Live from the pressbox at Spartan stadium, I’m going to try to do a UFR-style liveblog of the game. If it doesn’t work out through the first quarter or so, I’ll ditch it for a more standard liveblog.

3:27, the clock shows five minute until gametime.
3:30 I have never seen a cornier presentation of the National Anthem than that by the MSU band, complete with ROTC members shaking a giant nylon flag to make it look like it’s rippling in the wind. Hart comes out as captain.
3:34 Michigan kickoff. Devin Thomas 26 yards to the 26.
1-10 M Defense 4-2-5 crable standup de ezeh and adams tackle ringer at 28 gain of 2
2-8 4-3 Reverse, Harrison whiffs, englemon tackles kellen davis on the 32 gain of long 4. Why is State running a reverse to the TE?
3-4 Hoyer’s pass tipped and caught by kellen davis. Tackle by Harrison 17 yd gain. ball on 50
1-10 4-3 caulcrick cuts back into filing linebackers for 3. ball on M 47.
2-7 4-2-5. Ringer swing lateral, gain of 8, first down MSU.
1-10 4-2-5, Crable lined up to blitz. He and Harrison do. Bad coverage by Trent gives Devin Thomas a lot of room to make the catch. 18 yd gain for MSU.
1-10 4-3 weakside shift Crable on LOS. Caulcrick up the middle for 3 yd gain.
2-7 4-3 lots on the line. Tim Jamison off the line and covers short flat. Shitty pass by Hoyer would have gotten Davis an easy wide open TD.
Delay of game MSU. Taken back. Dantonio called a TO on the sideline before the clock expired. Ref says TO Michigan, he means MSU. It is impossible to UFR at game speed, so I’m stopping after this drive.
3-7 Hoyer in shotgun nexct to ringer. 3-3-5 way overshifted to the strongside for M. Changes to 4-2-5 as Jamo puts his hand down. Brandent Englemon makes a bi hit to break up a pass to Thomas that wouldn’t have netted MSU a first down anyway.
4-7 Swenson barely makes a 36 yard FG inside the right upright to put State up 3-0. M played safe cover on the attempt.

Michigan gets that ball on the kickoff, Short one that Brown rturns to the 29. Fighting after the whistle.

10:35 1Q Hart gets the first carry on the drive for 8 yards, and the second, which doesn’t count as MSU had a player in the neutral zone. Free first down.
Diving catch by Arrington. Not a great throw by Chad, but way to haul it in for Adrian. Offsides again on State. Same Old Spartans. NO DISCIPLINE.
Hart’s ankle is getting taped. Manningham gets gifted a PI call that should have been on him.

Minor goes down in the backfield on a tackle he should have broken form Saint-Dic. Unsportsmanlike conduct coming up. Offsetting on Savoy and Eric Gordon from State.

9:18 1Q second and long Henne in the gun. Nice pass pro by Hart. Henne hits Manningham who may have actually lost yardage.
Third and long for the first time. State doesn’t rush a lot of people, and Henne has all day. Manningham’s guy falls down, and he is wide open. Henne overthrows him. Was Manningham grabbed as his cover fell?

8:15 1Q Michigan punt fielded at the 18, first and Ten State.

So far, M defense is playing bend but don’t break, and the offense needs to find a groove after Henne and Hart have been out (or limited) for a couple weeks.

2-10 MSU, own 23. Ringer stumbles up the middle for about five as Adams comes up to play the run. 3-5 Hoyer from the gun connects for 2 yards. Harrison on the tackle. MSU playcalling not impressive, but neither is M’s defensive play thus far. Not a whole lot of pressure on Hoyer.

Mathews drops the punt at the UM 38, but manages to cover it up before the coverage arrives.

Mallett is warming up on the sidelines, but Henne comes out to start the drive (as does Hart).

6:10 1Q. 1-10 Michigan from their own 38. Not bad field position. Twins left with Moundros on the right as a TE with Butler. Arrington Motions across for an Ace standard lok, and Henne hits Butler for an 11 yard gain.

