By Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis
If I told you at the beginning of the season that Michigan would finish the season with a 9-3 record, would you have taken that? Coming off the RichRod and Brady Hoke years, of course you would. Now that the season has played out, how does 9-3 look? A little bit different, right? Why?
Expectations. In less than one year, our new coach has not only given us as a fan base expectations, but he has also raised them for the team. That bodes well for the future, but that doesn’t eliminate the sting of losing to Ohio State. The victories will come, and while it was easy to draw parallels from this team to the 1969 team in Bo’s first year, you need to remember this: That 1969 team had talent oozing all over the place. There were 18 players from that team that went on to play professional football. And don’t forget that 4 players from that squad are in the College Football Hall of Fame (so far!).
Does this 2015 Michigan squad have that same level of talent? No. There is talent, but there are deficiencies that need to be addressed. It will take time to amass the talent needed to take down the B1G Boys, but they will come.
For now, there is a bowl game left to play, and I’m sure it won’t be the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
Expectations.
OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – The Jehu Chesson that played against Ohio State was not the same #86 that played against Utah. This guys is night and day different from where he was at the beginning of the season. Jehu is confident, strong and clutch. Not exactly the words I would have used to describe his play in September. To go over 100 yards receiving against the Bucks and to score a touchdown is awesome!!.
SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION – He came close to blocking a punt in the first half, and then finally got his hands on one in the second half. In between that, Jehu Chesson was fighting tooth and nail on the Kickoff Team and wasn’t taking any guff from the Buckeyes. He has obviously gotten the message from Coach Harbaugh that you have to compete on every play. His play on Offense AND Special Teams has been elevated as a result. On a day with not much to celebrate, Chesson stood out as my Champion. GO BLUE!!
Decals dealt out in previous weeks:
- Utah: Jake Butt, Jabrill Peppers, Blake O’Neill, (Uniform: White Road Uniforms), John Kryk
- Oregon State: De’Veon Smith, Chris Wormley, Delano Hill, The Coaching Staff
- UNLV: Ty Issac, Channing Stribling, Blake O’Neill
- BYU: Jake Rudock, Defensive Line, Jabrill Peppers, (Uniform: Properly Hiked up White Socks), Amara Darboh
- Maryland: Drake Johnson, Desmond Morgan, Kenny Allen, (Uniform: Blue lyrca leggings).
- Northwestern: Jehu Chesson, Jourdan Lewis, Offensive Line, (Uniform: Maize and Blue gloves).
- Michigan State: No Champions
- Minnesota: Wilton Speight, Michigan defense, Jabrill Peppers, (Uniform: Stickers crossing the stripes! :O)
- Rutgers: Jake Rudock, Taco Charlton, Jim Harbaugh
- Indiana: Jake Rudock, Jehu Chesson, Delano Hill, Jourdan Lewis, Coaching staff, (Uniform: #CHADTOUGH on helmets)
- Penn State: Jake Rudock, Jourdan Lewis, Taco Charlton, Michigan Coaching Staff
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