Michigan Fans Should Remember There's a Game To Be Played On Saturday

(Photo by: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Late Monday morning, Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez paced himself. Calmly, he moved into a large room of the Junge Family Champions Center, stepped to the podium and began to address the media.

“Normally I don't bring notes, I kind of speak what's on the top of my mind. But I did write a few notes down here for obvious reasons,” he said.

Rodriguez reminded the media of why he was there. It was supposed to be an exciting day, as they normally are in college football programs across the country. Full of optimism and excitement, the first game week press conference of the season normally comes as a jubilant celebration.

“I want to talk the majority of the time about Western Michigan,” Rodriguez said.

That didn’t happen.

Question after question flowed in about the allegations. Like a broken record, Rich Rod confidently spoke on the situation, despite his previous commitment not to.

He attempted to talk about the Broncos. He discussed the three-man quarterback situation. He talked about WMU’s own stellar signal caller in Tim Hiller. He talked about Bronco head coach Bill Cubit, and his gritty play calling against Rodriguez when he was at West Virginia and Cubit was the offensive coordinator at Rutgers.

But the inquiries kept coming.

Those lingering questions consumed the morning, bled over to the afternoon, and still remained a top story in the evening. The Rich Rod teary-eyed sob will likely go in the second tier of famous coach breakdowns at a presser, along with the likes of UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun’s “Get Some Facts” flame up and U-M women’s hoops coach Kevin Borseth attacking a podium.

Hey, folks. There’s a game to be played Saturday. And unlike the past, this game against the Western Michigan Broncos is no tune-up.

The Broncos already displayed strong evidence of why it can win this matchup way before Sunday’s allegations broke. Coming off a nine-win season, WMU played in its second bowl game in three years last winter.

Despite losing some of its top contributors, the Bronco offensive line is among the most experienced in college football. Hiller, returning from knee surgery, is poised to be among the nation’s top quarterbacks… and that’s considering the likes of Florida’s Tim Tebow, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, and Texas’ Colt McCoy.

Now, the Broncos will enter Michigan Stadium to face a team in disarray.

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