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

[chemiclord]

I guess it depends on how you define "terrific."

If you go by the old crotchety arrogant fossils, beat MSU, beat OSU, and then win whatever second tier bowl they're given is a "terrific" season... then sure.

If your standard is at least being a legitimate contender in the national title picture, there's no chance in hell.

[Kstat]

They don't have national title talent yet. Anyone that expected that going into this season was fooling themselves.

We have our backup QB starting at WR!

Successful for this team is the rose bowl, nothing less.

[WingsFan]

Coming in to the season, I don't even see a Rose Bowl. I stand by my post, no lucky wins this year.

Turnovers and Denard Robinson getting bailed out so many times with jump balls pulled down by Junior Hemingway won those games. Im going to say 4 loses this year, last year was really a dream season with almost everything going right. I would say it was the best since 97

[SeattleLionsFan]

I guess it depends on how you define "terrific."

If you go by the old crotchety arrogant fossils, beat MSU, beat OSU, and then win whatever second tier bowl they're given is a "terrific" season... then sure.

If your standard is at least being a legitimate contender in the national title picture, there's no chance in hell.

Go fuck yourself Chemi.

[CGVT]

Well, that was pretty much what I expected.

Didn't make it any easier to watch and it's going to be a tough day at work here in L.A. on Tuesday.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Yeah. It was what I was afraid of. But hats off to Alabama. It was a man and boys. I'm happy to say that M was just as fast as Bama. But Bama was way more physical.

[Rocky Bleier]

Offensively, Rodriguez turned Michigan into Purdue/Northwestern. Defensive recruiting was an afterthought. When Alabama was on offense it looked like a bowling ball knocking over pins. Hoke says they have a lot to work on, but, realistically, they need bigger, stronger players.

[Masspartan]

quotes that make me laugh "we didn't play Michigan football" ... what?

I'm so sick of the media pundits slobbering over the SEC. They aren't that good. Alabama is. The rest, not so much.

You are right Rocky ... They just showed a replay on the Sports Reporters on a Bama pass play where every single UM lineman had been knocked to the ground. RichRod was the thing to happen to us Spartan fans.

[Rocky Bleier]

Bama is just unreal. And with all that talent they're also able to jettison players from the roster every year through oversigning. They get an extra recruiting class every 4 years.

[nhwbrooklyn]

I didn't think it was size or speed that was the main issue but depth. It was a pretty huge issue for the defense. Avery, the 1st sub, was abused. The DL could hold up for a few plays after any significant break but then would start to get manhandled (by the nations top OL btw). Even then, the UofM D came together and held Bama for most of the last two thirds of that game when it looked like, for a second, they were in danger of getting steamrolled.

You have your number one 1 RB in there (who is a huge upgrade over the backups), Countess doesn't get hurt, and Borges doesn't come out with a game plan of short quick accurate pocket passes and this game could have been reasonably close. Now I think Bama would have just played that stud freshman RB more if they needed to do so and would have safely won anyhow but it would have been more of a fight for sure.

[Coop]

THAT was an old fashioned ass whipping. Does seem that outside of that first stop, Michigan's defense got rolled by Alabama. One thing that I didn't quite understand though is why with 1:50 on the clock with two timeouts Did Hoke not even try to stop the clock to maybe try to get the ball back? That little faith in defense?

Denard is going to get killed trying to run the ball....

[Drew]

Yeah, but running the ball is what Denard does well. He became a known intity because of QB draws and broken plays, not because of his arm.

That's why I say, run Denard at least once per set of downs.

[Kstat]

They didn't want to get him killed, especially without their only every down RB suspended.

You'll see the old denard back starting next week.

[Desert Lion]

A couple of questionable non calls in the 1st qtr could have changed up the game in the first half. Now I know even if it was closer at halftime Sabin would have fired up his O in the 2nd. Sabin showed some mercy by not passing much in the 2nd half.

[CGVT]

I didn't think it was size or speed that was the main issue but depth

The size and speed were definitely an issue, but I agree that the depth was probably even bigger.

It was really apparent when the starting CB went down, but I think the play that epitomized the difference was the play late in the game immediately following the injury to M's starting left tackle. Robinson was sacked when the backup tackle was beaten so badly on an inside move that the Bama players had to be laughing about it.

Alabama was bigger, stronger, deeper, and faster than Michigan.