SB Nation - Zoltan Mesko

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

All-Big Ten Awards Announced, Swept Once Again By Toto

Oops Pow Surprise — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:45 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

about 1 month ago: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz looks on during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, in Iowa City, Iowa. Northwestern won 17-10. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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Good news, everyone!* The Big Ten announced its picks for the all-conference teams. Naturally, the offensive and defensive player of the year are both Terrelle Pryor. Okay, not true; he's not even honorable mention.

But there's plenty of actual good news. First, the devil media named Kirk Ferentz coach of the year, and here he is reminding them that they can go suck it and he hasn't forgiven them for the slights of the regular season.

Such language, Kirk!

As for the players, here's the link to the voting results. The media named Bryan Bulaga to the first team on offense, while the second team featured four of his friends from the line: Rafael Eubanks, Dace Richardson, Kyle Calloway, and Tony Moeaki.

On defense, the first team had a little more Iowa representation; Adrian Clayborn, Pat Angerer, and Tyler Sash all received their no-brainer merits. On the second team, Brett Greenwood and Amari Spievey. Iowa put eight players on the media's honorable mention team: Ryan Donahue, Broderick Binns, A.J. Edds, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Karl Klug, Daniel Murray, Adam Robinson, and Ricky Stanzi.

Not surprisingly, the coaches had a slightly higher opinion of the Hawkeyes; here's the link to their voting results. Bryan Bulaga was named their offensive lineman of the year(!!!), an award the media doesn't give out. Bulaga is joined on the first team by Moeaki and Richardson, both of which are worthy selections. Calloway and Eubanks didn't make the second team--not sure why on Calloway--but Derrell Johnson-Koulianos snuck in on a three-player tie for second-team WR.

On defense, the coaches agreed with the media in putting Sash, Clayborn, and Angerer on the first team roster. They also added Amari Spievey; as coaches, they're more likely to know that the reason Spievey didn't have a ton of picks wasn't that he's not good at football, but that there's just no hope in throwing at him; Spievey was a machine this season, and we're starting to lose hope that he's got more than one game left in an Iowa uniform. A.J. Edds is the lone Hawkeye on the defensive second team.

For honorable mention, it's as follows:Christian Ballard, Kyle Calloway, Ryan Donahue, Brent Greenwood, Karl Klug, and Adam Robinson.

Full All-BXI teams and a few thoughts are after the break.

MEDIA

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
QB	Daryll Clark, Penn State	Mike Kafka, Northwestern
RB	Evan Royster, Penn State	Brandon Saine, Ohio State
RB	JOHN CLAY, Wisconsin	Ralph Bolden, Purdue
WR	Tandon Doss, Indiana	Blair White, Michigan State
WR	Keith Smith, Purdue	Zeke Markshausen, Northwestern
C	Stefen Wisniewski, Penn State	Rafael Eubanks, Iowa
G	Justin Boren, Ohio State	Jon Asamoah, Illinois
G	John Moffitt, Wisconsin	Dace Richardson, Iowa
T	Bryan Bulaga, Iowa	Kyle Calloway, Iowa
T	Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin	Dennis Landolt, Penn State
TE	Garrett Graham, Wisconsin	Tony Moeaki, Iowa
PK	Brett Swenson, Michigan State	Stefan Demos, Northwestern

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
DL	Adrian Clayborn, Iowa	Jammie Kirlew, Indiana
DL	Brandon Graham, Michigan	Thaddeus Gibson, Ohio State
DL	Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue	Cameron Heyward, Ohio State
DL	O'Brien Schofield, Wisconsin	Jared Odrick, Penn State
LB	Pat Angerer, Iowa	Ross Homan, Ohio State
LB	GREG JONES, Michigan State	Josh Hull, Penn State
LB	Navorro Bowman, Penn State	Sean Lee, Penn State
DB	Tyler Sash, Iowa	Brent Greenwood, Iowa
DB	Donovan Warren, Michigan	Amari Spievey, Iowa
DB	Sherrick McManis, Northwestern	Brad Phillips, Northwestern
DB	Kurt Coleman, Ohio State	David Pender, Purdue
P	Zoltan Mesko, Michigan	Jeremy Boone, Penn State

COACHES

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
QB	Daryll Clark, Penn State	Mike Kafka, Northwestern
RB	Evan Royster, Penn State	Brandon Saine, Ohio State
RB	John Clay, Wisconsin	Ralph Bolden, Purdue
WR	Eric Decker, Minnesota	Tandon Doss, Indiana*
WR	Blair White, Michigan State	Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Iowa* Keith Smith, Purdue*
C	Stefen Wisniewski, Penn State	Rafael Eubanks, Iowa* Joel Nitchman, Michigan State*
G	Dace Richardson, Iowa	Jon Asamoah, Illinois
G	John Moffitt, Wisconsin	Justin Boren, Ohio State
T	Bryan Bulaga, Iowa	Rodger Saffold, Indiana
T	Dennis Landolt, Penn State	Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin
TE	Tony Moeaki, Iowa	Garrett Graham, Wisconsin
PK	Brett Swenson, Michigan	Stefan Demos, Northwestern

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
DL	Adrian Clayborn, Iowa	Jammie Kirlew, Indiana
DL	Brandon Graham, Michigan	Thaddeus Gibson, Ohio State
DL	Jared Odrick, Penn State	Cameron Heyward, Ohio State
DL	O'Brien Schofield, Wisconsin	Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue
LB	Pat Angerer, Iowa Linebacker	A.J. Edds, Iowa
LB	Greg Jones, Michigan State	Ross Homan, Ohio State
LB	Navorro Bowman, Penn State	Sean Lee, Penn State
DB	Tyler Sash, Iowa	Donovan Warren, Michigan*
DB	Amari Spievey, Iowa	Sherrick McManis, Northwestern*
DB	Brad Phillips, Northwestern	Brandon King, Purdue*
DB	Kurt Coleman, Ohio State	David Pender, Purdue* Jay Valai, Wisconsin*
P	Zoltan Mesko, Michigan	Jeremy Boone, Penn State

Okay. While we're quite happy that Bulaga got such high accolades for the season, we can't be alone in thinking that he was hardly the best lineman in Iowa City, much less the Big Ten. He was either on the sidelines or out of sorts for the majority of the season, and we still haven't seen the elephant-tusk-covered road grader from last season on display. He totally would have deserved a preseason OL of the year, but his performance over 2009 didn't merit such superlatives.

