Oklahoma Preview

Time: Noon 

Location: Big House 

Weather: 77 feels like 87 

TV: Fox 

Line: Michigan +5.5

This is a tale of two programs through one game.  Neither team let in a touchdown in Week 1.  One team won 51-0 another one won a Hail Mary.  One team is ranked 11th in the country the other was ranked 16th but no longer ranked.  Oklahoma was posed to make a title run last year after their Michigan win, they got to the playoffs but their QB got hurt after the Michigan game and they weren't the same the rest of the year.   Any chance that OK State shows up on Saturday?  

Dear Coach Whitt,

I'm not sure I have words for what happened last Saturday night.  I do have some advice for you as you got a Michigan Head Football coaching experience in one fire hose blast.   First off, the all maize uniforms are weird and we don't like them.  Secondary, Michigan does not play well in night games at the Big House. Third, Michigan has a tendency to be very sleepy in its first game of the year at home.   

I'm sure you also learned that no matter the opponent you will get that team's best effort times 10.  Something makes the other team play at another level when they see that Maize and Blue.  This job is unique and nothing like Utah.   You have your hands full this week to not be embarrassed on Saturday.

Lou Holtz used to say that there are no greater improvements then between Game 1 and Game 2.  I sure hope that is the case for your team.  Outside of punting and not allowing a TD, there wasn't much to love from last week.   When everything is broken, where do you start to fix the problem was your greatest issue this week during practice.  

It has to start at QB.  I think Bryce has potential but he is snake bitten, falls back into old bad habits, and completely lacks confidence in his play.  It's hard to bench someone that is making so much NIL but that might be the right approach, he has never been able to watch and learn in college and he currently isn't equipped with the proper experience to deal with fire hose of college football yet.  I think Carr has better fundamentals but he is not ready for Oklahoma.  That leaves BFN if he knows the offense.  

These are very difficult decisions and reason your in this role.  You inherited Bryce and maybe he can't be fixed in a way that will win you football games this year.  If that is the case, we need to move on quickly.  On the other hand, the kid has a ton of talent and if you can fix him, his upside is through the moon.  Good luck with that decision. 

This week can change your season.  It's an opportunity to flush the Hail Mary that still seems be a topic on all the sports shows.  Or it can be one of the most embarrassing loses of your career.   The game will need to be won on defense for the Wolverines.  No matter how much your OC learned or Bryce can execute, it won't be enough to beat The Sooners, without a dominating defense.  In fact the defense probably has to score for Michigan to win.  

Final advice, the turnovers and penalties are not acceptable.  That is not Michigan Football and has to be fixed right away.   Finding a way to score points against Oklahoma's defense will need another Big House Miracle and I think you've spent those dollars.   My only hope is Michigan surprises us once a year in a game and I hope its this weekend.  Again coach, I'm at a loss for words and please don't embarrass the program on Saturday. 

Oklahoma 31 Michigan 10

Big Ten Preview Week 2

Last weekend outside of the Boise State - Oregon game there wasn't much to look at in the Big Ten.  Yes, there was a game in A2 that had a controversial finish.   This weekend there are some bangers!  Ohio State traveling to Texas is the big dog and Oklahoma in the Big House could be a good game if the Wolverines find an offense.  

Friday:

Rutgers @ BC (-3.5) Both teams suffered bad loses last weekend and neither program is on the rise, with both coaches seat sort of hot.  Not sure anyone wants to coach Rutgers.  Rutgers 14 BC 17 

Saturday:

Howard @ IU (-56.5): WTF?  IU really needs to be embarrassed about this non-conference schedule.

Oregon (-23.5) @ OK ST:  I don't blame the Ducks for this one, OK State was once a fine football program.  Oregon 38 OKST 7

Penn State (-23.5) @ Temple: Interesting road game for the Nittany Lions.  I expect Temple to stay in the game for about 2 quarters.  PSU 28 Temple 14

Wake Forest (-3) @ Purdue: I think Purdue will surprise a few folks this season.  Purdue 24 Wake 21

Utah State @ UW (-26.5):  The Apple Cup was close for awhile but I think Utah State will not compete in Seattle.  UW 28 Utah State 9

Miss St @ Minn (-1.5):  This is an interesting game and not a normal visitor for the Golden Gophers.   I like the SEC in this one MSU 27 Minn 21

Duke @ Illinois (-6): Duke were the ACC Champs last season and now all their good players play for Miami.  Illinois 19 Duke 13

EMU @ MSU (17.5):  I think the Hurons/Eagles keep this game a bit closer than we think.   EMU 17 MSU 27 

Maryland (-12.5) @ UConn: This is what I'm taking about an old Big East match-up.  Let's bring back Big East Football!  (Maryland was never in the Big East but could be now with a few phone calls!)  Maryland 28 UConn 10 

Bowling Green @ Nebraska (-29.5): Bowling Green, Nebraska sounds like a nice city to live in.  Bowling Green, Florida has one of best Golf Resorts in the country.  Nebraska 44 BGSU 13

