Not Ready for Prime Time

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As the first quarter came to an end, and the usher came over and gave me a warning that I was going to have to leave if I continued to bellow out f-bombs, the game had already long since been over.  This was not a day where you could pretend to be in the hunt for three and a half quarters and then turn Denard loose​ for the 1:30 to try to sneak away with a win.  This was not Notre Dame.  This was not the Big Ten.  This was not Virginia Tech.  This was the defending national champions.

Those who continue to chastise RichRod for not creating an offense for the players that remained from Lloyd's tenure and praise Al Borges for letting Denard's talent dictate some of the gameplan need to check themselves.  We chose to move forward with the shoehorning of Denard into the mold of a passing quarterback.  From the not-so-cheap seats, I watched as he tried to throw the football, and let me leave no doubt on what my opinion is....Denard Robinson is easily the worst passing quarterback that has ever played at Michigan.​  He had a decent amount of time to make passes.  He had open receivers.  But unfortunately, he refuses to throw the ball without his little backwards hop-step.  Back-footed.  Inaccurate.  The one and only throw from Denard's hand that truly hit the numbers hit the #32 of Alabama linebacker CJ Mosley.

Michigan had a very slim chance of winning on September 1st, but every bit of that chance resided in the abilities of Denard to be Denard, to find some holes, get into the open, and be the direct-snap running back that he truly is.​  We chose to not waiver from our goal of winning the Big Ten, save Denard from himself and from injury, and in turn literally chose not to compete in this game.  Unfortunately, the powers that be must not understand the damage that was done on Saturday, and the unique opportunity we had to plant a flag for Michigan in the college football landscape.  And the bitch of it is....we didn't even have to win.  We needed only to NOT get blown out.

Of course, we now will have the typical Michigan recovery period.  Denard​ will have some kind of huge game on Saturday against Air Force, and we will pretend all is right with THE world.... unfortunately, it will only be alright in OUR world.  On a good note, I think this loss and the way we lost maybe increases our chances to beat Notre Dame.  We might even carry this fake chip on our shoulder through the MSU game.  And fear not, it won't be long before we're overrated again.  Because we play in the Big Ten.  We're built for the Big Ten.  And our goal is the Big Ten.  We might even get ourselves so overrated that we can meet an SEC team in a Bowl Game!  That way, we can get knocked back down to Earth on New Year's and have something to work on for the Spring!  And the cycle continues....

​As long as we stay in this little cocoon of ours, we can continue to pretend we're relevant to the world.  But we're not.  We were the punchline again Saturday, and just in case ESPN didn't remind you enough....we were the punchline on the five-year anniversary of the day the world laughed at us hardest.

Goodnight and Good Luck

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From RBUAS last year...​

He is flawed and yet defiantly indifferent to those flaws. He is not indignant, he just does not care. Restraint is for monks and carpenters and slow-playing a nut hand. He is not a carpenter. He is a blindfolded juggler of flaming chainsaws. Sometimes he completes two passes in an entire half and we run for our lives. But most of the time we watch him and we are cross-eyed buffoons, a stained glass scene in a church window of mortals witnessing the Resurrection.
He runs a bootleg 30 yards just to get to the opposite side of the field. He was running but now he has stopped. He prepares to throw. They know he has not been good at passing tonight and that he should probably be running. He is about to pass anyway. They are chasing you; don’t you see them, Denard? But he is just standing there, completely upright, looking around. Now he is running again. Within the width of five feet he cuts past three people. Left and then right and then left again, hard stomps into the ground. The goal line is right there and he crashes into everyone who is standing in front of it.

He can change this game.​  And if we plan to do the impossible, he's going to have to.

All-in.

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Alabama: Staff Predictions are Full of Clichés

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Tuba:

Without knowing anything about Alabama other than what people tell me...actually, nobody tells me anything, that's why I know nothing about Alabama. I think I overheard they won a football championship in football or something. I also overheard they have a great offensive line? Am I understanding it correctly? And generally they're good at defense? I don't know. What I do know is that Michigan loses a lot of depth on the defensive line. But I also know that they were supposed to be an awful defense last year and we have coaches who coach this year. In fact, the same coaches who coached last year. So, without knowing anything about Alabama, I will predict that Michigan wins 14-13. Or lose 31-14. Anyhow, I'm asked to contribute an offensive MVP and that my friend will be Taylor Llewan. Is that possible? Or are we looking for a "skill" player? If that's so, I'm thinking it's hard to go against Denard. But Taylor will be the difference maker in the win (if we lose he wouldn't have made much of a difference). Watch out for him. Defense? I love Kenny Demens and Jake Ryan. But I'll choose the senior, Kenny D. But if we lose, it will probably be all his fault. Well, him and the defensive lines fault. But that won't happen, just you watch.

The Webmaster​:

It's important to remember to take this one game at a time.  Because if I were to preview Alabama and Air Force at the same time, it wouldn't make any sense.  

This is going to be a game of inches, and special teams wins ballgames.  Yet there is no doubt that defense wins championships, and there is no better defense than a good offense.  It's going to be hotter than a six-peckered alley cat outside, but inside the Jerry Dome I expect it to be as cool as the other side of the pillow.​  On occasion, I expect Alabama to make holes large enough to drive a truck through,  and getting penetration on defense is going to be a tough row to hoe.   So we're going to have to give 110%.  There are no easy games at this level, and this game is a game of two halves.  We will see who wants it more.  Michigan needs to leave it all on the field, play a full 60 minutes, and take care of the football.  Bend but don't break.  The road to the Super Bowl goes through Foxboro.  There's no quit in this team.  I would've gone for two, but that's why I'm up here and the coaches are down there.  If this game goes into overtime, either team could win.  Saturday we're gonna see just how smart those computers are.  It's a pretty simple game, all you have to do is score more points than the other guys.

Michigan 17 - Alabama 26​

(O:Denard, D:Roh)

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What's Up This (Long) Weekend? 8/30-9/3/2012

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​Thursday, 8/30/2012

  • UMASS at UCONN:  Fill in your favorite 1996 NCAA Tournament reference here...but this one features a future 2012 opponent in UMASS (scout 'em Copernicus) and a 2013 opponent in UCONN.  Marvel at their stadium, which holds 40,000....which just might fit our travelling entourage next year.  7:30PM on ESPN3 (that's the internet, grandpa)
  • Minnesota at UNLV​:  ​Cheers to the Gophers for picking a sweet trip for their opener.  Plus, with an 11pm kick, you can watch college football on a weeknight until 3am!  11:00PM on CBS College Sports

Friday, 8/31/2012​

  • #24 Boise State at #13 Michigan State:  ​I've taken a vow to not talk shit on these internets until after we face each other, so here it is for posterity:   Friday night primetime for Sparty vs. The Lords of the Blue Field.  8:00PM on ESPN

Saturday, 9/1/2012​

  • Notre Dame vs. Navy in Dublin:  Get a taste of what it is like to live on the west coast and wake up for those noon kicks.  Double bonus for it not being on NBC.  9:00AM on CBS.
  • Miami (OH) at Ohio State​:  Would you believe this is the best of the noon kicks on opening weekend?  Noon, BTN
  • Northern Iowa vs. #12 Wisconsin:  And would you believe this is the best of the 3:30 kicks?  New season, new poached QB for the Badgers.  3:30PM ABC/ESPN2
  • ​#8 Michigan vs. #2 Alabama:  Might be a good one.  8PM, ABC

Sunday, 9/2/2012​

  • Kentucky vs. #25 Louisville: One of two Sunday games before the NFL takes that day over.  The other is SMU at Baylor at 6:30PM.  3:30PM ESPN

Monday, 9/3/2012​

  • Georgia Tech at #16 Virginia Tech:  Da da da daaaaaah. Ba dum, ba dum.  Monday night football features the team that handed us that Sugar Bowl.  8PM, ESPN

Foe Info: 'Bama

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​Their story: Alabama Crimson Tide Football was established in 1892.  They are 6th all time in winning percentage (.709), one spot behind Ohio.  They are called the Crimson Tide, and yet their logo depicts an elephant.  The former was coined during an Alabama - Auburn game in 1907, a combination of they're original nicknames, the Crimson White (like calling us the Maize and Blue) and Thin Red Line.  Mix that in with a clay filled mud bowl game against their biggest rival, and you've got yourself a nickname...and it stuck.  The elephant comes from a press account of a game that inspired a drunk fan to yell out that "the elephants are coming" referring to the overgrown inbreds that comprised the 'Bama of the 1930's.

Some History: ​Alabama has a similar football history to Michigan, though they've been chasing the ghost of Bear much longer than we've been chasing the ghost of Bo.  They peaked in the 70's, and while they've had a few more bad seasons than Michigan since then, they've also had a few more amazing ones.  But it all averages out, and though they haven't quite redefined towing the line the way we have, they're in our ballpark as far as maintaining historical significance by not losing more than 3-4 games in a season.  They did bottom out before the arrival of Nick Satan, er, I mean Saban, and the textbook scandal forced them to vacate the 21 wins they had earned between 2005-2007.  Since then they've been hot, losing only six games in the last four years.

Some Comparisons:  ​Decade by decade, Michigan and Alabama's wins and win %:

  • ​1970's:  'Bama: 103-16-1 (.862) - Blue: 96-16-3 (.847)
  • 1980's: 'Bama 85-33-2 (.717) - Blue: 90-29-2​ (.752)
  • 1990's: ​'Bama 83-40 (.674) - Blue: 93-26-3 (.774)
  • 2000's: 'Bama 58-48 (.547) - Blue: 81-43 (.653)​
  • 2010's: 'Bama 22-4 (.846)​ - Blue: 18-8 (.692)

Returning Starters:  ​Alabama returns 7 offensive and 4 defensive starters.  

Stat-tastic:  The Crimson Tide defense was #1 against the run AND #1 against the pass...so obviously #1 in total defense.  Oh, and that's nationally.  They allowed 8.15 ppg on average for the season, and they play in the SEC.  In their first 10 games of last season, none of their opponents scored more than 14 points, and those opponents included Arkansas, LSU, and Florida.

'Bama Blogs:  ​