This is hardly a new development from these postseason lists, however; generally, the lists are crafted off of the preseason lists, and anybody whose knee blew out with more than four games left was excised and replaced by someone else. After all, Bulaga was only a second-team All-BXI player last season, even though he was by far the best lineman on the team in 2008. Seth Olsen, meanwhile, had the good fortune to be a first-teamer to start the year, so he was on the first team after 2008, despite a relatively blah senior campaign; we'd have put him about fourth on the list of Iowa linemen for 2009, behind the two bookends at tackle and Rob Bruggeman at center.

Essentially, Bulaga won the award in 2009 for his play in 2008.

At the end of the day, this comes down to stats; there aren't any for linemen, despite the ill-fated attempt to get the "pancake" introduced about a decade ago (for this, we blame Orlando Pace). It's assumed that linemen are sure things, and that as long as they stay healthy, the narrative has stayed true. After all, without stats, most scribes have no time (or no idea) how to watch linemen individually.

Frankly, though it's a subjective stat, we'd love to see how linemen grade out per play (remember that Blake Larsen famously graded at 100% during his senior season at Atlantic; lord, had those knees survived...) Without having the means to undertake such an activity ourselves, we'd imagine that if you graded each Iowa offensive lineman, Kyle Calloway or Dace Richardson would probably be at the top.

If they're not, which is possible, then it would probably be the guy who didn't even get an honorable mention: Riley Reiff. He was stout in relief of Bulaga--hell, we're pretty sure O'Brien Schofield would not have batted Reiff around like a catnip mouse, unlike some Iowa linemen--and he basically forced his way into the starting lineup even before Big Dace went down. But since he wasn't even a projected starter, to say nothing of a preseason honoree, Reiff didn't have much of a chance for postseason mention. Shame, really; dude is legit, and he hasn't even filled out his frame yet.

As for the skill players, it's a little disappointing that Stanzi only made one honorable mention team. But we get how that can happen. Spievey only making second team in the media is flatly ridiculous. If he'd put together that same season in an Ohio State uniform, he'd be getting All-American talk.

Other than that, we don't have a ton of beef; Stanzi killed himself by leading the conference in interceptions when he went down to injury, and the rest of the offensive skill players were far too inconsistent or hurt to merit much consideration. Jeremiha Hunter not getting any honorable mention love is a little disconcerting, but the BXI was lo-ho-hoaded at linebacker this season; we're not quite sure whom we'd place him above. He'll get some love in 2010 if he stays healthy. Also--given the play of Jeff Tarpinian in relief--if Hunter stays healthy between now and next September, there's no position battle at weakside backer next season, right?

So, all in all, a fair list, even if the voting on offensive linemen is basically a year behind schedule. It's a year behind for everyone else, after all. Anybody else that you folks think got shafted? Did Marvin McNutt deserve a nod, or is he still a year away from recognition?

*/Farnsworth'd

Warren, Graham, Mesko Net 1st Team Honors

GregGoBlue — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:02:17 -0000

The media has spoken, and they say that Donovan Warren, Brandon Graham and Zoltan Mesko (his royal punt-ness) are all Big Ten first team.

It may come as a surprise to some that, for a team that finished 9th in the Big Ten in total D, two of the 11 best players in the Big Ten on D played for Meeechigan.

However, if you were a team that played against Meech this season, your chances are pretty good that your QB knows what Brandon Graham's breath smells like. Fear. With 25 tackles for loss, the senior defensive end led the Big Ten in that category, and generally pitched a tent in the opponents' backfield all season. He's a monster, as well as the very definition of a true Michigan Man for always playing his heart out during a nightmarish junior and senior season for Michigan football. With the requisite full Michigan bias, I also believe that Brandon Graham deserves to be an All American, and should be if all is well and right in the football universe. BG said in an interview that he cries after games, but then on Mondays went out and took care of business. He can wipe his tears with the enormous pile of money he's going to get as a first rounder's signing bonus.

Last season, D Warren had some "disagreements," with then D-coordinator Scott Shafer, a general whiny attitude along with fairly inconsistent play. This season he's really matured and has become a leader on the defense. He's finally playing at the level that was expected of him when he was ranked a unanimous 5-star prospect coming out of Long Beach, CA. D Warren's most telling influence this season can't really be quantified by a statistic, mostly because teams generally didn't throw at him. This was especially true when Boubacar Cissoko was playing (and a Michigan student, whoops!). Thank the sweet lord D Warren will most likely be back next season; our D needs the help. Well done, Donovan.

If there was any beneficiary of our incredibly inconsistent offense this season, Zoltan Mesko was it. He was able to use that tritium-powered bionic leg of his to deliver the ball to the other team when our offense didn't beat him to it. Mesko's yards per punt average was 44.5 yards, first in the big ten. Zoltan is also a high achieving student; he's maintained a 3.61 GPA in one of nation's top business school (have I also mentioned our top ten medical school, our top 5 law school, our #1 social work and public policy schools...). Mesko is also up for the Ray Guy award as the nation's best punter (as he was last season). He can also kick saturn:

I want this shirt. Sadly, Mesko did not make the all big ten first team in banner touching.

All I can say is thank goodness it's basketball season, friends...

Nothing but Time

Beauford — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:00:30 -0000

Time has a funny way of doing...things...for a lack of a better word. It can heal. It can bury. It can set on med-high and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. It can erase. It can embrace. It can fly. It can also tell a story. Last fall, I wrote what I consider to be the best post I've ever written. I called it "Myths and Legends." In it, I related that a myth, in some definition, is simply a story that has endured. The legends are the people who play a part. Michigan vs. Ohio State, in some form, is a myth. It's an ongoing story told over the past 10 decades, and paid for in sweat by those legends who have added to it. It has endured. Time has allowed for this story - the story of a simple game - to grow up; to become not-so-simple.

