Starting Off 2008 Right
For much of the first day of 2008 I spent my time watching my beloved Michigan Wolverines knock heads with the defending National Champion Florida Gators. As I have written before, I felt that we would have a chance to beat the Gators, and today that is exactly what happened. It was close the whole way, going back and forth, but not once did I sense that Florida was the better team. Not once did I get the feeling that Michigan would implode and give up. Not once did I complain about the play call. The defensive coverage, yes, I complained a bit about how on a couple of Florida touchdowns their receivers got so wide open. I was pleasantly surprised that Michigan opened the game in a spread offensive formation and they stuck to it much of the game. I loved that Chad Henne was in the shotgun because any time you can give a smart quarterback more time to scan the field, the more success he will have...against anyone. Mike Hart ran well today but for the first time in 1,002 carries he fumbled. Then he fumbled again. Oh well, he scored two touchdowns and ran for more than 100 yards, which made it easier for Henne to give Adrian Arrington the opportunity to make two phenomenal catches. Mario Manningham played pretty well and produced despite being blanketed by Gator corners all game, but still managed over 125 total yards. Even Mr. Holding Carson Butler chipped in with a nice run after a catch for a huge 65 yard gain. Everyone saw what this offense should have been all season. The defense gave up some yards and even some huge plays, but what they didn't do is give up or slow down. They were in Tim Tebow's face all day and more importantly they were able to contain him. Percy Harvin was as good as advertised, but if he thinks he can survive in the NFL being as little as he is, he has some learning to do. Defensive lineman in the NFL eat pre-game meals with more meat on their bones than what Harvin has.
The secondary played pretty well, but the loose coverage from Morgan Trent and occassionally Donovan Warren, gave me flashbacks to the Rose Bowl last year and that damn Oregon game. But what made up for that was the play of Jamar Adams. That kid played better today than at any point during his Michigan career and it couldn't have come at a better time. I loved how aggressive Ron English was today and I couldn't help wondering how great he would be paired with Rich Rodriguez. Then again I wondered all day long where the real Mike DeBord had been stashed! The offense was something special today and it had absolutely no resemblance to anything Mike DeBord ever showed us before. The overriding question I had all day was "where the hell was this offensive diversity all year? It was as if Joe Mach was calling plays that he has worked so hard on perfecting in some of our less interesting classes!
But in the end, after Lloyd Carr had gotten ice water dumped on him, this was the best finish to such a screwy season. It doesn't make this year any more easy to take, but at least we showed what we could have been. Yes, I am ecstatic that we won our first bowl game since 2003, but that isn't the most important thing that happened today. The most important thing that happened today was a man that put his heart and soul into this program got something back today from a group of guys that clearly would take a bullet for him.
As for the other games that I saw bits of today: Wisconsin was blah against Tennessee. Arkansas was rolled by Mizzou. Illinois was shown why they aren't quite ready to handle life with the big boys. Hawaii learned why they are looked at as a joke. Georgia has absolutely dismantled and demolished the Warrior and when the Dawgs tackle one of the little Warriors it resembled a take down of a 1st grader by a high school senior...floppy and hard to watch. Hey June Jones, how about teaching your little Warrior dolls how to break a tackle and avoid looking like a small tree in a tornado.
Now to wrap up the first day of 2008, I will go to bed tonight a happy man. Michigan showed a helluva lot of heart and determination in sending Lloyd Carr into retirement the right way.
GO BLUE
The secondary played pretty well, but the loose coverage from Morgan Trent and occassionally Donovan Warren, gave me flashbacks to the Rose Bowl last year and that damn Oregon game. But what made up for that was the play of Jamar Adams. That kid played better today than at any point during his Michigan career and it couldn't have come at a better time. I loved how aggressive Ron English was today and I couldn't help wondering how great he would be paired with Rich Rodriguez. Then again I wondered all day long where the real Mike DeBord had been stashed! The offense was something special today and it had absolutely no resemblance to anything Mike DeBord ever showed us before. The overriding question I had all day was "where the hell was this offensive diversity all year? It was as if Joe Mach was calling plays that he has worked so hard on perfecting in some of our less interesting classes!
But in the end, after Lloyd Carr had gotten ice water dumped on him, this was the best finish to such a screwy season. It doesn't make this year any more easy to take, but at least we showed what we could have been. Yes, I am ecstatic that we won our first bowl game since 2003, but that isn't the most important thing that happened today. The most important thing that happened today was a man that put his heart and soul into this program got something back today from a group of guys that clearly would take a bullet for him.
As for the other games that I saw bits of today: Wisconsin was blah against Tennessee. Arkansas was rolled by Mizzou. Illinois was shown why they aren't quite ready to handle life with the big boys. Hawaii learned why they are looked at as a joke. Georgia has absolutely dismantled and demolished the Warrior and when the Dawgs tackle one of the little Warriors it resembled a take down of a 1st grader by a high school senior...floppy and hard to watch. Hey June Jones, how about teaching your little Warrior dolls how to break a tackle and avoid looking like a small tree in a tornado.
Now to wrap up the first day of 2008, I will go to bed tonight a happy man. Michigan showed a helluva lot of heart and determination in sending Lloyd Carr into retirement the right way.
GO BLUE
posted by Snotzzz at
12:11 AM
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