FBDIII

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius

Russell Crowe, also known as Gladiator, also known as Jim Braddock, also known as John Nash, flew to Ann Arbor Saturday to feast on leprechauns. In the movies, he cuts off heads. In real life, he throws phones at people. Only badasses do that type of stuff. And that badass is now a Michigan fan and drinking buddy of one Lloyd Carr. Watch him with Carr after the game here.

Jimmy Clausen never had a chance. All he could think about was that one time when he and his friends got in their speedos and watched Crowe in The Beautiful Mind. Or maybe it's just because the Notre Dame football team can't actually play football. Charlie says that his team is going back to training camp and starting over. I don't think that will work. The only hope they have now is if the Wolverines teach them how to play the game of football for the second time. I guess once wasn't enough, because that Irish offense is one of the worst that you will ever see. You may never see another that bad. The Michigan defense though deserves credit for what it did. It attacked all game long on 1st, 2nd, and, 3rd downs, sacking the emu more times than I could count. It was always around the ball, and the players actually looked fast. How good is the defense? Well, it's not losing-to-Oregon-by-32 bad or getting-gashed-by-App. State bad. It's also not shutting-out-a-team good. This defense will look good against teams that don't spread it out with a running quarterback. The defensive line will be able to handle the running games of most teams left on the schedule. A potential stumbling point could come in Illinois, assuming Juice Williams doesn't suffer an injury before that meeting. We will see Brandon Graham become a All-Big Ten player, and Taylor will bounce back to previous form. Will Johnson will go unnoticed but will be just as good as Taylor this year. Jamison and will have a good season.

On offense, we won't be able to run on 1st down 90% of the time against good defenses. Other than Hart, we don't have an idea of what we'll see in the next couple games. I'm guessing Henne won't play against PSU but it's not a certainty. Mallett will have to face a good defense, but how good is it? Comparing Penn State and Michigan, Notre Dame gave up more yards to Michigan and Notre Dame gained more yards Penn State. Don't read too much into this though. The numbers were lopsided in the favor of Penn State and Michigan in both games. The only constant: Notre Dame bad.

I think we can expect to see a similar defensive game plan against Penn State as we saw against Notre Dame. Maybe not as many blitzes, due in part to the potential for Penn State to run screens to Derrick Williams and Deon Butler. They also have some big targets in Quarless and Golden. Scott will get the bulk of the carries, with Kinlaw being a change of pace back. If Penn State runs out of a spread formation more than not, they could have more success against our run defense. If not, we should be able to limit them to less than 100 yards. X-factor = A.J. Wallace returning kicks. With most kickoffs being returned now, this could prove to be a pivotal part of the game.

38-0

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

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Oregon

Lloyd Carr wants a fresh start. He says the season starts now. The team has tried to come together in the past week. There was a players only meeting where the offensive and defensive sides tried to mend the rift that an intense competition between the units had created. We'll see if there is a change in intensity on the field tomorrow. The players know what is at stake.

This game tomorrow is going to be tough. I can already see Chris Graham, Johnny Thompson and whoever else they throw out there at linebacker flailing at Dixon. Dixon, of course, is a bigger and just-as-fast(if not faster) Armanti Edwards. Yards will be piled up, by both teams. Points will be as well. The over/under sits at 64.5, and weather will not be a factor. The Michigan defense is not going to magically transform into USC's defense. And Oregon's defense is probably worse than Michigan's, although they are not tasked with defending the spread this week. Both offenses will take advantage of this.

Besides all of that, I can honestly say that I have no idea what will happen tomorrow. I know that both teams will score, at times rather easily. But I can see either team taking control and winning by 3 touchdowns. So what are some things to watch for? First off, I don't see Carr and Debord coming out of the gate trying to score touchdowns in 2 minute drives. We'll take our shots, but this is going to be a similar offensive gameplan as last week. Oregon could force us to switch gears rather early by loading the box and stopping Hart. Henne will need to play much better than he did against App State. What I would like to see is more straight play action, keeping Henne in the pocket. On defense, I think that it will be interesting to see if we get more speed on the field. We could switch out some linebackers for defensive backs like Charles Stewart, who is a bigger safety. He didn't really play last week. It appears that Warren will get the start at corner and Englemon at free safety. Also, look for how much the starters play on the defensive line. We may see Graham more. As for the overall scheme, I doubt we will be as aggressive as last week. It will be a classic "keep everything in front of you" type of defense.