--------------------------------------------------------------

And it's here, in 2009 (somehow) that we sit down on the eve of the next chapter. Michigan is a mess. And yet, for all the things that time can do, the one thing it can't is back-up. There is no other direction, in life, or in this mythical story of Michigan vs. Ohio State; there is NO DIRECTION other than forward. Tomorrow, at noon eastern time, the next chapter is written. After the game, it will go into the past as a part of the myth written by THESE LEGENDS. Not the legends of past; they've had their shot. THESE LEGENDS will be the men who run under that banner on Saturday and play with a ferocity that you, or I, or anybody who has never participated in the myth will never know. These are the legends of 2009. These young men who get to directly experience something that many pay a good amount of money to simply watch.

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Tomorrow, young men will go to the stadium, like they have every other Saturday, and put on their armor. It marks the end for some. It marks the beginning for others.

These are your legends. These are the men with whom I take the field. It's stupid, I know, to think this way. Sports are like that. But when you watch these men, some over the course of 4 years, you feel like you know them a little bit. And you live and die with that. This is the end for Brandon Graham, Brandon Minor, Zoltan Mesko, and the one we call Coner. It's the beginning for Tate Forcier, Vincent Smith, Denard Robinson, and Roy Roundtree. Nothing changes about this game except that time forces it along it's way, establishing new legends, and new chapters to add to the voluminous history. This year might be tough, but this is my team, and once again I'm left with the simple conclusion:

You are Ohio State. And we're going to beat your ass.

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.

Wha Happened? Week Nine

RossWB — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:44:48 -0000

Sooo... that was an uneventful day in the Big Ten, right? A blowout here, an unexpectedly tight game there, wins by two of BHGP's favorite embattled coaches, and a flawless day of work by the league's refereeing and replay officials. Yep. Nothing to see here. Just the usual. But if you insist... here's Wha Happened.

Come to think of it: has anyone ever seen Batman and Ron Zook in the same place? HMM.

Illinois 38, Michigan 13
Not a dream, not a hoax, not an imaginary story -- Illinois really did crush a conference rival by 25 points. The same sad-sack Illini outfit that hadn't cracked 17 points in a single game against FBS competition this year scored more than that by the ten minute mark of the third quarter; then tacked on another 17 points because they were feeling frisky. Much-maligned (and deservedly so) Juice Williams had a quiet but efficient day passing the ball (8/11, 123 yards), but he took care of the ball (no turnovers) and he helped key an Illinois rushing attack that churned out 377 yards on 56 carries (Juice had 97 yards and a score on 21 attempts), numbers would that make even the potent Illinois rushing attack of 2007 envious. Jason Ford and Mikel Williams both finished with over 100 yards rushing, including a 70+ yard touchdown run by each man. This was a very nice and much-needed win for the embattled Zooker, which makes the BHGP joke writers (we pay them in collector's edition STANZI 4 HEISMANZI t-shirts) very pleased. But, hell, after the ongoing nightmare that this season has been, a win like this is a nice port in the storm; so sit back, relax, and do the Batusi, Ron -- for one night, you've earned it. Wha Happened? was all prepared to write the official obituary for the 2009 Illinois season as they became the first B10 team to clinch bowl ineligibility, but that will have to wait for at least one week.

Meanwhile, former wunderkind Tate Forcier continued his brutal October; he did go 13/23 for 257 yards, but he fumbled three times (losing two), failed to throw a touchdown pass, and failed to lead Michigan to touchdowns of any kind after the first quarter (and failed to lead them to any points whatsoever in the second half). In fact, Forcier hasn't thrown a touchdown pass since the end of the Michigan State game. Whether it's his ailing shoulder, the increasingly cold and nasty midwestern weather, or just the physical grind of Big Ten football on an undersized true freshman's body, Forcier's play has clearly taken a dip. That 4-0 start looks more and more like a mirage and with a pair of home games (against Purdue and Ohio State) sandwiched around a road game at resurgent Wisconsin, achieving more than a 6-6 record may be difficult for the LOLverines. Good thing it's a short road trip to Detroit for the Pizza! Pizza! Bowl.

Finally, a sad farewell to the gloriously-named Boubacar Cissoko, unceremoniously booted from the Michigan team earlier this week for the always-mysterious "violation of team rules" (BHGP theory: swindled Rodriguez out of seed money for City Boyz, Inc. 2.0); between this loss and the impending departure of Zoltan Mesko, Michigan is losing ground in the "totally awesome names" department. At least they still have Martavious Odoms.

Only a quarter as insane as this actual game.

Minnesota 42, Michigan State 34
If Iowa-Indiana wasn't the wildest Big 10 game of the day, then this one almost certainly takes that honor. Over 800 total yards of offense, 76 points, five touchdowns of longer than 30 yards, and, oh yeah, 17 penalties for 157 yards for Minnesota (they tacked on 9 penalties for 73 yards against Sparty; needless to say, the officials had some busy whistles). Absolute lunacy. And words can't even begin to describe how preposterous some of the touchdowns were: Minnesota opened up the scoring with a 62-yard bomb that featured Duane Bennett doing one of the best tightrope walks you'll ever see; Brandon Green followed that up by hauling in an acrobatic 37-yard score. MSU scored their first touchdown on one of the wackiest, most schoolyard-looking scramble-and-chuck-it-downfield plays. MSU then attempted to trump that by having Keshawn Martin rattle off a 93-yard kickoff return touchdown and an 84-yard rushing touchdown within a ten minute span in the third quarter. But the icing on the cake was Minnesota's clinching touchdown: Duane Bennett plucked the ball out of the air after the initial receiver, Nick Tow-Arnett, got cracked by brutal hit and coughed the ball up, then scooted 59 yards. Like I said: pre-fucking-posterous.

