lloyd wanted to be the head coach of Michigan.  To me that never seemed to be his goal.  He got thrust into the job after Gary Moeller had a very bad night in Southfield and he sort of felt it was his duty to continue Bo legacy's or mission.   I didn't know what type of leader Lloyd was or if he really could coach.  His situation always reminded me of Steve Fisher, both of them found themselves head coaches of a powerful Michigan program overnight and they both had a National Championship to their credit.

I was very critical of Lloyd in his last year as coach.  He had one of the most talented teams in the country and one that was clearly not prepared to start the 2007 season.  I wasn't sure what his issues were but he clearly no longer wanted to be the head coach of Michigan.  His retirement came as a relief for me and a chance for Michigan to get some new blood in place and a chance to turn this battleship into something special again.  A team that could beat any team in the country on any given Saturday.

Love or hate RR, it really doesn't mater.   We all can agree that his time was up after the Gator Bowl and we seem to be back on the right track sitting here with Hoke, Mattison and Borgus at 6-0.   But back 3 years ago, when Bill Martin pretty much messed up the coaching search in every way possible, he tripped over and landed one of the hottest coaches out there.   A guy that had just turned down Alabama; a guy that could run an offense and knew about getting teams to BCS Bowls.  What he really didn't know was the mess that was going on behind the curtain at Michigan.  There is an old saying in coaching; "you don't want to be the guy that replaces the legend, you want to be the guy that replaces the guy that replaced the legend".  I always thought at Michigan the guy that replaced Bo was Gary Moeller, it turns out that it really was Rich Rodriguez. 

We all know the story on the field, I hope the rest of John's book will lets us connect the dots off the field.    The first 100 pages really makes you think, I am betting the rest of the book with shine a light on how the program was in decline even before RR got there and what he did and didn't do to try to right the ship.   We know now that RR wasn't the savior that I had hoped he was but was he cannon fodder?  Use Alabama as an example - how many coaches did they go through after Bear Bryant retired and before Saban came to town and turned the program around?  (The answer is 6, if you don't count Mike Price who never coached a game at Bama before getting fired)   Maybe Michigan should feel lucky if Hoke is our guy and that it only took 3 years to find him*

It's clearly a must read.


*Common Michigan Disclaimer: I know Hoke is only 6 games into his Michigan career and even though he seems like the guy that lets his coordinators coach and goes for it on 4th and 1 in the first half, it still might be a little pre-mature to crown him the next Bo Schembechler.

Northwestern Review

Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press



I know that John Bacon's book that is coming out called Three and Out will give us the behind the scenes drama about RR tenure, but there is something different about the team this year.  You can point to experience which if fair but I have another take; it's the defensive coaching and adjustments.   The lack of coaching adjustments can even be pointed back to Carr era.   The Northwestern game showed Michigan fans that good coaching and adjustments can win you a football game.  

Michigan lost the first half and should have.  Denard threw 3 picks and the Michigan defense didn't seem to have any answers for anything that Northwestern was doing.   It looked like Northwestern was going to double their 24 first half points.  Well, something funny happened on the way to the Michigan blow out.  Greg Mattison and Brady Hoke made some defensive adjustments and Denard starting throwing the ball to the guys in the white jerseys.   "We went to a bigger group," Hoke said of the defense in the second half, "using some nickel package sub-groups, put Jake Ryan back out as a SAM to have a bigger-body guys engage the receivers. That was part of it. We went a little more simplistic, to be honest with you."
The Michigan defense got two turnovers in second half and a 4th down stop.  Denard got back doing what Denard does and finished the game with 117 yards on the ground and 337 through the air.  The most important stat is that the Michigan defense pitched a shutout in the second half and those 24 points the Wildcats had at half time were the same 24 points they had at the end of the game. 

