No, the title of this post is not my attempt to suggest that the official names of the school colors be changed. It’s a reference to the Alma Mater (no wonder you were confused). My concern with the alma mater is its lack of presence pretty much anywhere. I’ve never even heard the song, except when I made the active attempt to search for it online. Here it is as sung by the Glee Club (real audio).

Now, where is my gripe coming from? It has long been a college football tradition that, win or lose (but mostly win), the school’s alma mater is played at the end of the game. This is something that, for some reason, doesn’t happen at this fine institution. When I e-mailed the directors of the marching band about it, they responded that the song is played at the end of the band’s postgame show.

To me, this is not acceptable for a variety of reasons.

1. First, as I have already stated, is that it is tradition to play upon the conclusion of the game.
2. Second, is the fact that everyone leaves the stadium after the game, except after a big win, when they celebrate with the players. This delays the start of the postgame show, so an equally low number of people hear the song.
3. One of my biggest complaints about the lack of playing the alma mater is the fact that it has the potential to provide so many cool moments. Michigan is missing out on these because the alma mater isn’t properly utilized.

Think of some of the greatest recent postgame images in college football. Most include the alma mater being played/sung. For example, after the 2004 OSU/UM game, the Ohio State fans stormed the field and stomped on roses. While everyone in the middle of the field celebrated, the marching band began playing “Carmen Ohio,” which created a really magical moment. And how many times this season did we see Matt Leinart conducting the USC marching band in their alma mater? I’m sure USC fans would say one time too few, but still, every time I saw it, I thought it was one of the coolest things going on. And then there’s the most recent, with the Texas linebacker pumping his fist with the student section, as the Texas alma mater played through a rain of confetti.

To my knowledge, pretty much nobody (at least in the student body) even knows the words to “The Yellow and Blue.” This can be pretty easily changed, as well. The words to the song (and most other official UM songs) can be found here. In addition, copyright-free sheet music is located in the UM Library’s music collection. When I was but a young boy, I went to a Notre Dame football game, and still have the souvenir cup with the words to “Our Mother, Notre Dame” emblazoned on the side. How hard would it be to do something like this?

It’s not like I’m asking multiple verses to be played or anything, but to not hear the alma mater at all upon the conclusion of the game, to me, is simply not right.

Posted under Misc.

Since it’s the offseason, there won’t be nearly as much football information to share for the next few months. Because of this, I’ll start covering more off-the-field stuff. However, that’s not to say that the actual football information will be neglected. Just keep that in mind and keep checking me out.

Posted under Blog News

Here are all of the players on the roster who have used up all of their eligibility.

5th Year:
G Leo Henige
G Matt Lentz
CB Grant Mason
TE Tim Massaquoi
DE Pat Massey
LB Scott McClintock
LB Lawrence Reid
OL David Schoonover
T Adam Stenavich
LB Pierre Woods

4th Year:
WR Jason Avant
PK James Bloomsburgh
LB Chip Cartwright
WR Brad Cischke
RB Jason Eldridge
RB Scott Hamel
PK Craig Moore
LB Kyle Myers
DT Paul Sarantos
P Mark Spencer
QB Matt Wilde
DT Gabe Watson

The players from that list on the 2-Deep are Henige*, Lentz*, Mason*, Massaquoi*, Massey*, McClintock, Stenavich*, Woods, Avant*, Watson*.

*Starter

Other people may also leave though, who have eligibility remaining. Lamarr Woodley is NOT one of these people. He wants another year to prove himself & improve his draft status after being hurt for a lot of the year.

Seniors with eligibility remaining:
P Ross Ryan
CB Darnell Hood
QB Matt Gutierrez
QB Jeff Kastl
WR Steve Breaston
WR Carl Tabb
S Willis Barringer
RB Alijah Bradley
S Mike Carl
FB Brian Thompson
S B.J. Opong-Owusu
FB Obi Oluigbo
LB David Harris
OL Mark Bihl
LS Turner Booth
DT Paul Sarantos
OL Reuben Riley
OL Mike Kolodziej
TE Tyler Ecker
DE Rondell Biggs

Most of these people will likely be returning, with definites being those who are major contributors (i.e. Breaston).