On first and Ten, Hart gains 3 when his cut isn’t sharp enough to find daylight. I feel like a 100% healthy Hart makes that cut and gains 8-9 yards. A lineman is down on the field. 57. Kraus. Lots of shuffling on the OL.

Long-Cuilla-Boren-Mitchell-Schilling

This OL clearly works, as Hart hits a huge hole and fights off safeties (if only he were a little faster) to the MSU 11. 1-10 after the 37 yard gain.

A bit of unclean play as Hart gets forward progress for no gain, and a couple Spartans wrestle him after the whistle for 5 yards back in 10 laterally.

Easy TD on the fade to Mario. Hilariously bad coverage by #31 Ashton Henderson.

7-3 Michigan 3:54 1Q

Great kickoff by Wright lands 6 yards deep in the corner of the endzone.

A pass to Thomas and a false start result in a second and ten for State. No discipline.

Chris Graham destroys Ringer on a swing pass. Loss of 7 puts MSU in a long-distance 3rd down. Does English bring the heat? 4-3 with Crable a standup DE. Pass tipped at the line by Jamo. State in to punt. Thomas would not have caught the pass for 1st down yardage.

More good field position, as the MSU punt goes end-over-end and rolls dead at the UM 44. Michigan takes over with 1:44 in the first.

Hart slips in the backfield, but manages to keep his balance long enough to make it to the line, which is a yard behind the LOS. The horribly disciplined Spartan DT Justin Kershaw shoves the Michigan center for 5 free yards. This is laughable. An example of when trying to use emotion can work against a team.

Arrington drops a pass in his numbers. Very good D by Davis-Clark to force the INC.

Carson Butler hasn’t hit enough nerds yet this year, so he hits a State player after the incompletion for Manningham (Henne ends up on his back). Bad punt by Zoltan means State gets the ball on their own 41.

Hoyer horrifically underthrows Devin Thomas, who was fifteen yards behind Trent. It wasn’t his fault, he was pointing for safety help that never came. Ringer runs into the line to end the first.

End 1st quarter. Michigan leads 7-3.
Stats? Stats:
Hart 5-48
Henne 3-6 for 23

Ringer 4-8
Caulcrick 2-6
Hoyer 6-10 for 43

Hoyer puts in on Jamar Adams’s numbers. Returned to the State 42 (19 yds), where he goes out of bounds. Adams has stepped up his game statistics-wise this year, which is what he was definitely lacking in the past couple years.

Kraus center, Boren LG. Hart breaks tackles near the line to get down to the State 11.

More personal fouls on State. This team is a fucking joke. Davis-Clark hits Manningham for a PF, half the distance down to the 5.

Mitchell gets an early start to give back the yardage, but the free first down remains.

1-10 Michigan from MSU 10. Hart gets a hole at the line for 2-3, makes a push down to the 5.

3-G from the MSU 5. Henne to Butler near the left sideline right at the GL. K.C. Lopata kicks it through for a 14-3 lead.

12:46 2Q 14-3 Michigan.

Thomas returns the kickoff to the MSU 42.
Fullback dive loses 2 yards.

Adams breaks up a pass intended for Davis. Devin Thomas dives and almost catches it. 3rd and long. Michigan brings 6 (4 DL, CGraham, and Adams). Hoyer swarmed under by everyone, Taylor and B Graham get credit for the sack. Illegal formation (lol State penalties lol) declined, MSU punts from their own 32.

Mathews lets it go over his head, and State downs the punt at the 6. Greg had a chance to field it on the bounce near the 25, but didn’t do so. 67 yards on the punt.

11:24 1Q. 1-10 Michigan from the UM 6.

MSU hasn’t had a first down since their first drive, and had 56 yards on that drive, 1 since. ABC’s coverage is showing something about MSU basketball during the first play. Hart runs behind the FB shuffle right. Must be about the Spartans BBall losing to a DII team.