So let's go into tomorrow hoping for a different team. The national championship hopes have been dashed. There's still something to play for though. Enjoy watching the team play. Watch the future stars in Schilling, Brandon Graham, and Warren. Enjoy watching Hart run. You may never see another running back at Michigan with the leadership and desire that he possesses. I guess we'll see if it will be enough to will us to victory tomorrow.

And.............start.

Figured today was as good of a time as any to write the first post. We all know what we witnessed on Saturday will be regarded as an historic event, whether it should be or not. The team that beat Michigan could compete in Division I-A. That's beside the point though. Saturday was a turning point for two programs. The Appalachian State football program is in the national conscience, and deservedly so. They have won 27 straight games, and have won consecutive Division I-AA national championships under coach Jerry Moore. They will have opportunities to play better schedules than they have in the past, and they will get to watch themselves on the big screen when Disney decides to make a movie. They're tickled to death right now. Michigan's program received a jolt unlike any it had received before. Not even a national championship could accomplish what Saturday did. The Bo Schembechler (RIP) era is slipping under the setting sun. We approach a changing of the guard. After this season, the University of Michigan football team will have a new head football coach. I say that matter of factly, but don't put your season tickets on it. Everything points to this though, from his contract change, to insider reports, to the general feelings of the fanbase. So we will have a different coach next fall, and I have a feeling that coach will not have any significant Michigan football ties. We'll get to that later.

For Michigan fans and non-Michigan fans the feeling is the same, Michigan football is stale. It has been for some time now. There isn't any desire from inside the program to create any excitement, which leads to the brand of football that you see on the field. The Big 10 Network (rocks) showed highlights of Penn State's Thursday night pep rally, capped off with fireworks in Beaver Stadium. ESPN showed highlights of Bobby Bowden speaking to a crammed arena as part of its 25 hour college football preview. This is a Florida State program that hasn't even had the success that Michigan has the past couple of years. I guess Michigan's pep rally for the year will come the night before the Notre Dame game in Elbel field. I assume it will be a festive atmosphere. This team has All-Americans all over the place on offense. What is holding it back? Lloyd Carr and Mike Debord can never put their foot on the pedal. You would have thought that the Orange Bowl victory over Alabama would signal a change in philosophy, that this team can use its weapons to score points without trying to control the clock or protect the defense. People thought it, I thought it, everyone was wrong. After every loss, we hear the same thing.

"We didn't execute. We simply made too many mistakes and had too many missed opportunities."

At some point it stops being about execution. There isn't a team in college football that executes perfectly every game. Players make mistakes. It's not execution that plagues Michigan, it's the overall philosophy of how to win games, gameday coaching, and inability to adapt.....



......Which brings me to another aspect of the program, one that isn't in the eye of the general fandom, is the Strength and Conditioning program, led by Mike Gittleson.

Michigan uses the HIT (high intensity training) program, and was one of only 3 schools to use it in the entire country. Michigan State used it as well, but since hiring Tommy Hoke (from Appalachian State!) in 2004, they now use Olympic lifts. Penn State also uses HIT, but combines it with other lifts from Olympic training. This would be a good time to say that HIT is widely considered an inferior method of training for football. It doesn't produce the explosiveness that Olympic training provides in the forms of cleans, jerks, deadlifts, squats, etc. If you've ever wondered why harldy any of the players were noticeably faster in their senior year compared to their freshman year, wonder no more. You can argue to what effect HIT training has on Michigan's win and loss record, but you absolutely cannot argue that Michigan would not be better with a Strength and Conditioning program based on Olympic lifting.

It's hard to be real shocked about the outcome Saturday when we've seen this story told countless times. From team speed to defending the spread to inability to hammer an inferior oppenent, we've seen it all. Bill Martin knows it too. It's disheartening to even have to think about who will replace Lloyd Carr when it is only September 3rd, but it's also reality. I think that Martin will look for the best candidate to get Michigan into the new era of college football. We have a $260 million dollar renovation at our doorstep, so money should not be an issue at all. Whether Martin feels the same way remains to be seen. But the chances that anyone on the current staff will become the next coach are slim to none, and slim just skipped town to go to North Carolina. I can see Mike Trgovac getting a look, but he isn't a likely candidate. Les Miles is the coach with Michigan ties that gets the most discussion, and he would definitely consider it, but if Carr is in the Athletic Department after he retires I wouldn't bet on Miles being the choice. And Harbaugh? Well, who knows about that guy. A look towards other potential candidates will come a later time.