Dead Coach Walking?

It's not possible to overstate just how incredibly bad the Michigan defense played the night before Halloween. A team that was averaging 109 yards rushing per game got 109 in the first half. A team that had been averaging 344 yards of total offense got 435. A team that had been out gained by 80 yards by the hapless Minnesota Golden Gophers out gained the vaunted Michigan offense. A team that had been averaging 20 points per game, scored 41 and ended the game by taking a knee inside the Michigan five-yard line. And they did this with a third-string walk-on QB and a patchwork offensive line, and without the aid of any turnovers.
This offensive explosion from a team that has one of the worst offenses in the league, when healthy, came on the heels of a series of position moves during the bye week that were eerily similar to the changes in the defense made before the Purdue game in 2008, when Michigan played a 3-3-5 for the first time all year and a backup running back turned QB torched Michigan for a bazillion yards and more points than Purdue had scored all year. Just like that game, the Michigan defenders looked lost, and constantly out of position. It was a coaching failure of the highest order. It has become clear the Rich Rod knows only slightly more about defense than I do, and doesn't have the faintest clue how to go about teaching it to young players. Which is really a shame, considering he knows more about the spread offense than anyone coaching today. We have the worst defense in the league, and the best offense.

So was this game the tipping point for Rich Rod? Depends on who you ask. Some were ready to get rid of him when he quoted the Lion King at his opening press conference. For some it was the loss to Toledo. For the first time, I think, more than 50% of the fanbase think its time for a change. For me it was the MSU loss this year, although it took until this game for me to accept it. Although I recognize the beauty of his offense and know that if he stays we will have an Oregon like offense if not next year than the year after it, I can't get past the lack of any defensive fundamentals, the poor personnel decisions (Marell Evans anyone?), and the complete tailspin they've gone in for three straight years. There is still time to turn this season around, but we've seen no evidence that Rich Rod's teams are capable of that.

Other random thoughts:
-Mark Dantonio showed his true stripes (win-at-all-costs), I'm glad the mainstream media is finally picking up on that. Hey Mark, if you want to be a father figure to these kids (your words, not mine), try acting like a father. If you tell a kid the consequences of bad behavior is a certain punishment, and then you don't follow through with the punishment when they do that bad behavior, they learn not to listen to you, or believe you when you tell them there will be dire consequences if they mess up.
-How the hell did Texas beat Nebraska?
-All of a sudden, West Virginia has fallen off the map. I wonder if they might be willing to take Rich Rod back? Maybe we could work out a sign and trade.
-That Iowa collapse against Wisconsin last week is looking like it might be the pivotal game in the Big Ten race this year. Iowa looked very good against MSU and has a decent chance of beating OSU in two weeks. But even if they run the table, if Wisconsin also runs the table, they are out of luck for the Rose Bowl.
-Tulsa? Seriously, Tulsa?!? Is this why you decided to stay an independent?
-The story about the Notre Dame student killed while filming football practice is tragic, and his tweets were especially haunting. This accident is gonna cost the university a ton of money, and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of heat comes on Brian Kelly because of it.
-The Cal scoring streak continued, blows out teams at home, gets blown out on the road - they lost at Oregon State 35-7. They travel to Washington State, so a continuation of the trend would be quite shocking. They close the season with home games against Oregon, Stanford, and Washington.

Bye Week This and That

In no particular order:
-Raise your hand if you wrote down Missouri, Oregon, Auburn and Michigan State at the start of the year as the last remaining unbeatens from the BCS conference. Liar.
-If there are any Rich Rod critics out there who still believe that his offense "won't work on a big stage", please note that three of those four teams run versions of his offense. That and the fact that Northwestern has run the offense successfully for ten years with less talent than just about anyone in the league. His problem ain't offense, it's everything else.
-I didn't see any of the MSU/Northwestern game, and only heard a few minutes of it on the radio as we were running errands, but it seems to me that road wins against winning conference teams where you come back from a 17-0 deficit are one of the requirements for a championship season.
-MSU can almost print their tickets for Pasadena. With Iowa's loss to Wisconsin, the spartans can afford to lose one of their remaining four games and still win the league title. Even if they lose to the Hawkeyes next week, they can still win the title if OSU beats Iowa, or if MSU, Iowa, & Wisconsin all finish with one loss. Even if you throw OSU in there and make it a four way tie, MSU still gets the Rose Bowl bid. All the Spartans have to do is beat Purdue and Minnesota at home and Penn State on the road and they get their first Rose Bowl in 23 years. It would take an epic collapse to miss out on a BCS bowl. While "epic collapse" and "Michigan State" have gone together like the Captain and Tenile for the better part of the last 40 years, that trend has reversed itself the last three years, as they have found a way to win important games down the stretch in each of Dantonio's first three years.
-Of course, if they win in Iowa City on saturday, they may miss the Rose Bowl by getting invited to the BCS championship game. They may get to play Boise State sooner than they planned.
-It seems that the best LSU QB changes from week to week, depending on who's starting, with the best player always being the guy who comes off the bench.
-What the hell has happened to Texas? I understand them having an off year (they've won ten or more since 2001, and haven't won fewer than 9 since 97), but losing to Iowa State? At home? Maybe Mack Brown has checked out, but you'd figure they have enough talent to overcome whatever is ailing them against Iowa State in Austin. They might be an underdog this week at home against Baylor. I'm pretty sure that's one of the signs of the apocalypse.
-The SEC East is starting to look like a typical year in the ACC, where all teams finish between 5-3 and 3-5 in conference. I wonder if Urban Meyer is regretting his decision to come back. Can they fire Mark Richt if he wins the SEC East at 5-3? I think Derek Dooley had more wins over SEC teams when he was at La Tech then he does at Tennessee.
-Like offense? Try watching the Cal Golden Bears. So far this year they've scored 52 against UC Davis, 52 on Colorado, given up 52 to Nevada, scored 35 on UCLA, given up 48 to USC, and just this week scored 50 on Arizona State. They're scoring 35 points per game and haven't played the two worst scoring defenses in the Pac Ten, Washington State and Oregon State. They haven't played the top two offenses, Oregon and Stanford, either.
-This weekend was about as bad as possible for us on a bye week. All five of the teams we've beaten this year were beaten this week, some in blowout fashion - IU by 30 to Illinois, Notre Dame by 18 to Navy, UConn shutout at Louisville, 26-0, BGSU losing by 24 to Kent State. Strength of schedule really doesn't matter too much to a team nowhere near the BCS, but the fact that Umass was beaten 39-13 by a 5-3 New Hampshire team really doesn't me a lot of confidence about the season going forward.