Hart runs a draw, he stands straight up once he’s 7 yards past the LOS, lucky he didn’t get completely pasted. Uncalled 5 yard facemask.

Henne in the gun, scrambles and drops it. Mitchell falls on the ball for a 3 yards gain. Michigan 4-1 forced to punt.

Another unimpressive one by Zoltan, as MSU will start the drive in Michigan territory.

Hoyer skips a pass a yard before it gets to Thomas. Run up the middle gets state in a third and medium. Hoyer with 2 backs in the gun. Both stay to block. He is flushed, then finds a TE for the first down. Best cure for MSU positive yardage? MSU penalties! Holding this time, and MSU will be in 3rd and long. Screen to Ringer nets them 2 yards, and state will have to punt again.

Punt downed at the UM 8, for some reason the ref decides to move back a yard before spotting it. Michigan will start the drive on their own 7 with 7:01 remaining in the first half.

Hart gains one on first down, then makes a cutback hard right on second to gain 6 yards. He is creating yardage by himself, the blocking has been decent but not great. Henne pressured from the gun on third, wings a dumpoff wide of Minor.

Zoltan with another bad punt. What is his deal today? Only 35 yards. State beings on the UM 49.

Ezeh has to make a tackle pretty far downfield. Why Ezeh was playing from in front 10 yards downfield I have no idea.

Devin Thomas goes deep for State. He puts his hand behind him to try to draw a PI call on Warren, but no avail. Just god handfighting by both guys, on a not very good pass by Hoyer. Touchback on the punt.

The offesne has been conservative of late, though a lot of that is probably just a product of bad field position. Still, on first down Carlos Brown runs up theback of his OL for no gain.

2nd and 10, Henne is hit as he throws, pass is low intended for Arrington. Maybe a bit of contact, but not bad enough to draw a flag. State’s defense tries to get the fans into it on thrid and ten. Lloyd takes a timeout from the sideline. It’s a short one.

Henne is pressured, and his pass intended for Mario is tipped and nearly intercepted by Henderson. Did the wind catch that one? Chad was throwing into it. Michigan will punt, and Zoltan finally boots one.

1-10 MSU own 28. 3:15 2Q.

Reverse to Thomas, Ezeh crushes him. 2 yard loss on the play.
Hoyer runs into a pulling guard at the snap on second down. Scramble drill and he takes the loss for a sack credited to Ezeh. 3rd and 18 MSU.

Michigan stops the clock to get the ball back with enough time for another score. This leads me to a coaching philosophy question. If Michigan forces the punt, MSU will expect a pass (because Michigan stopped the clock to allow time for them to score). Is this a god time to run a draw? I think so. You still have one timeout if it doesn’t turn out well.

Hoyer’s pass is high for Kellen Davis, he tips it up to himself and almost catches it, but is separated from it when he hits the ground.

Great punt return from Greg Mathews, although he demonstrated why he has never been described as a “burner.” That’s a new season long for him (29), it was 18.

Henne completes one to Mathews, who gets out of bounds. Then, Henne is nailed as he throws, and Arrington has to go to a knee to get it for a loss of one. Manningham open along the sideline, he tries to make something happen after the catch (such as a first down), but doesn’t do it. Tackled in bounds 3 yards short.

UM calls a timeout, and appears to be going for it one fourth from the MSU 34. Surprised they didn’t run it down a little more first, in case they didn’t get it. Michigan State sees the Michigan formation after the timeout, and calls one of their own.

4-3 Michigan from the MSU 34. :59 Second Quarter. Henne in the gun with Minor. Arrington and Manningham to the right, Mathews left. Butler off the line to the left.

Henne throws right for Mario, intercepted by Otis Wiley. MSU will have the ball on their own 30 with :54 to play in the half. Wiley’s pick netted the Spartans -4 yards.

On the first play, Hoyar finds Dell open between levels of coverage on the left sideline.