Meanwhile, the Iowa-Indiana game wasn't the only one that featured some questionable replay calls; moments before Minnesota's clinching touchdown, the replay booth inexplicably overturned a critical fumble call after a Minnesota receiver appeared to catch the ball, take 1-2 steps, and then get hit and fumble the ball. I have no idea what the replay official saw there to change that call. Regardless, Adam Weber had a career day -- 19/31, 416 yards, 5 TD/1 INT -- and the fact that this happened a week after he lost his safety blanket in Eric Decker seemed somehow appropriate on a thoroughly wild and woolly day of Big Ten action. A week after Ricky Stanzi made the Spartan secondary look good for 58:23, Adam Weber confirmed what we all knew to be true: they kinda suck. As for the rest of Spartans, it's hard not to look at the catastrophic opening of the game and not conclude that there was a hangover effect from the Iowa game a week ago; whether there was or not, they're 4-5 and may need to win out to guarantee themselves a bowl game (which could be tricky since they end the season against Penn State), which is not exactly how you want to follow up a 9-win campaign that finished up in the Capital One Bowl. All five of their losses have been by single digits, but close losses don't do anything but keep you up at night. But what to make of the TRY FIGHT WIN HEAVILY PENALIZED Gophers a week after losing their top offensive weapon (Decker) and nearly getting shut out in back-to-back games by Penn State and Ohio State (only a garbage-time touchdown against OSU's reserves prevented that ignominious fate)? Was this an aberration? A sign that the Gopher offense may not be quite as woeful as we thought? Considering that Weber hadn't thrown for a TD pass since the Wisconsin game 28 days ago and that he nearly doubled his season total for TD passes in one game, we lean towards the former explanation.

The Nittany Lion got moves, yo.

Penn State 34, just Northwestern 13
At halftime, jNWU was actually winning 13-10. After three quarters, the game was still tied, 13-13. Then came ~~STANZITIME~~, er, the fourth quarter and Penn State absolutely blew up, scoring touchdowns on three consecutive drives to take control of the game. Daryll Clark continued to cruise towards 1st-team All-Big Ten honors, going 22/31 for 274 yards and a touchdown; just another fine day at the office for him. Evan Royster tacked on 118 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries. The bad news from LOLcat land is that starting quarterback and existential warrior Mike Kafka left the game with a hamstring injury, which puts into doubt his availability for the Iowa game this coming weekend. Back-up Dan Persa wasn't bad, per se (14/23, 115 yards; 14 carries, 42 yards; 0 TDs), but he didn't exactly do much, either. Once again, the jNWU running backs were a no-show: their top two leading rushers were Persa and Kafka. Actual running backs ran the ball 14 times for 33 yards. These are not exactly the proud descendants of Darnell Autry, Damian Anderson, and Tyrell Sutton.

Is there anything that muppets don't make better? Of course not.

Wisconsin 37, Purdue 0
Two weeks ago, Purdue was on top of the world after engineering a wildly improbable upset over Ohio State. They followed that up with a tidy win over a reeling Illinois team. It's safe to say the honeymoon is over now. John Clay carried the load on offense (123 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries), a blocked punt returned for a touchdown late in the first half deflated Purdue, and the Badger defense squeezed the life out of Purdue, holding them to a measly 141 yards on 62 plays, or barely more than two yards a play. This was vintage, Alvarez-era Wisconsin football.

Honestly one of the first three returns on Youtube on a search for "new mexico state"; maybe they were just playing Ohio State in the wrong sport...

Ohio State 45, New Mexico State 0
Even this seemingly innocuous blowout is still further proof of what a thoroughly insane day it was in the Big Ten. When the fuck does Senator Sweatervest (who is now getting actual political advice from someone who knows a thing or two about moving from coach to politician) ever beat someone 45-0? Especially with an offense that, prior to the past few weeks, had been one of the most anemic offenses of the Sweatervest Era? Has Terrelle Pryor truly turned the proverbial corner? Well, let's not get too hasty -- he was just 11/23 for 135 yards and a touchdown, plus 83 yards and a touchdown on nine carries -- and New Mexico State (who, it should be noted, is not the New Mexico school with the "fists of fury" coach) does have one of the worst defenses in the nation. They also have one of the worst offenses in the nation, which is just making it a little too easy for the stout Buckeye defense; that said, anytime you can hold FBS competition to just 62 yards of total offense, well, you're doing something very, very right. Either way, Ohio State did exactly what a good team is supposed to do at home to a horrifically overmatched team: beat the everloving shit out of them.

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.

Mining the Box Score: MSU-Michigan Recap

KJ@theonlycolors — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:52:58 -0000

More photos » by Bill Fundaro - AP

As you may be aware, this was not the end of the play. When Mr. Caper reached the end zone, he had exceeded the collective output of Michigan's RBs in a single bound.

Browse more photos »

Box score is here.

Here's a stat for you: Through 55 minutes of football this afternoon, the Michigan State defense had held the Michigan offense to a total offensive output of 88 yards. Those 88 yards consisted of:

16 yards on 10 rushing attempts by Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor.
2 yards on 4 (nonsack) rushing attempts by Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson.
109 passing yards on 10-19 passing by Tate Forcier.
Negative 33 yards on 3 sacks.
Negative 7 yards on two miscellaneous plays (including a negative gain on a self-initiated Space Emperor rushing attempt).

(There's a missing yard there somewhere, perhaps due to rounding error. Football box scores are SO inelegant.)

Now, in the final 5 minutes of football, plus 5 untimed plays, Tate Forcier and company managed to nearly double that output, accumulating 166 yards on 3 possessions. Mr. Forcier was directly responsible for all but 1 of those yards, picking up 49 yards on 6 rushing attempts and throwing for 114 yards on 7-13 passing. The man (the 19-year old, 188-pound man) simply makes football plays when the situation calls for it.

Fortunately for us, the final play he made resulted in the ball coming to rest in Chris L. Rucker's hands. In his attempts to make things happen for the Wolverine offense, Forcier had floated a few passes on the final three drives. The MSU secondary was unable to make him pay until that final throw.

