There are a lot of things that go through your head after the final game of the year. Usually those thoughts comprise of "what if's." But not on Saturday. While I was disappointed by Michigan's 21-10 loss to Ohio State, our sixth straight loss to our rivals, I thought the team played well. Our much maligned defense gave up only 14 points and generally looked competent the entire game. Our offense put up decent numbers, and in spite or a nightmare inducing day from Tate Forcier, moved the ball on a pretty good defense. I saw progress, and that was sufficient for me to release my normal post game neuroses to the winds. I mean, prior to the game, I thought we'd lose by four touchdowns. As a result, my thoughts on the game itself were relatively clear.

However, as I made the long trek up the stadium to exit, I looked back at the Big House and saw something that I'm not likely to forget or forgive. A sea of red. Ohio State fans everywhere. In front, in back, to the sides, across the bowl. All singing their fight song in the Big House, on senior day, as our players walked off the turf for the last time.

That was inexcusable.

If you are a season ticket holder who sold your tickets to Ohio State fans, or put them up for auction on a non-Michigan ticket site, you should have your season tickets revoked. What I saw in our stadium on Saturday was horrifying. Looking at the DVR when I got home the stadium was equal parts red and maize.

How? Why? What could possibly possess you to sell your OHIO STATE MICHIGAN tickets to an OSU fan? I don't care about selling your tickets for  Michigan State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, or any other opponent in the Big Ten. With MSU and Notre Dame there are so many familial ties between the schools that it is inevitable that a few will get in. With the rest, they don't travel well enough for it to matter. And frankly, those games don't mean that much. They are not Ohio State.

For the Michigan fans who stood fast, held your tickets, and cheered for this team through thick and thin, I commend you. You are part of the reason why this program will remain strong and return to its rightful place in college football.

For the Michigan "fans" who sold your tickets to OSU fans, shame on you. You are the worst type fair weather fan. Don't give me the "I was making a statement about Rodriguez" crap either. You sold out your team. You sold it down the river to the Devil himself. You let our seniors walk out of the Big House to the strains of Carmen Ohio rather than the Victors. You allowed OSU fans to chant "O-H" the entire game. You allowed the noise on the field to be just as bad for our offense as it was for OSU's.

For what? So you could feel you made a statement? Congrats. The statement you made is "I'm a fair weather fan and unwilling to face reality." Michigan is going through a trying time right now. It's in transition to a modern offense and trying to make up for years upon years of neglect on the defensive side of the ball. These things do not correct themselves in a year. Worse, by selling your tickets to OSU fans, you undercutour recruiting! That game was one of the most important recruiting days of the year, almost twenty high calibre recruits were in attendance, and you let OSU fans in the House?

If you are still calling for Rodriguez' head, you are oblivious to the facts before you. This site and many others have chronicled the disaster Carr left Rodriguez on the defensive side of the ball. Even ESPN has realized this.

1. Todd McShay told me that Michigan will have two players drafted in April, same as last April. Among the Wolverine juniors this season, only Donovan Warrenhas attracted attention vis-à-vis the 2011 draft. That would be five draftees over three seasons. The fewest any Michigan coach(es) has had over a three-year period is nine from 1984-86. The point? Rich Rodriguez’s biggest problem isn’t fitting in at Michigan. It’s talent. All of his is young.  - Ivan Maisel

Rodriguez has had onefull recruiting class that was his. One. His next class is loaded with the top quarterback in America, five defensive backs, linemen, linebackers and speed. Our offense has improved by leaps and bounds this year with freshmen leading the way. Are you, Mr. Sell-My-Tickets-To-OSU-Fans, so impatient that you can't wait two years to be back on top of the football universe? Are you so blind that you can't see Rodriguez history of success and leadership? Are you so blind as not to see the utter disaster that he inherited?

Why am I asking this? Of course you are. You see a young team with obvious flaws and weaknesses and expect it to win a national championship. Well, I can't help you. You're on your own.

Say what you want to make yourself feel better. Tell me in the comments I have no right to say this sort of thing. Do what you have to.

All I know is that I stayed and cheered for our seniors. And you abandoned them. 

