Comedy of Errors In South Bend, Michigan’s Sloppy play hands game to Irish SOUTH BEND, IN SEPTEMBER 15, 2002 Traveling down to South Bend is always an epic time. Brian Kunde, Ted McDowell, Kelley Kuehne and Greg Dooley stayed down at the Inn at St. Mary’s on Friday night in order to get an early start on gameday. Notre Dame defeated Michigan today in a very sloppy game. Here are some photos (all pictures by the webmaster) from campus and from the game. Now to the game: In sum, while I’ve seen Michigan play poorly in certain stretches of games, I’ve never seen the volume of big mistakes as seen on Saturday. Except for the last scoring drive, M consistently made major errors throughout the game. Fumbles, dumb penalties, dropped passes, poor passes, defensive breakdowns seemed to be the norm. It got to the point where we were just waiting for the next screw-up. Here is my breakdown: Navarre: It wasn’t his fault. As we limped out of the stadium, some old M man muttered “Navarre sucks”. Sometime he does, but he delivered the ball when he needed to. He missed many receivers and rarely put the ball exactly where he needed, but he was close enough. He stepped up in the pockets and moved the ball around as…
-
-
Calm before the Storm: Michigan/Ohio State 2002
Oh me oh my, it’s a big one in Columbus, Buckeyes an early 4 1/2 point favorite ANN ARBOR, MI NOVEMBER 16, 2002 Ohio State squeaked by Illinois in OT on Saturday setting up another classic with the Michigan Wolverines. The Buckeyes are 12-0 on the year and sit at #1 in the BCS poll. A win will surely put them in the championship game in the Fiesta Bowl. The game is in Columbus at noon on Saturday, ABC will televise. Michigan (9-2) looked a little sloppy in a 21-14 win over Wisconsin on Saturday. But the running game, which is so critical to M’s offense, has really kicked in over the last three games. Left out of the fun are Iowa, who pummeled Michigan a few weeks ago, and who did not play OSU this year. Based on Ohio State’s last 2 games, Iowa looks like the class of the Big Ten. The last time the game was this big was 1997. On eBay, tickets to the game are going for around $250-$300 each. The Buckeyes must be a little nervous for fear that they will choke this one away – again. Lose, and the Buckeyes not only slip out of the BCS championship, but also out of the Rose Bowl, as Iowa will become sole Big Ten champs.…
-
Michigan’s Fab Five Tarnished
When former University of Michigan head basketball coach Steve Fisher was fired, many in the Michigan athletic community felt he got a raw deal from the university because that he was on the outside of all of this. That sentiment has gradually changed. Steve Fisher is seen as a villain. While Ed Martin, the man who paid the Michigan players, was the problem, Fisher is the one that associated the problem with the university. He made Martin a part of the basketball program and there are records to prove that. He made dozens of phone calls to Martin, he dropped tickets for him, and he was present during recruiting visits. If it was shown that Martin was truly acting on his own behalf and directly with the players, then maybe the case could be made to go easy on the school. But Fisher’s acceptance of Ed Martin linked him to the school, and now we will pay. Recruiting must be the toughest part of the job. In order to create relationships in the city you probably have to seek the aid of local coaches, leaders, and alumni. But that doesn’t mean you don’t check them out. Fisher blew it by keeping this guy around and even worse – accepting him as part of the process. While Ed Martin, the man…
-
Wolverines Shine in Super Bowl 2002
MVP Brady is a cool fella, Law scores then sells it. ANN ARBOR, MI FEBRUARY 4, 2002 Tom Brady, Super Bowl MVP? It is hard to believe, but he did it and he deserved it. Brady made history on Sunday becoming the youngest QB to lead his team to a ring. His last minute drive to set up the winning kick was epic. I am not sure how a kick can kill 7 seconds, but it wouldn’t have mattered (I guess). When Brady started the drive I thought it was going to end in disaster. He was aided by a Patriot defense that made big plays, namely Ty Law’s 47 yard interception return. Not everyone appreciated Law’s touchdown. In the middle of his dash for the endzone, Law raised up one arm in a celebratory fashion, which some might consider taunting. “He better watch it!”, warned one experienced but anonymous fan. Brady and Law, who will head to Hawaii for the All-Pro game next week, played for the Michigan Wolverines in the 90’s. They join several former players who made a big impact this year including All-Pro’s Ian Gold & Charles Woodson, Rookie of the year Anthony Thomas and standout Jon Runyan (robbed). Brady became the second Wolverine to take the Super Bowl MVP honors, following Desmond Howard. Brady never…
-
Assessing Michigan National Title Hopes
Iowa goes down, is Michigan in the title hunt? ANN ARBOR, MI OCTOBER 28, 2001 After beating the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday Michigan may now have a chance at getting into the BCS championship game at the Rose Bowl. Michigan will have to win the rest of their games (including big games against Michigan State, Wisconsin and of course the Buckeyes), and some teams will still have to lose. I give the Wolverines about a 20% chance of getting to the national championship game in Pasadena, CA. If they do, I know a few Michigan men that will rejoice. This is a pretty good team, but I think they will need a stronger running game to be considered great team. One BCS computer geek runs the numbers Sunday afternoon based upon available data (the real BCS comes out Monday night). He has Michigan currently 4th. IF they do win the rest of their games and don’t get into the final it would be tough to take. Despite a down year in the Big Ten, it is still a brutal task to run the schedule. They would deserve at least a shot. Unless there are two strong undefeated teams left at the end, the BCS will be criticized again. Solution: Keep the polls, but institute a committee (like NCAA hoops) to…
-
Bad Bounce Beats Badgers! M Lucks Out in 2001
ANN ARBOR MI November 18, 2001 In the worst offensive performance that I can remember, somehow Michigan combined solid defense, superior special teams and a big break to beat Wisconsin. Michigan can clinch the 2001 Big Ten Championship and the automatic BCS birth by beating Ohio State in the Schembechler Bo-bblehead game next Saturday. I’ll be there with bells on. More Takes on the Wisconsin/Michigan game in 2001: John Navarre: Everyone knew that Navarre had a tendency to lock onto one receiver, but at least he would throw a nice ball to that one receiver. I was fine with his QB abilities after the Washington game because he showed leadership and skill at the end after giving the game away. Now he is missing people and putting up awful numbers. 11-24 for 58 yards? Brutal. Suffice it to say the QB job is wide open next year, if not for the Bowl game. Lloyd Carr is inserting Gonzales into these games to get him ready. On Special Teams: Michigan dominates special teams with raw talent. I would bet that any of the 11 guys on the punt return team would be star players on Wisconsin. Obviously special teams was the difference in this game. Next: Michigan probably has enough to beat Ohio State (again) next week, but if the offense…
-
The Savior of Michigan Football?
Possible M Prodigy on the way ANN ARBOR, MI Exciting results from University of Michigan hospital, as the ultrasound of our baby-to-be revealed some serious potential:
-
The Pick: Woodson’s Interception vs. MSU
Here’s Charles Woodson’s epic interception for the Michigan Wolverines. The interception helped the Maize & Blue defeat Michigan State in 1997 on that road at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Woodson looks like he is reaching at least 11 feet into the air, probably a little higher. For those who need a refresher course, Woodson ripped that ball out of the air, secured it, and landed in bounds for the turnover. Later that year Michigan won the 1997 national championship in the Rose Bowl and Chuck Woodson won the Heisman Trophy: college football’s most prestigious individual honor. Woodson went on to leave college after that season (as a junior) and entered the NFL draft. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders and has made a few trips to the Pro Bowl.