We'll wait for DrDetroit's defensive MSUFR to determine exactly what changed at the 5 minute mark of 4th quarter. (For as much as Pat Narduzzi's taken the brunt of the MSU fan base's anger over the last 3 weeks for being too stuck in his ways, I guess you have to give him credit for not falling back into a prevent defense. Straight 4-3 all the way. For whatever reason, it just didn't work.) But even taking into account Michigan's total offensive output for the day, you get numbers that look very encouraging relative to MSU's previous defensive efforts:

The table is courtesy of Doc Saturday (who shows one more sack than the official box score--presumably a QB run for a negative gain.). The Doctor:

But the Spartan defense deserves more credit than just bringing in the game-icing pick after falling apart at the end of regulation. Even if you weren't entirely sold on the Wolverines' September drive into the polls, you couldn't have guessed their return to earth would look like this. Seven first downs and negative rushing yards prior to the game-tying drive? One yard per carry by the No. 8 rushing offense in the country, against a defense that had been ripped for at least 400 yards and 29 points in three consecutive losses? Maybe you could see Michigan State winning -- the Spartans were slight favorites, weirdly -- but it was supposed to be by virtue of the emerging passing game, not by putting the Big Ten's top scoring offense in a strait jacket for the vast majority of the game.

The MSU defense racked up 10.0 tackles for losses in this game--5.5 of them by (7 different) defensive linemen. There's your stat of the game.

Things didn't exactly go to plan on the other side of the ball, either. The leading Spartan rusher/receiver was . . . a quarterback who played most of the game on a bad ankle (and didn't play much of the second half and OT). Kirk Cousins rushed for 95 yards on 5 (nonsack) attempts. Sadly, his longest gain of the day, 41 yards, was more or less wasted when MSU couldn't convert on 4th-and-4 in the 4th quarter, preceding the Forcier-led comeback. (Going for it was the right call IMO: MSU was kicking into the wind. I saw Brett Swenson make a 50+ yard attempt in halftime warmups, but it had a very low trajectory. A blocked FG is definitely not what you want at that point.)

For a guy with the rep of being a quick-release passer, Cousins held on to the ball a lot today. That led to some good things: the rushing yards and some big conversions on 3rd-and-long. But it also led to some bad things: 2 sack and the 2 interceptions (edit: "plus a lost fumble"), both of which resulted from a defender hitting Cousins' throwing arm.

Overall, the offensive play calling was on the conservative side--as if the coaching staff had built the game plan on the assumption they'd be playing in 3 hours of steady rain and didn't want to deviate from the plan. (As it turns out, fate did its best to smile on us and it rained mainly when Michigan had the ball late, not that it seemed to slow them down.) Larry Caper and Glenn Winston totaled 37 rushing attempts for a pedestrian 88 yards. (Well, the final 23 of those 88 yards weren't pedestrian). The two quarterbacks, meanwhile, attempted only 29 combined passes. Only two of those passing attempts resulted in gains longer than 20 yards--the longest being 27 yards to B.J. Cunningham. There wasn't much picking-on-the-non-Warren-CB action.

In the final analysis, all's well that ends well. And this one ended VERY well. Back-to-back wins against our friends from Ann Arbor for the first time since the LBJ administration. And a major leap forward defensively to build on going forward.

Other nuggets:

Keith Nichol was solid when he was called upon: 5-8 for 68 yards. The offense operated more seamlessly today when the QBs rotated in and out (presumably by necessity due to Cousins' ankle injury).
Aaron Bates matched the mighty Zoltan Mesko, as both averaged exactly 43.0 yards per punt. And Bates dropped 2 of his 3 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Eric Gordon: 8 tackes, 5 of them solo and 1.5 of them for a loss, and a forced fumble. All was as DrDetroit foresaw.
Greg Jones also posted 8 tackles (and recovered the fumble), but missed at least a few plays in the second half. Anyone know the story on that?
Almost a 2-1 edge in time of possession for MSU (39:46-20:14). Bizarre. And glorious.

P.S. With the prognosis for our football season being upgraded from "critical" to "serious but stable," the moving-on-to-basketball vibe should dissipate a bit. Nevertheless: We're just 13 days removed from the opening of hoops practice! Midnight Madness is Friday, October 16. Doors open at 9:30; the proceedings begin at 10:30. Special bonus proceeding this year: A Final Four banner will be hoisted. (The guys were presented with their Big Ten championship rings during the football game today.)

P.P.S. Speaking of basketball, do you remember when Tom Izzo addressed the Izzone a few years back and told them to knock off the R-rated stuff? Mark Dantonio needs to do the same thing with the football student section. (Issuing a press release doesn't do the job.) My 5-year old son went to the game with my wife and me and today. It was one thing to have to put up with the Michigan fan behind us who couldn't comment on any development in the game without using a profane descriptor. It'll be another thing when, at some point, he realizes 20,000 students at a research university are yelling, "First Down, B****!" 20 times per game. Beyond making the stadium a more hostile place for children, the whole thing certainly doesn't do anything to dispel the couch-burning, Appalachian-State-shirt-wearing, couldn't-get-into-Michigan stereotype of the MSU student body that circulates in many places. Personally, I'd much rather be known for traditions of the "It's a beeeeautiful day for football" and "See their team is WEEEEAKening" variety.

Unit by Unit: Breaking Down Michigan Football's Defense After Its Win Over Indiana

Maize n Brew Dave — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:30:16 -0000

Time for the second part of our Michigan Indiana Unit by Unit breakdown. Each week we take a hard look at the players and the coaches for each particular unit on the team, and bring them in for a pat on the back or a wag of the finger. After we've looked at each position, we'll give you a final wrap on the team's play on Offense and Defense (Special Teams too!). If you're looking for more detail, game bullets are here, the wrap up is here, the boxscore is here, the general AP recap is here, and the Unit by Unit Breakdown of the Offense is here. If you're looking to peruse the Michigan Official photos from the game, check out this. There are the links, so now let's take a good hard look at....

