Review of the first two Big Ten games.

Michigan showed both inexperience and poise in their first two conference matchups. Against Wisconsin they seemed to be completely lacking in the ability to stop the Badgers offense. When they played Illinois they wore their opponent down over the course of the game and eventually took the fight out of the Illini.

One thing i have noticed about Beilein's system is that not only do they execute a shoot threes to set up the inside game on offense, they know how to defend against teams that do the same thing. However, when the Wolverines played the Badgers they had a problem in the fact that they were playing a team that was thinking, pound it in first, then go outside. This left the maize and blue guessing where the Badgers were gonna take their shots, and ultimately guessing wrong. The lack of multiple post presences in the Michigan defense has made it vulnerable all season to the inside post game. On top of this i really think they stijavascript:void(0)ll have a long way to go to executing a good man-to-man defense in order to complement their superb zone play.

However i was able to see some hopeful things out of that particular game. The first was that Zack Novak is one of the most resilient players in the nation, hitting three pointers with multiple hands in his face and playing uneffected by the struggles of Manny Harris and then injured Deshawn Sims.

Everybody knew Illinois was going to be a big test for this team, they were a good team but some people were unsure how good they were. They had lost to a top ten Clemson team and beaten a top ten Purdue team a few days earlier in overtime on the road. Michigan however was not impressed, they came out and decided to throw the kitchen sink at them with the three point shot which kept it close as the Illini shot 58% from the field during the first half yet led by a single point.

In the second half, the 1-3-1 defense that Coach Beilein is famous for took over and forced turnovers and bad contested shots. On top of that there were a few moments during that game where i saw Michigan playing a very solid man to man defense, especially on in bounds plays, they were forcing Illinois to scramble to find open men and when screens were set, someone was always around to help pick up the slack.

I was glad to see Deshawn Sims playing like a man again, after fighting through the Wisconsin game with a bad toe, and Zack Novak is a warrior out there after getting hit by a moving screen from Alex Legion that ended up forcing a turnover for a fast break to Manny Harris as Novak's eyebrow bled. Fortunately he came back which shows not only how resilient the Wolverines are, but also how they play with so much of a sense of purpose that silly things like bleeding eyebrows can't hold them down. Hopefully the maize and blue machine will continue their rolling through the big ten schedule with games against Iowa and Indiana this upcoming week, before going to Champaign for the rematch of today's game and the hosting of the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 17.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

c-ya

Hockey update

Note: i couldn't think of anything better for a title for this one.

With the exception of the Saturday game against Western, the winged helmets on ice have been having a huge problem. They can't score goals. They've scored two goals combined in three of the last four games against Western Michigan and Miami. This is not only unacceptable it's a travesty for any Michigan hockey team, who pride themselves for their ability to put the puck in the net, maybe there is a lack of senior leadership out there, maybe they are missing Chad Kolarick and Kevin Porter, but they still have great potential goal scoring threats on this team and they're not doing what they're supposed to.

Michigan is taking on Minnesota and Wisconsin this weekend and if they want to beat them they better hope that turkey they had was packed with some kind of scoring magic because boy do they need it now.

ahhhhhhhhh

c-ya

BEST SATURDAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If i had gone to bed early enough the previous night to watch the 90s cartoons it could've been better, other than that it went beyond my wildest dreams.

Okay i'll admit it just like everybody else, and i know that every other blogger and their mother's written about it, but the first half offense sucked. More specifically the offensive line sucked, i was personally offended by how badly they were missing their assignments in the zone read allowing the tackles a free hand at the running back. Of course not all of the blame can be placed on the men up front. Steve Threet seemed to not be sure whether to hand off, throw it, try to run away or scream ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! They're chasing me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Wisconsin defensive line must have been thinking, "'cha those guys are too lazy, we can take 'em." While the Badgers thought the Wolverines were lazy turns out they were just resting. The first scoring drive was done mostly in the air, with a gutsy 4th and 1 call to Kevin Grady, who held onto the ball for five yards. In all honesty the pass Steve Threet threw to Kevin Koger looked like it should have been over his head, Koger made the best catch i've ever seen a true freshman collegiate tight end make in a spread option system. On top of that he knocked the safety down on the play.