Much Better

Now that's the way games against over matched opponents are supposed to go: Offensive excellence early and often, defense getting enough stops and turnovers to keep the game out of reach, and lots of young players getting their first substantial action on both sides of the ball. In the long run this game probably means about as much as last week's game -- its a win, read more into the game at your own peril -- but it is certainly funner to discuss and to relive, so here goes:
-The media seems to be overplaying the Denard injury just a little bit. It seemed fairly clear that he was alright, based on the way he was jumping around on the sideline. I still don't get the idea that he would be any more prone to injury as a QB running the ball than a running back carrying the ball.
-Yes, patsy opponent and all, but Tate Forcier looked good. The ovation he got when he took the field was heartwarming, and his comments after the game were encouraging. I know I was ready to write him off after his comments in the immediate aftermath of the UConn win, but his subsequent walk back of those comments and behavior since then show that maybe, just maybe, he's grown up a little bit through this whole ordeal.
-Gardner also looked good, but I think if Denard were to go down for any period of time, we'd be better off with Tate at the helm, even though he doesn't bring Devin's overall athleticism. I think Tate just brings some better reads and more accuracy. Either way, we have some of the better QB backups in the country.
-I liked the new punt formation, with three returners back, Odoms, Gallon, and Dileo, to combat the rugby style roll punts from the spread formation that a lot of teams are running these days. The extra returners allowed us to return a few punts that previously had ended up bouncing 20 yards, or had turned into turnovers when Gallon tried to dive after the ball.
-Not a bad first career carry by Fitz Toussaint, huh? I'd worry more about him being caught from behind if he weren't wearing a knee brace.
-I thought the freshman Ray Vinopal showed a good nose for the ball on his late interception. Now if we could just put a few pounds on him so he doesn't cough the ball up after his interception.

Thoughts from other games:
-I wonder if Alabama's come from behind win in Arkansas was just the first of many such games for the defending champs this year. With the way their schedule is set up, with many teams getting bye weeks before they play them, they're gonna get everyone's best shot, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them fall behind against Florida, LSU, South Carolina, or Auburn. But they just seem to have that Rasputin like quality that they're never dead even after you think you've killed them.
-What the heck has happened to Georgia? Losing to Miss. State? I don't know anything about the situation on the ground in Athens, but from the outside it doesn't look good for Mark Richt -- losing record this year, losing ground in the rivalry with Florida, a new AD, and a gaggle of legal troubles for this players. His only saving grace might be that Tennessee might be worse, and the luster is coming off Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech a little bit.
-Speaking of the Vols, you gotta feel a little for UAB, miss five field goals in regulation and lose in 2OT to Tennessee. Ouch!
-I couldn't help but think in the wake of UCLA's somewhat shocking demolition of Texas that it was the Bruin's 66-3 win in Austin that effectively ended the last Longhorn coach's tenure. I don't think Mack Brown is going anywhere anytime soon, but maybe they shouldn't invite UCLA to town anymore.
-I watched a little bit of the Temple / PSU game. It's kinda a shame that the Big East kicked Temple out, since I think that if Al Golden stays there, they will outgrow the MAC real fast. If they are seriously considering adding Villanova, they should first bring Temple back. Of course, Golden's a Penn State alum, so he might be on their short list if/when Paterno finally hangs them up / kicks the bucket (whichever comes first).
-Odd Stat of the week: Every touchdown scored in Florida's 41-14 win over Kentucky was scored by #8 -- Florida's Trey Burton (who scored six touchdowns), Jeremy Brown (INT returned for a TD), and Kentucky's Chris Matthews (Two TD receptions) all wear number 8. I wonder what the odds are on three different players with the same number all scoring in the same game, let alone scoring nine touchdowns.
-Some more Golden rankings stuff later this week -- conference rankings and a look at a new rankings feature this year, looking at average points scored and allowed vs. the opponents averages.