Dear Morons,

I have to thank you. Really. I do. You see, over the last three months I'd been worn down to the point of exhaustion. I was done.  Despite a 4-0 start that I knew was too good to be true, I became optimistic and vulnerable. So vulnerable in fact that I was willing to believe that a defense comprised of bubble gum, spit, and WD40 might be able to stop the inept offensive attacks of perennial bottom feeders like Indiana, Purdue and Illinois. I paid dearly for this belief.

I didn't want to write anything. What more could I say or write that hadn't been said in the previous weeks? The offense was good, the defense was bad, we lost a close (or not so close) game. I typed that over and over again as the weeks went on. And I got tired of typing it.

I also got tired of explaining over and over again that the defense was not stocked with talent, despite what we wanted to believe. How many different times could you say our starting linebackers never played linebacker until they got to college? It just got to be too repetitive. There was nothing new to write, no new thought to contribute, no outcome worth dissecting. I was done with the football season and ready to let it fade into Bolivian.

And then you opened your mouths. Trying to create something out of nothing. Calling our coach a bitch. Insulting the fanbase. Opining on the inner workings of our athletic department without a clue about what you were talking about. Acting like a malcontent child who got his way for the first time in his life and doesn't know what to do with himself.

You could've stuck to the facts. You could've pointed out the holes in our recruiting. The Defense's inability to guard against the run or the pass. And you could've walked away with a smile on your face, knowing you'd won a game against a team that has repeatedly beat your ass into the ground over the decades, and watched us tear ourselves down. You could've done that.

But you didn't.

You had to keep poking the bear. One more jab. One more snide comment. One last "OMG DICK ROD SUX HUR HUR!" Teh Fall of teh prideful! w00t!

So, thank you. Thank you for reminding me why I chose to attend Michigan over that glorified disco with books that stole your money for six years. Thank you for reminding me just how awesome it is to have guys like Desmond, Woodson, Woodley, Graham, Brady, and so many others wear our uniform. Thank you for reminding me just how much you wish you had our Big Ten Titles (42), All Americans (77), National Championships (11), and national name recognition. Thank you for reminding me that despite the last two seasons, Michigan's won three Big Ten Titles this decade while most of you were picking your nose and lying on your eHarmony applications. Thank you for reminding me why we're better than you.

You see, it's not just the winged helmets or the stadium that could engulf yours while still leaving enough space for Rutgers entire fanbase. It's more than that. It's the knowledge that no matter how bad things get with Rodriguez, they'll get better again, whether he's at the helm or not. We'll get back to recruiting the best players in the country. We'll still fill 108,000+ into our stadium every game. We'll still be the national game of the week while you're on ESPNU. We'll get back to 9, 10, 11, and possibly 12 win seasons again. Consistently. We'll get back kicking your ass all over the Big Ten. It's just a matter of time.

And you know it.

You know, I could've wallowed in self pity for a while and forgotten all of that. But you, you clueless toolbags, you reminded me of all this because you couldn't keep your mouths shut. So bear all your hubris in mind when you're down four touchdowns and the visiting Michigan faithful cheering "The Victors" drown out that circus harpsichord you call your band.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,

The Entire Maize n Brew Staff

Quit cryin' baby. Zack's back. I told you I'd be back. I just had to go for a while. But I'm back now and everythin's all right.

Now what's all this nonsense about football? Baby, you're talking giberish. That don't matter now. White Moses is here to part your seas and lead you back to the promised land. That's right baby, we talking postseason. That beautiful place where the streets are paved in diamonds, every car is up on dubs, and they serve lobster with every steak. There are napkins also. That's where I'm takin' you.

So stop your sobbin and fall into Honky Magic's ten foot arms, baby. You know that's where you want to be. When I'm rockin the rim and makin sweet love to the crowd with a fade-away trey, you're not even going to remember what a football looks like.

All you'll remember is that silky white flash as I explode toward a sexy dunk that leaves your legs tremblin. You can see me now, can't you. Arms up above my head, cradling that basketball like I cradle you, poised and ready for the finish.

That's right, baby. Zack Daddy's back. And he's going to make it all better.

More photos » by TONY DING - AP

Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez, right, talks with defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

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One of the cool yet often frustrating aspects of running a blog about Michigan sports is that, occassionally, people mistake you for an expert on Michigan related things. I, and all of us really, are not experts. We're just people with too much free time and a hobby that takes away from our loved ones. It's basically like a hard drug addiction, but without the physical costs to your circulatory and nervous systems. Same social costs and the same deminishing returns. Especially during seasons like 2008 and 2009. But I digress.

