Western Michigan Re-Cap

Rainy Day Saturdays always get me down.  I wasn't at the Big House on Saturday and I was sort of glad I wasn't.  What a mess.   My feed on TV was on ESPN2 and they did a terrible job keeping up to date on the delay and when the game would be on.  I switched to ABC to watch Minnesota vs USC and they said they were going back to the Michigan game at 53 minutes after the hour.  I turned back to ESPN 2 at that time and I had missed about a minute of game time.   After the second delay, ESPN 2 went to Nascar and we had no idea if the rest of the game would have been shown or if it was which channel.   I wasn't expecting that they were going to cancel the rest of the game.

(Photo from Detnews)

Now on to the game.  How did that first WMU drive taste to you?  It felt very familiar and very disturbing to me.  I am a big fan of Carvin Johnson and even got to meet him quickly at the Gator Bowl last year, he is a nice young man.  Unfortunately,  he was confused and out of position that entire drive.   I also don't understand why you cover the Slot WR 15 yards off the line of scrimmage with no LB help.   At least move up and look like you are covering someone. 

After that first drive my first thought was, we should have taken the ball after winning the coin flip.  I did like how the new offense moved the ball mixing the spread and pro sets.   The combo between Toussaint and Shaw look to be very good when the line gives them a couple of "motor home" holes to run through.  Denard looked pretty sharp throwing the ball most of the day.  It seemed like he wasn't on the field at all, with the two defensive touchdowns and two delays it seemed like Denard only had a couple of drives. 

The defense rebounded after the Ryan QB hit and the Herron pick 6.   Which was nice to see.  It was clear that Western wanted to throw on every down and spread the Michigan defense out.  That worked for the first couple of  drives, until Mattison figured out to blitz up the middle with Demens and off the edge with Kovacs. 

A win is a win but I wish Michigan had got more work in before ND next week. 

Now to the BHB famous Cheers and Jeers Section:

Cheers:

• Production out of the RB position
• Denard Robinson playing like Denard
• Defensive touchdowns from Brandon Herron
• Jordan Kovas, 2 sacks and breaking up passes
• Greg Mattison making adjustments and finding the right blitz package
• The Michigan offensive line

Jeers:

• Mother Nature
• EPSN/ABC lost the signal a number of times during the good weather
• To quote, Bruce Feldman from the network that still employes "Craig James"
• Kick off coverage
• Missed extra point
• Woolfolk's ankles (not expected to be serious and could have played if they needed him)
• Michigan DL, I didn't see the pressure I expected to see from the D-line.  Most of the pressure came from blitzers. 

I like the balance on offense and would have liked to have seen the wide receivers get into the action more.   I also understand why you have your best players on kick off coverage but Woolfolk is maybe the most important player on defense and doesn't need to risk injury being on special teams.

What to expect next week?  The Weather Channel Bowl

I thought South Florida would play ND tough in South Bend, which had longer delays then the Michigan game.  ND probably won't turn the ball over 5 times at the Big House and they will be very hungry not wanting to go 0-2.   The Fighting Irish will be very dangerous next weekend. (they have MSU at home the week after).  The good thing is Kelly didn't get a ton of tape of Michigan's offense from Saturday.

A win is a win but Michigan sill has plenty to work with two ND and SDS coming to Ann Arbor.

Side Notes:

• It had been rumored for weeks that Hopkins would be suspended for game 1.  He was.
• Ricky Barnum was reported suspended but it came out today it was an injury. 
• Cam Gordon didn't play due to a back injury that flared up before the game.
• Freshman Brendan Beyer played and I think Clark and Countess were on special teams.  Wile kicked off and punted. 
• Michigan only punted twice
• Evans who was transferred back to Michigan this year was also suspended for a team matter. 
• Brent Musburger must be color blind.  He wore his Easter suit on Saturday night.
• Les Miles really has a hard time finishing a thought during an interview.  It's almost painful to watch.
• College football place kicking is just terrible right now, across the board.
• 5 star basketball recruit Mitch McGary watched the game with friend Zack Novak and seemed to have a good time (reported by fans sitting near them).
• Danny O was also at the game.