Week one of the I-A playoffs

That's what this past weekend of major college football felt like, the opening round of a national playoff. It produced one of the best weekends of college football in recent memory. Oregon and Oregon State played a barn burner on Thursday night where the key plays down the stretch were not long pass plays or lightning quick touchdown runs, but an old fashioned, grind it out, eat up the clock 7 plus minute drive by Oregon that featured a couple of fourth down plays and stiff-arm to end all stiff-arms by Oregon's tank of QB. Friday's Mac championship was slightly less entertaining, but still worth a look-see. Saturday's early game was a "leave-the-defense-at-home" shootout between the ground game of Pitt and the spread attack of Cinncy. After a dud of an SEC championship game, the weekend finished off with a trio of interesting games - Georgia Tech / Clemson in a back and forth ACC championship game, UConn / South Florida in the snow (the way football was meant to be played), and the Pièce de résistance, a near all time upset in the Big 12 championship game which featured a bone-headed play that almost cost Texas a Big 12 title and a chance at the national championship. It was a treat to watch, and they were all games that would have been more meaningful if we had a full 16-team playoff, instead of the abomination we have now. Even the MAC championship game would have had a large TV audience if the winner go an autobid to go play at Alabama or at Texas in the first round of the really, really, Big Dance.

Bullets:
-What the heck was Colt McCoy doing? I'm only a marginal Texas fan, and I was freaking out and yelling at the TV. I can't imagine what it must have been like for Longhorn, Cornhusker, Horned Frog, or Bearcat fans watching it live. I also don't understand why Mack Brown didn't call timeout once the clock went past :10 and the ball had still not been snapped. I understand wanting to take one shot at the end zone, but call your TO before the play, set it up, and then run the FG unit out after the incomplete pass. Like in the Les Miles fiasco against Ole Miss, i don't understand how coaches who make millions of dollars, can't find one cheap grad assistant willing to work for peanuts whose sole job is to watch the clock and tell the coach when a timeout is needed.
-I wonder if Jesus ever had as bad a day against the Romans as Tebow did against the Tide.
-Boise State has finished three of the last four regular seasons undefeated and has not gotten a single first place or second place vote in the coaches' poll or Harris poll. Great system we got here.
-I was disappointed to see that the Richmond / Appalachian State game, a match up between the champions of FCS the last four years that was won in the last 30 seconds didn't even warrant a minute of highlights on Sportscenter. I understand why the game didn't get televised except through ESPNU, but come on, throw us a bone.
-There were a couple of interesting comments at halftimes from coaches who run offenses similar to Rich Rod's. Oregon and Cincinnati both run spread offenses that stretch the field vertically and horizontally and incorporate zone read options, bubble screens and the like. I think that if, or when, the offense gets going here, it will look very similar to both the Ducks and the Bearcats - quick strike, fast paced, not much concern for time of possession. Both teams trailed at halftime of their respective games after their opponents had put together long, grind-it-out drives. When asked by the sideline reporter what was wrong with their defense, Chip Kelly responded, "Our offense" In other words, if we execute better on offense, defense won't matter. When asked nearly the identical question, Cinncy's Brian Kelly responded, "We are who we are." In other words, we'll have to try and outscore them.
-The Big Ten bowl match ups almost make me glad we are staying home for the holidays. Texas Tech might throw for 1000 yards on our defense, and Miami would play action us to death. Don't even want to think how bad our linebackers would look trying to stop Georgia Tech's triple option attack. Perhaps that's just another indication of how bad we are - when you look at all the bowl teams, and none of them look beatable, maybe you're not ready to go bowling.
-The Boise State / TCU Fiesta bowl is horrible. Not bad as in it won't be a good game, but bad as in neither team gets a chance to prove themselves against a big boy. It's a perpetuation of the "nobody will play you" / "Who have they beaten" cycle that all mid-majors go through in both football and basketball.
-Anybody have a clue what's going to happen with the Heisman? My ballot has McCoy, Suh, Ingram, CJ Spiller, and Toby Gerhardt, but I'll be darned if I can figure out the order.
-In news you may have missed, both Hofstra and Northeastern dropped their football programs this week. While that might not seem like a big deal, it might change the balance of power in the FCS subdivision. Both were members of the Colonial Athletic Association, which had four teams in the elite eight, and has two remaining teams in the FCS Final Four. The disappearance of two of the bottom teams in that league might force some of the stronger teams to look for scheduling opportunities in the FBS division. League champ Villanova beat Temple, Richmond beat Duke, and the league was responsible for four of the five wins by FCS teams over FBS teams this year.
-Golden Rankings, and the 16 team bracket coming tomorrow evening.

