Michigan Tuesday: Happy For Jay

Jay Harbaugh decided not to follow his dad to the Chargers or stay at Michigan.  Those were easy decisions.  He decided to take a risk with a friend but an unproven head coach Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks to be the Special Teams Coordinator.  IT was very clear on Sunday that Special Teams can be the difference in winning and losing a championship.  Denver and LA both made key mistakes in special teams that cost them a chance at the Super Bowl.  Jay's squad on the other hand has been helping the Seahawks win all year and he now has earned a trip to San Fran.  

Jay and Coach Mac are not the only former Michigan coaches doing a great job in Seattle.  The beloved former Michigan LB coach who was seemingly wrongly terminated by Warde, Chris Partridge is the Seahawks Outside LB coach.   

This guy doesn't have any ties to Michigan Football and spent 20 years at USC; his look just scares me.  This is Seahawks S&C Coach Jamie Yanchar.  I would guess he is able to get the guys to do a few more reps!

• The Big Ten 2026 Football schedule gets released today at 5:30

• Michigan Basketball hosts the undefeated Nebraska Cornhuskers tonight at 7:00 on Peacock.  This week will be a huge test for the talented Wolverines, with the Cornhuskers tonight and a trip to East Lansing this weekend.   Maybe we should just hire Jamie Yanchar to just stare at the opposing team under their basket. 😀

Michigan Monday and Tuesday: Basketball Things

Sorry for the catch-up, traveling this week.  

First thing first, locking up Dusty was priority #1.  I'm tough on Warde for many legit reasons but he has handled the hiring and extension of Dusty like a pro.  Locking him up and not letting him go to IU was important for the future of Michigan Basketball. 

Now to the games. 

It's always a tough loss when you lose to your instate rival.  MSU plays good defense, rebounds the ball and is very athletic.   Thy do at time struggle with shooting.  When they get hot from 3, good night and that is what happened to Michigan in the 2nd half.   First half was competitive, 2nd half was lights out when the 3 dropped for Sparty.  

The biggest area of concern for me was how athletic MSU was over Michigan.   That was a big disparity on the floor.  Let's hope Michigan shoots better in East Lansing and MSU doesn't.

I did not see the game last night, but my texts were full of things like. 

This is ugly 

Maybe the worst game I've ever seen

A win is a win 

When Gale is your leading scorer with 12 points, things did not go as planned.  Anytime you can get a W on the road in the Big Ten, take it and move on. 

• Kirk Campbell took a lot of heat for Michigan's offense last season and rightly so.  I still think he is a good coach because JJ and Jim like and respect him.  So much so that Jim hired him as an analyst for the Chargers.

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas - Beat Nebraska!  

• Michigan Basketball vs. Nebraska today 6:00 on BTN, Michigan if favored by 8.  As we know, there are no days off in the Big Ten and mostly on the road. 

• Michigan Football received a commitment from 2022 CO 3 star OT Connor Jones, who took a self guided visit last weekend.  CJ is 6'7 and 285 pounds and U of M is his dream school.  Welcome big man! 

Wolverine Wednesday: Big Ten Coaching Changes

With the Big Ten's Big 3 in the Sweet 16, the other Big Ten teams are taking a hard look at their programs.  Indiana lost last night at home as the #1 seed in the NIT which I'm sure makes the IU faithful very un-happy for a number of reasons.

Nebraska who already lost in the NIT yesterday fired their head coach Tim Miles.  The rumor for over a week is that former Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg will take that job.   Which many believe is a big step up for Nebraska who has to compete against the likes of Beilein, Izzo, Miller, Pitino, and others.

Speaking of Coach B his first defensive coordinator hire Billy Donlon who left for a similar role at Northwestern has gotten a head coaching job at University of Missouri Kansas City.    Congratulations to Billy!

• The only person in the country to have a perfect bracket is a former Saginaw resident that now lives in Columbus.  

• People are finally waking up to Devin Bush Jr. as he is now listed as the #9 draft pick in Mel Kiper's latest mock.   

• Does anyone else think that the Green Bay Packers are going to draft Chase Winovich to replace Clay Matthews who signed with the Rams?

Michigan Monday: Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Michigan played hard on Saturday but like a majority of the Hoke era lost the game.   Now it's the off season and most of expect some type of press conference today or Tuesday regarding the future of Brady Hoke.   There is a theory out there that Michigan won't fire Hoke until after the football bust, which is scheduled for 12/8.    Update:  Reports are that there are Michigan coaches on the road recruiting today.   Really?

As we wait for Michigan to make a decision, other programs are not waiting:

• Nebraska fired Bo Pelini yesterday.  Which was bit of a shocker.  They just extended him last year to 2019 and will owe him nearly $8M.  He always won at least 9 games a year. 

• In a bit of bad news, the one guy I trust with NFL news and of course is a Michigan grad Adam Schefter believes that Jim Harbaugh is not going to consider college jobs.   That he will probably approve a trade to the Raiders.   I guess living in the Bay Area is the most important thing to Jimmy and his family.   I don't see any other reason to take the worst job in professional sports.  The Raiders lost 52-0 to the Rams yesterday afternoon.   The only good thing about the Raiders is Michigan Wood:  Woodson and Woodley (out with an injury).   None of us are in Jimmy's mind, but it would seem to me his coaching style is a much better fit in college, then the NFL.

