tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-359710902024-03-12T21:56:52.948-04:00The Hoover Street RagGeoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461267960136260783noreply@blogger.comBlogger877125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-72809595526775598152024-01-09T10:27:00.007-05:002024-01-09T10:35:53.559-05:00Wild Horses<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><div style="color: #1e1e1e;"><i style="font-size: 14px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzLbRQtNiM2jBiHIJsdevzGDa61MEvr1hABWzxv2VlDpPGetRYIMm_dv4zERi2kjgkL8HIaDom6O65cBb873vL4DAjFLGwMuFqpXvqnTXHrUC5AOBNSIRUjSKUhr_6IB66IrI_pug6DkgDSh9S0rErsNOq0W0aeakp80EnCcSXz2qbLDji1CXO2g" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzLbRQtNiM2jBiHIJsdevzGDa61MEvr1hABWzxv2VlDpPGetRYIMm_dv4zERi2kjgkL8HIaDom6O65cBb873vL4DAjFLGwMuFqpXvqnTXHrUC5AOBNSIRUjSKUhr_6IB66IrI_pug6DkgDSh9S0rErsNOq0W0aeakp80EnCcSXz2qbLDji1CXO2g=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The secondary that was essentially a primary. (<a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1744594407410516455/photo/1">Patrick Barron</a>)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></i><span>Childhood living is easy to do</span></div><div style="color: #1e1e1e;"><div><span>The things you wanted, I bought them for you</span></div><div><span>Graceless lady, you know who I am</span></div><div><span>You know I can't let you slide through my hands</span></div></div><div style="color: #1e1e1e;"><span><br />--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY_GgPi5eCM&pp=ygUad2lsZCBob3JzZXMgcm9sbGluZyBzdG9uZXM%3D">Wild Horses</a>" by the Rolling Stones on their 1971 album <i>Sticky Fingers<br /><br /></i></span></div><span>I have a confession to make. When I decided in April that the theme of this year's columns would be Rolling Stones songs, I presumed the most straightforward choice would be to simply drop in "You Can't Always Get What You Want" for the first loss of the season. Maybe it was to Michigan State, perhaps it was some random unexpected "one of those days" games, maybe it would be the Ohio State game, perhaps a CFP game. But the answer was right there all along. <i>You can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need. </i></span></span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif"> It is perhaps unsurprising that I believed Michigan would win as soon as ESPN used "Gimme Shelter" as a backing track for promos. Sure, the two lightning-strike Donovan Edwards touchdowns were a few evidentiary points in favor of that sense of belief, but when you are looking for evidence of things yet unseen, you take any signs you can that show you the way home. But then, after a while, it began to feel like a harbinger of doom. Michigan never trailed in this game, but for a long stretch of the second and third quarters, it felt like letting Washington hang around, especially this Washington team, would be a mistake. When Washington got their touchdown late in the second quarter, then Cornelius Johnson could not get out of bounds to stop the clock, essentially killing any chance of getting a quick score before the half. Every pundit was all too eager to point out that Washington was going to get the ball to start the second half, so Michigan was likely doomed.</span></span><p style="color: #1e1e1e;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Though likely unaware of the specifics, Will Johnson did not agree with this assessment. Johnson picked off Michael Penix's first pass of the third quarter, and while Michigan, due to some uncharacteristic pre-snap penalties, could not turn it into more than a field goal, it put Michigan up 10. Washington answered back with a field goal of their own before the third quarter turned into the classic Big Ten game we were expecting, with a dizzying array of six punts between the two teams. The sixth in the sequence was aided by a brief moment of terror when Penix finally hit Rome Odunze for a long pass, only to have it called back on a penalty because Braeden McGregor was thrown to the ground as he rushed Penix. The pressure on Penix all night was tremendous, and as the game wore on, Michigan's defensive line began to harry Penix more and more effectively, making Washington's Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line look suspect in the same way that Georgia did to Michigan's award-winning unit in the 2021 Orange Bowl.</span></p><p style="color: #1e1e1e;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jake Thaw fair caught the punt at the Michigan 29, and the conventional wisdom was that Michigan could just go on one of their trademark clock-chewing drives to...oh no, wait, JJ McCarthy found Colston Loveland for a 41-yard catch and run, and Michigan was suddenly in striking distance of the Washington end zone. A short Blake run, Roman Wilson for 12 on a nifty crossing route, Blake for three more. Then the theoretical dagger, Blake Corum for 12 hard yards and a touchdown, his 15th game this season with a touchdown. The man who came back one more year specifically to win a championship had just put Michigan in a position to be able to do it. The final 8th of the game was about to ensue, and Michigan was up two scores.</span></p><p style="color: #1e1e1e;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Washington would need to use the chaos engine they had ridden to 14-0 to get them back in this game, but Michigan's defense was determined to not allow it. OK, they were determined not to allow it after Penix hit Odunze for a 44-yard pass to get Washington within striking distance of Michigan's end zone in a bit of nifty symmetry. The torpor that the game had fallen into had been duly shaken off. But then a Washington false start, two incompletions with a short two-yard gain, and Washington faced 4th and 13. Michigan took a time-out, the play went off...and both teams committed a penalty, so we did it all over again. That's when Mike Sainristil, a player already in the hall of Michigan immortals for his textbook PBU on Cade Stover in the 2022 Ohio State game, ascended to Michigan football Valhalla with his interception and 81-yard return to the Washington 10. It would have been cool if Sainristil cashed that one in, but, well, you can't always get what you want. Besides, two quick Blake Corum runs put Michigan up 21, and Michigan fans could finally breathe.<br /></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #1e1e1e;"><span>I watched you suffer a dull, aching pain<br /></span></span><span style="color: #1e1e1e;">Now you decided to show me the same<br /></span><span style="color: #1e1e1e;">No sweeping exits or offstage lines<br /></span><span style="color: #1e1e1e;">Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind</span></span></i></p><p style="color: #1e1e1e;"><span style="font-family: arial;">15 wins. 0 losses. A seven-touchdown shutout of their in-state rival on the rival's field. The first football program in the nation to win one thousand games. A third straight win over Ohio State. A third straight outright Big Ten championship. A ninth Rose Bowl win in program history. The first College Football Playoff championship game win. The 12th claimed national championship in program history. For all of the doubt about Michigan being a fading blueblood that would have been reasonable in the late years of the first decade of this millennium, reinforced by the first half of the 2010s, it was not unreasonable to think that the college football world had passed Michigan by, turning the Wolverines into an FBS equivalent of Princeton or Yale, legends of the early 20th century that did not have a place in the modern era. So when Michigan hired Jim Harbaugh, many people outside the Michigan circle treated it with skepticism because of the way that much of the fanbase regarded it with a near messianic fervor. It was also reasonable to see it from their point of view. The two-thirds of Harbaugh's tenure to this point was marked with varying levels of disappointment that can only come with a rising tide of expectations. But the last three years have been utterly remarkable. A likable group of guys built on the idea of "let's build the entire team out of dorks who love football and are really, really good at it." A group unburdened by the fanbase's collective history. These players may know the shapes and silhouettes of "The Horror" or "The Spot," but they are merely scars on other people's souls that they have inquired about respectfully. But whether one has been here for one game, one season, one decade, or one lifetime as a fan, this banner now hangs. (OK, weirdly, Michigan Stadium doesn't really have banners. The Glick does, but that's beside the point.) It was a fantastic ride, with, as the ESPN pre-game stated, "memories that will, paradoxically, grow sharper as the years pass." Michigan is your 2023 Division I FBS College Football Playoff Champion.<br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #1e1e1e;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Wild horses* couldn't drag me away.<br /></i></span></span><span style="color: #1e1e1e;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day.</i></span><br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(*-I swear it wasn't until about 45 minutes into writing this column that I realized someone would think that "Wild Horses" was a Connor Stallions joke, which I did not intend, but...)</span></i></span></p><p style="color: #1e1e1e; font-size: 14px;"></p><b style="color: #202124; font-size: 14px;"><u><span>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></span></u></b><ul style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Win 1,004</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">34-13 is NOT a Scorigami (2nd time, most recently 10/31/1981 in Minneapolis, retaining the Jug.)</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">72,808 were in attendance (the 12th-largest crowd of Michigan's season).<br /><br /></span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan moves to 9-5-0 all-time against the University of Washington.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan extends a three-game winning streak over the Huskies.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan moves to 1-0 all-time on January 8. (OK, that isn't surprising.)<br /><br /></span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan moves to 38-0 when scoring exactly 34 points.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan moves to 46-12-1 all-time when allowing 13 points to the opposition.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan has won 35 games all-time by precisely 21 points, most recently, the 2022 B1G Championship Game win over Purdue.</span></li></ul></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com0NRG Pkwy, Houston, TX 77054, USA29.6847219 -95.4107073999999931.3744880638211541 -130.56695739999998 57.994955736178845 -60.254457399999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-56887682066934439552024-01-03T23:17:00.006-05:002024-01-04T18:02:46.423-05:00Route 66<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: 14px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiECWFwIIWHyKWO0UBI02oaYrxCrkcXh_obFXyFRe3NEJlQgLLwnqgbDzLlEzV9wEcfFWnVbfWNmqFSRrtutl6-P0IJnFZljqLUyOl0aDqvI-ErtL4pi6IMhdlMtcIfH1Qvbr0-w7Fu-l2gCrTO-B8cBxygAXmlyCAaFPZjqYjTJm0fsIhPenSN8w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiECWFwIIWHyKWO0UBI02oaYrxCrkcXh_obFXyFRe3NEJlQgLLwnqgbDzLlEzV9wEcfFWnVbfWNmqFSRrtutl6-P0IJnFZljqLUyOl0aDqvI-ErtL4pi6IMhdlMtcIfH1Qvbr0-w7Fu-l2gCrTO-B8cBxygAXmlyCAaFPZjqYjTJm0fsIhPenSN8w=w640-h427" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blake put the team on his back, and the rest is history. (Patrick Barron)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="font-size: 14px;"><i>Well, if you ever plan to motor west</i></div><div style="font-size: 14px;"><i>Jack, take my way that's the highway that's the best</i></div><div style="font-size: 14px;"><i>Get your kicks on Route 66<br /></i><br />--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q131ZJ6YkG0">Route 66</a>" as covered by the Rolling Stones on their 1964 album The Rolling Stones</div><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;">In late June of this year, my family departed on a road trip covering 28 days, 7600+ miles, 19 states, and ten National Parks. When discussing some of the ideas on social media, noted Michigan game photographer and National Parks enthusiast Patrick Barron gave me a strong note not to sleep on Canyonlands after leaving Arches; it was majestic and beautiful and worth my time. So even though we had to get from Green River, Utah, to Zion the next morning (which was poor timing on our part since it put us in Zion on the most popular day of the year, but that's not the story), we slipped down to Canyonlands and explored a bit of one of the Mighty Five. At the end of the main road in the Island in the Sky section, we discovered the Green River Overlook, a vista 1,000 feet above the canyons carved by the Green and the Colorado rivers, explored by John Wesley Powell and his team in 1869.</span><div style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-size: 14px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgp_b2yxE81vae-4mitVN0pCzsTpTP_ib5sg27jOgTQe3lLJSjoar1DchjbgtADMbl-5wwDKpD8fkqtOSvCtEdTlljQyqf_4iLSlhxN8VoVIABHjTpVrTNLG1T95xmRJpzqndaFqfaY25oAVxSGWueT0MYoCKem2IaDxopPwiZlQspqiIWilx3lNg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgp_b2yxE81vae-4mitVN0pCzsTpTP_ib5sg27jOgTQe3lLJSjoar1DchjbgtADMbl-5wwDKpD8fkqtOSvCtEdTlljQyqf_4iLSlhxN8VoVIABHjTpVrTNLG1T95xmRJpzqndaFqfaY25oAVxSGWueT0MYoCKem2IaDxopPwiZlQspqiIWilx3lNg=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Green River Overlook, Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands NP, July 1, 2023.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />A perfect combination of timing, weather, and nature's glory combined to get the picture you see above. My wife and son have expressed confusion about why Canyonlands rated so highly of the ten parks we visited, but this moment spoke to me. I thought back to how Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that if man communed with nature, it could lead to a moment where you would achieve a tremendous spiritual understanding. I had never had that moment before standing there looking out at these canyons carved over the ages by the rivers below. It was one of the most singular experiences in my life, and it made me realize that there are endless possibilities; we just have to be willing to seek them out.</div><div style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-size: 14px;"><div><i>Well, it winds from Chicago to LA</i></div><div><i>More than 2000 miles all the way</i></div><div><i>Get your kicks on Route 66<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNXHm_D0sjG_JUBvBfwujpRi7fDBgtSR5PiXIRJcc5iBDwbzJK8Y_MpOPXrfW7Enx7P5kh8RKZBM4orlgFOojwK6xLIUTCA6Fx9UxXW7yIbwUoNqX6pARZn-i09l16occqbpBveluA4KkYmWuLLJy2M7-cNpc8kNSVlJjOdXAlTJhD4ri5htYluQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNXHm_D0sjG_JUBvBfwujpRi7fDBgtSR5PiXIRJcc5iBDwbzJK8Y_MpOPXrfW7Enx7P5kh8RKZBM4orlgFOojwK6xLIUTCA6Fx9UxXW7yIbwUoNqX6pARZn-i09l16occqbpBveluA4KkYmWuLLJy2M7-cNpc8kNSVlJjOdXAlTJhD4ri5htYluQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Rose Bowl Stadium facade, Pasadena, California, July 3, 2023.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></i></div></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px;">Two days later, we departed St. George, Utah, very early, drove through the Mojave and Colorado Deserts and Joshua Tree National Park, and ended up in Pasadena, where we would stay on the first night of our week in the LA area. We pulled into the massive parking lot of the stadium, and despite being nearly 100 degrees in southern California that day, I began to explore this secular holy place in the religion of Michigan football. </span><a href="https://slate.com/culture/2024/01/michigan-alabama-football-playoff-rose-bowl-cfp.html" style="font-size: 14px;">In <i>Slate</i> yesterday</a><span style="font-size: 14px;">, Split Zone Duo's Alex Kirshner made the following case:</span><br /><blockquote style="font-size: 14px;"><i>The extent of football fans’ care about the Rose Bowl as an institution cleaves along geographic lines, with plenty of Southerners not yearning much for a game or stadium whose history is wrapped up in the Big Ten and Pac-12. But Michigan has as much of that history as anyone. The Wolverines won the first Rose Bowl in 1902, before the current stadium even stood, and no fan base sees its team as a guardian of sacred college football tradition quite like Michiganders do. The Rose Bowl is Michigan-core.</i></blockquote><p style="font-size: 14px;">One of the paradoxes of the Rose Bowl is that Michigan fans do generally hold it in their hearts as the pinnacle of the college football season, even if Michigan was 4-12 in their 16 appearances here since man first landed on the moon. Why are we drawn to this place that knows vastly more heartache and disappointment for Michigan teams than glory? Because this place is special, and that is all it needs to be. As I walked around the stadium's perimeter that July afternoon, catching what glimpses I could while it was being prepped for an LA MLS Derby the next day, I found myself forced onto the neighboring golf course and having to slip through a couple of locked gates to get back to my car. But I had walked the perimeter of the shrine of the Arroyo Seco, knowing that if the Michigan team that was to kick off in two months was worthy, they themselves would be in this place for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.</p><p><span style="font-size: 14px;">On the first day of this decade, the day that also marked the most recent meeting between Michigan and Alabama, Spencer Hall </span><a href="https://www.bannersociety.com/2020/1/1/21045561/rose-bowl" style="font-size: 14px;">laid out the case for loving the Rose Bowl</a><span style="font-size: 14px;"> that has stuck with me henceforth:</span><br /><br /><i><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e;">On January 1, color TV images of college football games beamed back to Midwesterners and Northeasterners drinking bad coffee in their freezing living rooms. Someone watching the immortal, glorious sunset against the San Gabriels had to look and think: Why am I here, and not there? The Rose Bowl wasn't just the place teams went when they were very, very good. It was a little piece of a whole life anyone could have simply by having the will to go. </span></i></blockquote><p></p><p style="font-size: 14px;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: 14px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh40jo1nFVHOWAqTJ-jKrAhS-zumvjulBO0F9LoKDyXdy68N9pcf9K_4MLKcHIjFCUnPYY0suK4We3wMlz4oBLKHy93YDdENChD_xqGTXS66DSIKbXfGBQnMjpJ_uTpnKD8wGWRbhpFBHsoClAuIL64LbS14gLFv10sMhfUUaj6kICofNyPJsphpA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh40jo1nFVHOWAqTJ-jKrAhS-zumvjulBO0F9LoKDyXdy68N9pcf9K_4MLKcHIjFCUnPYY0suK4We3wMlz4oBLKHy93YDdENChD_xqGTXS66DSIKbXfGBQnMjpJ_uTpnKD8wGWRbhpFBHsoClAuIL64LbS14gLFv10sMhfUUaj6kICofNyPJsphpA=w640-h480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Rose Bowl Stadium facade, Pasadena, California, January 1, 2024.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: 14px;">I did not expect to be here. That is not a stand-in for the concept of Michigan not being at the Rose Bowl; while the path to immortality in any college football season is fraught with the peril of a thousand little breaks that can go wrong, I knew Michigan had an excellent chance to be in Pasadena as the world celebrated the beginning of the New Year. No, I genuinely meant me. I never expected to be at the Rose Bowl. I wouldn't have deigned to ask, especially after the epic nature of our summer sojourn west. But when my wife and her brother coordinated that, yes, we were buying the Alumni Association tour package, and staying at the team hotel, here I was, just a shade under six months later, standing at The Grandaddy of them All. We had done all of the things that go with this tour: we had finished second and third place in the Rose Bowl trivia contest at the welcome party, we had attended the Pep Rally where the MMB sounded great, and someone needed to fact-check President Ono's pep related messaging (which he then, to his credit, at least made the same mistake about Tom Brady vs. Alabama in a bowl game the next day at the tailgate.), we talked to players in the lobby (shouts out to the always awesome Leon Franklin, Kenneth Grant, and Trente Jones.) We were about to head into the biggest football game in modern Michigan football history, either a program redefining win or the end of a great era that never quite got to the mountaintop. All Michigan had to do was defeat the Great and Powerful Saban and his not-quite-fully operational battle station...with a month to prepare.</span><p style="font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-size: 14px;"><i>Well, do get hip to this kindly tip<br />And go take that California trip<br />Get your kicks on Route 66</i></p><p style="font-size: 14px;">When I mentioned to people that we were doing the trip, I heard refrain repeatedly: "It's one of the few things in life that lives up to the hype." Those people were absolutely correct. Any expectations I had built up in my mind were being met. The grass so green, the sky so clear and blue, the breeze feeling like a late September game in Ann Arbor, not the first day of January. I stood in my seat in the Michigan end zone, a mere forty rows up as opposed to my usual seventy in The Big House, and I soaked everything in, the Alabama band and the MMB in their pregame, followed by the MMB nailing the anthem as the <a href="https://www.michiganskymedia.com/store/p123/%22For_All_The_Roses_%F0%9F%8C%B9_%22_ft._B2_Stealth_Bomber.html#/">B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flew directly overhead</a>. The game was about to kick off, and I was ready. I had a feeling akin to that moment at Canyonlands, but this time, it was the beauty of nature combined with the curated hands of people to make a moment. There were endless possibilities, but only one outcome to be determined.