U of M thread (in the Lions Forum) :)

[nhwbrooklyn]

The way the Michigan offense spreads out, it's very difficult, if not impossible, for teams to crowd the interior line of scrimmage. Robinson's a friggin nightmare to defend anyways, but he's always playing and running in a broken field. I've never seen anything like what I watched yesterday. He might not be a great pro prospect, or maybe he is, I don't know. But he sure looks like a dominant college player, playing in the perfect system for his skills.

I'm hoping MSU unveils the 3-4 defense against UofM that they are supposedly incorporating more this year (MSU has not really shown it at all yet). That should allow them to handle the lateral stretching better. With Gordon and Jones as the inside LB's they should be able to handle runs up the gut even in the 3-4. Anyhow thats how I would try to contain Robinson.

[SeattleLionsFan]

The 3-4 worked for notre dame.

[nhwbrooklyn]

The 3-4 worked for notre dame.

They made some good adjustments in the 2nd half... besides that last game winner drive that is. And I think MSU likely has superior LB's.

I'm excited to see how it plays out.

EDIT: I also like the prospects of MSU being able to run through that 3-3-5 defense UofM runs. If they can control the clock with the run game like they used to with Ringer.. that would be ideal obviously. They look like they got the running game to do it but MSU needs to convert 3rd downs and not have penalties if they want to make that happen.

[SeattleLionsFan]

They might.

I have to say I'm a little skeptical about any offense that requires 280 yards rushing by a qb and 60% completion rate to score 28 points.

It just doesn't seem sustainable.

[DanO]

No it doesn't SLF but I'm not worried about that today.

GO LIONS "10" !!!!!!!!!!

[nhwbrooklyn]

They might.

I have to say I'm a little skeptical about any offense that requires 280 yards rushing by a qb and 60% completion rate to score 28 points.

It just doesn't seem sustainable.

BTW did you get a chance to see Bell this week? Looked very good but then had a horrible "freshman moment" when he attempted to juke and fight past like 6 guys in the backfeild, where he had no chance in the world, and one of Florida Atlantic players just slapped the ball out of his hands for a fumble turn over.

[Desert Lion]

UofM #20 in one poll, 23 in the other.

[SeattleLionsFan]

BTW did you get a chance to see Bell this week? Looked very good but then had a horrible "freshman moment" when he attempted to juke and fight past like 6 guys in the backfeild, where he had no chance in the world, and one of Florida Atlantic players just slapped the ball out of his hands for a fumble turn over.

Nope I missed that. Nothing more frustrating than watching a young back dance in the backfield...

[chemiclord]

There was plenty to like about that win.

Jesus, is Robinson something else. You get the vibe that whenever he touches the ball, he is the best player on the field, regardless of the opponent or where the game is played. When you have someone playing like that, fuck conventional wisdom; you let him make as many plays as you need to win the game.

Do you pull a pitcher that has a shutout going because his pitch count is nearing what is normally his limit?

(Tigers fans, don't answer that)

Do you pull a goalie because he's faced too many shots?

Who cares how many carries he gets? If he gets hurt, it is just as likely to happen on carry #5 as it is #25.

And hey, wanna know something else? The defense played a lot better than I figured they would so far. They've cut down on a lot of the chunk plays that killed the Wolverines time after time. No one should hold any delusions they'll be good or even mediocre at the end of the day... but they're a lot further along in keeping the game manageable than I thought they would be.

As for the Special Teams... come on, you can't possibly expect me to have anything positive to say about those kickers. I guess they were able to put their foot mostly on the ball... but that's about it.

[DanO]

Very nice chemi.

GO LIONS "10" !!!!!!!!!!

[mason reese]

There was plenty to like about that win.

Jesus, is Robinson something else. You get the vibe that whenever he touches the ball, he is the best player on the field, regardless of the opponent or where the game is played. When you have someone playing like that, fuck conventional wisdom; you let him make as many plays as you need to win the game.