• Assuming that Jim Hackett knows/confirms that Jimmy is staying in the NFL.   That means the #1 candidate would be Les Miles.   There has been some rumblings in LSU circles that Les might be headed to Ann Arbor.   As I have said here many times, I don't believe Les would ever turn down a chance to coach the Wolverines.

• Reports are that Florida has an offer out to Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze in the $4.3 range. Ole Miss of course is trying to keep him.   Jim McElwain from Colorado State (temporary home of Dee Hart) is also reportedly a candidate.

•  SMU hired Clemson OC Chad Morris.

The Jimmy news is not great but what's interesting is what Florida is doing.   There was thoughts they were going to take a run at Brian Kelly (wow the Irish have fallen off this year), Dan Mullen or Bob Stoops.  They said early on that Dan Mullen wouldn't be a candidate but many thought that Big Game Bob might be.   Either way, I like Florida's AD style, he isn't waiting to get a new head coach in there.

• Drake Johnson tore his ACL in the same knee against OSU
• Former Michigan DB commit Garrett Taylor has committed to Penn State

Nebraska Preview

photo

Time: 3:30 EST
Location: Big House
Weather:  55, 10% rain
TV: ABC
Line:  Michigan -6.5

Two very proud programs who are struggling meet on Saturday afternoon.  Both teams are brand names and good for TV ratings but neither team is even close to where they hope to be.  

Nebraska's star QB Taylor Martinez is injured and probably won't play on Saturday.  Michigan's star QB is beat up and probably wish he didn't have to play on Saturday.   I would assume Devin has had nightmares this week about Green Monsters running through walls like the walls weren't even there.  Both teams have issues and this game could get ugly for both sidelines. 

Last week Michigan did nothing in East Lansing and Nebraska needed a Hail Mary to beat Northwestern at home.   Fun times!

Tale of the Tape:

Whose offensive line is worse? = Push neither team gets any push from their offensive lines

Best Pro on the field? Taylor Lewan or Ameer Abdullah = Push, Both are very good

Better Head Coach? Both guys from Ohio, Nebraska has a Bo to Michigan's Brady.  Seems strange.

Michigan's D vs. the option = Advantage Greg Mattison


Last week, I said you don't need to be brain surgeon to understand what both teams were going to do.  Though, I guess you needed to be one to game plan against MSU defense.   Michigan clearly doesn't have one in the press box.     This week Nebraska is going to run the option with back up QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. has much as possible.  They would prefer to never throw as they have the same trouble Michigan does in protecting their QB.  Like I mentioned above, Ameer Abdullah is probably the best RB in the Big Ten and the Michigan defense will have it's hands full trying to contain him.

Michigan on the other hand will try to do better then their -48 rushing yards last week by getting into positive numbers.  Expect a better day from Fitz and even Green.   As for the passing game?  How about we keep somebody in the backfield that can block?  I don't know maybe a full back or something.  Or Big Al can just wing it again. 

Sing Hail to the Victors if..........................

• This Michigan team gives us a reason to believe in them again
• The offensive line slows down anyone in a red jersey
• The Michigan WR have big days
• Greg Mattison's defense dominates
• Brady and Big Al keep their home streak alive

Say "This season is really starting to suck if"......................

• The Michigan defenders get lost on the option plays
• Devin is hurt and this becomes the battle of the back-ups
• Big Al's offense continues to back up instead of gaining yards
• Michigan's OL looks like the car pool lane to the QB
• It rains and it's cold

Most of the Michigan faithful are down on this team right now.  You don't go up to East Lansing and leave looking like your worse then Purdue (who just lost in EL 14-0).   We didn't get any answers from the coaches this week and we didn't expect any.   Brady Hoke's seat which wasn't even close to being "hot" started to get a bit warmer this week.  The only coach that can hold his head high is Greg Mattison whose unit did all they could last week in a much improved effort then the game before against Indiana.

Nebraska's program continues to be in similar shape, their "famous Black Shirt" defense, is famous now for being pretty awful and is ranked 85th in the country against the run.   Bo Pelini's had an audio tape released cussing out fair weather fans and his brother just lost the FAU job for allegedly using illegal drugs.   Fun times!

Michigan fans need a reason to believe again.  They supported Hoke because he understood Michigan and got to a Sugar Bowl in his first year.   He is now in year 3 and struggling to beat any good team, if OSU comes into the Big House in 2 weeks and embarrasses the Wolverines, that is not going to be good for a guy making $4M a year. 

Luckily for Hoke, Nebraska is not a good team.   A little reason to believe..............

Michigan 40 Nebraska 14


Go Blue!

Michigan Tuesday: Sunday Practice is Back

We all remember the Freep's hack job that was 90% incorrect but got U of M to spend a ton of money and two years of probation from the NCAA for stretching before practice.   It's a huge surprise the newspaper industry is dying on the vine.   One of the Freep's accusations was that Michigan was regularly practicing on Sunday and greatly exceeding NCAA limited practice time.   Of course that was found out to be false, but who cares about facts when you can sell a few more papers?