</p><p style="font-size: 14px;">I don't really have any pictures from the Rose Bowl Game. I have the moment before kickoff and nothing else after that until after the last snap. I was genuinely trying to live (and not die) in the moment. When JJ's first pass looked like an interception, I laughed at how the football gods had decided to tell us straight away that pain, our longtime companion in Pasadena, had also bought the tour package. But then it was overturned on replay. By the end of the first half, even though Michigan led, I had no fewer than half a dozen "you just cannot make this mistake in the post-season and expect to win" ledes written for whatever this column would become. But I was never angry, not even when Alabama took the lead, not even when Alabama extended their lead. But, as Michigan got the ball back with 4:41 left and ESPN's win probability peaking for Alabama at 88.8%, all I could hear in my head was Leonard Nimoy's voice near the end of <i>Star Trek VI</i>, "I've been dead before." I did not know it was going to work; I did not know Michigan would win. I had to believe that it could work. So Blake and JJ went to work themselves, determined to write their own legend, joined by an offensive line holding fast and Roman Wilson atoning for a block in the back with one of the most improbable, spectacular catches I've ever witnessed in person, followed by his touchdown. Turner's extra point tied the game, and the concern was, "Did Michigan give Bama too much time?" Well, maybe, but Michigan's defense was not going to let things end poorly and forced an Alabama punt, leading to the utterly terrifying sequence on the opposite end of the field from where I was sitting where Jake Thaw's misadventure with a punt nearly gave Michigan a game-ending fate forever worse than "trouble with the snap." But Providence did not choose cruelty today, and Michigan moved the game to overtime. I chuckled to myself. I was trying to figure out the symbolic meaning of my hotel room number 1348. Game 1348 was the 2020 game against Rutgers or Michigan's most recent overtime game. That's what it meant.</p><p style="font-size: 14px;">If you were watching at home, you saw Mike Sainristil come out alone for the coin toss for overtime and perhaps thought it was odd until Blake ran in from off-screen. What you did not see at home is that Blake had run all the way down to the Michigan end zone, and with every ounce of energy he could muster, he exhorted the Michigan crowd to get up and get loud, which it did. Alabama won the toss again, but this was perhaps a blessing in disguise, forcing a hot Michigan offense back out on the field and forcing Alabama to try and score on an end zone defended not just by 11 players in maize and blue but by a chorus of fans desperate for not just a victory, but this victory. Corum took care of his part with a solid run on first down and a showstopper on second down that looked like 2022 Blake Corum. Now, it would be on the defense to try and end this. After getting a stop on first and goal, a TFL on second down, and Josh Wallace planting his cleats in the verdant grass of the Rose Bowl turf to stop Jermaine Burton from getting beyond the three-yard line, we faced a fourth and goal from the three, essentially a two-point conversion that would either keep Alabama alive or end the game. Burton cramped, leading to a delay, then Michigan called a time out, then Alabama called a time out, but the play was finally here. Like so many in the game, the Crimson Tide snap was low, Jalen Milroe had to take a half step back to retrieve it, Michigan's defensive line collapsed the center of the Alabama line, and Milroe was stopped after just one yard. Michigan had won the football game.</p><p style="font-size: 14px;">The Michigan crowd exploded into a roar, a cathartic release that comes from a combination of years of heartbreak and rising expectations on the impossibility that, for the first time in more than a quarter-century, Michigan would leave Pasadena in sheer joy. There was hugging, so much hugging, hugging family, hugging strangers, cheering, crying, singing The Victors, and just knowing that just happened. </p><p style="font-size: 14px;">For the first time in 144-team history, Michigan football will have a singular opportunity to stake a claim to an undisputed national championship. It will need to defeat a Washington team that can move the ball and score as well as anyone in the country. But that matchup in Houston is still to come. For now, let us celebrate the moment when the past, present, and future of Michigan football finally came together in one of the most hallowed places in the program's heritage. Michigan won the Rose Bowl. </p><p style="font-size: 14px;"></p></div></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px;"><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b></span><ul style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Win 1,003</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">27-20 is NOT a Scorigami (4th time, most recently 10/14/2017 in Bloomington, defeating Indiana in Overtime)</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">96,371 was the attendance (the 15th largest crowd of Michigan's 21 Rose Bowl Game appearances.)<br /><br /></span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan moves to 3-3-0 all-time against the University of Alabama.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan snaps a two-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan moves to 16-20 all-time on January 1. This game was Michigan's first New Year's Day win over a school that wasn't Florida since the 2001 Citrus Bowl win over Auburn.<br /><br /></span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan moves to 44-7 when scoring exactly 27 points (fun fact: four of Michigan's 14 overtime wins have been with a score of 27 points. And yes, one of the losses, you know which one.)</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan moves to 24-20-1 all-time when allowing 20 points to the opposition.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan has won 52 games all-time by precisely 7 points, most recently, the 2023 Maryland game, bka Win 1000.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michigan moves to 14-3 in overtime games, with this being their second overtime win over Alabama, the first being the 2000 Orange Bowl (also Michigan's first-ever OT game), 35-34, which you may remember, hinged on a missed extra point by the Crimson Tide in OT. </span></li></ul><p><br /></p>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01001 Rose Bowl Dr, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA34.1613284 -118.16764625.8510945638211567 -153.32389619999998 62.471562236178848 -83.0113962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-23974263596709445222023-12-03T14:53:00.005-05:002024-01-03T23:30:35.333-05:00It's Only Rock 'n Roll<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBbWfbmSiJcPxb6AfaoConE9jH5J-MP7AwzV6c1HZon45SzPQx6y90zv7D6KDwwRvOp9Fy6Vye5OEZ9oPVlQDzBjz_S8YhgP7DY0FY1q4-G2uwZ47SfFBluMFQwTB-4vGHmo1dJ8-l2by9Gyf6Q-6Bnrwu6xzQQnP0bJA6BHXX-UvOP_FtGxOV9Q" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBbWfbmSiJcPxb6AfaoConE9jH5J-MP7AwzV6c1HZon45SzPQx6y90zv7D6KDwwRvOp9Fy6Vye5OEZ9oPVlQDzBjz_S8YhgP7DY0FY1q4-G2uwZ47SfFBluMFQwTB-4vGHmo1dJ8-l2by9Gyf6Q-6Bnrwu6xzQQnP0bJA6BHXX-UvOP_FtGxOV9Q=w640-h427" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently, we can have nice things! (Patrick Barron)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><i><div>If I could stick my pen in my heart</div><div>And spill it all over the stage</div><div>Would it satisfy you? Would it slide on by you?</div><div>Would you think the boy is strange?</div><div>Ain't he strange?</div></i></span></span></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u><br /></u></b></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">There was a long-time criticism of the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially in the first two phases, that while Marvel has excellent heroes, there was a tendency to make the villain just a dark mirror of the hero. Iron Man faces Iron Monger, Hulk faced Abomination, Captain America faced Red Skull, Ant-Man faced Yellow Jacket, and Doctor Strange faced </span><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Kaecilius. In each case, the complaint was that it made the framework of the conflict sort of boring and predictable. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">In other news, it is worth noting that Michigan decided that the best way to beat Iowa and its nation's best defense was to basically become Iowa with a better offense. How did Michigan win this game? Lockdown defense (which, admittedly, was made easier by Iowa's offensive inability), timely special teams play (the Semaj Morgan punt return to give Michigan a short field on which they cashed in, James Turner being perfect on field goals.), and forcing turnovers (if you would like to believe that the Big Ten officials might have a bias against Michigan, the replay review where Josh Wallace's timely remembrance to pick up the ball and hand it to the official gave Michigan another short field), Michigan essentially became MegaIowa and the result was a 26-0 victory to end the Big Ten East/Big Ten West era of Big Ten championship games 10-0 in favor of the East.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><i><div>If I could win you, if I could sing you</div><div>A love song so divine</div><div>Would it be enough for your cheatin' heart</div><div>If I broke down and cried?</div><div>If I cried</div></i></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Michigan fans have long seen Pasadena as the just reward for a great season. You win the Big Ten, you go to the Rose Bowl. While the results of that game have not always been great, there have been great moments in the shadow of the San Gabriels. While it would have been nice to have a Pac-12 opponent to face in the last "real Rose Bowl," a battle of the two winningest programs in college football history is a nice framework to look at as we head into the New Year. Michigan has learned, hopefully, the lessons of the last two years, and know that Alabama, and specifically, Nick Saban, with time to prepare, is a nightmare. But Michigan wants to win a national championship; they have a path they need to walk to get there. We'll see if they can do it, but for now, at least they have the opportunity, which is more than other people can say.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><i><div>I said, I know it's only rock 'n' roll, but I like it</div><div>I said, I know it's only rock 'n' roll, but I like it, like it, yes, I do</div></i></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">College Football is a deeply screwed-up sport, in ways that I do not need to catalog for you, the reader. We have to accept that if we like, love, and appreciate this sport, there will be things that make no sense. From the playoff selections this Sunday to NCAA investigations into petty infractions while looking the other way for years on other systemic wrongdoing. All of these things are just part of what makes this sport what it is. But for now, Michigan has a chance to win the Rose Bowl, something they have not had an opportunity to do since New Year's Day 2007. California dreamin' indeed.</span></span></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u><br /></u></b></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 1,002</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">26-0 is NOT a Scorigami (12th time, most recently 11/15/1980 while hosting Purdue)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">67,842 was the attendance (largest of Michigan's three Big Ten Championship game appearances.)<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 45-15-4 all-time against the University of Iowa.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won four straight over Iowa.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 1-0 all-time on December 2.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 28-1 when scoring exactly 26 points (the loss is 27-26 to 1994 Colorado. You may remember the ending of that game).</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 338-0-12 all-time when allowing 0 points to the opposition. It is Michigan's second shutout of the season, and Michigan's eighth game holding its opponent to single digits.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 22 games all-time by precisely 26 points, most recently the 2021 Northwestern Game. </li></ul></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com0500 S Capitol Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46225, USA39.7601007 -86.16388769999998911.449866863821157 -121.32013769999999 68.070334536178848 -51.007637699999989tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-14652100696160021382023-11-25T21:37:00.004-05:002023-11-25T21:37:39.610-05:00She's a Rainbow<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCIDyOyqBzcFDKjENt1CAoTC90BzcBwIrygBl1zT202WNVa3IjvJpJ86nS-qeNW-DAlaZndO6NLLy-HG58pNj_cIp7FQwN3MMiIArY31L-fQyoyALvqx7HKbBvE93Z8cYSrUSfsnTYbVNTPjzIVNCUMLnDQ16SGLmgrCrbx4QqRRjOyOgknXUbKg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="799" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCIDyOyqBzcFDKjENt1CAoTC90BzcBwIrygBl1zT202WNVa3IjvJpJ86nS-qeNW-DAlaZndO6NLLy-HG58pNj_cIp7FQwN3MMiIArY31L-fQyoyALvqx7HKbBvE93Z8cYSrUSfsnTYbVNTPjzIVNCUMLnDQ16SGLmgrCrbx4QqRRjOyOgknXUbKg=w640-h428" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sweetest buffs of the year. (<a href="https://mgoblog.com/sites/default/files/2023-11/53355860833_a0bc39480f_c.jpg">Bryan Fuller</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><i>Have you seen her dressed in blue?</i></div><div><i>See the sky in front of you</i></div><div><i>And her face is like a sail</i></div><div><i>Speck of white, so fair and pale</i></div><div><i>Have you seen a lady fairer?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>On a week where Jim Harbaugh referenced <i>Ted Lasso, </i>and the MMB made a "Believe" sign during halftime, it is perhaps fitting that today's column takes its name from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYv1vrJ_J4">one of the finest needle drops in the series</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>When not thinking about the holiday this week, most of my spare time was fluctuating between dread and complete dread about this game. Everything on paper said that these were two evenly matched teams, except one was without its head coach due to a suspension. Would that be too much? Would Michigan, being at home and united under the "Michigan vs. Everybody" mantra, find a way to do it? It was a different feeling than what I had felt going into The Game for much of the last decade. Most of the time was hoping Michigan could find a way to pull it off, only to have that hope dashed either quickly, or crushingly, or sometimes both. 2021 allowed Michigan fans to dream again, and 2022 allowed Michigan fans to feel something wholly different, something ancient awoken in our souls; the dream of the 90s was alive in Ann Arbor.</div><div><br /></div><div>But 2023 has been a ride. A completely stupid ride. One that I regret spending so much mental energy on, as elucidated by BryMac in <a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/punt-counterpunt-game-2023">Punt/Counterpunt this week</a>. But it was perhaps inevitable when you spend so much time thinking about Michigan football. These were the narratives, the things that had to be mulled over, and there they were. Narratives aren't reality; we try to predict the story based on what has happened before; it's one of the most basic reading comprehension skills we teach children. But we cannot predict the future; we are not clairvoyant, and our tendency to catastrophize as a means of guarding ourselves against the disappointment to come later. But we cannot lose sight of hope.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>She comes in colours everywhere</i></div><div><i>She combs her hair</i></div><div><i>She's like a rainbow</i></div><div><i>Coming colours in the air</i></div><div><i>Oh, everywhere</i></div><div><i>She comes in colours</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>See, hope comes in colors. Sometimes it's the mono-blue uniforms that Michigan has made a new tradition at home against Ohio State. Sometimes it's the steel gray sky of the late fall in the Midwest. Sometimes it's the polarized brown of the buffs after not one, but two critical interceptions, one to get things rolling, and one to close the door. But hope will sit with you as Michigan bleeds clock in the fourth quarter until Ryan Day starts calling some time-outs. You start to think about how one more first down will win this game. You hope that kicking the field goal to go up six is the right call. You wonder if hope is leaving early to beat traffic when Kyle McCord keeps completing passes. But then, Michigan got just enough pressure on McCord to force him into a bad throw, and Rod Moore got both hands under it, and you realize that yes, hope has left the building, not because she abandoned you, but because hope has become reality once more. </div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Have you seen her all in gold?</i></div><div><i>Like a queen in days of old</i></div><div><i>She shoots colours all around</i></div><div><i>Like a sunset going down</i></div><div><i>Have you seen a lady fairer?</i></div></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Michigan still has some work to do. Another matchup with a 10-2 Iowa squad in Indy. Win that, and Michigan heads back to Pasadena for the first time since New Year's Day 2007 in what is, in some ways, the last real Rose Bowl. Maybe it's Michigan/Washington for a fitting farewell, but there is still too much daylight between now and selection Sunday to make any predictions. But as I think about the future, I am reminded of the past.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Ten years ago, a flawed Michigan team went blow for blow with #3 Ohio State in the Big House. Trailing by 7, Michigan drove 84 yards in 100 seconds to score a touchdown to make it 42-41. Hoke asked the players if they wanted to go for the win. They said they did; they came out with a two-point conversion play. Ohio State called time out. Michigan came back out with the same play, and Ohio State knocked it down to survive Michigan's upset bid. I wondered at that time who Michigan football was for, and what Michigan football was for. Ten years later, I came to the same conclusion, it is for them. These players wanted all of this, and this time, they got it. Three in a row against Ohio State. What a time, what a team. Onward to Indy.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><div style="font-style: italic;">She's like a rainbow</div><div style="font-style: italic;">Coming colours in the air</div><div style="font-style: italic;">Oh, everywhere</div><div style="font-style: italic;">She comes in colours<br /><br /></div><div>--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c1BThu95d8">She's a Rainbow</a>" by the Rolling Stones from their 1967 album <i>Their Satanic Majesties Request</i></div></span></div><div><span><b style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div><span><b style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 1,001</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">30-24 IS a Scorigami (I know, I'm just as surprised as you are.) (Five of Michigan's 12 games thus far this season have been Scorigamis.)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">110,615 was the attendance (the smallest home crowd to watch Michigan play a football game against Ohio State since the 1997 game.)<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 61-52-6 all-time against the Ohio State University.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won three straight over Ohio State. <i>Three straight for the first time since 1995-1997</i>.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 11-6-1 all-time on November 25, 6-5 vs Ohio State on this date. It marks Michigan's first win on this date since 1995, which allows me to yell BIAKA for a good reason.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 9-1 when scoring exactly 30 points (the loss is 31-30 to 1988 Miami).</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 17-18 all-time when allowing 24 points to the opposition.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 30 games all-time by precisely 6 points, most recently the 2020 Rutgers 3 OT game. (<i>Fun Fact: Michigan also beat Ohio State by a six-point margin in 1997 to finish an undefeated regular season</i>.)</li></ul></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-42186971533268841112023-11-18T21:59:00.004-05:002023-11-18T21:59:42.405-05:00(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGY3sr9py7VZ4ywfWv4ssCVridwcJcLaQ9tLNucrg7pu_SYVsA9scrtDWeClmVqq_1H2XrhjemKnpIyBzBcsKoaEIr3C0kZq9-96nh9yyuqTFWhC7XTMWp_uiIgwRWgYm13VLDK9Td2QR-62gORo2Pyfqg3ErBxw_wxF5CAHQ4rBT2bBorSBsLQ/s810/100wins-ap-nickwass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="810" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGY3sr9py7VZ4ywfWv4ssCVridwcJcLaQ9tLNucrg7pu_SYVsA9scrtDWeClmVqq_1H2XrhjemKnpIyBzBcsKoaEIr3C0kZq9-96nh9yyuqTFWhC7XTMWp_uiIgwRWgYm13VLDK9Td2QR-62gORo2Pyfqg3ErBxw_wxF5CAHQ4rBT2bBorSBsLQ/w640-h426/100wins-ap-nickwass.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A journey that began in 1879 has a new milestone. (Nick Wass/AP Photo)</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">"When I'm driving in my car<br />And that man comes on the radio<br />And he's telling me more and more<br />About some useless information<br />Supposed to fire my imagination<br />I can't get no, oh no, no, no!<br />Hey, hey, hey! That's what I'll say!."