Over the last six weeks I've spoken with a lot of people about the state of the team. Everyone wants to no one thing, why can't this team stop anyone? We're Michigan, right? Shouldn't we be playing better? I mean, they're Michigan recruits. Top of the line! It's gotta be the coaching. Change the coaching. Shapren the pitchforks. Light the torches. It's time for a burnin'.

Young and old alike have watched this team consistently make the exact same mental mistakes that cost them games last year. And they've had it. People are getting pissed. But what's the answer? Is it the coaches? Is it the players? Is it the general bloody mindedness of the universe?

The easy answer is a little bit of all three. The convient answer is coaching. But neither are correct. Michigan's defensive problems go much, much deeper than that. In each of the last three years Michigan has seen the same bugaboos on defense. Poor tackling. Bad angles. One or two superstars and a bunch of guys that look lost. This year is no different, on the field at least.

At the end of the 2008 season Michigan cut loose Scot Shafer, a respected and up and coming caoch before he arrived in Ann Arbor, partly as a scape goat but also for fielding a defense week in week out that can best be equated to defending Rome from the Barbarian hordes with the cast of RENT. I was one of Shafers most vocal critics last season. I was one of the first to call for blood. And in hindsight, I was wrong.

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More photos » by Tony Ding - AP

Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez shouts words of encouragement to his players . (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

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November is an odd month. Some years it is the most miserable 30 days on the calendar. Others, you think it was June and summer was around the corner. This year seems to be a combination of the two, and Saturday provided us with one of the most beautiful November days I've seen in Ann Arbor since I first set foot on campus in 1994.

Unfortunately, the weather was the only thing I could compliment on Saturday.

Despite a 14 point halftime lead, Michigan allowed 21 unanswered points to Purdue en route to a heartbreaking 38-36 loss. Well, "heartbreaking" probably isn't the proper word. "Maddening" is. Despite throttling the Boilermakers in the first half, the Wolverines allowed poor play and decision making to cost them a game they should've won. There's little more to it than that.

We can go into great detail about the colossal pooch screwing that occurred when Michigan fumbled at its own 19 yard line. Or about the 91 yard drive immediately following Michigan's follow up score. Or the blown onsides kick. Or the inexcusable screw up that allowed a 54 yard touchdown on a play action pass.

GaaaaaaaaaaaH!

(more after the jump)

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More photos » by TONY DING - AP

about 1 month ago: FILE -- This is a Sept. 19, 2009, file photo showing Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier (5) embracing offensive lineman David Molk (50) after an NCAA college football game against Eastern Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez says center David Molk is out for the season after tearing a ligament in his right knee against Penn State. (AP Photo/Tony Ding, File)

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For all the grinding and gnashing of teeth I've read and heard since Saturday, you'd think the rapture had occurred. It seems as though the rest of the Big Ten was taken in a divine light, leaving only Michigan to contend with the SEC and other evils left on this world.

Not so much. Saturday sucked. But the reality is Saturday's Michigan loss to Penn State was not unlike other games or years we've seen as Michigan fans. Michigan got thumped by a better team. Penn State's defense was far better than we were willing to give it credit for, and their Defensive Tackles and Linebackers ate our average offensive line for lunch. Darryl Clark was a far better passer and game manager against Michigan than I, personally, gave him credit for. Michigan also shot itself in the foot with drops, stupid penalties, drops, a safety inducing bad snap and more drops.

It was ugly. But we've seen just as bad or worse.

If you're looking for a parallel, don't look at 2008. That's not a particularly apt analogy. Look at Game 2 of 2007. Yes. The season we'd all like to forget. The Oregon game. If you're looking for a game where Michigan came out of the tunnel gamely, put seven points on the board, then collapsed like a New Orleans levy against stiff breeze, that's the one. Saturday's Penn State game wasn't even close to that. Oregon dominated every last aspect of that game in a manner that completely eclipsed the loss to Penn State.

Even worse. Look at the Iowa game in 2002, when Michigan lost 34-9. I have no clue how we got 9 points. None. They should've deducted points from Michigan's score. Then there was the 2007 Ohio State game. Or, look back to Donovan McNabb steamrolling the Wolverine defense in 1999. Even a moment's reflection reveals this sort of thing has happened before. It's happened to good teams as well as bad ones. So please, let's not act like Michigan never lost a game in poor fashion before Rodriguez showed up on the sidelines.