Hoke's best lines of his press conference yesterday is below:

 When did you decide to have practice yesterday?
"Saturday about 4:07."
When did you tell them?
"Yesterday about 12:30."

Practice on Sunday was a clear sign that the entire teams performance on Saturday was embarrassing and not acceptable.    I would expect the message regarding preparing properly was received by the team.  It's also not an NCAA violation if they stay within the mandated weekly practice time limits.

Other news of notes:

• Courtney Avery and AJ Williams are getting better.   Michigan really needs Avery healthy as Akron gave everyone a blue print on how to beat the Wolverines.

• Hoke was considering using Kenny Allen for punts, I would say he should do more then consider it.

Bo Pelini of Nebraska hot seat is pretty much on fire right now.  His defense continues to give up huge points, he is in a verbal war with Nebraska legend Tommy Frazier and now tells the fans FU in a recorded 2011 rant.   I would say he is pretty much done, unless they pull off a Big Ten Championship or a BCS game.

• Update: Hand's visit to Florida this weekend is being rescheduled due to him taking the SAT.

• We might have a conflict here:  ABC has two games on this Saturday and the coverage map is not out yet.  Depending where you live you could see 1 of 2 games.  If your wondering, the watch ESPN application is not available for either game.  For the fans of the reverse mirror, ESPN2 has an Alabama game that starts at 7:00.

Sat, Sep, 21	#15 Michigan at Connecticut	8:00 PM
Sat, Sep, 21	Kansas State at Texas	8:00 PM

The Day After NSD

The tree is still up and the presents are opened but still under the tree.  As you look at the tags for the sweater your mom bought you but it 2 sizes too small.   It's time to do a quick re-cap of the day.  

How is that for a re-cap?

You have to love this class.  It was bookended by two 5 star offensive guys in Morris and Green.  It easily has the best offensive line class in the nation when most guys all jumped on board in one magical weekend.   Michigan added depth at DB and LB and might have some good players on the defensive line.   I think the biggest question marks are the WR's in York, Dukes and Jones.    All have the size the coaches were looking for and we are doing pretty well with under rated guys out of Columbus lately (Duke).   Jones also became a pretty highly recruited late prospect in January as more major programs started to take notice of his tape.


How did Michigan finish in the rankings?

Scout #2
Rivals #5
ESPN #6
24/7 #5

ESPN and 24/7 have Green as a 4 star and marked down Morris after the UA game.  Scout has both Morris and Green as 5 star players.

• Q&A with Brady Hoke

• I wonder how Bret Bielema is liking Arkansas?  Here is a story about a Mom in Florida that doesn't what her son to play for Bret and won't sign the LOI.

• Nebraska loses two roster players.

• USC struggles to the finish with 3 de-commits right before signing day.  They signed a class of 12 players.  One of the reasons many thought Lane got another year at USC was due to the strong recruiting class that blew up at the finish line.

There isn't a ton out there on new 2014 Michigan QB commit Wilton Speight here is some info for your pleasure:

• Coach Jeff Hecklinski watched him go through some throwing drills last Friday.
• He is 6'6 and 227 pounds.
• Wilton recently visited U of M
• Wilton lost his Jr. season due to a shoulder injury and got to re-classify for the 2014 class.
• He would prefer to enroll next January but needs to work it out with his school.  You would think that shouldn't be an issue with an extra year in HS.
• He is not ranked by any service yet, which is not uncommon this early.
• From watching the below video, he seems to have a short compact throwing motion,  (its a highlight tape) but he seems to throw an accurate ball.   I also like his athleticism for a 6'6 guy.

No Big Ten Title Game

Kirk Ferentz should be fired.  Big Al has a game tomorrow at noon to somewhat make up for his huge coaching mistake.  If not, he should join him.   It looks like ex-Michigan QB coach Scot Loeffler will be available.

Iowa had a chance to beat Nebraska and some stupid offensive calls cost them the game.   One decision was  punting from the 36 yard line in the first half or running 3 straight times with about 4 minutes left around mid field down 6.  Iowa looked like they were trying to lose the game. 

Iowa is terrible and Nebraska is 6 points better then terrible.  

What an awful Big Ten Championship game.   It's a match-up with the #2 conference team vs. the #6th team.   That should attract a ton of TV viewers.

Well the pressure for Michigan and playing for a championship is off on Saturday.  Pressure in now squarely in Ohio's corner and being 12-0.

Michigan Motivation Below?

Wolverine Wednesday: Thinks About Stuff

All the news really hit Monday and Tuesday of this week.   With Thanksgiving on Thursday the sports world is pretty quiet unless your the San Francisco back-up QB or playing ND on Saturday night.

So here are some things that are floating around in my brain.

•  I think Michigan will mix it up at QB on OSU like they did against Iowa.  I expect Denard will throw a few passes.  When asked if he could throw the ball Saturday, he flashed his smile, and said, "You'll have to see Saturday."

