For Michigan Football, Two Games Towards 2010

Three weeks and three second-half collapses en route to five straight Big 10 losses.

Memories of Michigan's 4-0 start are withering.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez's detractors are getting louder and his "guru" label has not been used for some time.

Instead, "fragile" and "lack of talent" seem to trickle out of the mouths of the Wolverine faithful, while others openly wonder if blowing up one of the most successful programs in college football history was such a good idea.

Sure, maybe Western Michigan, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan, and Indiana were not what we thought, but five straight losses (Delaware State was a game in name only)?

This is not what Rich Rodriguez did at West Virginia—they beat Virginia Tech, Boston College, and rival Pittsburgh at the end of the season in order to finish 9-4 and go bowling.

2009 season expectations were simple—improve competitiveness and move closer to Big 10 excellence.

There have been signs. Remember the Michigan State, Iowa, and Purdue games? Michigan had opportunities to win each one, despite suspect performances scattered by both offense and defense.

There is a core of talent developing on offense, including Tate Forcier, Junior Hemingway, Kevin Koger, David Molk, and a slew of up-and-coming running backs.

On the flip side, Michigan has been outscored 75-12 in the second half of each of their last three games. There seems to be a glaring lack of talent and/or coaching on defense.

Specifically, the 2009 defense has given up 30 points or more to all Big 10 opponents except Michigan State (merely 26 in that loss).

The cupboard is not completely bare (Mike Martin, Ryan Van Bergen, and Troy Woolfork should be contributors), but so far numerous questions remain.

For some, the prognosis for the Wolverines this season is not good. However, any prognosis right now is incomplete.

A road victory would help ease fan concerns and serve as a momentum builder going into the Ohio State game. However, Madison is a tough place to win and Wisconsin is a physical squad fighting for a Jan. 1 bowl. Michigan has a chance, as they have in nearly every game this season, if they catch a couple of breaks.

Ultimately, the measure of any Michigan team is how they perform against Ohio State.

It is pretty simple: Beat the Buckeyes and the season is a success. Michigan will probably get a bowl bid and few can deny the program is moving in the right direction.

Lose to OSU and...

Still, Lee Corso said it best when he emerged from a coffin during his Indiana show and proclaimed, "We aren't dead yet!"

For Michigan and Rich Rod in particular, Big Blue needs to emerge from its coffin during the final two weeks of this season. Get a win and some momentum moving into the recruiting wars.

Then Michigan will be back...or Rich Rodriguez won't.