</span><div style="background-color: white; color: #000016; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrIPxlFzDi0" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1a39ff;">(</span>I Can't Get No) Satisfaction</a>" from the band's 1965 single of the same name<br /></span></span><div><b style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u><br /></u></b></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div>It was a lot this week. Which is weird because, in some ways, it was less than the week before, but in other ways, it was more. But it was a lot as a fan, so I can only presume it was worse as a player or coach. But it was reasonable to believe that the dust would settle enough when Saturday came, and Michigan would come out and play some solid football.</div><div><br /></div><div>We must have forgotten a critical truth of the college football season. The game before the Game is always stupid. Deeply stupid. To look back at the last few, there was last year's Illinois game, the 2021 Maryland game (perhaps the least stupid of the lot), the 2019 Indiana game in freezing rain, and the 2018 Indiana game that featured six Jake Moody field goal because the offense could not cash in. It's not that it's a trap game; it's just you don't want to lose anyone to injury before The Game, and you don't want to put too much on tape. That's a restrictor plate, and it can lead to some weird results.</div><div><br /></div><div>Michigan came out flat initially, but after a Maryland field goal, it got an offensive touchdown, a strip sack touchdown, a punt block converted into a safety, and then a touchdown drive to go up 20-3. Michigan looked ready to downshift into cruise mode, but Maryland had different ideas and got a touchdown to take it to 20-10. OK, Michigan, actual two-minute drill practice, which was going well enough, even with a near pick by JJ, which then became an actual pick in the end zone on the next play. There were many arguments as to why it happened: JJ's dinged up, and Roman Wilson had left the game as a precaution after a hit to the head on Michigan's second offensive drive. Maryland had some momentum and would get the ball back to start the third quarter.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sure enough, Maryland marched down the field and got a touchdown, and Michigan's 20-point lead was down to six, and every Michigan fan seemingly turned into a doom machine, especially when Michigan went three and out on three straight runs. Maryland looked like it would march down the field to take the lead when Mike Sainristil reminded the Terps that to live by Taulia Tagovailoa's arm is to die by Taulia Tagovailoa's arm. Sainristil got a crucial interception and nearly made it a pick-six before he was ruled down. No matter, Michigan moved the ball downfield and used a Semaj Morgan jet sweep to put themselves up 12 (a failed two-point conversion was in the mix.) Nope, Maryland immediately went back down the field and got another touchdown, and now, it was only down five points late in the third quarter. Michigan punted, but the defense came through, with a critical sack of Tagovailoa on third and 13, which allowed Michigan to get the ball at midfield on the ensuing punt. But then Michigan went three and out after a sure TD pass to a wide-open Cornelius Johnson on first down, but at least pinned Maryland inside their own ten. Kenneth Grant got a run stuff, then a sack that was nearly a safety that set up third and 18, which resulted in a Tagovailoa armpunt to Mike Sainristil, again. But once more, Michigan could do nothing with the ball, going backward thanks to a holding call in Trente Jones during a rare JJ McCarthy scramble during this game. This left it again on the foot of Tommy Doman, who executed a dead solid perfect punt downed at the Maryland 1-yard line. Four minutes remained on the clock, but Maryland would need to go the length of the field against a resurgent Michigan defense. It ended up being moot because on second down, Michigan's pass rush forced Tagovailoa into a pass without forcing him out of the pocket that got nowhere close enough to a Terp receiver. The officials threw a late flag and awarded intentional grounding in the end zone, thus a safety, giving Michigan a seven-point lead. Maryland would never touch the ball again, and Michigan escaped College Park with a win, the 1,000th in team history.</div><div><br /></div><div>Michigan played nowhere near their best football on this day, and it showed up repeatedly on the field. But once more, Michigan won over a bowl-eligible team on the road. It did what it needed to do. Ohio State did its part, and, once more, 11-0 Michigan and 11-0 Ohio State will face off in another edition of The Game. Who knows what potential horrors and distractions await during the week, but for one more week, Michigan kept all of its goals ahead of it despite all of the adversity it faced, self-induced and otherwise.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing more to say. Beat Ohio.</div></span><div><br /></div></div><div><b style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 1,000</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">31-24 is NOT a Scorigami (the other was a 1965 game against another ACC team, North Carolina. 29-24 would have been. The consensus thought this would be a more common score, even if Michigan got there in a weird way.)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">49,546 was the attendance (the smallest crowd to watch Michigan play a football game this season and the smallest crowd since...Maryland 2021.)<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 10-1 all-time against the University of Maryland.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won seven straight over Maryland.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 15-4-1 all-time on November 18, breaking a two-game losing streak on this date, which started with the 2006 edition of The Game.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 45-4 when scoring exactly 31 points.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 16-18 all-time when allowing 24 points to the opposition.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 51 games all-time by precisely 7 points, most recently the 2022 Maryland game. (<i>Fun Fact: Michigan also earned win #500 by a seven-point margin over Illinois</i>.)</li></ul></div></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com090 Stadium Dr, College Park, MD 20742, USA38.9902668 -76.947242310.680032963821155 -112.1034923 67.300500636178839 -41.7909923tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-33008075125718512462023-11-11T19:56:00.002-05:002023-11-11T19:56:15.187-05:00Street Fighting Man<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5ieSzwbDvjwRMpYPcN8WMdQRpUILoQaAka_FmVS0Y87W3_kS-umDsR4QHxU7VzRHKLrGGDsnxfNerROVAbdPW6Qz248vsNXGlcxLQDUtmkQq4MJP94B_OPic2DlC4BCEGwuRFkmzcFhki7EylLyJdFQQl6PCZm-Bu5Sm1lSBtbpF4kWbb8gcaqw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5ieSzwbDvjwRMpYPcN8WMdQRpUILoQaAka_FmVS0Y87W3_kS-umDsR4QHxU7VzRHKLrGGDsnxfNerROVAbdPW6Qz248vsNXGlcxLQDUtmkQq4MJP94B_OPic2DlC4BCEGwuRFkmzcFhki7EylLyJdFQQl6PCZm-Bu5Sm1lSBtbpF4kWbb8gcaqw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blake Corum, bloodied but unbowed. (<a href="https://twitter.com/chengelis/status/1723437180318515350/photo/1">Angelique Chengelis-<i>Detroit News</i></a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Yeah, think the time is right</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">For a palace revolution</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">But where I live, the game</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">To play is compromise solution."</span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUt0dZXPFoU" target="_blank">Street Fighting Man</a>" from the band's 1968 album <i>Beggar's Banquet</i><br /></span></span><span></span><div><span><b style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div>You could be forgiven for forgetting that Saturday's contest marked the first top ten matchup between Michigan and Penn State in Happy Valley since 1997's "Judgment Day." That would have been enough. But then Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti suspended Jim Harbaugh "for the remainder of the regular season" under the conference's sportsmanship policy in the wake of allegations of in-person scouting by a Michigan analyst. Michigan learned of the suspension when they landed in State College, leading to a series of social media posts by Michigan players that simply read "Bet." So many posts that said "Bet."</div><div><br /></div><div>Michigan's administration had hoped to get a Temporary Restraining Order that allowed Harbaugh to be on the sideline for the game. However, that did not come through, leaving the interim head coach reins to OC Sherrone Moore. I have to admit I thought for sure they would go with Mike Hart, which would have allowed Moore and Minter to focus on the playcalling duties, but it makes sense that Moore, seen widely as a leading candidate for several open jobs around the country, would get the call. </div><div><br /></div><div>In a game that lived up to the expectations of two high-level defenses, Penn State took an early lead on a field goal after running the first play inside the Michigan 10-yard line all season. Michigan looked shaky early on offense, but after a couple of protection adjustments, Michigan roared back with a pair of second quarter touchdowns on the ground, the first a short dive by Blake Corum, the second an explosive run by Donovan Edwards, coming on 75 and 78-yard drives, respectively. While Penn State would get a score late in the second quarter, after a successful halfback pass on a fourth down and then a Drew Allar scramble, James Franklin went for two, and Penn State missed, and it was 14-9 at the half. The stats said that, like last year, Michigan was outplaying Penn State, and it's worth noting that Michigan's win expectancy was virtually the same at halftime as it was last year.</div><div><br /></div><div>Penn State got the ball to start the second half and was moving the ball reasonably well until a Drew Allar fumble on a QB keeper recovered by Makari Paige. Michigan proceeded to squeeze the life over of the third quarter clock slowly. 13 plays, 45 yards, eight minutes of clock. Though the drive ended in just a field goal, those three points would prove critical in the final outcome and in the final disposition of the fourth quarter. Over the next six drives, neither Penn State's nor Michigan's offense could not put anything together, with no drive lasting longer than six plays and several three-and-outs. </div><div><br /></div><div>Penn State took the ball back at their own 26, and after a first down run, two quick Allar incompletions led to Franklin's...aggressive...decision to go for it on 4th and 2. Choosing to do so deep in his own territory, with two time-outs still in his pocket and over four minutes remaining, did not pay off. </div><div><br /></div><div>Michigan responded to this sudden change with a 30-yard run by Blake Corum to extend Michigan to a two-score lead. On the ensuing Penn State possession, a near interception by Michigan on first down nearly snuffed all the drama out of the game. Still, with a couple of assists from the officials, Penn State did march down the field to get a touchdown, but once again, Penn State went for two and failed, leaving Michigan still up two scores. Michigan recovered an onside kick, got a first down, and salted away a gratifying win. </div><div><br /></div><div>Coach Moore's postgame interview with Fox's Jenny Taft caught the raw emotion of the man (and a few expletives) who shouted out Harbaugh, the university president, the athletic department, the alumni, and the fans. Michigan got Win 999 without its head coach and a chance to be the first school to get Win 1000 next Saturday in College Park. Another week of drama regarding the Harbaugh suspension will ensue, but it's worth remembering that Harbaugh can still do everything during the week; he just can't be at the venue on game days. Michigan will likely continue to fight the suspension on due process and failure to follow the Big Ten's bylaws grounds, which I think they have to in terms of not conceding that the scheme was not necessarily improper (there is a way to read the vaguely written rules to make it reasonable. Whether you want to agree with that read is a different matter.) Michigan will be defiant to the joy of their fans and the scorn of the rest of the country. Michigan has embraced the villain role, which I never expected to see happen, but here we are. Well, what can a poor boy do? Except to play for a football band? 'Cause in sleepy Ann Arbor town, There's just no place for a street fighting man.</div></span><div><br /></div></div><div><span><b style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 0999</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">24-15 is a Scorigami (thanks Frames)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">110,846 was the attendance (second largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history, largest non-Big House crowd Michigan has ever played in front of.)<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 17-10 all-time against the Pennsylvania State University.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won three straight over Penn State.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 15-4 all-time on November 11, including 12 in a row (they are 13-1 since 11/11 became Veterans Day).<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 37-8 when scoring exactly 24 points.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 7-2 all-time when allowing 15 points to the opposition.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 10 games all-time by precisely 9 points, most recently the 2016 Michigan State game.</li></ul></span></div></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01 Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA 16802, USA40.8113202 -77.8550394999999912.501086363821152 -113.01128949999999 69.12155403617885 -42.69878949999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-70135860902463594502023-11-05T15:42:00.006-05:002023-11-05T15:42:50.303-05:00Gimme Shelter<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8NuRzB-FQWdqDWkGFmd0Pph_nxI0nahQcwrYB0uueNbQ5om6BkxNp8RJGt2i4WePchwc3q9em6ScVzo4tLjiqOyLwZ178SMUXLIomHOwixfDiycKnRoZWPdP9TOdphytqxv68k6I2x7D2wEaf_bSg3tEFXOd3DjLG73v6IO5aD47t6XWZkvqzIw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8NuRzB-FQWdqDWkGFmd0Pph_nxI0nahQcwrYB0uueNbQ5om6BkxNp8RJGt2i4WePchwc3q9em6ScVzo4tLjiqOyLwZ178SMUXLIomHOwixfDiycKnRoZWPdP9TOdphytqxv68k6I2x7D2wEaf_bSg3tEFXOd3DjLG73v6IO5aD47t6XWZkvqzIw=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"It's just a shot away, it's just a shot away." (Jacob Hamilton | <a href="https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2023/11/our-favorite-photos-from-michigans-win-over-purdue.html" target="_blank">MLive</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Ooh, a storm is threatening</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">My very life today</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">If I don't get some shelter</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Ooh yeah, I'm gonna fade away<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbmS3tQJ7Os">Gimme Shelter</a>" by The Rolling Stones from their 1969 album <i>Let It Bleed.</i></span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">It was certainly not a boring bye week for the Michigan football program. It was a week that required a lot of incredulity, skepticism, and steeling oneself against wish casting in both directions. Facts were few and far between, but information still needed to be presented as such, with conflicting interpretations of what was, what is, and what shall be. I found myself wanting to exclude myself from any of these conversations because I was not comfortable with what I actually knew about things. </span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">But I can talk about this game.</span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">One of the most challenging things about setting a high standard for yourself or your team is that it can be challenging to maintain that standard. Standards are not set over one game or two games, but eight games into the season, everyone around the country had a pretty good sense of what Michigan is capable of doing.</span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Early on, the best feeling about the game was that Michigan looked sharp in all phases of the game in the first quarter, something that had not been happening with regularity at home this season, getting out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and while there was a slightly off-target pass from JJ McCarthy here or there, it looked very much like this was the match-up of an 8-0 team and a 2-6 team.</span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Then, the flatness settled in.</span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">It did not actually show up mathematically in the analytics because of the weirdness of how Purdue got to this point. Still, a long Hudson Card completion where a freshman DB appeared to give up on the play (which is probably not what happened, but the way it looked in real time was rough), Purdue extending a drive by getting a punt to carom off one of Michigan's blockers, and Michigan trying to get a 4th and 1 on their own 34. The latter two events gave Purdue excellent field position, with which they could only garner two field goals. Simultaneously, Michigan just could not move the ball with any regularity or consistency, </span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The malaise continued after the half, and it could be chalked up to a combination of Michigan perhaps believing that they had enough points to win the game and not wanting anyone to get hurt, seemingly telling JJ not to take off and run after the first quarter, and a little bit of post-bye week rust. But cracking the playbook back open just a little, a nifty end around to the speedy Semaj Morgan, bolstered by a neat fake on the counter, and Michigan extended the lead to 21 points and got things unstuck. A couple more fourth quarter touchdowns would put a bow on things, tarnished only slightly by Purdue's late drive that found the end zone on a hanging arm punt on a fourth and three. This pushed Purdue to 13 points, the highest total of any opponent this season. But Michigan came into this game and handled its business ahead of its first ranked match-up of the year in State College next Saturday against the Nittany Lions. No one knows what the week ahead holds, though many would like you to think they do to sell premium subscriptions. But for now, we wait, and we hope.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 0998</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">41-13 is a Scorigami (41-6 would have also been.)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">110,245 was the attendance (106th largest crowd in Michigan Stadium history.)<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 47-14 all-time against Purdue University.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won six straight over Purdue.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 14-6-1 all-time on November 4.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 19-1 when scoring exactly 49 points (you may remember the one loss).</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 45-12-1 all-time when allowing 13 points to the opposition.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 31 games all-time by precisely 28 points, including once already this season against UNLV.</li></ul></span></span></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-89692898436235738712023-10-22T11:10:00.002-04:002023-10-22T11:10:11.376-04:00Paint It, Black<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYc5z-sEkToO3XWnZ6poVU6ZTS1qg8sh5M9XO4Fx3WydNz4Js-4pU0jR-wpr2mmGRPVrnt8v0A_6XnhUDJ2Jn7KrbTLQOBTynU8qnBpENIc5cBqngIhrClZImWre8c6mwh7i6vH8kcQOKxijX5WKuJOGFMsbkpEzPjT08QHknL7U0-binyFaevDg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYc5z-sEkToO3XWnZ6poVU6ZTS1qg8sh5M9XO4Fx3WydNz4Js-4pU0jR-wpr2mmGRPVrnt8v0A_6XnhUDJ2Jn7KrbTLQOBTynU8qnBpENIc5cBqngIhrClZImWre8c6mwh7i6vH8kcQOKxijX5WKuJOGFMsbkpEzPjT08QHknL7U0-binyFaevDg=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pick Six into Hitting the Bunyan (Michigan Athletics)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">Maybe then, I'll fade away</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">And not have to face the facts</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's not easy facing up</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">When your whole world is black</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">No more will my green sea</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Go turn a deeper blue</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">I could not foresee this thing</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Happening to you</span></div></div><div>"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg">Paint It, Black</a>" by the Rolling Stones from their 1966 album <i>Aftermath</i><br /><br /></div>Well, that was something else. The Bobby Williams Game in 2002, the 49-3 beatdown so bad that when asked if he had lost his team, then-MSU head coach Bobby Williams replied, "I don't know," has long been my gold standard for "Michigan not only has more talent, they want it more than Michigan State" games. The nature of the rivalry, especially in the 21st century, has yet to allow Michigan to demonstrate much of this. So when you combined what this blog's founder Geoff called "the Bad Ideas Bowl" of playing this game at night in East Lansing with liquor sales allowed for the first time in the stadium, there might have been a little trepidation.<div><br /></div><div>Michigan left no doubt in their intentions.