• I have zero confidence in Iowa beating Nebraska on Friday.   But..........this is Iowa's bowl game and it's at home.  We know a few things, Iowa plays better at home and Nebraska is not a good road team.  Baylor had one win in the Big12 before they upset K-State on Saturday night, so anything can happen.  BTW: Darryl Stonum is not seeing much time for Baylor.  I think he has 3 catches on the entire season and returning kicks.

• Speaking of WR's:  It amazes me that Michigan is losing ground with Laquon Treadwell, he could have one (hopefully 2) year with the strong armed Devin Gardner and 3 with Shane Morris.  That's 2 Five Star QB's if your keeping score at home.  Also what the heck happened to DeAnthony Arnett at MSU?  He has 3 catches this year for the Spartans and hasn't seen the field much.   I'm wondering if he could of helped the Wolverines a bit more if he had choose to come to A2.

• This Ohio State team is hard to figure out:  They have zero really good wins.  They have a few good wins at Wisconsin, Nebraska and at MSU.  They also have some head scratching wins where they didn't look good at all verses the likes of Cal, Indiana and Purdue.   This is the results of a down Big Ten and a really bad non-conference schedule.    So are they beatable or a good team that finds away to win? Maybe both.

• If Nebraska wins on Friday, I think Michigan fans can book their travel plans to Orlando.   I think Michigan ends up there no matter the result in C-Bus.  I just hope we don't get LSU or something.   I would like to see South Carolina and the Old Ball Coach.

• I think Michigan will miss Fitz against OSU.  I don't see Rawls or Smith as a possible game breaker with a long run.

• Don't forget the Michigan basketball team plays tonight against Pitt and hopefully Friday for the NIT Championship game.  It's a late tip tonight at 9:30.

• Could Michigan have losses against the two teams playing in the BCS Championship?  Watch out for USC and their WR's on Saturday night.  If that redshirt freshman doesn't turn it over they have the ability to beat the Irish.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Michigan Monday: It's Better To Be Nebraska, Then Good

I know we shouldn't be throwing stones after Michigan won a game, that looked liked a loss with 3:00 left in the 4th, no timeouts and a first down for Northwestern.  But Nebraska, is on a crazy lucky streak that will have some conspiracy theorist thinking there is some agreement with the Big Ten on getting to the Championship game.

Let's look at Big Red's Big Ten games:

#1:  They win a close, good game at home against Wisconsin. 
#2:  They get rolled in the horseshoe and give up 63 points to Buckeyes.
#3:  Bo Pelini finds a 4 leaf clover before the Northwestern game.   They rally from 12 down in the 4th and win the game after Northwestern's kicker barley misses a long field goal to win.
#4: Nebraska beats Michigan when the Wolverine coaches pick a red shirt freshman to replace an injured Denard Robinson over a Junior 5 star QB with experience that had been playing WR.
#5:  Nebraska goes on the road to East Lansing and wins the game after MSU picked off Taylor Martinez 3 times.  The last pick was the most costly, because a TD return was called back for a personal foul penalty late in the 4th quarter.  Nebraska gets another come from behind win after the game winning drive is kept alive with a terrible pass interference penalty is called on MSU Darqueze Dennard.
#6:  Nebraska hosts Penn State this weekend and both teams play a competitive game.   The game turns late in the 4th quarter on a fumble call by Penn State's TE at the goal line.   The video replay looks to reverse the call and that that the Penn State player gets the ball over the goal line with two hands on the ball before it's knocked out.  Both ABC announcers believe the call will be reversed to give Penn State the lead late in the 4th quarter.   The call isn't reversed and Nebraska goes on to win. 

Nebraska lucky streak continues.  They are not a bad team, but I wonder if they are a "Championship Team" either.  They have Minnesota and Iowa the next two weeks and it looks like they are pretty much a lock to play Wisconsin in Indy for the Big Ten Championship game.

I wonder if the Michigan coaches can sleep at night after not having Gardner prepared to back up Denard all year long.   I'm not saying Michigan would have beat Nebraska after Denard went down, I'm just saying they would of had a chance to.   With that said, I think Michigan will have to play very well to beat the Buckeyes in C-Bus this year.

Penn State believes they won't get a call all year. 

BHB Big Ten Power Rankings

1. OSU
2. Nebraska
3. Michigan
4. Wisconsin
5. Northwestern

Recruiting Notes:

• Leon McQuay III visited this weekend, there hasn't been any visit reaction posted yet.  Expect him to visit USC later this Fall.   Many expect USC to be the front runner.

• Treadwell tells Rivals that Michigan hasn't been showing him the love lately.   Treadwell recruitment has taken off now that he is ranked the #1 WR to some recruiting services.   At this point, I would not hold my breath on this recruitment.

• Derrick Green recruitment seems to have a top 3 of Michigan, Tennessee and Auburn.  Tennessee and Auburn are both struggling this year and both coaching staffs are on the hot seat.  Oregon is also recruiting Derrick and they are not struggling but their coach is rumored to be a top candidate for the NFL.   Derrick visited Auburn this past weekend.

• There was rumored to be a 2014 recruit close to committing this weekend.  That didn't happen but both Parrker Westphal and Bryan Mone had good visits.

