Bleacher Report - Articles by Jason Barczy

Michigan Wolverines, RB Sam McGuffie Part Ways

Jason Barczy — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:59:50 -0500

It's official. Sam McGuffie is transferring from Michigan.

Most sites indicate he's headed home to the state of Texas and possibly Texas A&M.

The freshman running back accumulated nearly 700 total yards and four touchdowns this season.

McGuffie put on a tremendous performance, rushing for 131 yards, against Notre Dame but went on to suffer three concussions. He saw his carries steadily decrease following the repeated injury.

As a YouTube sensation, many believed McGuffie would replace Mike Hart with no problem.

But size (5-11, 185) hindered McGuffie throughout the Big Ten season and he couldn't survive.

It's too bad—but I say goodbye and good luck. If there's one position Michigan can afford, it's running back.

The Wolverines have starter Brandon Minor coming back along with Michael Shaw and Carlos Brown. Plus, Fitzgerald Toussaint is coming in next season.

I'm just disappointed because I hoped to see him leap frog and juke defenders like in his YouTube highlights.

Ah well, what do you guys think?

Forecast For The 16 Seniors Leaving Michigan

Jason Barczy — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:34:32 -0500

This article may be a little late on my part. I had originally planned to do a senior tribute story before the Northwestern game then I delayed it till before the OSU game then the idea just got lost.

So here we are now, three weeks after the season, and the original is still sitting on my desktop begging to be published.

The Wolverines have 16 seniors departing the team so what's to become of them? Not all of them will see NFL playing time or even a practice field and for those that do, what kind of success will they have.

Well I think I have the answers. I'm going to start with those that I think will disappear forever and end with the one I think will be the most successful so try to keep up.

Ohene Opong-Owusu

I don't know even know who this guy is. Can anyone pronounce that? If you can get in contact with me, I want to hear this.

A four-year linebacker out of West Bloomfield, Owusu never saw the field.

He's enrolled in the College of Literature, Science and Arts so I can possibly see this guy becoming an African Literature professor at a community college somewhere in the south.

Shakir Edwards

Here's another one I have never heard of. Apparently he had two tackles on special teams in 2007 but who seriously keeps track of those.

Good luck with the telemarketing gig, Shakir!

Sean Griffin

Starting long snapper for two seasons. That's it, nothing else.

Actually did set up the game winning touchdown against Illinois in 2007 when he recovered a fumble late in the game on punt coverage. He's some kind of science nut so I see a future chemistry teaching job for this Livonia native.

Jason Gingell

This has been K.C. Lopata's main competition. Gingell is why Michigan fans have had to deal with Lopata. Because there was no one better to come in for him.

Gingell has made 15 career PAT's and is 3-for-9 on field goals which is why he only kickoffs now and is averaging 61.4 yards per kickoff.

Maybe a job in Arena League but I'm thinking more like the CFL.

Doug Dutch

What a giant disappointment! I'm serious. I had huge hopes for this guy coming out of high school.

Tom Lemming ranked him the sixth ranked receiver out of high school and a four star prospect. He was suppose to be better than Adrian Arrington and those two were going to be a great combination for years.

Here's hist stats: two years as WR with four catches for 34 yards, switched to CB before '07 and made one solo tackle and been a special teams player since '07 Irish game.

Good thing he's a psych major who can save himself the money of paying for therapy.

Brandon Logan

Here's another one that I've never really heard of. A Kentucky three star prospect who has played in just 18 games over his career. He made one start at linebacker and has 15 tackles and fumble recovery.

He'll run a restaurant or bar back home in Kentucky. Or at least be a bouncer.

Austin Panter

Another wasted four-star prospect, this one at linebacker where Michigan was seriously lacking in depth at.

Panter appeared in just seven games and coincidentally had just seven tackles including one for a loss. Not really sure what really happened with him.

He became the first Michigan JUCO transfer in like, forever, so hopefully the guy is smart enough to weasel his way into a decent job.

Mike Massey

Pat Massey's brother didn't live up the family name to say the least. Mike was a four star tight end prospect who only has two touchdowns in his career.

He could of had another this year against Northwestern but somehow he inexplicably pulled down his hands. I'll never let him live that down.

Some will say that Mike suffered a lot of injuries but I say 20 catches for 161 yards is the work of a career back up tight end who was never good enough to crack the starting lineup.

He might be Shakir Edwards boss at the telemarketing firm.

John Thompson

Detroit native who could be considered as an over achiever as a three star linebacker out of Crockett Technical.

Under Carr he only came in for spot duty, but this year he got a lot of starts and his 53 tackles in 2008 came one short of tying his career mark of 54 before the season started.

Had a Prescott Burgess moment in in the Wisconsin game where he returned an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Thompson could be a hard enough worker to be a main stay on an NFL practice squad after toiling for a couple years in the Arena League.

Charles Stewart

Sometimes, this four star defensive back and the pride of Farmington Hills Harrison, caused the worst headaches in the world.

Stewart consistently got beat on deep coverage and big plays, sometimes it wasn't his fault, but most times it really was.

He has 80 career tackles, six pass breakups and just one interception coming this season. Maybe the Lions will pick him up, he's their kind of player after all. But I have a feeling the CFL is the best fit for him, there's more field for him to screw up on.

K.C. Lopata

Well I can't mention one Farmington native with out following with the other, especially when I have so much disdain for both of them.

Career 21-for-27 field goals and 55 PATs for Lopata doesn't even begin to describe the heartbreak some of his misses caused. Getting blocked against Appalachian State and missing from 26 yards against Toledo account for the two worst losses in Michigan history.

His physical education degree hopefully carries him to some small high school gym class teacher in the depths of hell otherwise known as Ohio.

Brandon Harrison

Thought he would have a promising career after his freshman campaign but Harrison just sort of had a meh career and while his mistakes aren't as glaring as Stewart, he still made quite a few.

Harrison just didn't read very well off the snap and got beat at the line of scrimmage far too often. Still his career numbers aren't terrible; 165 tackles, 16.5 for loss, 6.5 sacks, 12 pass breakups, three interceptions and four fumble recoveries.

While an NFL career is never gonna happen for this guy, maybe he does good in the Arena League but I see him more likely chasing after criminals as a bail bondsmen.

Tim Jamison

Underachieved considering he came out of high school as a four star recruit and number three ranked defensive linemen in the country.

Jamison only amassed 129 stops, 20 sacks and four forced fumbles as a defensive end opposite Brandon Graham for two years and Lamar Woodley for two.

He doesn't have the size to be a 4-3 defensive end or a 3-4 outside linebacker in the NFL but he could be an undrafted free agent signing that remains on the practice squad.

Will Johnson

A balding, four star defensive tackle out of Lake Orion, Johnson has played a lot in his career and done a decent job.

Him and Terrance Taylor have been a nice little combination for the past two years but not better than Taylor and Alan Branch being next to each other.

Johnson has amassed 81 tackles, 5.5 sacks and one fumble recovery and there was a nice fluff story in the Ann Arbor news about how Johnson is the strongest player on the team.

I could see him as a defensive end in a 3-4 defense if he continues training under Mike Barwis.

Morgan Trent

A four star receiver converted to defensive back, Trent was lightning fast coming out of high school and reportedly beat Ted Ginn Jr. in a few track meets.

Too bad he couldn't catch the ball to be a receiver so Carr did what any coach does with a receiver who can't catch, put him on defense.

As a corner Trent had 149 tackles, seven interceptions and 21 pass breakups while starting for three seasons.

I can think of worse defensive backs in the NFL so why not take a chance on him in the later rounds. Trent could turn out to be a serviceable dime or quarter defensive back.

Terrence Taylor

I first took notice "Big T" during the 2006 Penn State game where he and Alan Branch were competing to see who could knock out the quarterback out of the game first.

Branch won but Taylor scored big in my heart and although Taylor won't get the acclaim that Branch or even Gabe Watson had, he's still a dominating defensive tackle.

At best though, I can only see Taylor getting drafted in the third or fourth round, but whoever does will get a gem.

Not only is he tough to deal with on the line, he's got a big heart and can talk trash with the best of them.

His 114 tackles, six sacks and four fumble recoveries throughout his career should've gotten the attention of some NFL scouts.

Taylor is the best prospect coming out of Michigan and with the right team, coach he could have a nice little career.

A Look at How the 2008 Michigan Recruiting Class Fared

Jason Barczy — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:48:03 -0500

Michigan had the 10th ranked recruiting class in 2008 according to Rivals, and I was thinking, why not check their progress?

Especially since a lot of them saw quite a bit of playing time throughout their freshman campaigns.

Besides, I haven't touched on recruiting yet this year on this blog or any other website. It's something I normally like to avoid until after the season and the next year's class is more concrete.

I'll really start getting into it after the Army All-American game when I can see one of these guys in action.

But for now let's take a look at how last year's class did.

This was mostly a split class of guys that Lloyd Carr had already recruited and decided to stick with the program after Rich Rodriguez came on board.

Michigan pulled in 24 recruits comprised of 17 four-star recruits and six three-star guys. I go by Rivals so if you want to argue, hey, to each his own.

Two players have already left the team and 12 players took redshirts. Then 10 remaining saw quite a bit of playing time as far as freshmen are concerned.

Sam McGuffie

"Crime Dog" McGuffie (that nickname is just natural) got the start at running back from the first snap against Utah but saw his carries become more and more limited as the season went on.

His best game was against Notre Dame where at one point he was tiptoeing down the sideline for a 29-yard run and finished with 131 yards, catching four balls for 47 yards and a touchdown.

McGuffie ended the season with 486 yards and rumors were swirling that he would be leaving the team after a death in the family took him back to his home state of Texas.

A four-star recruited by Lloyd Carr, McGuffie was a big factor in Fred Jackson staying on as running backs coach. Maybe due to his high profile recruitment after becoming a youtube star.

Analysis: McGuffie went down too often on first contact but maybe he just hit a freshman wall as the season went on. If he really wants to go back home I say go. Running back is one area where Michigan is deep.

Still, he can be explosive and with another year under Mike Barwis he could become a Justin Fargas type, as long as he doesn't transfer like Fargas.

Michael Shaw

A four-star player out of Trotwood, Ohio Shaw saw a lot of playing time although some Michigan fans, including myself, would've liked to see more of him.

The picture above is Shaw's lone touchdown of the season which was also the first one Michigan scored in the season-opening loss to Utah.

He averaged more than five yards a carry but only got 42 carries for 215 yards leaving Michigan fans wanting more.

Analysis: Remember Clarence Williams? Yeah, that's what Shaw reminds me off. He'll be really serviceable but he'll be in the shadow of others and we'll be deprived of ever really seeing him as a feature back.

Martavious Odoms

This little three-star wide receiver from Florida that came on late through RichRod caused quite a few headaches this year.

Somehow he managed to lead the Wolverines with 49 catches for 443 yards and he did score a 73-yard punt return against Purdue.

Which was quite a surprise since never at any point did he seem capable of even catching a punt or kickoff.

Analysis: I think you get my tone about Odoms by now. However, he does have a lot of explosiveness if he can hold on to the ball. Plus, he seems to be providing a good pipeline to his teammates in Florida.

When he did play well he reminded me of Marquis Walker, that was until it got colder and Odoms couldn't grip the ball.

Mike Martin

Novi Catholic Central's own four-star defensive tackle saw playing time in all 12 games this season.

Martin registered 20 tackles, 4.5 for loss and two sacks as the primary backup to Terrance Taylor and Will Johnson.

He brought a lot of energy to the pass rush but needs to brush up on his run stuffing as well.

Analysis: I like this guy and the enthusiasm he brings to the game. Hope Barwis just gets after him a little more and he can become a force playing next to Brandon Graham.

Boubacar Cissoko

Perhaps one of the great names ever, Cissoko came to the Wolverines out of Cass Tech in Detroit as a four-star defensive back.

As the season went one he saw more and more time in the nickle and dime packages and collected three decent pass breakups, one of which was amazing in the Purdue game.

Gifted with a lot of speed, Cissoko saw a lot of punt and kickoff return duty but like Odoms, he needs to get better hands.

Analysis: Boubacar is Morgan Trent's replacement, I just hope he doesn't follow in Trent's footsteps and ends of getting burned all the time.

Cissoko has the speed to not get burned but I thought the same of Trent. College defensive backs take some time to develop so we'll see.

Kevin Koger

Four-star tight end out of Toledo saw playing time in eight games catching one touchdown and 93 yards on six grabs.

He replaced the worthless Carson Butler and was respectful enough to request that Mike Massey get the majority of playing time in the Northwestern game on senior day.

His mere presence I think showed that Rich Rodriguez might be adding a new dimension to his spread offense which usually doesn't feature a tight end.

Analysis: I haven't like a Michigan tight end since Bennie Joppru left the team. Tim Massaquoi and Carson Butler have been killing me lately.

Koger on the other hand has been pleasant to watch and I think he has ability to emerge as a top tight end in the Big Ten.

Darryl Stonum

Stonum came in touted as a the next best deep threat at Michigan and had high expectations.

And it was warranted. The four-star wideout from Texas ran a 4.4 40 yard dash coming out of high school. He's 6-2 and 180. That's a great frame for a high schooler.

But Stonum only had 14 catches for 176 yards and one score. He consistently ran bad routes and was arrested for a DUI midway through the season. From what I hear he's also still driving around Ann Arbor despite having a suspended license.

Analysis: I'll admit, I drank the kool-aid on Stonum early on in the recruitment period and thought the guy was going to be great without realizing that freshmen wide receivers are never that good.

He could still turn into something great but only time will tell if he steps up and pulls his head out of his backside by giving someone else the keys.

Justin Feagin

RichRod brought Feagin in near the end of recruiting last year as a back up plan in the event Terrelle Pryor didn't come to Michigan.

Now the Wolverines are stuck with a three-star recruit who RichRod doesn't trust enough yet to attempt a handoff let alone pass the ball and probably never will.

Feagin rushed for 52 yards in four games with 34 yards coming off of one run against Minnesota.

Analysis: Feagin will move to slot receiver next year after Tate Forcier and Shavrodick Beaver enroll and might be listed as an emergency fourth string quarterback or something.

I can't really tell anything about him though as I never got to see him throw so who knows what he's capable of. He did show how fast he could be in that one run though.

J.B. Fitzgerald

A four-star linebacker out of New Jersey, Fitzgerald played in all 12 games collecting eight tackles on special teams.

Analysis: Fitzgerald did make a couple bone crushing hits on kickoff returns that I remember seeing. He could see more playing time on defense as a sophomore an emerge like Jonas Mouton.

Kenny Demens

Rich Rodriguez burned Demens' redshirt chances so he could appear in three games and assist on one tackle on special teams.

Demens was a four-star linebacker from Country Day in Detroit.

Analysis: What do you honestly expect me to say on this? I have no idea ever seeing this guy on the field.

Redshirted

Terrence Robinson, four-star WR from Texas

Ricky Barnum, four-star OL from Florida

Rocko Khoury, three-star OL from Traverse City, MI

Elliot Mealer, four-star OL from Wauseon, OH

Brandon Moore, four-star TE from Trotwood, OH

Dann O'Neill, four-star OL from Grand Haven, MI

Patrick Omameh, two-star DE (who I hear is converting to OL) from Columbus, OH

Roy Roundtree (snake oil incident), four-star WR from Trotwood, OH

Brandon Smith, four-star DB from New Jersey

Kurt Wermers, three-star OL from Indiana

Mike Cox, three-star RB from Connecicut

J.T. Floyd, three-star ATH (safety from what I hear) from South Carolina

Left Team

Taylor Hill, four-star LB from Youngstown, OH (left for reasons unknown)

Transfered

Marcus Witherspoon, four-star LB from New Jersey (academically ineligible at Michigan, transferred to Rutgers)

Final Thoughts

Losing Hill and Witherspoon hurt especially looking at Michigans depth at linebacker, it's not too promising.

I love that most of the offensive lineman redshirted and have a whole year under RichRod's and Barwis' tutelage.

Omameh I hear is going to be really good on the O-Line as will Barnum and O'Neill.

J.T. Floyd is the one who almost got the number one jersey till Braylon stepped in and told RichRod what's up. But I think that just speaks to Floyd's ability so we have that to look forward to.

All in all, it's been a pretty decent class but things will be clearer after their sophomore years.

Michigan Wolverines' End of Season Grades and Awards

Jason Barczy — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:31:54 -0500

Michigan Wolverines 3-9, 2-6 Big Ten

Well, if that wasn't the worst season in Michigan history as some have argued, it certainly was the most depressing.

A lot of records were broken in all the wrong ways, and the Wolverines play was beyond dismal throughout most of the season with the exception of the Minnesota game and the fourth quarter of the Wisconsin game.

Outside of those five quarters of football, Michigan never looked like it could compete in the Mid-American Conference, let alone the Big Ten.

Still, I have to support my team and hand out some grades and awards.

Offense

From the very start of the season against Utah, this offense looked like it was going to have trouble moving the ball.

Having two redshirt freshmen to choose from didn't leave Rich Rodriguez a lot of options either. Nick Sheridan, a former walk on, and Steven Threet, a transfer from Georgia Tech, never found a rhythm in RichRod's offense.

That and neither could throw the ball more than five yards downfield.

Threet, an Adrian native, improved each week, but then he got the injury bug and suffered a concussion against Purdue and then again in the loss to Northwestern.

He was obviously the better choice to run the offense over Nick Sheridan and that was apparent in the second half of the Utah game.

Threet has a season ending passing efficiency rating of 105.26, compared to Sheridan's 81.09.

But Sheridan still saw playing time and will be forever remembered for managing the team well enough to hold onto the Little Brown Jug (golf clap).

Now I guess total blame for Michigan's offense ranking 111th in the country averaging just 290.75 yards per game isn't on Threet or Sheridan's shoulders.

Michigan had freshmen wide receivers like Martavious Odoms, Darryl Stonum and tight end Kevin Koger see a lot of playing time. The offensive line was a makeshift unit week to week with John Ferrara converting from defensive tackle. There was enough inexperience on the offensive side of the ball to fill an abstinence camp for virgins.

The one bright spot on offense was the running backs. Brandon Minor was a horse but for reasons unknown he didn't see a lot of carries early in the season. Some say it was injuries others say it was because he wasn't a RichRod guy.

Minor finished the season with 533 yards and 5.2 yards per carry along with nine touchdowns.

Those aren't great numbers but consider that Sam McGuffie got 118 carries compared to 103 for Minor. McGuffie showed some flash early in the season, particularly the Notre Dame game, and gained 486 yards and three touchdowns.

My big knock on McGuffie is that he goes down too often on first contact. Minor just runs people over.

Michael Shaw showed some ability, and I'd love to see more of him and Carlos Brown came back from the dead in the Northwestern game.

Michigan rushed for over 1,700 yards this season and averaged more yards per rush this season than they did last year.

Final Offensive Grade: C-

Offensive MVP: Brandon Minor

Defense

This was my biggest disappointment of the season.

Here comes a unit that was a top 25 defense a year ago, returned eight starters and had arguably the best defensive line in Big Ten if not the country.

That and add in a bunch of hype about how Mike Barwis has whipped these guys into shape before the season and you get the 69th ranked defense in the country.

Thanks. Way to show up.

The defensive line was great but it couldn't make up for the linebackers and secondary giving up big play after big play.

There was only so much Terrance Taylor, Will Johnson, Brandon Graham, and Tim Jamison could do. And those guys did a lot. Graham had 10 sacks, 20 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles along with 46 tackles to earn second-team Big Ten.

Unfortunately they had guys like Stevie Brown, Charles Stewart, Brandon Harrison, John Thompson and Obi Ezeh watching their backs.

Ezeh's 98 tackles are impressive but he really needs to step up in his junior season next year to get me off his back. But right now he takes on too many blockers, doesn't hit the gaps and gets run over by Beanie Wells on a yearly basis.