After that the winged helmets really started to show how much they could fly, especially Brandon Minor, picking up the first down catch right before darting into the end zone. Thompson's interception was a surprise to everyone in the student section, being on the opposite side of the field i really didn't expect that the Badgers would start throwing the ball like crazy, but they did, and they paid for it.

Threet's run was also a huge surprise to everyone, gutsy move, but let's not give the credit to his feet, but more to his brain. Steve sold the fake to the Badger defense so well that seven men collapsed to the side of the field where Minor was going, Threet breaks a tackle and the safety had to chase him down. If Threet could run the play would've ended in the end zone. Michigan should be glad it didn't, because not only did it give them time to run down some clock it also gave Sam McGuffie the chance to make the world say a refrain that we'll be hearing for some time, wham bam thank you Sam.

The Michigan defensive line played one of the best games i've ever seen. They stopped the run, their pass rush was incredibly potent and didn't allow much time for Allan Evridge to throw the ball. Brandon Graham is a certifiable all-american and i were an NFL scout i would probably try and take a good look at this guy. The secondary improved substantially in their ability to cover a team passing out of desperation.

The secondary will be tested substantially by Illinois dual threat quarterback Juice Williams. A lot of people regard Juice Williams as simply a running quarterback who doesn't pass much, however, that was last year when the Illini had Rashard Mendenhall at tailback and they had a running game so potent, they didn't need to throw the ball that much. I'm not saying that Juice is one of the greatest passers ever, but he can throw the ball downfield and use his weapons as good as any quarterback in the big ten. Juice's abilities on offense are Illinois primary strength, their primary weakness is their defense.

The Fighting Illini defense has given up at least 17 points in every single game they've played in so far. Chase Daniels made them look like fools in the first game of the season against Mizzou. Eastern Illinois managed to score 21 points on them and they're a middle of the road I-AA team and this past weekend lapses in judgment absolutely killed Illinois against Joe Pa.

So, should we expect a Michigan victory, not so fast. They need to figure out a way to stop Juice Williams, which is easier said than done. They need to be able to cover an attack that is pretty similar to what was being run by Utah at the beginning of the season, and they need to stop them from scoring on as many possessions as possible. The latter can be accomplished by the offense not turning the ball over, keeping it on the ground, not missing their blocking assignments and not making any stupid mistakes.

Michigan will need this win to prove that the comeback was not merely a fluke but a statement that the winged helmets are not going anywhere away from the upper echelon of the college football scene. They also need to prove that their helmets are actually going to make them fly.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

c-ya

A cooling off week

Only Michael Phelps could've saved Michigan in that pool in South Bend, that much is certain. The ball was wet, the ref gave a couple of questionable calls to the Irish, and if Rich Rod doesn't go Coach Boone on the guys about fumbles then team will have a lot of problems.



He probably already broke his foot off in Kevin Grady's hind parts in fall two a days, but unfortunately his foot must've come out Grady's hand when he was about to get tackled on that play.

We got a lot of at leasts in that game. At least we now know for certain that Steve Threet is the quarterback and can throw the ball effectively. At least we know Sam McGuffie can handle whatever a defense throws at him and still get positive yards.

Unfortunately this game also raised a lot of questions about the defense, can they stop the physical old school style of smash mouth football or do they just specialize in stopping speed? Is our secondary ANY good at all? And last but certainly not least, what the hell happened to the age old concept of getting pressure on the quarterback? Because it seemed like Jimmah Sunshine had a cruise ship load of time to get his passes off.

Now Michigan faces the Wisconsin Badgers and PJ Hill and Travis Beckum. For the latter i would expect that Rich Rod would keep disgraced Tight End and my fellow Phoenix alum Carson Butler on the team simply for practice. Throw the ball to him in practice a lot, and try to stop him. He's probably more athletic than Beckum, but because of poor decision making and the fact that Rich Rod's system doesn't utilize Tight Ends often he doesn't get much credit. They need to use him in practice because last year neither the maize and blue secondary or linebackers could stop the man.

Wisconsin believes they have an edge in the Big Ten because they do not run the spread. Michigan wants to start winning now to silence their critics.

Stay tuned for a preview of Wolverines vs. Badgers.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

c-ya