A few from the field in the fourth quarter and the aftermath: Everitt Rules So here’s Fitz’s not-a-touchdown. When I saw it live I thought his knee was down. Watching the replay, I can’t believe they felt they had enough to overturn it but whatever. Denard’s postgame football grenade put everyone on the turf right after the final whistle. Nothing’s easy. Denard was dinged up a bit in the student section before ‘The Victors’ and had to find some space Seemed like Mike Martin didn’t want to leave the field Related: Beat Ohio Postgame (Photos) Dr. Sap’s Decals–We Beat Ohio! The Victors Ohio Pregame (Pregame Photos) Let’s Do This! TWIMFbH—Climate Controlled Conditions in Chicago (1896!) Elsewhere: Ohio Postgame Presser Transcript: Brady Hoke Denard is the story again (Freep) Senior leadership, Brady Hoke’s direction bring U-M new dawn Victory Formation Michigan’s senior class needed streak-ending win over Ohio State Follow MVictors on Twitter
-
-
Dr. Sap’s Decals – Chicago Style, @ Northwestern
Plenty to dole out, take it away Sap: Adidas: 1 decal for bringing back the white socks on the road with a little block M on them a la Tom Harmon and the boys back in 1939! (Editor’s note: Might have to take this decal away. There’s obviously something wrong with the 2011 away jerseys, causing some of players to switch to last year’s model! Get that fixed, Beaverton) Dhani Jones: 1 decal for Rocking The Bowtie before, during and after the game! Hey, Dhani, how about a Bowtie with U-M helmet decals on it? Dr. Sap would make the switch to a bowtie if that were the case – GUARANTEED!! Greg Mattison: 1 decal for 2nd half shutout of Wildcats – Very Bill McCartney-esque! Denard Robinson: 5 decals – 9-yard TD pass to Watson in 1st QTR; 25-yard TD pass to Gallon in 2nd QTR; 2-yard TD run in 3rd QTR minus one shoe; 5-yard TD run in 4th QTR, +1 editor’s pick for running up to the crowd on the final score. Defense: 3 decals for each member of unit – 4th down stop in 2nd QTR; 4th down stop in 4th QTR; pitching a shutout in 2nd Half. Desmond Morgan: +1, editor’s choice, for flying over the NW offense line in an attempt to sack Persa. Jordan…
-
Sights & Sounds: Michigan 42, Northwestern 24 (2011)
What a great night in Evanston and props to the throngs of Michigan fans who made the trip, many of whom blew my doors off on I-94 topping 95 MPH. After parking several blocks from the stadium, I was running a tad late so I flagged your typical pregame rickshaw driver and cruised to the stadium in style
-
Dr. Sap’s Decals – Minnesota
A lot of business to take care of but first, here’s a rundown of the original criteria for awarding the footballs via Dr. Sap: Bo Schembechler criteria announced on September 23, 1969 for determining how Wolverines would earn a helmet award sticker, according to a report the next day in the Ann Arbor News: ON OFFENSE: 1) An outstanding block, catch or run 2) TD pass or run over 25 yards 3) Outstanding second effort 4) Four crossfield blocks in one game 5) TD-saving tackle on punt return 6) Scoring TD with first down between the eight and 10-yard lines (all offensive players get one) 7) Making first down starting from inside our two-yard line 8 ) Scout player doing best job against defense ON DEFENSE: 1) Pass interception 2) Blocked kick 3) Key tackle inside 20-yard line 4) Causing fumble or interception 5) Recovering a fumble 6) Stopping opposing team inside the 10-yard line (all) 7) When defense scores a touchdown (all) 8 ) Outstanding second effort or great hit 9) Making following number of tackles, including assists — ends, tackles and backs, 9; middle guard and rover back, 12; and linebackers, 16 10) Scout player doing best job against offense We don’t use all those metrics of course (at least until they let us in practice). So here…
-
Mud Bowl 2011? It’s A Go
From sources deep inside the Sigma Alpha Epsilon camp, it’s confirmed that Mud Bowl is on for 2011. Kick-off is slated for 9AM on October 29, Homecoming weekend. Michigan will face Purdue at the Big House at noon. Many wondered if the traditional slop fest would happen given SAE’s campus suspension, but it’s a go and it will benefit C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital once again this year. Last year the game raised $38,000 for Mott, and sights are set on $40,000 in 2011.
-
Fun with Big Ten Tie-Breakers
The latest Big Ten weekly press release detailed out the tie-breaker scenarios in detail and Adam Rittenberg of ESPN summarized the basics earlier this month. For the B1G title game, the winner of each division will play, unless one of the division winners is ineligible to play in a bowl game. To me, the official Big Ten division tie-breaker rules aren’t crystal clear after a quick read. I think the confusion is that technically Big Ten conference teams have three types of records: The division record (5 games) The overall conference record (8 games) The overall record (12 games) Here are the key elements on the conference championship rules from the official site, with some comments to clarify what it means. Hat tip to Big Ten media relations lead Scott Chipman for confirming this: 1). Divisional Champion rule: The Big Ten football championship will be decided by a game played between the two division champions. Clarification: The division champion is the team with the best overall conference record (in the 8 overall conference games played). 2). First Tie-Breaker: If two teams are tied, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative. Clarification: So that’s easy if you are clear on how two teams can tie, and that’s based on overall conference record as discussed in 1).…
-
Headlocking Hugs (Sights & Sounds) Michigan 28, San Diego State 7
Most were surprised how easy that went Saturday for Hoke and crew and Michigan together the most complete half I can remember. The biggest factor was the poor play of highly-rated QB Ryan Lindley, who seemed out of sorts all day. The U-M defense deserves some credit for that for sure but Lindley didn’t get a lot of help from his receivers who ran poor routes in many cases. Here’s Lindley trying to connect in the end zone in the fourth quarter and his receiver has a step on Countess – the ball is too high, off-target and just sailed: Commence the Miscellanea: Since I’m not going to tell you anything about how Denard fared on the field that you didn’t see with your own eyes Saturday, try this: Laces on Lockdown Denard’s “Xs” – In the postgame Denard talked about a recent trip to the lanes. He told the media, “I did all right,” and shared that he bowled the 200-160-170 series. The “X” in Denard’s Twitter handle stands for strike, and use can use an X to mark one thing off the list of things that you thought you could do better than #16. Switch to Schutt – Some nerd I asked Denard about his switch of helmet manufacturers this year. I was half hoping there was some…
-
BTN to air Big Ten Coaching Icons
It’s official now. The Big Ten Network will continue its Icons series this fall, this time looking at the iconic coaches in the league. It’s not a countdown this time, rather, they just selected a legend from each school: The 12-episode series will stretch into the winter, and profile one coach from every Big Ten school, including Illinois’ Lou Henson, Iowa’s Dan Gable, Indiana’s Bob Knight, Michigan’s Bo Schembechler, Michigan State’s Jud Heathcote, Minnesota’s Herb Brooks, Nebraska’s Tom Osborne, Northwestern’s Kelly Amonte-Hiller, Ohio State’s Woody Hayes, Penn State’s Joe Paterno, Purdue’s Gene Keady and Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez. I did get interviewed for the Bo piece so my goofy mug might be in there. (And maybe in Woody? That would be a treat.) As far as the other selections, Lou Henson is a bit of a surprise. I guess I would have went with Bob Zuppke but ok. I’ve got a big issue with the Jud Heathcote choice, however. Without getting too far into this, I grew up in East Lansing watching Jud and I went to his hoops camp and I have nice memories of the man. And I get that the show can highlight the 1979 title and his grooming of Izzo & it will make for a quality show. But brother, Jud would be pretty far down on…
