This past Saturday was a rough one for the Wolverines to say the least, but the season can still be somewhat salvaged, record-wise; that begins on Saturday, when Michigan looks to remain undefeated at home in the Brady Hoke era. On to the links:
Irrespective of the situation at quarterback for the Huskers, Michigan's defense will face a stiff test attempting to check the Big Ten's leading rusher, Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah.
Corn Nation previews Michigan, foresees the Husker offense being a good match for the Michigan defense but isn't sure about their chances in a "defensive battle."
Philip Nelson regains the QB1 role at Minnesota. The Gophers take on Penn State this Saturday at home as they look to go 8-2 on the season.
Texas A&M supposedly has no plans of playing former conference rival Texas again in the regular season. It's always sad when the light goes out on a top notch college football rivalry (see: Michigan-Notre Dame), and Texas A&M-Texas was one of those.
Urban Meyer refuted reports that Luke Fickell had interviewed for the FAU job.
Bucky's 5th Quarter gets to know BYU. The Badgers face an interesting, oddly placed November non-conference tilt against the 6-2 Cougars, who rank 14th in rushing and 28th in points against.
Well, here we are: Michigan State week. Hopefully the Wolverines got their rest and ate their Wheaties during the open week, because a win this weekend will take nothing less than their best effort:
This is old news as if this posting, but tight end A.J. Williams has been suspended for this Saturday's game. Legal ramifications aside, I'm honestly not too sure how big of a loss this is for the Michigan offense. As a blocking tight end, Williams hasn't exactly been a great blocker, and not having Williams at Borges's disposal might curb the desire to run power into the teeth of the Spartan front seven. In any case, Williams's absence means you'll see a lot more Jake Butt and Jordan Paskorz.
Minnesota's 35-24 victory over Nebraska this past Saturday was as big of a win as the program has seen in some time. With that said, the Gophers head to Bloomington this weekend, where they'll have to contend with a truly fearsome Hoosier offense. Defense and David Cobb have been enough to carry Minnesota to victory the past two weeks; they'll likely need to make a few more plays through the air if they're going to keep up with Kevin Wilson's offense.
Speaking of the Hoosiers, Indiana defensive coordinator Doug Mallory (brother of Michigan secondary coach Curt Mallory) is tuning out the criticism re: his defense's performance. Also at the same link, Tre Roberson might get the start this weekend over Nate Sudfeld.
Michigan basketball opens up its exhibition season against Concordia tonight (7 ET). Perhaps it is a sign of the times that I am looking forward to watching this and am even devoting an iota of attention to it during a week leading up to Michigan-Michigan State on the gridiron. Regardless, the only thing worth paying much attention to is the various lineups John Beilein will trot out. If you get the chance to watch, Beilein hopes that you'll get to see a lot of the freshmen out there tonight.
Hey, would you look at that, we're just one week away from the start of Michigan basketball. Ah, I remember that Final Four run as if it were yesterday.
Joel Stave's accuracy continues to be an issue; he badly underthrew a wide open Jared Abbrederis deep on Saturday for what would have been a touchdown. To be fair, it sounded like there was a pretty stiff wind in Memorial Stadium. Also at that link, Chris Borland should be ready to go for UW's next game against Iowa (the Badgers are off this week).
One of these days it's going to start feeling like fall. For now, links will have to do:
I know people in the blogosphere like to make fun of the journalism one-sentence paragraph, but "Then they will try to destroy each other" sounds like a line, if slightly altered, meant for Ivan Drago. On a side note, it's too bad Michigan never showed interest in Allen Robinson during his recruitment; hindsight is 20/20, obviously, but it would be nice to have a guy like that in your receiving corps (and that is quite an understatement).
Bucky's 5th Quarter previews the Big Ten hockey season. Michigan opens against Boston College tonight at Yost; Michigan is without forward Alex Guptill, and the blue line will be full of youngsters. In that vein, Michigan and BC are the youngest teams in the country, so I'd expect some generally skittish, sloppy play tonight. Elsewhere at the top of the new-look B1G hockey conference, Minnesota opens against Mercyhurst on Friday. The Badgers open against Northern Michigan.
Also from Bucky's 5th quarter, a mid-season diagnosis hopes for improvement in the pass rush and wide receiving departments.
Urban Meyer says the "pass defense is very alarming right now." The Buckeyes are off this weekend before heading back to the Horseshoe to take on Iowa on Oct. 19.
Sippin' On Purple's Rodger Sherman on why to hate Wisconsin. Although Michigan has not fared well against the Badgers post-2005, I can't find it within myself to hate or even dislike them; actually, I'm somewhat of a fan. Criticize their offensive style on the gridiron on the hardwood all you want, but I enjoy watching them play, and Madison is one of the best college towns around.
Who would've thought the Atlanta Falcons would be 1-4 and the New York Jets would be 3-2 at this point in the season? I'll admit I had my doubts about Geno Smith after the way in which West Virginia tanked in the second half of last season*, but he looked like an NFL quarterback last night (albeit against a struggling Atlanta team).
*Of course, a majority of the blame for that falls on the WVU defense; you can't score 40+ points every week.
Anyway, enough about the NFL and on to the college links:
Rodger Sherman talks about Northwestern's unique situation heading into Madison this week, facing an unranked squad as an underdog. Given what happened in Tempe, the Badgers really shouldn't be unranked, and the line reflects that; the Badgers are 10-point favorites against the ranked Wildcats.