I don't want to discuss the passing defense inefficiencies or Stevie Brown ever again. I just want to drill them out of my memory.

Donovan Warren was solid but I want to see why he got a five star rating out of high school. Right now he just reminds me of Jeremy LaSueur, a solid defensive back who doesn't make many mistakes.

Goodbye Morgan Trent. That's all, just goodbye.

One guy though that fans need to be watching is Jonas Mouton. He really came on strong at the end of the season and will be a force next year. He gives me hope that Michigan's linebacking corps will be alright.

But Michigan got dominated so many times and by bad to mediocre teams. Illinois ran all over the Wolverines, Justin Siller and Purdue embarrassed them then there's Toledo.

A lot could be blamed on the offense for not converting third downs (27.3 percent on third down) and putting the defense on the field too much.

But at some point that argument has to be thrown out, especially when the defense is giving up 500+ yards to a really bad Purdue team.

That and the fact that Michigan ranks 60th in third-down defense. They can complain about the offense not being able to stay on the field but they can't complain about not being able to get off the field on third down.

Final Defensive Grade: D-

Defensive MVP: Brandon Graham

Special Team

Oh, the ups and downs that special teams provided this season was truly epic. Well the downs anyway.

The only ups I can speak of is Zoltan Mesko's punt fakes and his general ability to hang a ball in the air for 45 minutes.

The bads were many and often.

Martavious Odoms should never, never return punts again, unless that is all he is practicing from today to the beginning of the season.

Why Greg Matthews wasn't back there more often just to have a better chance of possessing the ball is beyond me.

Odoms' fumbles could be called on cue by the end of the season. When he did it against Ohio State I barely flinched. I just knew it was going to happen and accepted it.

K.C. Lopata is on the Philip Brabbs level and he put himself there after missing a chip shot against Toledo.

Lopata ended the season 10-for-15 and missed from less than 30 yards out twice.

Mesko is the lone Michigan player on the All Big Ten first team.

Final Special Teams Grade: C

Special Teams MVP: Zoltan Mesko (obviously)

Coaching

Rich Rodriguez was dealt a bad hand this season, and I'm not blaming him for the worst season in 129 years of Michigan football.

Everyone likes to argue that he could've adapted and run a pro-style offense but seriously Michigan might of won one or two more games.

The inexperience on offense really killed Michigan this year and RichRod did the best thing he could and that was teach these kids the offense this year to be ready for next year.

Now, the system is in place and the players know what to do and what to expect next season.

Fred Jackson did great as running backs coach and maybe RichRod should've looked into keeping some more of Lloyd Carr's former assistants.

In particular, Ron English.

Scott Schafer has been a disaster thus far and if RichRod was going to bring in a guy he hadn't coached with before why not just keep the guy already there.

Final Coaching Grade: C

Coaching MVP: Fred Jackson

Final Grade and Awards

I can't judge RichRod after one season and be able to justify firing him. It's one year and those out there screaming this are insane.

My big hope is that this season rooted out some bandwagon/ fair-weather Michigan fans.

Was a bad season? Without a doubt. Was it the worst ever? Possibly. Is Michigan as bad as Notre Dame was last year? No.

Michigan will turn around and be back on top of the Big Ten where it belongs.

This season was a massive disappointment but things will only get better and these young guys learned a valuable lesson.

Final Grade for 2008 Season: D

Team MVP: Brandon Graham

Comeback Player: Carlos Brown

Leadership Award: Brandon Minor

Freshman of the Year: Sam McGuffie

Most Improved: Jonas Mouton

Most Likely to be Killed by Barwis: Stevie Brown

Grades: Michigan Gets Pounded By Ohio State For Fifth Straight Year

Jason Barczy — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:32:14 -0500

Ohio State 42, Michigan 7

Final Record: 3-9, 2-6 10th place in Big Ten

Before I get started let me just add this little disclaimer. I was thoroughly hammered during most of the game and don't remember much of the second half.

I started pounding beers after Beanie Wells 59-yard touchdown run that looked eerily similar from the past two seasons.

Guess not much has changed after all. Three straight years Wells has now made Michigan's defense look foolish with long runs right up middle.

And it wasn't just that play. It was multiple big plays by Ohio State that took me from light afternoon drinking straight to binge drinking.

For the first time in history, Ohio State has won five straight against the Wolverines and for only the second time in history has Michigan lost to all three of its rivals in one season.

Bo Schembechler is rolling over in his grave.

But the worst season in Michigan history is finally over and I don't have to grade performances anymore so let's get this over with.

Offense

At least we can all take solace knowing that Nick Sheridan will never again take a snap as the starting quarterback of the Michigan Wolverines.

The only throw he's capable of making is the wide receiver bubble screen pass. Other than that he can't throw the ball past the line of scrimmage unless the wideout is fully expecting to catch the ball at his feet.

His 8-for-24 and 87 yards performance wouldn't be good enough on a middle school football team. How this guy has ever been considered a quarterback past the pee-wee level is beyond my understanding.

Michigan put together one decent drive all day that relied on two fourth down conversions including Brandon Minor's touchdown run.

Minor finished the day with 77 yards on 14 carries to lead the rushing game but most of that came on one carry for 32 yards.

After Carlos Brown had a good day against Northwestern, he only carried the ball three times on Saturday in Columbus.

Michael Shaw got some carries and showed some flash but then he was no where to be found again.

The entire offense was abysmal. Martavious Odoms continued dropping the balls thrown right to him including the only good pass Sheridan can throw, a bubble screen.

The Wolverines started the game with six consecutive three and outs and finished the game with 10 total.

I really don't know what happened to Michigan's offense the last two weeks. It had made such progress the previous weeks against Purdue, Minnesota and each week it seemed to be improving.

But the last two games have been a total nightmare.

Offensive Grade: F

Defense

For the second straight week Stevie Brown intercepted a pass on the opening drive only to see the offense squander the opportunity to put early points on the board.

Then, right on cue, he goes back to being the same old Stevie Brown we know and hate.

Terrelle Pryor continually challenged Brown throughout the game after being intercepted by him early on. It's like Pryor took offense to being picked off by one of the worst safeties in the conference and made it a mission to make him look stupid.

It was really disappointing to see the defense collapse like it did. They held Ohio State to one first down on its first four drives then the big plays started happening.

The defense must of thought to itself 'hey, the offense isn't going to help us so screw it.'

Obi Ezeh once again has not proved that he'll be a leader on this team next year and Donovan Warren was so upset he refused to talk to the media after the game.

Can't blame him either. I wouldn't want to talk about the most embarrassing loss to Ohio State in 40 years either knowing I was responsible for it.

I'm not saying Warren is necessarily responsible for it but the defense just seemed to give up especially after giving up another big touchdown run early in the third quarter.

Dan Herron's 49-yard run took all the air out of the defense and deflated the Wolverines.

Defensive Grade: F

Special Teams

K.C. Lopata has officially joined the ranks of Phillip Brabbs and will forever be among my most hated Wolverines of all time.

Remember the days when Michigan had kickers like Jay Feely, Hayden Epstein and field goals were just automatic? Yeah, me neither.

And it really boggles my mind why Rich Rodriguez continually puts Martavious Odoms on punt returns. Michigan fans should take out a restraining order against him barring any involvement with special teams.

Zoltan was reliable as always.

Special Teams Grade: D-

Coaching

Rich Rodriguez had no trick plays up his sleeve and basically did nothing but shove his players out onto the field and said lets get this over with.

A shouting match took place between him and John Thompson early in the game after a timeout was called.

It was sad and looked very dysfunctional.

It was clear to me that things have been just too complicated for these kids all season long and they just weren't getting whatever he was preaching.

If he had just simplified things early on and progressively added things as the season went on, Michigan might of won a couple more games.

There was also no continuity. Especially in the backfield. Every other play there was a different running back. Where was Carlos Brown throughout the game, why didn't Brandon Minor get more carries and now Sam McGuffie seems all but lost after being alienated by the coaching staff.

Coaches grade: F

Final Thoughts

I'm so sick of losing to Ohio State and now Buckeye fans are starting to say that this isn't a real rivalry anymore.

One, they're full of crap. They love it that they've won five straight now.

Two, this just fuels the rivalry fire. More and more frustration is being built up in Ann Arbor and sooner or later it's going to explode. Hopefully right in Jim Tressel's face.

Three, someone find me a high powered drill so I can take it to my temple.

Final Grade: F

Ohio State-Michigan: Wolverines Look to Prevent Fifth Straight Buckeye Victory

Jason Barczy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:01:56 -0500

Before I get started with this week's preview, congratulations are in order. Give some props to the Michigan basketball team for beating the number four-ranked UCLA Bruins Thursday night by a score of 55-52 at Madison Square Garden.

I could not believe my eyes and was ecstatic afterwards. Hey Sparties, still want to wait for basketball season? I can't wait for Feb. 10 at Crisler Arena when Michigan plays MSU.

On with the preview.

Michigan Wolverines (3-8, 2-5) at Ohio State Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1)

Noon, Saturday at Ohio Stadium

Line: Ohio State -20.5

Weather: High of 36 degrees with partly cloudy skies

Well, here it is, folks—the 105th meeting between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University.

The 20.5-point spread is the largest in the history of "The Game," and there's a good chance the Buckeyes will cover given how bad Michigan has been this season.

It all depends on which Michigan team shows up Saturday. Are we going to get the Wolverines from the Minnesota game that played solid football for four quarters, or the team that has bombed against the rest of the Big Ten?

How about the team that played against Purdue, where just the offense showed up and the defense decided to lay an egg? Or the teams that played good for one quarter of a game against Wisconsin and Illinois?

All I know is if the Wolverines and the 16 seniors on this team want to beat Ohio State for the first time since 2003, they better show up and hit on all cylinders for a full 60 minutes.

Michigan has never lost five straight against the Buckeyes, but this has been a season of dreadful firsts for the Wolverines, so if this is the year it happens, I won't be much surprised.

However, if Michigan should pull out the victory on Saturday, I will be elated and proceed to claim it the biggest upset in the history of the series.

It's going to be a giant uphill battle, though, and I don't see giving Michigan much of a chance.

Michigan Pass Offense vs. Ohio State Pass Defense

All Michigan fans can do is hope that Nick Sheridan brings his stallion and sword prepared to be knighted again instead of his usual white flag signaling surrender.

He's got the 13th-ranked pass defense in the country to deal with, which has 14 interceptions, led by Kurt Coleman's four and Malcolm Jenkins's three.

Jenkins also has eight pass breakups, so I would advise against throwing to his side of the field altogether.

Michigan's offensive line did pretty well against Northwestern last week. The Wildcats had a ton of sacks entering that game but only got one on the Wolverines.

I would normally feel all right about Michigan's ability to pick up the pass rush, but Steve Schilling might not play after spraining his knee in practice this week.

Ohio State has a decent pass rush, accumulating 21 sacks this season.

In order to compensate, Martavious Odoms, Darryl Stonum, and Kevin Koger are all going to have to step up their game and get open quicker.

Stonum has been having a rough time with routes, and Odoms has a propensity to drop the ball, being the freshmen that they are.

Marcus Freeman and James Laurinaitis will most likely get to Sheridan before he can even get to his second read, which takes long enough as it is.

Advantage: Ohio State

Michigan Rush Offense vs. Ohio State Rush Defense

Brandon Minor is back this week, and after Carlos Brown returned from oblivion last week, Michigan should have a solid one-two punch this week.

The offensive line is run blocking better and better each week, and Brown and Minor should have some good lanes to run through—although those lanes might get filled up by the nation's 26th-ranked run defense that only gives up 3.7 yards per carry.

The Buckeyes have an astonishing 54 tackles for loss, led by Freeman's 6.5 and Laurinaitis's 4.5.

Speed kills, though, and Minor and Brown have shown a lot of speed this season. Minor is bound to break a long run or two, while Brown almost did a couple times last week.

Advantage: Michigan (barely)

Ohio State Pass Offense vs. Michigan Pass Defense

Terrelle Pryor is going to be a nightmare to deal with for the Michigan defense. He doesn't throw a lot, but when he has, it's been effective.

Pryor has a 152.16 efficiency rating and has 10 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

While he's lethal on the ground, he can be just as lethal if not more through the air.

Brian Robiskie is his favorite target (seven touchdowns), and Brian Hartline is averaging over 20 yards per catch.

Michigan's pass defense has been a complete disaster this season, with Stevie Brown, Charles Stewart, and Brandon Harrison leaving the middle of the field wide open.

The Wolverines' secondary ranks 89th in the country and gives up over 230 yards per game through the air.

Advantage: Ohio State

Ohio State Rush Offense vs. Michigan Rush Defense

This is the key matchup in the game if both teams want to be successful.

If Ohio State has a big day on the ground, expect another Buckeye victory, but if Michigan can slow down Beanie Wells and Pryor, the Wolverines will have a chance.

The Buckeyes rank 29th in the country, averaging 187 yards per game, with Wells rushing for 119.6 per game and 5.4 per carry.

He killed Michigan singlehandedly last year with 222 yards and the only two touchdowns at the Big House.

Now he has Pryor to aid him once in a while, who gets 50.9 yards per game and 4.8 per carry.

Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton are going to be crucial in slowing down Wells and keeping Pryor contained.

Ezeh and Mouton need to step up and show that they can be leaders on this team next season, and this is their audition.

Seniors Terrance Taylor, Will Johnson, and Tim Jamison are just itching to get their first victory against OSU.

If the defensive line can slow down Wells, and Ezeh and Mouton keep Pryor contained, Michigan can win this game.

Advantage: Even

Special Teams

Ohio State has two punt returns for touchdowns this season, but don't expect them to get one this weekend with Zoltan "Space Lord Emperor of the Universe" Mesko kicking the ball into the upper atmosphere.

Neither team's field goal kicker is dead-on accurate either.

Advantage: Even

Final Thoughts

The media has been blowing up stories about just how much Rich Rodriguez knows about this rivalry.

We already know Sweater Vest's opinion and passion for this game. It's the only big game he can win (at least since the 2002 championship game).

Rich Rod has been very open with the media, a lot more so than Lloyd Carr ever was, but I think he's been holding something back.

There's something he hasn't told us yet.

Bo Schembechler said after the historic 1969 win that not even his players knew it, but every day they were practicing something for the Ohio State game.

Maybe RichRod has been doing the same and has a trick or two up his sleeves.

I still don't think it'll matter, but maybe it'll help.

Prediction: Ohio State 31, Michigan 13

Michigan Vs. OSU Still The Best Rivalry In College Football

Jason Barczy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:19:57 -0500

It's always fun to discuss what is the best rivalry in college football and what perfect time to bring it up then now.

The week of "The Game" played out between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University (as a Wolverine fan don't ever expect me to put "the" in front of a reference to OSU).

First though let's examine other great rivalries that consider themselves close to being as great as this weekends game.

Texas vs. Oklahoma

Probably the closest of any in terms of pure hatred for one another. The "Red River Shootout" is a fine display of two states battling it out for pride.

But, it's played at a neutral site at the Texas State Fairgrounds.

I'm sorry, there should always be some sort of home field advantage and while the stadium being divided in burnt orange and red is kind of cool looking, it just loses some intensity.

Which brings me to...

Florida vs. Georgia

"The World's Largest Cocktail Party" being played in Jacksonville is another neutral site drag on the rivalry.

Imagine this game played in The Swamp or in Athens, Georgia and how loud those crowds would be compared to the split crowd in Jacksonville.

It's fans from both sides getting together and they're all getting hammered and there's racial harmony and it's beautiful.

Give me a break.

Auburn vs. Alabama

"The Iron Bowl" is the best rivalry game the SEC has to offer.

But it's too similar to the Michigan/Notre Dame rivalry in the fact that for years the game was suspended and the two stopped playing each other.

For 40 years the Crimson Tide and Tigers refused to play each other therefore the lack of history takes a little away from it.

That and there are vast periods of one dominating the other including Auburns own six game winning streak.

Army vs. Navy

Hello? We're on the same side people? This game is a giant bore fest and I wish these two would disband their football programs all together.

Doesn't the Army and Navy have better things to do than play football? Sure all the pagentry is nice and West Point and the Naval Academy have a ton of history which is cool to look at but it's all a waste.

These players can't even go pro.

Ask Detroit Lions fans about how they feel about the wasted sixth round draft pick on Caleb Campbell.

Now all those rivalries are good games between historically significant teams and competitive programs with the exception being Army/Navy.

But Michigan vs. Ohio State tops them all.

No two teams play for more at stake than any other. Every year since forever this game has a bearing on who plays for a national championship or a Big Ten title or a Rose Bowl appearance.

Texas vs. Oklahoma and Florida vs. Georgia are in the middle of the season and a lot can happen the rest of the way.

Those teams, including Auburn/Alabama, are also in the same division in which the winner is most likely guaranteed a spot in the conference championship game.

And since the Big Ten doesn't have one, the Michigan/Ohio State game is pretty much the championship game or has bearing on who wins it.

Even this year. If Penn State loses to Michigan State Saturday and Ohio State wins, guess who wins the Big Ten title and goes to the Rose Bowl.

Not to mention the pure hatred between the two states.

Georgia fans probably vacation in Florida like everyone else and Oklahoma gets all of its players from Texas.

Auburn vs. Alabama probably come the closest in terms of pure hatred for one another but at least Michigan and Ohio State have never been chicken enough to quit playing one another for 40+ years.

Now Michigan may be awful this year with a 3-8 record but no two teams have been playing at a higher level for as long as these two have.

And neither care about that.

All we care about is the one game at the end of each season.

I could care less if Michigan loses the rest of it's game for the rest of my life as long as they beat Ohio State.

This year will be considered a giant success if the Wolverines finally break the Buckeyes four game winning streak.

There's nothing I hate more than Ohio State and the entire state of Ohio. If I meet a cute girl at the bar and she tells me that she's from Ohio, I immediately become uninterested and try my hardest to get away from her.

It wouldn't even matter if she tells me that she's not an Ohio State fan and is in fact a Wolverines fan. I'm done with her the minute she tells me that she either grew up in Ohio or was born there.

Do you blame me though? What would happen if I stuck with one from Ohio and we got married and had kids? Every time the kids screw up I would say something like that they must get it from their mother's Ohio genes.

Statements like that are why "The Game" is the best rivalry in college football.

Grades: Michigan Reverts Back to Form Against Northwestern

Jason Barczy — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:57:29 -0500

Northwestern 21, Michigan 14

Record: 3-8, 2-6 Big 10

Well I'm thoroughly depressed. Anyone else?

In 129 years of football at the University of Michigan never, never, have the Wolverines suffered eight losses.

It happened in the most disheartening way I could ever imagine. Northwestern, of all the teams in the Big Ten, is the team to hand Michigan loss number eight.

And just when Michigan was starting to show vast signs of improvement and being capable of finishing the season on a high note.

It's like that scene in The Godfather 3 when Al Pacino says "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in," and he has a heart attack.

Michigan had put together two solid offensive performances the past two weeks against Minnesota and Purdue.

Then the Wolverines revert back to its early season form and lay a giant egg in the second half.

The defense once again gave up big plays and left the middle of the field wide open, and Northwestern happily exploited it time and again with no adjustments made by Scott Schafer and the coaching staff.

On with the grades before I decide to down a bottle of vodka and use some Xanax as a chaser.

Offense

Welcome back Nick "Human White Flag" Sheridan. Last week, against Minnesota, was obviously an aberration and you will forever have the Little Brown Jug to remember.

Sheridan's 8-for-29, 61 yards passing, 35 yards rushing and one touchdown run performance was as bad as it gets at Michigan.

He very easily could've thrown three interceptions but the weather might have prevented Northwestern from catching balls thrown right to them.

After being benched for Steven Threet in the third quarter, Sheridan might as well have had the word Surrender where his name is on the back of his jersey.

Not that Threet was any better. He wasn't by any means. Threet looked like his rain and snow drenched jersey was weighing down any attempt to throw the ball.