Incomplete pass on the first down, then MSU goes 5 wide with Davis in the slot. He is wide open in the middle of the field for 10 yards+lots of YAC, but his hands are one spot where Hoyer shouldn’t hit him. Curry gets another MSU drop, at least he got drilled as the ball arrived. State will punt it.

A decent punt lands at the 18, I expect Michigan to take a knee to run out the final :19.

Posted under Analysis

5 Passing plays were called on first and ten, 23 running plays.

1. Incomplete pass to Moundros (0 yards).
2. Pass Interference (15 yards).
3. Mallett scramble (7 yards).
4. Mallett sack (-16 yards).
5. Manningham Touchdown Bomb (40 yards).

The running plays were distibuted as follows

• Brown 9/42 (1 lost fumble)
• Minor 11/110
• Hemingway 1/-1
• Milano 1/7
• Mallett lost fumble, returned for touchdown.

Mallett obviously struggled as much on first down as he did on any other. Am I trying to contradict Brian’s assertions that running on first down too often sets Mallett up to fail? No, but it doesn’t seem that, at least against a team like Minnesota who can’t stop the run to save their lives, the data don’t necessarily support the conclusion. Seeing as how, in all honesty, I did this little analysis to find supporting evidence for Brian’s conclusions, I think it’s fair to say that against a team with a pulse, the data will support what he has said.

That said, Minnesota was actually much better against the run than I was expecting. When a team like North Dakota State is able to shred you for 394 yards, I would expect Michigan to have an easy go on the ground. 228 of Michigan’s 307 yards rushing came after halftime, when the Gopher defense started to wear down.

Zoltan didn’t have an excellent day punting the ball, as his gravitational mind powers couldn’t keep the ball from rolling into the endzone on 3 of his four punts. However, on at least 1 of said punts (and probably a second), Charles Stewart was in position to down the ball inside the five, and failed to make a play. Zoltan was putting adequate air under the ball, and his coverage team just let him down. The third touchback, however, was like 4 yards deep, and nobody had a chance to rescue it.

Interesting choice by Mike DeBord to have David Cone throw it deep on the last play of the game. It certainly showed that passing when the other team doesn’t know you have to (i.e. third and long), and especially running play action when they are almost certain you will run, definitely puts your quarterback in a better position to succeed. Congrats to David on being 1/1 on his career.

The defense again stepped up, allowing only one sustained drive (on which Minnesota went 68 yards in 10 plays, ending with a field goal). The only other Gopher points were on a fumble return for touchdown (should we start worrying about “Argh Mallett huge mistake” costing us the game in the next three years?).

Junior Hemingway lined up at tailback a few times (in addition to running an ISQD). Is it possible that he moves there in the future? He certainly looks more the part. He has thicker legs than your average wide receiver, and if he’s the same height as Adrian Arrington, I’m the same height as Andre the Giant.

Did anyone see the linesman take out a Gopher player as he and Manningham were talking a little too angrily after a play?

As far as Hart and Henne go, Lloyd used the term “optimistic” when asked whether they would be good to go against State.

Posted under Analysis

Wondering what Paul and I were talking about Saturday night? Here is your chance to find out. Moderately edited version of our conversation follows.

LSU v. Kentucky

Paul: that [LSU/Kentucky] was a crazy game
Tim: yeah
Tim: i can’t decide if i’m happy about the result or not
Paul: i now have no clue what my ballot will look like
Tim: no joke
Tim: i probably have osu #1
Tim: cal #2 [pre-Cal loss]
Paul: les miles threw rock
Tim: yeah
Tim: which is what lloyd haters hate
Tim: but…
Tim: i guess he is a true michigan man
Paul: kentucky wasn’t exactly paper against rock all game
Tim: truf