</div><div><br /></div><div>The 12-play, 84-yard opening drive was not flawless, but it showed one of the elements that Michigan has demonstrated time and again this year: their ability to keep moving the chains even when it doesn't look great. An uncharacteristic false start penalty on Corum and an incomplete pass by JJ? No problem, just find Barner for 21 yards. It wasn't dink and dunk; it was purposeful, efficient, and ended in the end zone for six. </div><div><br /></div><div>Michigan State's first drive looked interesting enough. NBC made a point to show Katin Houser going over to the sidelines to get the play call on each play, a precaution against the accusations of sign stealing by Michigan that had cropped up during the week and some thought might be a distraction. But for anything Michigan State tried to get going, a holding call put Michigan State off schedule, leading to a 4th and 2 at midfield that Michigan State went for. At the time, it was a good call and a right call, but they failed to convert and gave Michigan a short field with which to work. A series of McCarthy passes ended with, once again, Roman Wilson in the end zone (giving him the most TDs by a Michigan wide receiver since Desmond Howard in 1991.) Michigan was up 14-0, and a rout looked at least like a reasonable surmise as the end result.</div><div><br /></div><div>The rest of the half, Michigan's defense did not allow Michigan State to gain more than ten yards on a drive while adding two more touchdowns by Colston Loveland and nearly a third were it not for a false start call on Donovan Edwards that probably should have been picked up since <a href="https://youtu.be/5_fYPgxE8EQ?t=691">Edwards was moving backward</a>, but nevertheless, a 10-second runoff ensued. </div><div><br /></div><div>Michigan State had a chance to come out after halftime with their scripted drive, and it looked promising, but faced with a 4th and 7, Mike Sainristil picked off a Houser pass and ran it back 72 yards for a touchdown. Michigan's fourth pick-six of the season.</div><div><br /></div><div>The rest of the game was largely academic. Michigan State got into the personal fouls as a form of expression territory; Michigan's backups were undisciplined themselves. Still, a wonderful bookend of a Jaden McBurrows interception led, in part, to an Alex Orji option back drive that resulted in the final TD of the game after Michigan State was more than happy to commit yet another personal foul, setting Michigan up with first and goal from the MSU six. Orji put the capper on a night of domination, Michigan's largest win over the Spartans since they joined the Big Ten and the largest shutout victory over the Spartans since they were renamed Michigan State. Perhaps Michigan State's black uniforms were just knowing that the atmosphere in Spartan Stadium would end up funereal for their fans?</div><div><br /></div><div>No one knows how the rest of things play out this year. Is the NCAA investigation a witch hunt because they're pissed at Harbaugh, or did Michigan actually screw something up? Is Michigan actually good, or do they just keep processing opponents so thoroughly it's hard to tell if anyone they're playing is good? None of these answers will come this week during the bye, but for now, Michigan looks like they're rolling, and that's enjoyable enough.</div><div><br /></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 0997</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">49-0 is NOT a Scorigami (one of the fastest confirmations I've ever had because of Michigan's first two Rose Bowls. This was the seventh such occurrence, most recent was Homecoming 1974 vs Minnesota.)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">74,206 was the attendance (Yep, it wasn't even a sellout at Spartan Stadium.)<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 73-38-5 all-time against MAC/MSC/Michigan State University.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 2 straight over Michigan State.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 17-3-0 all-time on October 21.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 21-0 when scoring exactly 49 points.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 337-0-12 all-time when shutting their opponent out.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan earns its first shutout since 2022 UConn, its first B1G shutout since 2019 Rutgers, and its first road shutout since 2016 Rutgers.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 8 games all-time by precisely 49 points (the seven 49-0 results and the really wacky 70-21 game against Illinois in 1981, a game that Michigan was down 21-7 in the first quarter before scoring NINE unanswered touchdowns. <a href="https://bentley.mivideo.it.umich.edu/media/t/1_djzmwlb4" target="_blank">The Bentley has the digitized game film</a>!)</li></ul></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com1325 W Shaw Ln, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA42.7281862 -84.484876214.417952363821158 -119.6411262 71.038420036178849 -49.3286262tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-46888620597346327862023-10-15T15:37:00.002-04:002023-10-15T15:37:19.490-04:00Under My Thumb<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-VHYJ1pKhGULVP0M_KBF0pXxAy5k88-lGDzfoQ7KhfU9szENrseGaqxCxUccgDVxpLg9bpim3z8hruD76r8nZOIKyHG_A3g47TfBqUQiilcHNGKHiKTZY7OerlYoZPtTakUM3V9301zmuERjbk9g34aJdAQyv92eSxBkHGCHfsNJPQBCToJs5A/s2048/roman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="2048" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-VHYJ1pKhGULVP0M_KBF0pXxAy5k88-lGDzfoQ7KhfU9szENrseGaqxCxUccgDVxpLg9bpim3z8hruD76r8nZOIKyHG_A3g47TfBqUQiilcHNGKHiKTZY7OerlYoZPtTakUM3V9301zmuERjbk9g34aJdAQyv92eSxBkHGCHfsNJPQBCToJs5A/w640-h428/roman.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Roman and Colston, after Michigan went ahead for good. (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/maizenbluenation/sets/72177720311921530/" target="_blank">Maize and Blue Nation</a>)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div>"It's down to me, oh yeah</div><div>The way she talks when she's spoken to</div><div>Down to me, the change has come</div><div>She's under my thumb</div><div>Yeah, it feels alright."<br /><br /></div></div>--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHcR648Cg3I" target="_blank">Under My Thumb</a>" by The Rolling Stones from their 1966 album <i>Aftermath</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div>I don't like to think about Michigan losing to Indiana. Truth be told, it has only happened twice in my lifetime, one of which was the COVID year that we don't talk about. It's just, "Oh, Indiana games are always going to be stupid." This is not wholly true, but the stupid ones do stand out. But Indiana has only beaten Michigan ten times in seventy-two tries ever. The Hoosiers have not won in Ann Arbor since the Johnson administration. So there's this strangeness of simultaneously not wanting to worry about Indiana but being really annoyed that I have to worry about Indiana.</div><div><br /></div><div>So when the first quarter ended with Michigan having not crossed midfield AND being down 7-0 to the Hoosiers on a cold, wet, miserable day in Ann Arbor in the middle of a solar eclipse, you could be forgiven for thinking this was about to be one of the weird ones. But to start the second quarter, Michigan ran seven consecutive plays for positive yardage, ending with a Blake Corum one-yard TD run, and the game was all tied up. This is the closest it would be the rest of the way.</div><div><br /></div><div>A lot of the rest of the game felt perfunctory. A long drive that resulted in a TD pass to Roman Wilson, a shorter TD drive set up by a good punt return by Tyler Morris that ended with a Blake Corum TD, but not before a Mahomesian flip pass by McCarthy to Donovan Edwards that got Michigan inside the 5. Michigan scored on every subsequent possession until the game-ending kneel-down, and the result was a 52-7 final. (There was a tense moment at the end of the game where Indiana looked to have a touchdown that would have put Indiana at 14 points, but the Hoosier receiver Omar Cooper, Jr. was found to have stepped out of bounds before he made his catch, and Michigan kept the result as 52 unanswered points.</div><div><br /></div><div>This game was not boring, especially because there were a lot of cool plays by Michigan on offense and defense (two picks and two fumble recoveries, for starters.) but, at a certain point on a rainy October day, if you're in the stadium, no matter how well you've prepped your outfit choices, you're getting ready for it to be over. Michigan stayed on course for all of its goals, especially important as they headed into Michigan State week up at East Lansing. A great deal of business was accomplished, just as expected.</div><div><br /></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 0996</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">52-7 is NOT a Scorigami (previously occurred October 29, 1988, vs. Northwestern)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">110,264 was the attendance (highest of the season, 106th largest crowd in Michigan Stadium history. Especially impressive given the weather and being Fall Break.)<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 62-10-0 all-time against Indiana.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 2 straight over Indiana, 27 straight in non-pandemic seasons, and 22 straight in Ann Arbor over the Hoosiers.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 14-4-1 all-time on October 14.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 13-0 when scoring exactly 52 points. (This marks the second time this season that Michigan has had the exact same offensive scoring output in back-to-back weeks)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 111-13-4 all-time when allowing precisely 7 points.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 7 games all-time by precisely 45 points.</li></ul><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">(Also, through a lot of hard work and cross-checking, I found the two issues that were making the Win Count not make sense. One of them was a transcription error in the original data from 1998 that made that year's Wisconsin game appear in 1988. But if you would like to see The Spreadsheet, <a href="https://1drv.ms/x/s!AvqunXlAyu5iiPoiFNI-G1OKCbWWhw?e=m9nnzk" target="_blank">please click here.</a>)</span></span></div></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-22207598653248454422023-10-08T12:30:00.002-04:002023-10-09T17:42:34.865-04:00Jumpin' Jack Flash<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLXfKBakXxT7exa4gGADX9wQsZqQi0qi8YgTlsqMMx0ifbCfTka_Ai_X3bzo4u66KWGF5phw_lxliqCww_EeauZKhzTMgfnytZxDf5vfdf7Uc0cROcEc9OWKrSCbCXiGQxCYqpc-IT578BUV3aVG6gn-hrjPT5YNgV0GX56ZqEF6nvuELmFkfWg/s1200/jugsecure.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLXfKBakXxT7exa4gGADX9wQsZqQi0qi8YgTlsqMMx0ifbCfTka_Ai_X3bzo4u66KWGF5phw_lxliqCww_EeauZKhzTMgfnytZxDf5vfdf7Uc0cROcEc9OWKrSCbCXiGQxCYqpc-IT578BUV3aVG6gn-hrjPT5YNgV0GX56ZqEF6nvuELmFkfWg/w640-h640/jugsecure.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kris Jenkins shows off the spoils.</i> (Michigan Athletics)</td></tr></tbody></table><div><span><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge"><br />"I was born in a crossfire hurricane</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">And I howled at the morning drivin' rain</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">But it's all right, I'm jumpin' jack flash</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's a gas, gas, gas"</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3dFpQzu54w" target="_blank">Jumpin' Jack Flash</a>" by the Rolling Stones from the 1968 non-album single of the same name</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">The thing that struck me in last night's post-game interviews is that while I don't think it was the actual plan, I think the Michigan coaching staff accidentally said, "What if we built the whole team out of dorks who sincerely love football and are also really good at it?" Like, <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSports/status/1711494268492169362">to listen to JJ and Blake postgame</a>, they said all the right things about the team, about not focusing on anything more than the task at hand and doing the job they need to do, but you just get this vibe of the team reflects this notion that it's OK to be a football dork. If attitude reflects leadership, we may have the most Jim Harbaugh team ever.</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;">I thought it last week on the second Roman Wilson touchdown, but I think it was confirmed on both McCarthy's second touchdown run this week and the Loveland TD. JJ might be everything I had ever wanted or hoped for in a Michigan quarterback. Accurate, smart, fearless, has enough of an arm to go deep, willing to tuck it and run, can throw off platform, can avoid pressure, and plays with joy. On his second TD run, McCarthy did a dead-leg slide step to...pump fake a defender with his legs, who he then stiff-armed same said Gopher into the turf, and got in for six. On the Loveland touchdown, JJ saw a free rusher likely coming to his left, adjusted his line protections, Mullins picked up a blitzing linebacker, and JJ threw a dime to Colston Loveland as he got him (actually got roughed as he threw) to put Michigan up by 28 (thanks to Todd Blackledge <a href="https://youtu.be/pbj5CJBjDFQ?t=549">for explaining this very concisely on the replay</a>). </div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;">Michigan's defense outscored the Gophers 12-10 thanks to pick sixes by Will Johnson and Keon Sabb, and other than one bad bit of coverage at the end of the first half did not really allow the Gophers to do much of anything on offense. It was a complete game from top to bottom, every member of the traveling party, save backup long snapper Greg Tarr, got into the game, and Michigan handled its business as one would expect or hope. The Jug stays in Ann Arbor for another year (hey, Minnesota ended up on next year's new schedule as well), and Michigan gets to decide where the next five scores go on the Jug (social media seemed to indicate they'll be putting them above the Minnesota M). Hoosiers for Big Noon next week.</div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge"><b><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 0995</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">52-10 IS a Scorigami</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">52,179 was the attendance.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 77-25-3 all-time against Minnesota.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 4 straight over Minnesota, and 18 straight in Minneapolis.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 17-4 all-time on October 7 (weirdly, Michigan was 1-3 in their last four Oct. 7 games going into last night, including that MSU game in 2017 in the squall line. Also, Michigan has been a Top Ten team in each of their last eight October 7 games.)<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 12-0 when scoring exactly 52 points. (Weird note: Four of the games with exactly 52 points were against Minnesota. Minnesota has never had the same score on their side of any of those four.)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 56-10-1 all-time when allowing precisely 10 points.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 15 games all-time by precisely 42 points.</li></ul></span></div></span></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com0420 23rd Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA44.976525 -93.22454619999999216.666291163821157 -128.3807962 73.286758836178848 -58.068296199999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-40934309916536871252023-10-01T12:00:00.002-04:002023-10-01T12:00:19.973-04:00Sway<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4XY8SXB5IT4RmU43092RPY4Jf4khZAcx8HKbPUmDWxTqfQKDo9ThbuObFBUy1vr5ew3zQJr6xBXkWNwrRt0UmYQuiEkChAOEHaNmvjuSsyT8PhpGoJVZ1haLV0e26D0ep0kbfGOu-ONk6a5GgLy_amB9N8qGcWFb8hyETxnBYHfBFvbhsl2C2Q/s2000/roman.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4XY8SXB5IT4RmU43092RPY4Jf4khZAcx8HKbPUmDWxTqfQKDo9ThbuObFBUy1vr5ew3zQJr6xBXkWNwrRt0UmYQuiEkChAOEHaNmvjuSsyT8PhpGoJVZ1haLV0e26D0ep0kbfGOu-ONk6a5GgLy_amB9N8qGcWFb8hyETxnBYHfBFvbhsl2C2Q/w640-h426/roman.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This should not have worked, but it did, and it was spectacular. (Patrick Barron)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>"Did you ever wake up to find</div><div>A day that broke up your mind</div><div>Destroyed your notion of circular time"<br /><br /></div><div>"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk0crTGCwfE" target="_blank">Sway</a>" by the Rolling Stones from their 1971 album <i>Sticky Fingers</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>This was more like it. This is what most of Michigan fandom wanted but did not hope for. Michigan has never had an easy time of it in either of their B1G games in Lincoln, but having lost the toss, Michigan started on offense for the first time all season and began a methodical drive, churning out first downs without any play longer than nine yards, setting up 2nd and 2 at the Nebraska 29 when J.J. McCarthy waited out the patterns to develop thanks to a clean pocket and fired an absolute laser into the back of the end zone where, somehow, Roman Wilson did his best Tyrone Prothro impression, held on to the ball, and opened the scoring on the day for Michigan. It's easier to say in retrospect, but the vibes were immediately excellent after this.</div><div><br /></div><div>So when, on their second play from scrimmage, Nebraska had a pass batted in the air and Kenneth Grant, quickly becoming a fan favorite, waited for it to come down like the biggest kid in your fifth-grade class getting ready to pull down a wounded duck in a recess game of "500", letting Michigan cash in three plays later on a beautiful 20-yard rush by Kalel Mullings, yep, the rout was on.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nebraska did try to make a game of it with a solid 68 yard drive, but Michigan stopped Nebraska on a 4th and 1 and turned around to go 88 yards in nine plays to get a touchdown when J.J. saw nothing but green grass in front of him and celebrated by feasting on some corn on the cob.</div><div><br /></div><div>A series of three traded punts ensued, and with time winding down, J.J. McCarthy did something that qualifies as all I have ever wanted from a Michigan quarterback, all in one play:<br /><br /><br /></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hJ8shypNVwE?si=mKnqooWGhWaI3rEf&start=252" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>McCarthy took the snap, saw pressure, and thus, he rolled out to his left, he had plenty of space in front of him if he wanted to run, but instead threw an absolute dime to the back of the end zone (Jason Benetti said it had a vapor trail on it) to a crossing Roman Wilson, who snagged it in stride, touchdown Michigan, 28-0.</div><div><br /></div><div>The second half was largely about keeping up the solid effort, scoring on their three drives, pulling the starters to avoid injury, and save one big bust by the backups to allow Nebraska to keep their scoring streak alive, largely just doing the good work over and over again, it was a comfortable, easy-going afternoon of Michigan football. Not a bad way to start the road slate.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jug security is now at a premium for the week to come.</div><div><br /></div><div><b style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 0994</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">45-7 is NOT a Scorigami (fifth ever, most recently August 30, 2003, against Central Michigan.)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">87,134 was the attendance.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 8-4-1 all-time against Nebraska.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 4 straight over Nebraska.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 10-3 all-time on September 30.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 23-1 when scoring exactly 45 points. (sighs in Fiesta Bowl)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 110-13-4 all-time when allowing precisely 7 points.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 18 games all-time by precisely 38 points.</li></ul></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com0One Memorial Stadium Drive, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA40.8206975 -96.70558814.529851363386591 -131.861838 67.111543636613419 -61.549338000000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-39475568997372297282023-09-24T15:21:00.000-04:002023-09-24T15:21:40.205-04:0019th Nervous Breakdown<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxae_KZk31QZtjywffNrSV__V40Z1bzk7Imnv8_eyamZ9T-SJnK2eQh3Kca__2MXZgO-uT18PLq3NjSjbZAi6czyV_7Qi_btycv68t-7fLUFUf9FzikdwBmxHVgAOkdPKp-CDl6rIpdWVswDxUM4w0ZaHVQq7iuCBKGa1Ps8bsgKMQxiykZP9vw/s800/way-to-go-idaho-jacob-Hamilton-mlive.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxae_KZk31QZtjywffNrSV__V40Z1bzk7Imnv8_eyamZ9T-SJnK2eQh3Kca__2MXZgO-uT18PLq3NjSjbZAi6czyV_7Qi_btycv68t-7fLUFUf9FzikdwBmxHVgAOkdPKp-CDl6rIpdWVswDxUM4w0ZaHVQq7iuCBKGa1Ps8bsgKMQxiykZP9vw/w640-h426/way-to-go-idaho-jacob-Hamilton-mlive.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Way to go, I-da-ho! (Jacob Hamilton/MLive)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Well, it seems to me that you have seen too much in too few years</span></div><div><span><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">And though you've tried you just can't hide your eyes are edged with tears</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">You better stop, look around</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown"</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEseb6-hssc" target="_blank">19th Nervous Breakdown</a>" by The Rolling Stones from the 1966 single of the same name.