The sad reality is that this isn't a very good football team. Sure there are some exciting players. Sure there is talent. But this is the same team that went 3-9 last year, only it's a year older and starting sometimes two freshmen quarterbacks. The same defensive and offensive liabilities still exist. The difference is, this year, we're beating teams we're supposed to beat. We're just not ready to beat teams we shouldn't.

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We're two days away from the Michigan Penn State Game, and dammit, we're excited here at Maize n Brew. In the interest of gaining as much inside information as possible, we tracked down Mike from Black Shoe Diaries at his bunker in northern Siberia and forced him to answer some questions. Well. Not really. Mike tracked me down and roused me from my two week slumber and forced me to talk about Michigan. He also had me sign all sorts of papers, including something in hindsight I'm certain was a power of attorney. I'll deal with that later...

Mike's posted my answers over at Black Shoe Diaries for the Penn State crazies to pick apart. So now's my turn. Here's all you intel on Penn State.

On to the Questioning!!

Maize n Brew Dave: Injuries are going to play a big part in this game. Is Sean Lee actually going to play on Saturday? Who else is banged up for Penn State and who, if anyone, is out for the game?

MnB Dave: How good a feel do you have for this year's Nittany Lion Squad? We all knew there'd be turnover this year, but I've seen so many different things out of PSU (good and bad) that I really don't know how to gauge them. At 6-1, Penn State has only one marquee game on the resume and that was a loss at home. Minnesota and Temple are arguably your best wins (both at 4-2). Are you satisfied that you know what to expect game in, game out from this squad?

MnB Dave: I have to do this. Why do Penn State fans call one win a "streak"?

(more questioning after the jump....)

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More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

2 months ago: Iowa's Tony Moeaki (81) runs for a 34-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter of this NCAA college football game against Michigan, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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When I saw a clearly distraught Denard Robinson collapse onto David Moosman following Michigan's fifth and final turnover Saturday night, my frustration and anger disappeared. I simply couldn't be angry or disappointed anymore.  After years of watching Michigan, sometimes emotionlessly, drop close games, I've been programmed to go into a deep funk lasting several days. I'd watch Henne, Brady, Navarre, Henson, or whomever else slowly walk off the field  unbuckling their chinstraps with their heads down or stare onto the field in a vacant trace with mouth wide open search for something to say. It was business. It was over. Onward to the next game, meeting, scrimmage, etc. It's over. Move forward.

This was something new to me. I saw a small glimpse of it last week when Tate Forcier threw what in hindsight was not a bad pass to a covered Marataveous Odoms. On the pattern, Odoms shirt was grabbed just as the ball left Forcier's hand, pulling him back and giving MSU's safety a slingshot towards the ball Odoms would normally have caught. When it was over and MSU hand come down with the ball, Tate lied there on the field turf, obviously upset with himself and distraught, until a hand from one of his linemen lifted him up. As if to say "Come on kid, we're with you."

But this week it truly set in. When Denard's final pass ended up in the wrong hands, though his eyes were obscured by the mask he wears everyday in practice and games, I knew they were filled with tears of regret and disappointment. Turning to his left, Robinson looked as though he was looking for a place to bury his head, to find a place for his own misery in that moment. This was new to me. This was not the vacant stare I remembered and the internalization of pain that I so often saw from Michigan's quarterbacks. Robinson was visibly crushed by his mistake. And as the freshman turned to either collapse or stumble off to the sideline, David Moosman was there to hold him up.

In that moment of disappointment, this Michigan team became something more than wins and losses.

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In a world devoid of news, we make our own. After much deliberation and tireless research, Hawkeye State of Black Heart gold Pants and I have decided to launch yet another interwebz podcast. We'll talk Michigan Iowa, the Big Ten Slate, and mock each other's cultural heritage. Should be a good time. We're on TalkShoe tonight at 7:30PM CST. Call in's are welcome, so if you've got praise for me or something nasty to say about Iowa, by all means call in.

Here's the link:

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=66148&cmd=tc

Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 66148

We have no idea how badly this little trainwreck is going to turn out, so that means nothing but fun for you. Everyone likes watching a trainwreck. So join us at 7:30 for an hour of your life you'll never get back, talking Big Ten football.

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)

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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.