Play-by play Announcers

Tim: cbs announcers are terrrrrrrrible
Paul: i don’t hate verne
Paul: that would be like hating your grandpa
Tim: they are frontrunners to promote the SEC. Whoever is winning is doing so because they are just that much more awesome than the almost equally-awesome team they are beating
Tim: i’m going to be honest
Tim: the SEC, Pac 10, and big 10 are about the same on a multi-year basis
Paul: yeah
Tim: =-o
Paul: and also… there’s no way to compare conferences
Tim: the SEC thing comes from an exclusive-ish contract
Tim: because CBS promotes the SEC like its their job
Tim: whereas ABC/ESPN is split amongst all conferences
Tim: pac-10 gets bonus cred from the fox thing, but not much
Tim: when BTN is national, B10 will get more respect [I believe this to be inevitable ay this point]
Paul: i watched a bit of the nd game
Tim: yeah
Tim: ND sucks
Tim: BC was unimpressive
Paul: nbc seemed to be thinking “fuck. first hockey, now this”
Tim: yeah
Tim: they were still pathetic ND homers though
Tim: per usual
Paul: i only get so mad at the homerish
Paul: i mean…
Paul: it’s basically like the announcers on fsn for the tigers
Tim: yeah
Paul: if they only cover one team… i guess it’s allowed
Tim: but vastly different
Paul: it’s that it’s a national network rather than an rsn
Tim: because FSN uses tigers-specific people
Tim: nbc is a national network
Tim: and should theoretically be bias-less
Paul: i bet a vast majority of their audience (esp. this year) appreciates the bias
Paul: and if they were non-biased, they would be accused of hating
Tim: haha espn throws hart a bone in heisman race
Tim: in case you aren’t watching ak/auburn
Tim: ak being my hilariously erroneous “arkansas” abbreviation, rather than its accurate “alaska” abbreviation

Michigan Injuries

Paul: any word on mhart’s condition?
Tim: he’s fine
Tim: was going to come out soon anyway
Tim: could have come back otherwise [prior to the high-ankle sprain news]
Paul: i kind of felt like it was a 30pt lead injury
Tim: and, apparently mouton isn’t so much injured as he gets beaten out by chris graham
Tim: ouch
Tim: that’s like getting beaten out by jason gingell
Paul: i know
Tim: sorry, bryan wright
Tim: but you suck
Paul: apparently wright has a groin injury
Paul: at least that’s the excuse
Tim: really?
Paul: except he’s doing kos
Tim: i had no idea
Tim: he’s not having distance issues
Tim: which i would think would be the probem with an injury
Paul: i know
Tim: especially since an injury like that wouldn’t last 8 weeks, without getting either better or worse
Paul: what happened with englemon?
Tim: ?
Paul: was it just “blow out- get him out?”
Tim: dunno
Paul: stevie was in with the rest of the 1st team
Tim: i didn’t notice he went out
Tim: i think it’s “try to prepare for the future” time
Paul: which could make sense for learning
Tim: in that particular case
Tim: i didn’t feel like staying for the press conferences
Tim: so i don’t know for sure
Paul: gotcha
Tim: but englemon was walking fine after the game
Tim: so i’d assume it’s getting brown starting minutes
Paul: i bet it was learning
Tim: esp. considering he was really the starter at the beginning of the year
Paul: yeah
Paul: good choice…

Michigan Special Teams

Paul: what’d you think of our ko strategy?
Tim: especially since an injury wouldn’t last 8 weeks
Paul: some kids behind me were bitching
Paul: yeah
Tim: i wasn’t upset
Tim: when they are #2 in the country in yds/ko
Tim: plus the first one
Paul: by the way… zoltan has mind lasers
Tim: you do what you have to
Tim: it’s an example that lloyd doesn’t just throw rock while ignoring the results
Tim: zoltan has all sorts of lasers
Paul: this team has made so many adjustments throughout the season
Tim: including fuck lion lasers

