Freshman DB Artis Chambers, who played limited duty on special teams, was declared ineligible for the rest of the sesaon. I’m not exactly sure what the deal is. All we know is that Michigan claims it is a Big Ten eligibility rule and not an NCAA rule (whatever that means). As I understand it, the Big Ten has tighter academic eligibility requirements than the NCAA, so it is probably tied to that. Bill Martin took the blame and advised that “We’ve had a misinterpretation of the Big Ten freshman-eligibility rules,” Martin said, referring to Chambers’ status as a second-semester enrollee last January. “We found this out Thursday afternoon.” As far as sanction, here’s what was posted in the Free Press: “We’ll have to wait and see what the Big Ten says,” Martin said. “I can’t rule anything out (sanction-wise). I would think we’ll get resolution sometime this week.” Chambers will remain in school. The rules “are a little arcane, and we simply misapplied an older version of the rules,” Martin said. We’ll see what Michigan is going to do. I wouldn’t put this anywhere near par with the J. Joy Miller scandal of 1909 but there are some similarities. I’m guessing this will result in an apology to Penn State and a slap on the wrist.
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In Game: Northwestern
A few live notes as this game progresses: Henne MVP, made the plays they needed to make. Give him credit he looked good. I don’t think they wanted to play him. On the pregame show the word was that Henne would start the first possessions of each half. Carr made the right call by keeping him in to close out the game. Great win, 28-16. Hart’s Stretch Whoa, they didn’t say anything but right before Hart’s touchdown (to go up 27-16) he stretched and lost the ball. They called him out of bounds but it was close…would have been a touchback with the Cats taking the ball on the 20. Again the Big Ten crew is clueless. Extra Point Timeout? NO EXCUSE! M just used to timeout because they weren’t sure whether they should go for 2 up 20-16 with 10 minutes to go. Unreal! Unprepared. Were they not expecting to score a touchdown? How can you know be aware of the score and the circumstances?? We wasted a timeout. – Mesko. Zoltan has been solid all year. Punts have been high and deep, and he’s been great holding for Gingell. Henne Staying in 2nd Half. Had to do it. You’d be seriously rolling the dice with Mallett. With Henne you’ve got a bigger playbook and his knee look fine.…
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Road Apples
One of the biggest knocks on Lloyd Carr’s program has been its inability to win the first road game of the year. Critics of Carr say the trend unmistakenly points to a lack of preparedness which falls on the coaching staff. Since the ’98 season the Blue have won only 2 road openers: 1999 at Syracuse and last year’s beat down in South Bend. That left a 6 year stretch from 2000-2005 where Michigan dropped the opener. Here’s the dismal record: Michigan Road Openers since 1998 1998 @ Notre Dame Loss – 36-20 1999 @ Syracuse Win – 18-13 2000 @ UCLA Loss – 23-20 2001 @ Washington Loss – 23-18 2002 @ Notre Dame Loss – 25-23 2003 @ Oregon Loss – 31-27 2004 @ Notre Dame Loss – 28-20 2005 @ Wisconsin – Loss – 23-20 2006 @ Notre Dame – Win – 47-21 2007 @ Northwestern In the past decade the first roadie has been a non-Notre Dame, non-conference opponent but it looks like that won’t happen again for quite awhile. Like it or not, Michigan will pretty much fill the pre-conference schedule with home games leaving the opener for either Notre Dame or, when the Irish game is home, the first conference opponent. A few other takes heading into the weekend: Pumping the Records Two major…
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Joy Miller & The Disgrace of 1909
In an ironic twist to Yost's claim that the Irish held loose eligibility requirements, on Christmas Eve 1909 the New York Times broke the news to the world that Coach Yost's house wasn't quite in order. The headline declared "FOOTBALL SCANDAL IN MICHIGAN TEAM". The issue was with Michigan's halfback J. Joy Miller who it seems didn't bother to attend any classes in the Fall of 1909.
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We’ve Got Worm!
By popular demand, here’s Mariozone Manningham introducing the world to a little thing called style. Check out the video below as 86 delivers The Worm on the last play of the Penn State game: Manningham gets over on the last play of the game in Ann Arbor again! Thanks to “ThrillThrill” who posted the link to this beauty on mgoblog.
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Mike’s Got Fortitude
Mike Hart pretty much fell off the top of all Heisman watchlists after the first two debacles because the winner of the award is typically associated with one of the top teams in the country. I don’t know where the Blue will finish up this year but if Hart keeps it up he’s got to be considered. I’m not the only one, check out the love from CFN’s Michael Bradley: Hart, The Heisman Horse If the Heisman Trophy were to be awarded this week, there would be no shortage of candidates. The West Virginia duo is outstanding. Darren McFadden is tough to beat. Colt Brennan piles up the yards like crazy. Ray Rice. DeSean Jackson. All worthy possibilities. But if you want to find the player who is not only most valuable to his team but also perhaps the most productive and reliable player in college football, look no further than Michigan’s Mike Hart. With the Wolverines reeling from an humiliating 0-2 start, Hart guaranteed a win over Notre Dame (not exactly a Kreskin-worthy forecast, given ND’s horrible team) and then backed it up with a big performance. Last Saturday, with U-M trying to get a good start in the Big Ten and playing against a ferocious Penn State defense that ranked first in the nation against the run, Hart…
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Nine Timing Bastards (Michigan-Penn State 2007)
The Bizarro World 2007 season continues as the Blue takes down Penn State again. The same Nittany Lions team that many folks felt had the inside track for the Big Ten title. It was a classic conference battle where the two teams seemed to pick up where they left off the past couple of games. Big hits, quarterbacks running for their lives and some tense moments down the stretch. In the end, Penn State couldn’t break through Michigan’s defense and never found a way to stop Mike Hart. Nine times in a row Michigan has sent Penn State packing. Now Michigan is right back into the conference picture and will have two weeks to progress as Northwestern and Eastern Michigan should [should!] offer no challenge. Semi-stale takes on this battle: Appalachian Nightmare: Most have heard by now that App State lost today to Wofford. Whatever. I’m more concerned with this little scenario that Jim Carty presented in today’s Ann Arbor News: Let’s say Michigan beats Penn State, Penn State beats Ohio State, and Ohio State beats Michigan. All three teams end up with one conference loss. In that scenario, the Lions win a tie-breaker over Michigan and Ohio State because those teams played I-AA opponents. That’s right, playing a I-AA team can eliminate you from the Rose Bowl. It’s a…
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Strange ‘dogs
Both Michigan and Michigan State face interesting challenges on Saturday, both in situations where the traditional powers are rare underdogs: Underdogs, Part I Michigan is an underdog at home for the first time in recent memory. I believe Florida State 1991 or Miami 1988 was the last time? I think the underdog status is justified if you look at the season on the whole and consider Mallett will certainly be forced to make some big plays. That is, if Mallett indeed starts. Carr mentioned this week that Henne tooks some snaps in practice. I’d take Penn State and expect them to pull away tomorrow. Win, and Penn State remains Michigan’s obedient little bitch. Also, if anyone can find any evidence that the Figurehead (JoPa) actually is doing any coaching please send it here. Underdogs, Part II The Spartans roll into South Bend looking for a 6th straight road win over the Irish. Unreal and impressive. Odds makers have the Green as a 13 point favorite. While folks like Bill Simonson of the ‘Huge’ show think this is a must win for MSU, I disagree. I don’t think there’s shame in losing to Notre Dame at home even this season. Especially in Dantonio’s first year. Win, and it is a great win for his new program. A loss is a big…