This is yesterday's news, but I haven't mentioned it in this space: Jake Ryan might play this Saturday at Penn State. Of course, I'd imagine his snap count will be closely monitored. It will probably take two or three games before he gets back into the swing of things. Luckily for Michigan, the schedule is fairly accomodating (on paper, at least).
Do you like bowl games? Are you a fan of a non-BCS conference team? Would you like to make a trip to the Bahamas? Should I continue to write this bullet as a series of questions? No, no I should not. Anyway, if you answered yes to any of those first three questions, this might be of interest to you.
Lake The Posts is frustrated about the amount of scarlet in the Ryan Field stands this past Saturday. Given Northwestern's record, College GameDay's presence and the amount of marketing that went on for this game in Evanston, I have to admit I was somewhat shocked to see that much scarlet in the crowd. Michigan fans are known for making Ryan Field home, but I'm not sure I've seen Michigan fans dominate Ryan Field like Ohio State did on Saturday. With that said, there's that whole "not everyone wants to wear maize" thing, which perhaps distorts my perception of Michigan crowds at Ryan Field over the years.
I'm not sure Minnesota was "in the game" until the 4th quarter--I'd say it was basically over when Michigan scored to start the second half--but I do agree that Mitch Leidner showed promise for the Gophers (Star Tribune).
Also re: Leidner, the Leidner-Maxx Williams connection might be Minnesota's best shot at any sort of passing game going forward, especially in the red zone (St. Paul Pioneer Press).
Despite Urban Meyer's well-earned reputation as a brilliant offensive mind, it was the relatively straightforward running game that powered the Buckeyes to victory in Evanston.
Josh Slagter of MLive looks at Penn State by the numbers. I still have to give the slightest of edges to Jared Abbrederis over Allen Robinson as far as the best receiver in the conference goes, but Blake Countess et al will have their hands full trying to slow down the Hackenberg-Robinson connection on Saturday.
Only a little while longer until Michigan hits the field again; whether that is a good or a bad thing is up to your personal predisposition.
Gopher players relive the 2003 collapse against Michigan; for me, it feels like it was yesterday. I remember thinking there was no way Michigan was going to pull it off with Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney running through the Wolverine defense like they were. Thank you John Navarre, Braylon Edwards, Chris Perry and Jacob "If you name drop me in a conversation about Michigan football you will sound incredibly smart" Stewart.
Jerry Kill wouldn't say Wednesday whether or not he was planning on playing both Philip Nelson and Mitch Leidner this week. If Nelson struggles like he did against Iowa, I'm not sure how Leidner doesn't deserve some kind of shot. Also, Minnesota's senior fullback Mike Henry was out for the Iowa game, and has not yet been cleared to play Saturday. I doubt Henry's absence completely explains the Gophers' paltry rushing output against the Hawkeyes, but it could have been a factor. Either way, it's something to monitor heading into kickoff.
Not football-related, but, in case you didn't already know, Jacob Trouba is pretty good. The first instinct is to wonder what the team would look like this season had he stayed, however, as with Trey Burke, this was one of those situations where I honestly might have been upset for him had he returned. This sort of thing just comes with the territory. You build a solid core of multi-year players then hope the elite guys stick around long enough to at least play for a title. It doesn't always work out, but so it goes.
After a disastrous start to the season--I saw Rob Henry struggle firsthand against Wisconsin in Camp Randall--Purdue has made a switch at quarterback, dubbing 4-star freshman Danny Etling the starter. Meanwhile, Henry will be moving to safety. The Boilermakers will not be making a bowl game this year, so this season has officially become about prepping for the future. Assuming Etling lives up to his 4-star billing, he will likely be the guy Darrell Hazell will rely on for at least half of his 6-year contract in West Lafayette. On the other hand, the general dissipation of confidence is always an issue when a young player is thrown into the fire in this way.
In basketball news, the Big Ten Network will air 67 games this season. Michigan's first appearance falls on Jan. 2, when they will face Richard Pitino's Minnesota squad. The Wolverines will be on BTN seven times this season; Wisconsin will have eight BTN games this season.
Last but not least, if you'd like to relive the 2003 comeback in under three minutes:
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.
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.
It's a sunny, 75-degree, decidedly un-Fall like day here in the Windy City; I guess we'll have to wait a little while longer before football weather arrives. In the meantime, have some links to prepare you for tomorrow's slate of games around the country:
On the injury front for Wisconsin--mentioned in Breaking Points yesterday--Coach Gary Andersen cleared a few things up, but didn't give anything definitive on tight end Jacob Pedersen, a big piece of the Badgers' passing game. Without Pedersen, star receiver Jared Abbrederis is Wisconsin's only dangerous receiving threat. That is not a formula for success against a very good Buckeye secondary, especially with Bradley Roby set to match up against Abbrederis. On the bright side for UW, Peniel Jean will go, meaning freshman Sojourn Shelton won't have to make the start. On the not so bright side, freshman center Dan Voltz will likely make his first start. This game would have been tough enough if the Badgers were completely healthy, but now, I'm thinking my prediction of a UW 7-point loss might have been slightly optimistic in favor of Andersen's squad.
Ron Higgins of NOLA.com talks SEC defense, and why it might not be as great as it has been.
If you're looking for some early season rivalry action, the always underrated Minnesota-Iowa game is your ticket. As always, Floyd of Rosedale is on the line, and the Gophers look to bring that pig back to the Twin Cities. The Daily Gopher has a Q&A with RossWB of Black Heart Gold Pants.