Not a Recruiting Note:

I left James Ross off the "Cheers" list yesterday.   I re-watched the game on BTN last night and he played a good game and showed the speed needed against the Northwestern skill position players.   Cam Gordon on the other hand, had a tough day.

Michigan Monday: Hates Too Many P.I. Calls

What's the deal with the pass interference calls this weekend?  How many were there in the Michigan - Minnesota game?  5 or 6?  They all seemed to be from the same ref. 

How about that call in the MSU-Nebraska game?  That call could have cost Michigan a chance to play in Indy.  

I didn't watch the Indiana - Iowa game but I guess there was a controversial PI call in that game as well.  

Even though it wasn't in the Big Ten the ND-Pitt game had a game changing PI call.


Did the Big Ten officials have a conference call on Pass Interference this past week or what?  Let them play!  


Speaking of Indiana and the Big Ten.  The Nightmare of IU playing in the Indy for the Big Ten Championship game is now a reality.   IU has a losing record overall (4-5) and in the Big Ten (2-3) but they control their own density to the Big Ten title game.   Wisconsin comes to Bloomington this weekend for a big Legends Division game.  They finish at Penn State and at Purdue.   So the Big Ten office doesn't have to worry, IU won't be favored in their last 3 games. 

• To answer some of the questions on the comments from Sunday, Bellomy was hurt and that is why Jack Kennedy played after Michigan got up big in the 4th quarter.

• Kick off for Northwestern this week is Noon on ESPN.

• The life of Rich Rod:  Last week Arizona beats USC at home for a big win.  This week Rich Rod leads his team to the Rose Bowl when his team visited UCLA.   They lost 66-14.  Arizona was down 42-3 at half time.  Not sure why his style of football just doesn't work on the road?

•  Leon McQuay is planning an official to Michigan this weekend.   His visit comes on the hills of a de-commitment from USC recruit S Max Redfield.  USC was full before Max de-committed, which means they might now have a spot for Leon.  

• There are some rumors floating around that 5 star OL Laremy Tunsil might be interested in visiting Ann Arbor soon.  Maybe for the Iowa game.   He is visiting Alabama this weekend.

BHB Big Ten Power Rankings:

1. Ohio State
2. Nebraska
3. Michigan
4. Penn State
5. Wisconsin

Nebraska beats Michigan when Denard goes down with an elbow injury and then gets a terrible pass interference call against MSU's Darqueze Dennard that would have forced Nebraska to kick a potential field goal to tie the game.  

Nebraska plays Penn State this weekend.  Memo to Penn State:  If you have guy on your roster with the letters D-E-N-A-R-D in their first or last name, keep them in Happy Valley.

No Chance

Denard is done and so are the Wolverines.   Every team that has faced the Nebraska have shred the Cornhuskers D.  Not Big Al or the Wolverines. 

It's the 3rd quarter and the Wolverines have no chance.   It's criminal what Big Al has done to this offense this year.   Our RB's can't find any holes and the WR's can't catch.   Even our best option at backup QB can't catch the ball.   If Denard has had this nerve issue in his arm, why the hell wasn't Gardner prepared to play QB? 

Nebraska is not a good football team and Michigan's defense is doing a hell of a job.  

The Michigan offense is a joke and the only time it's effective is when they play a Purdue type of football team.  With or without Denard this offense can't score touchdowns.  It's ugly and not effective at all.  

FIRE AL Borges.  He has wasted Denard's senior year and I have zero confidence that he will be able to develop Shane Morris. 

With Denard running the ball so much, they had to have known a situation like tonight would arise and still they play Devin at WR.  Play one of the freshman WR's at least they are used to running routes and I assume can catch the football.  I have no problem trying to get Devin on the field, since he is a good athlete.  I do have a huge problem watching our Big Ten Title chance fade away because they put the offense in the hands of a redshirt freshman QB. 

This does not look good for Brady Hoke's leadership or future offensive success.   This defense has improved every week the offense has either gone backwards or stayed stagnate.  

Michigan had no chance after Denard went down and Michigan's offense can't have a single point of failure, it just can't.  Big AL has failed us this year. 

BTW: The officiating was terrible tonight through 3 qtrs.  How in the hell the booth over turned that Roundtree long pass, I will never know.   How could they not review the Vincent Smith interception?  The late hit on Black?  Terrible Big Ten just Terrible. 

Nebraska Preview

Time: 8:00 EST
Location: Lincoln, Neb.
TV: ESPN 2
Weather:  42 and No Rain
Line: Michigan +2


Another primetime game for the Wolverines.   If you count the Sugar Bowl, the Wolverines have played 3 out of the last 9 games at 8:00PM.  They should be used to playing late games by now but really haven't had a good effort to date.  To make things worse; Nebraska is 36-5 in night games at home since 1986 and the Wolverines have lost 4 of their last 7 games away from the Big House.

So what happened last week?  Michigan played good defense and kicked field goals against MSU. Nebraska was down 12 points in the 4th to Northwestern but came back to win when Taylor Martinez started throwing the ball for 2 touchdown drives.   Northwestern missed their kick to win the game, Michigan didn't.

We know what happened last year when Nebraska came to the Big House and got blown out by the Wolverines 45-17.  We also know the Cornhuskers will be looking to return the favor this year.   The winner of this game will be able to control their own destiny in the Legends division.