His overthrown ball to Mike Massey for an interception could be blamed on Massey though.

Massey had a chance to be a hero on senior day and his last game in Michigan Stadium but for some reason he just pulled his arms down, giving up any attempt to get a hand on the ball. Just shows why Koger's been starting.

It's time Martavious Odoms received some criticism after avoiding it all season (from me anyway). It's 11 games into the season now and the guy can barely hold on to a punt or kick return.

No excuses either that the Florida wide receiver was more than uncomfortable out there in the cold and snow. He better get used to it now. Man up.

But there was a big surprise for the offense on Saturday. Carlos Brown came back in a big way. Just when I thought the guy was all but lost he busts loose for 115 yards on 23 carries.

Still, it was not enough, and if Rich Rodriguez was going to spring Brown as a surprise he should've saved it for the Ohio State game.

Instead he could've played Sam McGuffie who was nowhere to be found. Maybe Brown is on his way out and RichRod wanted to give him a parting gift of playing in the Big House one last time.

Who knows what this coaching staff is thinking anymore.

Offensive Grade: D+

Defense

I have to admit it; I was jumping up and down when Stevie Brown intercepted that pass to start the game.

I thought to myself, "Wow, the defense is making so many strides that even Stevie Brown has improved."

I think the picture above perfectly reflects my feelings now.

Michigan's defense was erratic at best in the first half.

First, the Wolverines get an early turnover, then they give up a 21-yard touchdown to a third string running back on a third and 18 play.

Michigan shut Northwestern down the rest of the half but made no adjustments at halftime and got torched in the third quarter.

Ross Lane's 17-yard touchdown grab was disgusting and if that was bad, the 53 yard score by Eric Peterman was an instant gag reflex.

At first glance it seemed Stevie Brown and Charles Stewart are to blame for Peterman's touchdown being that the middle of the field was so wide open, but blame Brandon Harrison for letting Peterman get that open.

Harrison let Peterman go right by him and before Harrison knew what was happening he was 10 yards behind him chasing him with his tail between his legs.

C.J. Bacher looked like what all Big Ten quarterbacks not named Adam Weber have looked like against Michigan this year: All-Americans.

Although that is hardly the case, Michigan has made some bad quarterbacks look really good this year and Bacher is no exception.

Bacher was allowed to throw 17-for-29, 198 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite all that, the defense very nearly got Michigan back in this game. Donovan Warren (who if it wasn't for a whistle happy official might of had a touchdown) almost had the moment I've been waiting for from him, and he should've given the offense all the momentum it needed to pull the comeback.

Defensive Grade: C-

Special Teams

K.C. Lopata just didn't get enough air underneath what should've been a chip shot on a field goal that was blocked by Corey Wootton (who I warned about and he had a block, a sack, and a forced fumble).

Odoms fumbling a punt return was no big surprise, it happens on a weekly basis—all that's left to surprise is whether or not he'll recover it.

Zoltan Mesko was great as usual. I'm putting together his unofficial autobiography right now.

The big hero (if there were any) was walk on special teams ace Ricky Reyes. Well I don't know if he's an ace, but I've never been more confused as to who was scoring a touchdown for Michigan.

Reyes easily scored after red-shirt freshman Michael Williams blocked the punt.

I saw that Michigan hadn't returned a blocked punt for a touchdown since Marlin Jackson did it in 2001 against Wisconsin.

Michigan almost blocked Northwestern punter Stefan Demos a couple times.

Special Teams Grade: B+

Coaching

Pat Fitzgerald was saying how he remembered every single detail about beating Michigan at the Big House in 1995 as a linebacker.

I bet he'll file this game in his archives as games to remember right next to that one.

He clearly out coached Rich Rodriguez at halftime by making the proper adjustments and attacking the Michigan defense at its weak points.

While I have no idea what Rodriguez did at halftime other than maybe try drying off. Scott Schafer was right there next in line for the heating pad.

Although, he shouldn't be worried about heating up because he's on the hottest seat in Ann Arbor right now. Schafer continues to disappoint me on a daily basis

Coaching Grade: D-

Final Thoughts

If there was any thoughts out there about beating Ohio State, just forget about it.

It would be the biggest upset of all time in Michigan history. Bigger than App. State, bigger than Toledo, and bigger than the 1969 game where the Wolverines beat Ohio State.

Why? Two reasons.

One, it's in Columbus. Two, Michigan is a god-awful 3-8.

But it's not going to happen so stop mentioning or even thinking it.

What if though? No. No what ifs.

Week 11 Final Grade: C

Michigan Looks to Carry Momentum Against Northwestern

Jason Barczy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:15:12 -0500

Northwestern Wildcats (7-3, 3-3) at Michigan Wolverines (3-7, 2-4)

Noon, Saturday at Michigan Stadium

Line: Michigan -4

This might quite possibly be the hardest game of the season to predict for Michigan, seeing how things have gone thus far.

After last week's dominating win at Minnesota, what team can I possibly expect to show up on Saturday after the Wolverines have stunk for the better part of the season?

Will Michigan revert back to form, or will they answer the call and carry momentum from last week to give the 15 seniors on the team their last home win at the Big House?

I'm going with the latter. Why? Because there's something different about Michigan that I noticed last week, and it was a sense of pride restored and urgency not seen all season.

Michigan players and coaches have for the most part been embarrassed with how the 2008 season has gone, and if there's any saving this year, it's going out on a high note.

Northwestern comes into the 69th meeting with the Wolverines a different team than in years past. The Wildcats have actually won a few games.

But look at who Northwestern has beaten to become bowl eligible. The likes of Syracuse, Duke, Southern Illinois, and Ohio were their non-conference competition.

The only team the Wildcats have beaten with a .500 record was Minnesota, and that came on a final minute pick six, not to add to the fact we all saw what a fraud the Gophers are anyway.

Let's see how these two match up.

Michigan Pass Offense vs. Northwestern Pass Defense

Nick "The Human White Knight" Sheridan is back as your starting quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines.

Will he save the day and slay the mighty Wildcats, or will he wave the white flag once again?

All right, I'm getting out of hand with the analogies, but I can't help it.

I'm happy he's getting the nod over Steven Threet. I've always believed you have to go with the hot hand, and while Sheridan may have not been exactly on fire, he did play pretty good.

The passing offense altogether is starting to gel.

Pass blocking has improved, the wideouts are getting better each week, and Sheridan and Threet have been improving with every snap.

Martavious Odoms is quickly becoming a top weapon and Darryl Stonum is making strides. This unit with Greg Matthews could be really dangerous next season.

Northwestern is ranked 84th in the nation, giving up 228.9 yards per game, and Brendan Smith has been pretty good in coverage.

Smith has two interceptions and six pass breakups, but the Wildcats' secondary only has eight picks this season. Northwestern's pass rush is much more dangerous with 27 sacks, led by Corey Wootton's 7.5.

If Michigan's pass blocking can hold up and give Sheridan some time, then he might be able to pick apart the secondary.

Advantage: Michigan

Michigan Rush Offense vs. Northwestern Rush Defense

After being a major strength for the second half of the season, this unit might falter this weekend, especially if Brandon Minor doesn't play.

Minor is averaging 5.2 yards per carry and has excelled in the zone read rushing attack, breaking multiple rushes for long runs.

Without that threat, Michigan might be in for a long day.

My only hope is that Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw are prepared to step up and make some plays. Shaw has shown the ability to break one, as has McGuffie, but far too often McGuffie goes down on first contact.

Northwestern is 44th in rush defense giving up just over 120 yards per game against mostly cupcakes.

Corey Wootton has 13.5 tackles for loss, showing his ability to get into the opponent's backfield. In fact, Northwestern as a team has accumulated 69 tackles for loss.

Brad Phillips leads the Wildcats in tackles with 85 as the strong safety and has the tenacity that coach Pat Fitzgerald had as a player.

If there was ever an opportunity for McGuffie and Shaw to show that they'll be significant factors in Michigan's backfield for years to come, this is it.

Rich Rodriguez is bringing in a slew of running backs in next year's recruiting class, and there have been rumors of McGuffie being homesick, signaling a possible transfer.

I hope that doesn't happen and he actually pans out, but he has to become either more elusive or show some toughness and break some tackles.

Without Minor I'm giving the advantage to Northwestern, simply because Shaw and McGuffie haven't proven to be every down backs yet. Flashes of it, but not quite sold.

Advantage: Northwestern

Northwestern Pass Offense vs. Michigan Pass Defense

Word is that C.J. Bacher will be back this week after being injured the past couple weeks.

Bacher is not what you expect out of a Northwestern quarterback. He's actually pretty decent. He's thrown for 1,700 yards, 10 touchdowns, a 59 percent completion percentage, and has a 109.8 efficiency rating.

But he has thrown 11 interceptions and his receivers are not that good. No one has outstanding stats, but maybe that's because Bacher has shown an ability to throw the ball around and spread the wealth.

Eric Peterman has three touchdowns and averages 11.9 yards per catch, and that's the best Northwestern has.

After last week, I'm not sure what secondary will show for Michigan on Saturday. Last week they shut down a pretty good quarterback and passing offense after being awful most of the year.

Until Stevie Brown, Brandon Harrison, and the rest of the secondary show they can put it together for consecutive games, I'm not holding out hope.

Advantage: Northwestern

Northwestern Rush Offense vs. Michigan Rush Defense

Northwestern running backs Tyrell Sutton and Mike Kafka are both averaging around five yards per carry, and Bacher is a sure threat to take off.

Northwestern averages 160.3 yards on the ground, while Michigan is giving up 135.2 to opponents.

Putting Will Johnson back on the line every down was the logical thing to do after the disaster that was the 3-3-5 Purdue experiment.

Going with the 4-2-5 last week worked out brilliantly, and hopefully the Wolverines and Scott Schafer stick with that and keep things simple.

Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber was never a threat to take off though, and Michigan is once again faced with a spread quarterback.

We all know how this has worked out before for the Wolverines. Not pretty at all.

But Bacher is coming off an injury and might not be as prone to take off as normal, especially if he watched tape of Michigan last week and saw how hard the hits were that Brandon Graham has been giving out.

Advantage: Michigan

Special Teams

Northwestern has no viable threat to take one all the way, and with Zoltan "Space Lord Emperor of the Universe" Mesko making it impossible for return men by putting balls into the outer atmosphere, it's highly unlikely the Wildcats break one Saturday.

Michigan return men, on the other hand, have been getting better, but the fumbles are starting to resurface, and they need to get that solved right away.

K.C. Lopata is once again solid, and I'm not completely fearful of him blowing a game. He blew one this year, so I guess that fills Michigan's kickers' quota for giving up a game.

Northwestern kicker Amado Villarreal is 17-for-21 with a miss coming as close as 25 yards out and has missed two PATs this year.

Advantage: Michigan

Prediction

Northwestern has only won five games at Michigan Stadium, with the last coming in 1995, and have lost eight of the last nine against Michigan.

Am I going to follow the adage of 2008 of teams being due to beat Michigan? Not this time.

Northwestern is much like Minnesota: a team that padded its schedule with nobodies and a fraud as a bowl eligible team.

Michigan, on the other hand, has 15 seniors who do not want to lose their final home game and be remembered for being the team that only won two of seven home games in a season.

Prediction: Michigan 31, Northwestern 17

Michigan Grades: Wolverines Dominate Minnesota in Third Win of Season

Jason Barczy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:32:59 -0500

Michigan 29, Minnesota 6

OK, who were those guys in the winged helmets on Saturday?

Seriously that was not the same team I've been watching all season long.

These guys looked more like a dominant Michigan team from years past that was usually expected to run over Minnesota the way the Wolverines always do.

The Michigan team I'm use to this season would've allowed 45 points, 8,000 yards and thrown five interceptions with Nick Sheridan at quarterback.

But that didn't happen at the Metrodome (which the Wolverines will leave a perfect 12-0 now that Minnesota is moving into new digs) and I am left pleasantly surprised.

Instead what happened was Nick Sheridan earning a new nickname, Stevie Brown breaking up actual passes, the front seven stopped the run, and K.C. Lopata tied a school record with five field goals.

When Michigan went up 9-0, I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Minnesota to up some big plays and take the lead.

Then a strange thing happened, Michigan never gave in and rolled right over the Golden Gophers as would've been expected had this been any other year.

On with the grades (which I haven't been so excited to give out this season till now).

Offense

Nick Sheridan will no longer be referred to as the "Human White Flag" but rather will be known as the "Human White Knight."

Just when all hope was lost after hearing about Steven Threet's concussion, knowing how Sheridan had played when given the chance, in rode the "Human White Knight" on his trusty stallion to save the day.

OK that's over doing it a bit but I have to give the guy credit after riding him all season.

He wasn't spectacular or anything but he was spectacularly solid with 203 yards, a touchdown on 18-for-30 passing along with 33 yards rushing and most importantly, no interceptions, fumbles or sacks.

I held my breath early on when Sheridan threw what looked like his patented panic ball on the first drive only to see Greg Matthews make an incredible one handed grab. From there on out though Sheridan made mostly solid throws.

Speaking of Matthews, he had a day I expected he should've been having all season. Six catches, 79 yards and one touchdown is something the junior wide receiver is capable of doing on a week-to-week basis.

Especially since Martavious Odoms and Darryl Stonum are developing more and more each week.

Along with the rushing game, we're starting to see what this offense is capable of and what Rich Rodriguez can do once he has players who know his system.

No one had a great day running the ball. Michael Shaw led with 72 yards on eight carries, but all together the Wolverines combined for 237 yards rushing.

Fullback Mark Moundros getting a touchdown was the first I've seen by a Michigan fullback in I don't know how long.

My one gripe about the offense though is it's inability to punch it in early in the game.

Four drives in the first half ended with the Wolverines inside Minnesota's 30 with three drives inside the 20. Three of those drives ended with field goals and one was lost to a fumble by Odoms.

Point is Michigan could've been blowing Minnesota out by a lot more and instead kept us on the edge of our seats waiting for the Gophers to pull the comeback.

It kept Minnesota in the game and field goals won't be enough to beat either of Michigan's last two opponents.

But it just goes to show how far Michigan (and the "Human White Knight") has come offensively and that they're starting to get what RichRod is preaching.

Offensive Grade: A-

Defense

Did Marlin Jackson don the number three jersey on Saturday after being disgusted all season of how it was being represented by Stevie Brown?

Someone please give me an explanation of how Brown (the bane of my existence as a Michigan fan this season) had two pass breakups and never got beat once against a 36th ranked Minnesota pass offense.

Maybe it had to do with Morgan Trent annihilating Eric Decker in the first half forcing Decker to sit out the entire second half.

Michigan's defense actually looked like it returned eight starters from a year ago.

The Wolverines forced six three and outs including Minnesota's first five possessions and didn't give up a first down until like 25 minutes into the game.

It was amazing.

Even when Minnesota seemed to be gaining a little momentum early in the fourth quarter the defense took it away when Trent intercepted Adam Weber with 7:16 left.

Weber was abysmal. He threw just 105 yards on 13-for-24 passing and the running game was no where to be found as Minnesota gained just 121 yards on the ground.

The Golden Gophers looked like they might of been expecting a different Michigan team on Saturday, one that they could run over with ease.

Instead Minnesota was met by a team that had seen opponents best shots all season and was prepared for that again. Minnesota showed why it's not a heavyweight contender by any means.

Defensive Grade: A+

Special Teams

Zoltan Mesko has been promoted to a new rank in the universe. He is now "The Space Lord Intergalactic Emperor" after converting another fake punt.

I really want to see him fake a punt and throw it for a touchdown. That would be amazing.

K.C. Lopata quelled any fears that he might cost Michigan a game by being repeatedly solid all day including one field goal from 48 yards.

Boubacar Cissoko had me worried when he fumbled two returns but he recovered and the disaster was averted.

Special Teams Grade: B+ (only because fumbling returns is unacceptable)

Coaching

Rich Rodriguez clearly was better prepared than Tim Brewster who must of thought Minnesota would get a win by just showing up.

Did Brewster even watch tape of Michigan at all this season? Sure they've been bad but the Wolverines have gotten everyone's best shot and still played tough.

I guess that empty trophy case for the Little Brown Jug Brewster set up took up too much time that he could've set aside for watching tape.

Scott Schafer for once gets a break. It seemed like he simplified everything and just manned up.

No more gimmicks, no more switching up formations, just line up in a four man front and hit opponents in the mouth.

Coaches Grade: A

Final Thoughts

I hope this game wasn't just a tease and that Michigan can put together performances like this in the final two games.

Minnesota obviously didn't show up Saturday making the Wolverines look really good for four quarters.

It's just too funny though that Michigan has never lost in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and will now never have the chance to do so.

Michigan avoided it's first eight loss season in history for one week and if they finish the season 5-7 all will be forgiven and forgotten.

Let's just wait and see though and just celebrate this win after losing five straight.

Final Grade: A

Minnesota Looking to Make It a Rivalry Once More with Michigan

Jason Barczy — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:22:57 -0500

Michigan Wolverines (2-7, 1-4) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-2, 3-2)

Saturday, Nov. 8 noon at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

Line: Minnesota -7.5

For a long time, as long as I can remember, Michigan has had just three rivalries. Ohio State, Michigan State and Notre Dame.

It wasn't until high school that I was first introduced to the Little Brown Jug and it was even longer till I learned what it was all about.

Come to find out, Minnesota and Michigan use to be fierce, bitter rivals back in the day and the Little Brown Jug is the oldest trophy handed out in college football history.

But this hasn't been much of a rivalry in quite some time. The Wolverines hold a 69-24-3 record against the Golden Gophers including wins in 35 of the last 38 matches, in fact Michigan has won 51 of the last 63.

Minnesota recently broke a 16 year losing streak against Michigan in 2005 but Michigan was quick to regain the Little Brown Jug in '06 and dominated in '07.

The Wolverines are 31-12-2 at Minnesota and 11-0 at the Metrodome. Minnesota hasn't won a home game against Michigan since 1977 and are since 0-13.

So yeah, not much of a rivalry if you ask me. But this being the 96th meeting between the two and the 90th where the Little Brown Jug was at stake I guess it's a little important.

Tim Brewster, in his second season at Minnesota, is trying to pull a Dantonio by putting more emphasis on this game. This week Brewster placed an empty trophy case in the players locker room that'll hold the Little Brown Jug if Minnesota wins it back.

Once again it's that same old adage I've been clinging to all year. Minnesota is due to get a win against Michigan just like a lot of teams are and this is the best year to do so.

On to the matchups.

Michigan Pass Offense vs. Minnesota Pass Defense

As if things couldn't get possibly worse it just did this week with the news that Steven Threet suffered a concussion near the end of the Purdue game and is more than likely out for this game.

You know what that means Wolverines fans. Yup, you guessed it.

Nick "Human White Flag" Sheridan will be your starting quarterback this week.

My only hope is that after Rich Rodriguez burned Justin Feagin's redshirt on a special teams play last week, we'll see a little of him at QB.

Anything would be better than letting "Human White Flag" play for an extended period of time in this game. Even putting David Cone in would give me relief.

Does anyone want to put an over/under on how many panic balls Sheridan throws up into the air?

Minnesota isn't too spectacular in pass defense ranking 82nd and giving up 230 yards per game.

Traye Simmons leads the team with four picks including one for a touchdown and the team has 14 total interceptions.

Check out this name. Willie VanDeSteeg, yeah, leads the team with 7.5 sacks on a team with 24 for the season that is sure to tee off against Sheridan.

Advantage: Minnesota

Michigan Run Offense vs. Minnesota Run Defense

Brandon Minor has been great lately but before I pronounce him and the running game as the best unit on the team I want to see them put it together for two consecutive games.

Against Penn State, Minor had a stellar day. But against MSU he disappeared only to bounce back in the Purdue game with another great day.

Minor is averaging 5.5 yards per rush and has eight touchdowns as the run blocking has improved steadily as the season has progressed. That was expected with Rodriguez though who has featured magnificent rushing attacks over his career.

