SB Nation - Carlos Brown

5th Quarter Consensus: Badgers win third straight

Jbharris87 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:18:48 -0000

about 1 month ago: Wisconsin's Aaron Henry (7) runs off the field after Wisconsin's 37-0 victory over Purdue in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Madison, Wis. Henry recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

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Michigan at Wisconsin

Kickoff: 11 a.m. CT

Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wis.

Weather Forecast: 53F, Cloudy, 20% chance of rain

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: WIBA-AM 1310, WIBA-FM 101.5 and the Badgers Radio Network

Coverage: A week's worth of coverage at Bucky's 5th Quarter

The Consensus

Jake Harris (8-1, +134): Wisconsin 42, Michigan 28

Adam Hoge (8-1, +137): Wisconsin 27, Michigan 17

Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com): Wisconsin 31, Michigan 20

The Reasoning

Wisconsin is clearly the better team right now, having won its last two games and sitting pretty at 7-2 overall. Michigan has lost its last five Big Ten games and has yet to win on the road this season. Expect the Badger running backs to find success against a weak Wolverine defense. John Clay is the conference's leading rusher, and he is healthy again after a head injury knocked him out of last week's game against Indiana.

Offensively, Michigan is expected to give Denard Robinson significant playing time at quarterback, after Tate Forcier has proven somewhat ineffective the past several weeks. Robinson is a gifted athlete, but Wisconsin's defense matches up well against him. He has a very shaky arm, which may mask some of the Badgers' problems in pass coverage. Wisconsin is tops against the run in conference play, so expect it to contain Robinson's ground game much the way it did Terrelle Pryor's. Still, Michigan does boast the top scoring offense in the Big Ten, so they will likely put up points. Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor are no slouches at running back, but wide receiver Martavious Odoms will be playing hurt.

The home team has won each of the last five games in this series, with Michigan dropping its last two at Camp Randall Stadium. The Wolverines are playing for bowl eligibility, but the Badgers love beating Michigan and have played with a purpose this season. The Badgers' proficient running game and stout defense will be enough in Madison.

Who has the edge?

Offense: Wisconsin

Defense: Wisconsin

Special Teams: Michigan

Coaching: Wisconsin

Intangibles: Wisconsin

-Jake Harris

Poll

Who you got Saturday, Michigan or Wisconsin?

Michigan by 1-9

1 votes

Michigan by 10 or more

2 votes

Wisconsin by 1-9

5 votes

Wisconsin by 10 or more

15 votes

23 votes | Poll has closed

Michigan preview

BoilerTMill — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:59:54 -0000

It has come to this. All of the dreams we have of playing in a bowl this football season come down to winning in Ann Arbor. Doing so would be the first such victory since Griese was at quarterback. I don't mean Brian in the late 90's for the Wolverines either. Our favorite taco-loving announcer was Purdue's quarterback on October 15, 1966 when we won 22-21 in Ann Arbor.

It is a difficult position to be in, but I wouldn't have it any other way. When I was in school, I always tackled the hardest projects first. I knew if I could finish them, everything else would be easy. That is what we face now. Winning at Michigan is the most difficult of our remaining three games. Win, and we have a better chance to win the final two games. Lose, and it is all about building for next year.

Before the season, this was the only loss I had put in sharpie, as the Boiled Sports guys say. I even gave us a chance against Ohio State at home because we play the Buckeyes well and we were at home. Michigan is quite different. In the three victories over Michigan I have personally witnessed (1996, 2000, 2008) we have had to hang on until the final play in each one. Don't even get me started on our visits to Ann Arbor, which have gone as follows:

1969: L 20-31

1972: L 6-9

1974: L 0-51

1975: L 0-28

1978: L 6-24

1980: L 0-26 (This loss cost us the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl that season)

1982: L 21-52

1983: L 10-42

1985: L 0-47

1989: L 27-42

1991: L 0-42

1993: L 10-25

1995: L 0-5

1999: L 12-38 (Our other four losses that season were by a touchdown or less)

2001: L 10-24

2003: L 3-31 (This also cost us the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl)

2007: L 21-48

That is 17 straight losses at the Big House. In six of those games we didn't even score a single point. Kyle Orton, Drew Brees, Mark Herrman, and Jim Everett never even came close to a win. Shoot, Rick Trefzger in 1995 came closer than any of them. This is what we have to look forward to on Saturday. There is good news though: Joey Elliott led a pair of touchdown drives in the last two minutes during our last visit, so he had a better game in half a quarter than most Purdue quarterbacks.

A rare close game by Purdue at the Big House.

2009 Record: 5-4, 1-4 Big Ten

2008 Record: 3-9, 2-6 Big Ten

Bowl Result: none

Blog Representation: MGoBlog, MVictors, Varsity Blue, Michigan Sports Center, iBlog for Cookies, Maize'n'Brew, Maize & Blue Nation

Series with Purdue: Michigan leads 41-13-0

Last Purdue win: 11/1/2008 at Purdue 48-42

Last Michigan win: 10/13/2007 at Michigan 48-21

It is hard to believe that Michigan started 4-0, but their one win since came in a D-1AA exhibition against Delaware State. Even more unbelievably, they got drilled by an awful Illinois team last week. I can't figure this team out right now. They haven't even been competitive the last two weeks against two teams (Penn State and Illinois) they have historically dominated.

Michigan offense:

The key to any victory this time around will be stopping the Wolverines in the first quarter. Michigan has scored 111 points this season it the first quarter of their nine games. By comparison, they have just 28 third quarter points in that time. If we can prevent them from jumping on us early we have a chance. I am also encouraged that they run a similar offensive style to Oregon. Our defense did a good job of stopping the Ducks (remember, 17 of the 38 points given up were because of turnovers) and Oregon has better personnel running it.

We will definitely see two quarterbacks. Tate Forcier (107-193-5) has nine touchdowns and 1,429 yards passing. He is by far the bigger passing threat. Denard Robinson (11-22-4) has two touchdowns and 179 yards passing. With four interceptions in 22 attempts we want him to throw. Make no mistake. This is by far a run first team. Robinson has rushed for 287 yards and five touchdowns while Forcier has 214 and two scores.

Even though we won last year, we couldn't stop an offense that had struggled all year. They have been more successful this season, so we had better hope we have improved in that area. Brandon Minor (332-5) had a field day against us, going for a career high 155 yards and three scores, but he has been battling injuries of late. Carlos Brown (465-4) leads the team in rushing, but Michigan is at its best when it is spreading the ball around in the running game. Vincent Smith (208-1) and Michael Shaw (181-2) have been known to get in on the action too.

While Michigan's passing game isn't highly productive, it is balanced. Martavious Odoms (22-272-1) is the leading receiver, but Greg Mathews (18-204-1), Kevin Koger (15-211-2), Junior Hemingway (13-233-2), and Darryl Stonum (12-189-1) provide balance across the board. Roy Roundtree, yes that Roy Roundtree, has produced 6 catches for 136 yards and a score.

Michigan has had some issues of late with the offensive line. The unit has given up 19 sacks on the season, and has had some trouble opening holes for the running game. This is not a hulking line like Wisconsin's last week. Four of five starters are under 300 pounds, while Stephen Schilling is the biggest guy at 304 pounds. We should have some room to operate and be disruptive with our defensive line this week.

Michigan Defense:

This is where Purdue has struggled historically. They have been unable to generate any points against the Wolverines. In the four games in which Purdue topped 20 points during this streak most of them came after game was well decided. It is not so much that Michigan has had a lights out defense in that time. It has just been that Purdue has been unable to do anything against it.