Tale of the Tape

Denard and Big Al vs. Black Shirts =  Good Denard

Taylor Martinez vs. Jake Ryan = Edge to the home team

Denard's Picks vs. Nebraska's fumbles = Michigan

Special Teams = Michigan

Coaching = Strong + for the Wolverines

Intangibles = Strong + for Nebraska at night


There really isn't a question who the better team is.  If this was on a neutral field, I think the Wolverines would be a double digit favorite.   Nebraska's defense can't keep any decent team under 27 points and the entire team leads the nation in fumbles (they had 3 last week).  With that said, Michigan doesn't play well on the road and night games have been a struggle.   The Wolverines offense last week struggled against a good defense and if they can't run against the Black Shirts they are going to lose this game. 

Sing Hail to the Victors if.............................

• Denard doesn't turn the ball over
• Fitz and Denard both go over 100 yards on the ground
• We get Denard from last years Nebraska game
• The Michigan defense play like the defense from the last 5 weeks
• Michigan scores touchdowns in the Red Zone

Scream I hate the color Red! if...................

• Taylor is moving the ball on the ground and through the air easily.
• Nebraska wins the turnover battle
• The Black Shirts stop Denard and Fitz on the ground
• Michigan's 8:00 pm woes continue

Nebraska figured out last week that they just can't run the ball and win the game.  They have to throw and will start out throwing the ball early and often this week.  The Michigan secondary will get tested.  Is Raymon Taylor healthy?  Will he play?  Same goes for Nebraska's best RB in Burkhead.  

I see the difference in game is which team wins the defensive line battle.  Black Shirts vs. Black & Big Will

Wolverines to Watch:  Denard through the Air, Fitz on the ground.   JT Floyd with a big pick, Craig Roh with a sack and a couple of TFL's, Kenny Demens with a solid all around game.

Did you know? Michigan hasn't lost a game under Hoke when they score 20 or more points?

Michigan 28 Nebraska 21

Go Blue!

Michigan Tuesday: Big House Blog Bullets

• Denard is a Davey O'Brien Semi Finalist with a bunch of other QB's.

• Burkhead has a knee issue and could miss Saturday's game.

• Brendan Gibbons was named Big 10 Special Teams Player of the Week

• Mac Brown is not in love with the Longhorn Network.  Takes too much of his time and shows too much practice footage. 

• Ward telling Coach Hoke that he was coming to Michigan: "I communicated with [Michigan Director of Player Personnel Chris] Singletary the night before that I wanted to commit," Ward said. Right before Coach Hoke was about to start getting ready for the game, Coach Singletary brought me to a room with Coach Hoke and [recruiting coordinator Jeff] Hecklinski.
  
  "I had a little small talk at first, then I said, 'Let me get to the point, I want to let you know you have my commitment to be a part of your program.' He went crazy and jumped up and gave me the hugest hug ever."

• Hoke said at his press conference yesterday that Raymon Taylor should be ready to play Saturday against Nebraska.

Michigan Monday: Feels Bad For John L.

It's Monday after a bye week and things sort of went in Michigan's favor over the weekend.   Michigan State lost to OSU but Nebraska did comeback and beat Wisconsin at home.   It would have been nice to had both teams lose but it didn't hapen. 

The other good thing that happened this weekend was that Purdue gave up 41 points to Marshall.  Hopefully, that is a good sign for the Wolverine offense that has been struggling of late and does seem to struggle in West Lafayette. 

The bye week got me thinking about the poor start the Wolverines have gotten off to this year and the struggles they have had.   Then I started to think about Arkansas interim head coach, John L. Smith.   Michigan fans were introduced to John L. Smith in 2003 when Michigan State needed a head coach and they pulled John out of Louisville.  At the time, it was pretty much considered a desperate hire because the Spartans needed a coach and they were running out of decent candidates.   John lasted at MSU for three years and was gone in 2006. 

John was out of coaching for a couple of years and did a bit of broadcasting until he accepted the special teams coach at Arkansas for Bobby Petrino who had just left the Atlanta Falcons in mid-season to join the Razorbacks.  John was at Arkansas until the end of last year when he accepted the head coaching job at his alma mater Weber State.  So while John was preparing for his first year at Weber State, the phone rings because Arkansas had just fired Bobby for another one of his famous indiscretions.  So John jumps ship again (without coaching a game) and goes back to coach Arkansas under a one year contract worth about $800K a year. 

John inherits a good team and one that is ranked #10 in both pre-season polls.  This is setting up very nice for him and if he can put a good year together he could be the leading candidate for the full time job.  That is when everything started to go down hill.

To start off September John L.'s squad wins easily against Jacksonville State 49-24.   Then the next week Louisiana-Monroe comes to town and upsets Arkansas 34-31.  Not only do they lose the game but they lose their NFL prospect QB to a concussion with the #1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide coming to town.  As you know, that game doesn't end well and they get beat 52-0 at home.  