The undefeated Ole Miss Rebels head to Tuscaloosa this Saturday; Roll Bama Roll previews the Bo Wallace-led Ole Miss offense. It's been two weeks now since the Texas A&M game, so I'm not sure this counts as a "trap" game, but the Crimson Tide cannot take this Ole Miss team lightly.
Andrew Gribble of al.com talks to Hugh Kellenberger of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger about Ole Miss-Bama.
ESPN guys talk Oklahoma-Notre Dame. The Sooners will be making their first trip to Notre Dame Stadium since 1999.
A few things on this 82 degree day in Chicago (somehow over 10 degrees cooler than it was yesterday):
It's a big week for the Big Ten, with Wisconsin traveling out west to face Arizona State and Ohio State taking on a rebuilding but dangerous Cal team. Additionally, Nebraska takes on UCLA at home, looking to avenge last year's loss out west. Adam Rittenberg makes a "Delany=Mickey Goldmill" analogy. Good, good.
Speaking of, Bucky's 5th Quarter previews UW's tilt in Tempe. ASU will be aggressive defensively, so hopefully Joel Stave is ready to make a few more plays through the air if the running game happens to stall here and there (unlikely, but it's also unlikely that the Badgers have a third week with three 100+ yard backs).
Sippin' on Purple charts the performance of Colter/Siemian against Syracuse in the Prose Bowl. The Wildcats take on Western Michigan this week (I'm thinking about heading up there for it). It will not be close, and Glopknar will memorialize the crushing victory with tremendous video skills. I can't wait to find out what Traevon's coverage/squat status is this week.
Hammer and Rails previews Purdue's matchup against Notre Dame at Ross-Ade Stadium. Needless to say, Purdue hasn't exactly had the best of starts, getting pummeled by Cincinnati and then squeaking by Indiana State. That, combined with their lack of recent success against Notre Dame and the Fighting Irish's desire to get back on the winning track probably means this one ends up in the losing column for the conference.
I'll probably write something longer before Saturday hits, but, for now, here are a few links from around the world of college football:
Wisconsin's depth chart is out, and there appears to have been some shuffling in the secondary. The starter at QB hasn't been officially announced, but, as I've guessed most of the summer, Joel Stave will likely get the nod. Kyle French will hold onto placekicking duties for the Badgers despite what seemed like a legitimate challenge at one point from Jack Russell, who is now injured. Also of note: UW has a linebacker named Conor O'Neill. I miss Ann Arbor.
NC State head coach Dave Doeren covers "Wagon Wheel." Given the level of angst over Darius Rucker's cover of the same song, I'd imagine many might not like this, but...hey. I have nothing snarky to say. I kind of like it.
Myerberg gets to Nebraska at No. 11 in his offseason countdown. The song remains the same in Lincoln: the Huskers will score more points than most teams, but can they stop anyone? More importantly, can they stop the run? Depending on what UCLA (minus Johnathan Franklin) and Southern Miss (62nd in rushing offense last season) bring to the table, that run defense might not get truly tested until November 2 against Northwestern.
Taylor Lewan clocks in at No. 2 in BTN's player ranking. Devin Gardner (No. 8) is the only other Wolverine on the list. You'd think Jeremy Gallon would make it on there, but, you knows, lists.
Speaking of Gardner...he's not a captain, but I think things will be all right. I realize mentioning "Chad Henne wasn't captain" is in the same family as "but Mike Hart was a 3-star," but there you go.
A few quick things on this second-to-last Tuesday before college football (!):
No embedding available, but here's today's Countdown to Kickoff, featuring linebacker James Ross III. It's the usual, but there is a nice hit there around the 1:00 mark.
From Nick Baumgardner, Brady Hoke says Fitz has "looked like the Fitz of old."
I haven't gotten around to reading it just yet, but you know the season is nigh when you're a team with conference title hopes and Paul Myerberg gets to you in his offseason preview series (now at USA Today, in case you missed that development). Michigan checks in at No. 18:
"In a nutshell: The Wolverines are very close to being the most complete team in the Legends Division, and likely the second-most complete team in the entire Big Ten. Nebraska has a positively superb offense but is long on question marks defensively. Michigan State's defense is superb, as always, but the offense remains a major issue after last season's distressing struggles. Meanwhile, UM has a good-to-strong offense – solid with the potential for more – and a young yet productive defense. Basically, Michigan's offense is not as good as Nebraska's, nor is its defense as good as Michigan State's – but combined, this is the most complete team in the division. The issue is that the Wolverines are extremely young."
So, it's been of a bit of a slow time, hence all the Bulls stuff. Bowl season has only just started and Michigan basketball only plays two more times before the new year. Here are some links to tide you over.
Oh, they mad. I'm not sure what to say about this fairly insane brawl footage from the Pioneer-Huron game on Oct. 12, released yesterday (HT: annarbor.com):
If this story is new to you, you should know that each team's head coach resigned as a result.
Ain't got time for this. This was a thing that somebody asked Barrett Jones, apparently:
I'm sorry, reporter guy, but Nick Saban does not have time for your theological conflicts of interest. Besides, moran, why would the Bear mind if Nick Saban brought the Tide another title? Do you even lift do any research?
Speaking of Saban...it's only a matter of time before Saban and the rest of the SEC takes advantage of this technology:
Creating implants that improve cognitive capabilities, such as an
enhanced vision “gadget” that can be taken from a shelf and plugged into
our brain, or implants that can restore or enhance brain function is
understandably a much tougher task. But some research groups are being
to make some inroads.
CYBERTYDE. INITIATE 28YARDGAMEWINNINGSCREENPASS.EXE. ATTACK SUCCESSFUL. ROLL TIDE ROLL.
Dear science, please don't let this fall into the wrong person's hands, and by "wrong person" I definitely don't not mean Nick Saban.
From Logan to Madison. I admittedly have not been paying too much attention to the Wisconsin head coaching search, but after reading rumblings about Mike Riley last week, I was surprised to see that Wisconsin had ultimately tapped Utah State's Gary Andersen.
Like Dave Brandon re: Hoke, Athletic Director Barry Alvarez says that Anderson was his top choice. Is that true? Who knows, but I don't think it matters much.
This is an interesting hire to say the least. Andersen was 27-24 in four seasons in Logan, Utah; the Aggies recently finished up an 11-2 season with a drubbing of Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Saturday.
At 48, Andersen is six years Bielema's senior. All of his prior coaching stops in the last 15 years have been in the state of Utah. Standard "can he recruit the type of guy that goes to Wisconsin" point goes here.
USU runs a spread, which is what makes this a seemingly incongruent hire. Then again, the Badgers did hire Matt Canada as their offensive coordinator to take Paul Chryst's place; Canada is also a spread guy, formerly at Northern Illinois. With that said, I'm not sure what difference Canada made vis-a-vis Wisconsin's playcalling, and hiring a head coach who will run the show is far different than hiring a coordinator who may or may not even be calling the plays that end up being executed.
As always, quarterback will be an issue. Sophomore USU QB Chuckie Keeton passed for 3,373 yards (27 TDs, 9 INTs) and rushed for 619 on 4.9 YPC (8 TDs) this season. He was the team's second-leading rusher. Keeton led the Aggies to that almost-upset of Auburn last season on opening weekend. With Keeton only becoming a junior next season, it would have been interesting to see if Utah State would have had a shot at supplanting Boise State and Utah (although not so much them now that they're in a major conference) as the team that challenges for a BCS spot from the ranks of the forgotten non-AQ conferences.
Curt Phillips is a senior and Joel Stave, who broke his collar bone in October after taking the reins from the ineffective Danny O'Brien, does not seem to fit the mold of a run-based spread QB. With that said, it is a run-based spread, which should put Wisconsin fans at ease. Some opinions on the hire, starting with Dave Miller of the National Football Post:
While his offense will change at Wisconsin, as the run-oriented Power O
will remain in Madison, Andersen helped develop dynamic dual-threat
signal-caller Chuckie Keeton over the last two seasons at Utah State. He
also oversaw a stout defense that helped the Aggies to their 11 wins.
And keep in mind that Andersen, who posted a 26-24 mark in four seasons
in Logan, was the defensive coordinator at Utah under Kyle Whittingham
when the Utes knocked off Alabama in the Sugar Bowl following the 2008
season.
While the brands of football may differ a bit, Utah State has played a
physical style of football like Wisconsin, ranking No. 25 in the nation
in rushing in 2012 while the defense ranked No. 15 in the nation in
yards per game.
While some might be inclined to think this wasn't the sexy, splashy hire
they would've assumed Alvarez would've targeted, Andersen's done great
work and has been coveted from fan bases ranging from Texas to USC. By
going 18-8 in two seasons in Logan, Utah, where previously wins were
certainly hard to come by, Andersen's shown he's game for stout
rebuilding jobs.
Considering that Wisconsin was somewhat late to the game thanks to
Bielema's sudden departure, this is a solid hire by the Badgers.
Andersen took over a Utah State program that hadn't accomplished much in
the past and after only four seasons he not only led the Aggies to that
11-2 record and first conference title since it won the Big West in
1997, but into both the AP and Coaches polls.
Personally, my gut feeling is that this is a good hire. Andersen has proven that he can when at places where winning isn't the norm, like Hoke, and Utah State ended the year with the #15 total defense and the #25 rushing offense, two quick and easy facts that should assuage any oh my gawd spread offense concerns.
More? Michigan basketball takes on EMU Thursday (I'll have a preview up over at Maize n Brew)...for now, I just want to note how there are almost as many suited up folks in their team picture as there are players. I guess Embracing the Process also involves JoS. A. Bank.
If you want a cool vintage Michigan calendar, go to Maize n Brew and relate a Christmas shopping story (remember that one time? oh man! definitely tell that story).
This is the first one of these in a while. With school winding down for the Thanksgiving break, I should be able to get a few things up this week leading up to The Game. 60 Minutes piece. In case you missed it (and you probably didn't), Michigan was featured prominently Sunday in a 60 Minutes spot on the state of college football. Nothing "new" was presented --yes, college football has always been about the money, even when it supposedly wasn't-- but it was interesting to see Michigan chosen as one of two representatives of the industry of collegiate athletics:
I would be lying if I didn't say that, on the heels of Saturday's smashing victory, that the part of the brain that sends out neurotransmitters telling you to be SO PROUD weren't firing as I watched Michigan run out under the banner, Kovacs make a Kovacsy tackle on the edge and the Big House crowd going wild. I honestly have not delved too much into the reaction to the piece, but I imagine there was some hemming and hawing about Dave Brandon saying the things that Dave Brandon is wont to say.
All I'll say is this: I have been generally supportive of Brandon, and plan on being so until something truly egregious happens. No, uniform experimentation, Legends patches and all the other mildly annoying but decidedly ancillary things that Brandon has engineered do not fall under this umbrella. My only criticism is his point that playing games in places like Dallas generates fan interest for games at home. Even I, the endangered species that is the DB supporter, cannot get behind this byzantine logic.
Again, this is nothing new, but it's hard not to feel a little bit queasy (okay, a lot queasy) at the mere notion of what college football actually is, outside of the boundaries of standard platitudes about the mythical student-athlete and all the other things that we like to think exist but don't. Unfortunately, Pandora is out of the box, and it's not going back in.
Speaking of the industry...via Kyle Meinke, Brady Hoke has dropped down to the 12th highest paid coach in college football, down from 8th. He is "only" making $3,046,120, down a couple of hundred thousand from last season. During the 60 Minutes piece last night, Nick Saban was asked whether or not he is "worth it" (re: his ridiculous salary).
Saban self-deprecatingly answered "probably not." I wonder what Hoke's response would be? "Wellll there's no question that cheese pizza is the best food that you have and in no way should chicken come into the equation and those great kids in the Michigan community that eat that pizza know what the tradition of cheese pizza means to this university and the fans and past eaters of cheese pizza."
Obligatory expansion ire. So, Maryland and Rutgers. If anything in sports would inspire a lukewarm at best reaction, it would be this.
On the bright side, at least the Big Ten will finally tap into the college football haven that is New York City, where Rutgers University is in fact located. What's that? *Checks map.* Ah, I see.
This puts the conference at 14 teams, two away from attaining superconference status. If these acquisitions confuse you, just wait until the Big Ten makes the now seemingly inevitable move to 16 teams.
GIFs, Ohio State edition. Just in case you needed reminding, Ohio State is our rival and we do dislike them to a certain extent. Here's a GIF of David Boston looking like he's in a game of Fight Night (via Eleven Warriors, HT mgoblog), from the tremendous time-space known as "1997":
Good, good. Let the hate flow through you.
Big Ten basketball is not terrible hey let's talk about it. I haven't gotten into the college basketball season yet in earnest due to time-related reasons, but here's a very brief roundup of the Big Ten's performance thus far to give you a vague outline of how things have played out:
Michigan: 4-0. Best team in the history of organized sports. Will win every game by no fewer than 84 points. The Wolverines take the floor at the World's Most Famous Arena Wednesday night against Pitt.
Iowa: 4-0. Hasn't played anybody of note, but this is a team that could make some noise this year. Roy Devyn Marble and now sophomore Aaron White are averaging 15.5 and 14.8 ppg, respectively.
Indiana: 4-0. Like everyone else, they've taken care of business against a bunch of nobodies. They were tied with Georgia at the half last night but pulled out a 66-53 win. As expected, they can definitely fill it up (#1 in ppg as a team coming into last night's game). The question that lingers from last season is whether or not they can actually play defense.
Nebraska: 3-0. Good start for the Huskers under new HC Tim Miles. Did have a close 2-point victory against Valparaiso, which is at least a known mid-major brand.
Purdue: 1-3. Easily the biggest disappointment of the conference to date. This is not a vintage Matt Painter Purdue team to say the least. I'm not sure where the points will come from with this roster during life after Hummel/Lewis Jackson. The Boilers have losses to Bucknell, Villanova (in OT) and Oregon State to their name already. D.J. Byrd as your leading scorer with 11 ppg is fairly grim.
Ohio State: 3-0. Again, early season caveats, but the Buckeyes did beat Washington to win the Hall of Fame tourney, so that's something. The Buckeyes do have a date with Duke coming up on the 28th.
Wisconsin: 2-1. 2012 is the year that will prove once and for all whether or not Wisconsin can really Wisconsin around and somehow go .500+ in the Big Ten without really having a point guard. Swing offense, yeah! Anyway, the Badgers took a pretty ugly loss on the road at Florida in between blowouts of Southeastern Louisiana and Cornell. The Badgers take on a ranked Creighton team on the 23rd.
Penn State: 2-2. Lost to NC State by 17 (who just got destroyed by Oklahoma State) and got bludgeoned by Akron in Puerto Rico, 60-85. They do still have Tim Frazier, so hopefully he will continue to enjoy doing everything, all the time.
Illinois: 3-0. The John Groce era is off to a nice start, if you ignore the fact that the Illini had to battle back from a 16-point second half deficit to beat Hawaii in overtime, 78-77.
Michigan State: 2-1. The Spartans took a tough loss to UConn on the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany (Read that sentence again...welcome to sports in 2012!) The Spartans bounced back to knock off Kansas in their next game, though.
Northwestern: 3-0. Same song here: three games, three blowouts. The only currently ranked team left on Northwestern's non-conference schedule is #24 Baylor. Given the Wildcats' struggles in the conference schedule, anything less than 10-2 in the non-conference probably means another year without a tourney invite for Carmody's 'Cats.
Minnesota: 4-0. Four meaningless blowouts. They take on Duke on Thursday before traveling to Florida State on the 27th. Oh, also, Rodney Williams Jr. is shooting a ridiculous 73.5% from the field.
So, there you have it. Nothing of note so far other than Purdue looking like it could be very, very bad this season. Michigan, Indiana and Ohio State are, as the rankings would indicate, the class of the conference, and Michigan State will of course be in the mix as well. Wisconsin is probably in for somewhat of a down year, but a tournament appearance should still be in the cards, as I'm sure they'll find a way to somehow win 10 Big Ten games.
More? DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK. "On the latest Sports Retort, how do Big Ten traditionalists make peace with the new, less-pedigreed teams headed for their conference, which now includes miles of Atlantic coastline?" AHHHHH. "How does the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry compare with that of the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers?" AHHHHHHH. Apropos of nothing, the line for the Iron Bowl currently sits at 'Bama -31.5 (I probably didn't need to include the "Bama" part). Auburn fans, welcome to Michigan football circa 2008. BHGP on Saturday...I know that feel, man.
We are playing UMass this week...here are some words. Since I don't have time to do a proper UMass preview due to an imminent move to the hamlet of Chicago, I will have to do it lightning round style. Here it is.
The game is over. No, really, it's already over. This is of course assuming that Michigan can contain...
That was your UMass preview: an unrelated video and a "Mike Cox is awesome haha not really" joke. Anyway, my friend Mike Taub will have the Who Are You? post up tomorrow as usual (I think).
"The kids call 'em ballers." I think this may have to be the new site tagline.
Duck season. The last few days have not been good ones for Oregon football, what with two senior starters, safety John Boyett and guard Carson York, both going down with injuries, ostensibly for the rest of the season. This is where I make a lazy joke about Phil Knight and Oregon's players being interchangeable cogs in the machine that is Oregon football and so on and so forth.
I spent the offseason convincing myself of this theory of interchangeability vis-a-vis Wisconsin football, and we've seen how that's turned out (although Wisconsin's offseason losses were obviously more significant than Oregon's losses). Still, for a team that isn't quite on the same level as Alabama or LSU in the starting 22--and certainly not depth-wise--any losses at all can become a damaging blow to a team's title hopes.
Columns that will be written every year for the rest of Time. Bryan Fischer tackles the primary driving force behind the Big Ten's ineptitude since the beginning of the new millennium. The verdict? Oh, don't pretend that you don't even know. Or maybe you don't know, because you are taking a long time to think about it, because you are sloooow:
The biggest issue for the conference is overall team speed. Sure, that's subjective. But it's accurate. From the safeties to the slot receivers, one can't compare how most Big Ten teams operate between the lines to their counterparts in the Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and, even in some cases, the ACC.
I've always been sort of mystified by the fact that people will, without fail, chalk up the B1G's struggles to a lack of speed. Not only is it reductive, it doesn't really give the teams beating B1G squads their due credit. Football games are not won and lost solely because of team speed.
It's 2012. I thought we had the "yes, the SEC is certainly faster in the front 7 but everywhere else it's too close to be statistically significant" line down pat. I guess not. On the bright side, Fischer does give our very own D. Funch some well-earned respect:
Freshman of the week Devin Funchess, who became the Wolverines' first tight end to have 100+ yards receiving since 1997, is an example. He's big and physical but can still move down the field and in space with a reported 4.6 40-yard dash. Grabbing more players like him at positions like tight end is a start to being more competitive with programs from other leagues, and the Wolverines have been well on their way based on their recent recruiting classes.
Dear Michigan: recruit more players that are big and fast and talented. This recruiting advice has been completely pro bono on my part. You're welcome.
Grasping at straws. For the people staring at the Alabama-WKU box score and wondering how the Hilltoppers were somehow able to contain the Crimson Tide ground game much more effectively than Michigan did, here's one thing to make you feel a little bit better:
On Monday, two days after a 35-0 victory over Western Kentucky, Lester acknowledged that the Crimson Tide wasn't as focused last week as it should have been.
Why?
“I would say it was because Western Kentucky is a smaller team," Lester said. "I think a lot of guys didn’t look at them as seriously as they did games like Michigan or Arkansas. A lot of guys weren’t motivated like in a big game. We were coming off a big game and have a big game coming up, so a lot of guys weren’t motivated.”
Obviously, "not being focused" for Alabama still yields a shutout and a comfortable 35-point victory. So, good news everyone: if Alabama doesn't try, you have a very real shot at scoring zero points.
Yes, more "Big Ten is terrible" stuff. Spencer Hall uses the letter J in this week's Alphabetical to cover the Big Ten's week 2 struggles and to insert this note:
It's one week in a very long season, but don't think Jim Delany is not at this instant crafting the most carefully worded full-page ad in the Birmingham News congratulating Alabama on their continued football success while also slyly mentioning the state's dismal high school dropout rates.
Not that the above isn't probably true, but, to add to the sentiment about "team speed" above: sometimes I get the feeling that college football commentary is just one big elaborate Mad Lib.
#WEHOPEYOUDANCE. Speaking of Spencer...join the #WEHOPEYOUDANCE revolution to get Bill Dance, TV angler and iconic TENNESSEE MAN, onto this week's College Gameday set as a celebrity picker. Due to the frightening power of social media, this will goal will be accomplished in absurdly short order (if it hasn't been done already). If you need any more reasons to do this, just know that Kenny Chesney has been chosen as the UT celebrity picker for this week's Gameday. Kenny Chesney.
If this works, this will be just another one of those moments where you have the marvel at the frivolous yet awesome power of the Internet.
More? Jamie Mac says nice things about the Big Ten...no, this is not a trick at all. Even the Wall Street Journal has a take on the Big Ten being terrible, as well as some unsolicited some advice. Zach at Maize n Brew takes a look at the key offensive and defensive plays from the Air Force game.
Just so y'all know where I'm at right now: yesterday, I went through my Insanity workout and only had to stop for a breather 2 or 3 times. Adrenaline level=HIGH.
Funny, I too think Denard is pretty great
The Roundtree is fully operational. Good news: Roy Roundtree is 100%, according to Roy Roundtree. Either the arthroscopic surgery he had on his left knee August 10th was as "minor" as is being said, or Roy Roundtree has in fact become a robot.
He knew when he took his first hit, and didn't feel a thing in the knee, that he would be good to go.
Also, displays a stoic, dare I say it robotic lack of emotion:
It was scary. My parents were really worried. I was like, ''Y'all don't have to come up here. I'm a big boy.''
This is an interesting strategy, becoming a robot. However, if there was a time to do it, it's now, as I'm convinced that Nick Saban has a secret T-1000 lab somewhere in Tuscaloosa where he produces space eating linemen and pass-rushing linebacker bots. Fair is fair.
Of course, given that the theme of the week is brinkmanship: if Robotree was in fact not 100%, I highly doubt he would be advertising that fact. Anyway, since he has apparently made the transformation, somebody should tell Brandon to get Roundtree that special "beating press coverage" system upgrade.*
*JUST KIDDING HURR BRANDON IS CHEAP DURR
Advanced stats and 2011 Alabama. I am admittedly somewhat behind the curve when it comes to advanced stats in college football (I'm a little more comfortable dealing with them in college basketball), so I'm not yet at a point where a lot of different stats mean much to me. With that said, even as someone without much of a statistical background, I know many people, especially in the Michigan fanbase, are all about that sort of thing. I'm not sure if this made the rounds a few weeks ago, but Brian Fremeau did an extensive FEI Profile of Alabama's 2011 team, producing lots of fancy charts and graphs for you to parse and marvel at how dominant last year's Alabama team was.** Seriously, take a look.
Near the end, there's a Michigan is advanced stats'd in the PFEI section ("program rating"...technical explanation included therein). Check it out. I'm pretty sure if you just stare at the screen long enough, you'll absorb the information contained therein via osmosis (pretty sure that's how that works).
**Also, be happy that Michigan is not facing that team, and no Alabama fan, your defense is not going to be "as good if not better" than last year's defense (people are actually saying this). Stop it.
HE AIN'T RESPECTIN' US PAWWLLLLL. This is why Brady Hoke is awesome. On whether or not he perceives Michigan to be the underdog, said "no" and then expanded a bit on that answer (and I truly mean "a bit"):
“I like Michigan,” Hoke said. There was a brief silence at the roundtable, and reporters quickly realized there was no further explanation coming, so they changed the subject.
One of these days I would really love for Hoke to say this sort of thing, detach the microphone from the podium--behind which he awkwardly yet authoritatively stands like a grizzly bear in a polo shirt--and just drop that thing. Could you imagine? No, no you can't, because it would just be too much for one brain to handle.
Actual underdogs. Matt Hinton comes in with his first non-introductory (reintroductory, I guess) post, talking about the state of the "underdog" in the current landscape of college football. It is as detailed and well-written as you'd expect, and is food for the college football fan's soul. I'm not talking like "bro I watched 3 straight hours of SportsCenter last night wanna debate and trade sports takes?" kind of "hardcore" fan, the kind that takes the team to learn Generic Small School With An Insane Economic and Traditional Disadvantage's QB's name, and the offensive coordinator's, and said team's 2011 record, and so on. In the middle of this post, however, is a pretty cool little detail:
The best candidate to break through: SMU defensive end Margus Hunt, a former Estonian discus champion who was offered a scholarship by June Jones before Hunt had ever played a down of organized football, based on a workout after plans to revive the Mustangs' men's track-and-field team fell through.
Estonian discus champion. Need I say more?
Alabama depth chart speculatin'. It doesn't seem that Alabama has released an official depth chart yet, and won't until who knows when (it was supposed to have been yesterday, but that didn't happen). As such, everybody is left to their speculative devices. Andrew Gribble of al.com takes a stab at naming the Tide's 22 starters. No real surprises there, although I have to question Deandrew White starting opposite Kevin Norwood. I think either Kenny Bell or Christion Jones get the starting nod, but in the end it really doesn't matter. All of these guys will play, especially since it seems like Alabama doesn't have a prototypical H-back to replace Brad Smelley's production (an underrated presence in Alabama's 2011 offense).
The same goes for the defense, obviously. Quinton Dial might start, but expect to see a lot of Ed Stinson at that end position (a guy who formerly played the "Jack" LB position). At linebacker, CJ Mosley might not be a starter but he'll be in there as Alabama's speedster, passing down 'backer; I get the feeling that Denard and Mosley might become close friends by the end of the night.
In case you were wondering, here's another update on the Alabama scout team guys wearing Michigan players' numbers thing: three guys have taken up the numbers 44, 25, and 90. The more you know.
"Summer, I broke everybody down. I kind of work with one of our GAs, Jeff Norrid. He helps me a bunch. He knows everything there is about defense," McCarron said. "Through the summer, we broke each opponent down week by week but probably in the past two, two-and-a-half weeks, we've watched ton of film on (Michigan). Me and him are up here at least 3 1/2, four hours a day. We'll come an hour or so before practice and then the rest after. So we've done a tremendous amount of breaking them down."
Also, a moderately interesting point (i.e. not completely sanitized coachspeak) from the head coach himself:
UA coach Nick Saban said the Wolverines' third down defense is what he called "pro style."
Of course, as Spielman's pleading near the end of the Ohio State game goes to show you, going with a "pro style" (i.e. more complex) scheme is not always the best idea. Still, things worked out pretty well last year, and Michigan is looking at a serious upgrade in overall talent and athleticism across the board, making those pro style schemes even more effective than they were last season.