Posted under Personnel

Well, after a moderate disaster of a season, I think it’s best to just try to move on instead of dwelling on all the things that could have happened just a little differently. Yes, there were coaching issues in just about every loss. Yes, there were reffing issues in some games (one of which is being reviewed by the NCAA). However, this season is past us, and it’s time to look ahead to next year.

Posted under Analysis

I’m too let down to say a whole lot more than stating that I witnessed the worst-reffed game in the history of major college football (and Mike Tirico, who is paid to be unbiased, agrees).

Posted under Analysis

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. My computer blew up, so I haven’t been able to.

Anyway, I watched Michigan Replay this morning, and here were a few key points that Lloyd and the players talked about:

1. Lloyd brought up the practice schedule, which included practicing through today, then resting tomorrow.
2. Nebraska’s West Coast offense was a topic of discussion. Unlike traditional Nebraska teams, they are a mainly passing team (gaining twice as many yards through the air as on the ground this season). It is still Michigan’s plan to stop the run, forcing the Huskers to beat them with the pass.
3. Nebraska’s D-Line was a topic of discussion, as they led the nation in sacks. However, it didn’t seem to be a main focus, and the healthy O-Line should be able to handle them.
4. Garrett Rivas brought up the fact that this game is being played in a domed stadium. The lack of environmental features has apparently done a lot for his confidence.

The game is at 8PM on Wednesday on ESPN, be sure to watch it.

In related news, I will be at the game, in row AA of the Michigan student section. I’m leaving for San Antonio tomorrow morning. I will probably post again after I get back on Thursday. After a recap post, I will start looking forward to future seasons.

Posted under Analysis

Some of this is likely to change in the meantime, but as of right now, here is how the lineup looks:

Offense:
QB Henne, Gutierrez
FB Paul, Thompson
HB Hart*, Grady, Jackson
TE Massaquoi*, Ecker, M. Massey
WR Avant, Tabb
WR Breaston, Manningham
OT Stenavich, ?
OG Riley, Mitchell
OC Kraus*, Bihl
OG Lentz, Mitchell
OT Long, ?

Defense:
DE: Branch, Biggs
DT: Massey, Johnson
DT: Watson, Taylor
DE/LB: Woodley, Woods
LB: Graham, McClintock
LB: Harris, Thompson
LB: Burgess, Crable
CB: Hall, Trent
CB: Mason, Hood
S: Barringer, Harrison
S: Englemon, Adams

*Player is questionable.

Posted under Personnel

Well, the 2005 season was, by almost any measure, a disappointment for Michigan. Starting the season with hopes of a repeat Rose Bowl appearance, and ending with an Alamo Bowl bid is not the most pleasant experience to exist. Let’s quickly go back and take a look at the season in review.

9-3: W 33-17 Northern Illinois. WR Adrian Arrington breaks ankle, out for season
9-10: L 17-10 Notre Dame. HB Mike Hart sprains ankle, limited time remainder of season
9-17: W 55-0 Eastern Michigan. Best offensive and defensive showing of the year
9-24: L 23-20 @Wisconsin. Stocco QB draw give Wisc the lead, Henne falls down on Hail Mary attempt.
10-1: W 34-31 @Michigan State. 2nd best win of the season, only victory vs rival
10-8: L 23-20 Minnesota. Devastating 4th quarter run by Gary Russell
10-15: W 27-25 Penn State. Best win of the year, highest ranked team to beat
10-22: W 23-20 @Iowa. Resurgence of Jerome Jackson
10-29: W 33-17 @Northwestern. Shuts down Big10’s leading offense
11-12: W 41-14 Indiana. Allows early TD, then shuts down IU until junk time
11-19: L 25-21 Ohio State. 4th quarter comeback spoils Big10 title hopes

Those are only a few of the highlights from each game, but you probably saw the rest of the important stuff.

Posted under Analysis

Nothing big today, just links to some quotes from yesterday’s press conference. The “players” link includes quotes from Mike Hart, Chad Henne, Jake Long, Pat Massey, Carl Tabb, and Pierre Woods.