Pretty bad, right?  Well, the bad news was just getting started.  The Monday after the Bama game, John L. Smith has one of his famous press conferences where he tells everyone to just "SMILE".  The reason he said that was later that day he filed for bankruptcy becuase he owes over $25M.  That is not a miss print, he is $25M in debt due to a bad real estate deal.    To make that Monday (9/17) the worst day in his life, his brother Bart dies on the same day.

So how has John L. and his team rebounded since then?  Not very well, they lost to Rutgers 2 weeks ago and just got beat 58-10 on Saturday to Texas AM.   That is a 4 game losing streak and they go to Auburn on Saturday.  I have to imagine, John L. is happy that today is October 1 and he can put the worst month of his life behind him. 

Wolverine Wednesday: BHB Bullets

• Devin on being a WR:  "I just feel blessed that I've had the opportunity to do that and it's helped the team," Gardner said Monday at the Wolverines' weekly news conference. "I thank God for the versatility, honestly." --- "It's a lot better knowing you're going to play, and it's easier to prepare, as well, knowing you're going to play and you can be ready to contribute," Gardner said. "Last year, I didn't have any idea whether I would play or not. I felt like that made it a lot easier. I just wanted to get on the field, it didn't matter how."  He also doesn't like to block.

• Scott Dreisbach is now a HS Football Coach:“In the oil and gas industry, it was dad is here sometimes, dad is not here sometimes,” Dreisbach said. “I wanted [Davis] to be a part of what I do and there’s no better way than to be at practice kicking the balls around and being a part of coming to the office and being around players. “That was a no-brainer.” 

• CFN: Michigan - ND preview has ND winning by a field goal.

• Pat Omameh has been named to the All State Good Works Team for his charity work at Mott and other charities.

• Nebraska LB  Zaire Anderson is out for the year with an ACL after making his first start on Saturday.
  
  

Nebraska Gets Husked at the Big House

John T. Greilick / The Detroit News

The RR Experience is now dead and the Wolverines can put a nail in that coffin next Saturday at 3:30 with a win over rival Ohio State. 

We all have been critical of Denard and Al Borges for Michigan's 2 losses this year.   The play calling and decision making in Iowa City and East Lansing were questionable at best.   Saturday they got their revenge. 

Denard played a near perfect game (minus the tipped screen pass) and Al finally figured out that for this offense to be effective they have to run the Spread primarily and the pro set power game secondarily. 

Credit also goes to the Michigan defense and Greg Mattison who has to be a leading candidate for best assistant in the country award.   Last year the Michigan defense gave up 35 points a game which ranked 108 in the country. This year Michigan is giving up 15 points a game, which ranks 7th in the country.   Same players, better coaching and fundamentals.   An unbelievable turn around. 

The Michigan offense was moving the ball and the defense was stopping Martinez and Burkhead, so all the Michigan special teams had to do was protect the ball and not make mistakes.  Instead, for the first time this year the Wolverines Special Teams unit were a game changer.  There were good returns, made field goals, fake field goals,  a blocked punt, 2 fumbles recovered, and a roughing the kicker penalty.   It's hard to beat any team with those type of results out of a special teams unit.   

Cheers

• Denard Robinson
• Al Borges Playing Calling
• Mike Martin and Ryan VanBurgen are playing great!
• Greg Mattison's defense transformation
• Fitzgerald Toussaint running the ball strong and staying healthy
• Michigan's offensive line
• Jordan Kovacs for his consistent good play

Jeers

• Urban Meyer for a lot of things.  OSU really? The Buckeyes over health concerns and family?  Florida over Ohio?  The last straw was Urban trying to make the case for Devin Gardner playing QB over Denard Robinson during the game.  I know Urban clearly understands football so he must not understand the Michigan Wolverines very well.   There are 1000 reasons to keep Denard on the field. 
• Will Hagerup has to be better punting the football, his punts to me look low and not very far. 
• Gallon's mistake to let that punt behind him changed the momentum of the game, luckily for Michigan the roughing the punter call changed it back.  After that the tired Nebraska defense had enough. 
• Michigan couldn't stop Nebraska's LB David at all.  It seemed like he was in on every tackle. 
• Denard's screen pass was not thrown very well but the defense held the Cornhuskers to a field goal.
• The big dollar HD scoreboards that weren't working.  Not good Mr. Brandon!

This is the Michigan team we all hoped was there and have been waiting all year to show up.  The steps that defense and specials teams have taken are very impressive.   One of my biggest knocks on RR wasthat  his teams didn't get better during the year, they got worse.  That is a clear sign of poor coaching and mostly on the defensive unit.  RR used to say, it's just so hard to win with freshman playing important positions.  That doesn't seem to be the case for the 9-2 Wolverines this year.

The Wolverines still have some unfinished business next Saturday before they make their bowl travel plans.  Sure I would like a BCS invite but I would much rather have a 11-2 record and a top 15 finish.  I can't wait to see how good this team can play with 15 extra bowl practices.

Nebraska Preview

Time: Noon
Location: Big House
TV: ESPN
Weather: Cloudy and High of 50
Line: Michigan -3.5
On the line: Possible BCS birth for either team if they win out


Nebraska has been welcomed to the Big Ten by getting probably the toughest Big 10 schedule this year, they have played Wisconsin, MSU, Ohio State, Penn State and now Michigan.   They have a new rivalry game with Iowa next week.  I'm sure there is a corn trophy on the line.   That is pretty much the Who's Who of the Big Ten.  They have done pretty well with only losses to Wisconsin on the road and Northwestern at home.  