In any case, it will be interesting to see what Mattison's gameplan for this Alabama offense will be. How much Okie will we see, for instance? Aggressiveness is an inherent part of his defensive mindset, and with the strength of Alabama's offensive line, it might be "sell out [on the run] or get out." But, I'll leave my probably uninformed opinions on the game itself for the preview post on Friday.
More? Hinton on the Toussaint "will he or won't he" thing. Not going to read the comments, not going to read the comments, not going to read the comments. Roll Bama Roll Hate Week thread with the hurr and the durr. I wonder if Michigan fans know that they all worship Kid Rock.
Basketball coverage will sadly go back to being very minimal here for a few months, but here are some notes on Michigan's finally updated roster from UMHoops. A couple height/weight points of interest there.
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.
Can Michigan be better in 2012 but finish with a worse record than in 2011? Absolutely. That's the risk Michigan took by scheduling Alabama to open the season. No matter the result in Arlington, Texas, the future looks bright in Ann Arbor. The most important thing for Michigan is the Legends Division, because winning that gives the Wolverines a shot to return to the Rose Bowl. The key stretch for Michigan will come in late October, when they face Michigan State at the Big House a week before traveling to Lincoln to face Nebraska. The Wolverines need to break Michigan State's four-year stranglehold on that rivalry, but if they do, they can't relax. If they can go 2-0 in that stretch, they might reach Pasadena by way of Indianapolis.
On a serious note, there's not a whole lot in Staple's B1G preview that I disagree with. I think Michigan settles in at 9-3 this season, which, in my humble opinion, would be a very solid second year all things considered. As for Michigan State, I've been feeling some major cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, I think that losing an experienced player like Cousins is a big deal, and then I look at that defense and just think "eh, Maxwell should be okay." With that said, 11-1 for MSU might be asking a lot after losing every notable receiver, Cousins, and Jerel Worthy (and Trenton Robinson). The Spartans will be good and I'm leaning towards picking them to win the division right now but 11-1 might be a little too lofty of a prediction.
Perhaps this explains why a belief in sympathetic magic—irrational, superstitious, glorious—continues unabated in our hyperrationalist age. If anything, the ascendancy of science has clarified these beliefs, and the degree to which we’re willing to cling to them despite a cognitive awareness of the fallacious nature of magic.
Leave your FEI numbers, completion percentages, and proper mechanics at the door: this is the comforting, irrational, often fantastically irreproducible age of magic.
The Okie package is one of pure havoc. Mattison likes bringing the heat (again from Brown's piece in HTTV: "Mattison frequently stated that on third down he believes in one thing: pressure"), and one of his favorite ways to do it is with mass confusion. The Okie package is a perfect example of that, as it is the kind of hellish, quarterback-nightmare inducing formation that can bring pressure from any of seven different defenders.
Every DC in the history of football when hired will pay lip service to the following things: playing aggressively, playing fast, wanting to bring pressure, harass the quarterback, etc. The 2011 season was proof that Mattison wasn't messing around about all of that. I mean, if the end of the Ohio State game wasn't proof enough--what with Chris Spielman being all exasperated about why Mattison was bringing so much pressure on OSU's final drive--then I don't what is.
Anyway, go read the whole post. Be thankful for having nice things like "coordinators that know what they're doing" because before you know it you're rolling around on the floor crying while Greg Robinson leads your defense into battle with a stuffed animal.
Stories about the speed of special teams gunners...are appearing on the Internet. Apparently, Nick Saban wants his gunners to be big and fast. "Oversigning" "cheating" "ESSS EEE CEEE SPEED" "PAWWLLL"<-----there, I have provided you with all the ingredients for a nice joke stew. Doesn't really matter what order you throw 'em in there, the joke always comes out the same way.
It is August 21st. I don't know how many days it's been since we landed here on Offseason Island, but I pray that they come for us soon. I can only read previews of Conference USA teams for so much longer.
"University of Michigan ranked as having a packed stadium, good libraries and a great hometown." That is the headline of this annarbor.com article. I wonder: did they only begin collecting the data for this survey of student packed-nessafter the end of the first quarter of every game? (Because they only show up after that point, you see.)
Back to the headline, though. I like it. It sounds like something a really confused person trying to be nice would say. "Orlando is ranked as having long amusement park lines, good weather, and a great place to live if you want to live in a place called Orlando."
That said, Ann Arbor is awesome and deserving of such lofty praise. From its tremendous libraries to its student apathy vis-a-vis athletics, Ann Arbor just the type of place that makes you want to scale a mountain and yell about it. Man, I miss Ann Arbor.
More? Looking forward to Michael Cox running for 20 yards on one play and in the completely wrong direction on the next one. Dan Greene of SI.com provides you with yet another preview of Team 133 to read. Something I learned: Craig Roh can breathe through his nose now. That is a good thing to be able to do. On a serious note, um...I honestly had no idea that Roh was even thinking about transferring/quitting at one point.
Boise State comes in at #13 on Pre-Snap Read's countdown...Boise, Utah, and Kansas State all come in ranked ahead of Michigan. Now, I don't think Michigan is top 10 material or anything, but I don't know about those teams being ahead of the Wolverines, PAWL Myerberg.
Hello, Internet. I am Fouad Egbaria, a Michigan grad ('11) and recent graduate of the MSJ program at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. This is a blog that attempts to analyze the highs and lows of Michigan football and basketball; I'm just trying to capture the spirit of the thing. I will also write about general Big Ten news, as well as Chicago professional sports (from time to time).
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