Michigan Wolverines Football: This Is How We Do It!

What a relief.  Michigan finally won a home opener.  "It seems like years since we've been here..."

It really has, with the memories of Utah and Appalachian State still alive in our head.  It was nice to see the Wolverines put up 31 points in the first half and cruise to an easy victory.  There weren't any easy victories last year, so this was a big improvement over 2008.

Most of you who read this blog watched the game, so I don't need to recap the entire game.  I was too impressed with Tate Forcier's decision-making and arm, and Denard's running ability.  The FedEx Combo (one delivers via the air, the other via the ground) turned out to be lethal weapons against the Western defense.

Speaking of defense, the Michigan defense showed what we had thought we would see in 2008: A dominating effort (mostly in the first half).

So, without further ado, lets get to the much-anticipated first Cheers and Jeers of the season.

Cheers:

• The Team.  This team could have folded with all the non-sense floating around all week.  They came together and played as a team.
• Tate Forcier, the clear starter for this team.  In his first game, he played like a three-year starter, not a true freshman making his first start.
• Greg Robinson.  Loved his style of coaching on the sideline and he had his unit ready to play.  (By the way: he never stopped coaching the entire game.  He looked like a co-head coach out there.)
• Denard Robinson.  His speed and running ability will make it very difficult for other defenses to prepare for Michigan this year.
• Brandon Graham.  He was pretty much un-blockable most of the day.
• Only one turnover and we caught every punt!

Jeers:

• I wasn't real impressed with the second-half effort.  Michigan should have scored at least 14 points.  I know they didn't need it, but ND is next.
• JT Floyd in his first game struggled at CB and gave up the long TD pass.
• Donavan Warren was hot and cold at CB with a couple of interference penalties.
• The CBs will have to be better against ND this week.
• I hope Brandon Minor's ankle is okay.  He didn't see any snaps and they will need his leadership and running ability next week.
• Michigan didn't have a tailback over 100 yards.

Surprises:

• Craig Roh starting at DE as a true freshman.
• Big Will Campbell only getting two snaps at DT.  He did blow up the offensive linemen and hit the running back for a couple yard loss.

This is the start of things to come this year.  Yes, there will be ups and downs, but it's good to have an up for a week.