The game itself

Paul: so do you ascribe to the “we’re actually a pretty good team at this point” reasoning or the “purdue == straw man” argument?
Tim: a bit of both
Tim: though i definitely believe in each
Tim: so more like a lot of both
Paul: the thing is… michigan didn’t just win
Tim: we could have put up 80 if we wanted
Paul: they were like, “I’ll see your shellacking, and raise you a walloping, OSU…”
Paul: so… can we say that the D didn’t give up one legit TD?
Tim: whether you give them a 6 yard drive or not, you still gave up a td
Tim: especially since you allowed them to tie the game
Paul: it was 4…
Tim: but the only legit td was definitely on the offense
Paul: yeah
Tim: sorry i was on the field where i couldn’t see exactly how many yards

Crowd

Tim: the crowd was actually pretty fucking good
Tim: especially for a blowout
Paul: it was pretty quiet after hart went out
Tim: hart went out when the game was long over
Paul: and when we couldn’t find him after half
Paul: it’s true
Paul: it was nice to have a full on wave in kind of garbagy time
Tim: yeah
Tim: and it was early 3rd too
Paul: it was nice to have garbage time

Comcast

Tim: i hate comcast fyi
Tim: i fully intend to call and bitch at them wasted tonight
Tim: though BTN has them by the balls if they get the UM/MSU game
Paul: yeah
Tim: as both talent and the exec producer and producers think will happen
Paul: the comcast OD lady gave me the company line when i was talking to her
Tim: oh yeah?
Paul: yeha
Paul: i bit my tounge

Posted under Analysis, Coaching, Personnel

Here are some things that I noticed:

• Joe Tiller was really, really unclassy in this game. He went out of his way to extend the game, potentially getting some guys hurt, so that it wouldn’t look as bad on the bottom line.
• If you think Henne is too quiet on the field, you should have heard the way he layed into Mario for dropping that hitch.
• No highlight video this week, because the person I sent to film the game managed to lose the sideline passes before getting there. This also puts doubt on whether or not there will be one for the Minnesota game, in addition the last home game on the schedule (yes, that last home game on the schedule).
• Geriatric cheerleaders are really awesome.
• Apparently Jonas Mouton hasn’t been too hurt to play, he just got beaten out by some guys who aren’t very good.
• I saw a sign in the student section for Hart4Heisman.com. Check it out.
• Hart was walking around after his injury, so I don’t believe it was that bad.
• The student section (and the fans in general) was as loud as I’ve ehard it in a long time – maybe since Penn State ’05. Is the fall break status a factor?

Posted under Analysis

If Michigan were to win 12 straight games, and lose in the National Championship game, fans would be upset. The expectations at Michigan are such that anything less than a national championship will inevitably lead to disappointment.

This article on ESPN’s Page 2 most definitely applies to Michigan Wolverine football fans (and college football fans on the whole).

In college basketball, this may not be the case. When George Mason reached the Final Four in 2006, they were upset to lose, but simply making it that far was an accomplishment in and of itself. Is it time for a culture change? Are people taking sports too seriously? I don’t know the answer, but it’s certainly worth thinking about.

Posted under Analysis

First Half Defense
The defense didn’t have a great first half, but if you take out the two big plays (the pass where just about everyone thought Rasheed Ward was down except Ward himself, and the 49-yard Conteh touchdown run), the defense was stout, though not excellent.

64 of NU’s 212 first half passing yards came on that play, about 55 of them after the “tackle.” Take those yards away, and Michigan held NU to 157 first-half passing yards. This is respectable but not great. It’s got to be expected given Michigan’s shitty secondary.

The rushing touchdown, if removed from the first-half stats, takes NU’s yardage down from 15 rushes for 97 yards to 14 rushes for 48 yards. This would be much better.

However, it must be remembered that these big plays did indeed happen (the rushing touchdown with backup linebackers in, I believe). Improved execution in the following weeks should fix these problems.

Second Half Defense
The defense was much better in the second half, mostly bending without break, but also forcing 4 C.J. Bacher turnovers in a row. The main difference appeared to be increased intensity. The two fumbles were forced by pressure, as was the Ezeh interception (with the caveat that it was tipped). The Trent pick was either a bad read, bad throw, or combination of the two.