Our offensive line could have its hands full with Brandon Graham at the end position., Graham has 6.5 sacks on the season, 17.5 tackles for loss, and is generally a disruptive force in the defensive backfield. Defensive tackle Ryan Van Bergen (32 tackles, four sacks) can also cause some problems. Michigan typically goes with a 3-4 set as opposed to the 4-3's we have seen most of the year. That means faster linebackers will be on the field, but there could be more room to run.

Obi Ezeh is the most active of those linebackers, leading the team with 63 tackles. Stevie Brown (55 tackles), Jonas Mouton (53 tackles) and Craig Roh the the remaining linebackers. It is an interesting mix of youth and experience as Ezeh, Mouton, and Brown are seniors while Roh is a true freshman.

Michigan has had some problems in the secondary. Donovan Warren is a solid cornerback with three interceptions, but they are hurting from the loss of Boubacar Cissoko, who was dismissed form the team before last week's game against Illinois. Troy Woolfolk and Michael Williams man the safety positions, but neither has an interception this season.

Michigan should be more vulnerable to the running game than Wisconsin. Illinois went nuts on the ground last week, and they had no discernable running game until two weeks ago. Their pass defense has been suspect as well. If we can limit turnovers and get back to moving the ball we might have a chance.

Michigan Special Teams:

Behold Zoltan, destroyer of worlds! Zoltan Mesko, aside from having the coolest name in the Big Ten, is a pretty good punter averaging almost 45 yards per kick. It's not like we have a punt return game anyway, so we should get ready to field deep kicks.

Jason Olesnavage is a decent kicker, hitting on 8 of 9 field goals with a long of 44. Bryan Wright is actually a kickoff specialist apart from Olesnavage and Mesko. He is holding teams to about 22 yards per return. Michigan's return game itself is pretty dangerous. We all know what Odoms did to us last year. Stonum has a kickoff return for a touchdown. Also of note, Graham has a blocked punt returned for a score, but it was against Delaware State.

Intangibles:

Do I really need to point it out? The Boiled Sports guys and I discussed how a new coaching staff and new players can make a difference. They do not have the history of the 17 game losing streak on them. The truth is that it hasn't mattered. Every team we have taken up there, with different players, coaches, and philosophies, has gotten drilled for the past 43 years. I gave up two years ago when I went to the game and saw us fall behind 48-7 to a team that got worked by a 1-AA squad. This team has reached a rare level for me. I won't believe we can win there until I see it happen. I held the same attitude toward Notre Dame Stadium until 2004, but even then we had a series of close losses leading up to that win. There is no such history here.

Michigan has ownership over us on their home field rarely seen in college football. It is not that they have won 17 straight. They have done it with just two games being remotely close. Yes we have had some bad teams in this streak, but we have had some very good teams (1999, 2001, and 2003 were all in the top 15 at kickoff) get drilled in Ann Arbor. Technically in 2007 we were ranked at game time, so we have taken a ranked team in our last four trips to the Big House and been outscored 141-46. That is even with two meaningless touchdowns late in our last game.

The numbers are just not there to make me believe we can suddenly turn it around. Right now, I feel more confident about winning in any other venue in the Big Ten, maybe even the country, than I do about winning in Ann Arbor.

Keys to the Game for Purdue:

Catch the football
Limit turnovers
Limit special teams mistakes
Play against the run like we did against Oregon
Don't crap ourselves like we always do in Ann Arbor.

Who Carries The Mail Here?

SCM — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:45:36 -0000

Quick post on something I was wondering about this morning. This won't address the defense, I won't pretend to have any ideas there. So anyways, onward!

	Minor		Brown		Forcier		Robinson
	Att	Yards	Att	Yards	Att	Yards	Att	Yards
MSU	4	2	6	15	13	27	3	-9
Iowa	22	95	X	X	8	26	9	49
PSU	12	48	8	42	14	10	4	20
Totals	38	145	14	57	35	63	16	60
Avg	12.667	48.333	7	28.5	11.667	21	5.333	20

Furrowed brow inducing indeed... How about total carries thus far in the season?

	Carries	Games Played
Minor	69	6
Brown	52	7
Forcier	72	8*
Robinson	51	8

So, um, two senior tailbacks (albeit dinged up senior tailbacks) have accounted for 121 touches on the ground thus far this season, while our two freshmen at quarterback have rung up 123 touches. Wow. I went into this thinking that the bulk of the carries had primarily shifted toward our QBs in our losses, but not really (MSU not withstanding): in our defeats Brown and Minor have combined for 52 carries while Foricer and Robinson have had 51. Of course, one must also remember that sacks count as carries in our game here, so factor that in as well, but even with that, I mean... just wow.

Dinged up or not, Minor and Brown need to touch the football more in this offense. I made a breif point about this in the game summary post on Sunday, but we need to pound the football. Please note, I don't mean I-form off-tackle left "pound the football", I mean get back to actually running the read option and making defenses have to react to what we're doing type of football. 10 touches for Brown/Minor against MSU was criminally bad, 20 against Penn State was more misdemeanorly (English, they say, is a generative language). What happened to the cool little pitch play we ran against Iowa?

So, what's that mean for Illinois? Well... Illinois ranks 101st in the nation in rushing defense, allowing more than 180 yards per game. Total D? 104th Scoring D? 84th. Passing D? 78th. So here's what I would do:

- GIVE BRANDON MINOR AND CARLOS BROWN THE FOOTBALL!! I cannot believe I'm begging for this, but go watch Chris Perry's 51 carry game against MSU and then approximate it this week. Hell I don't care if we run the football 80% of the time on Saturday, just do what we do well until someone manages to stop it, please. The Illinois run defense is god-awful, we're on the road at night [errrr, or 3:30... my bad, thought this was a late game this whole week for some reason, -Ed] with two freshmen QBs who need some confidence boosting right now, put the workload on the O-line and the backs please. I will be seriously disappointed if those two don't combine for 35 carries or more tomorrow night.

- If you're going to throw roll Forcier out almost every single time. If Robinson is in, not "almost" but EVERY single time. Go back to the Western and ND games and look at how we managed our passing game, go back to that. Simplify things back to that level and put it in. More bubble screens like what we saw last week wouldn't be a shabby idea either. Simple reads, simple throws.

- Don't let the Illinois defense get free/easy stops. If we force them to stay on the field for extended amounts of time we will bust some big plays on this team. Hang on to the football. We reverted back to the '08 vintage of giving the ball away against Penn State and Iowa, we cannot afford to do that, we're not good enough to do that. Ball security lads, and no short fields for Illinois please.

And no, the nice juxtaposition of me post lasting week whether JoePa would throw "rock" and then me practically begging our staff to do that now is not lost on me. Oh and reminder from who else? Wolverine Historian:

Grading the Penn State Defense Against Michigan

BSD — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:15:22 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

about 1 month ago: Penn State linebacker Josh Hull (43) sacks Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier (5) during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Oh, we heard a lot of talk about the Penn State defense before the game. Who had they played? They hadn't seen a rushing offense like Michigan. I think one of our resident BSD Wolverine fans predicted Minor and Brown BOTH going over 100 yards with Forcier getting another 60. So much for that, huh?

Defensive Line

Outside of that first series, they absolutely dominated the Wolverines who only gained 110 yards on the ground. This is the team that led the Big Ten averaging 235 yards per game

. Jared Odrick's 2 tackles and 0.5 TFL don't accurately illustrate how dominating he was. Eating up two blockers on pretty much every play, he disrupted everything Michigan wanted to do. And he should have had a safety but he overran the tackles and let Forcier get it away. On the next play he had the center so nervous the kid snapped the ball right out the back of the endzone.