</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">Having listened to Ryan Nanni's very fun new podcast series "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/06TOL0v2gpv9R6qL1gKC7B?si=3acbfb98f08248f7" target="_blank">We're Not All Like This</a>," where he talks to members of various college football fanbases to try to understand the similarities and differences among the various fandoms of the college football landscape, I am hesitant to assign any particular neuroses to be unique to Michigan, though we do have some very specific quirks. That said, Michigan fans' willingness to believe that everything is about to go on an express elevator straight into the depths of hell is definitely one that Michigan fans seem to have written into their default programming.</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">So it was no surprise that when Rutgers scored on a long passing play on a busted coverage on the third play of the game, there were some folks who felt the bottom rumbling under their feet. This was exacerbated by a quick Michigan three and out, and then a Rutgers three and out that saw Michigan pinned back inside their own ten after a booming punt and roll by Rutgers Aussie punter.</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;">That is when Sherrone Moore's playcalling got Michigan back in business, whether it was the unleashed wheel route for Donovan for 33 or the flea flicker+ that found Colston Loveland for 35 and brought the ball inside the five. Quick work by Blake Corum on the goal line (so unlike last year's first-half adventures in Piscataway), and Michigan had the ball game tied up. </div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;">While this should have stabilized the situation, the traded missed field goals felt like so many dumb things were still afoot in this game. But the defense got another three and out, which was followed by a long and fruitful drive ending with Semaj Morgan's first career TD, and Michigan headed for the locker room up 14-7. Not great, but certainly better than being down or being tied at the half.</div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;">After the annual Blast from the Past wrapped up, the field goal drive to open the second half seemed to take a bit of wind out of the sails of Michigan Stadium, especially as Rutgers put together a sustained drive, built off some interesting officiating decisions on a day full of them, and it felt like Rutgers would be rewarded for their aggressiveness on going for it on fourth and two. </div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;">So when Mike Sainristil sniffed out a screen pass, picked it off, cast off an airborne Junior Coulson, and then got Kenneth Grant and a couple of other friends to come with him to the end zone, the ensuing 24-7 lead completely altered the feeling in the stadium. Relief settled in as the crowd started doing the math on how little Rutgers had done on offense since the opening drive and felt confident that this one was in hand One more touchdown by Michigan and a clock vampire drive to end the game that burned seven minutes in ten plays and Win 993 was in the books.</div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;">I have no idea if Rutgers is good. I don't know if Rutgers knows if they're good. They're definitely not bad. I don't know if Michigan is great, but they're definitely very good. But it's also September, and rendering judgments on an incomplete body of work is a thing we have done for years, with limited success, and while we should know better, I don't think we want to because we need to be able to quantify how we feel and why. We've seen too much in our years, after all.</div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><b><u>Tales from the Spreadsheet<br /></u></b><ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Win 0993</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">31-7 is NOT a Scorigami (seventh ever, most recently September 5, 2009, against Western Michigan.)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">109,879 is the 100th-largest crowd Michigan has played in front of, just ahead of, 2001 Western Michigan.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 9-1 all-time against Rutgers in the battle of the two oldest programs in FBS.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 9 straight over Rutgers and 4-0 vs. the Scarlet Knights on Homecoming</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 9-0 all-time on September 23.<br /><br /></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 43-4 when scoring exactly 31 points</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan moves to 109-13-4 all-time when allowing precisely 7 points.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Michigan has won 24 games all-time by precisely 24 points.</li></ul></div></span></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 N Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2944968 -83.747203213.984262963821152 -118.9034532 70.604730636178843 -48.5909532tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-13635246936249304502023-09-17T19:57:00.001-04:002023-09-17T19:57:06.618-04:00Can't You Hear Me Knocking?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TV6Fq_ujjWQbFxgfwzVUeW3ht_mQdAUeUlUWMD7T4rlFw6bXao0rpE6UvMfienp6_zj9Ikqw3vJKAtBNBtIEvA4yoscBgsN1P0C4aXHsmPy17f9d--WwfOV30bUucXkKNBDyBtmtVmUDOUQQhMMqeAAIljopsxNesEJzVXZ12nX3ofjJW1-RcA/s2596/krisjenkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1731" data-original-width="2596" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TV6Fq_ujjWQbFxgfwzVUeW3ht_mQdAUeUlUWMD7T4rlFw6bXao0rpE6UvMfienp6_zj9Ikqw3vJKAtBNBtIEvA4yoscBgsN1P0C4aXHsmPy17f9d--WwfOV30bUucXkKNBDyBtmtVmUDOUQQhMMqeAAIljopsxNesEJzVXZ12nX3ofjJW1-RcA/w640-h426/krisjenkins.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kris Jenkins, skill position player.</i> (<a href="https://mgoblog.com/content/2023-mgophotos-game-week-3-bowling-green">David Wilcomes</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><i><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hear me prowlin'</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I'm gonna take you down</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hear me growlin'</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Yeah, I've got flat-ten feet now, now, now, now</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hear me howlin'</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">And all, all around your street now</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hear me knockin'</span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">And all, all around your town<br /><br /></span></i><div><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5uNKKjGpg8">Can't You Hear Me Knocking?</a>" by The Rolling Stones from their 1971 album <i>Sticky Fingers</i></span></div><div><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">One of the stranger parts about night games is that the narratives of the weekend of college football may already be established by the time the game kicks off. Perhaps a blood week is brewing, perhaps it's just a day of the big boys taking care of business, or perhaps it's just a weird day, by the time 7:30 rolls around, you sort of know what's up. Yesterday, the narrative was mixed; some of the teams in the Top Ten were struggling in games that looked as if they would roll, and some were rolling as expected. So, which side of the fence would Michigan land on by the time the night was over.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">You wanted to believe that the weirdness of the first big hit pass down the sidelines, which was called incomplete, only to see that overturned without any real evidence that it was complete, but Michigan got a "next three and out" to put together a four-play, 77-yard drive, highlighted by a big Blake Corum run that the whole stadium had been waiting for since the season kicked off to go up 7-0 and early. The vibe was good, Michigan was going to follow the path of Washington and Ohio State this evening.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">It seemed to be rolling that way, especially after a subsequent three-and-out and solid punt return to get Michigan starting on the BGSU 43. A bunch of quick hitters, and Michigan has second and goal on the five.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Then all hell broke loose.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">JJ threw an interception that looked like someone missed an assignment, and McCarthy locked on his first read, which earned the Falcons a touchback. Bowling Green then proceeded to put together one of those maddening drives where Michigan would do its job on first and second down, only to lose contain for a big gain on third down (including another baffling sideline adjacent catch). Holding fast when it mattered, the defense would force a field goal, and BG would be down just 7-3.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">On the subsequent kickoff, Max Bredenson seemed somewhat surprised by the short kickoff but fielded it well, and then made a decision to try and get some yards, which ended up with him fumbling the ball and Bowling Green had even better field position than a surprise onside kick would have garnered them. Michigan's defense did its job and once more prevented a first down and saw the Falcons attempt another short field goal. Michigan remained in the lead, but the vibes in the stadium were dreadful.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">When </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Braiden McGregor fielded the subsequent short kickoff, and himself fumbled it (thankfully recovering it), Michigan Stadium seemingly wanted a return to normalcy, which for four plays, seemed to be in order, but another JJ interception and it became one of those moments where you longed to understand what was up.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Praise for the Michigan defense here. Put in rough positions over and over in the second quarter, they, by and large, got the job done, including a great three and out that saw BGSU gain -1 yard on the sequence after JJ's second pick. McCarthy, to his credit, did get back in the saddle and found Loveland for 22 and Roman Wilson for 33 yards and a touchdown to put Michigan up 14-6 late in the second. Michigan's defense also turned the beat around and got a pick of their own thanks to a wonderful read by Quinten Johnson, and while they couldn't cash it in, they got to halftime with a chance to regroup.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><i>An interlude here: The new lights are fine, but perhaps maybe don't kick into the fancy light show so quickly after a touchdown? It just seems kind of cheap and the sort of thing that we were doing because we can. I know I am not the target audience here, but can anyone show us who was asking for this particular "enhancement" to the Michigan Stadium experience.</i></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">A couple of turnovers on back-to-back possessions for the Falcons after the half, which Michigan cashed in for ten points, lifted the collective ennui lurking in the Big House and a flea flicker bomb to Cornelius Johnson, which required some fancy tip drill skills, and Michigan closed the scoring for the remainder of the night for a 31-6 win. Which was essentially in line with the rest of the non-conference schedule.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">My working theory is that this was the culmination of three weeks of everyone on the coaching staff being slightly out of place because of Jim Harbaugh's suspension. Everyone has been doing a job that isn't quite the one that they are supposed to be doing. This week, it was Sherrone Moore's turn to be the interim boss. Next week, Harbaugh returns, the team goes back into something more like normal, and I think that will make a difference, which is good because the ever-annoying Schianomen of Rutgers are coming for a Homecoming match-up. As always, ugly wins count just the same.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><div><b><u>Tales from The Spreadsheet</u></b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Win 0992</li><li>31-6 is NOT a Scorigami (fourth ever, most recently October 22, 1988, on Homecoming against Indiana)</li><li>109,955 is the 122nd-largest crowd Michigan has played in front of, just ahead of, 2010 Bowling Green.<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 3-0 all-time against East Carolina.</li><li>Michigan moves to 4-2 all-time on September 16.<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 42-4 when scoring exactly 31 points</li><li>Michigan moves to 83-5-4 all-time when allowing precisely 6 points.</li><li>Michigan has won 19 games all-time by precisely 25 points.</li></ul></div></span></span></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-64932615308814378222023-09-10T14:25:00.003-04:002023-09-10T19:59:19.739-04:00Tumblin' Dice<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd74HUqJcLqabirqk6yaAlBd_kjSD5NFQRkPcJ0ni--pWypzjnPxyFS1GLK2jsLcDkXmUYSWefc-4JwAwJpAnjEv8w0lEZvKNDaa5JZKIhiOnVxAgsjSNHb712-rCcQy8lM09qO8B_8nSOcbz6OJAZzDoL23TpUPjQQitc2OdpTpiTkgJ5HGkl1w/s2000/romanwilson.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd74HUqJcLqabirqk6yaAlBd_kjSD5NFQRkPcJ0ni--pWypzjnPxyFS1GLK2jsLcDkXmUYSWefc-4JwAwJpAnjEv8w0lEZvKNDaa5JZKIhiOnVxAgsjSNHb712-rCcQy8lM09qO8B_8nSOcbz6OJAZzDoL23TpUPjQQitc2OdpTpiTkgJ5HGkl1w/w640-h427/romanwilson.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="text-align: left;">Roman Wilson is as consistent as the beat of an 808 drum machine. (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1700647343366811744/photo/1" style="text-align: left;">Patrick Barron</a><span style="text-align: left;">)</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><i>Honey, got no money<br />I'm all sixes and sevens and nines<br />Say now baby, I'm the rank outsider<br />You can be my partner in crime</i><br /><br />--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMoi_m2G6XU">Tumblin' Dice</a>" by the Rolling Stones, from their 1972 album <i>Exile on Main Street</i><br /><br />I am too young to remember when it happened on initially, but during the 1970s, long-tenured Detroit sports curmudgeon Joe Falls would lambast Michigan for playing "dull and boring football," which somehow the Athletic Department turned <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Michigan_Alumnus/kElYAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22dull+and+boring%22+football+michigan+%22joe+falls%22&pg=RA12-PT1&printsec=frontcover">into a selling point for Falls' book</a> on Michigan's relatively new coach. I would argue that there's nothing wrong with dull and boring football because rarely could a dull and boring team be bad. They could be middling, but they're likely very, very, very good, and that ruthless efficiency feels "dull and boring."<br /><br />The inequalities of college football scheduling, for much of the post-World War II era, and certainly during the post-<i>NCAA v. OU</i> television-saturated era, much of September has featured P5 teams facing G5 teams, G5 teams facing FCS teams, and FCS teams against D-II teams, and so on. Occasionally, you will get headline-grabbing "helmet games" or some early season conference games, but by and large, yesterday's slate had about one marquee matchup, a few P5-P5 games, and a lot of other games.<br /><br />There is absolutely nothing wrong with "other" games. If you only get six to eight Saturdays in your home stadium as a season ticket holder, you relish those opportunities (or sell them off to other people who may want to just get one game in the stadium), and you appreciate that you get to see this iteration of the team play.<br /><br />So in a game where <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401520202" rel="nofollow">ESPN's win probability</a> chart had the Rebels' best chance at victory the moment that Tommy Donan kicked the ball off, you become invested in side stories, like "Man, JJ's hot hand passing is continuing, and maybe improving somehow (the second TD pass to Roman Wilson would be a solid evidence for that point.) or the defensive line finally breaking through and getting severe pressure on the QB which resulted in five sacks, and five additional tackles for loss. And as weird as the circumstances were, it was pretty cool to realize that Mike Hart became Michigan's first Black head coach, even if just for a half. (Project Coach Mike Hart 2030 continues as he prophesized in his playing career.)<br /><br />If dull and boring football is a 35-7 handling of business on a crisp September afternoon, I can live with dull and boring football.<br /><br /><b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Tales from The Spreadsheet:</b><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Win 0991 </li><li>35-7 is NOT a Scorigami (sixth occurrence, most recently was Oregon State 2015)</li><li>109,482 is the 140th-largest crowd Michigan has played in front of, displacing last week's attendance of 109,480.<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 2-0 all-time against UNLV (previous game, 2015).</li><li>Michigan moves to 5-0 all-time on September 9.<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 36-0 when scoring exactly 35 points</li><li>Michigan moves to 108-13-4 all-time when allowing precisely 7 points.</li><li>Michigan has won 30 games all-time by precisely 28 points.</li></ul>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-82647460781438127932023-09-02T18:47:00.010-04:002023-09-02T20:09:49.763-04:00Waiting on a Friend<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNorikom7GYT9myEEmYwygcha1cN1HItPn56hEkZ7z4jNCTMWrbXII19-lTDK6NIEUdzZ_yiqiF1cMVJw5ktjui50OFWB6SKf7ze9TDxn1Y_MI4ij-zjKd-9Dx4rfG0vl-fFsVG6eKgKMptHeV6TZGbwzFvVlqs-mOyuAzJZpJ6WkBqInL_9IMew/s800/patrickbarron.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNorikom7GYT9myEEmYwygcha1cN1HItPn56hEkZ7z4jNCTMWrbXII19-lTDK6NIEUdzZ_yiqiF1cMVJw5ktjui50OFWB6SKf7ze9TDxn1Y_MI4ij-zjKd-9Dx4rfG0vl-fFsVG6eKgKMptHeV6TZGbwzFvVlqs-mOyuAzJZpJ6WkBqInL_9IMew/w640-h428/patrickbarron.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Welcome back, Blake. (<a href="https://bluebarronphoto.com/">Patrick Barron</a>)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div>"Watching girls go passing by</div><div>It ain't the latest thing</div><div>I'm just standing in a doorway</div><div>I'm just trying to make some sense</div><div>Out of these girls passing by</div><div>The tales they tell of men</div><div>I'm not waiting on a lady</div><div>I'm just waiting on a friend."<br /><br />"Waiting on a Friend" by The Rolling Stones, from their 1981 album <i>Tattoo You</i></div></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>The first game of a season is odd in that it feels, at the moment, in the moment, like a harbinger of things to come. But, it is only in retrospect if you seek to connect the dot. So, in that framework, there are two ways of looking at this game.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Option A:</b> Michigan hit on all cylinders, powered by JJ McCarthy, who looked absolutely blistering in the passing game, going 26/30, making several tough throws on rollouts, and repeatedly finding the newly christened #1 Roman Wilson for three touchdowns. ECU sold out to stop the Michigan run game, but even still, Corum and Edwards got several solid runs. Michigan held a 30-point lead for the majority of the second half and had a 99%+ win expectancy from the moment the MMB left the field in the second half. 1-0 to start the year, on to UNLV.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Option B:</b> Michigan looked fine but clearly left points on the field by refusing to abandon the run game when ECU kept loading up the box. Everything felt like the team was just going through the motions, almost acting like it was a pre-season exhibition game, and it amplified the fact that Michigan's offensive and defensive playcallers were not the usual coaches in those roles. The team acted like they missed Harbaugh more than they wanted to win for him. They cannot keep playing like this if they expect to win more demanding games in Big Ten play.</div><div><br /></div><div>Option B is the default for Michigan fans because we're always worried about the future instead of being in the moment, which I get. After all, the expectations for this team are as high as they have been since 2007 (which is probably playing into this level of terror; it's a training scar.) But Option A is the fairer version of this because it's closer to the reality of most of this game.</div><div><br /></div><div>But mostly, this game feels like an unknowable enigma because of what was missing. The fact that Harbaugh wasn't on the sideline definitely <i>felt</i> like it was impacting the players, even if they didn't want it to be a thing, and they certainly got the job done, but I just wonder if they had to get this out of the way so they could prove to themselves it wouldn't be a big deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beyond that, and the saddest field goal in recorded history, I will not remember much about this game as the season progresses. It may not be the shape of things to come, but rather, a thing that happened along the journey.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b><u>Tales from The Spreadsheet</u></b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Win 0990 </li><li>30-3 <b><u>is</u></b> a Scorigami (so I guess we can thank ECU for that small favor)</li><li>109,480 is the 140th-largest crowd Michigan has played in front of.<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 1-0 all-time against East Carolina.</li><li>Michigan wins its first game against a new opponent since beating Middle Tennessee State in 2019.</li><li>Michigan moves to 5-0 all-time on September 2.<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 8-1 when scoring exactly 30 points</li><li>Michigan moves to 48-3-3 all-time when allowing precisely 3 points.</li><li>Michigan has won 17 games all-time by precisely 27 points.