Michigan has discovered that to win games, the defense must pressure the quarterback. In future weeks (notably against the spread offense of Purdue), this will hopefully happen from opening gun to final whistle, rather than coming and going over the course of the game.

First Half Offense
The first drive with Henne was good. It certainly showed that this is indeed his offense. Mallett was 5 for 11, missing a couple open guys, and not responding to pressure as consistently well as he did in the first couple games. He will improve in the future.

Troubling in the first half was Michigan’s insistence on running into stacked fronts on first and second downs. Michigan has 15 carries for 37 yards in half 1. Michigan ran on 8 out of their 12 first-and-tens for 28 yards. This counts only conventional runs, not backwards screens or reverses.

Second Half Offense
The play selection improved in the second half. Michigan ran (conventional runs) on 8 of 16 first and tens, though they went for only 16 yards. Half as opposed to two-thirds of running plays on first and ten, though the production decreased.

Henne was more accurate than was Mallett, and Michigan was able to move the ball through the air, and Mike Hart did break a big run on a second down to boost the Wolverines. Before compiling these stats (which may not be accurate, check the facts if you’d like), I expected that the rushing was more successful in the second half because Northwestern tired down. However, it seems that this is not the case, and it may be more creative playcalling that benefited Michigan.

Special Teams
The return units were unspectacular, but also didn’t hurt Michigan. Coverage teams were still not great. Lots of Northwestern drives started with good field position. However, the biggest Achilles Heel of special teams is the terrible play of Jason Gingell. He was 0/2 on the day, missing 26 and 39 yarders. This puts his season total at 3/9 (two were blocked in the App. State game, only one was his fault). This week’s depth chart lists K.C. Lopata and Bryan Wright as “OR”s along with Gingell, meaning that a starter will be established in practice over the course of the week. Lopata was mentioned in Carr’s Monday press conference, Wright was not. Expect Lopata to be given a try in the Eastern Michigan game.

Posted under Analysis, Coaching

Unlike Tim, I was at the game on my student ticket sitting standing in section 29, row 23. I have to say the crowd got pretty loud around me, but there were the requisite douchebag Michigan fans.

What really got me was the kid in front of me on third down did the key play thingy without any keys. He was doing all the bad parts of the key play without the small benefit of the noise made from jingling keys.

I decided to once again pocket some change and buy a water bottle on the way to the game. By the second Penn State drive I was nicely hydrated and had the loudest noisemaker $1.19 can buy. I have to say, if the entire student section did this (a la OSU 2005), it could make a difference. I can even give it a stupid name in order for people like it. Third down is no longer a “key play”, but rather a “game changing play.” Hell, you could probably get a bank to sponsor free water bottles at the gates.

The biggest cheer of the game probably came when Mike Hart limped off the field, and then ran back on after the time out. No matter what Hart does, he energizes the fans. There were fewer than normal people who wanted to throw the ball every single down. People are starting to realize that the best game plan is turning around and giving the ball to Hart.

I got a text message from my buddy (formerlyannonymous) in the third quarter saying “Omg fullback shuffle misdirection” I felt the same way.

Finally, after wins, one of my favorite things to do is read through the open thread on MGoBlog. When you know the story has a happy ending you can smile knowingly at how (justifiably) bi-polar we Michigan fans are. There was one quick back and forth that had me falling out of my chair:

Our space emmporer should start aiming for the corners.
Mike74 | 09.22.07 – 4:30 pm | #

There are no corners in space
KBlow | 09.22.07 – 4:31 pm | #

It could just be because I’m taking a course on the philosophy of space and time, but I prefer to think Michigan fans are just damn witty.

