Hawkeyes Prove a Big Test to Sluggish WolverinesANN ARBOR MICHIGAN OCTOBER 21, 2006 The Blue grinded out another win in this perfect season, this time pulling away from Iowa in the fourth quarter. This completes a brutal stretch of games: Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, and now the Hawkeyes, all in consecutive weeks. Once again the defense created fits for the opposing offense and the M offense slowly wore down the opposing D. With this win, it is now very likely that the Blue will march into Columbus unscathed for a battle they are already calling “Armageddon”. While everyone is having a love affair with the 2006 Wolverines I’d like to share a few concerns. Here are the takes from the game along with a few nitpicks: – Shaky, Shaky. While they got it done, there were some tense moments out there, and the overturned fumble (and the awarding of the first down) in the fourth quarter proved huge. What’s right is right: Hart’s knee was down and he probably had enough for the first down. You couldn’t help but think about the quality of opponent here, with Iowa getting crushed by Ohio State at home and losing to Indiana. The Hawkeye D at the time looked dominating as it stuffed Hart and had Chad Henne running…
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The Winner By Knock-out
Wolverines grind out tough one in State College ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN OCTOBER 14, 2006 Michigan passed the biggest test of the season thus far, dropping Penn State for the eighth straight time by knocking out the Lions’ first and second string QBs. The PSU fans wore their lily whites in support of JoPa, and Lloyd Carr called it the loudest crowd he’s ever played in front of (sorry Oregon, but Carr would never acknowledge such an honor to a non-Big Ten stadium). Here are the takes on this game: – Sack Men. Seven sacks, along with 9 other Tackles for Loss, 2 quarterbacks knocked out. Penn State didn’t know what hit them. The third string QB had absolutely no chance, the screen pass for a touchdown was a fluke. Chalk this win up to the defense. The M ‘D’ remained the #1 against the rush in the nation, with all the sacks and the domination of Tony Hunt netted PSU negative yardage on the ground. Here’s a link I found from the official NCAA site that updates team and individual statistics very quickly, and provides comparisons against a team’s league and all the other NCAA teams. – Drops. If there was one downside to the game it had to be a the drops. Michigan had a few drops both by…
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Big Ten Conference Tie Break rules
Here’s the rules for every Big Ten BCS tie scenario SALINE, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 31, 2005 It’s another tight Big Ten football race for the championship and to determine the team that will receive the Big Ten’s automatic BCS bid. Here are the rules: • If there is a two-way tie, the winner of the game between the two will represent the conference. If the teams did not play each other, it is then based on overall winning percentage. • If there is still a tie, the most recent team to earn a BCS automatic selection is eliminated. • If three teams are tied and if one team defeated both of the others, that team is the representative. • If two of the three teams defeated the third team, that team is eliminated and the remaining two teams revert to the two-team tie procedure. • If two of the three did not play each other, the BCS representative is determined by winning percentage in the overall schedule. If all three have the same winning percentage, the most recent representative is eliminated and the other two revert to the two-team tie procedure. • If four or more are tied … if one team defeated each of the other three, then that team is the representative. • If two of the four teams…
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Second Half Shutdown of Wildcats
Trip to Chicago topped off with another Big win EVANSTON, ILLINOIS OCTOBER 30, 2005 Despite being up 16 late in the fourth quarter, few of 10,000+ Michigan fans that attended the Northwestern game Saturday night could relax. Not after watching the fate of the previous five games being settled in the final seconds. Only when the Wildcats exhausted their timeouts and Michigan picked up a well earned first down did the maize and blue fans breathe easy. In fact, the only group that really seemed relaxed the entire game was the Michigan sideline. Sitting three rows behind the bench for this crucial 33-17 victory, one of things I took away from this was how calm, poised, methodical and perhaps unemotional the Michigan machine really is. The only real excitement out of this team was after Grant Mason’s outstanding interception late in the second quarter, and of course when the game was over. Overall, this was a much needed win and continues a stunning revival of a team that was left for dead four weeks ago. Here are the takes on this game:– Depth. Lloyd Carr consistently gets criticism for not challenging for national titles despite having highly ranked recruiting classes year after year. This is certainly a valid discussion point, but I hardly ever hear Carr praised for delivering the…
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Carr-diac Arrest, Michigan Takes Iowa in OT
Once again it seems we are watching the same game over and over again this year. Michigan gets a lead, surrenders it, and then it's a crapshoot up and to the final seconds. Michigan decided to give the ball to fourth-string running back Jerome Jackson on third and goal from the Iowa 1 yard line, and he didn't waste the opportunity. This will set up a classic Big Ten showdown in Chicago next weekend.
