The Rest of College Football

[Mike]

That would create scheduling imbalance since the Ugly division would have 9 teams.

[hack]

I, for one, appreciated that from-the-stands report from Ithaca.

[Hannibal]

I must say, I very much enjoyed watching RichRod's Arizona team get embarrassed by Oregon. Constant trips to the red zone with turnovers and other mistakes, and then the team basically giving up in the second half when things went south. In other words, it looked very familiar.

[hack]

Heh. But damn do I miss his offense right now. I hate the criminal inattention to detail and the blase attitude toward winning the turnovers battle. But we have an offense now that actively seeks to lose the turnovers battle too...

[Mackenzie]

I must say, I very much enjoyed watching RichRod's Arizona team get embarrassed by Oregon. Constant trips to the red zone with turnovers and other mistakes, and then the team basically giving up in the second half when things went south. In other words, it looked very familiar.

Sounds a little like the UM/ND game. Kidding aside, I don't think that RR was a bad sort and maybe better than most. Maybe just a bad fit for M and not being a "Michigan Man" and all that. As for me, I still blame the debacle that was the RR era on Bowel Movement & Merry Sue. As some others have said, if RR could have fielded a defense he probably would still be coaching at M. Are you not going to cut him some slack for being in the first year of rebuilding? Not sure how many points OS would hang on M but am hoping we will find out should M make it to the Rose. Still, I understand you being so sentimental and all.

[Paul L]

Heh. But damn do I miss his offense right now. I hate the criminal inattention to detail and the blase attitude toward winning the turnovers battle. But we have an offense now that actively seeks to lose the turnovers battle too...

Not sure I follow your argument regarding TOs/ball security. In looking at fumbles lost only (since Denard sucks ass and has been an INT machine for four years now), it falls out as:
2008
M - 18 fumbles lost vs. 11 for the opposition

2009
13 for M vs. only 5 for the opp.

2010
14 M; 7 opp.

2011
6 for M; 20 for opp.

2012 (obviously very early)
1 fumble lost for M; 2 for opp.

Denard's TD/INT ratio:
2009 - 2/4
2010 - 18/11
2011 - 20/15
2012 - 6/8

Denard is who he is; a terrible passing QB. Can't pin this on Hoke/Borges.
If anything, they've made great strides in stressing ball security and TO differential.

[UMStan White]

"I still blame the debacle that was the RR era on Bowel Movement & Merry Sue."

What a dumb ass. What did Coleman have to do with the shit defense put on the field for three years? Martim made the decision to hire Dickrod and not pay his def coordinator to come to Ann Arbor.

[Hannibal]

As some others have said, if RR could have fielded a defense he probably would still be coaching at M.

I'd like to add another addendum to that. I think that if our 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes had been top 10, RR would have survived. If the team goes 7-6 next year and suffers a few blowouts, Hoke will survive, because we know that the team will be loaded with talented freshmen and sophomores. With Rodriguez, there was no hope on the horizon.

[hack]

"I still blame the debacle that was the RR era on Bowel Movement & Merry Sue."

What a dumb ass. What did Coleman have to do with the shit defense put on the field for three years? Martim made the decision to hire Dickrod and not pay his def coordinator to come to Ann Arbor.

I really wish more alumni would see the cost of the hubris at the top. Stop praising the emperor for his new clothes and you'll have better leadership here.

[The Oracle]

I'd like to add another addendum to that. I think that if our 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes had been top 10, RR would have survived. If the team goes 7-6 next year and suffers a few blowouts, Hoke will survive, because we know that the team will be loaded with talented freshmen and sophomores. With Rodriguez, there was no hope on the horizon.

And unfortunately 7-6 probably isn't out of the question.

[Hannibal]

Nope, it definitely isn't. Next year, I'll be looking for improvement as the season goes along. Wins would be nice, but I want to see signs that we can win the Big Ten in 2014 and 2015.

[whodean]

We all knew this season would be tough, luckily it's tough for the entire conference, hopefully M can sneak some W's from teams that probably should beat them on paper (MSU, Nebraska, OSU)

[Hannibal]

I didn't think that this season would be tough. I expected more out of just about all of the seniors. Almost everybody on both sides of the ball has either fallen short of expectations or just met them.

[hack]

It's still early. And, in Will Campbell's situation, the expectations were ridiculous anyways. Career underachievers rarely blow up into stars at his point in the curve.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I still think M is the division favorite.