Nebraska is similar to Michigan with a dynamic QB that likes to run and they have a very good RB in Burkhead who has 212 carries and over 1000 yards already.   They also (like Michigan) prefer to run then pass. Both teams on defense will single cover WR's so they can add more defenders in the box to stop the run.   Martinez is not Joe Montana but he can hit a wide open WR or TE.    So Michigan can't sleep on the passing game. 

Nebraska has always been known for it's defense and the "Black Shirts".  Those shirts this year are injured but Bo Pelini is a defensive coach and will have his team ready to stop Denard and Fitz.  
On offense, Nebraska played at Penn State with walk-ons Spencer Long and Seung Hoon Choi at guard.  These guys had to play every snap because they didn't have any back ups on the trip.  (Advatange Martin and VanBurgen).  On defense, defensive tackle Chase Rome (pulled hamstring) played at about 70 percent at PSU and Nebraska is already without defensive tackles Jared Crick and Thad Randle who are out for the rest of the year.

Tale of the Tape

Michigan Running Game vs. Nebraska Defense = Michigan

Martinez & Burkhead vs. Greg Mattison = Push (maybe a slight edge to Nebraska)

Health = Michigan

Intangibles = Michigan being at home and Nebraska's first visit to the Big House

This game will come down to which defense plays the best.   Both defenses were on the road last week and held the home teams to 14 points each.   Nebraska got behind in the second quarter against Wisconsin and tried to pass their way back which turned into a blow out.  This game will probably take about an hour to play because I doubt we will see the ball in the air much by either side.  Look for Nebraska to try to keep this game close. 

Sing Hail to the Victors if........................

• Borges and Mattison have come up with great game plans
• Denard is healthy and plays the entire game
• No turnovers on offense!
• The Michigan LB's have a great day and stay in their lanes
• Michigan finds away to get their WR's involved in the game
• Fitz and Denard each have over 100 yards rushing

Say I hate Red Teams if............................

• Martinez and Burkhead get big runs
• The Michigan D doesn't force Nebraska to pass the ball
• Devin Gardner starts under center
• Michigan turns the ball over on offense
• The young Wolverine LB's look like young LB's

This is a coordinator battle and which defense can stop the others offense.   It is plain and simple as that.  Both teams are going try to make hay on the ground and the Michigan defense will have to be smart against the run option with Martinez and Burkhead.   If Mattison has coached them up this week and the LB's play smart, I like a one dimensional offense vs Greg Mattison's defense.    I would say the same thing in reverse if Nebraska wasn't so beat up on that side of the ball. 

Here is how I see it:

• Denard has to play and play well
• Greg Mattison has two running teams coming into the Big House back to back and he needs to shut down both teams.
• This will be a field possession game
• Not a ton of points
• The Michigan defense has some confidence and needs to continue to play well
• Stop the Run!!!!
• Both punters will play a big role in trying to flip field possession
• Michigan has to take advantage of Nebraska's injuries

Michigan 28 Nebraska 17

GO BLUE

Michigan Monday: This Is Denard's Team

Some fans are saying there is a QB controversy at Michigan right now.   This is 100% wrong.  There is a QB health issue right now.  Denard is banged up.   He hurt his wrist on Saturday and missed the 4th quarter and Devin lead them to a couple game clinching touchdowns.

I like Devin but I wish he had gotten more time during Michigan's MAC season rather then the end of the Big Ten season.  He made a nice throw to Odoms to secure the game and more importantly didn't turn the ball over.  What I saw under center was a redshirt freshman who was a little excited to be in the game but a little over his head as well.   If Michigan needed to go 80 yards in two minutes to win the game, I'm not sure Devin would have been able to pull it off. 

Denard has to be the Michigan QB the next two weeks if he is healthy enough.   I don't think he will be anywhere near 100% until the bowl  break.   Denard's threat to run is something that each DC (the next two weeks) will spend a ton of time scheming to stop.    Denard's dynamic game is why Michigan has 8 wins this year and could have 10.   Yes, Denard needs to stop turning the ball over but Michigan is a better offense when he is on the field.   The MVP's this week will be the Michigan Trainers whose job is to get Denard healthy enough to play on Saturday.

Let's hope that Denard's wrist is only bruised and not something worse after MRI's and other tests.

The Michigan coaches need to find away to get the WR's and TE's more involved in the game.  Koger needs more touches and our slot guys (Odoms, Grady and Gallon) can make some plays.   I would like to see one of those guys line up in the backfield for a couple drop down passes.  Roy Roundtree for example has 14 catches for 278 yards this year.  That is a good game!  He had 72 catches for 935 yards last year.   We need to find away to get the ball in these play makers hands.  

• Michigan is 18 in coaches poll and 20 in AP

• Michigan is -2.5 against Nebraska right now

• Michigan's Basketball Game is on ESPN3/Watch ESPN Tonight (online)