No apologies are needed. You are one of the faithful who still has M Harbaugh blinders on. What is troubling is that you continue to believe that UM can "right the ship" and claim that "it has happened before". When is this "before" you are referring to? Are you trying to invoke the "Bump Elliott" era when M "bumped" around as perennial losers, though he did make it to and won the Rose Bowl one of his ten years before Bo was hired? Or, are you referring to the promotion of Loyd after G-man was released? Perhaps, you are time-travelling back to the days of Fritz or even Yost? Quite frankly, you've stopped making sense.
I'm glad you are "on record" for not favoring JH. Quite frankly, many of us were not gung ho over his choice of HC and while it doesn't do much good to review the reasons why (NFL doesn't necessarily translate into a good college coach, Stanford is no surrogate for M, Qb's don't necessarily make good football coaches for many reasons, The Michigan Man Myth, etc.) he is our HC. So the question is what to do next?
The truth is the program is at an inflection point - it has been five years since the JH experiment and M really hasn't been that competitive for 15+ years. Currently, we have some players who appear to have reasonable talent on paper though they have never realized their paper potential and are missing the fire and fundamentals of playing as a cohesive unit. All one has to do is turn on the TV, watch how Wisky dominated with good but not 5* talent, or see the emotion, speed, and exciting play of the Georgia v. ND game for example. I have no love for Kirby Smart or Brian Kelly (he went through a few tough years) though they seem to have turned their programs around. Heck, take a look at Dan Mullen in FL or Ed Orgeron at LSU, they seem to have revived the unrescusitable. Maybe they are "flashes" in the pan, but at least the clubs are exciting to watch, have some energy, and aren't tripping over their shoe laces at every turn?
Should the faithful panic? That depends, though a dose of sobering reality might be in order. Based on the present trajectory and current state of the program, M is destined to be a middling CFB team for the foreseeable future. We can attract decent, though not top talent and are seemingly unable to develop a dynamic squad with skill players performing consistently at peak levels in all of the key positions. Basic fundamentals of preparation and execution are lacking throughout the team. I have no doubt that individually or broken down by unit, the kids are working hard, spending time in the conditioning room, watching tape (maybe?), and running drills. Yet, they seem unable to pull it together on game day and are pushed around, covered, make mental mistakes, and simply fail as a team. Look at Coan yesterday - a three star recruit of middling talent - who looked like a stud, simply because all of those around him were executing making the whole process seem like a simple practice. In other words Wisky realized the affirmations of Michael Jordan and every great athlete that (to paraphrase MJ) the moment one strays from fundamentals; technique, work ethic, or mental preparation, the bottom will fall out. I daresay, it appears that the bottom has fallen out. This program needs to regroup, recommit, and adopt the fire and lessons of MJ, JH included.
You’re on to something which is extremely concerning and the bigger question is whether there is a sufficient pool of talent anymore with the decline in the number of kids playing ball? It’s difficult for me to reconcile why wouldn’t a kid want to play for a guy who was an NFL qb, NFL coach, and whose bro is an NFL coach?
The hand wringing is inevitable especially after a tough loss to an inferior club and maybe in some ways it could be an inflection point. Great teams can take a loss and build on it, whether they are ohio , ‘bama, etc. . Great playmakers make great plays and in this game, we came up short. We’ll have to see how this group responds and with IU and PSU coming up, they had better well define themselves.
No, the crowd was there and given what they were witnessing and experiencing (a monsoon) it was surprising. I’ve been going to the big house for nearly 50 years and this was one of the most enthusiastic crowds ever.
First, I was in the stands until the clock read 0. The stadium was really electric but sParty came out ready to play. Initially we moved the ball and then looked rather flat on both sides of the ball. Our D started playing towards the end of the second quarter and in the second half it looked like we might turn things around. Then the rain came and instead of draino we got Drevno. We were moving the ball on the ground with Higdon especially on the edge and we’re starting to build momentum. Then Drevno was calling for crazy throws over the top which were ripe for picks. We just needed to punch the ball down the field and it seemed that Drevno kept moving away from what was working. Did I mention that the pass protection was terrible as was the officiating?
This was another tough gut check and another reminder of why Drevno needs to go.
I don’t think you can hang this on JOK. He made some good throws, some good decisions, and a few bad ones. For a guy who was being forced out of the pocket all night because the ol couldn’t block and throwing insane passes in a monsoon, he played reasonably well and with a lot of fire and enthusiasm. Apart from the ol, the play calling was terrible.
I saw Lloyd at the game along with dozens of former players and he looked great. It was a shame that they had to witness this debacle. I wonder what the recruits thought.
That’s what I saw and it was embarrassing. O’Korn played reasonably well for a guy who was running for his life most of the night. Maybe he had three or four drop backs where he didn’t have to scramble.
This game is tough and that’s the way it should be. I’ll be in the stands cheering our boys to victory. We have a young and talented squad and they’ll pull it out 17-10. Go Blue!