Jack Crawford had perhaps his best day yet. After getting sucked inside on a few fake handoffs, he settled into his assignment and finished with 3 tackles, all for a loss, and a sack. He also forced the fumble on Robinson late in the game. In all the line finished with 13 tackles, 6.5 TFL, and 3 sacks. Devon Still and true freshman Jordan Hill recorded the other two sacks which makes me feel good about next year after Odrick is gone.

Final Grade: A

Linebackers

What can be said about Lavorro at this point? Not much, really, so I'll just point at the scoreboard: 11 tackles (6 solo), 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT, and 1 sack. As I predicted, Penn State held him back as a spy in passing situations and it worked to perfection. Every time Forcier tried to get out of the pocket to improvise, Bowman was there to drop him or make him get rid of it. By the end of the first quarter Forcier looked like a deer in the headlights. Welcome to the Big Ten, kid.

The Hull-stache had another great day with 10 tackles (6 solo), 2.5 TFL, and a sack. It must be the mustache, because this is not the same player we saw Brandon Minor dragging for 8 yard gains last year.

Bani Gbadyu and Sean Lee split time and combined for 8 tackles. Chris Colasanti got in the game briefly, and Forcier made him look silly by faking him out of his jock on a QB keeper.

Final Grade: A

Secondary

I'll say this: When the coaches let them man up and play, they did well. More on that later. Forcier only managed 140 yards on less than 50% passing. He threw the pick to Astorino, and was sacked five times. Many of the sacks on Forcier were coverage sacks where he couldn't find a man open. There were very few mistakes by the group other than a missed tackle or two.

Final Grade: A

Special Teams

Another so-so performance. Jeremy Boone has to shorten his windup for his punts. That's two he has had blocked this year, and you can bet every team from here on out will be gunning for him.

Collin Wagner hit his two short field goal attempts. Two of his seven kickoffs went for touchbacks. So it was a good day for him. The kickoff coverage team seems to get it now and they are holding down the big returns. At least I don't remember my heart skipping a beat as they make a shoe string tackle to prevent six points this week.

But our own kick returns were much improved highlighted by Chaz Powell's 54 yard return to open the second half.

The punt return game...seriously guys. Absolutely terrible. I shouldn't complain because they are catching the ball, but what was up with Zug catching the ball and starting to run only to find out Drew Astorino called for a fair catch? It's like the Keystone Cops out there. Let's put the dual return man thing to bed. There is absolutely nothing dynamic about our punt return game right now. Something tells me Joe Paterno likes it that way.

Final Grade: C

Defensive Coaching

Okay, so what happened on that first drive? For starters, Michigan had obviously been scripting those plays and practicing them for the past two weeks. They ran with no huddle and everyone obviously knew what they were supposed to do. Penn State had no time to make adjustments or switch personnel. That was a big factor in the drive.

As far as I can tell, the uncertainty surrounding the no huddle forced Penn State to go into some very simple base defensive sets. You know what means, right? Good ol' Cover-3. Forcier took advantage of the soft coverage three times for passes of 7, 7, and 20 yards. The big pass came when Sukay missed a tackle on a short screen. Crawford got sucked into a fake handoff allowing Forcier to gain 8 yards on one play. The rest of the drive was a lot of Carlos Brown and Minor RAGE for decent carries in the 6-8 yard range. But there were also some short 1 and 2 yard gains won by the defense.

Give credit to Michigan on that drive. They came out and hit Penn State in the mouth. I see a lot of Michigan blogs and fans asking why they got away from the running game after that drive, but truthfully, two out of Michigan's first three plays were good sized passing gains. Penn State tightened up the coverage after that and Michigan couldn't answer.

Checking the stats today, it is a beautiful sight. Penn State leads the conference in every single defensive statistic. Awesome.

Final Grade: A

Agony of Defeat: There Will Certainly Be Better Days

SCM — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:53:58 -0000

First and foremost, hats off to Penn State. They came out and executed, played mistake-free football, took advantage of Michigan's numerous errors and put this game away when they got the opportunity to. Again, when someone comes in and does that, you have to acknowledge that. That said, it's still difficult to couch a game like this... yes we were throughly outplayed and yes I was exactly right when I said this:

Looking at our defense, I'm concerned about the secondary, you're concerned about the secondary, hell all of us are downright worried about the secondary (I mean, 3rd and @#$%@# 24!!!!!).

The question was whether JoePa and company would throw rock. They didn't for the most part. They came up with a gameplan that basically put Michigan's linebackers in positions where they were in single coverage mismatches and gave Clark easy throws which to his credit he made look even easier. They saw that our secondary was the straggling wildebeest of the heard and they did what you're supposed to do to straggling wildebeests. Perfect gameplan. Stevie Brown and Obi Ezeh were victimized repeatedly without a single iota of safety help. It got to the point where I and several others near me in the stands were pointing it out a solid 5 seconds before the snap, and yet no adjustments were made. Elsewhere, Donovan Warren was giving approximately a 30 yard cushion when a screen was blatantly obvious. Penn State basically ran three plays yesterday: a counter, a WR screen where God's Gift would split wide and block a corner who was usually giving a 10 yard cushion anyway, and up-the-seem routes against linebackers. They converted on all accounts and that was all she wrote. Was Penn State a vastly better and talented team? Well in terms of their offense vs our back seven, yes. Everywhere else? Eh, not really.

The weather wasn't really cold and bad until we came out after halftime and apparently had learned nothing about what PSU planned to do and they quickly extended the lead to put pressure on the Michigan offense. Suddenly I started to notice the rain a little more at that point... go figure. Quick aside, honestly who designs ponchos with short sleeves? I'm content to be dry everywhere except from the elbow down? Really? Secondly, I would give anything for us to have punched that blocked punt into the endzone, there was still eons of time in the game and the crowd (well, allow me to rephrase, the actual fans that still remained with most of the second half to go) was dying for anything to set them on fire again. Unfortunately it was just not meant to be.

Miscellaneous

- If I was a Penn State fan, I'm certain I would've been saying angry things when my coach decided to punt from the opposing team's 33 YARDLINE, holy bejeezus. It was almost as if JoePa was saying, "Oh yeah? Top that Kirk Ferentz!"

- Boy does Daryll Clark lock on to receivers. When they're wide open against our secondary it works just fine, but the few times we did manage to actually, you know, cover he looked downright mediocre trying to go through a progression. I mean, he's clearly not Anthony Morelli, but if Ohio State manages to lock down in coverage I think it'll be a long day for Mr. Clark.

- So when is it legal to have 76 men on the field on defense? No seriously, how could any official have missed that call? That it happened on Denard's mind-blowingly-bad interception made it even worse. I have no idea where he was throwing that ball and likely neither does he, but uh, Penn State had half their team on the field still when the ball was snapped and somehow did not get flagged for it. This was the only other point in the game where I felt we were running the offense at the pace we needed to by the way.

- Oh and yes, ANOTHER "five men in the backfield" penalty on Michigan. This is insanity. Notre Dame does that on every snap, I'm not joking.

- Alabama needed two blocked FGs to get by Tennessee? Can't wait for Iowa and Alabama to lock horns in what promises to be a 2-0 game with 14 blocked kicks. You know, when everyone gets all over Boise State's case because they "didn't look impressive enough in a win" then you have to do likewise when a BCS school does the same thing. #1 team in the blogpoll? Uh, no.

- Way to go State... you were going to end the Big Ten's nightmare of having an undefeated Iowa and then you go and do that, no really, well done.