Thanksgiving weekend games

-If I had a Heisman vote, it would go to Colt McCoy after his performance against A&M. Although some of that sentiment is based on his whole career. I can see the arguments for Gerhardt from Stanford, Spiller from Clemson, and of course, Tebow. I wasn't that impressed by Ingram.
-Speaking of Tebow, I'll be more than happy to see him go. He's clearly a great player and as an impartial observer in most Florida games, he is exciting to watch. But the cult of personality that has grown around him is quite sickening, frankly, especially where religion is concerned. I've always believed that religion and sports shouldn't be mixed. God didn't help either team win, and players who believe that are either fools, or think we are foolish. The fact that Tebow goes on missions, or puts a bible quote on his eye black doesn't make him a better football player, or even a better person, it just makes him a more devout christian. Would he be any less of a football player if he knelt down, pointing towards Mecca and prayed to Allah four times a day? i wish him all the luck in the NFL (or CFL), but I'll be happy if I can watch a Florida game with out some announcer going on about St. Tebow the saviour of Gainsville.
-Nice bounce back win for LSU. Good to see that Miles will keep his job for another year Their loss at Mississippi was quite embarrassing, and it's good that it won't really impact their season too much. Golden had a pretty good breakdown of all the game management mistakes in that game. I just don't understand how coaches (and it's not just Miles) who make millions of dollars can't completely master something that a majority of the fans can figure out. Shouldn't you assign some graduate assistant to watch time and tell the head coach when it's time to call a time out?
-Sad to see Chuckles out at ND. He was always good for a laugh, and there was a certain comfort in knowing that no matter how well he recruited the likely hood of them being a really good team was slim.
-I don't have much sympathy for Bobby Bowden. I know people think he should have been allowed to pick his own exit, instead of being forced out. But Bowden created a culture at FSU that the only thing that mattered was winning football games. Nothing else, academic scandal, criminal charges, or loyalty to the university matters as much as winning. The fact that mercenary attitude came back to bit Dagummit in the ass shouldn't surprise anyone.
-If the reports of 10-15 MSU players being involved in the post football bust beat down of frat boys turn out to be true, Dantonio should turn down the bowl bid. When nearly 20% of your team decides to don ski masks and start a brawl moments after gathering with coaches, families and supporters of the team to celebrate the team's accomplishments, that's a sign of an overall problem with the program. Because if 15 team members went to the brawl, you know that there were many more that knew about it and didn't do enough to stop it. The fact that it happened right after the banquet show that these players have little respect for the coaches. The whole incident is a giant "fuck you" to Dantonio and his coaching staff. -- "Thanks for the great season coach, now we are going to go do something that will embarrass you and the program and goes against everything you've been trying to teach us this past year" Of course, one could argue that Dantonio's reinstating Geln Winston to the team fresh out of jail because he was worried about his depth at RB sent the message that winning on the field was the only thing that mattered. If Dantonio wants to change that message, he should cancel the bowl trip. His alma mater and Clemson did that a number of years ago after a particularly ugly post-game brawl.

Still basking in the afterglow

-I find it highly ironic that one of the biggest days of the year for college football, that as I watched Sportscenter last night I kept wishing they'd finish with their college football talk so that get to the college basketball news. I'm kicking myself a little bit for not buying tickets to the game earlier this week when I found some online, but am hopeful there will other big games this year. I wonder how much tickets to the Big Ten tournament are.
-I also find it ironic that the same school year that saw an end to our great bowl streak, may also see an end to our awful non-big dance streak of ten years.
-Like most of the country, I get the feeling that Florida and Oklahoma are the best teams in the country, and despite OU's recent big bowl history, I get the feeling that their game could be a classic on the lines of UT / USC a few years back. That being said, I can't help but feel bad for the Texas fans. I don't know how much more you could expect from your team than they got from theirs this year, yet they still have to watch their arch-rival and a team that lost to a mediocre Ole Miss at home play for the national championship.
-If the Sugar Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl were smart, they'd let Texas go the Sugar to play Alabama, and invite Utah and Boise State to the Fiesta to play a sort of mid-major national championship game. That way, along with the championship game and the USC/PSU Rose Bowl you'd have all 8 teams that have a reasonable claim to a national title shot playing each other.
-I love what UCLA and USC did with both wearing their home jerseys. In the big scheme of things one timeout at the start of a game doesn't really affect much, and the nod to tradition was very cool. I wouldn't mind seeing us do this against OSU one year.
-I don't get the Lane Kiffin hire for Tennessee. It just strikes me as far less inspired a choice than someone like Brian Kelly, and has Callahan to Nebraska written all over it.
-Just when you thought that Washington couldn't get any worse, Cal's running back Jahvid Best runs for 311 yards on only 19 carries! I still find it hard to believe that Washington could be that bad. I mean outside of USC (and maybe UCLA), the Huskies have the most football tradition in the Pac Ten, and somehow, in a little less than a decade (they were in the national title discussion in 2000) they've become possibly the worst program in FBS.

-Final regular season rankings will be up soon, as well as a look at what a playoff would look like if I ran the circus. The season's first basketball rankings coming tomorrow.

Why Texas should be in the Big 12 Championship game (and other assorted takes)

This is a place that I'm sure that Big 12 ADs wish they'd never be in. A three-way tie to be broken by the BCS poll, and by extension, by voters in the coaches and Harris poll, many of whom might have a vested interest in one team or another. It has been pointed out elsewhere that Mack Brown, if he chose to do so, could vote OU out of the poll, thereby putting Texas in the championship game.

That being said, it is the system they have, and two out of the three teams will be unfairly snubbed. In my mind, the team that should get the nod is Texas.

