Comment by Jon

Jon — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:07:01 +0000

First of all, I appreciate you not rehashing the craptacular trip to South Bend. I was getting tired of telling people "If you take away the turnovers and look at the stats, it looks like a Michigan win." But of course, under better circumstances, I'm more than willing to tell other people at times (Spartys, Leprechauns, Buckeyes) that the turnovers happen and you can't take them away. The shoe's on the other hand now...

Of course, there was much dismay in seeing that it looked like there had been no practice in the two weeks since the ND game. It also seemed to indicate just how bad ND must be if we could rack up that many yards with our offense. At least that was the thought I used to comfort myself while on the floor in the fetal position sucking my thumb after yet another turnover/3 and out.

I will never say that I've never WANTED to stop watching a Michigan game. But I will say that I never HAVE stopped watching. Over my tenure as a Wolverine fan, I've seen us lay some serious eggs in the first half, only to come roaring back in the second half. 1995 Virginia game, 1997 Iowa and 1998 (I think) Minnesota to name a few. Of course, I've also seen the opposite where we've blown the game in the 2nd. 1988 Miami(Fl) remains the pinnacle to me.

The point being, there is always something in the back of my head that says "We can come back," no matter what the odds are, or what the logical side of my brain says. Saturday, it was actually right. And it proves that when the offense settles down and executes properly, good things happen. After all, the whole point of Coach Rod's spread offense was to give an overmatched/undertalented team a fighting chance in any game. And with the youth we have on offense, we are definitely the "overmatched team" this year.

I had something else to add, but now I've forgotten. Probably just as well since I'm typing way too much for a comment.

College Football Recap

Ken — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:59:58 +0000

So yeah, I didn't recap the Michigan-Notre Dame game. Can you blame me? While Michigan showed some flashes of competency in that game, that was overshadowed by the ineptitude that is best captured by a single statistic: 6 turnovers. Despite significantly outgaining Notre Dame on offense, you just can't win a game when you spot the opponent a three-touchdown advantage because you can't hang on to the football.

Michigan 27, Wisconsin 25

After half of the Michigan-Wisconsin game, it seemed like déjà vu all over again.