The Defense

He really could be yelling anything. Photo via John T. Greilick Detroit News.com

When anyone gives up 467 yards to Indiana, they should be concerned. When it's a young Michigan team who really needs its Defense to step up and keep a team below 30 points a game, it could be cause for alarm. However, with six trips inside the red zone, Indiana came away with 4 field goals and just one touchdown. On one hand, two of those field goals came on drives that totaled 34 yards. On the other, Indiana maintained drives of 80, 67, 52, and 70 yards and produced two touchdowns and a pair of field goals. Oh. And the defense gave up an 85 yard touchdown run. It was an odd, odd day. Michigan actually looked truly competent for most of the day, but made some horrible mistakes that cost them yardage at inopportune times. Deficiencies in the Secondary and at Linebacker continue to be exposed while the Defensive Line continues to grow and gain strength and depth. On second glance, the game wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, but it still wasn't good. Hopefully this will help to answer some of your questions and maybe allow you to throw out the brick you've stashed by the TV before you chuck it through the tube this Saturday by offering some reassurance that things might actually be okay in the long run

The Defensive Line

via John T. Greilick Detroit News.com

Hands down the best unit on the defense against Indiana. It wasn't even close. Despite getting just a single sack, I thought the line had one of it's stronger games. I was impressed to see the diversity of names up at the line. Brandon Graham, Ryan Van Bergen, Mike Martin, and Craig Roh all started, but Greg Banks, Renaldo Sagesse, and Brandon Herron all saw playing time. Where the defensive line depth was a serious cause for concern going into the season, a quarter of the way through, it's turning out to be one of our deepest units. I can't believe I'm typing that either. What Robinson has done with this unit borders on amazing. They're not world beaters yet, but they're not the gaping hole feared we might find. In fact, they're actually pretty good.

Brandon Graham was in Ben Chappell's face all day long. Usually double teamed, Graham would shed one or both of the blockers to either disrupt the play or make the tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage. He planted Chappell a milisecond after the QB released the ball on several occasions and was generally stout in the running game. There were, however, times that Indiana used his over aggressiveness to their advantage, and ran behind him. Even so, it's hard to find fault in his game. Graham racked up 6 tackles on the day and 1.5 of them of loss, a good number for a safety, let alone a lineman. All of that despite being blatantly held in every game so far. Regardless, he's still getting pressure. When his sacks start to come, they're going to come in bunches.

On the interior, it was a quiet day. Mike Martin, Greg Banks and Renaldo Sagesse all played well, with Martin leading the way. Martin was stout all day, and managed to shed the double teams for the occasional penetration into the backfield. But for the most part, with Indiana running to the corners or throwing on three step drops, his presence was largely in support. I was surprised to see Banks play as much as he has and be as effective in the middle as he has. Sagesse was only in for a handful of downs and didn't do anything to make me notice him. I point this out because Indiana spent the majority of their day running directly behind their left tackle and guard. They didn't seem afraid to run directly at Graham, though they did double him when they went his direction. The point is they avoided Martin like the plague.

(more after the Jump.......)

Ryan Van Bergen on the other hand, well, he had an interesting day. He was tipping passes, dropping into coverage, stuffing the run, missing a crucial assignment (or so he says), then singlehandedly destroying an Indiana drive. RVB is really a jack of all trades for Greg Robinson and his staff. They dropped him into coverage on the goal line successfully. They send him after the QB and he gets a sack at two PBUs. They tell him to stack the line, he ends up with six tackles. RVB was active most of the game, but seemed to disappear in terms of results for long stretches. Then he got mad. He got us the ball.

Outside, Craig Roh (mostly) and Brandon Herron (some) had an okay day. Roh continues to use his speed to get into the opposing backfield, but sometimes overruns or over pursues a tad. In my notes I only mention Roh and Herron twice, however, I know that Roh dropped off into coverage relatively well, and Herron made some nice stops in run support.

Overall, it was a good day from the line, but I am concerned about some of the cavernous holes that opened up on the right side of the defensive front. Indiana cleared a couple of pretty big holes for their backs to run through, so I'm sure there's work to be done. Of course, those holes are supposed to be filled by linebackers so...

The Linebackers

via David Guralnick Detroit News.com

Yeah. Where do I go with this one? Let's be honest, anyone not named Stevie Brown has been a little bit (sometimes a lot) of a disappointment. Over the last four weeks the play of the linebackers has broken down into a couple of steady themes. Ezeh and Mouton are not good in pass coverage. Brown is still a little too small for the position. Ezeh doesn't attack the ball carrier and lets the action come to him. Mouton has horrible angles in pursuit and attack. Apply these tenants to any game this season. They'll explain the linebacker play perfectly.

If there's a caveat, it's this: Stevie Brown never should've been a safety. He should've been a linebacker from day one. Since the first game of the season I think it's safe to say the Brown has been Michigan's best linebacker. He's excellent in pass coverage (never in a million, billion years did I ever think I'd say that). He's aggressive at the point of attack and drives into the guy he's tackling. He's wrapping up his tackles and driving MFers to the dirt. He's fast sideline to sideline. Finally, he's brought some stability to a unit that otherwise would probably be an unmitigated disaster without him. I'll give Robinson credit, Brown's emergence as our best linebacker is the single most impressive thing he's done with any one player on this defense. I thought Stevie was excellent on Saturday and shed blockers well and got after the QB and running backs as well as any Michigan linebacker since David Harris' departure.