It's clear that Oklahoma has the best offense in the conference, and maybe the best in the country. They have scored over 60 points in their last four games, and over 50 in 8 of 12. Their offensive line is dominating everyone in sight, Sam Bradford is clinical in his accuracy, they have a gaggle of talented running backs and receivers and you get the feeling they could name their score in just about every game.

But it's just as clear that Texas has the best defense in the conference. Texas is the only one of the contenders that has played all the top teams in the conference (OU, Texas, Tech, Kansas and Missouri -- although Nebraska is probably better than KU), and has held each on of them to less points than their season average. They are first in the conference in Scoring, Rushing, and Total Defense, and second in Pass Efficiency Defense.

Each of the three teams went 4-1 in their toughest five games, but Texas played only 2 of those at home, with a road win at Kansas, a neutral game win against OU, and a road loss to Texas Tech. OU played 3 of five at home, with only the road win at OSU and loss to Texas away from Norman. Tech also played three games at home, with the road loss to OU and a win against Kansas. Furthermore, Texas played the second half of their only loss without their best defensive player, Brian Orakpo. Does OU win the Bedlam game if Bradford goes down in the second half? Bottom line, the best two teams in the league played on a neutral field and Texas won. End of story.

Other stuff:
-I found it appropriate that Minnesota lost its last game at the Metrodome 55-0 to Iowa. When The Gophers started playing their home games at the Hubert H. Humphrey, they were one of the top 15 teams all-time, having won almost 64% of their games. Since that time they have won only 41.67% of the time. They are .520 at home, which is inflated quite a bit by a number of FCS and lower FBS opponents. They were 0-12 in the battle for the Little Brown Jug, and 0-11 against the Buckeyes. Attendance at the off-campus facility was awful, centering around 40 to 45k out of 64k capacity for most of their history there. This is not to say that the new on-campus facility will cure all that ails Gopher football, but it's a good place to start.
-I also can't help but think there is some sort of metaphor for Gopher Football in this story.
-For all of those making fun of the ACC this year, better get your licks in now, because it looks like it will be much improved next year. Miami and FSU are young and very athletic. Cutcliffe has done a great job at Duke. Carolina will be better if Butch Davis doesn't bolt. Clemson might finally stop being so wildly inconsistent with a new coaching staff in place. And Paul Johnson has done wonders at Georgia Tech this year. Give him one more year to perfect his offense, and it will be nearly unstoppable (if it isn't already)
-BTW, for the first time in forever, the ACC had a winning record against the SEC this year, despite Florida's demolishing of FSU and Miami. They've jumped ahead of both the SEC and the Big 12 in the most recent Golden Rankings (to be posted later today).
-Although I'd like to see USC play somewhere other than the Rose Bowl, I'm glad that Penn State gets a crack at them. Anyone who wants to include USC in the championship discussion should include Penn State since the Knitknees beat Oregon State by 31 and USC lost by a TD to them.
-One of things I enjoy about the Thanksgiving weekend is watching the Michigan High School championship football games from Ford Field. Eight games involving teams from throughout the state running all sorts of offenses, from pro-set, to the spread option, to the wing-T, and even to the single-wing. It's like a walk through the history of offensive football. This year it was a big year for the western side of the state, with three teams from Muskegon winning championships, along with East Grand Rapids, Holland, and Rockford.

Que Sera Sera

It's amazing how much easier it is to watch a loss when you write off all chance of a victory before the game ever starts. I was only half heatedly watching the game, and so I wasn't so crushed when Nick Sheridan came in and the game exploded. I think a loss to Penn State was also easier to take given the way the last nine games have gone. I don't think any Michigan fan in their wildest dreams thought when the Knitknees joined the league that we would dominate them the way we have. We knew they had to win one eventually. This seemed like as good a year as any.

There were some positives in the game, mostly regarding the offense. Surprisingly enough, several of my pre-game thoughts were right on the money:
"First, Threet has to stay healthy. We couldn't beat Pioneer High with Sheridan, we need Threet." --unfortunately we got to find out just how true that statement is.
"Secondly, the offensive line has to get better. Simply put, its hard to run any offense if you can't block anyone." - They did do better, at least in the first half. I thought the much maligned duo of Molk and Mooseman looked much better than in past games. The interior line play looked so good at one point, that I wondered if they had moved Schilling inside.
"I'd like to see more of the other running backs other than McGuffie. Don't get me wrong, I love Sam, but I think a change of pace would help offset some of the other issues." - Boy, I was kinda just guessing here, and I was really thinking about Shaw. The emergence of Minor (and his lack of fumbles) was a very pleasant surprise. Hopefully he can keep that up the rest of the year
"I think the long hand off (quick throw to WR who stays at the line) is there almost every play. It should be an automatic, if the CB is more than 10 yards off the line, toss it out there." - They actually ran this play and it worked a few times.
"Some deep shots, provided Threet is in. For the most part, the outside receivers have been single covered, and the safeties have been crowding the line of scrimmage." - Not a lot of this, but Threet's elbow might have had something to do with this. I think this is the key next week against the Sparties.