Side note:  I almost jumped through my TV set on the final plays of the first half.  There was 6 second left in the half when Northwestern tried to score one more time.  Persa gets the ball from the shot gut, looks around the field, steps up in the pocket and throws an incomplete pass in the back of the end zone.  They reviewed it and said there was 2 seconds left in the half.   Are you kidding me?  The entire above sequence took 4 seconds?  The clock should have run out and they must have started it late. 

Cheers

• Michigan Fans should feel very proud to have a defensive coordinator like Greg Mattison.  
• 2nd half Denard and Defense
• Hemingway and Roundtree
• Devin Gardner
• 0 punts in the second half
• Kovacs two 4th down stops!

Jeers

• Poor special teams: blocked punt and kick offs out of bounds. 
• 1st half Denard and Defense
• Final seconds in the first half
• I think the officials were poor for both teams (I counted about 3-4 holds on the Michigan defense line that was not called)

Congrats to Big Will on his first sack! Blake Countess is going to be a super star at corner.   I was concerned early in the game that there was bad mojo between Denard and Roundtree.  It seemed every time he threw to Roy he missed him.  That changed in the second half and Roy finished with 83 passing yards and 3 big catches.  Brady Hoke going for it on fourth down in the first half was 100% the right call.   You have to take those risks to win a ball game.  BTW: this is Michigan's 6th win of the season and they are now bowl eligible. 

It's MSU week and they will have two week to prepare for the Wolverines in East Lansing.

Michigan Friday: Talks Some Recruiting

• Danny O announced his decision to play for the Vols yesterday.  That was not a surprise because it seems the Michigan staff wants to focus on other positions for the last few spots left in this class.  I would have liked to have seen Danny in Ann Arbor but I will trust the coaches plan.

• Jordan Payton Update:  He is a new Army All American and told TV reporters he is planning to announce his decision in two weeks after his trip to ND with his teammates.  If you remember, he was considering canceling that trip.  There is also a rumor floating around that Michigan has a silent commit on the offensive side of the ball.   Those seem like good signs. 

• Sam Web hinted yesterday that if Aaron Burbridge gets his grades in order that Michigan might come calling again and there might be some interest from Aaron.  AB is committed to MSU right now. 

• Sam also gave us his final 4 guys he thinks will be in the class:  Wright, Dunn, Payton and Darboh.   I will take those 4 all day!

• Speaking of Yuri Wright, he is planning his official visit to Ann Arbor for THE GAME - Michigan vs Ohio

Northwestern Preview

Time: 7:00 EST
Location: at Northwestern
TV: BTN
Weather: High of 79 and clear
Line:  Michigan -7

This will be Michigan's second night game of the year but first road game.  Michigan has enjoyed a quick 5-0 start with out having to leave to the Big House.   The last night game in Evanston that I remember was a rain soaked affair which might have been Justin Fargas best day in a Wolverine jersey. 

Northwestern is coming off a close loss at Illinois and finds themselves 2-2 with a loss to Army thrown in there as well.  There is good news on horizon for the Wildcats as their All Big Ten QB Dan Persa is coming back from an Achilles injury he suffered last season.   He played last week but started to feel pain in his foot and came out of the game in the 4th quarter. 

Last week Michigan ran over Minnesota and Denard used his arm instead of his legs.   Michigan hopes to continue it's balanced offense and accurate passing against Northwestern on Saturday.

Tale of the Tape

Michigan O vs NW D = Denard and Crew

NW Passing Game vs Michigan's secondary = NW with a healthy Persa

NW Running Game vs Michigan's D Line = Big Will, Mike Martin and Craig Roh

Intangibles = Northwestern being at home

I think both game plans are pretty clear, Northwestern will try to go Notre Dame on Michigan by moving the ball through the air.  Persa is known as a very accurate passer and very mobile when he is 100% healthy.  He is not 100% yet and will want to try to move up and down the field on the Wolverine secondary that is banged up with Woolfolk but improving with the play of Floyd, Avery and Countess.

Sing Hail to the Victors if......................