Minnesota is pretty good stopping the run this season ranking 53rd giving up 132.4 yards per game.

VanDeSteeg, Garrett Brown and Lee Campbell have all been solid run stuffers combining for 25 tackles for loss between the three.

Michigan has managed to move up to 67th in rushing offense so this battle will be really tough.

Once again it'll be the running game's responsibility to keep Michigan in the game. If it falters early on, don't expect a close game.

Oh yeah, no word on Sam McGuffie yet with the exception of RichRod saying he'll be back to Jim Brandstater on the new show Inside Michigan Football which I'm watching right now as we speak.

But who really considers that credible?

Advantage: Even

Minnesota Pass Offense vs. Michigan Pass Defense

Sophomore quarterback Adam Weber has been amazing for the Golden Gophers.

Weber has an efficiency rating of 137.1 and a completion percentage of 66 while compiling 2,151 yards, 11 touchdowns and just four interceptions.

By now we've all heard about Eric Decker but Minnesota has some other good receivers being overlooked and are probably the main reason Decker has been so successful.

Five other receivers other than Decker average more than ten yards per catch including Jack Simmons who also has a couple touchdowns.

The Golden Gophers rank 36th in pass offense averaging 240 yards per game so look for Minnesota to have it's way with Michigan's pass defense.

Speaking of that unit just makes me sick to my stomach so I'm going to skip any all references to that part of the team.

Advantage: Minnesota

Minnesota Run Offense vs. Michigan Run Defense

The Golden Gophers don't have much of a running game. Coming into this week ranked 94th averaging 120 yards per game is not much to talk about.

Freshman DeLeon Eskridge is Minnesota's leading rusher with 535 yards, seven touchdowns and 3.7 yards per carry.

Still Minnesota seems to spread their running game around and has accumulated 17 rushing touchdowns.

Michigan's run defense has faltered as of late slipping in the rankings all the way to 64th so who knows what to expect.

It's been too easy for opponents to double up on Terrance Taylor and Will Johnson taking Michigan's defensive tackles out of the game.

Brandon Graham has been doing all he can, unfortunately it's just not enough. And that's not a knock on him, it's a knock on the rest of the team for not following his example.

Still you would figure that a 64th ranked rush defense is better than a 94th ranked rush offense.

Advantage: Michigan

Special Teams

Michigan has come leaps and bounds in the return game from where it was the first few weeks of the season.

Subtract Martavious Odoms fumble last week and the return game has been absolutely stellar.

K.C. Lopata hasn't had an opportunity to screw up lately which means one of two things. 1. He's worked out his demons or, 2. it's just waiting to happen.

Minnesota kicker Joel Monroe is just 9-for-13 with misses coming as close as 20 yards out.

However the Golden Gophers have a kick/punt returner to worry about a little. Troy Stoudemire is averaging over 25 yards a return with a long of 48.

But Michigan has Zoltan "Space Emporer" Mesko to take that element out of the game.

Advantage: Michigan

Final Thoughts and Prediction

Well there's one more thing Michigan can do this week and that's lose eight games in a season for the first time in history.

Of course going back to 1962, the last time Michigan won just two games in season, they didn't play as many games as they do now.

And with this being a season of firsts Michigan fans would all like to forget this will be just one more thing to pile on the list.

Besides, it's time Minnesota made this somewhat of a rivalry once again.

Prediction: Minnesota 38, Michigan 24

Purdue-Michigan: Defense to Blame for Wolverines' Loss

Jason Barczy — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:48:07 -0500

How is it that a top 25 defense returning eight starters from a year ago can blow a game like Michigan did on Saturday?

Twice Michigan's defense blew 14-point leads and made Justin Siller, a third string quarterback who was a running back two weeks ago, look like Vince Young. It was embarrassing. Especially after Steven Threet, Brandon Minor, and the rest of the offense did everything it could to win the game.

Even special teams came up huge, but the defense just fell apart time after time and now there is a growing consensus that defensive coordinator Scott Schafer has to go.

Nothing is working for Schafer. Not the 4-3, 3-4, 3-3-5, or man defense, zone—anything really. These guys are fundamentally flawed and cannot tackle worth a lick.

The defense was heralded coming into the season as the unit that was going to carry the Wolverines to their 34th consecutive bowl game and be the strength of the team. After giving up 35 points to Notre Dame, 45 to Illinois, 46 to Penn State, 35 to the Spartans, and now 48 to Purdue, the defense seems to be virtually non-existent.

There's only so much Brandon Graham and Terrance Taylor can do before the others have to step up and show some moxie.

On with the grades.

Offense

The offense, starting with Brandon Minor, have not looked better the entire season and what was amazing was that they looked that way for a full four quarters.

Steven Threet was average. He only completed 9-for-21 passing but had two nice touchdowns and no interceptions.

One thing that really bothered me was early in the game, some sideline reporter (I forget who she was) reported that Threet had said something along the lines of not being comfortable as a leader.

That's great. He's obviously not the best quarterback judging by his accuracy, but now it's coming out that he doesn't like being in the leadership position, which is exactly what being the starting quarterback is supposed to be about.

Still, Threet did better Saturday than he had all season.

Darryl Stonum could probably be credited with his touchdown more so than Threet and Stonum actually lived up to expectations for once. I don't know if it's time to drink the Kool-Aid, yet but I might look up the recipe again.

LaTerryal Savoy's touchdown will go down in his family's highlight reel for the rest of his life. It was nice to see him do something good for once though.

But the story of the offense was Brandon Minor. What a day he had. Three touchdowns and 156 yards rushing doesn't even begin to describe it. Minor was running over anyone and everyone. He burst with such speed and power not seen out of the Michigan backfield since Chris Perry.

The junior running back was determined to win that game and God bless him, he did everything he could—if only he could play defense.

The offensive line was shaky at times, giving up three sacks and six tackles for a loss to a Purdue defense that was considered one of the worst in the country.

And while 300 yards isn't a great output, the offense still looked better than it did all year.

Offensive Grade: B+

Defense

Just thinking about this makes me sick to my stomach.

The Wolverines' defense allowed Justin Siller to throw 21-for-34, 266 yards, three touchdowns, rush for another 77 yards, and then add another touchdown.

Kory Sheets added another 128 yards on 30 carries and three touchdowns.

In the last 1:20 Michigan allowed Purdue to move 73 yards in four plays, not to mention Brandon Harrison totally giving up on the hook and ladder play before he realized what was happening, which by the way was disgusting. And by disgusting I mean watching Michigan look stupid again on another gimmick play like they did last year on Oregon's "Statue of Liberty" plays.

This might quite possibly be the worst performance I have ever seen by a Michigan defense.

It's time for folks to quit making excuses for Obi Ezeh's play, which has gotten progressively worse each week.

Donovan Warren has yet to show me why he was rated a five star recruit out of high school and I can't wait to be rid of Morgan Trent.

Say goodbye to Stevie Brown after this season. The only reason we haven't parted ways with him yet is because there is no one to replace him.

Boubacar Cissoko made the play of the day for the defense when he broke up a sure touchdown pass.

And that's the only good thing I can say about the defense at this point.

Defensive Grade: F

Special Teams

Special teams had two major gaffs in the game but made up for it with two good plays and solid returning all day.

At the time, I thought Martavious Odoms' fumble might have cost Michigan the game, but the offense came through after that and put the Wolverines back up by 14.

Then the fake punt by Purdue resulting in a first down nearly killed Michigan, but at the end of the game special teams gave Michigan a chance by blocking the PAT.

If Michigan had caught the hail mary at the end (which it nearly did) that blocked PAT would've been huge.

So, two bad plays were negated by two good plays. Then when you add in all the yards Michigan had in the return game (272 yards) the Wolverines had a really solid day on special teams.

Aside from the touchdown by Odoms, there were at least three or four other times Michigan returners were close to breaking one for a touchdown.

Zoltan "Space Emperor" Mesko was his usual self, including a 58-yard punt.

Special Teams Grade: B

Coaching

Rich Rodriguez forcing Scott Schafer to switch to the 3-3-5 didn't work out so well, did it? I'm puzzled why he did it because Schafer has no known experience calling plays for the 3-3-5 and resulted in a complete disaster.

This took Will Johnson off the field in favor of Cissoko. I like Cissoko and all, but Johnson is a senior who has earned the right to be on the field a lot.

Maybe the two were just looking for something to change it up and see if something could work, but maybe it's a sign that there's some internal strife between Schafer and Rodriguez.

Schafer was never an RR guy and Rich Rod has to be more frustrated with this loss than anyone, especially after his offense did everything it could to win the game and Schafer's defense did everything it could to lose the game.

Rich Rod's offense made some huge strides Saturday, but Michigan's defense seems to be taking two steps back each week.

Coaches Grade: C

Final Thoughts

Now that Michigan will officially have its first losing season since 1967 and will miss a bowl game for the first time since 1975, what now?

Do the coaches see what the younger players can do in the final three games?

Do the seniors coast through their final season or do they step it up and finish proud?

Three games left and there is plenty of opportunity to restore some lost pride for not only fans, but for the 15 seniors on the team.

Guys like Terrance Taylor, Will Johnson, Tim Jamison, and Morgan Trent need to get it into the younger guys' heads that they don't want to go out on their careers never beating Ohio State.

That is the only way to salvage this season. Beat Ohio State and all will be forgotten and forgiven.

Final Grade for Purdue Game: C

Grading Michigan: Spartans Roll Over Wolverines

Jason Barczy — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 17:45:07 -0400

Michigan State 35, Michigan 21

First off, congratulations are in order to Michigan State and their first win at Michigan Stadium since 1990, 18 years ago.

Secondly, it should've been worse.

With three missed field goals and Michigan getting a lucky touchdown on Brandon Minor's 19-yard grab in the first quarter, it could've been a lot worse.

The final score actually should read Michigan State 44-14.

How would that feel, Michigan fans? How would a 30-point loss to Michigan State feel? I am so outraged right now that my feelings on the subject have gone numb, and I want you to describe the feeling to me again.

It's like Jack Nicholson in the classic movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest when he gets a lobotomy at the end.

That's how I feel about the Wolverines' performance on Saturday. But there were bright spots, and Michigan could've pulled the win out.

Let's break it down.

Offense

Thank you God for not allowing "Human White Flag" to come into the game. Steven Threet actually held up and played the whole game, which was the most encouraging part of his performance.

However, completing 13-for-27 for 168 yards, throwing three interceptions, and getting sacked four times is not the least bit encouraging. His inaccuracy downfield is astonishing at this point of the season and should've been fixed by now.

That and the miscommunication on wide receiver routes. I'm done drinking the Kool-Aid on Darryl Stonum—one catch for five yards Saturday.

Martavious Odoms has got to do a better job of getting open and possibly breaking routes to do so. It's called improvisation, Martavious. Look it up.

Even though freshman wide receivers and quarterbacks have never really fared that well in college football, these guys have gotten enough experience (eight games into the season now as starters), and the inexperience excuse has run its course.

They've all gotten significant playing time, and it's time to step up.

That goes for the offensive line too.

The offense was able to show a little bit more consistency Saturday. Instead of playing "decent" for just one quarter of football, they played all right for about 40 minutes of a game.

Michigan did lead 21-14 in the third quarter and looked like it could've pulled the victory out, only to fizzle in the fourth quarter.

Brandon Minor once again played pretty good despite what the stats show (55 yards on 15 carries and one catch for 19 yards). He still showed me that he should be starting over Sam McGuffie.

If Michigan could've got a little bit momentum back and got a few more first downs, they might've sustained their lead and won the game.

But they didn't.

Offense Grade: C

Defense

I am sick to my stomach thinking about how bad the defense played.

They must've known exactly what Michigan State was going to do. Everyone else in the stands, watching on TV, listening to the radio, or even just keeping track online knew what was coming.

Javon Ringer was obviously going to get the ball a lot, and if they had success with that (they did—Ringer had 37 carries, 197 yards, and two touchdowns), they were going to the play action pass.

As my friend Dave put it, the middle of Michigan's defense couldn't have been more wide open than an East Lansing freshman girl's crotch.

Stevie Brown is a complete waste of breath. The only good tackles he ever makes are on special teams. That's exactly where he belongs.

Brandon Harrison's mistakes aren't as glaring to the naked eye, but if you look hard enough, you'll see them—especially where he just goes completely the wrong way in coverage at the snap.

Same thing goes for Obi Ezeh. In fact, I'm beginning to think that's where it starts: He's the middle linebacker and the field general, and as a leader, he should be doing more.

Brandon Graham is the only one on defense who came to play with his three sacks.

It's a complete joke right now how bad this defense is after returning eight starters from the 24th-ranked unit last year.

Brian Hoyer was allowed to chew apart the Michigan secondary on 17-for-29 passing for 282 yards and three touchdowns, including a 61-yarder to Blair White.

Whoever heard of this guy before the game? Now he's a legend of the rivalry.

Defense Grade: D-

Special Teams

No big gripe on the special teams. K.C. Lopata didn't get the chance to screw things up like Spartans kicker Brett Swenson almost did by missing twice and getting blocked once.

Zoltan Mesko did his job as usual and the returners actually did theirs too by not fumbling the ball once. Amazing.

Having Donovan Warren take that one missed field goal out of the end zone was a nice gamble that would've gone further if it wasn't for a block in the back.

So there—there's my gripe with special teams for the week.

Special Teams Grade: B (just average, you know)

Coaching

Well, Rich Rodriguez lived up to the history of first time coaches losing this game. I guess that's the first thing he's lived up to in Michigan's past so far.

I wouldn't say he was necessarily out-coached. He must've known what MSU was all about, running the ball and setting up play action. His players just got outplayed in this one.

Michigan actually played better on offense for longer in this game than any other I've seen them play.

There're just no more excuses though. The Scott Schafer experiment has panned out. I'm sick of that guy. He inherits the 24th-ranked defense and this is what he does with it.

He's not a Rich Rod guy anyway, and if there's going to be a ton of new players on defense next year, why not get them started with a new coach as well?

Coaches Grade: C

Final Thoughts

The 1934, '36, '58, and '62 seasons were the only years in Michigan football history where the Wolverines won just two games or fewer (six or more games in a season).

Four times. That's it.

It doesn't look good from here on out for 2008: at Purdue, at Minnesota, home against Northwestern, and then at Columbus.

Every week from here on out, I want to hear how Michigan is preparing for the Ohio State game. They better be doing something every day to prepare for that game.

Winning that game is the only way to save their season. Call me crazy, but I think it could happen.

Just maybe.

Overall Grade: C

Rich Rodriguez Gets His First Crack at the Backyard Brawl

Jason Barczy — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:14:12 -0400

Michigan State Spartans (6-2, 3-1) at Michigan Wolverines (2-5, 1-2)

Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EST at Michigan Stadium

Line: Michigan State -4

Enough with all the trash talk, let's get the 101st version of the Backyard Brawl going and we have a newcomer this year in first year Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez.

This does not bode well for the Wolverines as only one newcomer has won this game and it was Nick Saban in 1995 when both Saban and Lloyd Carr were rookie coaches so someone had to win.

But Rodriguez and current Spartans coach Mark Dantonio have squared off before when both were coaches in the Big East. Rodriguez won both matches in '05 and '06 in decided fashion dominating the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Rodriguez seems to have embraced the rivalry in newspaper reports going so far as to say that "you'd have to be clueless to not understand the rivalry."

It's going to be tough this year even though Michigan holds a six game winning streak over MSU. Like I've been saying the past couple weeks, teams like MSU are due to get a win against the Wolverines.

This year is Michigan States best chance to get that win and for the first time since 1990 get a win at the Big House.

Spartan fans know it too as evidenced by all the trash talk coming out of their mouths this week. Just take a look at my column "Michigan Dominance Over "Little Brother"" from a couple days ago and read the comments.

This game could go either way though. Michigan State should come out psyched and give the Wolverines its best shot but then again this is just the type of team Michigan loves facing off against.

Let's take a look at the matchups....

Michigan Pass Offense vs. Michigan State Pass Defense

Steven Threet is expected to play Saturday after re-aggravating his injured elbow against Penn State last week.

He said that when it's aggravated his whole arm goes numb and he can't grip the ball which really worries me that it'll happen again and Nick Sheridan aka "Human White Flag" will come in.

If Michigan has any hope of winning this game Rodriguez cannot put Sheridan in the game. I'd rather see David Cone come in if he's still uncomfortable putting Justin Feagin in the game.

Threet's passing efficiency is 107.81 compared to "Human White Flag's" 82.05. The Wolverines cannot afford to see Sheridan in the game.

Michigan State's passing defense hasn't been too impressive ranking 71st in the country allowing 213 yards per game and 6.22 yards per attempt.

Senior safety Otis Wiley leads the Spartans with four interceptions and seven pass breakups. MSU has nine interceptions and 13 sacks this season so they're more than capable.

Wiley will most likely be shadowing Martavious Odoms or Greg Matthews who are only real threats in the receiving corps.

Kevin Koger has been emerging as a pretty good tight end and from what I understand James Rogers will see more playing time, probably over Toney Clemons.

Dan Fortener is another Spartan to watch out for in the secondary. He has two interceptions and five pass breakups.

If "Human White Flag" enters the game expect MSU to eat him alive much like Penn State did.

Advantage: Michigan State

Michigan Run Offense vs. Michigan State Run Defense

I said last week that if Michigan had success on the ground they'd have a chance to upset Penn State.

Well the same applies this week although this time Michigan has a better chance to sustain that success.

Michigan State is ranked 69th in rushing defense allowing 145 yards per game and 4.39 per carry while Michigan has the 66th ranked rush offense getting 140.8 yards per game and 3.85 per game.

Rodriguez finally realized Brandon Minor was his best back last week and sparingly used Sam McGuffie.

McGuffie goes down too fast on first contact but if he gets into open space then watch out. Same thing with Minor only Minor can push through and get extra yards on short yardage situations.

Michigan State's leading tackler is sophomore linebacker Greg Jones who has 65 tackles and eight for a loss.

Michigan has to be able to control the ground game so to keep Javon Ringer off the field but the Wolverines need to do it for four quarters and not one and a half.

Junior linebacker Adam Decker is also all over the field with 48 tackles including six for a loss.

Minor is averaging over five yards a carry and going up against a defense that gives up over four should be really nice for him to see.

Advantage: Michigan

Michigan State Pass Offense vs. Michigan Pass Defense

Brian Hoyer is not that good evidenced by his 49.5 completion percentage and this is where Michigan State shows that it is one dimensional.

"Hoyerable" has thrown for 1341 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions giving him a 117.09 efficiency rating.

His best wide receivers are Mark Dell and Charlie Gantt. Dell is the real deal who averages over 20 yards per catch and has 446 yards thus far along with two touchdowns.

Gantt is also a real threat who puts up over 17 yards per catch along with three touchdowns.

Michigan fans have been waiting for Donovan Warren to have a true breakout performance and with recent injuries this might not be it but maybe he's well rested enough to have a big game.

Morgan Trent could put to rest any and all criticism if he comes out and shuts down Dell and Gantt.

The Wolverines also need to watch out for Ringer catching out of the backfield. He hasn't had a big receiving day but has caught 15 passes this season so that tells me that MSU likes to go to him once in a while.

I'm particularly worried that if Ringer gets hot in the running game that Hoyer will be able to exploit Michigan with the play action pass which most teams have had great success with this season against Michigan.

But then again, it is Hoyer the Wolverines are facing.

Advantage: Michigan

Michigan State Run Offense vs. Michigan Run Defense

This is the game right here isn't it.

We all know about Javon Ringer and his 1,179 yards this season on 147.4 per game, 4.5 per carry and 14 touchdowns.

All that has earned Michigan State a 52nd ranking for rushing offense.

Michigan's big strength is suppose to be the defensive line and Terrance Taylor could very well shut down Ringer much like Ohio State did last week.