Despite the second half meltdown, I think that if Threet stays healthy, they could have a mediocre, or maybe even average offense. Unfortunately, for all of the steps forward the offense is taking, I think the defense and special teams are taking steps backward. The linebacker play is still awful, and the tackling from everyone except the D line has been junior varsity level. It seems the recipe to beat Michigan is simple: double the DTs and make the LBs make reads. The special teams are a complete and utter joke. It seems to me that the easiest thing for a coach to work on is decision making (i.e not running the ball out of the end zone when you fumble it 7 yards deep), and blocking on punts. It doesn't seem like these things are being taught. All the explosive skill position talent doesn't do you any good if you can't execute the basics.

-Elsewhere, I think that temptation on the part of some in reaction to the MSU-OSU game is to say, "Same old Spartans" This misses the point. It was unrealistic to expect the Spartans to jump from where they were to all of a sudden be a top ten team. They have to learn to walk before they can run. The only thing that game told us is that it's the same old Buckeye team. The Buckeyes have looked rather pedestrian all year, not scoring an offensive TD against Purdon't, beating Troy by only 12, and Minnesota by only 13. This game proved that they are still the best team in the Big Ten, and the Knitknees better be prepared for a donnybrook when they go down to Columbus.
-The Texas dismantling of Missouri was even more impressive than their win over Oklahoma. Will Muschamp is looking like a brilliant hire. I wonder if there is another program in the country that has as many built in advantages as Texas (weather, population base, facilities, name recognition, fan support, etc.) I also like the look of the addition at DKR, it was only half done when we went down there last year.
-How bad must it suck to be a Seattle area sports fan now? The Mariners lost 100 games, the Sonics moved to Oklahoma, the Seahawks are 1-5 and Washington and Washington State will likely be a combined 1-21 when they meet for the Apple Cup in November, with the lone win a Wazzou win over 2-4 FCS "powerhouse" Portland State. No truth to the rumor that Rich Rod is trying to get both on the schedule for the end of this year.

This and that

Some assorted thoughts that I've been holding on to:
-Although I was kinda rooting for Central Michigan to pull off the upset over Purdue, I am glad to see the Boilers win, as it could be the only win that the Big Ten gets this bowl season. MSU, Michigan, and Illinois are huge underdogs, with Michigan and Illinois playing against top ten teams with top five talent. Ohio State and Penn State are playing virtual road games. Wisconsin is in a pick'em game, and who knows what to expect from Indiana after a 15 year bowl drought. Part of the problem for the Big Ten, apart from the travel issues (Big Ten teams always travel further than their opponents) is that Big Ten teams are often playing teams that are higher ranked in their conference. Wisconsin, 4th in the Big Ten plays the SEC runner-up Tennessee. #6 MSU plays ACC runner-up Boston College. I would like to see a revision of the bowl selection process that would rectify this problem, and would also vary the match-ups from year to year, so that teams don't go to the same bowls year in and year out. The six BCS conferences choose three bowls as the "second place" bowls (say, Capital One, Cotton, and Holiday), three as the third place bowls, three as the fourth place, etc. Each of the bowls in a particular group gets a chance to select any team in their particular slot. So for instance, the Capital One, Cotton, and Holiday would match-up the top non-BCS teams from the six BCS conferences. The Third place bowls would get the next choice, the fourth place the choice after that and so on.
-I wonder if Texas fans are more happy at their team's 7th straight 10 win season, or disappointed that they appear to underachieve once again. Looking back, there is no way they should have lost to Kansas State or Texas A&M. If they win those two, they could've been in New Orleans instead of San Diego. They are very young, and have a fairly easy schedule next year. They should make a serious push.
-Why the heck did Southern Miss can Jeff Bower? What more do they think their program should be? Bower gave them 17 years, 14 straight winning seasons, 119 wins, nine bowl games in the last ten years, three out of the four last conference championships. He is an alum who married a local beauty queen. He wasn't going anywhere, and he's gotten more out of that program than anyone else could reasonably expect. They're in freakin' Hattiesburg, do they really think there is a coach out there that can take them to the BCS? Within two years, if not sooner, they'll regret their decision.
-Speaking of traveling, the Wizard of Odds has an interesting post about the amount of miles travelled by college football teams for non-conference games in the last ten years (HT: EDSBS) While some of the results are too be expected, BCS conference teams travel less than BCS conference teams, eastern teams travel less than western teams, some of the results are surprising in their degree. We knew that SEC teams rarely traveled outside of the south, but we didn't realize it was so pronounced. In the last ten years Georgia has traveled a total of 358 miles for non-conference regular season games. Compare that to the 23 thousand miles logged by USC, or the 11 thousand Michigan has travelled. When you consider that 8 of the 10 least travelled teams are from the SEC, and only one team in the league, Alabama has averaged more than 1,000 miles a year, and you get some idea of why the SEC has accumulated the non-conference record it has. So the next time you hear someone ramble on about the superiority of the SEC, remind them that the average SEC team has traveled 350 miles per year to non conference games in the last decade, while Big Ten teams went almost 1,000 miles, while PAC Ten teams put in 1,500. And, of course, there's that whole home bowl game thing.
-Not to keep flogging a deceased equine, but I was very interested in the news that Les Miles called Rich Rodriguez to congratulate him on getting the Michigan job. According to Rich Rod's mother Miles thanked him for losing to Pitt but joked that the loss cost him his dream job. There's a little truth in all humor, right? How much do you want to bet that Miles would have given up the chance to coach in the championship game to come to Michigan? He really needs to stop thinking about the Michigan job, or he's going to get killed on the recruiting trail.
-Finally saw HBO's "The Rivalry" the other night. There are certainly some elements that are well done, but I had to agree with most of the criticism I heard from other people: it is definitely told more from the Ohio State perspective than the Michigan perspective; there should have been more about what Schembechler's passing meant to Michigan fans, than what it meant to Buckeye fans; there was no mention of Lloyd Carr, which is ridiculous; they could have included a lot more on Bob Ufer; they left out a number of interesting items from the ten year war, the buckeyes tearing down the M club banner, the Michigan fan dotting the "i", "Save Fuel, Burn Woody bumper stickers", etc. All in all a great show, but with a few tweaks could have been better.
-In all the hubub after the OSU game, Carr's retirement, etc, I forgot to send out an attaboy to our spartan brethern for their two game winning streak to end the season and their invite to the Champs Tangerine Micron PC Sports Bowl. After they lost to Michigan and Coach Dantonio got involved in a pissing match with Mike Hart, they had the look of a typical spartan team about to collapse down the stretch and blow their shot at the post season. But they pulled it together and beat two straight bowl teams to end the season on a winning streak for the first time in forever. Even if they get torched by BC in today's game, this has been a positive first season for Dantonio, and spartan fans should be very pleased with the progress. Now if he can just find a way to beat big brother ;-)