Do you pull a pitcher that has a shutout going because his pitch count is nearing what is normally his limit?

(Tigers fans, don't answer that)

Do you pull a goalie because he's faced too many shots?

Who cares how many carries he gets? If he gets hurt, it is just as likely to happen on carry #5 as it is #25.

And hey, wanna know something else? The defense played a lot better than I figured they would so far. They've cut down on a lot of the chunk plays that killed the Wolverines time after time. No one should hold any delusions they'll be good or even mediocre at the end of the day... but they're a lot further along in keeping the game manageable than I thought they would be.

As for the Special Teams... come on, you can't possibly expect me to have anything positive to say about those kickers. I guess they were able to put their foot mostly on the ball... but that's about it.

I'm pretty sure the Twins and one other team have done that this year, but I think in both cases the starting pitcher had injury concerns. I'm just saying...

[gjdodger]

You mean a "no-hitter." Yeah, I believe there have been two pitchers yanked with a no-no going. Shutout, I bet that's happened a few dozen times.

[tin mad dog]

They might.

I have to say I'm a little skeptical about any offense that requires 280 yards rushing by a qb and 60% completion rate to score 28 points.

It just doesn't seem sustainable.

If they hadn't had so many penalties, many good drives would've been sustained.

I'm still wondering about our kicker, though. I'm pretty sure he was the top rated H.S. PK 2 years ago.
I did read that our holder was lost right before the UConn game but I think the misses are mostly on Gibbons.

RichRod apparently had open tryouts today for walk-ons. I'm sure there were plenty of guys seeking that position.


While there are still areas for great improvement, just 10 days ago I wouldn't have been all that shocked if we'd lost our first two games. Many picked UConn for the upset and ND was favored. Still, here we stand 2-0 with 3 very likely wins in front of us. So far, so good.

I'm still thinking we wind up the regular season 7-5 or 8-4, which is a big step in the right direction (especially if we beat any 2 of spartie, Iowa, Penn State, Wisky or tOSU).

2011 is the year to really look to, as our Freshman and Sophomore laden team should be coming of age.

I just hope things continue to move in the right direction.

GO BLUE!

[flash50]

If they hadn't had so many penalties, many good drives would've been sustained.

I'm still wondering about our kicker, though. I'm pretty sure he was the top rated H.S. PK 2 years ago.
I did read that our holder was lost right before the UConn game but I think the misses are mostly on Gibbons.

RichRod apparently had open tryouts today for walk-ons. I'm sure there were plenty of guys seeking that position.


While there are still areas for great improvement, just 10 days ago I wouldn't have been all that shocked if we'd lost our first two games. Many picked UConn for the upset and ND was favored. Still, here we stand 2-0 with 3 very likely wins in front of us. So far, so good.

I'm still thinking we wind up the regular season 7-5 or 8-4, which is a big step in the right direction (especially if we beat any 2 of spartie, Iowa, Penn State, Wisky or tOSU).

2011 is the year to really look to, as our Freshman and Sophomore laden team should be coming of age.

I just hope things continue to move in the right direction.

GO BLUE!

One could even say that of all the top 25 teams polled, the Blue have played the most
competitive two opponents by far, not only me but many "experts" as well according to the Vegas betting lines. Everyone else as played one or two cupcakes. Now,
the next two weeks Michigan gets their sweet treats.

But for now, I for one am just enjoying the ride. Shoelace makes them relative and fun to watch.
The nation will now be watching too. If all goes to hell once they start playing all the big, bad
10, 11 soon to be 12 conference foes, so be it. Life at times should be in the moment and not
fretting about what has yet to happen. I do have a sneaking feeling though that all of a sudden, a whole lot of DC's are going to be getting a lot less sleep when it comes to stopping Michigan's O.

[Kstat]

He punted the ball too? Was it a decent enough kick?

It was easily the best punt by either team all day.

They hurried back to the LOS on 4th and 18, so Notre Dame couldn't substitute, and Robinson did a quick pooch punt.