Dantonio is a hard nosed coach who will try to stuff right down our throats but Taylor, Will Johnson, Tim Jamison and Brandon Graham will be right there to shove back.

Michigan has the 41st ranked rush defense allowing just 120.9 yards per game and 3.25 per carry.

Graham made a bold statement and Taylor is backing him up. Probably because Taylor wants to go out as a senior who never lost to Michigan State.

But the defense has to hold up and not give up nearly 10 yards per carry like they did against the Nittany Lions.

But this isn't Penn State, it's Michigan State and the Spartans are not in Penn State's class.

More like Wisconsin's and we all know what Michigan did to them.

Advantage: Even

Special Teams

Michigan State doesn't have a real return threat (have they ever?) so as long as Zoltan Mesko doesn't get blocked the Wolverines should be alright there.

Michigan returners lately haven't fumbled lately so maybe they've finally solved that problem but we'll see.

K.C. Lopata needs to be on point in this game because it just might come down to field goals like it did in 2005. But he's just 5-for-8 this season and is killing me slowly

Brett Swenson is 15-for-16 for Michigan State with a long of 48 yards. His lone miss came from 39 yards out.

Advantage: Michigan State

Final Thoughts

This is exactly the type of game Michigan loves to play. The hard nosed punch 'em right in the mouth as opposed to the spread game.

The defense should hold up in that aspect but with the offense still adapting and the players still learning it'll be tough.

Rodriguez really needs this game to get the doubters off his back but like I said before rookie coaches in this game don't fare well.

The x-factor is Michigan State's psyche in this game. Much like Penn State I expect they'll be up for this game more than any other in their lives.

Prediction: Michigan State 23, Michigan 20 OT

In Case Michigan Fans Didn't Have Enough In Their Arsenal

Jason Barczy — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:46:20 -0400

I just can't help myself sometimes.

After the "humor" column I wrote the other day, I decided today that I would provide Michigan fans even more ammunition to their arsenal with a ton of jokes I've found on the internet about Michigan State.

Why not write? It's just too much fun getting underneath their skin.

On with the jokes...

Whats the best way to get a Spartan cheerleader into your dorm room?
Grease her hips.

Why was MSU Coach John L. Smith upset when one of his play books was stolen?
He hadn't finished coloring it yet.

A teacher asks her young class how many of them are Michigan State Spartan fans. Not really knowing what a Spartan fan was but wanting to be like their teacher, their hands explode into the air.

There is, however, one exception. Joe has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks him why he has decided to be different.

"Because I am not a Spartan fan."

"Then," asks the teacher, "What are you?"

"Why, I'm a proud Wolverine fan," boasts Joe.

The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Joe why he is a Wolverine fan.

"Well, my mom and dad are Wolverine fans, so I'm a Wolverine fan also."

The teacher is now angry. "That's no reason," she says loudly. "What if your mom was a moron, and your dad was a moron. What would you be then?"

A pause, and a smile. "Well... then," says Joe, "I'd be a Spartan fan."

Three MSU students are riding in a car together. Who's driving?
The state trooper!

What do you have when you have a 100 Spartan fans covered up to their necks in sand?
Not enough sand.

What do you call an MSU student who gets into U of M's medical school?
A cadaver

A Michigan State fans asks a Michigan grad, "Doesn't it suck not having a mascot?"
The man replies "It's better than having one that wears a dress."

What does an MSU grad call someone from the University of Michigan?
Boss.

What do students from MSU and UofM have in common?
They were both accepted into MSU.

Top Ten Courses at MSU
10. Philosophy: Why Don't They Spell It with an "F"?
9. Pre-law Seminar: Age of Consent in 50 States
8. Sandwich Making: A Project Course
7. Hand-Shadow Workshop
6. Subtraction: Addition's Tricky Friend
5. Cliff's Notes vs. Monarch Notes: 2 Views of the Classics
4. Hydraulic Principles of the Keg
3. The College Classroom: A Simulation
2. ABC's: An Extended Version
1. Your Ass from a Hole in the Ground: A Comparative Study

How do you keep a Spartan out of your yard?
Put up a goal post!

This guy went into an East Lansing store and told the clerk: "I want a green outfit. I want a green jacket and green slacks. I want a green shirt and tie. I want green shoes and socks".

Clerk: "Are you a Michigan State graduate?"

Guy: "Yes, I am. How did you know?"

Clerk: "Because this is a hardware store."

What's the difference between Michigan State and cereal?
Cereal is always in a bowl!

How many MSU students does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
2000, one to change the bulb and 1999 to riot about it being out in the first place.

Why couldn't they celebrate Christmas at MSU?

They couldn't find three wise men or a virgin

What do you get when you have a basement full of Michigan State fans?

A Whine Cellar!

Please feel free to add any other jokes you know in the comment section.

Michigan Dominance Over "Little Brother"

Jason Barczy — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:14:06 -0400

How much do I love Michigan-Michigan State week?

To be honest, it's my favorite time of the year—more so than Christmas, my birthday, or any other time of year.

Why? Because I never laugh more or louder than during this week at all the trash talk MSU fans muster up despite their continued mediocrity throughout history.

Those silly little Sparties dish out so much garbage that it piles up higher than that landfill of a stadium they play in. Yet Michigan State's play on the field stinks just as much year in and year out.

Michigan is 67-28-5 all time against MSU and has won six consecutive (which should actually be eight if it wasn't for Spartan Bob). The Wolverines are actually 31-9 in the last 40 games.

So how is it that MSU fans actually work up the nerve to talk any kind of trash to Michigan fans leading up to this game?

It's called alcohol and low self-esteem—both of which can be found in East Lansing in great abundance.

No really though, I don't know how they do it, but it's hilarious.

They call us arrogant and elitists who stick their noses up because we think we're better than they are. Well duh, we are. Look at the record, morons. Better yet, let's take a look at the games MSU has won during my lifetime.

I'm 26 and was born on July 26, 1982. Over that time, Michigan is 19-7 against the Spartans.

Only four of these wins will I consider legitimate, and those are '99, '95, '93 and '87.

2001: Michigan State 26, Michigan 24

This is perhaps the worst officiated game in the history of college football. It led to the NCAA not allowing home officials handling the clock.

Why? Because the clock doesn't stop when the ball hits the ground, rather when the official waves his arms. Anyone who has watched college or professional football knows this.

Jeff "Coker" Smoker should never have had the opportunity for one more play. But even before that there was a crap call against Jeremy LeSueur for 15 yards that never should've been called.

Sparty fans can thank "Spartan Bob," whoever that is, for the win.

1990: Michigan State 28, Michigan 27

If there was ever a more blatant pass interference non-call in history, please, enlighten me.

Never mind that had overtime rules actually existed then, Michigan would've just kicked the PAT and won in overtime.

But Desmond Howard was clearly interfered with on the attempted two-point conversion to win the game.

That was the last time MSU has won in the Big House, and hopefully come Saturday it will continue to be their last.

1984: Michigan State 19, Michigan 7

Jim Harbaugh had a broken collarbone and was out of the game. This was a time in Michigan football history when the Wolverines did not have a full stable of NFL quarterbacks.

So who did Michigan turn to that year? Chris Zurbrugg.

Way to go Sparties for beating up on Chris Zurbrugg. Real nice win there.

Other than these three borderline illegitimate games, the other four wins are also suspect. The losses in 1999 and '95 were both by three points in games where Michigan was ranked higher than Michigan State.

Translation: Michigan should've won, but I'll give MSU credit. They outplayed the Wolverines on those days.

Losses in 1993 (17-7) and 1987 (17-11) were complete anomalies to me. Michigan was ranked in the top 15 in both games and just came out and laid an egg.

Basically, in my 26 years of existence, at no point was MSU better than Michigan in any aspect.

After most recent losses, the trash talk reverts back to how they can't wait for basketball season. I'm sorry, but wins on the football field carry more weight than one on the hardwood any day.

One basketball win barely equates to leading a football game after the first quarter. More people in the state of Michigan care way more about football than they do basketball.

But those silly little Sparties probably already knew that. They're just too afraid to admit it and are just covering up their own insecurities.

Bring on the trash talk, "little brother." I'm looking forward to it.

Nittany Lions-Wolverines: Michigan Fades Again after Fast Start

Jason Barczy — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:54:21 -0400

I'm not even going to bother grading each and every unit this week. The entire team gets an "F" across the board and I'm just going to rant here for a little bit.

I'm so sick of this. Sick of Michigan teasing us with fast first quarter starts only to disappear right at the start of the second quarter almost on schedule.

The Utah game, Illinois game, Toledo, and now Penn State can be added to fast first quarter starts for the Wolverines only to lose in the end.

The 46-17 loss to the Nittany Lions Saturday was actually the most heartbreaking. It seemed different than the three games mentioned above.

Maybe that was because most of us expected Michigan to win those games. No one expected Michigan to beat Penn State, but when they jumped out to a 17-7 lead, I thought it was possible.

Phone calls were being made, questions were raised, and a slight glimmer of hope emerged in Michigan fans minds when the halftime whistle blew.

But then the inexplicable happened. The "Human White Flag" entered the game. I don't care anymore if this kid is just 18-19-20-years old and it's wrong to criticize college freshmen. Nick Sheridan equals death.

That guy cannot play at the junior varsity high school football level. He is the worst thing to happen to the quarterback position at Michigan in all the team's history.

I don't care if Steven Threet can barely lift his arm. He's better than Sheridan. And with putting "Human White Flag" in the game, questions were raised as to why Justin Feagin was not put in the game?

Rich Rodriguez made him available before the game by not red shirting him, so why not put him in and see what he's made of?

He's done it with Sam McGuffie, Michael Shaw, and numerous other freshmen to see what they're made of, so why not see what Feagin can do?

Don't give me that crap that he's not ready and doesn't know the playbook. We're now seven games in, and he better know something by now.

Speaking of being seven games in, I am finally glad to see that Rich-Rod realized who his best running back is, like I've been preaching all season. You think maybe he reads my work? Yeah right.

Brandon Minor should start the rest of the season. I don't care if opposing defenses put nine in the box—give him the ball. Sam McGuffie needs to put on more weight/muscle and will get his due when the time comes.

Rich-Rod has made a huge mistake by not playing upperclassmen like Minor and Kevin Grady and has even alienated them a little in favor of playing new guys he recruited.

Just how well coached is this team, anyway? Apparently not very well considering it only plays well enough to win a quarter of football.

I'm sick of defending Rich-Rod and Scott Schafer could very well take the fall for this season especially after Saturday's performance. I wouldn't mind seeing him go anyway. Schafer is not really a Rich-Rod guy and Schafer has not lived up to the billing of being an aggressive, blitz-happy defensive guru.

I put a lot of Saturday's loss on the defense. Sure, Sheridan's to blame for the safety, but after that it took Penn State four plays to reach the end zone. That falls on the defense.

It took Penn State five plays or less to score touchdowns on four different occasions and two of those touchdowns were made in three plays or less.

It also falls on the defense for allowing Evan Royster to average nearly 10 yards per carry with 174 yards on just 18 carries. Giving up a touchdown on a 80-yard running back screen pass and Morgan Trent getting burned I don't know how many times all falls on the defense.

The offense did its job in the first half holding onto the ball for 17 minutes and the defense should've been rested enought to play well in the second half, but they laid a huge egg and might as well have not shown up.

Now Brandon Graham is talking trash to Michigan State. Where does he get the nerve?

I'm sure a lot of us expected Michigan to get blown out Saturday and weren't surprised by the final score. Penn State sure lived up to the billing (for once) and got the nine-game losing streak off their back.

Overall Team Grade: F

Looking forward to rivalry week against MSU. Humor column coming tomorrow.

Why Michigan-Penn State Could Be Closer Than Most Think

Jason Barczy — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:57:29 -0400

Michigan (2-4, 1-1) at No. 3 Penn State (7-0, 3-0)

Kickoff: Saturday, 4:31 pm EDT at Beaver Stadium

Line: Penn State -23

All right, let's get this over with. This game has all the potential in the world to be one of two things.

One would be the worst loss in Michigan history—the more likely outcome—or two, the biggest upset in Penn State history and the most hilarious win in Michigan history.

I happen to think neither will happen and that the game will be a lot closer than most think.

Why do I think that, you ask? Well, my initial thoughts have been wrong each and every time this season thus far, and after thinking most of the week that Penn State would kill Michigan, I figured on going in a different direction.

That, and it seems after reading Penn State message boards and newspapers the Nittany Lions are actually kind of worried about this game.

They seem to think that there has been no drop-off in performance in Ann Arbor and that the Wolverines are still the mighty opponent they're used to losing to.

Oh sure, there are some Nittany Lions fans out there who think Saturday's game will be the beatdown they've been waiting for, but they seem to be in the minority.

With the level of paranoia floating around Happy Valley after nine straight losses to the Wolverines, they might be ripe for the taking.

Remember 2005? Penn State's only loss that season was to Michigan. But the Wolverines had a different talent base then.

Let's break down this year's matchups.

Michigan Pass Offense vs. Penn State Pass Defense

There's still a lot of uncertainty about Steven Threet's "bruised" elbow and whether or not he'll start on Saturday.

Rich Rodriguez said earlier this week that Threet will not play even if the elbow is 80 percent, so it looks like Michigan fans are stuck with Nick Sheridan this week.

I think by this time we all know what the "Human White Flag" is capable of, and going up against the 21st-ranked pass defense does not bode well for Sheridan.

Penn State has given up just four passing touchdowns this season and has 11 interceptions on the season. The Nittany Lions might feast on the 102nd-ranked pass offense of Michigan.

Martavious Odoms should be back this week, so maybe that'll help. Greg Matthews is still capable of catching the deep ball, and Kevin Koger needs to produce a lot this week.

Aaron Maybin has been a force to reckon with this season for Penn State. The sophomore defensive end has nine sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss.

It's tough to read who Penn State's best player in the secondary is. They all have at least one interception and five players with four or more pass breakups.

Maybe "Human White Flag" can avoid throwing to Toney Clemons and having balls bounce off his fingertips into Penn State defenders' hands.

I doubt it though.

Penn State's secondary might rack up 14 points themselves off Sheridan passes and contribute to another seven or 10 points for Penn State's offense.

Advantage: Penn State

Michigan Run Offense vs. Penn State Run Defense

All right, I know this will sound absurd, but if Michigan can find a glimmer of success on the ground, this game will be a lot closer than most think it will be.

Sam McGuffie has been without a doubt Michigan's best player on offense this year, and I happen to think he's poised for a huge game.

I'm talking about one of those games where he breaks out for 200 yards of total offense running and catching.

Sure, I know it seems improbable, especially going against the 11th-ranked run defense in the country, but I just have a hunch.

Michigan has the 76th-ranked rushing game and Penn State is giving up just 89.9 yards a game this season.

Advantage: Penn State (by the numbers)

Penn State Pass Offense vs. Michigan Pass Defense

Daryll Clark has been a huge surprise this season as the quarterback for Penn State.

He has a 160 passing efficiency rating and has thrown just two interceptions compared to 10 touchdowns. He's completing 64 percent of his passes.

Michigan, on the other hand, is getting torched by MAC quarterbacks. The safeties are the worst I've ever seen, and Donovan Warren has yet to truly have a breakout game like I've expected him to.

Morgan Trent has reverted back to form and can almost be compared to Markus Curry at this point in his career.

Derrick Williams has been all the rage in Happy Valley, but the man to really watch out for is Jordan Norwood, who averages 75.4 yards per game and 18 yards per catch.

If Penn State is going to cover that ginormous spread they have, they will do it through the air.

Advantage: Penn State

Penn State Run Offense vs. Michigan Run Defense

The Nittany Lions are nearly the equivalent of Illinois as far as rushing offenses go, and we all know how that turned out for Michigan.

I think that's what a lot of people are expecting all over again: a repeat of the Illinois disaster in which the Illini put up 191 yards on the ground.

Penn State is averaging 235 yards and has the 12th-ranked rushing attack, while Michigan's supposed strength is their rushing defense (ranked 21st).

But Daryll Clark is no Juice Williams and doesn't take off regularly like Juice does. With Brandon Graham's return, maybe the defensive line can contain Clark and keep him from rolling the pocket.

Terrance Taylor hasn't had a huge day quite yet this season, and Michigan's DTs are known to have huge days against Penn State.

I can remember Alan Branch having a big game in which he knocked out a PSU quarterback, and Gabe Watson had his fair share of success against the Nittany Lions.

Taylor needs one of those days, and he needs it now.

Advantage: Even

Special Teams

I briefly mentioned Derrick Williams when talking about the passing game of Penn State, but he's been more noticed on kick and punt returns this season.

Williams has three returns for touchdowns and is averaging 33 yards on kickoffs.

With Michigan barely getting a chance to kick off this season, that threat could be null and void. Punting, on the other hand, is where Williams might be dangerous

But then comes in the Galactic Emperor himself, Zoltan Mesko. I fully expect Mesko's punts to take Williams right out of the game with a couple 60-plus yard punts.

Advantage: Michigan

Final Thoughts

Penn State is superior in every aspect according to the numbers, and all logic points to a Nittany Lion blowout.

But for some reason they have allowed Michigan to get into their heads.

This is the unknown factor and what might keep the Wolverines in the game: the psyche factor.

Nine straight wins for Michigan in the series have haunted Penn State fans and its players.

The Nittany Lions will still win the game, but their heads are going to prevent them from covering such a huge spread against one of their arch-nemeses.

Prediction: Penn State 24, Michigan 21

Karma is Biting the Michigan Wolverines

Jason Barczy — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:05:15 -0400

Who else remembers the play from the pic above? Fantastic stuff. There are a hundred more pics like that I could pull up and against all kinds of teams.

What's the point, you ask?

Well, Michigan has been beating up on teams like Penn State, Illinois, and the rest of the Big Ten for a long time, and now Michigan is getting it back in return this season.

I hope some of you out there watch the show "My Name is Earl" and understand what karma is, because it's come back to ruin a season of Michigan football.

Think about it, folks.

Michigan has won nine straight against Penn State and haven't lost in Happy Valley since 1995. Illinois hadn't beaten the Wolverines since 1999; Michigan State has a six-game losing streak against Michigan; and so on.

These teams are due, and they're getting it.

Even the MAC was due to finally get a win in the Big House after 24 straight losses, and it just happened to be Toledo.

If Michigan played Indiana this year, I would definitely put money on the Hoosiers, seeing how it's been 21 years since their last victory.

Minnesota has one win since 1986; Northwestern has three in 48 years; Purdue has two in 28 years.

Michigan has dominated these teams. They even dominated Ohio State in the '90s, and look at what the Buckeyes have done to us this decade.

If we lose all the rest of our games this season but beat them in Columbus, I'll be happier than I have ever been in my life.

So everyone just relax and take a big deep breath and just accept that Michigan is not going to a bowl game, nor will the Wolverines have a winning record.

All streaks come to an end sometime or another, and I'd rather trade the chance of going to a mediocre December bowl game for the chance to be a national championship contender by 2010.

Have any of you seen some of the stuff floating around the internet? It's crazy.

I saw something about an Adidas curse. Come on now, that is just ridiculous. Someone on here went to great lengths to research the Munchhausen syndrome and applied it to Michigan fans believing in Rich Rodriguez.

And don't get me started on the "fire RichRod" websites that are popping up. Those people are the lowest of the low.

I know that we live in a society of instant gratification, but we all need to come to grips with the fact that karma is biting Michigan this year.

I say let it bite. Let Penn State, Michigan State, and whoever else get their licks in now while they can, because the Wolverines will bounce back and their bite will be worse than before.

Rich Rodriguez will unleash a full arsenal of plays that no one has ever seen from a spread formation, and his wrath will be felt by all who stand in his way.

The Michigan defense will be feared once again, and the sight of the winged helmets will send shivers down opponents' spines.

Patience is a virtue, and Bo Schembechler knew that better than anyone when he posted the sign in the Michigan locker room that says "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions."

A lot of Michigan fans need to remember that saying. Those who refuse and keep calling for RichRod's head need not apply for reservations to get back on the Michigan bandwagon.

Scroll back up the page and look at that picture again. It will be an image that we will see again: one of pure Michigan domination.

"Those Who Stay Will Be Champions."

Michigan-Toledo: Grading the Worst Loss in Wolverines' History

Jason Barczy — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:09:32 -0400

Toledo 13, Michigan 10

Oh. My. God.

The Wolverines are Notre Dame from last year. They are the worst team in college football and the worst team in Michigan history.

What's worse is that Michigan might have longer to go than Notre Dame before it returns to relevance.

I mean, they lost to Toledo.

The 1-4 Toledo Rockets, who aren't even a decent MAC team for crying out loud.

I can't take this. I really can't. The loss to App. State last year can at least be attributed to one of two things, depending on what type of Michigan fan you talk to.

One, App. State was a really good DI-AA team that has won multiple subdivision championships and would probably beat a lot of D-I teams; or two, Michigan took them too lightly and figured their No. 5 ranking would carry them to victory.

Losing to Toledo can't be attributed to anything other than the fact that Michigan really, really sucks and they really, really suck in all facets of the game.

Let's break it down.

Offense

This is the worst offense I've officially ever seen. The Detroit Lions are more productive than Michigan's offense.

The Wolverines couldn't do anything right against Toledo, whether they lined up four or five wide or they lined up in the I-formation. They were completely inept.

Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan combined to throw 15-for-27, 120 yards, three interceptions, and one touchdown.

Most quarterbacks can put up shoddy numbers like that on their own, but it takes two of them to do so for Michigan.

I was outraged to find out that Sheridan entered the game because Threet had a crap injury like a bruised elbow.

I don't care if the elbow is purple and swollen to the size of Tom Amstutz's belly. I don't ever want to see the "Human White Flag" throwing the ball again.

The "Human White Flag" couldn't move the ball at all the entire second half until he finally put them in position for a game-tying score at the end, in which I personally credit Sam McGuffie for that 29-yard catch.

Missing Martavious Odoms really hurt, as seen by Toney Clemons having silly putty for hands. Seriously, every ball seemed to bounce right off of his hands.

Having Zion Babb out there is equally useless as well.

The running game is mediocre at best. Sam McGuffie is good and all, but I'm curious as to how many one-yard runs he has, because when he gets hit at the line of scrimmage he goes down faster than David Underwood's career.

Kevin Grady is hated by Rich Rodriguez, and rightfully so. Grady couldn't pick up a 2nd-and-2 and then failed on 3rd-and-1.

After six games, this offense has no identity whatsoever, and I have no idea what or if they're good at anything.

Grade: F

Defense

I'm done defending the defense after that performance. I don't care that they were missing Brandon Graham and Donovan Warren. There are no excuses for giving up 327 yards of total offense to Toledo.

And 20 catches, which is a Michigan Stadium record, to Toledo receiver Nick Moore.

The Rockets took the defensive line right out of the game by rolling the pocket out and making short throws. This is something Penn State is going to do to perfection this Saturday, so look forward to more of that, fans.

This is where the linebackers should be able to step up and shut down opposing offenses, but the Wolverines linebackers are terrible.

Obi Ezeh is never going to make it in the NFL, and John Thompson hasn't continued to redeem himself in the Prescott Burgess mold the way I had hoped he would after the Wisconsin game.

Sure, the defense gave up just six points, which should've been nine if it wasn't for a missed chip shot by the Toledo kicker, but Aaron Opelt was 33-for-50 and 257 yards and wide receivers were open all day.

After five games you would think Michigan could figure out how to stop a Toledo offense that is one of the worst in the country.

Grade: D-

Special Teams

K.C. Lopata can rot in hell for all I care from this point forward. He not only missed the game-tying field goal from 26 yards, but he missed it really badly.

My friends are used to me ripping on Michigan kickers, but Lopata takes the cake.

He's worse than Phillip Brabbs, and I know how most Michigan fans feel about hearing that name. So yeah Lopata, you're worse than Brabbs.

For once our returners didn't fumble the ball, which was a pleasant surprise.

Zoltan Mesko seems to be getting better and better ever since I called him out a couple weeks ago. He's the only person that brings me joy when watching games, which is really sad because he's just a punter.

But still, four out of five punts were inside the 20, and he had two over 60 yards long. He can be credited for Toledo only scoring six points seeing how the Rockets were faced with long fields all day.

Grade: C (only because of Mesko)

Coaching

I'm still not going to be one of those fans calling for Rich Rodriguez's head, but come on RichRod. You're not making it easy to defend you anymore and hold out hope for the future.

No matter how much I hated Lloyd Carr, he never lost to a MAC team.

Michigan better have one of the quickest turnarounds in history if RichRod doesn't want to be run out of town.

I bet there are already for sale signs on his front yard.

I know he's embarrassed, and he should be. I certainly am. I was walking around Chicago after the game with my hat still on, and I got all the trash talk from opposing fans and laughed at for being a Michigan fan.

He called his team soft after losing to Illinois. What are they now? Pillsbury Dough Boys?

It's even more embarrassing that he called them soft and that's how they responded—by laying an egg against Toledo. Bowl streak: gone.

Grade: F

Final Thoughts

If I wanted to take a high-powered drill to my temple after last week, can you imagine what I want to do now?

It involves myself, duct tape, and a nuclear warhead. Yeah, I want to go suicide bomber on everyone.

Overall Grade: F

Toledo Has Chance to Do What Other MAC Teams Haven't: Beat Michigan

Jason Barczy — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:46:15 -0400

Toledo (1-4) at Michigan (2-3)

12:00 p.m. Saturday at Michigan Stadium

Line: Michigan -16.5

This is going to be short and sweet today and you can blame the opponent for this as I don't put much stock into MAC teams even though I went to a MAC school (Central).

Michigan is a combined 24-0 against MAC teams with the latest victim being Miami (OH) in Week Two this season. But the Wolverines have never played Toledo which surprised me seeing how the two schools are so close to one another.

Maybe it's had to do with the Toledo War.

Both of these teams are pretty close to each other statistically with Toledo having the slightly better offense and Michigan having a better defense so this could get interesting.

Don't write off Toledo and be surprised if Michigan barely pulls out a victory.

Michigan Pass Offense vs. Toledo Pass Defense

Well the Wolverines are still stuck with Steven Threet unfortunately and we all know how that's worked out for them so far.

Threet is averaging 130 yards a game and has a dismal 49.6 completion percentage along with five touchdowns and two interceptions. My god those are awful numbers for a Michigan quarterback.

And no, I'm not mentioning fumbles. I don't think I really have to anymore or else the vein in my forehead might erupt.

Toledo's passing defense is ranked 55th in the country and junior safety Barry Church has been making plays. He leads the team in tackles with 40. Junior linebacker Archie Donald is a sneaky mother with two interceptions this season.

Martavious Odoms looks like he might sit this one out with a sore shoulder which really sucks. Darryl Stonum is making a return after missing last week for disciplinary reasons that were not mentioned in detail.

And despite numerous reports and a story from the Free Press, Kevin Koger does not look anything like Greg Oden. Koger, although 18, looks like a solid 22 maybe 23. Oden looks like he's up for retirement already at age 62.

Advantage: Even

Michigan Run Offense vs. Toledo Run Defense

Both these units are ranked in the high 80's nationally so I don't know what to expect.

Sam McGuffie at times has shown brilliance but an inability to carry the full load every down. His 63 yards per game is simply not enough at this point and Michigan needs him to do more.

Especially if Rich Rodriguez is not going to use Brandon Minor or Kevin Grady more, which I still don't understand why he wouldn't.

Toledo is giving up 171.4 yards on the ground this season so maybe McGuffie has a breakout game or something.

Mark Moundros is proving to be a very valuable full back in the WVU mold of Owen Schmitt so good news there.

The offensive line had breakdowns of epic proportion last week not only in pass protection but run blocking as well.

Rodriguez keeps shuffling these guys from week to week and I'm starting to feel that he needs to stick with one combination from now on so that these guys can get comfortable with one another.

Toledo senior defensive lineman Sean Williamson has been a little bit of a force as he leads the team with two sacks and four tackles for losses.

Advantage: Michigan (barely)

Toledo Pass Offense vs. Michigan Pass Defense

Michigan's 92nd ranked pass defense was a freaking embarrassment last week against Illinois. I've been having nightmares of wide open receivers all week.

Donovan Warren is hurting and I wish our safeties all had broken legs so that they might have a better excuse for sucking.

Maybe they get a break this week facing the 89th ranked pass offense in Toledo. Junior quarterback Aaron Opelt is no threat to run like Juice Williams.

Opelt's numbers go like this: 869 yards, 173.8 per game, seven touchdowns, three interceptions and a 59 percent complete rate.

If Brandon Graham can't go this week and Warren is hurting like the coaching staff says he is, the Wolverines might be in trouble if Opelt has all day to find his receivers.

Stephen Williams leads the Rockets with 67.8 yards per game and five touchdowns while senior tight end John Allen is averaging 10.1 yards per catch.

Advantage: Toledo

Toledo Run Offense vs. Michigan Run Defense

Toledo has a couple burners in the backfield with junior DaJuane Collins and redshirt freshman Morgan Williams.

Collins gets 7.4 yards per carry and Williams gets 4.1 and both have rushed for over 300 yards helping Toledo average 142.4 yards per game.

But Michigan before last week was allowing 88 yards a game but after Illinois that average is up to 109.

Toledo doesn't have the talent like Illinois does so I think Michigan will go back to stuffing the run once again.

Terrence Taylor and Will Johnson have been great in the middle and Tim Jamison has been pretty good opposite Graham. I just hope whatever this leg infection Graham has isn't serious.

Advantage: Michigan

Special Teams

I'm going to skip talking about Michigan's special teams units because if I think too much about them (besides the wonderment that is Zoltan Mesko's ability to put footballs on the moon) I might have an blood vessel start leaking into my brain.

Toledo on the other hand has a speedy little guy named Greg Harris who averages 23.2 yards per kick return. Great them.

Their kicker, Stiegerwald is 8-for-9 this year with a long field goal from 47 yards.

Advantage: Toledo

Final Thoughts

If Michigan wants to shut up the doubters and people out there screaming for RichRod's head then they better dominate this game.

I'm talking they better do something they haven't in a long time, cover the spread.

But they won't. They'll get by on no more than a 10-point win and at least for a week Michigan fans will breath a short sigh of relief. That'll be real short considering the Wolverines travel to Happy Valley next week.

Prediction: Michigan 17, Toledo 13

Memo to Michigan Fans: Calm Down

Jason Barczy — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:40:56 -0400

A lot of Michigan fans need to take a good look in the mirror this week and ask themselves what is wrong with them and seek help.

You know who I'm talking about.

The ones that are mentally retarded for already starting to talk about getting rid of Rich Rodriguez.

They're out there whining that Michigan might have a losing season and might not make a bowl game for the first time in a hundred years. I say who cares.

There are only five bowl games I really care about anyway and even if Michigan does forge ahead to a winning season they don't have a chance at either the BCS Championship, Rose, Orange, Sugar or Fiesta bowls.

Yet there are fans out there who apparently are going to be really upset if Michigan doesn't even qualify for the Motor City Bowl or the Meinke Car Care Bowl or the Poinsetta Bowl.

I can hear them whining right now.

"But Jason, Michigan has been the model of consistency over the years and is the winningest program in football history."

Blah, blah, blah.

Look, I'm more than proud of Michigan's rich tradition and history of winning but we all fall from grace once in a while. Look at Notre Dame.

It's not the end of the world for Michigan to miss a meaningless bowl game or have a losing record for the first time since 1967.

Getting rid of Rich Rodriguez is the most ludicrous idea or thought I've heard from a Michigan fan. The man has coached five games.

Five. Say it to yourself. Five games.

This isn't year five, it's game five.

And look at the hand he has been dealt. It's not like Charlie Weis inheriting a stud quarterback like Brady Quinn and seniors up and down the board.

No, Rodriguez is dealing with a bunch of freshman for crying out loud. Here's a list of all the freshman that have been seeing significant playing time because of a lack of capable upperclassman at their position:

Steven Threet, Martavious Odoms, Darryl Stonum, Mark Huyge, Kevin Koger, Mike Martin, Sam McGuffie, David Molk, Ryan Van Bergen, Michael Shaw and numerous others that are just sophomores.

Then look at the list of players that left because of graduation or entering the NFL draft or because they were arrogant morons who transferred because they were too afraid of Mike Barwis.

Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Jake Long, Mario Manningham, Adrian Arrington, Shawn Crable, Ryan Mallet, Justin Boren.

Don't worry, I can hear the argument you're making right now.

"But Jason, Michigan is Michigan and they have more than enough blue chip talent in order to keep the bowl streak alive and not be this bad."

True, Michigan has a ton of talent. But how is that talent suppose to respond to a new coach, new system and basically a house cleaning of their old coaches and philosophies?

And let's not overlook how overrated some of this talent was that Lloyd Carr brought in his final year.

Steven Threet was a four star recruit coming out of Adrian High School. He doesn't look anything of the sort, more like a two star player. Just goes to show you how retarded those star ratings are for high school players.

What was Dan Lefevour coming out of high school? A three star maybe? Now he's the best college quarterback in the entire state of Michigan and Rodriguez, along with numerous other coaches, would love to have him now.

Another argument I've heard is that Rich Rodriguez should call more pro-style offense plays to fit his players abilities until he gets players to fit his spread offense.

"But Jason, a good coach adapts to his players abilities."

OK, but what is that going to do for the players that are already there? Next year, they'll be just as lost as the freshmen coming in who fit the system.

Guys like Odoms and the offensive line won't be use to it and Rodriguez will have basically lost a year in developing players for his system.

You can't teach one system in practice all week and coach a different style on Saturday. Guys will be completely lost.

People forget that these players also have classes to deal with, classes at the University of Michigan at that. They're not in football practice 24/7.

Rodriguez has to get these players use to the system now, so that next season when Tate Forcier comes in, he'll have the role players around him so that he can step right in and be successful.

The players that are there now are just inexperienced and going through a lot of growing pains. It's not the play calling, it's inexperience.

Rodriguez got the shaft coming into Michigan and the players he's had to coach. Now some of you want to punish him because the precious bowl streak is in jeopardy.

"But Jason, Michigan fans won't stand for a losing season and there are consequences for that."

Come on. What is that going to do? It'll just make the university look stupid. More so than one losing season in 30-some years.

I knew this year was going to be a transition but set a goal at the beginning of making a bowl game. Sometimes goals just let you down in the end and a lot of you are mad about it.

I get it, I really do. But calm down, take a deep breath, and take solace in knowing that in two years, maybe even next, the Wolverines offense is going to be explosive and Michigan will be dominant once again.

There shouldn't be any talk of getting rid of Rodriguez amongst Michigan fans unless it's year three and these problems still exist.

"But Jason...."

No. No more buts. If you can't do that, if you can't accept the fact that Michigan is going to have a losing season, seek out therapy.

You'd be doing real Michigan fans a big favor.

Michigan Fades Fast Against Illinois

Jason Barczy — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:12:11 -0400

You see what happened was...I don't know what happened. I'm so mad right now there's steam coming out of my ears.

Michigan looked dominant in the first quarter, but sputtered its way through the second and third quarters and ended up with the worst home loss since Florida State in 1991.

Juice Williams absolutely destroyed the Wolverines. He made them look foolish; he even fooled me on a number of occasions. He broke a Michigan Stadium record with 431 yards of total offense.

It was incredible watching him on Saturday dissecting the Michigan defense. The only thing that cools the steam coming out of my head is knowing that Michigan and Rich Rodriguez's offense will one day look like what Illinois displayed in its 45-20 win.

And it will, folks; just be patient.

There has already been a lot of grumbling from friends of mine and other Michigan fans that Rich Rodriguez was not the right hire and he needs to go.

It's been five games! If anyone comes to me with that talk on here I will destroy them and declare them Buckeye fans. That's a warning, so don't post anything here about getting rid of RichRod.

On with the grades:

Offense

After jumping out to a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, the offense looked—and this is as simple as I can describe it—anemic.

The Wolverines had 65 yards of total offense in the second and third quarters combined, in which they punted seven consecutive times.

I can't even count how many times they went three and out (five, after looking it up) and what makes me so mad is that they looked so good in the first quarter.

I was actually at the game and I remember looking up and seeing at one point that Michigan had more than twice the yards Illinois had. Then a few minutes later, Illinois had tripled their yards and Michigan's hadn't changed.

Steven Threet missed on a couple big chances to not go three and out by vastly overthrowing his receivers. Near the end of the first half, he overthrew a wide open surefire touchdown to Martavious Odoms that would have put Michigan up 21-17 at halftime.

His final numbers were not good. Threet was 18-for-35, with 250 yards and two touchdowns, and he fumbled three times (losing one) and was sacked four times.

He was sacked more times on Saturday than he had been all season. Illinois's defensive line, anchored by Martez Wilson, dominated Michigan's front five.

That brings me to the running game. Michigan had just 69 net yards rushing. Sam McGuffie had 70 yards on 19 carries and Brandon Minor only carried three times.

Minor needs more carries and he needs them now. McGuffie cannot carry the load by himself; he's only a freshman. I wouldn't expect to see Michael Shaw very often, especially after Rodriguez reamed him after fumbling the ball.

And where was Kevin Grady inside the 10-yard line? How about giving Mark Moundros the ball?

All I know is that Michigan has always been successful when it had a good running game, and the Wolverines just don't have it right now.

On the plus side, I like Martavious Odoms. He reminds me a little bit of Marquis Walker. Kevin Koger had a touchdown taken away from him but he is emerging as a good tight end.

I don't know why Darryl Stonum wasn't dressed for the game but playing guys like Zion Babb, Tony Clemons, and Laterryal Savoy is a waste of time.

Throwing to them is an even bigger waste.

Overall Offense Grade: D

Defense

Oh boy, did they look like the classic Michigan defense facing an athletic quarterback or what?

Juice Williams looked like Vince Young, Dennis Dixon and every other spread, running quarterback Michigan has ever faced.

He'll certainly be mentioned near the top of that list after setting the Michigan Stadium record for total yards.

And it wasn't just the run up the middle that fooled everyone; he passed the ball perhaps better than he ever has in his career.

Wide receivers were wide open and he was remarkably accurate. Williams passed for 310 yards and two touchdowns on just 50 percent passing, but the ones hit were incredible, including the 77-yarder that Donovan Warren got burned on.

A lot of people were complaining about Charles Stewart going for the ball on that play, but I have to wonder why Warren was so far behind on the play.

Michigan did a good job of stopping the Illini running backs. None had over 53 yards but Juice ran wild for 136 yards.

Michigan's defensive line put some pressure on Juice, getting 11 tackles for loss. I felt some of them should have been sacks, but none were counted in the official stats.

Jonas Mouton and Obi Ezeh had their names called the most often on the day, with Ezeh leading the way with 15 tackles.

What really killed the defense was the demoralizing touchdown drives that took just four plays each. One was in the second quarter and the other just after halftime.

When you give up long touchdowns in just four plays, it really hits you in the face and takes a lot out of defense.

Still, they needed to play better and not look like a typical Michigan defense facing a spread offense.

I thought after practicing against it for a few months now, they would know what to do and how to handle a quarterback like Juice Williams. Apparently, it's going to take longer for their defense to transition into one that can stop the spread.

Overall Defense Grade: C-

Special Teams

I really held out hope that Michigan might be able to come back on Illinois until a certain moment in the game.

Michigan had just scored a touchdown to pull within 31-20 and then K.C. Lopata whiffed on the point after. It wasn't blocked at all. He just pushed it right and it hit the goal post.

That took all the hope I had out of me. Then Martavious Odoms fumbled a kick return after looking pretty good throughout most of the day.