</li></ul></div></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-16981800278952332942023-01-01T13:14:00.001-05:002023-01-01T13:14:05.763-05:00Low Desert<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghCy61vqvdqEzUu-mcPjL6jSa0zQhEDFRfisd6iFffD1woBhdMTGnd24il3rPSjyThjayYp0b_FcHmK9CQ3_fboX1QznfpFNgntlk9Z0ijZ2Il25-zWdn5YcQFSoZZBe6GEW0GZnyTRdeGy6WNuuJ77YA5yW5uLR0Ad3m0VePfBgZuWUZ2epU/s2000/RomanWilson.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghCy61vqvdqEzUu-mcPjL6jSa0zQhEDFRfisd6iFffD1woBhdMTGnd24il3rPSjyThjayYp0b_FcHmK9CQ3_fboX1QznfpFNgntlk9Z0ijZ2Il25-zWdn5YcQFSoZZBe6GEW0GZnyTRdeGy6WNuuJ77YA5yW5uLR0Ad3m0VePfBgZuWUZ2epU/w640-h426/RomanWilson.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The butterfly effect, but for college football. (<a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1609321817155723269">Patrick Barron</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div><i>It happened fast, it's over quick</i></div><div><i>A little dust and the engine kicks</i></div><div><i>Did your hands drift down off the wheel?</i></div><div><i>Roll out, hit your windshield</i></div><div><i>An eyelash or a little bit of sleep? Time stands still</i></div><div><i>Just call it now and you're on your way<br /><br /></i></div></div><div><i>--</i>"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RlukFRVv4Q">Low Desert</a>" by R.E.M. from their 1996 album <i>New Adventures in Hi-Fi</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>There's this moment after any loss, especially a one-score loss, where you try to figure out what the difference was, what was the "if you change one thing" moment that would have made things different. This game had so many of those moments, that performing the exercise would become a catalog, which in turn, become almost a ranting litany of grievances. That is not what this will be, because the biggest point that needs to be made is that TCU played an excellent game and did everything it needed to do to win. Michigan did not. For all of the what-ifs and maybes, it still comes back to that simple fact. That Michigan was still in this game speaks volumes to the team's effort, its fight, and its character, but the reality is that it wasn't enough on this day. The dreams of a national title died on middling turf grass in the desert.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I waited to write something up because I wanted to see if I would feel different with a little time, but it has stayed the same. I'm sad about the result, but I understand how it arrived. How mad can one be when the team you are rooting for never led in a game where they looked anything but themselves? </div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe it's the benefit of age and time that I would rather focus on the joy that the first thirteen games of this year brought me and so many others than the ending no one wanted. It's easy to understand that when the mountain presents itself to you, to not reach the summit for whatever reason must be considered a disappointment. But so much time was spent wondering if Michigan could ever get back to this point, that to ignore the mountain below is also perilous. </div><div><br /></div><div>At some point, I will understand why Michigan has such a poor record in bowl games, but I tell this to myself every year, and I have never come any closer to an answer. It will remain a mystery until it ceases to be a mystery, but until then, it will just be a fact of life in late December/early January.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's it for another season, thank you as always for being along for the ride. We'll see where the days take us when we head back to our (Big) house up north in September.<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01 Cardinals Dr, Glendale, AZ 85305, USA33.5276247 -112.26255935.2173908638211515 -147.41880930000002 61.837858536178842 -77.1063093tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-64931962634612374442022-12-05T09:00:00.007-05:002022-12-05T21:48:40.617-05:00Finest Worksong (reprise)<br /><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguG6uJJvcFdpQTxtA6o3lvrP_yWzVnKQehy5KIgL5e5N6cDIIkE6myAucG1Gu-pL_ZN4tKk7YPz18OdVi9kII45fITH81loJW4uQWQLMSOqDJu4mu2PeSwBD9OhylsY5HkKcosjUox4gG0tI-M9v8uadVOdIE6CjYcgCRu1gaNLSaV7W1fdSA/s2000/thumbsup.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguG6uJJvcFdpQTxtA6o3lvrP_yWzVnKQehy5KIgL5e5N6cDIIkE6myAucG1Gu-pL_ZN4tKk7YPz18OdVi9kII45fITH81loJW4uQWQLMSOqDJu4mu2PeSwBD9OhylsY5HkKcosjUox4gG0tI-M9v8uadVOdIE6CjYcgCRu1gaNLSaV7W1fdSA/w640-h426/thumbsup.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All good? All good. (JJ checks on DJ by <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1599605375518797824" target="_blank">Patrick Barron</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote><div><i>Take your instinct by the reins.</i></div><div><i>You're better best to rearrange</i></div><div><i>What we want and what we need</i></div><div><i>Has been confused, been confused</i></div><div><i><br />Your finest hour</i></div><div><i>(Oh) Your finest hour</i></div></blockquote><div></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=559eWB93jW4" target="_blank">Finest Worksong</a>" by R.E.M. from their 1987 album <i>Document</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As college football fans, we do weird things when trying to understand a game's outcome before the game has been played. The more modern version is to look at the "fancystats" and see if patterns can be discerned or unexpected weaknesses can be exploited. We look at history and see the historical trends by one school or another, even though some of those trends go back generations and bear no meaning on the contest about to be played on this day. We search for meaning in what has been in order to understand what will be. So when USC looked as if it had no real sense of how tackling worked against Utah, and TCU's second-half comeback magic ended up stalling out for the first time all year, opening the back door to let Ohio State into the Playoff, the dread of whether an upstart, unraked Purdue could knock off, as the Fox introduction referred to Michigan, "the bluest of the blue bloods" in this contest in Indianapolis and take some of the shine off this remarkable season made sense.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For a while, it looked like Purdue had something cooking. Aidan O'Connell's veteran savvy was picking apart Michigan's zone, and there was an epidemic of sloppy tackling on Michigan's end. Purdue held a tenuous three-point lead for much of the second quarter, while Michigan was still looking for some rhythm without Blake Corum on offense and Mike Morris on defense.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But Michigan would score 21 of the game's next 24 points over the next fifteen or so minutes of game clock largely on the back of two highly successful runs by Donovan Edwards, the first a sixty-yard jaunt that did not go further largely because Edwards couldn't use his right arm to stiff arm tacklers at present, and the second, a twenty-seven yard run that featured no fewer than five broken tackles. Michigan was never in any real danger again, thanks in no small part to a pair of interceptions by Will Johnson and all that was left was to celebrate the program's first back-to-back outright Big Ten championships since 1991-1992. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is hard to capture the sense of joy and relief that Saturday's result encapsulated. 2021 no longer stands as a fluke; it was the start of something that is still going forward. Michigan fans have emerged from a decade and a half of waiting for not just the other shoe to drop, but a veritable DSW to fall on their heads when it came to football. Now, we're finding our classic "pardon our arrogance" footing, tempered by the experience of the harder times. We've moved from "proved we can do this" to "there's no reason we can't do this" and I am so happy for all of those players who made it happen.</div><br />Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com0500 S Capitol Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46225, USA39.7601007 -86.16388769999998911.449866863821157 -121.32013769999999 68.070334536178848 -51.007637699999989tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-20582760427045742102022-11-26T20:00:00.008-05:002022-12-05T20:56:15.520-05:00Shiny Happy People<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZhmTe7_Ga_PYdZ2IVrh0_ggM1xnYL-8HGfqf9DHCwiJMuk2ONh3gxZDbVkUKMsjahgWpzPRS_ajcPaN9RVQgGbWWMizSWuLWYEa_aTJa4qtU9Hu2HfG8LWWhdPzlfQxakirNacODZwJneiY0K72gCVsVV1EWrFWh_nCLwLGx7N3zhyy7zBo/s2000/donovan.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZhmTe7_Ga_PYdZ2IVrh0_ggM1xnYL-8HGfqf9DHCwiJMuk2ONh3gxZDbVkUKMsjahgWpzPRS_ajcPaN9RVQgGbWWMizSWuLWYEa_aTJa4qtU9Hu2HfG8LWWhdPzlfQxakirNacODZwJneiY0K72gCVsVV1EWrFWh_nCLwLGx7N3zhyy7zBo/w640-h426/donovan.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WITH A BROKEN HAND! TWICE! (Photo credit: <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1596618077113704453">the incomparable Patrick Barron</a>.)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><i>Shiny happy people laughing<br /><br /></i></div><div><i>Meet me in the crowd, people, people</i></div><div><i>Throw your love around, love me, love me</i></div><div><i>Take it into town, happy, happy</i></div><div><i>Put it in the ground where the flowers grow</i></div><div><i>Gold and silver shine</i></div><div><i><br />Shiny happy people holding hands</i></div><div><i>Shiny happy people holding hands</i></div><div><i>Shiny happy people laughing<br /></i><br />--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYOKMUTTDdA">Shiny Happy People</a>" by R.E.M. from their 1991 album <i>Out of Time</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg58uKaWVTKoD2KE-ci7blw0fwsGd4F7ynkoMV8dYLnLK4GhAEdlQ4pRRKbs-ST_igDJ5pXmbJWfJmUJXpsOpM58H4oVA4MxB5-rE9hjkKqdEGNj_cjQzUZ4S3LyeVplFtkVN2swKnfV_1m_A6d9zB3_LdIojuNEpH5851Sk0chauyW_ol5Ljo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2047" data-original-width="1638" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg58uKaWVTKoD2KE-ci7blw0fwsGd4F7ynkoMV8dYLnLK4GhAEdlQ4pRRKbs-ST_igDJ5pXmbJWfJmUJXpsOpM58H4oVA4MxB5-rE9hjkKqdEGNj_cjQzUZ4S3LyeVplFtkVN2swKnfV_1m_A6d9zB3_LdIojuNEpH5851Sk0chauyW_ol5Ljo=w320-h400" width="320" /></a></div><br />All that matters is that the players knew they could do it, and they would do it. It would have been so easy to tell ourselves, "touchdown underdog on the road to a team bent on revenge in a place Michigan hasn't won since 2000 and the status of Blake Corum unknown," that it just wasn't Michigan's day, the stars were not aligned. It wasn't a great feeling, but it would have been understandable. It could have allowed the national pundits to declare last year a fluke and "great season Michigan, but Ohio State is just that much better." and the like.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You look for signs. A 28% chance of winning is roughly about flipping two quarters and both coming up tails. On Tuesday, I flipped a quarter twice while standing in the hallway between classes at work. Both came up tails. Well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Everyone around, love them, love them</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Put it in your hands, take it, take it</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>There's no time to cry, happy, happy</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Put it in your heart where tomorrow shines</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Gold and silver shine</i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In a <a href="https://twitter.com/UMichFootball/status/1595886931984150528">promotional video earlier this week</a>, talking about the rivalry, JJ McCarthy was wearing a knit cap to help promote the "<a href="https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2022/10/the-meaning-behind-the-michigan-football-teams-sack-the-stigma-shirts.html">Sack The Stigma</a>" campaign for mental health help awareness and to let people know about the new <a href="https://988lifeline.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=onebox">988 Suicide and Mental Health Crisis Hotline number</a>.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXM_nCSyw5AFy3Cuko5FSQs9K1ATl1Rf5_l0xmp6QfQb1rxy8rtE0ue--RZ4fY2Yo9lwUpt-X_MIOvF45HwZW0elSyNZXU8GZZFQUkMjjpR4Arp1J7rlj1gE4-mVIy1y86oXBskHZYwucs7_01p9lr6Y1nIzBzebiSbNwyeLtG46v19m3_GA/s1285/988.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1285" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXM_nCSyw5AFy3Cuko5FSQs9K1ATl1Rf5_l0xmp6QfQb1rxy8rtE0ue--RZ4fY2Yo9lwUpt-X_MIOvF45HwZW0elSyNZXU8GZZFQUkMjjpR4Arp1J7rlj1gE4-mVIy1y86oXBskHZYwucs7_01p9lr6Y1nIzBzebiSbNwyeLtG46v19m3_GA/w400-h219/988.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Today's victory in Columbus was Michigan's 988th win of all time. The signs were there if you were willing to see them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Shiny happy people holding hands</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Shiny happy people holding hands</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Shiny happy people laughing</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br />Whoa, here we go.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It felt like Michigan was lucky to be only down three at the half. The Cornelius Johnson long-bomb TD was nice but did not feel sustainable. Michigan was getting stops on defense, but it felt like Ohio State was just lurking, waiting; they'd come out of the locker room and start gashing Michigan.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But Michigan got the ball to start the second half; they needed a touchdown to get the feelings flowing. And we decided that Donovan Edwards would have to carry the load, which he did, broken hand and all. Still, it was JJ McCarthy's 19-yard run, which included his second effort to push the tackler back to set up another long touchdown, this time to freshman Colston Loveland. Michigan would lead 24-20 and never looked back.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It didn't <i>feel</i> like it, but ESPN analytics said it was true:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcAybKsYXFcCKYOfjKHTqx4ITwzjP0YwaJlMT14JPjNiZgnHemdS3JJ6Lml10Ts16UKPgv32LjxIpvXkWy07qbZbEzfYrSwnL4h4A2-NlIO1GCDTqUHf_A50b2aKBxT88yiVEe7XG6ZYEwQcqY_kBqGV0fQihAkWRfwTdzF6VHgXBM2oIQDb0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="388" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcAybKsYXFcCKYOfjKHTqx4ITwzjP0YwaJlMT14JPjNiZgnHemdS3JJ6Lml10Ts16UKPgv32LjxIpvXkWy07qbZbEzfYrSwnL4h4A2-NlIO1GCDTqUHf_A50b2aKBxT88yiVEe7XG6ZYEwQcqY_kBqGV0fQihAkWRfwTdzF6VHgXBM2oIQDb0" width="259" /></a></div><br />Michigan's defense forced Ohio State into a three-and-out (thanks, in part, to a combination of a holding penalty and a personal foul), and while CJ Stroud clearly wanted to stay on the field and try and convert the fourth and five in plus territory, a false start on the punt led to a touchback and a net gain of 28 yards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">For all of the quick strike and explosive plays that Michigan had converted on, it was a classic Michigan long march drive, a combination of patient runs by Donovan Edwards, a trick play from a linebacker turned running back turned jump passer Kalel Mullings to get a critical first down, a great football IQ play by Ronnie Bell to get a PI in the end zone on a third down on a ball that was high but probably not an easy catch, and a J.J. run to get into the end zone and go up two possessions, there was still a lot of time left in the fourth quarter. Though Michigan forced another Ohio State punt on a three and out, another OSU unsportsmanlike conduct put Michigan in business on their own 43.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You can be forgiven for thinking that the Jake Moody missed field goal from 57 yards, which would have been his career long had it been made, was going to loom large in the final outcome. It was the years of pent-up knowledge that these things, these Games, turn on poor decisions. But Mike Sainristil made an absolutely textbook pass breakup, forced Ohio State into a field goal try to bring it within eight, and tension returned. Too much time, too many things that could go wrong.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Donovan Edwards didn't care about the past. With most of the fanbase thinking that Michigan just needed another long drive that ended in points for Michigan, Edwards, with a busted up hand, said "Nah" and went 75 yards in one play and got a touchdown to put Michigan up 15. It was this absurd "no, I do not accept this" reality moment where suddenly, everything felt possible and real. But Ohio State now got the ball back with a lot of time left and began moving the ball down the field again. But, despite not having Mike Morris, the Michigan defense got some pressure on Stroud and forced him into a bad shovel pass that was picked off by Taylor Upshaw, of all people. Michigan had the ball on their own 8, and two plays later, Donovan Edwards decided if one long touchdown in The Game was nice, two would be legendary and went 85 yards in one play to put Michigan up an absurd 22 points.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Ohio State only had a shade over three minutes to try and rally, but after an Eyabi Okie sack that should have included a fumble, Makari Paige proved ball don't lie and got a second pick (trying to put Michigan up by 30+ but really just sealing the game.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIyCfXoWkBGZVt3Pj3RyVDMuEqrgFz9rP8hDB8djULYMQBXOKucgKTcoz3OaPBtJYjdAdan9gCLwkD-NpKRDLUwxPIVkfzuqAb2s6s3_sV3fFioGshmXG9XrTlLTOFJ3uaYdMTTunVFCyUdFoAz4VB46SEaEudj9Dwg2iO2bTeaLv1v3S9Nk/s1268/JJByeBye.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="1268" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIyCfXoWkBGZVt3Pj3RyVDMuEqrgFz9rP8hDB8djULYMQBXOKucgKTcoz3OaPBtJYjdAdan9gCLwkD-NpKRDLUwxPIVkfzuqAb2s6s3_sV3fFioGshmXG9XrTlLTOFJ3uaYdMTTunVFCyUdFoAz4VB46SEaEudj9Dwg2iO2bTeaLv1v3S9Nk/w400-h200/JJByeBye.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As fans, we spent much of the last year hoping that this was possible, but as the wins piled up, it seemed like Michigan would have another exceptional season that would end in disappointment. It was not to be, and for another year, Michigan and its fans get to revel in the fact that Ohio State has, once again, been vanquished. Another trip to Indianapolis, a place that seemed so far away just 364 days ago, is in the offing, facing a Purdue team Michigan has not seen in five years, awaits as Michigan tries to win back-to-back Big Ten championships for the first time since 2003-04.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As much as people do not love "Shiny Happy People" thirty years on, it does represent a certain level of joy. It's too treacly, too saccharine But, as so many Michigan fans of a certain vintage know, the song and the lyrics we were really thinking about at the end of the game were a different manifestation of joy:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B0sy7y54XAE?start=99" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /><i>And sometimes when you're on, you're really fucking on</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>And your friends they sing along and they love you</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>But the lows are so extreme, that the good seems fucking cheap</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>And it teases you for weeks in its absence</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br />But you'll fight and you'll make it through</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>You'll fake it if you have to</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>And you'll show up for work with a smile</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>You'll be better and you'll be smarter and more grown up</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>And a better daughter or son</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>And a real good friend</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br />You'll be awake, you'll be alert</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>You'll be positive though it hurts</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>And you'll laugh and embrace all your friends</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>You'll be a real good listener</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>You'll be honest, you'll be brave</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>You'll be handsome and you'll be beautiful</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>You'll be happy!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br />Your ship may be coming in</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>You're weak, but not giving in</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>To the cries and the wails of the valley below</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>And your ship may be coming in</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>You're weak, but not giving in</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>And you'll fight it, you'll go out fighting all of them</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once more, Ohio beat.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><u>Tales from The Spreadsheet</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Win 0988 (as previously mentioned)</li><li>45-23 is not a Scorigami (only one other time, 11/5/94 at...Purdue)</li><li>106,787 is the 175th-largest crowd Michigan has played in front of, 12th largest road crowd<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 60-52-6 all-time against Ohio State.</li><li>Michigan remains undefeated against OSU in the 2020s.