• Denard continues to pass the ball effectively.
• The Michigan defense keeps the Northwestern offense under 21 points
• Fitz, Smith or Shaw get over 100 yards on the ground
• Michigan gets pressure on Persa and gets a couple of sacks

Say Glad the Bars in Chicago are open late if........................

• Persa is eating up Michigan's secondary
• The Michigan defense falls for the pass and NW breaks off big runs
• Michigan has first game road issues
• Michigan's offense has trouble moving the ball

I expect this game to be pretty high scoring with the difference being which defense can get the most stops.  The Michigan defense has lived off of turnovers but The Wildcats have only turned it over twice so far this year.   The Army QB ran for over 100 yards on the Northwestern defense but they will stack the line to make Denard beat them through the air.   Scheelhaase almost threw for 400 yards against that strategy last week.  The key here is the NW defense can be beat and you just have to pick your poison.  If Denard isn't hitting his receivers and tight ends Michigan might be in for a long day.  This will be the best test for the Michigan D since ND.   I expect Greg Mattison to dial up some good blitz packages and I have a lot of faith in Countness covering skills.   Some quick stops on defense will give Denard more touches which will lead to points for the Wolverines. 

Michigan 31  Northwestern 21

GO BLUE

Big Ten Preview Week 6

Last week was supposed to be a big showcases for the Big 10.  The two big games didn't live up to the hype as OSU and MSU struggled to score points and Wisconsin and Nebraska started fast but the Badgers blew out the Cornhuskers in the second half. 

Big Ten Game of the Week:

OSU at Nebraska:  This was set out to be a huge game week 2 in the Big Ten season but with OSU's offensive problems this could be a blow out.   Ohio's only chance here is to turn turnovers into quick points, which could happen if Nebraksa again tries to move the ball through the air.   Both teams were expected to compete for their divisions title and right now find themselves 0-1 in league play.  Nebraska needs to get back to what they do, which is running the ball.  Nebraska is favored by 11.  I think this game could be more of a defensive battle then people expect.   Nebraska 14 OSU 10

The rest of the games:

Minnesota at Purdue:  Wow, are there people really willing to pay to see this one?  Both teams got blown out last week and both need a win.   The Boilermakers are -10.  Gophers 14 Big Drum 31

Illinois at Indiana:  Both teams played close games last week.  Illinois still wants to keep it's ranking in the top 20 and IU is just looking for a win.   Something strange happens when decent teams travel to Bloomington as Penn State found out last week.  Illinois is the better team and favored by two touchdowns.   Zook will lose a game he shouldn't at some point this year, but this isn't the week.  Ill. 28 IU 10

Iowa at Penn State:  This is a decent game and should let us know about both teams.  Penn State is struggling right now against teams like Temple and Indiana.  Iowa was off last week but has a bad loss to Iowa State on its record.  Michigan fans want a PSU win since Iowa is in our division.  Jopa is a -3.5 favorite.  I expect a close game, Iowa 21 PSU 27

MSU and Wisconsin are off

Michigan - NW will be previewed on Friday morning.

With the Big Ten's top team off this weekend, lets hope that the ranked Big Ten teams played well.

Wolverine Wednesday: Recruiting Blitz

It's been awhile since we have focused an entire post on recruiting, so I thought I would give you guys an update on what I have been hearing regarding some of the recruits still left on the board.

Waiting to long to be Wolverines:
There is something to be said for kids that make a decision earlier rather then later regarding the 2012 class.  One example is MSU commit Se'von Pittman who reportedly wanted to commit to Michigan but they were full at DE.  My next two examples are Jordan Diamond and Danny O'Brien.   Both guys have been interested in Michigan for a long time.  Jordan has been taking trips to Ann Arbor for over a year and Danny's recruitment really started to heat up this summer.  

The word on the street is that the Wolverines has turned their focus away from Danny's position and will be looking for others to fill one of those few spots left.   So I expect Danny to announce for Tennessee on Friday (unless there is a Big Will switch-a-roo going on here).  

