• Sights & Sounds: Michigan 48, Indiana 41 (2 OT)

    via mgoblue.com Heading into the season we figured Harbaugh was the answer but that he needed time.  We hoped that time would be short, even just maybe something would happen this year.  We hoped that under his tutelage, a quarterback would emerge to lead this team.  And  we hoped somehow we’d muster a running game and the defense would come together.   So here we are in mid-November with much on the line and with the events of the past few weeks—very hopeful. Rudock looked like a different cat out there, with a new level of confidence and toughness.  At times he looked a bit like a young coach Harbaugh himself with the fierce runs on third down and balls to fire the pigskin over the middle.  And as Sap said, the passing game is starting to click. The concerns for these 2 weeks are obvious.  A winless in B1G team in IU won the line of scrimmage and the “yeah but Glasgow” excuse turned into this.   We still couldn’t really run the ball and in space the first “man”, meaning mainly an Indiana 19 year old kid, took us down.  The penalties were horrible.  The linebackers were ineffective at best.  We missed a bunch of tackles. But you are hopeful, aren’t you?  Despite all that stuff Michigan is a really…

  • Double OT Hoosier Champions | Dr Sap’s Decals

    WoW – what a finish!  Take the W and get out of Bloomington.  A win is a win. Now it’s onward – to your Champions. OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – When things start to click, your game becomes one with your teammates.  Plays that weren’t being made before, suddenly look like old hat.  Jake Rudock is starting to click, but more importantly, he’s clicking with Jehu Chesson.  That deep threat wasn’t there earlier in the season, but in these last two games, especially against Indiana, Jake Rudock to Jehu Chesson has been money.  The two had record-setting performances Saturday night and it’s a perfect time in the season for this to happen.  The threat of a deep passing game can only help the Michigan offense these next two games.  Jake to Jehu – sounds much like another great Michigan QB to WR combination: Benny (Friedman) to Bennie (Oosterbaan). DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – Playing against a spread offense like IU only brings out the worst in your defense.  It exposes lack of depth.  It exposes poor tackling in open space.  It’s never a pretty picture on D.  As the game wore on, and as IU’s Jordan Howard kept ripping off huge run after huge run, I wasn’t going to select a Champion on defense.  It just felt as if I would be rewarding the…

  • What Would You Do? Here’s What Bo Would Do (1932)

    Check this out from the 1932 Youngstown Vindicator newspaper.  It’s a feature called ‘Football for the Fan’ by coach Howard H. Jones.   Coach Jones was a legendary coach at USC with many other stints including Ohio State in 1910 (3-3 tie in Columbus vs. Yost if you need it—the Buckeye fans went wild.) In the FFTF feature, Jones lays out an in-game scenario and asks readers, ‘What Would You Do?’: It appears as Jones had different coaches suggest a play to “answer” the question, and this one was addressed by then-Kansas State coach Bo McMillin. And don’t knock McMillin—after leaving Kansas he went onto Indiana where he bested Crisler in Ann Arbor & led the Hoosiers to the 1945 conference title!  A football title in Bloomington is a one way ticket to the college football HOF, yes sir. After that McMillin went on to coach the Lions and the Eagles before dying prematurely of stomach cancer. Update:  Here’s McMillin’s answer:

  • Denard: Please Don’t Loop, Swoop or Pull

    I was up in East Lansing for the Wisconsin game but tuned into the radio broadcast and this morning I watched the replay.  (I broke down and ordered the expanded sports package on Comcast to get ESPNU).   It’s remarkable stuff to watch to be sure and like you, I’m still very worried about what’s going to happen in the next few weeks with this defense.  Miscellanea: * I expected it to be close, definitely closer than the spread, but not quite like that.  I read this Saturday morning and remember thinking it was silly for Sharp to be so specific in his prediction, but, pretty much: Drew Sharp MICHIGAN 41, INDIANA 38 This is a game that goes down to the last possession. The Hoosiers score a touchdown with less than a minute remaining, but that gives Denard Robinson enough time for another miraculous drive. * Love the MS Paint giant shoe sign: Lon Horwedel – A2.com * After the final pass of the game was broken up, cameras panned over to their obligatory shot of the winning coach.  Greg Robinson grabbed Rich Rod to tell him something and it was kind of weird: * The other interesting sideline moment came just minutes earlier, after Taylor Lewan was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after Denard scored the game-winner.  While ESPNU provided…

  • Hoosiers Breeze in front of Coaches Carr & Rod

    This is midway through the first half – this is real Made it up to the game last night and it wasn’t as close as the 78-64 final score. – It’s a little frustrating to sit and watch. The offense pretty much looks for an open three and then clanks it off the rim. The good news? It seemed like they were getting good looks at the rim before then tossing the brick. – The highlight of the game was DeShawn Sims’ three-quarter court heave to end the half. The place erupted and that was nice to see. – Newsflash: Eric Gordon is amazing. Michigan kept it relatively close near half because Gordon was on the bench with three fouls. – A few local AA-list celebrities at the game including: * Coach Carr with wife Laurie at mid-court. He got a huge cheer when they showed him on the screen. * Coach Rod with a few new staffers (see pic). Both coaches spent some time with Florida grad and supreme hotness Erin Andrews. * Joe Dumars courtside checking out the talent. * Sam Webb of WTKA. – As far as the arena, it was at best 40% full with large portions of the Maize section empty. Four of us walked up to Crisler without tickets. A few different fans handed…