Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis is a Schembechler-era savant and once again he’ll be diligently handing out his postgame helmet stickers after each game. Sap has pored over hours and hours of U-M games over several decades, and in these posts, he’s able to tie the present to the past. I encourage you to subscribe to Dr. Sap on YouTube, or follow Sap on Twitter:
I’m thrilled to be back on MVictors handing out (virtual) helmet stickers this year. While these are difficult to do after a loss, and I’m tremendously disappointed Michigan lost, I’m gonna put steel in my spine and give it a shot!
OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – Seeing that the offense only scored one TD, I’m going with Karan Higdon and not just because he scored the TD, I felt that he ran hard all game. He’s gonna be a beast before the season’s over – trust me.
DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – There is an abundance of talent on Michigan’s defense, but I saw Michigan’s identity on D change when Devin Bush left the game. To further emphasize my point, the moment he returned to the game he energized that unit and made plays. He’s THE DUDE for Don Brown’s D.
SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION – The choice is obvious but Ambry Thomas’s 99-yard kickoff return TD re-energized the maize and blue when they were having a difficult time finding their collective legs in South Bend. This series between UM & ND is chock full of special Special Teams plays & players and it was great to see a #1 take it to the house – kinda like how AC did it back in 1982.
UNIFORM CHAMPION – I noticed a couple of changes to the UM unis. Did you see these as well
- The maize & blue stripes on the sleeves were larger/thicker than what they’ve been the past couple of years. I’m good with that.
- The numbers on the backs of the jerseys seemed larger/taller than what they were last year. Was that just me? I’m ok with that if they indeed were larger.
- Helmet stickers on ALL player’s helmets? For a season opener? It has NEVER happened before! Why? Does everyone now get a trophy/helmet sticker? Here’s what I think: Years ago, Bo used to reward players who endured 20 spring practice two-a-days with t-shirts that basically said they survived 20 two-a-Days. I’m thinking Coach Harbaugh is handing out helmet stickers for players who participated in every spring practice this year. Just a guess, but that seems like something Coach Harbaugh would do. I’ll see if I can get a confirmation on this before next week’s game.
- Seems like the colors on the M headgear did NOT change from last year’s model. I’m good with that, and also with NEVER seeing chrome helmets on the Wolverine’s heads!
