Geez, what was I thinking with my headline from last Friday on BBB previewing the Indiana at Michigan game– “Fearing Indiana? Nope – not in the least bit”….????............tsk, tsk – I guess I served up some bad karma for the Wolverines once again (as I did prior to the Akron and U Conn game predictions). I guess I will never learn. Bottom line – maybe I don’t know squat about college football. At least in terms of the performance from the Michigan Wolverines. I guess the Maize & Blue colored glasses I look through skew my clarity.
Yet, that being said, it still was a 16 point margin of victory for the point-a-minute Wolverines in their “basketball on Field Turf” performance Saturday against Kevin Wilson’s Hoosiers, 63-47. I know Wilson loves to embrace the offensive side of the ball – and it shows – but until IU is able to land some defensive studs to come to Bloomington, that football program will never get off the schneid.
From the Michigan perspective – great day for the offense obviously with the 751 yards – but it’s easy to categorize the effort as “fool’s gold” when you consider how porous the Indiana defense is. Thankfully the “Bye Week” comes for the Wolverines to physically mend, coaches go out and recruit (some good defensive players hopefully), and to get Team 134 to focus purely on Michigan State. This is new territory – Michigan never had a Bye Week prior to playing the Spartans before.
Which leads us all to the topic of “November 2” – yes, that is how I refer to it simply as “What happens on November 2?” – the date that dictates how the remainder of the 2013 season goes for the Maize & Blue. I will get into more specifics of what “needs to happen” for the Wolverines in my next three BBBs prior to the 3:30 p.m. kick off in East Lansing, but one simple variable looms as a prerequisite to winning that game – production out of the tailback position. The Wolverines cannot rely on Devin Gardner providing the rushing output on his own (a la Denard Robinson) for 60 minutes. If that happens, the Spartan defense will beat the snot out of him (although Gardner is one tough cookie), the Michigan offensive will lack the proper balance it needs (which was exemplified against Indiana with Fitz Toussaint churning for 151 yards), and the outcome will be similar to what happened during the 28-14 nightmare in 2011 in EL. That one was hard to stomach, to put it bluntly.
What Will Always A-Maize-Me (or at least get my attention)...
Northern Illinois QB Jordan Lynch setting the NCAA record for QB rush yards in a game with 316 – one crazy number.
Jim Leyland. The Detroit Tigers went 18 years without going to the postseason before Leyland arrived in 2006. They have advanced to the ALCS the last three years. Nuff said. Per his Monday retirement, he will be missed. Tigers hopefully won’t be stepping backward with a new skipper.
Jeremy Gallon. My God -- this kid is just a miraculous talent. Great hands, runs perfect routes, a quite leader, and deserves every one of his 369 yards receiving on 14 grabs against IU. Crazy-crazy numbers I tell ya. Wish Michigan could feast on Indiana’s defensive every Saturday. Gallon would end up in the College Football Hall of Fame,sure bet.
Yet, that being said, it still was a 16 point margin of victory for the point-a-minute Wolverines in their “basketball on Field Turf” performance Saturday against Kevin Wilson’s Hoosiers, 63-47. I know Wilson loves to embrace the offensive side of the ball – and it shows – but until IU is able to land some defensive studs to come to Bloomington, that football program will never get off the schneid.
From the Michigan perspective – great day for the offense obviously with the 751 yards – but it’s easy to categorize the effort as “fool’s gold” when you consider how porous the Indiana defense is. Thankfully the “Bye Week” comes for the Wolverines to physically mend, coaches go out and recruit (some good defensive players hopefully), and to get Team 134 to focus purely on Michigan State. This is new territory – Michigan never had a Bye Week prior to playing the Spartans before.
Which leads us all to the topic of “November 2” – yes, that is how I refer to it simply as “What happens on November 2?” – the date that dictates how the remainder of the 2013 season goes for the Maize & Blue. I will get into more specifics of what “needs to happen” for the Wolverines in my next three BBBs prior to the 3:30 p.m. kick off in East Lansing, but one simple variable looms as a prerequisite to winning that game – production out of the tailback position. The Wolverines cannot rely on Devin Gardner providing the rushing output on his own (a la Denard Robinson) for 60 minutes. If that happens, the Spartan defense will beat the snot out of him (although Gardner is one tough cookie), the Michigan offensive will lack the proper balance it needs (which was exemplified against Indiana with Fitz Toussaint churning for 151 yards), and the outcome will be similar to what happened during the 28-14 nightmare in 2011 in EL. That one was hard to stomach, to put it bluntly.
What Will Always A-Maize-Me (or at least get my attention)...
Northern Illinois QB Jordan Lynch setting the NCAA record for QB rush yards in a game with 316 – one crazy number.
Jim Leyland. The Detroit Tigers went 18 years without going to the postseason before Leyland arrived in 2006. They have advanced to the ALCS the last three years. Nuff said. Per his Monday retirement, he will be missed. Tigers hopefully won’t be stepping backward with a new skipper.
Jeremy Gallon. My God -- this kid is just a miraculous talent. Great hands, runs perfect routes, a quite leader, and deserves every one of his 369 yards receiving on 14 grabs against IU. Crazy-crazy numbers I tell ya. Wish Michigan could feast on Indiana’s defensive every Saturday. Gallon would end up in the College Football Hall of Fame,sure bet.
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