September 25, 2006

Half and Half: Michigan 27, Wisconsin 13

September 25, 2006/ The Webmaster

The Wolverines fell behind for the first time this season, and posted their first scoreless quarter of the season in the first quarter on Saturday. At the half it was a worrisome 10-10 tie. The inevitable let down game was upon us. The 111,000+ on hand to see the team that dominated the Irish were slowly coming down from the clouds to realize that all the games can't be easy. There was even a light spattering of boos as the team jogged to the tunnel.

But quite possibly the most dominating defense in all of college football came out in the second half and refused to let the offense lose. They were the motivating force, and made field position every bit as important as points. The Badgers went without a first down in the second half until the five minute mark of the 4th quarter. And because of field position gained through defense and Steve Breaston, Michigan's longest drive of the day occurred in the 3rd quarter and was a paltry 56 yards. It included a Henne-to-Manningham TD (the second of the day) of the 38 yard variety. After a 42-yard punt was negated by a 27-yard Breaston return, Michigan sealed it with 4-play, 33-yard drive into the maize-clad student section. Michigan wins 27-13.

The Good Numbers:

Mario Manningham: 7 receptions for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Adrian Arrington: 4 receptions for 79 yards.

Wisconsin rushing yards: 12

PJ Hill, formerly the Big Ten's leading rusher: 20 carries for 54 yards

The Bad Numbers:

Michigan was 2 of 13 on 3rd down

Chad Henne had 3 interceptions

Michigan gave up 236 passing yards to John Stocco, his highest total this season

Steve Breaston, 2 receptions for 5 yards

The Tex Mex tailgate went very well, with breakfast burritos, barbeque beef brisket, chili dogs, a plethora of chips and dips, and countless other Tex-Mex favorites. Yucca also made its yearly appearence.

September 22, 2006

The Most Important News...EVER.

September 22, 2006/ The Webmaster

I usually don't use this platform for discussion of events not pertaining to Michigan or sports in general, but the news today is so amazing, so groundbreaking, and so profound, that it may unite and define a generation. Not only that, but it may effect the next Fast Food Theme tailgate....

MCDONALD'S MAY START SERVING BREAKFAST ALL DAY

A link to the article is here.

Once you're done digesting that information, check out this "Chat With Matt" courtesy of Idaho State via MLive.

Life in Idaho has been great for me. I've been able to enjoy the many natural beauties in this area, and of course, the highlight has been finally being able to play football on Saturdays.

Nice. I envision a "wink wink" on that "beauties" line. Matt is trying to tell you that the drop off in playing D2 ball from playing D1 ball is equivalent to the increase in good looking chicks from Michigan to Idaho.

September 22, 2006

The Pre-cogs Don't Just Predict Wisconsin...They Know

September 22, 2006/ The Webmaster

The real season begins Saturday! And much like the first three games, the Wolverines will come out victorious. Pay back game number two will certainly produce a more difficult challenge than the pathetic job the

Irish attempted to complete in South Bend. The Badgers have a tough defense and should provide our toughest test to date. With that being said they won't score more than 13 points. And if they hold us under 13 I'll become a

Badger fan (bad weather not included).

Michigan 30
Wisconsin 13

Chad Henne Offensive MVP
Lamar Woodley NFL MVP

Johnny Cleveland:

Still flying high from ND win, the squad rolls the badgers and easily covers the spread:

Michigan 48
Wisconsin 10

OMVP: Grady
DMVP: Crable

The XBox:

Michigan 34
Wisconsin 7

The Webmaster

After what happened last Saturday, anything that the Wolverines accomplish against Wisconsin will look like a letdown. But I just can't figure out how the Badgers are going to cross the goal line.

Michigan 31
Wisconsin 6

OMVP: Hart behind Obi Oluigbo
DMVP: Branch

September 21, 2006

Still Dreaming

September 21, 2006/ Robert Haddad

by Tuba

There wasn't any question from my co-workers this weekend as to which school I attended. (Not that there had ever been any question) Needless to say I was fired up before kickoff and through the entire game. Pints of PBR kept me company as I tried to pop in on the graphic designer, on-line editor and audio engineer. Believe it or not, MLB Gamers 2006 presented by Holiday Inn aired without incident on ESPN Tuesday night and I'm thankful for that.

I still carry the Notre Dame victory in my back pocket but realize a bigger test lies ahead. The Big Ten season will certainly provide it's challenges and for that I am excited. But what started as a dream in late August has know become an ever nearing reality three weeks into the season.

Saturday is game two of five. Follow my math? We get to play four of the five teams that beat us last year and Wisconsin is Big Ten foe number one in more than one way. Thankfully my work schedule has provided me the opportunity to attend my second tailgate of the season and enjoy the last week of the baseball season in a state that has seen the sport revived. I still like the Twins but the Tigers will make the playoffs, don't fret! It will obviously be a decided advantage to them however to win the division, avoiding the Yankees in the first round and also having home field advantage. It's good to see Zumaya back in action and with a front line of Bonderman, Verlander and Rogers the Tigers will still be a tough out. Despite the recent struggles of Bonderman (excluding Wednesday nights game) and Verlander, Kenny Rogers has been in playoff form (or at least the form one would like to see him in, in the playoffs). But the health of Zumaya and the success of the offense will play the biggest role in how far the Tigers are able to go. I fear the Yankees offense to be insurmountable but crazier things have happened. (See Oak/LA 1988) My best to the Tigers and may our big ten opener be a success!

September 20, 2006

Revenge, Week 2 of 3: The Wisconsin Preview

September 20, 2006/ The Webmaster

Real quick before I start, a shout out to Jake from Motown Sports Revival, who had the dubious task of sitting in front of me at the ND game. He has a great post about "Lloydball plus risks," which a phrase he used several times throughout the game. The post includes this little gem...

Big props to my dawg from UMtailgate.com. I had the pleasure of meeting him on Saturday. He sat behind me at the game and it was enjoyable to have someone as passionate as I am to share in the joy of Michigan's monumental victory. He also whipped out a king kong sized version of one of mgoblog's shirts appropriately titled, "Notre Dame: Returning to Glory Since 1993".

Translation: "I sat in front of this nut. He was huge and donned a shirt that was so gargantuan that it could have been used for making a homeless shelter." Thanks for the shout out Jake...hope we bump into each other again.

Have you settled down yet from the weekend? Me neither. Wins like the one on Saturday stay with you for a while...weeks, months, sometimes years. At the same time, the feel good moment of the century can disappear faster than ND TV timeout (poor example). A letdown this Saturday would be, well, devastating. So here's to the boys keeping their focus for the Big Ten opener.

First of all, unlike last week, I don't hate the Badgers. I love their town. Madison, Wisconsin is a trip we look forward to every other year, and from the Essen House toState Street Brats, it never disappoints. And rarely do the Wolverines disappoint when they take the field at Camp Randall, boasting a 22-5 record there.

Michigan has the nation's leading rushing defense, the ninth ranked total defense, and is second in nation in turnover margin. So, why not relax? The unranked and overlooked Badgers have a top ten national ranking in passing efficiency defense, pass defense, and scoring defense. And they have basically the same team as last year, a team that crushed the hopes and dreams of the 2005 Michigan squad, breaking a 24-year-old Big Ten opener winning streak with a 23-20 win in Madison.

The School: