Miscellaneous Minutiae, 9/30/13

Ready or not, Michigan will once again be taking the field this Saturday. Fortunately, you won't have to think about that for a little while. Some Monday links for you to pick at:

• Iowa handed the Gophers a loss with relative easy Saturday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium. The Daily Gopher has a recap, worth reading given Minnesota heads to the Big House this week. I agree with the penultimate paragraph; this was one Minnesota, for the sake of progress as a program, needed to win. 

• Jacobi has some Iowa-centric takeaways from Saturday's 23-7 Hawkeye win. 

• The ESPN Big Ten Blog looks at Week 5, and also compares the end of the first half Philly Brown touchdown to Miller's late game touchdown heave against Wisconsin in 2011. 

• Jerry Kill defends his decision to not yank QB Philip Nelson in favor of Mitch Leidner (Star Tribune). 

• Minnesota was an awful 4-for-13 on third down against Iowa, one of several stats in which the Hawkeyes thoroughly dominated the Gophers (TwinCities.com). 

• On the bright side for the Gophers, while their passing game has not been very good, Derrick Engel had a solid game in a losing effort. 

• Ex-Wolverines in the NFL post at Maize n Brew. Jordan Kovacs watches Breaking Bad, in case you were wondering. 

• Eleven Warriors talks about Saturday's win over the Badgers; as big as the win was for the Buckeyes, they lost starting safety Christian Bryant to a season-ending ankle injury. 

Spring and Summer Give Way

BTN stage at the July 27, 2013, BTN Big10K in Chicago. (Fouad Egbaria)

It's been a long spring and summer (well, it's all relative), and so I haven't been doing a whole lot here since the basketball season ended. That is regrettable to me, even if this isn't exactly the most widely read thing in existence, but so it goes. 

My year at Medill is almost up, and I'm in the midst of a hunt for a job in the world of journalism, perhaps a funny thing to mention on, you know, a blog of all things. While I never imagined that I would go into journalism when I first started this thing before my senior year at Michigan in the summer of 2010, I've come to realize that my semi-regular ramblings here have cemented the notion that I can, sometimes, write well about sports, and that I might want to do this for a living. Then again, so does everyone else. 

In any case, while one thing comes to an end, another will soon begin. If you don't know what that thing is, then you are probably in the wrong place. 

This offseason was a strange one. With the looming specter of endless school work and the need to secure a job, paired with the Chicago Bulls' short but exciting playoff run and the Blackhawks' run to yet another Stanley Cup, this offseason flew by with startling swiftness. I'm sitting here on August 2, 2013, and Michigan's next football game is no longer an abstract mile marker on the horizon; it is a certainty. On August 31, Michigan will take the field again. The result will matter. People will be keeping score. 

The offseason has been another installment in the "Era of Good Feelings." Other than ongoing recruiting pyrotechnics, very little has happened, minus the injury of Jake Ryan; even he is miraculously predicted to return at some point in October. With the passing of Big Ten Media Days, we've gotten our fill of meticulously curated hype. Darboh, Chesson, Clark; as always, expectations will weigh on some more than others. 

Michigan has holes to fill and questions to answer, just like every other squad in college football. Who will bring the pass rush? Can Michigan run the ball when it needs to (or at all)? What will Fitzgerald Toussaint bring coming off of a fairly brutal injury? How will Michigan's last line of defense perform without mistake-eraser Jordan Kovacs? Can Devin Gardner take the next step as the unquestioned starter (something which has been in the cards for so long it might have been mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh)?

These are all valid questions, and in considering them we've all surely come up with our individual record predictions. What mine happens to be doesn't really matter, but I think it's safe to say that as long as Michigan avoids disaster at certain positions, 2013 will prove more successful than 2012. 

Michigan gets Ohio State, Nebraska and Notre Dame at home but must travel to Michigan State, Penn State, Northwestern (which might not be as much of a "home" game as it has been) and Iowa, who is down but has given Michigan trouble at Kinnick the last two times. Michigan has yet to lose at home under Brady Hoke, and will need to continue that trend in 2013 if it hopes to make its first trip to Indianapolis. 

And so, we enter this season with a formless batch of wholesale uncertainty mixed with quiet confidence. We know Devin Gardner can play, but can the Wolverines run the ball? We know Michigan can win at home, but can they win on the road? We know Michigan has young talent in spots where it didn't exist in recent years, but will it grow up fast enough to make a difference in 2013? 

Nobody has these answers but the Future, which thus far has a perfect record with respect to not disseminating spoilers. On the flip side, we'll have to keep waiting. Then again, four more weeks is but a moment in time. 

Air Force Preview: Mulligan

Time: 3:30 ET (ABC)
Place: Michigan Stadium--Ann Arbor, MI
Line: Michigan -21.5
Mood: How about a do-over, eh?

Remember this game? This week is going to be that, plus the triple option. 

(HT: Mike DeSimone)

The Exposition 
I spent the offseason searching the Internet for information on this year's Alabama team in preparation for last Saturday's game. I even took the time to break down each Crimson Tide position group, and cited Alabama-centric links in a significant number of posts here throughout the summer. When Alabama's DeAndrew White reeled in a touchdown pass after Courtney Avery slipped, I'm pretty sure I'm the only Michigan fan that thought, "Hey, that's the guy that scored two touchdowns against Vandy last season! Wait, this is terrible." Various Alabama fans even commented that I wrote the most comprehensive preview of 2012 Alabama football by anyone on the Internet.

I only mention this to say that this was clearly an enormous waste of time, since, deep down, we all knew that what happened was inevitable. Like the coaching staff, I will now have to shift gears from thinking about Alabama all summer in order to give to our other non-conference opponents some thought before we hit the familiar territory that is the Big Ten schedule.

The greatest things about this week are: a) We are playing Air Force and b) Air Force is not Alabama. Nobody is Alabama.

Air Force is just the sort of team that, when played right after a game like the one we just played, gives legs to tired sports platitudes about "trap games" and "hangovers." Air Force is not a particularly talented or athletic team, but they are the type of team that can be incredibly annoying, kind of like that one hitter in the lineup that always forces your ace to throw 10 pitches before launching a duck snort (that's a Hawk Harrelson-ism) into right field. The Falcons are that hitter in the context of Michigan's season. Why did the cleanup hitter (Alabama) bat first? I don't know, maybe you should ask DAVE BRANDON AHAHHKKSIH. Okay, enough about baseball and faux DB rage. Let's wring our hands about the offensive line and talk about ASSIGNMENT FOOTBALL and chop blocking and stuff.

Michigan Offense vs. Air Force Defense 
Per Paul Myerberg, Air Force returns a mere two starters; however, one of those two, safety Anthony Wooding, is no longer on the team. Also, keep in mind that this sort of turnover is not uncommon for the service academies, as they are effectively exempt from the NCAA's 85 scholarship cap. This doesn't mean that they'll be good or that all is well, but extreme turnover is a fact of life for the academies.

As Ace detailed on Wednesday, the Falcons play the increasingly popular 3-4. Does that matter? Honestly, probably not except insofar as it's not something that Michigan sees in the Big Ten. On the bright side, the team we just played runs the 3-4, which was good tactical practice for this week. However, going up against Saban's 3-4 before facing Air Force's iteration of the same defense is like wearing ankle weights all day only to shed them and then challenge a toddler to a foot race.

If you're into that sort of thing, Air Force was 78th in defensive FEI last season, right between Ole Miss and Purdue in the rankings. Against the tougher teams on the schedule--ND, San Diego State, Boise State, and TCU--they gave up an average of 43 points per game. This is not a good defense, and the fact that they gave up 21 to Idaho State underscores that fact. The Bengals (that's Idaho State) managed to pass for a whopping 365 yards in the process (6.9 YPA). ISU quarterback Kevin Yost went a ridiculous 41/52, throwing two touchdowns to zero interceptions. This is kind of weird, as the Pre-Snap Read preview of Air Force notes that the Falcons have only given up 300+ passing in a game 8 times in the Calhoun era (i.e. 2007-present). The fact that they did just that against Idaho State might signal that something is up with this Air Force defense.

Air Force did a good job of stopping ISU's attack in the first half, but the second half did not start as well. Yost led three 75-yard touchdown drives in a row to start the second half. Needless to say, Michigan will probably be able to pick up a few more explosive plays than ISU did (especially with Fitz's return in mind), but will definitely be able to engage in a couple old school 8-minute, 10-play drives. This is confirmed by the pictures from last year's ND game that Ace included in this week's FFFF post. Welcome to Bend-but-don't-breaks-ville, USA. Population: the Air Force defense. This week will be the complete opposite of last week in terms of press coverage from the corners. I'd put the odds of this happening to Roy Roundtree this week...

Roy Roundtree's just takin' a little nap, no worries 

...at approximately -1,842%. Roundtree will have all the time in the world to think of that hilarious joke he's going to tell after the game, right before running that quick slant for a guaranteed 8+ yards. Jeremy Gallon will have a field day in the YAC department against this defense. I look forward to seeing him turn that throwback screen into GOLD, JERRY, GOLD on multiple occasions.

The gameplan this week is fairly simple and not nearly as laced with fatalism as last week's was. Air Force got torn up through the air by Idaho State, and I think that this will end up serving as a nice confidence booster for Denard in the passing game. Denard will have gargantuan windows to hit and the pass rush should be practically non-existent.

Fortunately, Borges is not forced to come out throwing this time around. Assuming that Toussaint starts, Michigan will try to give him some looks early on. Vincent Smith should be able to make some hay in the pass-catching game; with the AF defense backed up like the offense has cooties, Smith will finger gunz his way to many an open look in the flats.

To make matters worse for AF, two of their top defensive players, linebacker Jamil Cooks and safety Anthony Wooding, will not be participating. To make a long story short, AF is too unathletic and too small to pose any sort of danger to Michigan's offense. The only way that Michigan runs into trouble is if: a) Denard et al turn the ball over, which is pretty much what AF is banking on you to do or b) all those open spaces and endless possibilities lead to an offensive gameplan that's a little too cute.

Michigan Defense vs. Air Force Offense 
While the Falcons' defense is somewhat of a disaster, the offense is something worth consideration, especially for a Michigan team that is [CLICHES REDACTED]. You know this by now, but Air Force runs the triple option, an arcane relic of a simpler time (a simpler time which still exists in certain places, e.g. Atlanta, GA).

Here's Pre-Snap Read on AF quarterback Connor Dietz:

As for this offense, it will help to have three experienced contributors in the backfield. One is senior Connor Dietz, who steps in at quarterback after spending the last three years backing up Tim Jefferson. Dietz has earned extensive action since 2009, even going toe-to-toe with Jefferson that fall for the starting role; while Jefferson won the competition, starting in each of the next three years, Dietz is no neophyte – he knows this offense as well as any player on this roster.

Last week against Idaho State, Ditez had the sort of ultra-efficient day that option coaches dream about in between updating their operating systems and oiling their metallic hinges (yeah, I'm talking about you Paul Johnson). He went 8/11 for 142 yards, good for a hilarious 12.9 YPA. That's what happens when you rush for 484 yards on 8.3 YPC. That is also what happens when you play Idaho State.

Still, Dietz is a senior and has been around, biding his time until being handed the keys to the old Model T that is the triple option offense. In 2011, the Falcons were a very respectable 32nd in OFEI, sandwiched between pass-happy Texas Tech and run-happy Nebraska in the rankings. As you would expect, Air Force ranks very highly in the "methodical drive" metric as well, coming in at 5th in the country. Naturally, fellow option schools Navy and Georgia Tech come in at #1 and #2, respectively. This category measures the percentage of drives that go for 10+ plays...fairly straightforward.

In a nutshell, as long as something completely ridiculous doesn't happen, like Courtney Avery falling down on one of Dietz's 10 passing attempts, the Falcons are not going to be lighting Michigan up with explosive plays. This is pretty much the sort of game that a guy like Jordan Kovacs lives for.

This will simply be a test of discipline and the ability to avoid [SPORTS CLICHES REDACTED]. There's a reason almost no programs with any sort of big name cachet run the option anymore: teams that don't aren't very talented. It's an offense predicated on precision and unyielding dedication to a system, which of course makes the triple option a natural fit for the service academies.

Obviously, this is not Alabama's OL we're talking about here. Air Force's linemen could probably be tight ends at Michigan, but that doesn't matter if Michigan's much larger defenders are being cut to the ground. When you're cut to the ground, you're useless. If, say, Craig Roh gets cut, it doesn't matter how big he is or how much weight he's added in the offseason: if you're on the ground, you're about as useful to the defensive effort as a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, just chilling there on the field where a defender should be.

As far as personnel goes, Air Force will of course pass infrequently and distribute its many carries quite liberally. Last week, the Falcons split 58 carries between 11 players. That many players won't carry it this week for the simple fact that AF is not going to be in blowout run-out-the-clock mode against Michigan like they were against Idaho State last week*, but Michigan still needs to be vigilant. Dietz carried it 7 times last week, and minuscule tailback Cody Getz led the way with 17. Fullback Mike DeWitt pitched in 11 carries of his own. Look at how triple option-y that triple option is!

As someone who played fullback in high school for a little bit, I have to agree with Ace: option coaches love giving it to the fullback like Al Borges loves not answering questions about bubble screens. You don't need to be a coach to understand why that is the case. The fullback has the easiest path to positive yardage, and a successful give read almost guarantees at least three or four yards (if you have a fullback worth anything). DeWitt didn't seem to have a great day last week, but I'm guessing that Coach Calhoun is aware of Michigan's issues on the interior. AF might be looking to feed DeWitt early on until Campbell and whoever else is hanging out on the inside can prove that they can stop it.

*Uh, I hope not?

What Needs to Happen, Fergodsakes
On defense:

• Clichés about defending the option that are nevertheless very true. Don't get cut. Don't get cut. Also, don't get cut. 
• Clean up the tackling, por favor. Last week, we all stared on with our mouths agape as even Jordan Kovacs missed tackles. Well, the thing is...even normally sound tacklers miss them when players like T.J. Yeldon, Jalston Fowler, and Eddie Lacy are carrying the ball behind a quasi-NFL offensive line. That won't be the case this week, obviously. AF is in the methodical drive school of offense, like all option teams. Don't give them any big plays, because Air Force does not have the athletes to create them on their own. 
• Paging the Ministry of the Interior. Hello Will Campbell, Quinton Washington, Richard Ash, Ondre Pipkins, and, according to last week's starting lineup, Craig Roh (?). This is your chance to throw people around like you're in high school again. Of course, AF knows this and will be trying to avoid this outcome via the ignominious maneuver known as the cut block. 

On offense:

• No freebies, Denard. There is really no reason for Denard to throw a pick like the one he did to C.J. Mosley last week. AF will give him time, simply because they do not have the talent in the back to do any pressing or much blitzing. Still, Denard did throw a pick against EMU last year, so anything is possible. Air Force cannot hang unless Michigan makes mistakes. 
• The Michael Scott School of Management. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). It's tempting to get all crazy in the head against a team like this, one whose corners back away from receivers like the stretch of land between them is actually lava. It might not be pretty--again, think 2011 EMU game--but Michigan will grind out two or three longer drives and a couple shorter fields via defense/special teams. That should be enough. Let Fitz carry most of the load in the running game and let Denard dink and dunk on screens and wide open slants. Michigan would have to be incredibly unlucky or stupid to not score 35 points this week. 
• Those guys are not Alabama so please block them better than you did last week. Pretty self-explanatory. Schofield got burnt to a crisp, Lewan was 2010 Lewan, and the interior was bullied back as expected. If Michigan doesn't move that line with ease this week, that almost universal 9-3 preseason prediction will be looking mighty optimistic. No penalties from Lewan, a bounceback performance from Schofield, a couple crushing pulling blocks from Barnum, and competence from Mealer and Omameh...that's all I ask. 

Predictions of Negligible Worth 
After last Saturday, I can't even begin to tell you how nice it will be to see Michigan run out and touch the banner. As Borges noted in his presser earlier in the week, Oregon recovered nicely after getting Rick James smacked in the face to start the season. Michigan is not last year's Oregon team, but they can still go on a pretty nice run the rest of the way. I still think that Michigan is a good if very flawed team, and the Alabama game's result has a way of distorting our understanding of this team's potential. 

This game could be a very good or a very bad thing for this team. The potential is there for a lethargic, frustrating effort, kind of like a higher scoring version of the 2002 Utah game. At the same time, there is not much to this team Air Force team. A strong collective defensive effort and a crisply executed offensive gameplan that doesn't reveal too much could serve as a galvanizing force, a pick-me-up of sorts as the team tries to distance itself from the memory of the Cowboys Classic. 

I will once again draw the comparison to last year's EMU game. EMU QB Alex Gillett passed five times all day, but the Eagles had some pretty substantial success on the ground early on. Michigan will likely take a quarter or so to gain its bearing vis-a-vis the triple option, and if Toussaint doesn't start (I'm writing this on Wednesday, but I'm assuming that he will) then who knows what we'll get from the non-Denard ball carriers. 

I get the feeling that AF will have a decent amount of success on the ground in the first half. The Falcons score a touchdown on a long drive in the first quarter but are kept out of the endzone the rest of the way. They do get close enough to kick a convert a couple field goal attempts. EMU ran for 207 yards at 4.5 YPC on a defensive line featuring Mike Martin and Ryan Van Bergen, so Air Force probably ends up in that neighborhood of run game production against Team 133's defense. 

In the end, however, AF simply doesn't have the athletes to hang with Gallon, Toussaint, and Denard (although I doubt that Borges will want to run him like he did against EMU last year). I am also looking forward to at least one impressive instance of raw wide receiving talent from Devin Gardner. 

Score: Michigan 35, Air Force 13 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 8/27/2012

Just wrapping up some loose ends here before the college football season starts...ON THURSDAY. I can hardly believe it either. 

Goodbye, offseason.

Captains. They are, as expected, Denard Robinson and Jordan Kovacs. As Michigan's most prominent senior warrior football poets, you can expect a lot about them in this space throughout the coming months.

Also, this goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: Jordan Kovacs is Rudy...if Rudy was actually good and had an NFL future. Seriously. The guy didn't make the team in 2008 due to a knee injury and then turned around and started in '09. The rest, as they say, is history. Competence is good. /Henne'd

Deciding time. This is just about the time when schools are announcing who their starter at QB will be going into the coming season. Some guys won by default, some after a long and arduous battle throughout the spring, summer, and fall.

The notable winners: Kiehl Frazier (Auburn), Josh Nunes (Stanford), Everret Golson (Notre Dame), David Ash (Texas), and Joe Southwick (Boise State), Marcus Mariota (Oregon). So, there you go. Arm yourselves with this arsenal of useless information (which I guess basically defines sports fandom as a whole, but whatever). Nunes and Southwick have the unenviable task of replacing Andrew Luck and Kellen Moore*, whereas the other three guys are trying to be better (Ash, Frazier) or better than the guy that started last year (Golson).

*Mariota has to replace a productive, successful college QB in Darron Thomas, but, as I mentioned in the Pac 12 preview, he's just the next cog in the Oregon offensive machine. At this point, I'm convinced that Chip Kelly could coach an orange with pencils for appendages to run for 100+ and pass for 250+ against your team.

Speaking of Golson. You've probably heard this already, but ND has suspended tailback Cierre Wood for a minimum of two games...that's not a good thing if your name is Everett Golson. The Irish start the season in Dublin (not the one in Ohio) against Navy. I'm not quite ready to sound the upset alert siren here, but a young QB without his top tailback, no Michael Floyd (plus, Theo Riddick is now a running back), doesn't sound like a promising thing for the ND offense. Whereas Rees managed to move the ball last season only to eventually turn it over, ND might find it difficult to move the ball at all with Golson.

Basically, you can expect approximately 842 passes thrown in Tyler Eifert's direction against Navy.

Meanwhile, in Knoxville. Also on the suspension front, Tennessee had suspended star wideout Da'Rick Rogers (he has since transferred to Tennessee Tech), which significantly puts a dent in my increasingly positive (for some reason) feelings about the Vols' 2012 team. This is a tough blow for Tennessee, especially after getting their other star receiver Justin Hunter back from injury (he missed most of the 2011 season).

From where I stand, Tennessee looks like a team with a solid but not spectacular defense that is moving to the 3-4 and an offense with a gunslinger of a QB and a not very established running game. Unless Bray is ultra-efficient--which is unlikely given that's he's going to be throwing it as if UT  had somehow relocated to the Pacific coast--then seven wins might be as far as UT can go in Dooley's third season. Is that enough? I'm honestly not sure.

Ah, there's the beef. So things had been progressing fairly normally this fall; that is, until some things about the defensive line started to leak out of fall camp. By this I am mostly referring to #76 Quinton Washington, former O-lineman, starting on the DL next to BWC.

If the Black-QW-BWC-Roh lineup is the one that gets rolled out to start, that pretty much confirms the sneaking suspicion that the coaches aren't that comfortable with Black's ability to hold up on the inside, even with the weight he's added (up to 276 from 260, as of this post). Either that, or they're attempting to compensate for Clark's suspension by slotting Black back at his original position (WDE), hopefully precluding the need to play Ojemudia at all against Alabama, which I think would mostly end in disaster. Washington is pretty big, and if there was a game to roll with QW and Campbell in the middle, it's against Alabama. Now, being big doesn't mean that you can hold up (see: "Will Campbell's first three seasons at Michigan"), but the coaching staff is in a bit of a bind. Sadly, these sorts of moves when you're about to face an offensive line like Alabama's is kind of like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Also. Devin Gardner: is the transformation to wideout complete? It certainly seems that way based on recent rumblings. Two things:

• Whatever arcane magical rituals you've been performing in order to keep Denard healthy, DOUBLE DOWN on them right now and all the way through early January. No offense to Russell Bellomy, but if he is the QB2 in earnest, then 
• At this point, however, I've come to terms with the fact that wide receiver might end up being Devin Gardner's calling. For whatever reason, his mechanics and overall QB "it having-ness" hasn't progressed as expected, and that's unfortunate but far from presages the end of the world or DG's career. We all know he can be an exceptional talent [insert that camp highlight tape where he does his best Marquise Walker impression here], but it's one thing to be a guy running out there for the occasional snap and being a starting guy. Either way, the coaches have done a great job generally keeping DG's role under wraps..I can guarantee that Saban is thinking about this. 

See, look: interesting football things to talk about. Football must be near. *Checks calendar* WOOOO!

More? Florida's 2012 QB situation is going to mirror 1998/99 Michigan's...if Brady and Henson were both not very good. Check the "ETC" section...Spencer with a zinger regarding UofM research and Greg Robinson. 

Lake The Post agrees with me, putting Michigan at #11 to start. 

Shameless Self-Promotion Time (Talkin' About the Secondary)

HT: Mike DeSimone (via hokiesports.com)

This week in self-promotion:

• I previewed the secondary as part of Maize n Brew's 2010 season preview of each position group. I think we can officially put the haunting specter of Greg Robinson/Tony Gibson to rest. WOO!

---

Other links of note: 

• If you hadn't noticed, Chris at Burgeoning Wolverine Star is back and writing about football things, which is awesome. He previewed the wide receivers today (as well as the QBs and RB, links included therein). Calls the wideout situation "dire", which is hard to disagree with at this point in time. 
• Topical given my post on DB earlier, but it looks like the AD is trying to figure out a way to get the 2013 UConn game played somewhere other than Rentschler Field. This might not end in success for DB, but this negotiating attempt was not exactly unexpected. I was in Hartford once a couple of years ago...that stadium is tiny. Also, is amusingly right across the street from a Cabela's, so there's that. 
• Other topical DB news: night games, yeah! Unfortunately, nothing will ever live up to UTL, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep having night games (in moderation, of course). Once every other year is enough for me. The only problem is that the Nebraska and OSU games would not be in consideration for this due to the no nights games in November conference-wide rule (not that I support playing OSU at any time other than high noon). Notre Dame it is, I guess. 
• As Brian at MGoBlog would say: DON'T CLICK ON THIS. JUST DON'T. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 7/10/2012

Yes...this was a thing. 

Mediocrity and bygone memories. At this point in time, the Orange Bowl has lost its luster. It's MJ playing with the Wizards, and that is a very unfortunate thing indeed. Scanning the list of Orange Bowl games in recent years is a grotesque exercise. Even the 2006 Penn State-Florida State matchup--one which you'd think would be a firecracker of a game based on name brand cachet alone--featured a 4-loss Seminole team. To be fair, it did go to OT, and was a fairly exciting game. If anything, that game further confirmed that the difference between 1/2 (Texas and USC) and the next team, #3 PSU, was pretty significant. 2005: The Year That The BCS Accidentally Worked.

To make a long story short, the ACC courting perpetual free agent Notre Dame for an Orange Bowl tie-in, in one enormous melting pot of mediocrity. The ACC/the Orange Bowl game are kind of like the Cheesecake Factory: mindlessly uniform (everybody has 7 wins, everybody has the same mediocre, overstretched menu). Like the city of Charlotte--where the ACC title game has been held the the last two years after an embarrassing 2008 turnout in Tampa--ACC would rather be doing something else (i.e. playing basketball, while Charlotteans watch NASCAR).

On a related note, this isn't exactly a new thought, but: I wonder how long ND can continue to find itself being treated with kid gloves before the college football world just stops caring about them. I get the feeling that that might never happen, because after nearly two decades of mostly awful football, ND is still in discussions such as this one with the ACC. ND's privileged drifter status truly is one of the weirdest arrangements in sports. As Hinton notes, for any of this to even come into play, ND will need to win enough games:

Yes, that assurance could come at the expense of a mid-major outfit that can't promise a sellout or a huge TV rating, but old Notre Dame will never be handed a golden ticket based on echoes alone. Its current arrangement with BCSguarantees the Irish access to one of the big-money bowls if they finish with either a top-ten ranking in the BCS standings or nine wins in the regular season, hurdles they've managed to clear just three times in the Series' 14-year existence. Any deal with the Orange Bowl (or any other major bowl) is likely to come with criteria in the same vein, based on the selection committee poll that will replace the BCS standings.

As we have seen, this has been easier said than done, even with the 9-win clause built in for them. It's kind of irritating, but, when you think about it, the entire playoff process has revealed that it's all about the money. That thing that isn't money that you thought this was about just a little bit? Nope, it's not about that. A ND team that might not be great but provides a better turnout (i.e. a chance for a stadium to look somewhat full) than another team that is probably better but not as cash-flush...seems like a no-brainer for the ACC and the Orange Bowl. It's definitely needed, since I almost have no desire to watch the Orange Bowl these days, and I watched almost every pre-NYD bowl game this past season, so that should tell you something. Utah State-Ohio and San Diego State-Louisiana Lafayette were arguably more entertaining bowl games than every Orange Bowl game within the last five years.

PHIL STEELE IS VERY EXCITED ABOUT MICHIGAN. The Oracle that is Phil Steele has deemed Michigan one of a choice group of potential 2012 national title winners. I'm only mentioning this to highlight this part:

Steele used extensive statistical research from 24 different stat categories for all national title winners and contenders over the past 20 years to come up with his final list of 11.

His research looked at all past championship teams' wins and losses from the previous season, offensive and defensive numbers, turnover margin and schedule strength.

There's no way that Phil Steele is actually a living, breathing human being. Have any of you actually seen Phil Steele, like, walking around and stuff? No? Yup, he's a robot because Occam's Razor. Plus, if the BCS has taught me anything, a robot/computer agenda exists, and it is not to be trusted.

While I find Steele's most deployed construction of "if you'll remember that time I was right about this thing" to be amusing but kind of tiresome after having seen it for so many years, it's July; his analysis, JAM-PACKED WITH FACTS, is at least worth a scan. If anything, you have to respect that hustle.

UM-MSU rivalry fuel. A new book on an interesting part of Big Ten history is out, "Arrogance and Scheming in the Big Ten", by Dr. David J. Young (HT: Big Ten Blog). Man, I can't wait to find out who the arrogant ones in this yarn are! On a serious note, the 374-page tome details Michigan State's tumultuous entry into the conference in 1949 and our own evil, mustache-twirlingly arrogant attempts to keep them out. We're always the villains, it seems. Don't people know that calling us arrogant all the time hurts our feelings? We have them, you know.


In any case, this is a history that I am admittedly not that familiar with, so this seems like something that would definitely be worth a read. With that said, I just wanted to touch on this point:

Among many revelations, “Arrogance and Scheming” smashes the idea that the early 20th century was a time of rah-rah innocence for college football. Indeed, scandals and presumed scandals weaved their way through the Western Conference.

Do people actually believe that the early days of college football were any different than they are now? If anything, they were probably "worse," just with way less cash money coming out of the whole enterprise. If so, this thinking is obviously naive, perspective-less "the old-days-were-better" talk. That said, if the book is as well-researched and sourced as it sounds like it is--featuring extensive use of Michigan's own Bentley Library--it would appear to be required reading for the college football history buff, B1G fan or not.

Also, I didn't know this, but apparently UofM English professor Ann Curzan was selected as Michigan's faculty rep to the B1G and NCAA in February, which, as Rexrode's article notes, is fairly poetic. Curzan is the granddaughter of former MSU President John Hannah, who sparred with Michigan's own Ralph Aigler--Michigan's faculty rep at that time--throughout MSU's Big Ten admission struggle.

To all of that I say: MICHIGAN ENGLISH DEPARTMENT REPRESENT! WOOOO WE RUN THIS CAMPUS, Y'ALL. Hope you are all ready to see "Special K" ushered out in favor of Samuel L. Jackson-voiced audiobooks of Victorian literature, played line by line at key moments throughout the game.

Carl Grapentine: Maxwell's pass incomplete, intended for Sims, Thomas Gordon covering. It's third and ten. 
English Department-sponsored SLJ reading: IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES, MOTHERF*@#^%!

/Big House golf claps
//jingles keys

This needs to happen. Coincidentally, I'm pretty sure the opening words of A Tale of Two Cities represent the most perfect descriptor of Michigan's 3rd and long defense over the years.

Speaking of Michigan State. Bill C. has a great run-down of MSU's prospects in 2012, and to be quite honest, I have to agree with most of his assessment. Outside of Alabama and LSU, you could easily make an argument for MSU's as the next best defensive team in the country. No, I'm not talking about Michigan (although I suspect that Michigan will be very soon; 2011 was only the beginning of the defensive renaissance) here. I am no Nostradamus, and neither are you. Whether MSU's recent success is sustainable can be debated, but that's only because they've won a lot of games (22 in the last two seasons combined). You could debate the sustainability of that success for almost any program out there, including Michigan's. More importantly, it would seem that Dantonio has upped MSU's baseline significantly. If the Spartans fall off, they're probably looking at 7-9 wins and not the complete and utter collapse of years past.

If you haven't already, it' time to discard the silly "Little Brother" thing, because MSU will be very good again this year. To be honest, I have a gut feeling that Maxwell will be just fine at quarterback. Jerel Worthy is a bigger loss, IMO.

Bednarik Award watch list. This is tangentially connected to the last section, but here's the list of B1G players on the pre-season Bednarik Award watch list (the award given to the top defensive player in college football). Note that there are zero Wolverines on this list. For a program that is a favorite to win the conference and a lock to be pre-season top 10, the lack of "high end" talent sticks out like a fan being loud between the 40s in the Big House.

I can't wait until Michigan has well-coached blue chip talent on the defensive side of the ball again. That will be pretty neat. It seems ridiculous that Kovacs isn't even on this list given that Chris Borland is on it (honestly, I've never been all that impressed with him), but whatever. I'm not sure how much longer Mattison is going to be coaching, but I think it's safe to say that he'll be there long enough to see the 2011 and 2012 classes form the core of the defense.

Now, the tangentially relevant part: the Spartans have four on this list (Gholston, Adams, Allen and Bullough). A serious question: in the history of Bednark watch lists, has this ever happened (i.e. 4 Spartans and 0 Wolverines)? I would venture to guess probably not. In any case, this is one more "MSU is for real, you guys" piece of evidence.

More? UMHoops with a comprehensive look at Beilein's recruiting options for 2013 and beyond...as in, 2015 beyond. Burkhead fluff in SI. Lake The Posts on Drew Crawford and how he will need to take over in the post-Shurna era if the Wildcats are going to have a chance at getting that first tourney berth this season.

Speaking of the Bednarik watch list, Alabama has four defenders make the list: Nico Johnson, CJ Mosley, Jesse Williams, and Robert Lester. To reiterate the "MSU is for real" thing...MSU, LSU, and Alabama are the only teams with four defenders on the list.

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 2/21/2011

A Site Note: If you haven't noticed, Maize N Brew is back to producing daily content. I've been invited to contribute on a semi-regular basis. I put up my first piece on Monday, on the topic of Saturday's game. I also put a word in on the subject of Big Ten power rankings. If you read this blog, odds are you are more than interested in looking for additional sources of Michigan-centric information/editorializing/stupid photoshopping to keep you occupied while at work, so you'll definitely want to check Maize N Brew out; a link is available in the blog roll down there to the left if you'd let to jump off from here.

In short, go check it out.

The Importance of Being GRITTY: Andy Staples decided to run through the notable under-the-radar sorts that made significant impacts on college football squads far and wide. Naturally, Michigan features prominently. Jordan Kovacs, Patrick Omameh, and Will Heininger Nathan Brink [derp--the list is for 2012, obviously, so no Heininger] all make the list.

If you're the sort that thinks of the negatives first, I will oblige you by saying that, yes, the fact that these guys were forced into action speaks to our talent level and/or our touted talent's inability to perform (and, certainly, be coached with any level of competence..I'll leave it at that). Now that that's out of the way...man. After years of watching schools like Wisconsin and Iowa manufacture solid to pretty good anonymous walk-ons (particularly at safety), we finally have one of our own. Jordan Kovacs is no longer a nice story: he is pretty darn good, period. Think about how far he's come since getting dusted by Darius Willis--a slow Indiana tailback--in 2009. Don't look now, but in light of my TIME IS RUNNING OUT Denard alarum...Kovacs only has one more go at it himself. Savor that sweet sweet safety competence before we have to head back to the great void of uncertainty that comprised most, if not all, of the post-1997 years (depending on how strongly you feel about the Adams and Englemon pairing).

Omameh's story is no less impressive. If I remember correctly, Omameh was one of those guys in the first RR/Lloyd class that RR brought in just before NSD. Omameh had some issues transitioning to the new offense this season, but he got better as the year went on. With another year left to go for him, I'd expect some All-Conference consideration coming his way. A 2-star project to make it to the starting lineup is impressive--depth chart notwithstanding-- in and of itself, but anything after that is just gravy. Hey 2-stars and walk-ons: Ann Arbor is where the magic happens.
 /Omameh'd

After all the Brink hysteria leading up to the opener last year, Heininger was the unheralded walk-on guy that actually became a legitimate piece in the DL rotation. As Brian noted in his UFRs, he was more than a last resort plug-in; he actually MADE PLAYS at times. Injuries in his last two seasons partially derailed what could have been another impressive story. As great as Kovacs has been, to become a contributor on the defensive line is a different beast entirely. Heininger will prove to be an underrated loss going forward. But, Brink should hopefully be able to follow in Heininger's gritty shoes.

Things That People Write When They Have To Say Something About Nothing: Tom Fornelli, in what was probably a throwaway, offhand comment, but still:

Yeah, I don't think anybody was expecting Denard to actually to put the football through the hoop from full court, but the coming up short or just missing wide right is a bit disconcerting, no?

BENCH DENARD FIRE EVERYBODY RUN FOR THE HILLS. Denard, I know you run a 4.3...but why not a 4.2 or a 4.1, even? I am disconcerted. Even Dr. Saturday picked up on this theme, writing in a similarly humorous fashion while also joining the legions of people who continue to spell Hemingway incorrectly. I would blame the authors of these articles, but I think that the grotesque monstrosity called "the offseason" is more to blame here. Commenter "Chaz"--who you can tell from his name is probably a really cool dude who knows a lot of important things and you would definitely not not want to hang out with--takes the time to extrapolate the following from Denard's performance at Crisler:

Thank You. Someone else realizes he's really not that good. He's a good athlete but not a good QB.

Indeed, Chaz. Fire Denard, everything is terrible, etc.

Northwestern: Sobocop Redux: It seems like the afterglow of the OSU game has not yet worn off, but here we are with another game to watch. Michigan travels to Northwestern to play at Welsh-Ryan, a venue that has not been kind to us in the last couple of seasons. If I remember correctly, even when we won in 2008-09, it was in OT. Nick Baumgardner gives you 4 things to watch for tonight, and 1 and 4 are of the most interest to me.

Morgan on a 5-playing Shurna sounds like a 20+ point effort waiting to happen (from Shurna, that is). Of course, I'm sure Shurna will see his fair share of Smotrycz. As for #4, I will say that I have a less than optimistic view of tonight's potential outcome. For the record, I think Michigan finishes 3-1, with the one loss coming tonight. It sounds like Welsh-Ryan will be sold out, and many Northwestern folks seem to be building this up like it's the biggest game in program history. I doubt that is actually true, but Michigan is a top 11 team* and the Wildcats will be fighting for a tourney berth, which will all but slip away into the great abyss if they lose this game. I won't be previewing it, but most of the stuff from my first preview still applies.

Also, yes: Sobolewski will be referred to as Sobocop for the rest of his time at Northwestern. Insult or encomium? It doubles as both, I guess. Northwestern fans, feel free to appropriate it as your own.


*

Home Sweet Home: Despite a 10-year deal with Emperor Palpatine Jerry Jones, the Aggie-Razorback series will move to campus locations for the 2012 and 2013 games. With Texas dropping off the Aggie schedule, I think Arkansas could more than adequately fill that hatred vacuum as the years go by. Taking this game to College Station and Fayetteville will go a long way toward that goal. As weird as Texas A&M is as an entity, they're like kerosone: all SEC teams need is a match and you've got a rivalry.

In any case, more games on campus sites=good. Obviously, these two are now in the same conference and this was inevitable, anyway, but as a general rule I think that these games need to be played at campus locations. Brian has mentioned this over and over again, but as someone who has spent several years in Alabama, having the chance to watch the winged helmets take the field at Bryant-Denny would have been a surreal, pseudo-transcendent experience. Instead, we're playing it in the alien spaceship from Independence Day also known as Cowboys Stadium. I can't wait to guilt myself into buying $400+ tickets for nosebleed seats in a stadium in Not Even Dallas...fergodsakes.

More? Hey, NFL teams, a protip: you want this man on your team. The Cock of Victory from the WLA: OHIO BEATEN. Add "trees" to the list of "things that Nick Saban doesn't care about." MnB preview of the Northwestern game tonight from the_white_tiger.

A Rude Welcoming

I'm a little bit late with the recap this week due to being in Ann Arbor/traveling for Thanksgiving (I know you've all been waiting with bated breath). So, here it is. Due to the nature of this week, I'm going to just go with bullets for this one. The threshold has been crossed; no longer should surprise or amazement be our most abundant response to anything that happens. We are good, and at minimum much better than we'd thought we'd be. What a concept.

• In MGoPodcast style, I'll start with the complaints, of which there are very few. First...student section. Why are you all so terrible? I spent my four years complaining to everyone that our student section was pretty lackluster in a number of ways, but I feel like this year they've* taken it to a whole new level. Saturday was the first time I've ever thought "Hey, maybe sitting with a down-in-fronter wouldn't be so bad." Yeah...that's how bad it was. It's almost as if Under The Lights happened and all the students assumed they had fulfilled their giving a crap quota for the season. The student section  had way too many empty seats around kickoff once again, for a big conference game that would net us our 9th win and assure our best regular season record since 2006. If I never see another brah waltz into the student section halfway through the second quarter only to complain that YOU'RE IN HIS SEATS BRAH COME AT ME AND MY BACKWARDS FITTED HAT THAT IS ASSUREDLY LIMITING THE BLOOD FLOW TO MY BRAIN...I'll be pretty happy. It's going to be strange not sitting in the student section starting next year, but I just can't deal with key-jingling morons anymore. I get that there's a pretty huge number of out-of-staters, international students, and other assorted folks that might not be hardcore fans, but man...you guys are terrible, and I thought you were bad before (2007-2011...ah, memories). 

          In short, you're not a student section, YOU JUST SUCK.

•   Other complaints, are, well...not existent? Well, the halftime show was weird, I guess. There's something to be said for trying new things but that was not really something that I would've wanted
  to see, but you know whatever. 

• Denard Robinson not throwing off of his back foot? Check? Putting the 2-QB set on ice for the game, thus allowing him to get in a rhythm? Check. Denard realizing that scrambling is a thing that he is allowed to do? Check. He has obviously had more prolific performances in the past but this game was one of my favorite performances of his just because of the fact that it represents a step toward the type of quarterback we know he can be. A day of 11/18 passing for 180 yards, 83 yards rushing, 4 touchdowns, and only 1 turnover...I can get behind that and so should everyone else. 

• Bo Jackson said that he felt like Cam Newton dropped down on Auburn from outer space...while the same can't exactly be said for Fitz Toussaint, his emergence on the field has been equally critical,especially vis a vis Denard's progression as a quarterback. He has now put up three superb games out of the last four, and with only Molk and Huyge departing after this season, the prospects for the running game are bright for 2012.

• Brady Hoke is secretly Les Miles without the absurdist flair. Don't fool yourself, the man is diabolical. That fake field goal was unbelievably perfect in its execution and timing. Let's hope this continues to be SOP.

• Odoms! I'm going to miss his play on the field. He's now scored in back to back weeks, and a touchdown against the Buckeyes would go a long way toward a fulfilling end to a great career. After that long touchdown I immediately thought back to the game-winning touchdown against Indiana in 2009 and smiled. 

• So apparently Mattison's slightly disturbing manboob jiggle is an exhortation to burninate whatever lays before the defense because that was amazing. Okay, Floyd got beat once deep. It was the first one all year and it happens. The second touchdown was on a very short field after Michigan went three and out starting from their own four yard line. Even Nebraska's field goal come on the heels of a Denard interception that led to the Huskers starting from the Michigan 34. After that they: 1) lost five on first down 2) incomplete pass on second 3) 6-yard pass on 3rd and 15. Otherwise, Michigan's defense throttled the Huskers when they weren't asked to defend a short field. This "happiness" feeling re: the defense is foreign but I like it. 

• Michigan's 2011 Takeaway Tour continues, with Jake Ryan, Terrence Robinson, and Cam Gordon all forcing fumbles. All were legitimate forced fumbles and not the cheap kind, only further underscoring the newfound commitment to special teams and tackling in general. A hat on the ball equals fumble a good amount of the time; Michigan's 2011 special teams is a testament to that fact. Michigan will need to continue that and kick/punt returners will have to keep holding onto the ball in order to prevent the Buckeyes from having a chance at some cheap short field points. 

• Another defensive note: Michigan held the Huskers to 3/13 on third down. The takeaways are great, but this is one of the more underrated points of improvement in this team. Try to think of all the times Michigan could not stop somebody on third down in the last several years; all those drives that once continued all the way to the end zone are now ending with a pathetic whimper.
• Gibbons? 

 Oh yeah. He was 1 for 2 on 42-yarders, which I will take any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I'm still conditioned to cross my fingers every time we attempt a field goal, but Gibbons has quietly had a very nice season. He's not Robbie Gould or anything, but as long as he can continue to hit most things inside 40 and do okay with the 40-45 range then we could consider him our most dependable kicker since Rivas...which, isn't saying much but dependable is dependable.

• Time of possession: Michigan 41:13, Nebraska 18:39. Okay, TOP doesn't mean anything in and of itself, and it's more a product of defensive and offensive efficiency than a directly causative relationship. In the five-course meal that is GOOD FOOTBAW, dominating TOP is a side like mac and cheese or mashed potatoes compared the entrees of takeaways, third down percentages, and rushing yards. Sides don't make a meal but they can certainly detract from it if they're not very good at all. Given Kovacs's comments on the subject after the game, it's obvious that the defense has in part improved because of the change in tempo, although how significant the effect has been is somewhat nebulous and unquantifiable.

Speaking of food...Maize and Blue victory sandwich

•   Nebraska fans seemed pretty cool. I didn't really actively interact with any of them but I didn't notice a single negative interaction between them and other Michigan fans all day. Their fans traveled well as expected, and while this will likely never become a bigger game than the triumvirate of evil that is aOSU, ND, and MSU, it will be a game to look forward to each and every year. Welcome to the Big Ten.

• Here are some more random stats if you need more random pieces of delightful information to make you feel happy. 

• I could say more, but frankly there's only one thing that matters right now...enough Nebraska talk. Beat Ohio.You may continue your regularly scheduled HATE WEEK programs.

Luckiest Man

(HT: Mike DeSimone)

Michigan 31, Illinois 14

To derp or not to derp...that is the question. Or is it the answer? Ron Zook isn't sure and he's been thinking about it real hard for a long time so you know that this is a quandary of such immense existential weight that it would boggle and possibly even crush the most powerful of minds. In reality, Ron Zook is not a football coach but a water ski enthusiast that happens to coach football on the side. Ron Zook's interests in life: being completely oblivious, running on third and 10, having blustery hair, and taking the wave runner out onto the streets of Champaign. In Ron Zook's world, this is perfectly normal. At any given time, Ron Zook coaches like it's six minutes into the first quarter and the repercussions of the accretion of derpitude stemming from his choices has not already torpedoed his team's chances. No matter what happens, Ron Zook is this on one never-ending loop of lobotomized bliss: 

Should I keep going? The fact that he has survived to see a seventh season at Illinois is a testament to man's ability to ratchet up primordial self-preservation instincts in order to procure enough food to survive the day and/or barely beat Western Michigan and Northwestern. 

With that out of the way, despite Zook's constitutional devotional to being terrible, Michigan was actually doing things to make the end result what it was. It didn't look great at times, but when you can muster up the bravado to complain about a first half performance that saw Michigan completely stifle Illinois's offense, you know things are probably pretty good. Winningly ugly certainly is more fun than losing really really ugly, and this statement will be included in a book of obvious statements written by Chad Henne and obviously titled "Excellence Is Good." 

The Offense 

My first impression was one of doom and gloom, but, the more I think about it, maybe it's not so bad. Michigan put up 31 against a formidable defense, more than any other Illinois opponent save Northwestern (qualifier: yeah, those are some bad offenses on their schedule, but it's all relative at this point). This is of course not even mentioning the inopportune turnovers and the Illini's general inability to move the ball, additional reasons to not feel so bad about things. Obviously you can't just take turnovers out, but Michigan could have very easily scored in the 40s, on the road, against a pretty good defense. These aforementioned things in and of themselves aren't enough to assuage any feelings of discomfort, but together they make a convincing case. 

It's hard to give the quarterback play a true grade given the paucity of data, but overall it's difficult to be too critical. Denard went 6/9 passing (excising the meaningless end of the first half Hail Mary), and he good on the few opportunities he did get, which including multiple lasers between the hashes and one laudable (if underthrown) touch pass to Koger down the field. As far as the playcalling goes, I think it's obvious that the coaches saw how well we ran the ball, saw how poorly the Illini did anything, and decided not to air it out much at all. It's not a pretty way to win, but it's a way to win. When an opponent as incompetent as the Illini basically obviates the need to pass...don't pass. Yes, it is in fact 2011 and not 1911. 

At this point, with two more teams fielding okay defenses and mediocre at best offenses left on the schedule, I'm not sure if the battle plan really needs to change all that much. It's not flashy or exciting and it certainly doesn't get Denard the game reps he needs to become a better passer, but, as I said it's late for that. The time for Denard to throw it around was long ago, back in the halcyon days 6-0 run. Despite this, those who say that Devin should be the guy are, quite frankly, crazy. I have no idea how many of these people are extant, but whoever you are, you're crazy. Nevertheless, Devin did show some nice poise to step up and hit the open Odoms for 6; it's an improvement. Unless we are holding a lot of plays for the Ohio State game, it appears that both Devin and Denard are about as good as they're good to be this season, and that, to me, makes it obvious who should be getting the vast majority of the snaps. Maybe Devin wins the job in the offseason. Who knows. For now, Denard gives us the best chance to win, and that's all that matters.

Outside of the weekly quarterback non-controversy, Fitz Toussaint was busy looking like Mike Hart with speed again /Jackson'd. He ran for a career high 192 yards on 27 carries (good for a YPC of 7.1, a number that is still pretty good even if you take out the 65-yarder on the opening drive). Michigan has seen some times since Mike Hart moved on to the NFL, with Minor, Brown, McGuffie, Shaw, Smith, etc. all getting looks and all doing some nice things at times but never enough to be the undisputed #1. Fitz has done that and then some. I do admit to wondering how different (i.e. better) the offense would've looked in 2010 with a legitimate spread tailback to complement Denard, but as they say it's in the past. 

Elsewhere in the run game, Denard did his thing, carrying 12 times for 45 yards, which isn't amazing but it's hard to be upset when two of those carries are touchdowns. The only Charles Barkley turrible moment that I can still recall is that botched 4th and goal, but even that isn't really Denard's fault so much as maybe a nice call by the Illini and poor blocking. 

The offense is what it is. It's a work in progress, the Death Star circa Return of the Jedi. Borges is trying to construct something with a pile of Legos and Lincoln Logs and some rubber bands, and whatever is the result of this grostequely inadequate and variable pile of parts is going to be, well...inadequate and variable. As such, one way to mitigate that is to simply go into "just win" mode, which entails throwing 15 times between two quarterbacks throughout an entire game on the road. 

The Defense 

I can't remember the last time a Michigan defense's performance made me feel so happy. I think the answer is "2006" but I can't be too sure. While the defense looked good earlier in the season, it was more a product of minimal expectations exceeded; solid performances but one saddled by the qualifiers of competition and our own low expectations. Now, Michigan's defense is an absolute good, an entity to count on and consider a strength without irony or reservation. This defense is good. 

Again, a certain amount of Illinois derp is at play here, but a good amount of that derp came about because we looked fast and strong in the front 7, with the secondary forcing turnovers, helping in the run game, and overall shutting down the Illini passing game outside of AJ Jenkins. It felt like watching a Michigan defense of old, and for a second it felt like Glen Steele, Rob Renes, Jarrett Irons, Tripp Welborne, and Leon Hall were out there once again: hitting, covering, crushing. 

The Illini had a mere 214 total yards of offense (37 rushing, 177 passing). For those counting at home, on 33 rushing attempts, the Illini averaged 1.1 YPC. ONE POINT ONE. Other than Jenkins, the passing game netted 74 yards. Greg Mattison has officially made the desert bloom. 

Michigan's only mistakes came as a result of youth seeing the field (Clark) and not knowing how to defend the zone read/option, but whatever. Our top four tacklers (RVB, Martin, Demens, and Morgan) were all front 7 players, which is the way things should be. Four sacks, a Kovacs forced fumble/Gordon recovery, a JT Floyd interception, and an indomitable will to be in the right place and to hit whatever shows up at that place later, and you've got a 31-14 Michigan win in which in the Illini didn't score until late in the third. 

Van Bergen and Martin continue to dominate, and man we are going to miss them next year. That said, with how improved the defense has been (including the DL), and the presence of essentially 3 guys coaching the DL (Hoke, Montgomery, Mattison), I'm not as worried as I maybe ought to be. I mean, Will Heininger notched a sack last week in Iowa City. While the depth is still scary and elite talent isn't quite there yet, there's enough there for a solid unit next year. 

Think about our back 7 play the last three years (and beyond, even). Think of all the times Michigan did their best Oprah impression in gifting teams cheap touchdowns over and over again. Indecisive linebacker play, coverage breakdowns, abominable tackling, and, most importantly, no sense that anybody was on the same page, let alone reading the same book. It cannot be stated enough: we are so lucky to have a guy like Greg Mattison coaching this defense. 

While Michigan did to a Illinois offense what many teams before them had done, the welcoming thought is right there: Michigan did what they were supposed to do. They saw a weak offense and suffocated it, they stared down the Ben Chappell Theory and swarmed it with a tacit refutation that was both coldly efficient and extremely fun to watch. Michigan 1, Ben Chappell Theory 0...the future is bright. 

Special Teams

So, another not terrible game here (and by not terrible I mean not like the last few years); actually, it was pretty good. First, Gibbons? 

1 for 2 on the day, inspiring neither additional confidence nor additional reasons to worry. Otherwise, Gallon had a dynamic day returning punts: although he didn't break any for 6, he did return one for 32 yards (4 for 62 on the day). Hagerup was sort of mediocre once again, punting four times for 137 yards, good for an average of 34.3 per punt. He had a long of 44 and a 30-yarder that pinned the Illini just inside their own 15 (a good thing, but not for that average). 


Miscellaneous Minutiae 

• Odoms! Anybody that reads this knows how big of an Odoms fan I am, so it's been nice to see him get on the stat sheet last week in Iowa City and this week with the touchdown. As good as Gallon has been, there's always room for quality depth on the field. Here's to a final three games to remember for Odoms (and the rest of the seniors, for that matter). 

• J.T. Floyd, a week after getting smacked by one Marvin McNutt, looked like a legitimately good Big Ten corner. He was active on the ball, and the interception plus return is just gravy for a guy who I basically equated to Grant Mason before the season started. Nebrask'a group of wideouts isn't particularly talented, so one would expect Floyd to lock things down once again. That's right Big Ten...you don't come in here and throw on FLOYD ISLAND. 

• Michigan's rushing output exceeded the Illini defense's previous average of 102.9 yards per game by approximately 120 yards.

• Denard passed Tom Harmon on Michigan's career touchdown runs list. He also passed Tim Tebow and Dan LeFevour on the NCAA career rushing list. Just sayin'.

• Thomas Gordon now has four fumble recoveries on the year after recovering a ball coerced out of Jason Ford's hands by Jordan Kovacs's helmet. Fumble recoveries may be somewhat random, but Gordon seems to be around the ball whenever these things happen. 

• With Nebraska and Ohio State continuing to look about as potent as Illinois on offense, it's hard not to look at the next two games and reduce our likelihood to win or lose to, yes...Denard. 

• It still hasn't hit me that we're actually 8-2 with a good shot at going 10-2. Wow. I'll finally be back in Ann Arbor for this week's game against Nebraska for the first time since SDSU...can't wait.

Winning Ugly

(HT: Mike DeSimone)

It was halftime and I couldn't help but start to imagine all the things I would do if Michigan had lost. All week, I told myself (and others) that this would be a close game, even taking into account a hobbled Persa and an out of commission Trumpy. It was good while it lasted, I thought. After the last three years--games like last year's Penn State and Michigan State games, and, of course, many others--I'd grown accustomed to a Michigan that always did the opposite of what you wanted. There was a time when you could believe that Michigan would make a comeback and it wouldn't be a ridiculous notion, you truly believed it would happen each and every time. History bore that out time and time again, but the last three years have eroded that ocean of faith and turned us all into Eeyorish cynics. 

This win, the first on the road in the Brady Hoke Era, was the second drop in the bucket of faith (with ND being the first, obviously). Northwestern is not a great team, but they're a dangerous team with a very good quarterback, and it's not hard to imagine Michigan losing this game if this was 2010 or 2009. 

This game was more than just a win, it was an affirmation of some things we've begun to believe in but aren't quite ready to commit to as a part of our reality and/or understanding of this team. This team's resilience, the halftime adjustments, the not collapsing after being 5-0. I'm glad that Michigan is 6-0, but, in the long run, the aforementioned things mean so much more. Almost every single postgame interview mentioned something along the lines of "Michigan football not being played" in the first half; if the second half was Michigan football then this is going to be a fun second half of the season. 

The Offense 

I haven't had a chance to rewatch the game in its entirety just yet but I will say that I'm not as worried about Denard as some might be.Were those interceptions reminiscent of some of Denard's more Jacory Harris-esque throws in the past? Yes, and I won't like when I say that it's frustrating. It's frustrating because Denard clearly has the ability to be a good college passer--whether in RR's spread or Borges's buffet style little-bit-of-everything system--and he makes some throws that are honest to goodness great throws for any quarterback. Throws that would be nice throws for Chad Hene, Drew Henson, etc. Obviously Denard is not and will never be that type of passer, he can make a lot of the throws those guys did, just not on a consistent basis. Thankfully for Denard, we don't need to do that because we have Sonic the Hedgehog playing quarterback. A couple throws in particular that I thought to be fairly praise-worthy: 

And this one:

The first one looks a lot better in the replay: Denard fit that one in between a triangle of Northwestern defensive backs and the sideline after rolling to his right and setting his feet. The second throw later in the game was equally impressive, with Denard buying some time off play action (PA on 3rd&9 no less...hilarious). Those are nice throws, period. When opposing fans call this a "jump ball offense" I just have to roll my eyes because it is anything but that. 

Which brings me to another point: the "jump ball." Two more big ones--one to Hemingway and one to Roundtree--in this one, both in single coverage down the middle of the field against a hapless DB who had no intention of turning around. Why is the jump ball considered a "cheap" or an entirely irreproducible mode of moving the ball? First of all, if you do it a few times a game then it's by definition not a huge part of  your offense (even if a large percentage of your big plays come from that particular thing), and so calling this a "jump ball offense" is incredibly reductive and any person that does this probably thinks that movies like "Real Steel" are really awesome. 

From a competition standpoint, this is college football, not the NFL; more often that not, we should be able to  complete these types of single coverage plays as long as Denard gives our guy any sort of a shot, especially against a team like Northwestern and their troupe of anonymous defensive backs. Other than Ohio State and Nebraska, there aren't really any teams on our schedule with exceptional cache vis-a-vis secondary quality. If it keeps working and people can't stop it, why not keep trying it a few times a game? The people who disparage Michigan for "depending" on the jump ball are probably the same people who thought Shaquille O'Neal was a completely unfair basketball entity that wasn't skilled so much as he was just way bigger and way stronger than everyone that tried to check him (obviously those people are misguided). 

In short, breathe easy...for now. The interceptions are still a legitimate concern, but all three of them coming in the first half continues to lend credence to the "Denard gets too excited in the first half" theory. In any case, shield your eyes from the ominous glow coming from the "3 INTs" on Denard's stat line and you'll see 17/26 for 337 yards and 2 TDs. 

Otherwise, the only other concern is the running game as whole; this will be an issue next week. Toussaint, Smith, and Shaw (who seems to be reappearing after a brief absence) really had nowhere to go. I'm sure this week's Offensive UFR at MGBlog will reveal a lot of stunts and run blitzes kind of messing things up for us, but either way this is not good and will hurt us at some point. 

Otherwise, this offense is GOLD JERRY GOLD. Can you imagine this offense with Darryl Stonum on the field? I know. Regardless, Roundtree and Hemingway are starting to pick things up a bit as Denard does the same. Let's hope this continues. 

The Defense 

What can you say? It seems to be the same thing every week: struggle for a certain period of time then absolutely crush all comers in the second half. Michigan will have to start to get their act together earlier in games, but for now this'll do. That 4th&1 stop on the option play was a thing of beauty; last year's Michigan would've seen that play go by them for a 20-yard gain. To make this completely nerdy, these safeties continue to remind me of the moment when Gandalf rides down to Helm's Deep, engulfing everything in a bright, shining light. That bright shining light is the competent safety play of two wizards known as Jordan Kovacs and Thomas Gordon. 

Yes, Michigan got gashed in the first half to the tune of 24 points and a lot of yards. But, I think the second half is closer to what Michigan can be as a unit. Michigan got a different look this week with the spread-based offense, and it showed. We weren't ready to combat the bubble, as a number of players--particularly Craig Roh--mentioned as a real problem for the defense in the first half. Part of that is alignment and part of that is just overall defensive speed, which sadly to say if not quite up to par. Again, though, what we've got is certainly good for now. Did anybody really think Brandin Hawthorne would become a regular fixture let alone a guy who makes play on any sort of basis? Did anybody expect much of anything from Jake Ryan, or even Will Campbell, who was supposedly passed up by walk-ons in August? Blake Countess? All of these have emerged from the land of zero expectations to become good players, or at least average contributors who pitch in a big play or two a game. I'll take that at this stage in the game. 

There's really not a whole lot to say. The first half was really bad, the second half was what Michigan used to do to teams like Northwestern. Michigan continues to hunker down when they need to, whether it's on their own side of the field or on third down in general. Michigan held Northwestern to 4/11 on third downs. Think of all the times Michigan has imploded on third down in the last three years and think of this as one big payback. 

The offense definitely did its part in the second half by keeping the D off the field. As Hoke said after the game, we play real good defense when we're on the sideline. They sure do, Brady. Michigan's defense was on the field for 2:32 in the third quarter, which is kind of ridiculous. 

Demens and Hawthorne led the way with ten and nine total tackles each, respectively, with a sack and an interception to their collective names. All the linebackers, including Demens, still need work, but these guys are getting better each week. Ryan was a little quiet in this one compared to some of his previous outings but with a lot of quick passes you'd expect the pass rush to be mitigated somewhat. I still think that Cam should be given the opportunity to get his job back, whenever he is deemed ready to go: he dressed but didn't go on Saturday. I'm not sure that this is the week to throw Cam in there to do anything but spot duty (assuming he's healthy, of course), but Purdue sounds like it would be a good thing to experiment with the lineup. 

The Special Teams

Gibbons?

No stoic Swanson face staring into your soul this week...you can't honestly expect him (or most college kickers, really) to make a 48-yarder. Michigan probably could've gone for it at that point but in retrospect it didn't turn out to mean much. 

Hagerup only punted once on the day, so the sample size remains too small, athough early returns are kind of meh verging on not good. 

The return game remains unspectacular but nothing egregious happened in kick coverage so I guess it's a wash. I will say it was nice to see Odoms return a couple, including one nice 25-yard KO return. Here's to him catching a pass at some point (I mean, if Watson can get one...). 

Miscellaneous Minutiae

• Brady definitely likes him some coachspeak, but when he said Gardner was very "quarterback-like," I nodded my head in agreement. Devin Gardner will be a really good player once Denard graduates. That bootleg was shades of Drew Henson. 
• Woolfolk continues to be banged up as often as Sick Boy is sick in Van Wilder. That's okay because, wait for it...Blake Countess!
• Once again, it was encouraging to see Koger getting involved in the passing game. Despite some pretty horrible drops in his career, he is a talented player that needs to see the ball at least three or four times a game. If anything, he can be the cure to Denard's ills by being that big target that every quarterback loves to have. I'd love to see some plays specifically for Koger in the gameplan going into East Lansing.
• That forced fumble by Gordon was a thing of beauty. That's practice, man. Practice.  
• The two-QB experiment continues, and I hope we do actually use it next week. It would be a pretty huge tease if he didn't, especially since it has been a net positive so far IMO. At least it will give Pat Narduzzi something to think about as he stays up at night all week thinking about how to contain Denard Robinson. 
• Michigan is currently tied for 15th in the country in forced turnovers with 14, the same number as LSU. To quote Peggy Hill, "ho-yeah!" They are also 39th in total defense, which, thus far, greatly exceeds my preseason hope that we'd be a top 70 defense. Who is #1, you ask? Well, you know, those guys we're playing this week.