Jonas Mouton's day was a little more difficult to figure out. It seems he alternates great plays with bad ones from time to time, but has stretches of good play that vary as the game goes on. I'm not an authority on schemes and assignments, so I can only comment on what I see from the plays that are made, but more often than not Mouton is in the right place to make a play. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. Mouton's biggest weakness right now seems to be his angles. Rewatching the game, when Mouton is pursuing at an angle or covering in one, he's usually off target. His pass defense also seems shaky. In zone and man, Mouton didn't look good, which is weird to say about a guy who used to be a safety. Both Mouton and Ezeh had an awful time adjusting to simple crossing routes by Indiana's big n' slow receivers and tight ends. On the other hand, Mouton was fairly solid in run support. When he can run straight line at someone, oh baby. Mouton made several good run support tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage. Looking at his 11 tackles (5 solo, 6 assists), I was surprised he only had .5 tackles for loss. He also looked great applying pressure on the blitz. Still, his angles on the option looks were atrocious and I tagged him for mistakes on both early Indiana touchdowns. Then on one of Indiana's FG drvies in the redzone he makes up for it by reading the play properly and tagging the QB. It was a mixed bag, but this was one of his better games this season. He's not great, or really even good, right not. He's passable with the potential to be good. I'm not going to go so far as to label his season a flop or a regression, or anything like that. I just don't think he was that good last season, and is still playing like a guy that's learning his position. He showed some good things on Saturday. He's getting away from arm tackles and is made some authoritative stops. But he's got to be better in pass coverage and in attack for this defense to get better.

As for Ezeh, he wasn't good against Indiana. The boxscore has him at ten tackles, but I think that's generous. Very generous. As stated above and in previous Unit by Unit wrap ups, Ezeh has a nasty habit of letting contact come to him. As a result, when he makes a solo tackle the RB, QB, TE or WR drags him for another 3 yards. This is not a good thing. Every time I mentioned Ezeh in my notes it was not for a good reason. On one of the redzone touchdowns and the 85 yard run, I noted that Ezeh allowed himself to get sealed off by the linemen without much resistance. In both cases he was late reacting to the play. The place where he's most effective is rushing the passer, something he really wasn't able to do as much because Robinson was sending Jordan Kovacs on safety blitzes most of the day to cover up for his lack of coverage speed. Kind of a no win for Ezeh. As a result of Kovacs at the line, Ezeh was back in pass coverage where he's only moderately effective. It appeared he did have a nice breakup, but I'm crediting Brown with ripping out the ball out of the receivers hands. Ezeh got sucked up on too many play action passes and left the middle of the field open on a couple of occasions. When he needed to make a tackle, he whiffed on an arm tackle or got dragged along. Really, it was a rough day. How he got to 10 tackles is beyond me, and maybe the scorer just gave an assist to him because they saw him on the top of a bunch of gang tackles. But I thought he was the least fundamentally sound of the group.

The Secondary

Donovan Warren = Awesome.

The Rest = Meh

Warren was terrific in coverage and run support all game. His only mistake was one blown tackle. I think he more than made up for that. With regard to the interception, when first saw the play, I was positive they were going to overturn it. When it was upheld, I thought Indiana got hosed. I've since loosened on that conviction. None of the replays are conclusive, and the Big Ten Network explained in detail that possession between receiver and DB isn't a reviewable issue. Also, this photo from UMGoBlog.com made me change my mind on the issue.

Warren's got the ball and possession. Blecher missed it and is reaching back. As an added bonus, there was a referee in centerfield, less than five yards away who saw the whole thing right in front of his eyes. Maybe this couldv'e gone either way, but the ref's location and these photos make me think Warren caught it, and Blecher was trying to rip it out.

Now, other than Warren, it was a shaky day. Boubacar Cissoko got yanked in favor of J.T. Floyd for some horrible coverage and some terrible decisions in goal line defense. Boo Boo inexplicably ran inside on the option TD, freeing up the sideline for Indiana to waltz in. And this was after getting burnt crispy on a "go" route that didn't feature a single move and one that he had a ten yard cushion on at the snap! I think the poor kid's got the "yips" something bad right now after getting torched by Notre Dame and getting a couple of inexplicable flags in the EMU game. He just don't look right out there and it was a good call by the coaching staff to sit him.

In his stead, J.T. Floyd had a rough start but seemed to get better as the game went on. Everyone was yelling about how the ball was uncatchable on his PI call, but face it folks, J.T. had enough jersey in his hands to be a post-game sorority girl. They were calling the obvious hold, which is a hold regardless of where the ball is, whether they called it PI or not. However, after the PI call, I thought he played pretty well. I don't think he's got the wheels to keep up with elite receivers, but after MSU and Regis Benn, there really aren't a lot of top flight receivers on our schedule. He got bowled over on an early tackle, but after that point he just stoned people. The best tackle of the year, so far, was his pile driving of an Indiana receiver short of the first down marker on a third down in the redzone. Floyd should be adequate if Boo Boo continues to struggle and I thought he had a decent game after some early nerves.

At safety, it's clear we need Michael Williams back. Jordan Kovacs was at the line of scrimmage almost the whole day, more to cover up for his lack of speed in coverage than for any other reason. That said, he acquitted himself well in the run game, getting behind the line and making some stops. The one thing he lacks is speed. He's just not that fast and all the Barwis in the world ain't going to change that. He's been great as a walk-on. Honestly, he's been better than our safeties last year. But Michigan's going to have to have speed in the secondary to continue to win and Kovacs doesn't have it.

Frankly, I'm still in shock that Darius Willis outran the entire Michigan secondary for that TD. Yikes. Hopefully it's a bit of a wake up call for the boys in the backfield.

At the other safety position, I thought Troy Woolfolk played fine. He bit on one or two play actions, but otherwise was stout in the passing game. There's not much else I can add to that as he was playing deep the majority of the game to guard against the big play. Something I suspect we'll see from him again this week against Michigan State.

The secondary gave up a lot of yards, but most of them came on underneath routes that the Linebackers have to be better at covering. For the most part, the deep coverage was there and they group forced a number of throw aways by Chappell. It wasn't a great performance by any stretch, but it was enough considering Kovacs was in and Boo Boo seems to be having some problems. Still, the secondary is going to have to play considerably better against MSU for Michigan to have a chance.

The Special Teams

via John T. Greilick Detroit News.com

Surprisingly, the best unit on the field for Michigan was it's kick off return team. Darryl Stonum has been a revelation returning kick-offs and came close to breaking two or three touchdown runs. No matter where he got the ball, he was getting to the 30 or better. Compare that to any point last year. His worst return got to the 26. Two returns went past the 40, six total went to the 30 or better. I mean, damn, son. Give credit where credit is due to the return team. They were excellent.

Punt returns continue to be consistently non-turnoverish. I'll take fair catches any day on bad punts. I'm sure if Mathews thinks he's got something he'll run it back, but right now holding onto the ball and not screwing up are enough for me. It should also be noted that the block team almost got one against Indiana. Michigan's going to get to a punt soon. Mark it.

Speaking of punts, Zoltan Mesko was awesome (per usual). A 48.1 average, two inside the 20 and a 59 yarder? So awesome. His punts were so awesome that only one of seven allowed a return. During the second half his punts pinned IU deep in their own territory and helped shift the field of play in Michigan's favor. All Hail the Space Emperor.

Our coverage teams were fairly good, though Michigan did require a shoestring tackle by Bryan Wright to save a TD on a kickoff. That excluded, everyone was disciplined and played well. Overall a great special teams weekend.

Lessons in Youth, Patience, and Determination: Michigan Football tops Indiana 36-33

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:16:22 -0000

When the pass left Tate's hands I didn't think it had a prayer. After of day of misfires and mistakes, watching the ball spiral toward a receiver well out of the camera's view filled me with an awful trepidation. It looked under thrown. Tate was hurt. He was walking around the field turf gingerly holding his right arm so as not to make any unnecessary movements. Yet, despite the obvious pain in his throwing shoulder, there he was throwing deep on third down. Balls out. Going for it all.

Nine months earlier against Indiana a similar story unfolded. Missed chances. An inexplicably inept offense that looked like a world beater not two weeks earlier. A porous defense that couldn't stop the conference's worst offense from scoring at will. Michigan was clinging to the ropes in a game that, on paper, shouldn't have been close. And as the clock quickly ticked toward nothingness, another iceberg cold shooter lifted up for one more triple in an attempt to tie the game. When I saw Laval Lucas-Perry launch it, I was certain it would be yet another brick in the bunker Michigan had been building all night. But, dammit all, if Michigan was going down, they were going down firing.

And the ball hung up there. Seemingly forever. Gliding down on its arc toward its destination. It going to be short. No. Maybe its got a chance. It's almost there. Oh god.....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Just like that the fortunes of an afternoon seemed to shift. Michigan was back on top or tied. They could win this one. Then it hit you. The defense had to make a stop. The same defense that had been gashed on the corners, up the middle, on basic screen plays, for long bombs. The defense would have to be the difference after a day it would rather forget. But then, 25 seconds later, a 15 footer bounced harmlessly off the rim and Donovan Warren broke on the ball a step quicker than Damarlo Belcher and Michigan had escaped with a win it really shouldn't have wrested away.

(more after the Jump....)

Saturday's contest against Indiana was not a pretty one, or one that people will want to look back on as a shining example of Michigan excellence. It was ugly. Defensively, Michigan received an all around torching at the hands of one the Big Ten's historically most inept offenses. Indiana averaged 6 yards a carry, and 13 yards a completion. The Hoosiers took every inch of ground the Wolverines soft coverage allowed them and exploited Michigan's linebackers in the run game. With that, Indiana still mounted drives of 11 and 12 plays in the second half. During the first half, the Defense was run ragged by the Indiana offense, surrendering 23 points and allowing Indiana to control the ball for over 18 minutes. Then there was shifting away from Indiana's 85 yard fourth quarter touchdown run.

The Offense, after two quick scores, immediately went to sleep. Horrid snaps that killed drives. Drops. Bad reads and throws. Fumbles and interceptions. Shelving Carlos Brown despite gaining over 100 yards in his first four series. Indiana danced all over the Michigan backfield, amassing an incredible 7 tackles for loss including two sacks. The offense seemed to be outsmarting itself, passing when it didn't need to and abandoning its running backs for prolonged stretches of time.

Yet, Michigan was never out of the game and never outside of a touchdown from the lead.

For all the errors and frustrations, Michigan answered its mistakes with stellar individual efforts. Ryan Van Bergen emerged in the second half as a force in Indiana's backfield, picking up a crucial sack and nearly picking off an Indiana screen. Zoltan Mesko single handedly shifted the playing field, pinning Indiana deep in its own territory on nearly every occasion. Tate Forcier overcame his worst game to date in the passing game by scrambling for first downs, touchdowns, and to make time in the passing game. Donovan Warren, well, you know. Martavious Odoms adjusting to Tate's final throw for a touchdown he never would have caught a year earlier. And Carlos Brown being the guy we all knew he could be.

And then there were the team victories. When it mattered both the offensive and defensive lines stiffened. Walk-ons and no-names stepped into vacancies left by four and five star injuries and performed admirably. Michigan's defense allowed Indiana only 3 points from Indiana's second half trips into Michigan's red-zone. On offense, when it mattered, Michigan marched 52 yards in 8 plays for the game winning touchdown, sealing it in dramatic fashion.

It was exhilarating and exhausting all at once. Constant frustration matched with heart pounding excitement. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Saturday Michigan was supposed to take care of business. They were supposed to play the way we've built them up in our minds to play.

Just like January 7, 2009, Michigan isn't there yet. A big win here and there had us believing they're a team they haven't grown up enough yet to be. Michigan is a good young team with plenty of potential. We've seen glances of that potential and on Saturday we finally saw full view just how young they are. On Friday we were debating rankings, bubbles, brackets, and bowls. On Monday we're wiping away beads of sweet realizing we dodged a bullet we were too cocky to notice was heading our way.

But LLP's shot still found the twine, even if it bounced around on the rim before finally heading through; and Tate's pass found Odom's waiting fingers when it mattered. This Michigan team, like its basketball brethren, will not give up. They are a determined bunch. Injuries, mistakes, and tough competition may bring out their youth. But it will also bring out their best. They showed that on Saturday.