A big win in Happy Valley for the Wolverines and for the first time since 1997, Michigan has won ALL of their B1G Road Games – can you believe that? That shows you the type of effort involved and how special this team is. Speaking of Special – let’s take a look at your Champions. SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION – Most of the time, Special Teams will flip the field with a long punt. Saturday, Jourdan Lewis not only flipped the field, he flipped momentum in the game at a most critical time. While Penn State settled for a field goal to make it a 5-point game midway through the 4th quarter, Lewis’s 55-yard kickoff return set the table for Michigan to ice the game. While the Wolverines’ Special Teams were not exactly stellar all game, this return erased the block punt earlier in the contest and provided a much-needed spark. OFFENSIVE TEAM CHAMPION – Jake Rudock is the man! Plain and simple. We are seeing now, what Jim Harbaugh saw in #15 months ago. Calm. Cool. Accurate. Heady. Sure, he fumbled and threw a pick when he locked onto a receiver in the game, but he is starting to play Brian Griese-esque. He makes good decisions and my gosh is he accurate! I’m not saying he is flawless but “Dad” as the…
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Double OT Hoosier Champions | Dr Sap’s Decals
WoW – what a finish! Take the W and get out of Bloomington. A win is a win. Now it’s onward – to your Champions. OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – When things start to click, your game becomes one with your teammates. Plays that weren’t being made before, suddenly look like old hat. Jake Rudock is starting to click, but more importantly, he’s clicking with Jehu Chesson. That deep threat wasn’t there earlier in the season, but in these last two games, especially against Indiana, Jake Rudock to Jehu Chesson has been money. The two had record-setting performances Saturday night and it’s a perfect time in the season for this to happen. The threat of a deep passing game can only help the Michigan offense these next two games. Jake to Jehu – sounds much like another great Michigan QB to WR combination: Benny (Friedman) to Bennie (Oosterbaan). DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – Playing against a spread offense like IU only brings out the worst in your defense. It exposes lack of depth. It exposes poor tackling in open space. It’s never a pretty picture on D. As the game wore on, and as IU’s Jordan Howard kept ripping off huge run after huge run, I wasn’t going to select a Champion on defense. It just felt as if I would be rewarding the…
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Wildcat Goose Egg Champions | Dr. Sap’s Decals
Guest post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis I was there at Michigan Stadium when this last happened. When Michigan last rolled out three straight shutouts, I had the same reaction in 1980 as I did on Saturday – “Wow! Didn’t see that coming!!”Granted, 35 years ago the Wolverines stymied some pretty good QB’s, with one of them being the all-time leading passer in NCAA history, but as the old hockey saying goes, “They don’t ask how – they just ask how many.” So true and so impressive. Even more impressive are this week’s Champions: SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION – Typically the Special Teams Champion gets also-ran, ho-hum coverage – not anymore! I’ve played on enough teams and watched enough football to realize that the truly great teams end up getting contributions from different players each week. Saturday against Northwestern was a classic example. In recent weeks I have mentioned how the defense may have set the tone early in the game with an INT, or how the offense may have set the tone by dominating and driving for an early score. Well, Jehu Chesson sent a message that hasn’t been sent since Tyrone Wheatley returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against Houston in 1992. We’ve all seen how masterful Coach Baxter has been with these Special Teams in the first…