Posted under Analysis

I worked for ESPN again this weekend, so I didn’t get to watch the whole game, but ehre are some things I observed:

• Mike Hart is, like, really good at the football.
• Brandon Graham is really good as well. I think the lack of his presence in the first couple games really contributed to the defensive struggles.
• Morgan Trent has turned into a legit #1 corner (not lockdown, but how many true lockdown guys are there in college?). Now if only there was a good second guy.
• The maize out was pathetic again. I don’t give a fuck if you started liking Tom Brady after he won the Super Bowl MVP, and went out and bought his Michigan jersey. Your ticket says to wear maize for a reason. That said, the gold-colored shirts that Steve and Barry’s sells also look like complete shit.
• The crowd noise was pretty good, especially when it counted. As someone who has fairly high standards in that regard, I was pleasantly surprised.
• A ton of people left between the end of the second and the end of the third quarters. Almost every single one I saw was a student, 95% female, and 90% sorority girls among those.
• Ryan Mallett has more to learn to be a true starter, but he is a pleasure to watch, because it is obvious he is having fun out there, and is excited to be playing.
• How many times has a game had four left-footed kick specialists? I’d guess one.

Posted under Analysis

Ryan Mallett looked better than Jimmy Clausen. He made more little mistakes, but also didn’t throw into coverage consistently, like Clausen did, and completed a variety of passes.

The only truly downfield pass I recall Clausen completing was the 14-yard slant in the first half, which was really a 5 yard pass with 9 YAC. Almost all of Clausen’s yardage came from swing or screen passes. Oh, and he completed a hopeless bomb to Stevie Brown. Mallett, on the other hand, made a variety of throws, both downfield and short. Obviously, a big part of his success was the talent around him compared to Clausen, but he did apear to be the better passer in the game. That said, a little bird told me that Henne will probably be able to go next week. Said bird also told me that Henne’s sitting against Notre Dame was more to ensure he’d be healthier to play PSU than because he would have been physically unable to perform against the Irish.

A big part of Michigan’s success in this game was based on being able to get to the quarterback, which really hadn’t happened in games 1 & 2. While this improvement is encouraging, it was based on multiple factors:

1. Clausen was poised when throwing screens, not so poised when getting crushed before he had a chance to pass it.
2. Notre Dame’s offensive line is terrible.
3. Brandon Graham was healthy enough to play the whole game.
4. Notre Dame runs a pro-style offense.

Factors 1 & 2 won’t apply against Penn State. Morelli is a senior, and will be able to make better decisions than Clausen (in theory). It will be interesting to see if the memory (or lack thereof) of the Michigan game last year will haunt him. Penn State also returns 4 offensive linemen, all except left tackle Levi Brown. Notre Dame has yielded many more sacks than PSU through 3 games (9, 6, and 8 for a grand total of 23, compared to PSU’s 2, 2, and 1 for a total of 5). Of course, caliber of defense must be taken into account as well, as Michigan is likely to get to the quarterback much better than Buffalo, Notre Dame, or FIU.

The positive factors are 3 & 4. Graham will hopefully stay healthy enough for the rest of the season to be a factor in every remaining game. This will allow Shawn Crable play linebacker, which he can, instead of defensive end, which he cannot. Other players coming back from injury this week included Jonas Mouton, who only played on special teams, though he’ll hopefully be able to slot in at WLB before the year is through.

The rest of the defense played better as well. This included good games from Chris Graham (which is probably not a reliable indicator of future performance, because he isn’t very good), and Brandent Englemon, who solidified his starting position over Stevie Brown. Brown will improve at the position over the course of the year, and will hopefully be ready for starting action next season. Morgan Trent again had a very good game, showing that he is capable of the improvement that now-allegedly-departed Johnny Sears so failed to show.

This week, I was not in the stadium (worked out in the concourse for ESPN: more on that later), but I have heard from multiple sources, including commenters, that the atmosphere in the stadium was much better. The maize out looked pretty good in the student section on TV (but then, they always do).

Posted under Analysis

Every Day Should Be Saturday joins in my (and the M Zone’s) quest against key plays. Little does Orson know, it’s even worse that the cheerleaders actually hold up signs encouraging the GD3DKPT.

Please, Michigan fans, I implore you: Make some noise this weekend.

Posted under Analysis