- Junior Hemingway's injury was downright ugly, right in front of our seats and though I haven't seen a replay yet, it looked horrible. He has been star-crossed since stepping on campus. Also, was Warren blocked into him or did he trip? Martavious Odoms also looked dinged and wasn't much of a factor after that opening drive. Losing Molk again really killed momentum (and yes, safety snap blur blur blur). Donovan Warren clearly tweaked something though he stayed on the field, and Tate Forcier was holding that right arm pretty gingerly several times walking off the field. Sigh.........

Offense

- So uh, what happened after that first drive fellas? Anyone? Anyone care to explain to me why we pretty much abandoned what we were doing there? I mean, that was machine-like, the pace was perfect, and Penn State was hopeless to stop it. Then we start going 5-wide and trying to keep our QBs in the pocket to make throws? This made sense in what way? I loved the two back set and quick throws, but apparently the coaching staff didn't. This team is so much better when they go into "jet mode" or whatever you want to call it where they push the pace and make short high percentage passes and zone-read runs.

- End of the first half... You simply cannot spike that ball, you cannot. Tremendous error in coaching. There was more than enough time to get set and run a play, a TD would've really been a boost heading into the locker room. Arg I was furious. The clock stopped for some reason down there several plays before, naturally we were given no explanation, but there should've been about 6 less seconds methinks. I'm sure it had the PSU faithful howling. Even if they had gotten the clock right, we would've had time to run a play into the endzone and still kick a FG if it didn't connect.

- Penn State had 18 first downs... Michigan? 17. I wouldn't have believed that at first either.

- 3rd down conversions? 3 of 15. Definitely believed that one.

- Lots of people like to say TOP doesn't matter... bull@#%, this offense needs as many attempts as possible, and when it holds the ball for all of 10 minutes in the second half, that's not enough.

- I'm going to just estimate that there were six drops that probably would've accounted for at least 80 yards out there... Usually sure handed Kevin Koger really had an off day as did Kelvin Grady. Tate (and actually Denard as well) made some great throws that the receivers just have to bring in, regardless of the rain.

- Between the drops, four* turnovers, and a vintage Jermaine Gonzalez safety we made enough self-inflicted mistakes to overcome. That asterisk is for Denard's interception which should've been a nice automatic first down for the Maize n' Blue by the by. Tate had time in the pocket, though their linebackers made a number of very solid plays on his roll-outs and improvised-hop-around-the-backfield plays. The Penn State D was solid, but they weren't wreacking havoc and disrupting what we were trying to do. Of course, you certainly can't fault a defense for doing what they were supposed to do. They made solid tackles and avoided making mistakes that let Michigan hit a home-run to get back into the game.

- It annoys me how easily we seem to lose track of the running game, Minor and Brown combing for 20 carries just is not enough. Tate having 14 rushes is just way too many. Carlos Brown's fumble was in front of the opposite endzone so I didn't see much of it, but I'm sure it was horrifyingly bad. Regardless, we abandoned the running game FAR too early in this football game... again.

- Backed up on our own goal-line we did the same thing we did at Iowa, which was a non-sensical run wide and two pocket pass attempts... that series of play calls made exactly ZERO sense.

- I'm ok with Denard Robinson getting a designated series, but this is how it should go: "Denard, we have two pass plays for you to run along with the usual compliment of running plays. Both pass plays feature one read, if that guy is not open you take off. Got it? Good, go get em." Seriously, eliminate a side of the field for him, roll him out and have him make short simple throws. That's it, period, done. Don't ask the kid to do more right now.

Defense

via www.morasclass.com

- Our secondary is in shambles. It's not a simple question of trying to cover up one weak position, and we cannot overcome it right now. I don't know what else to say.

- How did we not adjust to that screen against the soft coverage and the seem routes against linebackers?? They didn't exactly disguise either of those plays.

- Boubacar Cissoko saw the field again, and apparently thought it was a good idea to taunt the Penn State bench prior to a big 3rd down... it worked out wonderfully as they connected (AGAIN.... /Valenti) for a TD. Sigh. Not at all what we need right now.

- I continue to be awfully impressed with how well our D-line has played, Van Bergen and Roh in particular have really been tremendous surprises this season. Van Bergen made one of the better plays of the year on a Penn State third down screen that would've gone for acres of yardage if he didn't fight through three blocks to get to the ball carrier. It was a great call by Penn State and just a better play by Van Bergen. Unfortunately there weren't too many other instances of that combination.

- When Penn State's defensive players tackle someone, they don't eventually do it 4 yards after contact... Our tackling has regressed as the year has gone on. We make contact and then get dragged for extra yardage far too often.

Special Teams

- Pretty terrible kick coverage to open the second half...

- We blocked another punt, yay.

Overall

So 5-3 when many predicted a 7-5ish year (or 8-4 if you're yours truly), it's do-able, but considerably more difficult sitting here right now than it was three weeks ago. This team is undoubtedly better than last year in many ways, but they are not immune to the type of mistakes that were commonplace last season. I am concerned though that we've struggled so much in conference play so far. If Tate goes down, we're in enormous trouble.

While the Iowa game in particular was one we let slip away and the Michigan State game was a hard fought loss, this was neither. We got thumped yesterday. This is particularly concerning considering that we're now 1-3 in our last four and that "one" was, well we all know what it was. This team is in a tailspin right now. Yes we're still ridiculously young, we're still so terribly thin on defense, etc, but uh, suddenly that "house money" everyone talked about is gone. There needs to be some coaching done now to get this team where it needs to be. Where is that, you ask? It's 7-3 heading to Wisconsin. There is no excuse to drop a game to Illinois, a win there places us in a bowl and that monkey is thrown off the back. It, quite simply, is a must win. Zook is an appallingly bad coach, there's no excuse there. The Purdue game is looking tougher now than it did at any point in the last several weeks and given our inability to stop a pass, I'm more concerned about it. Frankly though, we need to start beating some teams that are above the level of MAC squads. The ND win was huge, but we haven't replicated that level of play since.

I really, really, really want to see us pound the football. We have far too much talent at running back to let them only see the football 20 times a game. Minor and Brown need to be the plow-horses for this offense right now, and there's nothing wrong with that. Tate is trying to do too much out there on the field as well. I can understand why, he started off on fire, but I think we might be trying to do too much with him. Go back and look at the gameplans from the Western and ND games, I'd simplify the offense back to those core plays and just run with it. Let Tate make the short throws and easy reads rolling out of the pocket that he's so good at and call it a day. Work in the occasional deep shot and that's your passing game. Again, Minor and Brown need to touch the ball about twice as often as they are currently.

Unfortunately I have absolutely no solutions for our defense at this time, how we ever let ourselves get into this position from a recruiting standpoint is a travesty of great magnitude.

This disappointing performance needs to be put in the rearview mirror and this team needs to get ready for the finishing stretch that starts with Illinois next Saturday. I know that there will be better days ahead, but we have some serious work to do right now to get there, and the Illinois game is a no-questions-asked must win.

GO BLUE!

Malicious Internet Interrogation With Maize-n-Brew

BSD — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:00:28 -0000

It's Michigan week, so you know what that means. Five days of listening to talk about "streaks" and "WE PWN PENN STATE". As always, we reached out to a Michigan blogger to come sit on the BSD hotseat, and this week our Huckleberry is Dave from Maize-n-Brew. Enjoy, and go check out Maize-n-Brew where I'll answer some questions for Dave later on.

Things started out hot for Rich's boys with that win over Notre Dame. But now they're 1-2 and almost 0-3 in conference play. How has Michigan's season compared to your expectations so far?

Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but the team is exactly where I saw it being. 5-2 heading into the Penn State game. I think the biggest challenge for Michigan fans this season hasn't been getting on the bandwagon, it's been tempering expectations. All of a sudden we've got this score-o-matic offense, and we don't know what to do with ourselves. The offense has been so good we've been willing to say "we'll outscore [the other team]" in every game, totally forgetting that our defense is just as bad as we feared it'd be going into the season. Overall, I think the coaching has been excellent. GERG has fashioned a mediocre defense out of three players (Brandon Graham, Donovan Warren, and Mike Martin), duck tape, and styrofoam. Honestly, I thought the D would be much, much worse than it's performed. Offensively, we're light years ahead of last year, but still in that learning phase. There are still a lot of mistakes on offense and the passing game went backwards the last two games. The offense is better than I thought it'd be, but the team itself is right where I predicted.

Against Iowa, Rodriguez benched Tate Forcier in favor of Denard Robinson and it looked like Forcier wasn't too happy about it. Last week against Delaware State Forcier only played one series. Is there a quarterback controversy brewing?

Mike, when did you start writing for the Detroit Free Press? There is no controversy. Forcier is the starter and got benched at the end of the Iowa game because he was awful. I completely disagree with everyone who bitched and moaned that Forcier should've been back in the game for the last series against Iowa. No. He shouldn't have. Tate was banged up. He was clearly rattled. He had a mild concussion. He was making very, very bad decisions and should've left that game with at least three picks. He needed to be benched at that point. But here's the thing...

He's a freshman. They make mistakes. Look at Tebow, McCoy, Bradford, Henne, Young, or Troy Smith. I'm not comparing Tate to these guys, but I'm naming them to prove a point. As freshmen these uber-quarterbacks made game-costing mistakes. Why? Becuase they're freshmen. Matt Barkley's going to gack one up shortly too. A benching is part of the learning curve and I expect Tate to play much better at home than under the lights at Kinnick. Kinnick does strange things to visiting quarterbacks.. cough... Daryll Clark.... cough.... So, there's really nothing to read into Tate sitting. He needed a week to rest his shoulder. Frankly, Robinson needed the reps because if Tate goes down, Denard's gotta go in. Unless Robinson suddenly, and unexpectedly, becomes a polished passer he's going to be used in a back-up and change of pace role. Tate is the unquestioned starter.

Last year's game between these teams introduced MINOR RAGE into our vocabulary. But Brandon Minor has been banged up off and on this year. Is he healthy for this game? And are there any other injuries of note?

Minor should start this game and is, by all accounts, as healthy as he's been since fall camp started. Sitting the last few games and limited practice has allowed his injured ankle to heal (at least Michigan fans hope so). That's good news for us, bad for you. Against Iowa, Minor had plenty of power and steamrolled several Hawkeye defenders en route to an excellent, yet limited game. As with all ankle injuries, you're fine until you have to make a cut. That was the big difference two weeks ago, he couldn't really do that. Two more weeks to heal? I think he'll be cutting fine and will be one of the keys to the game. Likewise, Carlos Brown should be back in the backfield along side Minor. Brown suffered a concussion in practice two weeks ago and should be fine for Saturday's game. Another huge return will be Center David Molk, who has been ouot since the Indiana game after suffering a broken foot against EMU. Molk is the heart and soul of our offensive line, so if he's able to play, it'll be a huge boost for the team. The downside is he's had a week to practice, so he might not be at 100%. On the defensive side of the ball, Michigan will again be without sophomore cornerback Boubacar Cissoko who has been suspended indefinitely for various violations of team rules (including academics). Rodrgiuez has said that the team is monitoring Cissoko, and it is up to him whether he's going to put in the work to get back on the field.

That Michigan defense...I dunno, man. They made Jimmy Clausen look like a Heisman contender. And Indiana rushed for almost 200 yards. Is it Greg Robinson and the coaching scheme? Is it an issue of talent level? Is it injuries? What does Michigan have to do to get better?

It's a talent issue. Michigan is simply barren at linebacker and empty in the secondary after Warren. Personally, as stated previously, I think GERG has done an excellent job with this group. Look at the defensive line. I thought we were toast at DT after Mike Martin, and GERG has turned Greg Banks and Renaldo Sagesse into prominent contributors. Look at Stevie Brown, a year removed from being the player most likely to allow a 70 yard touchdown, he's our best linebacker and should at least get consideration for All Big Ten Honorable mention. Michigan's defense plays very hard and is very young, but the youth in the secondary and the constant stream of mistakes out of veterans Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton (who really, really should be better than he's playing and I can't figure out why he isn't) at linebacker are consistenly breaking down on third and long. Hence, the issues on D. If you're looking for an achilles, it's linebackers or safeties covering Tight Ends. Iowa smoked us on that. Coverage on the play fake or the TE going into the flats has been terrible, and it's just a reaction thing. The players have to identify that better and simply haven't. Better players over the next few years will fix that, but it's something Michigan fans just have to deal with this season and next.

I'm assuming you've watched a Penn State game or two this year. Where do you think the Wolverines can exploit them?

You know, I'm not really sure on this one. I feel the Penn State secondary isn't quite up to snuff and the DE's are a tad weaker than they've been in recent years. Plus, if Sean Lee's out this week, bonus. In the running game I think Michigan has to attack the edges quickly and someone has to get out on Bowman immediately. Michigan possesses a quick, strong and athletic offensive line, so I think they can attack the edges with the read option. Up the gut? Not so much. I was very impressed by PSU's Defensive Tackles. In the passing game, I see a lot of Tight End Kevin Koger both as a viable pass option and as a decoy. Of the linebacking group, I'm not sure who will be covering him. But with Koger in the pattern or as a decoy/blocker it means one less linebacker at the edge to deal with. I think Koger is probably the #2 or #3 TE in the conference pass catching and blocking, so he'll play a big role. Next, look for Stonum and Hemingway to get deep on Penn State's corners and safeties. That'll open things up in the middle and may, by themselves, be open for some deep bombs.

I'm sure you're wondering why I haven't said "w00t we'llz 0wnz0rz da PSU Offensive Line!" Well, our pass rush hasn't been great outside of Brandon Graham and teams have been running very, very well against us. So, I think that match up is a push.

On the flip side, what scares you to death about this Penn State team?

The Linebackers, the Defensive Tackles and Evan Royster. Really. I've never been a big fan of Daryll Clark's. Mostly because he's shown a propensity for gacking up games against good competition. Interceptions. Fumbles. Bad reads. But Royster scares the shit out of me. On defense, Michigan's running game depends on neutralizing the center of the Defensive front and getting to the backers. I just don't see that happening consistently against Bowman and company. We'll have some great gainers, but I'll be surprised if Michigan can do it consistently.

Care to make a prediction? The Nittany Lions of BSD could use some red meat.

mmmmm..... red meat..... That makes me hungry. Think I'll order a cheese steak from Mr. Spots with chili cheese fries. mmmmmm..... What were we talking about? Oh yeah. Predictions. Back in May I predicted this one to be a Penn State victory. On paper, it should be. But Michigan's glorified scrimage against Delaware State gave the Wolverines an extra week of practice and allowed their starters to get healthy. Something Michigan was not able to do in previous years. I still hate the concept of a D1-AA opponent anywhere on the schedule, but the timing of the "bye" is really beneficial to Michigan this year. I think Michigan wins this in a close game. I could be wrong, probably am, but a year removed from 3-9 and sitting at 5-2, I'm playing with house money.

Wha Happened? Week Seven

RossWB — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:52:41 -0000

Things shockingly got even worse for The Zooker, The Terrelle Pryor Experiment took another bodyblow, and Michigan beat the holy bejesus out of a team... read on to find out exactly Wha Happened? in Week Seven in the Big Ten.

Obviously, a TOTALLY REPRESENTATIVE AND ACCURATE look at OSU fans' feelings about yesterday's result.