Our eyes were upon Texas...

and they didn't fare to well.

A recap of our Longhorn football experience:
After listening to the audio feed from the UofM website for the first half of the UM/Northwestern game, we decided not to go watch the game at one of Austin's finer drinking establishments. Something about watching Mike Debord continually bang his head on the wall in an attempt to break through to the other side when there is a door two feet to the left didn't appeal to us, so we decided to skip going to the bar to watch the Michigan game, and instead grabbed some cheap tex-mex, shot a few games of pool at the local pool hall and then headed down to game. We parked on Guadalupe, which is that sort of street that marks the edge of campus and the start of the retail sector on almost every big campus. We walked through the campus with a scattering of fans heading to the game. We passed the infamous Texas Tower, and the very nice Littlefield Fountain, which looked like it could be a great site for a celebratory swim after a big UT win. The north end of the stadium is under construction, but it still an impressive sight, standing several stories taller than the other campus buildings it is next to.
-We didn't see many tailgaters, but I think we approached the stadium on the wrong side. Most of the tailgating takes place on the I-35 side of the campus. We decided to do a lap of the stadium before we took our seats. Texas fans definitely get points for their colors. Everyone was wearing burnt orange. The south side of the stadium was a little more crowded, but it still seemed like a somewhat muted atmosphere. Very little chanting or singing, even near the student entrance.
-Vince Young was at the game. I overheard more than a couple Longhorn fans saying some version of, "VY is in the house, we can't lose", even after they fell behind by 20. Just about the only non-Texas gear I saw were Titan #10 jerseys. That guy will never have to buy a beer in Texas again.
-Our seats were pretty good, near the goal line in the lower level of the western sideline. We were right next to the construction they are doing in the north end zone and the KSU fans on the other side of the construction. I was surprised to see that there were some empty seats along the eastern sideline.
-Overall I was not impressed by the Texas fans. They did a good job at singing the fight song, and got loud when the scoreboard told them to, but as for general rowdiness, they just didn't have it. If Michigan has a symphony crowd, Texas has a library crowd. The students were pretty non-descript, I couldn't even tell where they were sitting. The biggest cheer of the game came when they announced that Oklahoma had lost.
-They have a ridiculously large video board they call Godzillatron. With the somewhat tame crowd, at times like it seemed like we were watching the game at home.
-Unfortunately it started to really pour at halftime, so we sought some shelter and didn't get to see the band show.
-The rain let up in the second half, but came back in the fourth quarter as K-State was putting the game away. This caused a majority of the Longhorn fans to flee the scene.
-The Longhorn team was equally unimpressive: Four INTs and a couple more passes that should have been picked for Colt McCoy, Horrible special teams play, and a defense that got little to no penetration all day. They were completely dominated. The post game shows sounded very similar to the ones in Michigan at the start of the season. Everyone want to blame the coaches, especially the offensive coordinator. Burnt Orange Nation breaks this down a little further.
-Overall it was a fun experience, despite the outcome and the rain. I would love to see Michigan schedule a home and home with the Longhorns, just so I could return to DKR Stadium.

Deepinthahearta...

So, for the first time in like two decades, I won't be able to watch or record the Michigan game today (thanks Comcast!), so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to get out and see some other teams in action. I made my way down to my brother's abode in Austin, TX, and the two of us, along with my dad, secured some tickets to the Texas / Kansas State tilt this afternoon.

I have not watched much of either Texas or Kansas State this year, so I don't quite know what to expect. Texas will probably have the talent edge at most positions, but I do know that Texas fans have been somewhat dissatisfied with their performance so far this year. Heck they almost lost to Arkansas State. For more info and analysis on this game, I refer you to one of the best Texas blogs on the planet, Burnt Orange Nation. I will try and take good notes today, and will do my best to compare and contrast the Austin game day experience with the Ann Arbor one.