I thought Michigan had finally found a returner that could hold onto the ball, and then he proved me wrong. However, Greg Matthews looked pretty good as the punt returner.

Zoltan did his thing, including a 55-yarder that pierced the upper atmosphere.

Overall Special Teams Grade: C

Coaching

Rich Rodriguez is fuming right now about Michigan's fumbling woes. After reading a Free Press article in which he said that coaching staff is doing everything it can to fix the problem, I think he's out of ideas.

He was livid at Shaw for fumbling and I don't know the last time I've seen a Michigan coach that mad. God knows Carr never got that angry.

You know, he's calling the right plays; the execution just isn't there and it's frustrating.

Everyone wants to blame the coach right away but the players are just too inexperienced.

My biggest question mark on the coaching staff is Scott Schafer. Where is this so called blitz happy coach? All I heard about this guy was that he was a blitz-happy aggressive coach.

But all I've seen so far is the same Michigan defense getting burned by an athletic quarterback.

And will someone please fire the special teams coach?

Overall Coaching Grade: C+

Final Thoughts

My final thoughts are that I want to take a high powered drill to my temple.

Instead of turning the corner after the big comeback against Wisconsin, they reverted back to form and sucked it up.

It's like the Wolverines took two steps backward instead of using the momentum from last week's big win to take advantage and put to rest any worries about making a bowl game.

Now they have to win four of remaining seven games to be bowl eligible, and even then it's sketchy that they'll make one.

Overall Grade: C-

Michigan Has Chance to Turn Corner Against Illini

Jason Barczy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:50:11 -0400

Illinois Fighting Illini (2-2, 0-1) at Michigan Wolverines (2-2, 1-0)

Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EDT at Michigan Stadium

Line: Michigan -3.5

It's homecoming at Michigan Stadium and you know what that means. Some mediocre Big Ten team is coming to town.

Minnesota and Illinois are the two most common opponents during homecoming weekend and this will be the Illini's 14th appearance in which they are 4-9 against Michigan on homecoming.

The Wolverines have dominated Illinois over the years which might lead some to believe that the Fighting Illini are due for a win. They haven't won at the Big House since a 35-29 win in 1999.

Michigan is 9-1 against Illinois in the last 10 meetings and hold a 66-21-2 advantage in the all-time series including a 28-9-1 record at Michigan Stadium.

Last time these two met in the Big House, Illinois was handed a 56-14 whoopin in 2003 by John Navarre, Chris Perry and Braylon Edwards who all had big days.

Of course, things are different nowadays, much different in fact, and Illinois has better athletes than in years past.

Enough with the history and on with the preview.

Michigan Pass Offense vs. Illinois Pass Defense

Steven Threet's confidence is growing by the minute and after the Wisconsin game who could blame him. Sure he was awful for two and half quarters but he really turned it on in the fourth.

He's a much different quarterback than what we saw in week one and barring major injury I don't ever expect to see the "Human White Flag" that is Nick Sheridan.

He still needs to get better with his timing and accuracy (95.06 efficiency rating and 48.8 completion percentage) but that just shows there's a lot of room for improvement for the freshman quarterback. A lot of people seem to forget that he is still just a freshman, even if he is a redshirt a freshman is a freshman on the field.

Good news this week though, he is facing one of the worst defenses in the country. Illinois is ranked 62nd in passing defense giving up 201.5 yards per game through the air.

Hopefully that bodes well for Michigan's 104th pass offense and will boost the numbers a bit. We'll see.

Michigan wide receivers Martavious Odoms and Greg Matthews are Threet's best options right now. Darryl Stonum just isn't there yet and I don't know what his problem is.

Junior Hemingway is out, again. He has freakin mono, are you kidding me? I'm now chalking that guy up as a complete loss and waste of time.

Carson Butler doesn't figure into the teams plans anymore and will most likely not be on the team next season. Looks like Kevin Koger is going to step in, especially after that touchdown grab he had last week.

Pass protection has been surprisingly good. Michigan has given up just three sacks this season with Steve Schilling looking terrific. Illinois has gotten to the quarterback just nine times in four games with Martez Wilson and Will Davis looking like their best pass rushers.

Advantage: Michigan

Michigan Rush Offense vs. Illinois Rush Defense

Illinois's rush defense is worse than their pass defense coming in at 94th in the country giving up 182 yards per game and nearly five yards per carry (4.8).

Sam McGuffie might have a field day like he did against Notre Lame. Michael Shaw is also expected to return to the field and Brandon Minor has been great as a situational rusher.

While McGuffie has been great, it would be nice to see him have better stats through four games. He has just 249 yards total and is averaging just 3.8 yards per carry.

Carlos Brown is out with another injury, this time he has a sprained foot. Like Hemingway, this guy is lost to me and will never live up the potential he once carried.

The zone stretch plays seem to be more and more effective every week which will just open things up more for Threet.

Mark Moundros has been great in the I-formation as a fullback and blocker. I'd love to see Rich Rodriguez use him more often but we'll see.

Michigan is 82nd in the country averaging 136.25 yards a game and have to watch out for Brit Miller in Illinois's linebacking corps. He has 7.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

Advantage: Michigan

Illinois Pass Offense vs. Michigan Pass Defense

With Juice Williams improving every day as a better passer this facet of the game is going to be critical for Illinois to win the game.

Williams stats go like this so far: 905 yards, 226.2 yards per game, nine touchdowns, six interceptions, 58.6 completion percentage and a 139.4 efficiency rating.

Oh yeah and he's also rushed for 283 yards and two touchdowns.

Williams is one of those spread/running quarterbacks that Michigan fans cringe at facing knowing what they've done to the Wolverines in the past. Remember the Texas game? How about the Oregon game? Sorry, I didn't want to bring it up, but that's what we're facing again this week.

Michigan's pass defense has been mediocre at best most weeks with Charles Stewart and Stevie Brown usually getting murdered downfield.

Morgan Trent and Donovan Warren have been solid but it's simply not enough and it won't be enough this week against Williams favorite target Arrelious Benn who is averaging 13.7 yards per catch.

Illinois also was Will Judson who is averaging more than 20 yards per catch along with Chris Duvalt averaging 15.3.

These guys are downfield threats that potentially can and probably will burn Michigan safeties.

Advantage: Illinois

Illinois Rush Offense vs. Michigan Rush Defense

This is the heavyweight fight right here. Both units rank 16th in the country with Illinois putting up 215.75 yards on the ground each week and Michigan giving up just 88.5 rushing yards each week.

Daniel Dufrene has rushed for 396 yards and is getting 6.7 per carry on 59 carries.

Will Johnson, Terrence Taylor, Tim Jamison and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Brandon Graham have their work cut out for them having to slow down Dufrene and Williams on the ground.

Michigan is going to have to put seven in the box consistently while adding an eighth once in a while which will just open up things more for the Illinois passing game.

Michigan wins this game if they slow down the Illinois rushing attack just like they did against Wisconsin.

Obi Ezeh and John Thompson are going to have to step it up even more this week in stuffing the run.

I'm confident that Michigan will stand up to this challenge though. I doubted them going into the Wisconsin game but no more.

Advantage: Michigan (slightly)

Special Teams

Both kicking games are solid with Illinois kicker Matt Eller making 5-of-7 including one from 51 yards.

Illinois has given up two touchdowns on kick returns but with Michigan's inability to actually return a kickoff or punt I don't think Illinois should worry too much about it.

Seriously, can someone please hold onto the ball in any type of return?

Advantage: Even

Final Thoughts

I thought Wisconsin was due to win at the Big House for the first time in a while and look how that turned out.

Michigan should be brimming with confidence after that win and hopefully it carries over against Illinois.

It's time Michigan turned the corner and put itself back in the conversation for a Big Ten title.

The Wolverines have outscored its opponents 39-13 in the fourth quarter and if the defense can keep it close again Michigan should win.

Prediction: Michigan 24, Illinois 20

Top Five Michigan Comebacks of Recent History

Jason Barczy — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:24:02 -0400

Wow I picked a bad weekend to move. All day Saturday I was stuck moving into our new apartment in Chicago and barely caught glimpses of the historic 27-25 win over Wisconsin.

Luckily, the guys that are living below us are all Michigan alums and were constantly updating us and we were able to watch the last few minutes of the game.

But since I didn't watch the game in its entirety and can't really do analysis I decided to rank my top five Michigan comebacks of recent memory and there are some dandies on this list.

It was hard to omit certain games, neither the 2002 or the 2005 Penn State games made the list, but I think I've put together a list the most would agree with.

But if you don't agree, feel free to comment at the bottom.

On with the list...

5. October 18, 1997 #5 Michigan 28, #15 Iowa 24

This one is often overlooked by other great victories Michigan had that year, but to me this one always stuck out the most.

Sure the win over Ohio State, Penn State, and Washington State were all great and I hold those games dear to me as important moments in my life, but this one had it all.

Michigan was down 21-7 at halftime and had no answer for Iowa kick returner Tim Dwight. I had to look up his stats, but I remember him having a lot of long returns that day. He had four returns of more than 50 yards each and a 61-yard return for a touchdown just before the half.

Brian Griese knotted the score at 21 on a quarterback sneak just before the end of the third quarter but another long return by Dwight put Iowa in good field goal range.

The Hawkeyes went back up 24-21. However, Mr. Griese put together a nice drive hitting Jerame Tuman a couple times and Anthony Thomas getting some nice carries to drive Michigan down inside the 10-yard line.

Griese hit Tuman for the game winning touchdown with three minutes remaining and Sam Sword sealed the victory with an interception with 31 seconds to go.

Michigan was 5-0 going into this game and surviving this scare probably gave them the confidence they needed to go the rest of the way.

4. January 1, 2000 Orange Bowl #8 Michigan 35, #4 Alabama 34

What a thrilling game this was. Michigan had to erase 14-point deficits twice in order win its first ever overtime game.

Tom Brady had to put it all his shoulders seeing how Michigan had a non-existent rushing game that day (23 carries for 27 yards). Brady did that and more by giving the nation a little preview of what was to come.

Brady finished the game 34-for-46, 369 yards and four touchdowns.

Michigan held Alabama on its first possession of the second half and marched 59 yards to even the score at 14. The Crimson Tide came back with back-to-back touchdowns from Shaun Alexander and Freddie Milons.

Alexander was a beast that day finishing with 161 yards and three touchdowns.

Michigan closed the gap when Brady and David Terrell connected on a 20-yard TD pass in the third quarter. Michigan tied the game 28-28 as Anthony Thomas scored on a three-yard run.

The Wolverines dominated the fourth, but a fumble heading into the endzone for the go-ahead score and a blocked 36-yard field goal attempt on the final play of regulation, sent the game into overtime.

Brady struck right away for the Wolverines on a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Shawn Thompson. Alabama answered on their second play in overtime with a 21-yard touchdown throw but Alabama kicker Ryan Pflugner pushed the extra point wide right and Michigan won.

Gotta love it whenever Michigan beats an SEC school while Ohio State is now 0-9.

3. October 30, 2004 #12 Michigan 45, Michigan State 37

I was at this game and it was the most memorable experience in my life. It was the first time I had ever been to the rivalry game and it will forever be ingrained in my memory. I will tell my grandchildren about this game one day.

Michigan trailed by 17 in the fourth quarter and my buddy and I almost left when Michigan went on a tear and ripped off 17 unanswered points in the final 6:27 of regulation.

Braylon Edwards opened a wide receivers clinic at that point and put on a show, catching two Chad Henne touchdowns, including a 21-yarder to tie the game with three minutes remaining.

At this point I would say about 15,000 fans had left the stadium in disgust with how Michigan was playing, but when Braylon tied the game I had never heard Michigan Stadium get any louder. The stadium was simply out of control.

Michigan State had dominated most of the game and was shredding the Wolverines of their pride. But Lamarr Woodley had destroyed Drew Stanton and the Spartys had Damon Dowdell as the backup.

Dowdell was, well, plain ineffective. Jason Teague gave MSU the lead in the second overtime on a three yard run but Jason Avant tied the game again on a five yard pass from Henne.

Braylon caught the game winner in triple overtime on a beautiful 24-yard pass from Henne and MSU ended the game with an incomplete pass.

It was Michigan State's best chance to win at Michigan Stadium for the first time since 1990 and, in classic Sparty fashion, they blew it.

2. September 27, 2008 Michigan 27, #8 Wisconsin 25

I've never heard of such a big turnaround before in Michigan history. Now I wasn't able to watch, but the text messages and calls I got from friends were great.

Constant updates were fed to me and I could not be more thankful to those that did that for me. But at one point during the first half, one friend told me to be thankful that I wasn't watching and that if I was I'd probably want to commit suicide.

One friend called me at halftime and was already proclaiming the Rich Rodriguez was the wrong hire and that he needs to go.

After four games already he wants RichRod fired. I made him eat his words after the game.

I'm sure a lot of friends of Michigan fans were on suicide watch Saturday but the end result was the most amazing comeback in Michigan Stadium history and how fitting that it happened during the 500th game in the stadium's history.

John Thompson pulled a Prescott Burgess and totally redeemed himself for past transgressions, Kevin Koger is now the best tight end we've had since Bennie Joppru and Steven Threet will always be the guy who brought Michigan back from a 19-point deficit.

I still can't believe it really. The Wolverines had mustered just 21 yards of total offense in the first half. Fans were booing and the only time they cheered was when a Michigan kick/punt returner didn't fumble the ball.

Brandon Graham had a monster day with three sacks and two forced fumbles and the entire defense should be hoisted on its shoulders after the way it played against the Badgers.

They were on the field for 20 minutes of the first half and still kept Michigan in the game. It looked like Michigan might never do anything offensively until it ripped off 27 unanswered points.

Then we were all held breathless as Wisconsin marched down and scored a late touchdown and set up a potential game tying two point conversion.

The air let out by fans after that miss could fill enough hot air balloons to stretch the length of the state of Michigan.

1. Friday, October 10, 2003 #20 Michigan 38, #17 Minnesota 35

I was kind of surprised to look up that Minnesota was actually ranked going into this game. I don't think they have been ranked since...Can anyone confirm that?

The largest comeback in Michigan history came in the 100th game of the oldest trophy in college football, the Little Brown Jug.

I made some of my best friends during this game. It was my first year at college and after chalking this game up as a loss after Michigan had gone down 28-7 in the third quarter, I left my apartment to go drink at a party. Across the hall of the apartment complex I was at, some guys were still watching. I joined and we've all been friends ever since.

This was perhaps John Navarre's greatest game ever. He finished with 353 yards, two touchdowns and even caught a touchdown pass from Steve Breaston.

He threw the lateral to Breaston who threw it back to Navarre who followed his blockers along the right sideline for the score.

Michigan had closed the gap to 28-21 when Minnesota quarterback (and if anyone know's where this guy is please let me know) Asad Abdul-Khaliq cut right through the Michigan defense on 52 yard run for a touchdown to go up 35-21.

We all thought the game was over. How little did we know.

Michigan needed just eight plays to tie the score after Navarre had hit Braylon for a 52 yard touchdown and Chris Perry scampered 10 yards to tie the game.

Perry had an amazing day accumulating 207 yards of total offense while Braylon had 93 yards and a touchdown.

Garret Rivas kicked the game-winning field goal wtih 47 seconds to go and Markus Curry (probably the only good play of his career) intercepted the ball with nine seconds to go.

It was weird enough that Michigan was playing on a Friday night but to comeback from a 21 point deficit was incredible.

I'll never forget that game and the lifelong friends I made during it.

Thanks for the memories Wolverines.

Well-Rested Wolverines and Badgers Square Off

Jason Barczy — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:59:02 -0400

I had a nice long preview and prediction wrote on here but Bleacher Report was having problems right when I was ready to publish it and erased everything I had written. So this is going to be nice and short.

First off, congrats to Oregon State for beating top-ranked USC last night. It just goes to show the 35-3 win over Ohio State was not a reflection of how good USC is but rather how bad Ohio State is.

No. 3 Wisconsin (3-0) at Michigan (1-2)

3:30 EDT Saturday at Michigan Stadium

Line: Wisconsin by 6

What I had written can basically be summed up like this, if Michigan can convert third downs better than what they have been (24 percent through three games) and keep P.J. Hill from dominating, they'll have a chance.

I don't think they'll be able to and will lose. Hill has some pent-up frustration when it comes to playing the Wolverines (68 yards in two career games versus Michigan) and is looking forward to beating them down.

This is a much tougher opponent than any Michigan has seen thus far and their inexperience will show big time.

Prediction

Wisconsin 27, Michigan 17

Michigan-Wisconsin: Recent History Marked By Close Games

Jason Barczy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:54:06 -0400

The Big Ten season is upon the Michigan Wolverines, who welcome a familiar foe to the Big House this weekend.

Wisconsin is not thought of as one of Michigan's rivals, but they certainly have made a case for themselves to be considered one of the Wolverines' toughest competitors.

Although Michigan has dominated the all-time series, games between the Wolverines and Badgers have been really close over the years—especially within the past 10 years.

Since the 1998 season, the average margin of victory in eight games between the two have been 8.75 points—and that's mostly due to three games decided by 16, 16, and 17 points.

Five of those games were decided by seven points or less.

The last two years have seen the 16-point difference, with Michigan winning in 2006 and losing in 2007.

Wisconsin has definitely proven to be one of the tougher teams in the Big Ten to deal with, and as far as conference powers go, the Badgers are right below Michigan and Ohio State.

The Badgers used to be a doormat, though, as evidenced by Michigan's 48-12-1 record against Wisconsin. In fact, Wisconsin has losing records against Ohio State (17-51-5), Michigan State (20-26), Illinois (34-36-7), and Minnesota (50-59-8).

They barely have a winning record against Iowa at 41-40-2.

Wisconsin has won two of the last three against Michigan, but both wins have been at Camp Randall Stadium, where the Wolverines haven't won since 2001. However, I'd like to point out that since Camp Randall opened in 1917, Michigan is 16-5-1 there.

Home domination is something these two teams are accustomed to in the series lately, as Wisconsin hasn't won at Michigan Stadium since 1994 and has only won there five times in history, and only twice in the past 46 years.

Michigan and Wisconsin used to be mirror images of each other before Rich Rodriguez became the Wolverines head coach. Both used to stuff the ball down the opponent's throat with a power running game and stifling defense.

These games were must-see television for those in love with Bo Schembechler-style ball but a bore-fest for those who liked to see high-flying offense.

It's going to be interesting to see how both do this Saturday with both teams coming off of a bye week.

Preview and prediction coming tomorrow.

Grading the Michigan Wolverines After Three Games

Jason Barczy — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:41:03 -0400

Sorry I haven't been writing lately everyone. I just got back from Denver and am in the process of moving all my stuff from Michigan to Chicago now. Well, on with the analysis...

The Michigan Wolverines are three games into the 2008 regular season, and what have we learned so far? Well, Rich Rodriguez obviously doesn't have the athletes he needs to run the spread offense effectively, and the defense has weak spots all over the field.

Things look grim so far, and Michigan is looking at the possibility of its first losing season since 1967.

As the Wolverines head into the Big Ten schedule, let's examine and grade their performance thus far unit by unit.

Offense

Quarterback play has been abysmal from the very beginning, and Rich Rodriguez must be pulling out what hair he has left knowing it's not going to get any better this season.

But the good news is that he doesn't have many follicles left, and there is a lot of room for improvement.

Steven Threet has gotten progressively better in each game, although Nick Sheridan is absolute garbage. Sheridan should try out for the CFL once his college career is over, which I would assume is after this season

Threet was impressive in the Notre Dame game with the exception of the backwards pass that resulted in a fumble and the Irish's first touchdown of the game.

His efficiency rating is not that good at the moment (80th in the country at 113.4), but it's after only three games, in which he only played good in one game. We'll see if he's any better after a bye week.

Luckily Threet has a guy like Sam McGuffie to hand the ball off to. McGuffie had a breakout performance in the Notre Dame game and showed what kind of playmaking ability we can expect from now on.