SDSU @ UCLA (-12.5): I wonder what Brady Hoke is doing these days?  UCLA 17 SDSU 14

Western Illinois @ Wisconsin (-38.5):  Ok.  Wisc 52 WIU 3

OSU @ Texas (-1.5):  Game of the Week.  I like Texas in this one in a very close game.  It will probably be 110 degrees at night.  Texas 28 OSU 24

ISU @ Iowa (-14):  Iowa seems to have an offense now but these games are always close.  Iowa 21 ISU 17 

Louisiana @ USC (-30.5) This game kicks off at 11:00 PM EST.  USC 45 Louis 6

Wolverine Wednesday: We're Not Going to Apologize for Winning

It's funny how we are influenced by social media.  The MAC conference asked the Big Ten for an explination for the 1 second, they got it and agreed with the decision.  Then social media blows up for WMU and Fox's rules guy Mike Pereira goes on a pod and says the Big Ten didn't follow protocol for the remaining 1 second and the MAC gets the idea to petition the NCAA on the outcome.  

Tread lightly here MAC, I understand your frustrated and I understand you had a historic upset in your hands.  The Big Ten spends millions of dollars with your conference and your teams.   I would be careful poking the bear or the Wolverine in this case. 

I still don't understand how putting 1 second on the clock makes one of the rarest occurrences in sports  (winning on a Hail Mary) a real strong possibility, it's just a extra opportunity.  Can we move on already?

I was watching the NFL Network and Rich Eisen of course had a few Michigan winning jokes.  The best one was a clip from Mike Tomlin former Steelers coach saying, "Were not going to apologize for winning"

I've spent a lot of time pointing out the negatives from Saturday as there was a boat load of them.   Let's start to focus on some of the good.  

• Bring me all your JJ's!  He played great and if Bryce can figure it out, Marsh and JJ are going to be a great combo at WR.
• I thought Troy Bowles played well and led the team with 12 tackles & 2 TFL's
• John Henry Daley looked good but might of got gassed at the end 
• The Fall camp buzz on Dom Nichols was real with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFL's
• Cam Brown averaged nearly 45 yards with 6 punts 
• I like Smith Snowden's game 
• Bracy likes contact! and had 6 solo tackles
• The defense didn't give up a TD 
• I liked the first drive 

The NFL is here and I believe it's the first Wednesday opener.  It's a Super Bowl rematch, which I don't love to start the year but I do support the former Wolverines on both teams.  Sorry Reacher, I got NFL Football tonight.  😀

Michigan Tuesday: A Bad Investment

The biggest question going through Michigan fans and rich donors is; Have we made a bad investment in Bryce Underwood?  The state of Michigan has had its unfair share of top tier QB's lately: Carr at ND, Chambliss at Ole Miss, and Moore at Oregon were all in the Wolverines backyard. 

Carr was lightly recruited by the Wolverines,  Moore didn't get the money he was looking for in Ann Arbor, and Chambliss wasn't even on their radar.  

Michigan went all in on Bryce and now there are more questions than answers.  As you might expect, I got a few texts about the game last weekend and Bryce.  Here is my take on Bryce:

Bryce has been told since probably age 7 that he is the greatest gift to football ever.  His rocket arm allowed him to dominate in high school and made him the #1 QB and recruit in the nation.  There are many problems with the above.  The first is, Bryce has not been "coached up" and never learned the proper QB mechanics.  If you look at either Carr QB, you can tell they have been coached up and neither has the talent or body design Bryce has.   In turn, this makes Bryce a walking contradiction, he has nothing but confidence in his ability because he has been told forever he is great and he also has zero confidence because he has only seen limited success at the college level and when the heat turns up he regresses to his old bad habits.  Bryce is full of too much confidence and at the same time has no confidence.  

The next question is: How long is Coach Whitt going to stay with Bryce?  After this weekend, I don't believe its going to be long.   He was using terms like, "he is the starter for now".  I don't believe Saturday was 100% on Bryce and he did throw a ball 60 yards in the air to save the game but his window at Michigan is getting smaller and smaller.  On Saturday, he looked like he was a player playing out of position.   This weekend has a high probability of being pretty ugly and that will probably be Bryce's last stand.  Even the donors that funded this experiment can't argue this was a bad investment.  

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I also want to take a minute on college football this weekend.  Saturday's games were for the most part just awful, they were pre-season games.  There needs to be at least one good game every TV window.  Most of the day it was painful to watch college football.  The games on Sunday and Monday turned out to be decent to pretty good.   Even with the power outage at FSU last night.   What a strange weekend for college football. 

Tuesday Too Early:

#10 Oklahoma Sooners

Last game: Beat UTEP 51-0

Pass: 231 yards (104th)

Run: 170 (63rd)

Mich Line: OK -5.5

That line seems strangely low after the week 1 performances.  

• I heard not only did the team practice on Sunday (a usual day off), they practiced in pads.