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

[FVD]

You gotta love Lou Holtz....

From awfulannouncing.com:

1. "This game is encouraging for Notre Dame's defense." -- Lou Holtz, 100% serious after Denard Robinson racked up 502 yards himself. May, with the rest of the world, rolls his eyes.

[gjdodger]

Lou had picked Notre Dame to win. The other guy had laughed and was humming the NDFS while Lou prattled on about why they'd win.

[chemiclord]

From awfulannouncing.com:

1. "This game is encouraging for Notre Dame's defense." -- Lou Holtz, 100% serious after Denard Robinson racked up 502 yards himself. May, with the rest of the world, rolls his eyes.

I don't completely disagree with Holtz's assessment honestly.

There was no stopping Denard Robinson last Saturday. He was the best player on the field by a marathon's length; you don't control or stop someone having a game like that; you try to control the rest of the team and if one guy beats you by himself you accept that, say "great game" and get ready for next week.

In that regard, the Irish did that, and it was fairly encouraging for their defense that they kept everyone else in check. But Robinson is playing at a level that is so incredibly high that he can pretty much beat teams single-handed. His offensive production alone in these first two weeks is only beaten by something like 33 teams.

[FVD]

So if Mike Vick runs and throws for 500 yards on Sunday and Tom Kowalski says "The game was encouraging for Detroit's defense" are you going to have the same position?

[SeattleLionsFan]

According to Rod, they were trying to take away everything else and make Denard beat em. It was the Jordan Rules kinda.

[gjdodger]

According to Rod, they were trying to take away everything else and make Denard beat em. It was the Jordan Rules kinda.

Michigan's final drive:

1st and 10 at MICH 28 Denard Robinson pass incomplete to Michael Shaw. 21 24
2nd and 10 at MICH 28 Denard Robinson rush for 12 yards to the Mich 40 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at MICH 40 Denard Robinson pass complete to Darryl Stonum for 16 yards to the NDame 44 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ND 44 Denard Robinson pass complete to Darryl Stonum for 7 yards to the NDame 37.
2nd and 3 at ND 37 Denard Robinson rush for 2 yards to the NDame 35.
3rd and 1 at ND 35 Denard Robinson rush for no gain to the NDame 35.
4th and 1 at ND 35 Denard Robinson rush for 1 yard to the NDame 34 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ND 34 Denard Robinson pass complete to Michael Shaw for 12 yards to the NDame 22 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ND 22 Denard Robinson pass complete to Michael Shaw for 5 yards to the NDame 17.
2nd and 5 at ND 17 Denard Robinson rush for no gain to the NDame 17.
3rd and 5 at ND 17 Timeout MICHIGAN, clock 00:49.
3rd and 5 at ND 17 Denard Robinson pass complete to Roy Roundtree for 15 yards to the NDame 2 for a 1ST down.
1st and Goal at ND 2 Denard Robinson rush for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN

I see six passes, five complete, for 55 yards. What exactly were they "taking away"?

[Desert Lion]

Michigan's final drive:

I see six passes, five complete, for 55 yards. What exactly were they "taking away"?

The need to keep them to a FG to tie!

[jaadam4]

Holtz is on crack if he thought that was encouraging.. While D Robinson did have 500 yards of offense, half of those came from the passing game in which a positional player had to catch the ball (with 2 hands and maintain possesion while not getting robbed in the final seconds). So they didnt exactly contain everyone except DRob.

Robinson will make a lot of teams look silly but they gave up too many yards of O to say anything good about them.

[nhwbrooklyn]

Holtz picked ND to be champions last year... it would be notable if he ever picked against ND.

[chemiclord]

So if Mike Vick runs and throws for 500 yards on Sunday and Tom Kowalski says "The game was encouraging for Detroit's defense" are you going to have the same position?

Ha!

Bear in mind though, I didn't say I agreed with Holtz. I can see how he could find something redeeming in the defense effort, though.

A lot would depend on how it happened. If Vick got 500 yards because of missed tackles, blown coverages, I'd probably hate the defense.

But if Vick was hitting keyhole windows, making people miss, hitting holes at top speed and outrunning opponents, I'd probably be a little more forgiving of the defense.

Then again, considering my disdain for the Lions defense, my assessment would probably be severely skewed.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Sorry dodge. It was specific to running. The assumption is that Notre Dame wanted to wear out Denard.

[gjdodger]

Sorry dodge. It was specific to running. The assumption is that Notre Dame wanted to wear out Denard.

Point me to the quote.

[SeattleLionsFan]

I think it was from his Monday presser.

[gjdodger]

Is "Rod" Rodriguez?

[SeattleLionsFan]

Yes Dodge.