The running backs have been quite impressive. Michael Shaw needs more carries, and the veteran guys of Brandon Minor and Kevin Grady have been very serviceable.

I myself would like to see more of Minor, but RichRod seems to be in love with McGuffie, which I don't mind at all, especially if he makes moves like he did against Notre Lame.

Inexperience has reared its ugly head in the wide receiver corps. Greg Matthews is the only one playing up to par at the Division I level.

Martavious Odoms has shown a few bright spots here and there, but for the most part he hasn't shown me much. Darryl Stonum was hyped to be the next big time Michigan wideout, but he's made all of five catches.

Someone has to step it up here, and soon.

The offensive line has also shown its inexperience. The Wolverines are too young along the line and haven't picked up RichRod's offensive blocking schemes nearly as quickly as we would all like.

They seemed to be able to block the stretch draw play better and overall are getting better at run blocking. Pass protection is tough to determine looking at the stats. Michigan quarterbacks have been sacked just three times, but it seems like time and time again they have defenders in their face.

Maybe the sacks aren't there for opponents because Threet and Sheridan are throwing the ball away at the last minute.

Mark Ortmann might be returning this Saturday from a preseason injury, but he has yet to practice in full pads as of Tuesday

My biggest problem with the offense is the fact that the Wolverines are only 9-for-37 on third downs for a 24 percent success rate. That is awful to say the least.

National offensive rankings go like this: passing 100th, rushing 88th, and total 105th.

Offensive Grade: C-

Defense

What can I say about the defense other than that they try?

I've seen vast improvements on the defensive side of the ball from what we previously saw during the Lloyd Carr era.

The defensive line is no longer winded in the fourth quarter, and Brandon Graham has come light years under Mike Barwis' strength and conditioning program.

Even Terrance Taylor doesn't resemble Aaron Gibson huffing and puffing off the field after second down. Now he stays in on third and fourth downs. It's incredible.

Obi Ezeh is the only decent playmaker the Wolverines have as far as linebackers are concerned. He leads the team in tackles so far with 26.

John Thompson and Jonas Moutan were an improvement over Martel Evans and Austin Panter, who started the season, but there are still many inefficiencies on the outside.

Donovan Warren and Morgan Trent have been great at defensive back. But too many times teams are avoiding throwing to either one's side.

Warren is still showing his youth, but the sky is the limit for him. Trent has totally redeemed himself from past transgressions.

The big problem though is with the rest of the secondary. Charles Stewart, Stevie Brown, and other safeties are continually getting beat every which way. Whether it's a deep ball or a short check down or slant pattern, these guys can't stop anyone.

Scott Schafer's defense was supposed to be blitz happy and never give the opposing quarterback enough time to allow him to throw the ball. But too many times the Michigan secondary is getting burned downfield.

Our defense has always been more suited to stop the Wisconsins and Penn States of the country and not spread offenses. Apparently six months of practicing against it everyday hasn't helped much.

Let's just pray we see less and less of the zone defense that the opposition loves seeing so much.

National defensive rankings: passing defense 78th, rushing defense 12th, and total defense 27th.

Defensive Grade: B-

Special Teams

Michigan's kicking game has been pretty, pretty good. Zoltan Mesko is actually being considered for the Ray Guy award, and his fake punt run against Notre Dame was amazing.

He is averaging 44.1 yards per punt and has put seven punts inside the 20 so far.

K.C. Lopata is 3-for-4 on field goals, and I haven't had to close my eyes anymore during field goals. Still not singing "Hail to the Victors" after a field goal though.

My biggest beef with special teams is the Wolverines' inability to return any sort of kick.

Donovan Warren should have a restraining order against him on punt returns as is apparent from his 2.7 yards per return and long return of 13 yards.

Brandon Harrison needs to be returning kickoffs full time while Boubacar Cissoko learns the position and learns how to hold onto the ball.

Special Teams Grade: C-

Coaching

Rich Rodriguez seems to be a bit stubborn by not designing a playbook better suited to tailor the athletes he has.

Would it hurt to run a more pro-style offense that your athletes are more accustomed to until you have the athletes to run the spread?

I understand that the athletes need to learn the spread as quickly as possible, but RichRod's first season at WVU saw a 3-8 finish. No one wants that at Michigan.

In fact some Michigan fans might want to take a drill to the temple to erase the memory of a losing season, which looks like a real possibility.

I do like his aggressiveness though. The fake punt, the shots downfield, the total unexpectedness of everything. I love the play calling, even if it doesn't fit the athletes' abilities.

Scott Schafer needs to coach up the secondary more. Either that or let Barwis have his way with Stevie Brown and Charles Stewart.

Maybe Barwis will feed them to his wolves?

Coaching Grade: B-

Final Thoughts

It's pretty rough to think that Michigan could have a season like Notre Lame had last year, but it looks like that is the case.

I'm struggling to find more than five wins on this schedule. Six wins and a bowl berth would be a miracle at this point. Wisconsin is going to kill us, Illinois might be win number two, Toledo is a win, while Penn State, along with Michigan State and Purdue right after, are all losses. Minnesota should be win number four as long as they beat Illinois.

Northwestern is a win, and Ohio State might win by 50 against us. The only way I see Michigan getting to six wins is by beating Ohio State in Columbus, and I can't see that happening.

Michigan has been beating up on the rest of the Big Ten for years, and karma is going to bite the Wolverines this year. But let all the opposing fans get it in while they can.

Because after this year, the gloves are off.

Overall Grade through three games: C

Michigan Recap: Turnovers Doom Wolverines

Jason Barczy — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:36:08 -0400

Is it hockey season yet? How about basketball? Did the Lions win? Nevermind.

I'm sure some of you are asking yourself these questions especially after Michigan's horrendous 35-17 loss in South Bend over the weekend but don't fret yet. It's not as bad as everyone thinks it is.

Believe it or not, Michigan actually outplayed Notre Dame on Saturday and Steven Threet and Sam McGuffie solidified their respective positions.

Notre Dame scored 28 points off of six Michigan turnovers. If the Wolverines don't turn the ball over, it's a 17-14 Michigan win. But, Michigan did fumble the ball away four times and the Fighting Irish pounced on every opportunity.

Luckily, Mike Barwis has two full weeks to take out his rage on the team before Michigan's next game. Maybe he'll take them all to the Upper Peninsula and teach them how to hunt and kill bears with your bare hands.

Rich Rodriguez has to be mad at the team. Six turnovers is unacceptable and all but one of those seven fumbles (four lost) were unforced drops.

Offense

Unless he gets seriously injured Steven Threet should start the rest of the season based on Saturday's performance. He actually showed that he could play at the D-I level.

He threw 16-for-23, 175 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He did fumble twice, losing one, but I won't rip into him too much for those because everyone was fumbling for Michigan, even Notre Dame although the Irish didn't lose any of their three fumbles.

The first drive of the game could not be more of a disaster. First off Boubacar Cissoko pinned Michigan at the eight yard line when he botched the kickoff. Threet and McGuffie got the Wolverines up near the 30 but David Molk was called for a stupid chop block but then Brandon Minor drops a poorly thrown backwards pass to give Notre Dame the ball at the 11.

That was pretty much Threet's only bad pass of the day and I'm not sure who's more at fault because the pass did hit Minor's hands.

The only time I wasn't impressed with McGuffie on the day was during Michigan's second drive and he couldn't convert a third and one situation. Michigan kept the ball though in what will be later described as "Space Emperor Returns" in the special teams section.

Later, Michigan was screwed by Big East officials who failed to see Greg Matthew's hand underneath the ball on a long touchdown pass. I officially hate the Big East now and request SEC officials for the Ohio State game.

McGuffie took over the game from this point forward. He took a screen pass 40 yards to the house in which he spun off his own blocker on his way to the end zone. On the next drive he made a beautiful 29 yard run in which he tip toed down the sideline and had everyone in the stadium jaws drop. It was perhaps the most beautiful run I've ever seen by a Michigan running back.

McGuffie finished the day with 138 yards rushing on 25 carries and 47 yards receiving and one touchdown. He has separated himself from all other Michigan backs and should hold onto the spot the same way Hart did for four years.

Remember Hart's breakout game as a freshman was the 2004 loss to Notre Dame in South Bend. Just sayin' is all.

Matthews is clearly the number one target but Threet needs to not stare right at him and check down to his other receivers. I thought Odoms did a nice job on a couple catches. He led the team with six catches for 56 yards.

Carson Butler is irrelevant from this point forward. After he got ejected late in the game for throwing a punch I thought to myself, why is he even in the game?

Michigan is still dismal in several areas. They only converted four out of 12 third downs and Nick Sheridan throwing two late interceptions shows why he is better fitted to be playing at Albion College.

Overall Grade for Offense: C-

Defense

I feel bad for the defense. What could they have done in the first quarter? Minor's fumble put the Irish at the 11 and Michael Shaw fumbled the ensuing kickoff putting Notre Dame at the 14.

Twice in a row Notre Dame had less than 15 yards to the end zone. Big East officials called Morgan Trent for pass interference in the end zone and Jimmy Clausen recovered his own fumble, all things Michigan could not do anything about.

Then there was the crap pass interference Big East officials (yeah, I'm going to point that out every time) called on Donovan Warren right before Clausen went deep to go up 21-0. I'm sorry but that was the worst pass interference call ever and shows why pass interference calls should be up for review.

Steve Brown needs to be benched too, along with Charles Stewart. Although I don't know who would replace them at this point. Anyone would be fine. Rich Rodriguez should walk across the street to Ann Arbor Pioneer on Friday night and pick a safety, any safety, and dress them.

Golden Tate burned the Wolverines on a simple slant pattern. He barely beat Warren for the catch but Brown should've had him wrapped up right away but instead Tate zipped by him and proceeded down field for a 60 yard gain.

It's a common theme now. Expect this every week. Teams are going to beat Michigan deep, especially with receivers covered by Brown expecting safety help from Stewart. Where's that safety RichRod was so in love with during spring ball that he almost gave him the No. One jersey? J.T. Floyd right? Put him in for cryin out loud.

The big mismatch of the game was suppose to be Michigan's defensive line against Notre Dame's offensive line. Well that didn't happen. Clausen wasn't sacked once and as far as I'm concerned, rarely if ever saw any pressure.

See what happened was...I don't know what happened. Brandon Graham and Tim Jamison were no where to found all day. I think I heard Will Johnson's name called once but I could be mistaken.

Michigan linebackers were getting burned early and often or run over by Robert Hughes. Obi Ezeh was not heard from.

When defensive backs account for three of your top five tacklers in a game, something is wrong with the pass rush.

Jimmy Clausen passed for 147 yards and two touchdowns while the Fighting Irish rushed for 113 yards. To the defense's credit, they limited Clausen to just 11 yards in the second half but that's when Notre Dame went to rushing mode and didn't have to throw.

Overall Grade for Defense: C-

Special Teams

"Space Emperor Returns" is of course referring to Zoltan Mesko who earned back his galactic status after I questioned his abilities.

When he took off on the fake punt I jumped out of my seat in shock. I can't remember if I've ever seen Michigan fake a punt or anything else before.

That boy can run too. And his punts were amazing throughout the day as well. Three out of his four punts landed inside the 20 and he boomed one 58 yards. He's back!

But special teams is marred by three botched returns. Boubacar Cissoko is a freshman and will get a pass in the sense that he better not ever do it again. Shaw as well. They both fumbled the first two kicks of the day and set Notre Dame up to take a 14-0 lead minutes into the game.

Donovan Warren should never, NEVER return kicks, punts or anything but an interception again. He fumbled of course, actually learned how to fair catch, then refused to do anything but fair catch.

Overall Grade for Special Teams: B (only because of the fake punt).

Coaching

Fumbling on a rain drenched day is not Rich Rodriguez's fault and Michigan actually did outplay Notre Dame on a down to down basis.

Michigan out-gained Notre Dame 388-260 and the Wolverines offense looks capable with Threet at quarterback.

The offensive line is blocking better than I've seen it this season as evidenced by Threet and Sheridan never seeing the ground and McGuffie actually finding holes on stretch draw plays.

I like his use of Kevin Grady periodically and in short yardage situations. There was nothing Grady could've done on that fumble He had it stripped from him pretty good.

Still, I don't like Rodriguez throwing the white flag by putting Sheridan in late in the game. It just shows that we basically gave up at the end and there was still 9:13 left to go. If the spread offense is suppose to produce points so quickly don't you think 9:13 would've been plenty of time to comeback from down 35-17?

Scott Schafer's whole defensive gameplan must of been thrown out the window after the first five minutes but still, where was the pressure on Clausen? Trent and Warren were depended on too many times to make plays when the defensive line wasn't.

Rodriguez now has two full weeks to prepare for Wisconsin, the first ranked team RichRod will face as Wolverines coach.

Overall grade for Coaches: C

Final Thoughts

Michigan should've won the game. They really beat themselves though and Notre Dame is too good to not take advantage of the many short fields Michigan gave them.

I can't help but point out though, 28 points off of turnovers, Michigan turnovers. Without those, Notre Dame doesn't win.

Notre Dame is the best worst team in the country and Michigan is rebuilding.

Although, Michigan's rebuild looks to be a lot closer after Threet and McGuffie's performance.

It's going to be tough to find five or six more wins for this team to go to a bowl game.

Overall Grade: C-

Michigan-Notre Dame: This Could Get Ugly

Jason Barczy — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:55:48 -0400

Michigan (1-1) at Notre Dame (1-0)

3:30 p.m. EST on NBC

Line: Michigan -1.5

Weather forecast: Rain with a few thunderstorms likely. High 77F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.

It doesn't help much that these two are at their absolute worst as far as playing ability is concerned, but let's add in some bad weather as well.

At least it should be fun to watch. Anyone have any idea what the over/under is for how many turnovers these two will produce? I'll set it at seven and I'll take the over.

Michigan and Notre Dame haven't been this bad going into this game since, well, last year actually. At least last year, Michigan pulled out a winning season and a huge bowl game win over Florida.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, was practically the worst team in college football.

Although the Fighting Irish pulled out a win last week, it doesn't look much better for them once again. San Diego State was a half yard away from going up 20-7, but Notre Dame got a good fourth quarter from Jimmy Clausen and prevailed.

Michigan looks like it's in for a bumpy season after watching the first two games. A loss to Utah and a struggle against Miami (OH) has revealed the Wolverines' growing pains under new coach Rich Rodriguez.

Who's ready for the preview?

Michigan Pass Offense vs. Notre Dame Pass Defense

Steven Threet looks to start again, and unless he plays inspiring football and hits an open receiver past the first down marker, expect Nick Sheridan to see some time.

I think Threet is the right choice either way. He seems to make better decisions than Sheridan, and although he's not accurate, that is something that can improve with practice. Hopefully Mike Barwis got a hold of him this week.

Threet also seems better on the run, as evidenced by his touchdown run last week. Michigan's pass offense is ranked 103rd in the country, averaging 135 yards per game. They have to pick it up this week, but in stormy conditions I don't see it happening. Expect Michigan quarterbacks to throw two or three interceptions.

Notre Dame's pass defense gave up 274 yards on 29-for-59 passing for one touchdown and one interception to SDSU's Ryan Lindley, with eight pass breakups.

This is not inspiring stuff. Add in the fact that SDSU (a team that lost to Div 1AA or D2 Cal Poly in Week One) completed five passes of 13 yards or more, including a 43-yarder, and you have a pass defense that resembles Swiss cheese.

I've also been reading about how blitz-happy Notre Dame's defense is this year but where is the evidence of that? One sack is all the Fighting Irish got against SDSU, along with four tackles for loss.

Now that doesn't necessarily resemble their ability to hurry the passer, but it shows an incompetence against a lesser team to get to the quarterback in time.

Rich Rodriguez's spread offense is designed to get rid of the ball quickly, so I don't see Notre Dame getting to Threet or Sheridan, very often unless the offensive line completely breaks down in pass protection.

Greg Matthews is back, and maybe that will give Threet a downfield target he can reach.

Michigan Run Offense vs. Notre Dame Run Defense

This is the game right here. With conditions being what they're supposed to be, the running game is going to be crucial.

After a terrible showing against Utah, the Michigan running game improved greatly against Miami (OH), kind of. Well, they showed signs that they can actually gain yards on the ground anyway.

Sam McGuffie could have a big day, but with his inexperience, I would be much more comfortable going with Brandon Minor in these conditions or a bruising back like Kevin Grady.

It hurts that Mark Ortmann is out at left tackle, and redshirt sophomore Perry Dorrestein looks to take his place. Bryant Nowicki stepped in last week after Ortmann went down and did nicely, so I'm not sure why Dorrestein is the pick. He hasn't seen any action this season and has only played in four games in his career.

There's not much to judge Notre Dame on here, other than Maurice Crum seems like their best run stopper. The Fighting Irish gave up 4.7 yards per carry and 80 yards on 15 attempts. In San Diego State's loss to Cal Poly the Aztecs averaged just 1.7 yards on 23 carries for 60 yards.

With all the talk about the inexperience of Michigan's offensive line, the exact same thing could be said of Notre Dame's defensive line. There are upperclassmen on the line, but they haven't seen much game action and are backed up by sophomores and freshmen.

Look for McGuffie and Shaw to run all over the place. One cut could break open a huge lane all the way to the end zone.

If Michigan wins this game, it will be because of the running game.

Notre Dame Pass Offense vs. Michigan Pass Defense

Do you think Jimmy Clausen remembers getting sacked eight times last season? He better, because not much was lost in that front seven that is going to be gunning for him once again.

Even though it was against SDSU, Clausen looked sharp. He hit on 21-of-34 for 237 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, no sacks and completed three passes for 20 yards or more.

This worries me, seeing how Michigan's secondary should've given up two or three long touchdowns to Miami (OH) last week. Steve Brown and Charles Stewart have been horrendous. To me, they are the second coming of Markus Curry and Ryan Mundy.

Michigan has to get to Clausen and force him into mistakes, and the weather will help greatly in this area. Tim Jamison and Brandon Graham should have a field day.

But if they don't get to him, and Clausen has time, expect bad things. Golden Tate (yeah, they have a player named Golden) burned his cover guys and made some nice grabs including a 38 yard touchdown.

Luckily though, Notre Dame doesn't have a speedy underneath guy to terrorize our linebackers, which should free them to blitz Clausen and help the defensive line. Expect to see Obi Ezeh in Clausen's grill.

Donovan Warren and Morgan Trent have been stellar thus far. Expect to see Clausen avoid them terribly, mostly because he won't be able to get the ball off after having Will Johnson rip his head off.

Notre Dame Run Offense vs. Michigan Run Defense

Michigan's rush defense is ranked fourth in the country, giving up just 41.5 yards per game through the first two weeks.

Although at a closer look, it may not be THAT good. Utah averaged 3.5 yards per carry and Miami (OH) 3.7.

However, against the third worst defense in the country last year, Notre Dame averaged just 3.1 yards per carry against SDSU for a total of 122 yards on 33 carries.

Robert Hughes and Armando Allen are "between the tackles" kind of runners with Hughes weighing in at 237. His type of running will be best suited for the conditions but the Fighting Irish aren't facing SDSU here.

Unless Michigan has a complete breakdown, I wouldn't expect Notre Dame to rush for more than 75 yards.

Final Thoughts

I love bad-weather games like this is projected to be. It's going to be a defensive battle, and I wouldn't be surprised to see more than one defensive touchdown in this game.

I see Donovan Warren running one back for the Wolverines.

The biggest mismatch in the game is the Michigan defensive line versus Notre Dame's offensive line. Clausen is still having nightmares from last year's game.

Michigan's offense will struggle but as long as Threet doesn't make any mistakes and the Wolverines do a good job running the ball, I think they'll be fine.

We could see breakout games for Warren, McGuffie and Shaw.

Notre Dame will win if Clausen is protected and has time to throw downfield.

Prediction

Michigan 20, Notre Dame 17