Man, I am so excited for this game. Just got in town from places far away. No matter what the weather is outside it will be shining maize and blue. Go Wolverines, beat sParty.
That's a fair line of reasoning but with the season being as long as it is and as we observed yesterday with sp8's injury, anything can happen. If Barkley or McSorely get hurt, PSU's season changes drastically. Staying healthy and progressing during the season are the two biggest challenges.
That to have a decent run game an o has to be able to throw the ball? That to sustain drives you can’t allow a D to stack the box with 8-9 guys because they know your starting qb can’t throw? That to play in this league, a great d will get you most of the way there but you still need an o to score. As far as JH is concerned, it’s been two much better seasons already than the previous seven combined.
I think we learned more about M and where we stand. This was a solid, though dirty Purdue team which almost beat Louisville and squashed Mizzou. Right now we’re a top ten team and played like it especially in the second half. Ten yards, that’s all they had when we made adjustments.
Simple but effective. Before this game, who knew we had tight ends? Okorn could put the ball on target, period. It remains to be seen if he can keep this up and progress, but I’m more hopeful than I’ve been all year. Now, it seems like we have a chance on o.
This is the first game where I saw some sustained albeit nerve wracking drives across the field for TD’s behind a back up qb. Also, I saw an offense playing with some enthusiasm and determination for the first time all year. Give okorn a chance; I think he has better vision, footwork, and delivery than sp8. He may turn out to Surprise all of us.
I'm new to these boards (though not a new Wolverine) and I just wanted to give everyone a warm maize and blue shout out. What a great place and I'm excited to see all of the information and analysis. Go Blue!
Recent Comments
No apologies are needed. You are one of the faithful who still has M Harbaugh blinders on. What is troubling is that you continue to believe that UM can "right the ship" and claim that "it has happened before". When is this "before" you are referring to? Are you trying to invoke the "Bump Elliott" era when M "bumped" around as perennial losers, though he did make it to and won the Rose Bowl one of his ten years before Bo was hired? Or, are you referring to the promotion of Loyd after G-man was released? Perhaps, you are time-travelling back to the days of Fritz or even Yost? Quite frankly, you've stopped making sense.
I'm glad you are "on record" for not favoring JH. Quite frankly, many of us were not gung ho over his choice of HC and while it doesn't do much good to review the reasons why (NFL doesn't necessarily translate into a good college coach, Stanford is no surrogate for M, Qb's don't necessarily make good football coaches for many reasons, The Michigan Man Myth, etc.) he is our HC. So the question is what to do next?
The truth is the program is at an inflection point - it has been five years since the JH experiment and M really hasn't been that competitive for 15+ years. Currently, we have some players who appear to have reasonable talent on paper though they have never realized their paper potential and are missing the fire and fundamentals of playing as a cohesive unit. All one has to do is turn on the TV, watch how Wisky dominated with good but not 5* talent, or see the emotion, speed, and exciting play of the Georgia v. ND game for example. I have no love for Kirby Smart or Brian Kelly (he went through a few tough years) though they seem to have turned their programs around. Heck, take a look at Dan Mullen in FL or Ed Orgeron at LSU, they seem to have revived the unrescusitable. Maybe they are "flashes" in the pan, but at least the clubs are exciting to watch, have some energy, and aren't tripping over their shoe laces at every turn?
Should the faithful panic? That depends, though a dose of sobering reality might be in order. Based on the present trajectory and current state of the program, M is destined to be a middling CFB team for the foreseeable future. We can attract decent, though not top talent and are seemingly unable to develop a dynamic squad with skill players performing consistently at peak levels in all of the key positions. Basic fundamentals of preparation and execution are lacking throughout the team. I have no doubt that individually or broken down by unit, the kids are working hard, spending time in the conditioning room, watching tape (maybe?), and running drills. Yet, they seem unable to pull it together on game day and are pushed around, covered, make mental mistakes, and simply fail as a team. Look at Coan yesterday - a three star recruit of middling talent - who looked like a stud, simply because all of those around him were executing making the whole process seem like a simple practice. In other words Wisky realized the affirmations of Michael Jordan and every great athlete that (to paraphrase MJ) the moment one strays from fundamentals; technique, work ethic, or mental preparation, the bottom will fall out. I daresay, it appears that the bottom has fallen out. This program needs to regroup, recommit, and adopt the fire and lessons of MJ, JH included.
I kind of liked the all maize look.
Love to see Jim toy with the media. Hope sp8 is ok - this sounds more serious... broken collar bone?
That's a fair line of reasoning but with the season being as long as it is and as we observed yesterday with sp8's injury, anything can happen. If Barkley or McSorely get hurt, PSU's season changes drastically. Staying healthy and progressing during the season are the two biggest challenges.
I'm new to these boards (though not a new Wolverine) and I just wanted to give everyone a warm maize and blue shout out. What a great place and I'm excited to see all of the information and analysis. Go Blue!