Purdue 26, Ohio State 18
Oh, LOLeyes. Clinching the Big Ten record for most consecutive road wins? UR DOIN IT WRONG. In hindsight, perhaps the warning signs had been staring us in the face for a while. They blanked Illinois, but since the Illini may be the worst BCS team of the year, that win is looking a lot less meaningful (and Pryor was a dreadful passer in that game, foreshadowing his future woes). They beat Indiana decisively, but Pryor was unable to light up a middle of the road Hoosier defense that true freshman Tate Forcier shredded a week earlier. A week ago, the LOLeyes beat Wisconsin in one of the most statistically deranged games you'll see this year; Pryor was again dreadful, but the defense and special teams bailed him out. Well, three weeks of average-to-poor play out of him finally caught up to the LOLeyes and yesterday no one could bail him out: not the defense (they gave up 361 total yards, including 281 through the air to Joey Elliott), not the special teams (no return touchdowns or blocked kicks), not the running game (66 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries). Pryor, meanwhile, was fairly miserable -- he threw for 221 yards, but only on 17/31 completions, and had two interceptions and two fumbles. Terrelle Pryor's improvement as a quarterback in whatever mishmash of an offensive system Ohio State is running continues to be virtually imperceptible and as beastly as the Ohio State defense has been, even they can't cover up the offense's crippling ineffectiveness indefinitely. So what now for the LOLeyes, on the heels of the worst loss of the Sweatervest Era? Good news! The even-more-offensively inept Minnesota Golden LOLpher attack is coming to town.

Meanwhile, we would be remiss if we did not doff our preferred headgear of choice (this, if you must know) to the Fightin' Danny Hopes of Purdue University. Coming off the heels of back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back gutpunch losses in which they treated the football as if it was radioactive rather than an important implement in scoring points and winning football games, it would have been easy for the Boilermakers to check out on this season and start plotting how to get the good seats for the basketball team's MURDERDEATHKILL quest for a Big Ten championship (hey, it could totally happen). Especially against a top ten opponent who had been unbeatable on the road for almost four years. Instead, the nattily-mustachioed Danny Hope (his 'stache has neither the smooth curves nor the warm bushiness of the Tiller 'stache, but it has a firm tidiness that connotes determination, grit, and other manly qualities; Conrad Hilton would no doubt nod approvingly and ask for a stiff drink before making some completely batshit request... but we digress) rallied his train-loving troops to play two spirited halves of football, be the turnover forcers rather than the turnover forcees (although they did cough up the ball three times; old habits die hard), and generally outplay and outhustle the vastly more talented LOLeyes. Enjoy this win; a bowl may be an improbable dream this year (though if they can take wins from Illinois and their Hoosier state arch-rivals, they'd only need to steal two of three from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State... difficult but perhaps not impossible), but a win over a top-ten opponent will be a sweet memory for years to come.

An apt metaphor for the Ron Zook Era.

Indiana 27, Illinois 14
By all the evidence on display, Ron Zook has apparently forgotten that he's supposed to be coaching a football team this season; instead, he's intent on becoming the limbo champion of Middle Western America. "How low can you go, " indeed. A year ago, substantially this same Illinois team beat Indiana to the tune of 55-13. Juice looked good (16/22, 271 passing yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions) and Jason Ford looked like the future of the Illinois running game (19 carries, 172 yards, three touchdowns). Heady days. Since then, Illinois has gone 1-9 against BCS-level competition (don't ask us about the one win; it just makes us sad). In fact, this year in five games against BCS-level competition, Illinois has scored a combined 54 points. This isn't just a bad team... it's increasingly looking like a historically bad team. And that's before you even factor in the shocking "Rose Bowl to Big Ten cellar in two years" fall from grace or the much-touted recruiting classes that were supposed to take Illinois to the promised land. In 2009, "massive disappointment" is spelled F-I-G-H-T-I-N-I-L-L-I-N-I. As for Indiana... good show, sport. Illinois is only nominally a BCS-level opponent, but, hell, any port in a storm after the 47-7 failstorm that happened last week against Virginia.

Like the Penn State defense, an effective means of eradicating Gophers.

Penn State 20, Minnesota 0
FUN FACT! Did you know that Minnesota and Penn State play for a trophy? It's true -- it's called the Governor's Victory Bell. Minnesota hasn't held that trophy since 2004. FUNNER FACT! Minnesota is 3-17 in their last 20 games played for a trophy. The last time they won one was Iowa in 2006, also known as the "Drew Tate Loses His Fucking Shit and Tries to Murder Herb Grigsby Game." Anyway, this game. Unless you have a defense and special teams unit that can score touchdowns on their own (see: Ohio State a week ago) or possess a hyper-efficient and prolific offense led by a sure-fire Hall of Famer (see: the Indianapolis Colts' Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins) , it's generally a good idea to at least stay reasonably close when it comes to total offensive yards gained and time of possession. The Gophers don't possess a playmaking defense or an explosive special teams unit. They also don't have a legendary quarterback or an offense loaded with elite weapons. They have the mysteriously regressing Adam Weber (on pace for by far his worst year in three years as a starting quarterback) at quarterback and one (1) elite offensive weapon, Eric Decker. So letting Penn State roll up well over three hundred yards more than the LOLphers gained and control the ball for 42 minutes was, in hindsight, a bit of a bad idea. Well, like Coach Brew always says: TRY FIGHT ~~WIN~~ GET BITCHMADE.

More rockin' than anything about the LOLcats this season.

Michigan State 24, Northwestern 14
justNorthwestern scored the first and last touchdowns yesterday; unfortunately, they let Sparty rattle off 24 straight points in-between those scores. For the umpteenth game in a row their running game was a complete non-entity; their running backs combined for 34 yards on eight carries. The existential wonderboy, Mike Kafka, had yet another efficient day passing (34/47, 291 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions) and was the LOLcats' leading rusher (42 yards on 18 carries) as well. As for our next opponent... they didn't exactly put on a masterclass in running the ball, either -- Larry Caper went for 63 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries and Edwin Baker carried 12 times for 45 yards. As they have all year, they were carried by the passing game; Kirk Cousins went 21/31 for 281 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The main beneficiary of his aerial profligacy was Blair White (12 catches for 186 yards, two touchdowns); Mr. White, meet Mr. Spievey. I'm sure you'll get along famously.

Only marginally less disturbing than watching the Michigan-Delaware State game. (NSFW - language)

Michigan 63, Delaware State 6
Michigan scored 60+ for the first time in 17 years, racked up a school-record 727 total yards (including 461 rushing yards), had eight different players score touchdowns, and rested Tate Forcier after one series. Oh, and their best two running backs (Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor) didn't even play. Delaware State was such a whore for the $550,000 payday that this game provided that they didn't even care how bad their john beat them up (or even that taking this game would also require them to forfeit a conference game previously scheduled for yesterday), so long as the money was there. No word yet on whether Michigan sent them a check or just left a stack of rumpled cash on the dresser while they took a shower. Let us never speak of this game again.

Hail To The Victors! That's How You're Supposed To Eat a Cupcake

SCM — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:00:22 -0000

Photo by John T Greilick via multimedia.detnews.com

727 yards of total offense. Yes, a Boeing's worth of yards in a single game. 442 of those yards were in the first half, which saw the teams enter the locker-rooms with the score standing at 49-3. What can you say? Delaware State was indeed awful. That said, it was really nice to see us just put the hammer down from the get go and put this one well out of reach. One could also call it refreshing. Obviously a ton of positives to take away from this performance, not the least of which is that it was accomplished without Carlos Brown, Brandon Minor, and short of the opening series, Tate Forcier. That Michigan emerged from this game without an injury to anyone and got as many players much needed experience was about all we could've hoped for. I certainly wasn't a fan of this game even being on the schedule, but since it was, I don't think the team could've handled it any better than they did on the field.