Lloyd – Players

For the record, that link also includes information about Jake Long’s health for the Alamo Bowl (which is not what I stated in a previous post).

Posted under Misc.

Well, for starters, it is important to note that as of this morning, Michigan is favored over Nebraska by14. However, it might be a little audacious to set the bar that high at this point. Let’s explore it.

The stats through 11 games for each team are as follows. Nebraska also played Maine, a Div-IAA team, so their stats with this game omitted are included in parantheses.

• Nebraska’s rush defense is ranked 28th, allowing 123.7 (136.7) yards/game.
• Michigan’s rush offense is ranked 38th, gaining 164.5 yards/game.

• Nebraska’s pass defense is ranked 12th, allowing 103.9 (99.2) yards/game.
• Michigan’s pass offense is ranked 63rd, gaining 218.4 yards/game.

• Nebraska’s rush offense is ranked 110th, gaining 91.0 (88.0) yards/game.
• Michigan’s rush defense is ranked 43rd, allowing 136.1 yards/game.

• Nebraska’s pass offense is ranked 46th, gaining 229.6 (233.3) yards/game.
• Michigan’s pass defense is ranked 35th, allowing 116.9 yards/game.

Another important note to make is Nebraska’s Division-I leading 46 sacks on the season. I wouldn’t read too deeply into this stat, however. 11 of these sacks (23.9% of them) came against Div-IAA team Maine. Against their only Top-25 opponent, Texas Tech, they got four sacks. Against a “Big-Time Program” (Oklahoma, in terms of perrenial recruiting), they only managed to get 1 sack.

With these stats, it is a little less clear why Michigan is so heavily favored in this game. However, this can be attributed to a number of reasons:
Strength of Schedule

1. 2 of the 4 teams Michigan lost to are playing in BCS bowls (Nebraska- 0).
2. 3 of the 4 teams Michigan lost to are ranked in the Top-25 (Nebraska- 1).
3. The only non-Top-25 team Michigan lost to is ranked 37th (Nebraksa- 26th, other 2 not in Top-40).
4. 4 of 7 teams that Michigan beat are bowl eligible (Nebraska, 2 of 6 Div IA teams).
5. 2 of 7 Michigan-beaten teams are Top-25 (Nebraska, 0).
6. Michigan beat a #3, BCS bowl team (Nebraska, no).

Injuries

1. Mike Hart was out for 4 complete games during the season, and saw only limited action in 3 of them. He should be healthy for the Alamo Bowl
2. Numerous O-line injuries throughout the season, multiple players who were injured during the course of the season should be healthy for the Alamo Bowl (except Jake Long, who is having surgery, and Leo Henige, who has a bropken leg) .
3. Lamarr Woodley did not play at all against Northwestern, and saw limited time against Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio State. He should be healthy for the Alamo Bowl.
4. Nebraska also had some injuries over the course of the year, including LB Stewart Bradley (should be healthy for the Alamo Bowl), and TE Matt Herrian and LB Steve Octavien (Both of whom medically redshirted, and will not play in the Alamo Bowl).
5. Nebraska’s injuries to key players should not have as much of an effect on the Alamo Bowl, because only 1 of 3 of these players will play in the Alamo Bowl.

There are also some intangibles to consider, however. Homefield advantage may play a part, as Nebraska has sold far more tickets to the game than Michigan (see previous post). Especially troubling for Michigan is the lack of student tickets sold.

Another issue is the matter of having something to play for. Nebraska didn’t make a bowl game last year, so they are eager to prove something, and hopefully put their program back on the map, with an upset win here. Michigan, on the other hand, has not played in a December Bowl since 1995 (when they played in the Alamo Bowl in Lloyd’s forst season). They probably won’t be as pumped up for the game. However, they will certainly want to win, in order to avoid an embarrassing year.

If anyone has any other insight to bring to this analysis, feel free to post it in the comments, and I’d be glad to respond. Other than that, I don’t pick scores, but I will definitely say that I am picking Michigan to win this game.

Posted under Analysis