Jordan's high school program prefers that their kids announce later rather then sooner so the program and recruit can continue to get more press.   Recruiting services focus more on kids that haven't picked a school yet vs. the ones that have.  So the longer a recruitment plays out, the more stories about the kid are published.    This tactic by Jordan's high school program could cause another player to jump in Jordan's spot if he wants to be a Michigan Wolverine.  I still believe Jordan has a spot if he wants it, he just can't wait too much longer.  

Wide Receivers

There are two kids that the Wolverines are clearly targeting; Jordan Payton and Amara Darboh.  Jordan has Michigan as his leader and is considering taking a few more visits before he decides.   A few of his teammates were planning a visit to South Bend and Jordan has been considering going.  The latest is he might cancel that visit.   I think Jordan's commitment could come at anytime. 

Amara has made an un-official visit to Ann Arbor already and he wants to do an official with his family for a game in November.  Amara wants to make his last official visit to be in Ann Arbor.    Which is good news for Michigan but then again, I hope he doesn't wait too long. 

Big Names
With OSU imploding on the field and off  the needle is starting to move towards Michigan for Bri'onte Dunn.   The issue with this young man is he is good friends with Kyle Kalis and is concerned what type of reaction he will receive from Ohio fans if he changes his mind. Kyle got a bunch of terrible messages on social media from the Ohio fans when he switched to Michigan.  BTW: Nice work Buckeye fans, way to badger a 18 year old kid.   Don't forget Bri'onte cousin is coming in 2013 and he and Kyle are pretty tight.  I also wanted to mention that Bri'onte no longer plans on enrolling early in Columbus which is another sign he might be considering Ann Arbor and not 100% sold on the Buckeyes.

Zach Banner is still very high on Michigan but his recruiting process is really just getting started.  He has a number of visits to go on before making a decision.   A good analogy here is; Michigan is leading right out of the gate, will they still be the leader at the finish line?   Zach says distance won't play a factor in his recruitment but he does have a lot of west coach options closer to Seattle.

Yuri Wright is still planning a visit to Ann Arbor for a game in November.  I still think the Wolverines are high on Yuri but there is a chance for another guy to take his spot if his recruitment plays out too long. 

Don't hold your breathe on these guys:

Cincinnati Stanford and Washington and 5 star WR Stefon Diggs.  I don't see these guys being in Michigan's 2012 class.

Michigan has 22 kids in this class and I think they will take 26-28  and might have some flexibility with kids enrolling in January which could drive that number closer to 28.

Michigan Tuesday: Will Injuries Play a Role This Weekend for Northwestern and U of M?

Northwestern has an all Big Ten QB in Dan Persa.  Yes, Denard won the offensive MVP award last year but did not make the first team all Big Ten QB.   Dan beat out other high profile guys like Pryor and Cousins as well.   So he is pretty good, right?

He is and he made his comeback last weekend from an Achilles injury that he suffered last year during the Iowa game.  Persa played most of the game last week until he starting feeling pain in his foot in the 4th quarter, which lead to questions regarding is availability for this weekend match up against the #12 Wolverines. 

Pat Fitzgerald cleared that up on Monday:  "Dan worked out today and was great," Fitzgerald said during his news conference on Monday. "We expect him to be great on Saturday." 

The news isn't go good for the Wildcats second leading rusher Mike Trumpy on Monday as he was ruled out for the year after tearing his ACL on Saturday against Illinois. 

Michigan is fairly healthy coming into it's first road game of the year.  The only significant injury seems to be to 2010 start Cam Gordon who hasn't played this year and starting offensive lineman Ricky Barnum who is questionable for the game this Saturday.   Starting CB Troy Woolfolk has been banged up all year and has yet to play a full game. 

• The positive news regarding 5 star center Mitch McGary coming to Michigan continues.  I still don't want to jinx anything here.

• I keep hearing mixed things on Dan O'Brien's college of choice.  Dan plans on announcing this Friday and most insiders expect him to go to Tennessee.   There is more UT buzz then Michigan at this point.