Miscellaneous

- Nicely done Purdue! Congrats to the Boilers and as I imagine many of their fans are saying: about time. I just had to link to the following from The Buckeye Blog:

One of the biggest problems with the current BCS system is that when you play in the toughest conference in the country, it is nearly impossible to make it out of conference play unscathed. First a fifth ranked Penn State drops to Iowa powerhouse. Now the 8th ranked Buckeyes go down to Purdue who were only a play or two from turning a 1-5 record into a 6-0 record.

Unlike the SEC, the Big Ten fronts at least seven teams with the ability to do serious damage year after year. Along with the rivalry games which can go either way, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin provide bruising, physical play that would leave a PAC 10 team wilted.

Wait, what?! Now then, no offense Boilermaker fans, but let's be honest here. This was a Purdue team that was thoroughly outplayed in most phases of the game by Northern Illinois. A team roundly predicted by the vast majority of talking heads to be battling for the 10th place spot in the conference this season. The Buckeyes lost to a 1-5 team, albeit a team that's 1-5 thanks to a few close ones, they were still 1-5 and no combination of "a play or two" gets them remotely close to 6-0. Top 10 football teams probably shouldn't lose to 1-5 teams. Also, he must be excluding USC from that "leaving a PAC 10 team wilted" talk, since, you know, they took care of OSU as well (albeit in less impressive fashion than Purdue). This game was not an example of how huge of a gauntlet the conference is, but rather just how "meh" Ohio State is capable of playing. It will be awfully interesting to see how the rest of that fan-base reacts to this one, and Terrelle Pryor's performance in particular.

- The top 3 teams in the country all looked pedestrian at best Saturday. Florida certainly did not look like the #1 team in the nation against Arkansas... a team that Alabama put a serious whoopin' on not too long ago. Of course, Alabama had trouble putting away South Carolina, who is still South Carolina last I checked.... And Texas went out and outlasted a Sam Bradford-less Oklahoma in a game that saw its share of offensive ineptitude. There's simply not a dominant team out there right now, and that's just fine with me.

- I watched the majority of the second half of the USC/ND game and the thing that really stood out to me was just how terrible Charlie Weis continues to be at managing a football game. He passes up a field goal opportunity to go for it on 4th and short in the second half, at a time when I thought to myself, "kick the FG, there's tons of time". Those three points probably would've been pretty big in that last minute wouldn't they? Then, ND lets 10 seconds run off the clock inside the USC 10 yardline on their final possession when they had a timeout in their pocket... why? That's two plays down there! Yeeeeesh.

- Indiana, who was coming off of a shellacking at the hands of, ahem, Virginia, came out and beat the pants off of Illinois (a late Illini TD made it look closer than it ever was), who now find themselves at 1-5.

- One other note from the ND game... since the refs have suddenly started calling Michigan for this "illegal formation due to a lineman not being within X inches of the guy next to him in relation to the line of scrimmage" garbage I've been paying more attention to how other teams line up. ND's tackles were vast distances off the line of scrimmage at many times throughout the game... stunningly no flags were thrown for it.

more after the jump

Offense

- Ok so 727 total yards and 10.1 yards per play... everyone looked great at times and we didn't show a darn thing to Penn State. There's just not tons to discuss, but let's see what we can scrounge together eh?

- I might be wrong but I think there were FIVE players who scored the first TD of their careers today: Kelvin Grady, Martell Webb, Mike Cox, Vincent Smith, Brandon Graham (yes that counts), and

- Michigan's QBs combined for 15-18, 266 yards and 2 TDs. Forcier looked sharp on his series and thankfully got to rest the rest of the day. My one quibble, and it's really really minor: I would've liked to have gotten Denard Robinson a few more passing attempts, I mean, 3 for 4 with 2 TDs and all, but really would've liked to have seen him get more reps where he got a chance to make a read or two and throw the ball. Again, that's nitpicking of the highest order. How about Nick Sheridan looking downright efficient in there? Nicely done Nick. Of course I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Cone as well!

- 15 passes to 11 different receivers... wow.

- Zero punts. Yay. Sorry Zoltan.

- The offensive line looked like a machine, like they were supposed to against a team like this, simple execution gets a big nod of approval.

- 54 rushes for 461 yards. Every back looked good out there. I really liked what I saw out of Vincent Smith, nice job young man. Shaw got the start but had as "quiet" of a nine carry 73 yard day as one can. Mike Cox has certainly shown flashes of brilliance in limited carries. I'm not going to extrapolate much from this game in and of itself, but I feel entirely comfortable saying we're stacked something fierce at the tailback position.

Defense

- 6 points, no TDs, nothing jumps out at me here, we dominated, we didn't give up anything stupid, tons of people saw the field, what else do you say?

Special Teams

- Hey, a blocked punt! A bit later than I predicted, but a special teams TD is always great to see, especially when it's Brandon Graham rumbling into the endzone with it!

Overall

Photo by John T. Greilick via multimedia.detnews.com

- Yeah, that about says it all... how nice is it to just say, "Well, we completely dominated a team we were supposed to dominate"? I'm still opposed to having a game like this on the schedule, but I can't complain with how we played it. Couldn't have asked for more heading into next Saturday.

GO BLUE!

Agony of Defeat: Michigan Beats Michigan, Iowa Named Beneficiaries

SCM — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:58:08 -0000

Arg. Arg, arg, arg, arg, arg. Deep breath (remember man, we're so young), another deep breath... arg that was infuriating. How do we couch this? Well for one thing Michigan outplayed Iowa on Saturday night. An offensive line that was a glorified strainer last week turned their highly-touted D-line into a non-factor, we pounded the ball on the ground against a team that just doesn't give up rushing TDs to the tune of three of em and 200 yards on the ground (and that was without a lightning bolt big play in there too), we completely shut down Iowa's running game: 2.4 yards per carry, and the defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage throughout most of the night and came up with several huge stops, including a goal-line stand. And yet there's the 800 lb turnover beast that is sitting in the corner over there... five of those bad-boys, four completely unforced turnovers and one kinda-forced fumble proved to be just enough to hold Michigan back from knocking off the #12 team in the country on the road. Iowa did what you are supposed to do with gifts, they cashed them in, and it proved to be barely enough for Michigan to overcome. Two of the factors that Michigan fans, us included, worried about prior to the season reared their ugly head on Saturday night: play of the safeties, and freshman mistakes at QB. Mike Williams unfortunately showed up in the replays of many key plays last night in the entirely wrong way... I mean really, 3rd and @#%@#%@#@#% 24? 3rd and 24? Fans like to throw around "inexcusable" in all kinds of ways, but uh, giving up 3rd and 24 is inexcusable. To get beat once on a nicely timed throw to the TE was acceptable, to let it happen again was not. Anyways, more on that later too. The team's youth and lack of depth in certain spots showed up at the worst times last night, and we couldn't overcome it. Freshman mistakes? You betcha.

Miscellaneous

- There was some good old fashioned slobber-knocking in this football game, the crown jewel of which was the hit on Daryll Stonum's kickoff return... goodness gracious me, that was a lick.

- Um, when the ball was snapped over Ricky Stanzi's head in (I believe) the first half, and their running back simply tackled Jonas Mouton while he broke through the line... how's that not called a hold? It carries no consequence as I understand that we would've declined it as it put them in a 3rd and long anyways, but is there something I'm missing there, that has to be a flag right? If not, someone please educate me.

