Bottom Line: You can't win a football game turning the football over 5 times, but Michigan almost did and probably should have.
This was a game of opposites for the 2009 Wolverines. The offensive line played well, Brandon Minor just had short of 100 yards, and Tate "the great" really wasn't.
This young team plays hard and sometimes dumb. Either way, I was very proud of how this team competed in a very difficult and cold environment.
The killer was the turnovers and 4 of them were un-forced. Tate's first past was a terrible decision into coverage, then the ball slips out of his hand on a bubble screen pass, Minor's fumble (the only forced turnover), the punt drop by Matthews, and the "air mail" pick by Denard on the final drive.
The Defense played very well and had it's best effort of the year. Boubacar Cissoko has been suspended for breaking team rules (the street is saying, he has been dogging it in practice and maybe been smoking some weed during the off times) and Troy Woolfolk played pretty well moving back to corner. Mike Williams did not play well replacing Woolfolk, he gave up two simple touchdowns to the tight end and wasn't deep enough on a long pass on 3rd and 24.
Tate struggled managing the game in the second half. I 100% agree with Coach Rod pulling him and getting Denard in there in the 4th quarter. I personally would have had Tate back in to run the final drive but you can't really question RR's decision after Denard had marched the team down the field for a touchdown just minutes before.
This wasn't a game Michigan was supposed to win and they all most did, they competed for 60 minutes and again all most won the game at the end. This team is growing up every game and there will be more special moments this year and the years to come. Don't forget this is not the year for championships, it's the year to make a bowl game and build for the future.
Jeers:
- The turnovers reminded us of last year. These are inexcusable and need to be fixed in practice.
- The defense in 2nd or 3rd and long. What is the problem here? Why can't we stop anyone in 3rd and really long.
- Mike Williams struggled at safety most of the day
Cheers:
- The Defense - played very hard all day and gave Michigan a chance to win with a pick 6, a goal line stance, and a stop after the on side kick.
- Denard - ran the offense well until his last pass.
- The offensive line was much improved against a very strong defensive line.
- The running game. Minor had 95 yards and Denard had 49 yards in just over one drive.
- Brandon Graham was great as usual
- Zoltan was just incredible in punting the ball and flipping the field.
Wolverines don't hold your head down today, you played hard and you can learn and build on this performance. BTW: I'm not buying the QB conservatory and that's there friction on this team. That is media talk, sure Tate didn't want to be benched but he was not running the offense well in the second half.
The media is trying to paint that this team isn't on the same page after back to back losses. Michigan wasn't favored in either one of these games and probably should have won both. They are on the same page, they are just making mistakes that most young teams do. They made similar mistakes against EMU, Western, IU and ND they were just able to over come them with a win. They weren't so lucky the last two weeks. I'm proud of how this team competed on Saturday.
5 comments:
Almost is one word, not two.
I agree, we should be proud of this team. They are young and the future looks good. Nobody expected this team to go undefeated. They have glimpses of greatness and then they make the mistakes that young players are gonna make. Hold your heads up Wolverines, the future is bright. GO BLUE !!!
I agree with your assessment: there's nothing to be ashamed of, except for the turnovers. Even then, we almost beat the twelfth ranked team in the nation having turned the ball over 5 times. And the defense, though it had some lapses, again did quite well in the red zone. Kudos to Robinson.
The offensive line was doing quite well too.
It's hard to put Tate back in after Robinson engineered the long touchdown drive. He deserved the chance for another drive. I still think he has to run more to the outside to be effective. But he did make a few passess and certainly deserved getting a whole series.
Tate has to learn that last minute drives are getting old. Get the job done during the middle of the game so you don't need last minute heroics. He'll learn. RR was trying to win the game, and Forcier wasn't doing much to get it done. It was a good call putting Robinson in, and it was a given that Robinson be given the chance in the last drive. Why would you put Forcier back in when he was having another bad series? You stay with the guy who's getting you the first downs -- too bad he hasn't learned not to throw interceptions yet.
All in all a great game showing a lot of potential. This team seems able to keep it close how good the opposition is supposed to be. Now that Robinson is becoming more involved in the offense, hopefully we'll be able to avoid those heart-wrenching offensive slumps we've been having.
I agree overall, this is a young team that is growing with experience. They are getting better as time goes on. Young inexperienced players make "more" mistakes than experienced ones. This team will be crapping bullets next year and other teams will have to watch out. What coach B did with the basketball team is similar to what's happening with the football team. We will make noise this year, but will be deadly next year. Keep your heads up.
I've read quite a number of thoughts about the game, but yours is the best assessment I've seen.
Patience is the key. Overcoming youth and inexperience has only one solution, age and experience. And we are getting those. To me it is how you get those. These Wolverines are tenacious and feisty. Michigan is young. Michigan is inexperienced. But they work hard and never give up.
We are on our way up. The future looks great.
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