</li><li>Michigan moves to 4-3 all-time on November 26 (2-2 vs. OSU)<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 22-0 when scoring exactly 45 points</li><li>Michigan moves to 9-13 all-time when allowing exactly 23 points.<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan has won 24 games all-time by exactly 22 points.</li><li>Michigan's first 20+ MOV over Ohio State in Columbus since 1976's 22-0 win.</li><li>Michigan's first 20+ MOV over Ohio State since 28-0 in 1993.</li><li>Michigan is +278 all-time over Ohio State.</li></ul></div></div></div></div></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com0411 Woody Hayes Dr, Columbus, OH 43210, USA40.0016627 -83.0197276999999911.691428863821152 -118.17597769999999 68.311896536178836 -47.86347769999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-17657274420674924992022-11-19T22:45:00.001-05:002022-11-19T22:45:00.172-05:00Oh My Heart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp2vwBeR_i20pHoTYxboXEL97R0JU-lGTeDmYjwfBvPVTdhDbirdu7LtNcXHFFzKGO3X-tADrwXA7O69T7BvI5eHyxcXYAxIQc7T1bYxRLsscuo2pIOt1M7yLwaIqZ53FvKinoQI3KZSSvcgmTY4A_yimejEKsPatAif3Mh4dG6-E9dR58gmc/s2000/moneymoody.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp2vwBeR_i20pHoTYxboXEL97R0JU-lGTeDmYjwfBvPVTdhDbirdu7LtNcXHFFzKGO3X-tADrwXA7O69T7BvI5eHyxcXYAxIQc7T1bYxRLsscuo2pIOt1M7yLwaIqZ53FvKinoQI3KZSSvcgmTY4A_yimejEKsPatAif3Mh4dG6-E9dR58gmc/w640-h426/moneymoody.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWqGvmhjf7gXkQp1-_3S5LnA9Ylqosf9Bjh_efecOOkJ61rid3D_DsfqqzPXlL73gDcQFN5rSTC9rROh03Hx-XVaeVeVdnKua7aDvEyE4RKCe0QtMEb85u9fefLflRt2qvcRz98vE6KrubOtBunJuyq3iroHBH0YC8Z0RzEauOfs_0YPB638/s2000/ronniebell.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWqGvmhjf7gXkQp1-_3S5LnA9Ylqosf9Bjh_efecOOkJ61rid3D_DsfqqzPXlL73gDcQFN5rSTC9rROh03Hx-XVaeVeVdnKua7aDvEyE4RKCe0QtMEb85u9fefLflRt2qvcRz98vE6KrubOtBunJuyq3iroHBH0YC8Z0RzEauOfs_0YPB638/w640-h426/ronniebell.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Senior Day means featuring photos of two of Michigan's most valuable seniors, Money Moody and Ronnie Bell. (<a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1594071619256782848/photo/4" target="_blank">Patrick Barron</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><i>The kids have a new take, a new take on faith</i></div><div><i>Pick up the pieces, get carried away</i></div><div><i>I came home to a city half-erased</i></div><div><i>I came home to face what we had faced</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>This place needs me here to start</i></div><div><i>This place is the beat of my heart</i></div><div><br />--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiNV1rMNXE0" target="_blank">Oh My Heart</a>" by R.E.M. from their 2011 album <i>Collapse into Now</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>So, you have to trust me on this one, but I had suspected all week that something like this was coming. I didn't think it was going to be a loss, and I didn't know it was going to be this close, but Michigan hadn't had "the stupid game" this season yet, and The Game can be many things, but it cannot be "the stupid game." But there were hints all week. The bitter cold forecast for Saturday came to be. There were emotional factors in favor of the Illini. Michigan had some injuries that might be an issue. It was foreshadowing and foreboding.</div><div><br /></div><div>But to watch that first drive, a Blake Corum explosive play to start the day after a week where he was (relatively) bottled up, then a quick hitter to Ronnie Bell for 16, then hitting some tight ends to get inside the ten, and then Blake three times to pay dirt, a Jake Moody PAT, and Michigan was up 7-0 early. Then Illinois couldn't do much of anything on their first two drives and then was stopped on fourth down on their third, and while Michigan wasn't doing much either, it felt like Michigan was in control on this freezing day. After all, even after Illinois hit the field goal, Michigan started moving again, thanks to the efforts of Blake Corum. Then, without warning, on a simple four-yard outside run, Blake Corum took a helmet to the knee, causing him to fumble the ball, and upon review, Illinois got the ball back, and Corum left the game for the half. While Illinois couldn't do anything, and the teams headed up the tunnel with Michigan up 7-3, the brightness of the early moments seemed to darken into a classic Michigan November gray, that oft-felt sense that doom was creeping back in that matched the clouds in the sky.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>The storm didn't kill me, the government changed.</i></div><div><i>Hear the answer and call, hear this song, rearranged</i></div><div><i>Hear the trees, the ghosts and the buildings, sing</i></div><div><i>With the wisdom to reconcile this thing</i></div><div><i><br />It's sweet, and it's sad, and it's true</i></div><div><i>How it doesn't look bitter on you</i></div></div><div><br /></div><div>As halftime wound down, I watched Jake Moody kick into the steadily strong winds blowing north wind toward the south goalposts. His consistency was unsurprising but a marvel in its own right, just an athlete making sure he knew what the elements he faced were and was prepared for them if called upon.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Michigan defense's three-and-out on the first series should have assuaged some fears, as should have Blake Corum's return and five-yard carry on the second play of Michigan's opening offensive series. Still, Michigan's inability to turn excellent field position into a touchdown meant the first Jake Moody field goal of the afternoon and a 10-3 lead for the Wolverines. </div><div><br /></div><div>You could just tell yourself, "it's OK, Michigan has made excellent second-half adjustments, they'll figure out how to keep the Illini down, grind out an ugly win," and then Illinois went back-to-back drives, with a Michigan failure on fourth down (thanks to a missed offside call that likely lead J.J. to try an Aaron Rodgers' style shot play to Andrel Anthony (who did almost haul it in) only to discover there was no flag thrown, and everything felt awful. The stupid game was in full effect.</div><div><br /></div><div>The three and out by Michigan as the third wound down and all of the old ghosts started to pop up, right on cue, as if to tell all of us that they had been gone far too long and had some things to say to us. But then, something subtle happened. The quarter ended, and Michigan would drive with the wind at their backs for the rest of the game. </div><div><br /></div><div>The next Illini drive featured a botched snap and loss of 11 to set up 4th and 19 from the Illinois 34 when the Illini punted to Ronnie Bell. Ronnie Bell, back out returning punts on Senior Day, went like a man possessed and took a 44-yard punt back 40 yards to the Illinois 38. The Michigan Stadium crowd, acting like they knew the ghosts could be put to bed, began an unprompted Let's Go Blue chant, and though the drive stalled, a Jake Moody field goal to bring it back within four started to answer some of the fears. The defense would need to stand tall. </div><div><br /></div><div>Illinois tried to put together a drive to either pull back to seven or go up 11 and keep their Big Ten West title hopes alive. It looked like it was going to work for a bit, but faced with a 4th and 8, Tommy DeVito scrambled, but DJ Turner got him by the legs six yards short of the sticks, and Michigan got the ball back with over eight minutes left.</div><div><br /></div><div>At this point, the cryogenically sealed crowd knew this next drive was big. The freshman Colston Loveland got things going with a replica of the Erick All game-winning play against Penn State in 2021, this time for 27 yards and into Illinois territory. Still, the run game kept stalling without Corum or Edwards, and after three stalled plays inside the 15, Michigan chose another field goal to get within one. A stop, a drive, and a field goal or better could win it for Michigan.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bret Bielema helped on the first count by calling an exceptionally conservative sequence that also included a holding and saw Illinois lose three total yards on a three-and-out while Michigan burned its time-outs to preserve the clock. Michigan had 2:15 and the ball on their own 48 to try and keep the perfect season alive. A storybook ending would have likely featured a J.J. rollout to a wide-open Ronnie Bell in the end zone. But Michigan doesn't go for the obvious conclusion.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Mother and father, I stand beside you</i></div><div><i>The good of this world might help see me through</i></div><div><i>This place needs me here to start</i></div><div><i>This place is the beat of my heart</i></div></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Michigan couldn't quite get all the pieces together quickly but also put them together when it counted. Isaiah Gash made up for an earlier drop with an eight-yard conversion on fourth down to keep the game alive, using his blockers to get open, much to the chagrin of the Illini fanbase and coaching staff. On the next play, Ronnie Bell wasn't in the end zone but drew a critical pass interference call to get Michigan to the Illinois 22, or a 40-yard field goal attempt for Jake Moody if they didn't gain another yard, and Moody was 36-37 over the last two years from forty or closer. A weird play where Cornelius Johnson got five more yards, then Michigan got a free time out with the clock running down as the play was reviewed. A JJ incompletion meant the stakes were simple. With 13 seconds left on the clock, #13 Jake Moody would attempt to score his 11th-12th-and 13th points of the game to put Michigan on top.</div><div><br /></div><div>I never doubted it. The ball was centered, for the most part, between the hashes. Robbins had handled a fastball snap earlier in the day, and the operation just needed to do its thing one more time. Snap, ball down, laces out, kick up, kick right down Main Street, and Michigan led 19-17 with nine seconds left on the clock.</div><div><br /></div><div>The ghosts whispered in the wind, but there were also memories surfacing. A fan behind us said: "Man, I was here for Colorado." So was my wife. She knows it's not over until the clock says 0:00. But when Tommy DeVito's Hail Mary attempt into the wind fell harmlessly to the turf, Michigan Stadium let out a collective sigh of relief. 11-0 heading into Columbus, with every single goal still possible.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jake Moody entered the Pantheon today, Jim Harbaugh suggested as much, and the record book now says as much. But he had never had a game-winning kick at any level before today (I would have thought the Nebraska kick counted, but that took a tie game to a lead, so your mileage may vary). But on Senior Day, his last game in Michigan Stadium, Jake Moody became the man of the hour and preserved Michigan's first 11-0 start since 2006, setting up The Game with both teams undefeated for the first time since that fateful meeting.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beat Ohio.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b><u>Tales from The Spreadsheet:</u></b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Win 0987</li><li>11th win in a row, the longest streak since 2006.<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan winning 19-17 is NOT a Scorigami; it previously happened on 11/18/1939 against Penn.<br /><br /></li><li>Attendance: 110,433, 99th largest crowd in Big House history.<br /><br /></li><li>6th straight win over Illinois.</li><li>All-time record against Illinois moves to 71-23-2<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 13-6-1 all-time on November 19 all-time (5 of those losses are Ohio State in the before times.)<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan moves to 13-4-1 all-time when scoring exactly 19 points.</li><li>Michigan moves to 36-16-2 all-time when allowing exactly 17 points.<br /><br /></li><li>Michigan completes its fourth perfect home slate under Harbaugh. (2016, 2018, 2021, 2022)</li></ul></div></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-85599169194112872202022-11-13T16:00:00.002-05:002022-12-05T20:57:21.047-05:00So Fast, So Numb<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhofT5CYpcZpEBUGQyNg0SBbNCA-rFQnd9VVF-iomt933ezsP2YBjm8IdUqcDBwNeY_6in5l0q8mCrDCpTW_SQtNTgfb8bhoATuZTbtdd5v_a7ByjAOA2jocCb675sPul3MHI4mW50kNCl3xQ73mRUVahEPVi1gF7NpEe0AmaEtpHNGxk1_Zqw/s2000/jake.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhofT5CYpcZpEBUGQyNg0SBbNCA-rFQnd9VVF-iomt933ezsP2YBjm8IdUqcDBwNeY_6in5l0q8mCrDCpTW_SQtNTgfb8bhoATuZTbtdd5v_a7ByjAOA2jocCb675sPul3MHI4mW50kNCl3xQ73mRUVahEPVi1gF7NpEe0AmaEtpHNGxk1_Zqw/w640-h426/jake.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Mood...Jake Moody. (<a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1591639627143823361">Patrick Barron</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div></div><blockquote><div><i>You're drinking raw adrenal, baby</i></div><div><i>And do-si-do, saddo</i></div><div><i>You're eating cartilage, shark-eyes, shark-heart, all present tense</i></div><div><i>And boy, your blood is running cold </i></div></blockquote><blockquote><div><i>Listen! This is now, this is here this is me</i></div><div><i>This is what I wanted you to see</i></div><div><i>That was then, that was that that is gone, that is past</i></div><div><i>You cast yourself, cast passed by, thrown down fast</i></div><div><i><br />You say, you say that you hate it</i></div><div><i>You want to re-create it</i></div></blockquote><div></div></div><div>--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhY5J2C9fJk" target="_blank">So Fast, So Numb</a>" by R.E.M. from their 1996 album <i>New Adventures in Hi-Fi</i></div><div><br /></div><div>It was cold. There were flurries that melted upon contact with the ground that retained much of its warmth from temperatures in the 60s all week. It was the permagray that settles in over Michigan Stadium when November rolls in. As Jane Coaston said:<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ah, the first Michigan home game after the time change, when it’s 30 degrees and God announces he hates you, personally</p>— Jane Coaston (@janecoaston) <a href="https://twitter.com/janecoaston/status/1591559959887712260?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>All of this is to say that it is well within expectations that when your offense is getting nearly six yards a pop on any rush attempt without any real explosive plays, deciding to keep things on the ground and let your offensive line impose their will and let your Heisman-candidate running back do his thing. There is nothing wrong with this! Maybe this is years of training watching Big Ten football and flashing back to years of rooting for any kind of first down in the Novembers of the late RichRod and late Hoke years, but if the offense can do things and do them well, then yes, keep doing those things.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, I would love to see Michigan's passing game show some signs of execution where they can use their talented wide receivers to mix things up so defenses cannot just stack eight in the box. All of this is worried about the future, which I both understand and respect. But for a day where Michigan could find a way to move to 10-0 for the first time since 2006, keep the ball on the ground, hold on to it, and take care of business on defense.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Dull and boring football" was a common complaint about the Michigan football teams of the 1970s and yes, it was a vastly different world, both in the Big Ten and nationally, but I really think "wishing the passing game was more dynamic" is the sort of thing that falls under "these are the problems you want to have" kind of thing that crops up when the team you're rooting for is 22-2 in their last 24 games.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was cold, it was boring, but it was a win, and I'm absolutely fine with that.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Notes from The Spreadsheet:</u></b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Win 0986</li><li>34-3 win, the fourth time it's happened, most recently in...2006 at Indiana (to go to 11-0.)</li><li>110,192 attendance, 108th largest crowd in Michigan history.</li><li>Michigan moves to 7-4-1 all-time against the Huskers.</li><li>Michigan moves to 17-1-3 all-time on November 12. (Do NOT think about the 1. It will make you sad.)</li><li>Michigan moves to 37-0 all-time when scoring exactly 34 points.</li><li>Michigan moves to 47-2-3 all-time when opponents score exactly 3 points.</li></ul></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-38550165011537539642022-11-06T16:25:00.006-05:002022-12-05T21:28:41.171-05:00Undertow<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlxhYaD6GG1y5EZng3AkHhI2BsBuycSqWkQ489oqqNRv2OfRUkAfle9XAOA8ffp0bOcaOSOhK6WO7xupXQ1FQnTpALoi6u053ES5BmHvkclwUoztiqY68zYVexoU6yB6bcq9vSpsdevlyXUnzEbbZ88JEbgwR1qwG3IYmdk0gRa-dqIdV2Jg/s1080/BuffsUp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlxhYaD6GG1y5EZng3AkHhI2BsBuycSqWkQ489oqqNRv2OfRUkAfle9XAOA8ffp0bOcaOSOhK6WO7xupXQ1FQnTpALoi6u053ES5BmHvkclwUoztiqY68zYVexoU6yB6bcq9vSpsdevlyXUnzEbbZ88JEbgwR1qwG3IYmdk0gRa-dqIdV2Jg/w640-h426/BuffsUp.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The buffs look good on Barrett. Oh, hey, Denard! (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/michiganfball/posts/pfbid0Ztj8CccJEz1QdrfHx2P57s76LdsoaGkW9NzimLy8JpCJ58yP7t6Jh8CwVkTJVwStl" target="_blank">Michigan Athletics</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><span id="fullpost" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; margin-bottom: 12px;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">I know what I wanted</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">I know what I wanted</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">I know how I wanted this to be</span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; margin-bottom: 12px;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">You go down to the water</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Drink down of the water</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Walk up off the water, leave it be</span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; margin-bottom: 12px;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">This is not my time, sister</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It is cold in heaven</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">And I'm not sprouting wings</span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; margin-bottom: 12px;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">I'm drowning</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Me</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">I'm drowning</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Me, yeah</span></i></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp8gL2zlazI">Undertow</a>" by R.E.M. from the band's 1996 album <i>New Adventures in Hi-Fi</i> </span></div></span>
