Well, it's become painfully obvious that Michigan can't win any games this year. Other teams may hand them the game, but they can't beat anyone. They really are that awful this year. How does a program fall this far in two years?While it can't be pinned on any one person or instance, I would contend that the wheels began to fall off in the Ohio State game of 2006. In the fourth quarter, Shawn Crable was called for a bogus roughing the passer penalty after hitting Troy Smith just before he went out of bounds. Instead of bringing up 4th and 15, the Buckeyes extend the drive and pull ahead with a touchdown. That penalty could have cost the Wolverines a national championship appearance.
Nevertheless, a Rose Bowl appearance is still respectable. But combined with the Appalachian State debacle, Michigan's recruiting must have experienced a devastating blow. Is Terrelle Pryor's sudden change of heart evidence of this? Maybe.
Despite an embarrassing 0-2 start last year, the Wolverines still had the chance to prove they were a national power. But injuries to Hart and Henne proved to be a factor in the losses to Wisconsin and Ohio State at the end of the season.
Then there was the way Lloyd Carr went about stepping down. He sent the university on a mad scramble to find a suitable replacement. And even when they had Les Miles as a prospect, certain members of the organization snubbed him! That whole situation was handled about as well as Michigan carries the ball this season.
And of course there's Rich and his infernal stubbornness. He wants to run his system even though he has absolutely no tools with which to run it. And in the process he loses the second
highest recruited quarterback in the class of 2007. Now he's stuck with all these freshmen who can't throw, can't hold on to the ball, can't make good decisions and aren't fast enough to make his spread offense work.Now that he's responsible for the progam's first ever loss to a MAC team (and not even a good one at that; at least we lost to the best Div. II team last year) how in the world does Rich expect to be able to recruit the kind of talent he needs to make the system work next year?
Standings:
| This Week | W | L | (Overall) |
| A True Blue Husker | 14 | 6 | (102-38) |
| Tornado Beast | 12 | 8 | (97-43) |
| Dr. L | 13 | 7 | (95-45) |
| The Guvna | 13 | 7 | (95-45) |
| O-knee-der | 15 | 5 | (96-44) |
| Kenny Pickett | 12 | 8 | (93-47) |
| The Rev | 12 | 8 | (93-47) |
| Chief Justice | 12 | 8 | (88-52) |
Schedule:
Thursday, October 16
7:30 PM ET Florida State at North Carolina State
8:00 PM ET #9 Brigham Young at TCU
Friday, October 17
8:00 PM ET Hawaii at #15 Boise State
Saturday, October 18
12:00 PM ET #21 Wake Forest at Maryland
12:00 PM ET Georgia Tech at Clemson
12:00 PM ET Western Michigan at Central Michigan
12:00 PM ET Wisconsin at Iowa
12:30 PM ET #22 Vanderbilt at #10 Georgia
12:30 PM ET Nebraska at Iowa State
3:30 PM ET Mississippi at #2 Alabama
3:30 PM ET #16 Kansas at #4 Oklahoma
3:30 PM ET #12 Ohio State at #20 Michigan State
3:30 PM ET #18 North Carolina at Virginia
3:30 PM ET #23 Pittsburgh at Navy
4:00 PM ET Stanford at UCLA
4:30 PM ET Michigan at #3 Penn State
7:00 PM ET Arkansas at Kentucky
7:00 PM ET Oregon State at Washington
8:00 PM ET #11 Missouri at #1 Texas
8:00 PM ET #13 LSU at South Carolina
8:00 PM ET #17 Virginia Tech at Boston College
10:00 PM ET #25 California at Arizona
4 comments:
I am not in favor of the added point for a bonus pick. I say just leave it at a point a pick, and if you have the onions to pick Texas (nice work Grant, and sorry for the Bill Raftery reference) then you get a point and a swell of pride.
If it went into effect this week, then sure I'd be in favor. However, since I probably won't find myself in this situation again, I'll say nah. But seriously, if someone is able to be smart or lucky enough to pull it off, they get the reward of gaining a point on everyone anyway.
Are these late ideas just ways for someone on the underside of the standings to catch those nearer the top? As my friend Rece likes to say, "I kid because I care."
Nate, right now you're the man.
Everyone wants to stick it to the man.
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