Not much to say about our game today. We should be able to run at will against the Mildcats, and given how the season started, I doubt we take them for granted. Still, this is the first road game (although, there is often as many Michigan fans as Northwestern fans in Evanston), it is a spread offense, and the possibility exists that it is closer than it really should be. My guess, something like 35-14, with us putting it away early in the second half. Chad Henne starts, plays two series and then gives way to the young, tall Texan, Ryan Mallet.

After watching South Florida's historic win last night, I don't know if I should be happy, worried, or disinterested. On one hand, it always nice to see a home underdog win. The crowd was excited, the team was enthused, and the whole scene was electric, much like the Rutgers / L'ville game last year. On the other hand, South Florida is only an 11 year old program. That's right, the players have little brothers and sisters who are older than this program. There is some sense that it big time success shouldn't come so quickly, or so easy for them. Sunday Morning Quarterback had an excellent article on this from the perspective of a Southern Miss fan. Southern Miss, the model mid-major program. 13 straight winning seasons, the occasional upset over an SEC team, probably the premiere program in the CUSA. Now they have to watch this upstart surge towards the brink of BCS bowl? Then again, maybe I shouldn't worry about this game at all. After all, the Bulls did beat West Virginia last year, and they still have to travel too Rutgers and play Cinncy and L'ville (who has to find a defense eventually, right?!?) at home. They could easily end up the same 8-4, whatever.com bowl team they were last year.

The big game in the Big Ten this week is MSU / Wisconsin. State has started out the season 4-0, as they've a number of times in the last few years. But each time they've done that, they've lost a tough game (to ND last year, at OSU a few years back) and have just collapsed. Given that, it's not surprising that most Spartan fans are still in wait and see mode with this season and with their new coach. If they beat Wisconsin, look out. They will jump into the big ten title conversation, and Coach Dantonio will be hailed as the second coming of Duffy Daugherty. Of course, even if they do win today, there is at least a 30-40% chance they lose at home to Northwestern next week.

What stage are you in?

It's not quite what Elisabeth Kubler-Ross had in mind, but i've gone through
Denial(at the game - "this can't be happening"), Depression (the next day or two), Bargaining ("Maybe if we run the table, this will all be washed away") and am currently working on Anger (thanks to MGoBlog's UFR) I'll get to Acceptance sometime later, hopefully after a win or two.

Some other observations that got missed in the fallout from the "Upset of the Century"
-I would love to see the LSU/Va Tech game in person this week. Defense, defense, defense, with a modicum of special teams thrown in. After watching most of the LSU game, I'm not convinced that Matt Flynn will be able to handle the pressure of the Hokie pass rush. He looked like he got rattled against Mississippi State. Of course, with their defense, he won't need to do much to win. First team to ten wins.
-If Michigan had done what they were supposed to have done, I would have really enjoyed all the press jumping all over Weis E. Coyote, super offensive genius. He played all these games with his QB selection all summer, making a story where there really was none, and then they come out and look absolutely putrid (122 yards total offense in 63 plays). Defense wasn't much better. It will be interesting to see what contortions ND fans go through to blame this season on Ty Willingham.
-The worst performance by a top ten team this week? It might have been Texas, who had to hold on for dear life against another ASU, Arkansas State, who is projected to finished in the middle of the Sun Belt. Especially troubling is the paltry 117 yards rushing against a team that was 77th in the nation against the run. With a TCU team coming up this week that is 4-0 in their last four against Big 12 teams, they could be in trouble.
-I loved the tribute USC gave to their former kicker (HT: Various AOL Fanhouse bloggers). I think it shows why Pete Carroll is the best coach in the game today. He's like that younger teacher at your high school who had a good sense of humor, was friendly, and knew just enough popular culture to relate to kids. It's no wonder that all the top HS kids want to play for him.
-I know it's not wise to question the guys in Vegas too much, but there are a few lines this week I don't get. A couple of games we've already talked about as being tight games, UT-TCU and VaTech-LSU. Is Oklahoma really 11 points better than Miami? And the Michigan-Oregon line just seems off. The Ducks are getting 8? Can Michigan really score enough to win by 8 or more?

-One final thing, since everyone is talking about the next Michigan coach, I'll throw in my 2 cents. My top candidates at this point:
1) Jeff Tedford - good Xs and Os guy, some pro experience, head coaching experience in a BCS conference, Cal is a very similar school to Michigan. He's been frustrated with Cal's inability to get a stadium expansion done, Michigan's recent announced plans might be a draw.
2) Rich Rodiguez - Very innovative, the fact he listened to Bama last year shows he's available for the right price
3) Kirk Ferentz - Very good at teaching the fundamentals. Knows the UofM president, Mary Sue Coleman due to her time at Iowa, and has (or had) a daughter at UofM. Would he be willing to move in conference?
4) Greg Schiano - Great recruiter, good pedigree

I don't think that Les Miles will ever be offered the job. He desperately wants the job, anyone who pays attention to LSU football can tell you that. But there have long been rumors about character issues (he's referred to as "Loose Morals" by Michigan insiders), and I don't think that Bill Martin would take a chance with that. Especially since he's not really known as a great strategist, and his buyout at LSU (reportedly $2.1 million if he leaves to go to Michigan) might be cost prohibitive.