OK, this one's on me. I picked the white #23 jersey to wear for this game. A 2003 vintage Chris Perry, it's one of my newer additions to the collection, but I thought getting "Perry with the carry" vibes would be good against Rutgers, which, if it can do anything (beyond make things exceedingly annoying for other teams with their "hard hitting" and "Schiano manning") it is defending the run. And things felt pedestrian when Michigan moved the ball down the field with relative ease on the first drive, though the red zone struggles seemed to be rearing their head again until Blake Corum's fourth try to get over the goal line to go up 7-0. It's just...Michigan has punted so little over the last few weeks that Michael Barrett might have forgotten that he is Brad Robbins' personal protector and Michigan had a rare special teams mistake under Jay Harbaugh. Suddenly, it was 7-7. Thanks to a short field from a Rutgers' surprise onside kick, Michigan used a short field to drive down the field thanks to a quick 43-yard run by Corum, but again, stalling inside the one-yard line but finally getting JJ over the goal line to make it 14-7 Michigan. <div><br /></div><div>The second quarter was utterly forgettable, like so many second quarters of recent vintage, including seeing Jake Moody miss two fifty-yard field goal attempts thanks to some tricky winds in the warm New Jersey evening. So yeah, bad vibes going into the locker room for a third straight week. But Michigan has been a second half team the last few weeks, so perhaps things would right themselves. That's when I swapped out the #23 for a 2004 vintage #1 Braylon Edwards; you've got to change up the vibes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, after ten minutes of the third quarter, Michigan's current #23 Michael Barrett had two picks, including his first-ever pick six at any level, and had a 35-17 lead. They never looked back. Will Johnson got his first career pick two series later, Michigan cashed in another touchdown on it, Jake Moody got a field goal that helped remind folks he's money. One more touchdown from the backups and the 52-17 scoreline looks like what was expected, though not the method of arrival.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rutgers games are always annoying, especially the last three, but in the end, coming out of each with a different kind of win. A comeback in triple OT in 2020, a hold on for dear life second half in 2021, and now this slow start, fast finish. Rutgers can do some things well. They might continue to get better, especially if the Big Ten moves away from divisions and they no longer have to face all of the top teams in the league every year. But for now, it isn't enough.</div><div><br /></div><div>The last time Michigan was 9-0, it was on the literal exact same calendar date in 2016. Every game date, including the bye week, lines up. Which would make me a little nervous if we were off to Iowa next week. But instead, Nebraska comes to town as a massive underdog, so hopefully, Michigan can keep handling its business and take advantage of the chaos that happened elsewhere in college football yesterday at the top.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #000016; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><b><u>Michigan Spreadsheet Notes</u></b><br />Win 0985<br />52-17 score, not a Scoragami. 2nd time, previously against Minnesota in 1995.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #000016; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Attendance 51,117, which is interesting because it exactly matches the attendance at Michigan Stadium on November 16, 1968, when Michigan was also AP #4. (Oh, and that's the Ron Johnson single-game rushing record game, 347 yards on 31 carries, or 11.2 yards per carry, and 5 TDs.)</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #000016; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Michigan's all-time record against Rutgers moves to 9-1 (9 straight wins).</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #000016; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Michigan moves to 15-3 on November 5th, all-time. The previous 11/5 game was 59-3 win over Maryland in 2016.<br />Michigan moves to 11-0 when scoring exactly 52 points.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #000016; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Michigan moves to 35-16-2 when allowing their opponent exactly 17 points.</div></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01 Scarlet Knight Way, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA40.5136111 -74.465277812.203377263821153 -109.6215278 68.823844936178844 -39.309027799999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-73693556021773821922022-10-30T13:08:00.002-04:002022-12-05T21:29:02.123-05:00Talk About the Passion<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0fD-uQslCcfx2ZwO10K_ZDZXr9HU069mtf35L_io3HMhMQKlnyN2N5p_62Wzs2w8_1joo9ITKiMe76QyMH8XF4GCAKeypWQJru6WNTlraedt0WwUS-NfPlK3dvW8Zf6q79HFK1BErFtXtww3cnkNM9NxghhTlRZ8mpGEOIjTbRHhVqsTc1E/s1024/paulbunyan.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="1024" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0fD-uQslCcfx2ZwO10K_ZDZXr9HU069mtf35L_io3HMhMQKlnyN2N5p_62Wzs2w8_1joo9ITKiMe76QyMH8XF4GCAKeypWQJru6WNTlraedt0WwUS-NfPlK3dvW8Zf6q79HFK1BErFtXtww3cnkNM9NxghhTlRZ8mpGEOIjTbRHhVqsTc1E/w640-h382/paulbunyan.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When afforded the opportunity to hit the Paul, one must hit the Paul. (<a href="https://twitter.com/isaiahhole/status/1586545798048645121">Isaiah Hole</a>)</td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">Empty prayer, empty mouths combien reaction</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Empty prayer, empty mouths talk about the passion</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Combien, combien, combien de temps?</span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">Talk about the passion</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Talk about the passion</span></div></i></span></blockquote><p>--"Talk About The Passion" by R.E.M. from their 1983 debut album <i>Murmur</i> </p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I should like this game more than I do. I did deeply enjoy the era of assured certainty of the late Carr era, where Michigan would show up and beat Michigan State. Even as Michigan was lost in the desert during the Dantonio era, there was this certainty of dumb things happening to Michigan. But this entire week felt like a full <i>Kobayashi Maru</i>. If Michigan wins in anything other than blowout fashion, it will be an indictment of the season, to say nothing of the reaction if, once again, an unranked Michigan State finds a way to spoil a Michigan season in the name of making their own. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So yes, please forgive me if the first quarter felt frustrating. Even if one intellectually knew that Michigan State could not keep just throwing up long jump balls and scoring, well, it worked in 2020, so yeah. But the reality settled in that even if Michigan could move the ball to the Spartan five, they just couldn't get in the end zone. But, thankfully, Jake Moody remains money, and it was 13-7 at the half.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The underappreciated genius of Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards is that they echo Mike Hart's running style without copying it. They find the holes, they fall forward for the extra yards, and they do more, but they don't make it look difficult. When the running game is clicking, it's not necessarily an exciting brand, even if Corum and Edwards were both averaging over five yards every time they touched the ball without a bunch of explosive plays. In the larger view, the only reason that this didn't feel better was that Jake Moody had five field goals instead of, say three field goals and two Michigan touchdowns in their stead. 37-3 would be much more indicative of what the offense was doing outside the red zone than what they were doing inside the red zone. I suppose that is a credit to the Michigan State defense.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The final analysis of this game is that Michigan won by nearly exactly the margin they were expected by Vegas to win by and has reclaimed Paul. Michigan has a win over every Big Ten team in their most recent match-up.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Michigan Spreadsheet Notes:</b><br />Win 0984<br />29-7 score, not a Scoragami. 4th time, previously against Indiana last year.<br />Win 450 at Michigan Stadium (in 600 games)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Attendance 111,083, the 65th largest crowd in Michigan Stadium history</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All-time record against Michigan State/MAC moves to 72-38-5</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Michigan moves to 14-5 on October 29th, all-time. The previous 10/29 game was 32-23 win over MSU in 2016<br />Michigan moves to 16-2 when scoring exactly 29 points</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Michigan moves to 107-13-4 when allowing their opponent exactly 7 points.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's Rutgers week. Steel yourself accordingly.</div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com01201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-8614840738592291462022-10-15T22:00:00.003-04:002022-12-05T21:30:13.624-05:00Crush With Eyeliner<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikx6rOKZHWr3FgD4JIDnYJem7d1XPy3mcOnYmiEmSQdlpSjRbRALAjs2ZylOBmyn4a5eb0tAB3JUn9pNHGWGab7E5BzRLk4PLAySiPdnVbfFdiZoLtOMIYLSKAuAddpvmZ1E32f6PrlW84DQc63qf6nh5wJPDlwPrg0B_Gr6QzupHwWX6Rwi0/s2000/edwards.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikx6rOKZHWr3FgD4JIDnYJem7d1XPy3mcOnYmiEmSQdlpSjRbRALAjs2ZylOBmyn4a5eb0tAB3JUn9pNHGWGab7E5BzRLk4PLAySiPdnVbfFdiZoLtOMIYLSKAuAddpvmZ1E32f6PrlW84DQc63qf6nh5wJPDlwPrg0B_Gr6QzupHwWX6Rwi0/w640-h426/edwards.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It wasn't the moment that Michigan fans stopped worrying, but it was the moment Michigan fans at least allowed themselves to consider the possibility of stopping. (<a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1581380490409299968">Patrick Barron</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><div><span><div><br /></div><blockquote><div><i>I'm in like</i></div><div><i>I'm infatuated</i></div><div><i>It's all too much, the pressure</i></div><div><i>She's all that I can take</i></div><div><i>What position should I wear?</i></div><div><i>Cop an attitude? (you fake her)</i></div><div><i>How can I convince her? (fake her)</i></div><div><i>That I'm invented too, yeah</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>I am smitten</i></div><div><i>I'm the real thing (I'm the real thing)</i></div><div><i>We all invent ourselves</i></div><div><i>And, uh, you know me</i><span><i> </i> </span></div></blockquote><p>--"<a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/6ouKLOE8t6ZdLNYRPJ9GM9?si=e195ccb2f5e04620" target="_blank">Crush With Eyeliner</a>" by R.E.M. from their 1994 album <i>Monster</i> </p><p>By coincidence, well, and the way the calendar lines up, today marked the third time that Michigan had faced off with Penn State on October 15. The first was in 1994, just a few weeks after the release of <i>Monster</i>, R.E.M.'s "back to basics" rock album, when #5 Michigan faced off against the #3 Nittany Lions in Ann Arbor just three weeks after "The Miracle at Michigan". Penn State was facing a lot of skepticism about their weak early schedule but came out and posted a 16-3 halftime lead, only to see Michigan race back to tie the game twice, only to pull it out in the end. I distinctly remember this was also the night of my junior year Homecoming Dance and I kept checking in on the game at the bar in the restaurant, which was fine because my date was also a fellow future Wolverine and wanted to know what was happening. </p><p>The second was 2005 when Michigan was 3-3, having alternated wins and losses to start the season took down a #8 Penn State squad at the Big House on "<a href="https://youtu.be/50kNHvjfpwQ?t=75">Touchdown Manningham</a>" an improbable win during "The Season of Infinite Pain" that meant Michigan had won seven straight in the series, a run that began on Judgment Day in 1997. </p><p>History isn't instructive in college football, as much as we like to celebrate it. So none of these things that had happened before mattered as we came into today. A Maize Out to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the beloved 1997 National Championship team, a 6-0 Michigan team, said by some around the country to be untested, against a 5-0 Penn State team. Big Noon Saturday...again. All the making of a classic. Except, it really wasn't.</p><p>Michigan could clearly move the ball early on, eating up most of the first quarter on an 11-play, 64-yard field goal drive and a 13-play, 77-yard field goal drive sandwiched around a three and out for Penn State. It would have been great to finish those drives with touchdowns, which Michigan got after another three and out and a 13-play, 70 yard touchdown drive, it felt like Michigan had things well in hand, especially when it looked like Michigan's defense had stopped the Penn State rusher in the backfield, only for the entire stadium to discover that Sean Clifford still had the ball and ran for 62 yards to set up a Penn State score. </p><p>OK, no problem, just keep moving the ball, that was a fluke, the defense has this in hand...and then a double helmet bounce pick six and Penn State has the lead and nothing makes sense. Michigan did go down and get a field goal on another 11 play drive to go into halftime with the lead, but a game that could have easily been 28-0 was 16-14 and it just felt bad. Penn State had 14 points on 14 first half plays. Michigan fans aren't always great about being rational even with a lead.</p><p>Penn State went down and finally put a drive together, using a 48-yard pass to get into field goal range, but no more. Now Penn State has the lead and everything feels...oh wait, Donovan Edwards just exploded for a 67-yard touchdown run that included a spectacular freezing of the final defender to beat and with a two-point conversion by Ronnie Bell, Michigan was up 7. And while Penn State went for it on fourth and six (after the entire stadium sang "Mr. Brightside") only to give the ball back to Michigan, Blake Corum decided to make sure the Heisman talk was still coming this week with an explosive 61-yard TD run of his own to put Michigan up 14 and never looked back. Michigan scored 25 straight points after Penn State took the lead, never looked back, and moved to 7-0. </p><p>Bye weeks are always better when you're coming off a win. Michigan State in two weeks, on Halloween weekend. We can dare to start dreaming again, because we all invent ourselves and, uh, you know me.</p></span></div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com11201 S Main St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA42.2660981 -83.748465913.955864263821155 -118.9047159 70.576331936178846 -48.5922159tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-783697151534561322022-10-08T20:30:00.004-04:002023-01-20T09:54:01.698-05:00Finest Worksong<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ZcYIAMsajIqxkKHWGy8c1VHkC2jCmm8skJK17ZqF7OGANthtu8ka0d6QxJUev0EznfPIg9bSZGxC3CMcq-jtJc0D8WCssVBdVVRvC67xLR5DjU6kdABLx2fSo2KYmKhoLbVz86uWyR_tpCK8p8TI_F1qLdeXRwbpkI0I7-7bOdDfjPMK490/s2000/tickettoride.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ZcYIAMsajIqxkKHWGy8c1VHkC2jCmm8skJK17ZqF7OGANthtu8ka0d6QxJUev0EznfPIg9bSZGxC3CMcq-jtJc0D8WCssVBdVVRvC67xLR5DjU6kdABLx2fSo2KYmKhoLbVz86uWyR_tpCK8p8TI_F1qLdeXRwbpkI0I7-7bOdDfjPMK490/w640-h426/tickettoride.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">J.J. went for 300+ thanks to a very good second half. (<a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1578843753820758016" target="_blank">Patrick Barron</a>)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><i>The time to rise has been engaged</i></div><div><i>You're better best to rearrange</i></div><div><i>I'm talkin' here to me alone</i></div><div><i>I listen to the finest worksong</i></div><div><i><br />Your finest hour</i></div><div><i>Your finest hour<br /></i>--"Finest Worksong" by R.E.M. from their 1987 album <i>Document</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>Resolved: Indiana games are always dumb.</b></div><div><br />The first half certainly felt like it would be one of those games. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>(I have to be honest here, I have started and stopped writing this one several times, mostly because I really just want Mike Hart to be OK. I am encouraged by the reports out of Bloomington, and I am hopeful that the medical professionals were able to get to the bottom of what caused him to collapse on the sideline. So I mostly wanted to acknowledge this before I started talking about the game because it just felt like it needed to be said.)</i></div><div><br /></div><div>After another expert opening drive, Michigan just felt like it couldn't get its act together on offense and was struggling with Indiana's tempo on defense. But all of the elements that Indiana was able to use to get their touchdown drive were not replicable, as Ace Anbender pointed out on Twitter at the moment. Not that this felt better in the first half. In a week where a Big Ten Network viral promo had James Franklin telling us that penalties are the most overrated stat, the officiating crew decided to test that thesis on Penn State's next opponent since the Nittany Lions were off this week. A matched pair of blocked kicks on field goals and it was 10-10 in the locker room.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jim Harbaugh said he challenged his team to play their best half of football in the second half, their finest hour, if you will. And they did just that. The 98-yard touchdown drive started off feeling bad with Cornelius Johnson letting a sure touchdown slip through his hands, only to redeem it by cashing in for the go-ahead score. Two more touchdowns and a pass rush that seemingly made Indiana question whether the legalization of the forward pass was in fact wise and Michigan got out of Bloomington with a three-score win.</div><div><br /></div><div>Indiana games are always dumb, but for another season, it's over.</div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com0701 E 17th St, Bloomington, IN 47408, USA39.1808988 -86.525631610.870664963821156 -121.6818816 67.491132636178847 -51.3693816tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35971090.post-74178489448175927152022-10-01T19:15:00.004-04:002022-12-05T21:33:48.934-05:00Living Well is the Best Revenge<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiz3kN5HOVepsvj9IrBFfigbMPTRMXFp6E9-l5Pgx1Qk-nVBwB845jFPJm1EB14N6A2hv5vKszIn-8OqjetutaTgPsdFrkBJrW8tIVMvMUbGopU11aaxSrgePFYuuX_QWBEOIWgkEOw3N4W5xhbmg2Msovu_dURh2WmG3Td9Sn0ytJ7Uhd3kg/s2000/morris.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiz3kN5HOVepsvj9IrBFfigbMPTRMXFp6E9-l5Pgx1Qk-nVBwB845jFPJm1EB14N6A2hv5vKszIn-8OqjetutaTgPsdFrkBJrW8tIVMvMUbGopU11aaxSrgePFYuuX_QWBEOIWgkEOw3N4W5xhbmg2Msovu_dURh2WmG3Td9Sn0ytJ7Uhd3kg/w640-h426/morris.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike Morris decided to end the game himself, and not a moment too soon. (<a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBarronPhoto/status/1576300605983043585" target="_blank">Patrick Barron</a> | <a href="https://t.co/d1qAg6cABP">Shop</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="ujudUb xpdxpnd" data-mh="-1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; line-height: 1.58; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: none; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">Don't turn your talking points on me</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">History will set me free</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">The future's ours and you don't even rate a footnote now</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">So who's chasing you? Where did you go?</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">You disappeared mid-sentence</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">In a judgment crisis I see my anecdote for it</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">You weakened shell</span></div><div class="ujudUb xpdxpnd" data-mh="-1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; line-height: 1.58; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: none; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">All your sad and lost apostles</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Hum my name and flare their nostrils</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Choking on the bones you toss to them</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Well I'm not one to sit and spin</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">'Cause living well's the best revenge</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Baby, I am calling you on that</span></div></span></blockquote><p>--"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9DoM2W0YDQ">Living Well is the Best Revenge</a>" by R.E.M. from their 2008 album <i>Accelerate</i> </p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Feelingsball is a bad way to coach, but it is supremely the way that many of us consume football. Michigan never fell below a 90% win expectancy at any point in the second half, but after Iowa scored to make it 20-7, and Michigan went three and out after Blake Corum slammed into a fierce Iowa goalline defense on a third and one at the Michigan 33, it was starting to feel dicey. It was not dicey, but the specters of Kinnick past lingers, even if they were not able to be seen. Even though Brad Robbins boomed a 50-yard punt to put Iowa behind their own twenty-yard line, things did not feel good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They had felt good early. Michigan looked like it was running a clinic on the opening drive, 11 plays, 75 yards, 5 minutes, and a Ronnie Bell run for a touchdown. Michigan wanted to put pressure on Iowa's offense that an early score would help facilitate that exact notion. While Michigan would get a pair of Jake Moody field goals to go up 13-0 at the half, even with Iowa's documented offensive difficulties, it still did feel like more was needed. So, after the beautiful JJ rollout right to Donovan Edwards on the angle route to make it 20-0, it felt like Michigan just needed one more drive to salt things away. About that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After the Robbins punt, Iowa proceeded to, in defiance of history and precedent, move the ball down the field. The first touchdown could be explained away by the short field generated from the backward pass McCarthy threw, and Donovan Edwards covered for a loss, but not a turnover. But now, Spencer Petras is actually hitting guys, Michigan's tackling is leaving something to be desired, and while it's taking some time, Iowa has fourth and two on the Michigan six...this is it, this is the play that will...and Iowa throws short of the sticks and commits offensive pass interference all at the same time. Michigan gets the ball back, and Iowa is still down 20-7. Michigan did go three and out again after this, but another Brad Robbins bomb, this one for 51 yards, and with four minutes left, Iowa still needed two scores.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That was when the defensive line decided to make the Iowa offense pay for its sins on the day and exorcised so many of the ghosts of Iowa City. Mike Morris on first and second down brought the heat, leaving Iowa to face 3rd and 19 when Taylor Upshaw and Eyabi Okie teamed up for another five-yard sack and then Okie with a QB pressure on fourth down. Michigan only held the ball for three plays on the next drive as well, but this time it was because Blake Corum shimmied and shook an All-America linebacker out of position for a touchdown to make it 27-7. While Iowa would get a cosmetic score late against a very soft bit of coverage by Michigan, a top five maize and blue squad escaped Iowa City with a win to move to 5-0 for the second straight year, the first time since (checks notes) 2010-2011. (Wait, really? Yes. Really.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The fears in the game came from a storyline and the fears of what happened the last time Michigan visited Iowa City, in what felt like a lifetime ago. But Kinnick is in the rearview and Michigan moves ahead to play at Bloomington next week with bowl eligibility possible with a win. As Harbaugh said in his presser, the only way to get to 6-0 is to get to 5-0, so we'll see what happens next.</div>Craig Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397826983297392993noreply@blogger.com0825 Stadium Dr, Iowa City, IA 52240, USA41.6586542 -91.551097313.348420363821155 -126.7073473 69.968888036178839 -56.394847299999995