Michigan Football Hits Bottom, Starts Digging

Posted by Johnny Quest 10/13/2008 11:21 AM

Photo: Sam Wolson/Daily

Granted our football team during my four years at U of M wasn’t exactly extremely “good,” per se, with four straight losses to OSU and an embarrassing loss to Appalacian State the first game of my senior year, but they were not THIS atrocious.

In case you’ve been living under a rock in a cave at the bottom of the ocean, you know that we lost to University of Toledo this weekend, marking the first time EVER we’ve lost to a Mid-American Conference team. Not only that, but we lost to a shitty Mid-American Conference team. Toledo was ~~2-4~~ 1-4 overall, yet somehow they beat us 13-10 due to the fact that our offense appears to be made up of life-size cardboard cutouts of actual football players.

I didn’t even get to watch the game because the Big Ten network was hard enough to find in Michigan, much less New York, but the fact I couldn’t see the atrocities being committed on the field is probably a blessing in disguise. I did mangage to follow a liveblog of the game on Mlive.com, which proved to be very entertaining watching people write in comments. Some highlights:

“This is worse than App State.”

“I’m absolutely horrified.”

“Why is Sheridan in?”

“Stop giving it to McGuffie EVERY TIME.”

“We could have had Les Miles…”

“AHAHAHA UM SUCKS GO MSU.”

“Why is Sheridan in?”

“Zoltan Mesko is our MVP.”

“Join my Facebook group, ‘Fire RichRod.’”

“What did I miss? NO WAY THAT’S THE SCORE.”

“Why is Sheridan in?”

I'd say that about sums up the day.

So, what do YOU think is wrong with our god-forsaken team?

Comments

AHor says,

Actually Toldeo was 1-4 before the game, 2-4 after. What's wrong with our team? The easy answer is turnovers, we cough it up waaaay too much. The lack of a deep ball threat also hurts the running and passing game because the defense can just play tight and know we can't go over the top.

A more complex answer is the inability to close games. The missed FG yesterday kept us out of overtime. We failed the two-point conversion to tie the game against Utah (now ranked 14th). We almost blew the comeback win over Wisconsin (now 0-3 in Big Ten), giving them two chances in the final 5 minutes to drive the whole field and have an opportunity to tie.

We are not clutch, plain and simple. Posted 10/13/2008 11:47 AMReply

Anonymous says,

I disagree. We've dominated 4th quarters. Posted 10/13/2008 12:09 PMReply

Anonymous says,

I go to our games to counteract my zoloft high. Posted 10/13/2008 12:35 PMReply

Anonymous says,

We are a "too little, too late" team. Posted 10/13/2008 1:06 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Sheridan was in because Threet was hurt. Clemons can't catch worth a shit and he tipped 2 INT and one of them may be too high for him to catch. No wonder why he never saw time on the field when LC was the coach.

McGuffie is the only consistent RB on the team meaning he's injury free and doesn't fumble. Minor coughed the ball 4 times in 20 touches and that's a fumble rate of 25%. That's alamringly high rate for a RB who is as talented as Minor.

The majority of the players on the roster does not fit what RR is looking for and Shafer is looking for in their schemes. The major contributors are freshmen and sophomores. You're not going to win a lot of games with that kind of contribution. Posted 10/13/2008 2:53 PMReply

Anonymous says,

4 out of 20 is 25%? since when? Posted 10/13/2008 4:39 PMReply

Anonymous says,

he must go to msu... Posted 10/13/2008 4:39 PMReply

Anonymous says,

its not rodriguez! its our team, give it a year or two. we'll be amazing.

until then. just gotta drink more at pregames to cover the pain Posted 10/13/2008 9:22 PMReply

Anonymous says,

^^ so true. You have to get so drunk that u still can't process whats going on by the end of the game and someone has to tell you we've lost Posted 10/14/2008 10:08 AMReply

Anonymous says,

In a few more years, plenty of teams will have experienced and come to grips with stopping the spread. Football is cyclical and by the time RR has his recruits we're going to be in a bad place with a cliche offense.

Getting RR may very well be the worst thing that we've ever done. It was a huge mistake not getting a Michigan Man for the job. Oh well, there goes the bowl streak. Posted 10/14/2008 12:09 PMReply

Anonymous says,

^9 of the top 10 current offenses in the country run the spread. It really won't change in a few years. Posted 10/14/2008 5:16 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Sorry. I can't buy into the "wait and see" attitude. To me, this is 90% on the coaches, 10% on the players. Face it, U of M has talented, division 1 athletes. Maybe not the cream of the crop, but D1 athletes nonetheless. Why RR tries continually tries to fit a square peg (his offensive players) into a round hole (his spread offense) is beyond me. He should adapt to the strengths and abilities of his players, period. Until now, Michigan has NEVER thrown away a season. NEVER. RR seems content to do that. (Note to RR: this isn't the NFL. Losing doesn't guarantee a plethora of top draft choices next year. Winning, however, does!) Posted 10/14/2008 5:55 PMReply

Anonymous says,

We suck because Rich Rod doesn't have his own recruits. He is working with players recruited by LC for an entirely different offense. Our defense and turnovers have been frustrating but not our downfall. You can't win a game against anyone with only 10 points. Look at it this way: Have you ever tried to eat soup using a fork?? Well that's what Rich Rod is stuck trying to do right now. The offense given to him was not designed for what he is trying to do. Give it two years, combined with the fact that we are one of the highest recruiting colleges in the country, and we will be impressively better. I'm sick of people tearing up Rich Rod after 5 games. As much as it hurts to say, we have to give him some time, or at the very least, one year of his own recruits. It sucks if you happen to be a senior, but freshman and sophomores, don't worry, before our years hear at Michigan are up we will be a national contender. Posted 10/15/2008 1:34 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Rich Rod ****ing sucks, I hope that michigan will fire him at the end of the season..We need a coach that will throw the ball more often and stop thinking that we will have a vick on are team... Posted 10/25/2008 7:03 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Can you trust a coach that leaves his team in midseason? NO! If you play Michigan football and are on a scholarship You suck! Give it to someone that has really earned one, not some athlete! Posted 10/25/2008 7:03 PMReply