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Golden Gophers Grift Growler
Little Brown Jug disappears after defensive breakdown SALINE, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 8, 2005 Third and nine, deep in Michigan’s end. The Golden Gophers had run on first and second downs, seemingly content to run out the malfunctioning game clock. Certainly they wouldn’t put the ball on the arm of a back-up quarterback, and would take their chances in overtime. Lloyd Carr acknowledged all of this after the game. Instead of stopping Gary “Love Muscle” Russell, the solid sophomore running back slipped around the right side, up Minnesota’s sideline to the Michigan 13 yard line. Bye, bye Jug. How could this possibly happen? Here’s a few takes on this disaster: – Rushing Gained, Allowed. Michigan only managed 94 rushing yards. The Gophers surrendered 364 to Penn State last week. This wasn’t the fault of Mike Hart, who went over 100. He ran hard; he didn’t have the holes. – King a Homer. Despite Rivas’s tough day, he did drill a 47-yarder in the second quarter. Michigan Stadium public address announcer Howard King had a tough day as well, messing up some calls. On Rivas’s field goal, as the ball was in there air, you could hear King mutter “Come On” urging the ball through the uprights. Assume King forgot to turn off the microphone, but it is nice to know that his…
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Wolverines Bully Illini, Reviewing the Big Ten Race
Michigan forced to comeback again, escapes Champagne SALINE, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 16, 2004 No, this won’t be remembered as a classic weekend of Michigan football. It is just another game that M was supposed to win and did win. Perhaps not as easy as Coach Lloyd Carr would like. What he definitely likes is the remarkable performance of his true freshman, bite size Mike Hart, who ran for a remarkable 234 yards. He made both extra-effort type yards (scoring a touchdown with an incredible stretch), and nifty jukes and cuts and acceleration down the sidelines. The running game that was such a concern at the beginning of the year appears to be one of the most solid facets of M’s game. Not only for this season, but for the next few! The other freshman and USA Today story-boy Chad Henne did not impress this week, but again, got it done. He threw a few bad passes and made some big mistakes that killed drives for the Wolverines. Overall the game was similar to last week’s comeback over Minnesota Golden Gophers. Michigan was clearly the better team on offense and defense, but made some untimely mistakes (interceptions) that made the game close. Illinois just didn’t have enough to stop Hart. Big Ten Shaking Out in 2004, Here’s an analysis of team’s that…
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Big Blue Thug: Michigan Dominates Brown Jug Series
Little Brown Jug owned by Ann Arbor crew SALINE, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 7, 2004 It was November 15, 1986. The Wolverines, led by All-American quarterback Jim Harbaugh, were undefeated heading into the final home game of the season. Blue was ranked 2nd in the country and looking ahead to a possible national championship for coach Bo. The Golden Gophers shocked the Wolverines 20-17 in front of 104,864 cold and bitter M fans, and then took the Little Brown Jug home to Minnesota. The stunning upset remains one of the biggest games in Minnesota football history; to Michigan it is just another hiccup that denied Bo Schembechler a national title. The next year Big Blue took the Jug back, and back it’s been since. Michigan has won 15 straight games against the Gophers, who have not found their form since the 1980s. Of course last year’s miracle win for Michigan was the closest the Gophers have come – and they’re still probably stinging from giving up 31 fourth quarter points to the John Navarre-led Big Ten Champions. Saturday Minnesota comes back into Ann Arbor, hoping to take home the Jug and add this game as a defining moment in their modern football history. Michigan enters the game a 4 point favorite, with the #1 rushing defense in the country which will be…