- Alright, a coaching quibble from me: why the onside kick? Three minutes and change was enough time, even with one timeout, to kick it deep and rely on your defense to come up with a stop and not forfeit 20-30 yards of field position. I didn't understand the call there.

- I was stunned, literally stunned, that Ferentz went for it on 4th and goal.

- This team isn't quite good enough to get away with playing poorly and winning, but hotdamn they're close.

Offense

- I guarantee some Iowa fan will wax poetic about how their defense caused the benching of Tate Forcier... which is patently wrong. Forcier's unforced errors last night that lead to him getting the hook. An unrushed throw into double coverage for the pick, a fumble in which he wasn't touched, tripping over a yardline on 2nd and 4 to kill a drive, happy feet in the pocket with good protection, and throws into areas that just simply did not make sense were the story of Tate's night. What ultimately lead to the benching was the series where we came out after a kickoff, promptly got a delay of game (AFTER A KICKOFF... BREAKING THINGS HERE), and he just started chucking the ball for no real apparent reason: he wasn't running the offense, and that earned him a spot on the bench. Iowa's D had nothing to do with the majority of these mistakes.

- Brings me to my next question... Tate is so good throwing on the run, why wasn't he rolling out more in this game?

- Hats off to the O-line, even sans Molk they turned in a great performance. After watching what happened last week, I was awfully worried about going up against Iowa's D-line, but the guys up front did a fantastic job giving our QBs time and creating holes.

- All night long the offense just couldn't quite get up to the pace we wanted to run at. It will come with more experience, but when we did approach that kind of speed, we moved the football.

- Oh yeah, about Denard Robinson getting the nod on that final drive... I can say at the time I didn't really question it, he had just driven us right down the field for a touchdown and looked quite good in doing so. Now then, the end result doesn't sit all that well with everyone who watched Forcier do nothing but look eight shades of awesome at the end of practically every game thus far this season. If I were wearing the headset, I probably would've tapped Tate's shoulder, looked him in the eye and said "Get it done" and sent him out there all while thanking Denard up and down for kick-starting the offense again. Even despite that, I am reluctant to second guess the call because based on what had happened in the game to that point, sending Denard back out there made all kinds of sense, he had made several good crisp throws on the previous drive and moved the ball down the field for a score, hard to argue with that. Let's recall that Denard got put into the game in an incredibly difficult position, down two scores late in the 4th and he too is a true freshman.

- Robinson made the one mistake you just can't make in that situation... I'm not sure what prompted the throw, particularly when he could've taken off (there was TONS of time) or hit Odoms for an easy first down, but ugh... That's all that needs to be said about it, just ugh.

- Brandon Minor finally looked like a healthy Brandon Minor out there, some really tough running from him in big spots, and he was pretty much responsible for an entire touchdown drive... BUT he also had that HORRIFYING fumble, which by the by was the ONLY forced turnover on the night. Maybe we're still spoiled by Mike Hart's excellence but uh, you can't fumble the football on a 3 yard gain in which you're going nowhere, just protect the thing... that just killed a big drive at the end of the first half.

- I liked the new pitch wrinkle we threw into the rushing game last night, and I have a feeling I will like it more when Carlos Brown is healthy and back on the field.

- Someone please tell me why we're not taking two to three deep shots a game, anyone? Anyone? Junior Hemingway and Daryll Stonum are essentially non-factors in our offense right now, and that should not be the case. Kevin Koger and Martavious Odoms again came up big with drive sustaining catches throughout the night, they are by far the most consistent aspects of this offense right now.

- 3 for 11 on 3rd down wasn't and isn't good enough.

Defense

- This defense is either on or off, there is no in-between it appears.

- Donovan Warren was incredible last night, and that's even with him dropping another pick inside Iowa's 25. Huge game from him, just huge.

- Fool me once, shame on you... Great call for Iowa's first TD to Moeaki, Mike Williams bit HARD on the fake-block and the middle of the field was beyond vacant. Fool me twice, shame on me: that it happened again was ludicrous.

- The safety play was appalling, no other word for it, appalling. The lack of ability of this defense to get off the freakin' field on 3rd and long has already shortened the lifespan of the majority of this fanbase, I guarantee it. I know we're tissue paper-thin, I know that, but there were mistakes made that even tissue-paper thin defenses can't make out there.

- Brandon Graham did whatever he wanted with whomever was lined up across from him, he was a beast last night. Mike Martin also played a very solid football game.

- Stevie Brown made a great read on that 3rd and goal stop, just a tremendous play. And actually, I thought the LBs as a group played well, Mouton and Ezeh seemed to be in position more often than not, and both made key plays during the game.

- We brought a lot more pressure last night, I liked that we brought guys up to the line of scrimmage and got into the backfield, it's just too bad the coverage wasn't up to par in key spots. In line with that, we saw much less of the soft coverage stuff giving up the sticks, which yay, but too many missed assignments particularly from the safeties.

- Troy Woolfolk stepped into the corner spot and made a number of big plays, you can count me as pleasantly surprised, that certainly was an area of concern heading towards kickoff and he played well.

Special Teams

- So if Iowa's punter is a "weapon" according to Brent Musberger, what's Zoltan Mesko? 53.8 yards per punt? Zounds!

- Why the dropped punt... just why? If you have to go to your knees to catch the punt, isn't it better to just let the stupid thing go? Iowa was going to get the ball anyway due to the "roughing" the kicker penalty, but good GOD, that was terrible.

- Our kick and punt coverage was decidedly "meh" last night, part of that was because Zoltan was hitting bombs and outkicking the coverage, but how many times did the first two guys not even touch their returner?

Overall

- After getting flat outplayed for the majority of the Michigan State game, this team responded in the areas that were truly lacking in East Lansing, and made gaffs that you just can't overcome against a solid team at home. Minus 4 in the turnover margin was the death knell for Michigan on Saturday night.

- So goes the Penn State game so goes the rest of the season, period. We need to destroy Delaware State and get ready for the Nittany Lions to come to Ann Arbor.

Carlos Brown Doubtful For Iowa Michigan Game

Maize n Brew Dave — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:03:31 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

2 months ago: Michigan running back Carlos Brown (23) outruns Indiana cornerback Donnell Jones (10) and safety Austin Thomas (20) for a touchdown during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Browse more photos »

After a series of ongoing reports of Carlos Brown being limited in practice this week, MGoBlog is calling the likelihood of Carlos seeing the field this week "very doubtful."

According to MGo:

A reliable source says [Brown] was concussed in a full-contact drill and he is very doubtful for this weekend.

No word in the papers or the official team site as to whether Brown is actually out or not, but all signs point to no. Ann Arbor.com had this to say about Brown's condition:

Running back Carlos Brown did not practice Wednesday because of an undisclosed injury. He missed part of the Indiana game with what was originally termed "sore knees" and later described as an ankle injury.

So, nothing to verify the concussion possibility yet, but I'm taking Brian at his word on this. I don't think we're going to see Mr. Brown on the field in Iowa City. On the other hand, that does mean a bigger dose of Brandon Minor and Michael Shaw. Rodriguez said that Minor is as close as to 100 percent health as he’s been all season (according to AAdotCom).

"The past few weeks he’s been limited during the weeks," Rodriguez said. "Tuesday practices are our most physical practice and (this week) he went through the whole practice on Tuesday. It’s probably, and again talking to him, it’s the best he’s felt in several weeks."

A healthy Minor should off set the loss of Brown to some degree, though I seriously doubt Brandon is going to be able to make the cuts he could make at the season's start on his gimpy ankle. In Brown's stead, especially in the two back set, Iowa's going to see a lot of speedster Michael Shaw, who's ability seems to mirror Brown's. Including, unfortunately, his penchant for getting injured.