Speed in college football is the one discriminating factor that separates teams, or so the pundits say. I have always believed (and seen) that a well coached offense and relentless, pursuing defense can win games, too. But I saw a Michigan team that was crazy quick off the ball in the first half on Saturday. I don't know how much of that can be attributed to emotion, but the Bucking Broncos at times looked like they were standing still. And the Western's QB that is supposed to be a 2nd round pick looked like a Lions 3rd stringer in the making...
So while we didn't get Western's A-Game, we looked pretty impressive in the process of dismantling what they did bring - which in the end, wasn't much. The 2nd half produced a long TD for the Ponies where they managed to find a way past our defense, but too little, too late, or so the saying goes.
Due to the fact that I said we would eke out a win over a good Bronco team, this was very surprising. But does that change my opinion of the season? See Below. Let's see what Saturday brings against the Domers (JEEZ I HATE THESE GUYS!) for a true measure of improvment.
However, I noticed some things that will make a difference this year:
QB play: I am sure EVERYONE could tell when Sheridan took the field. Play was dramatically different. Not so explosive. Almost painfully slow play development. And of course, the INT right before half. Forcier looks extremely promising, but there will be pains. And Denard Robinson is everything that we've heard - Crazy fast and able to accelerate with the "extra gear" that exceptional speed seems to have.
O-Line Play: Forcier had TIME. Last year, time was precious. This year, it looks like a common commodity. But again, the caliber of the opponent is somewhat suspect.
D-line: Quick off the ball and Graham looks smaller and quicker than we have ever seen. This was easy to see on the Tube but maybe not as much in the stands. And the secondary is always going to look better when the QB is under pressure.
Am I willing to change my prediction from 5-7 at this point? Maybe - but a lot of that is based on what I saw in the rest of the Big 10 - They really stunk. And if we beat the Domers, well, that'll be one I wasn't counting on.
The Rest of the Mess
Domers (JEEZ I HATE THESE GUYS!): Beat Nevada. A lesser opponent than Western, but that means absolutely nothing. You can feel them out there getting nervous. Michigan is prepared to give them a game, and they know it. We will see what comes to be in the Big House, but one coach's Hot Seat rank will jump to number one on Saturday at 7:00 P.M.
Now, I need to clear the air and don my MMQ "JEEZ I HATE THESE GUYS!" Hat for a minute. Holtz senior has become even more senile in the last 9 months and from his ESPN Game Day Final seat is lobbying for Jimmy Clausen's inclusion in the Heismann race....Sorry about the pause, but I just up-chucked in my waste basket. This has to be one of the most abused positions at ESPN for a former coach to pimp, er pump his former school and promote them shamelessly without regard to reason or logic. Mark May did a great job of pointing out that Clausen's last two games were against pass defense's that ranked in the three digit area code for 2008. So, let's not put the cart before the horse.
However (Wait - there's more coming up - okay, yesterday's burger is now history), in all fairness, let's say J. Clausen is in the Heismann discussion. What's he really accomplished? He beat Michigan in a year where everyone beat Michigan. He hasn't beaten USC - hasn't even COME CLOSE. HE LOST TO NAVY. IS this really what Heismann guys are made of? Granted, it's a single season performance award, but is this just more of the same Mighty Quinn, Ron Paw-less, and a myriad of other forgettable QB's that have since gone on to primarily back up pro-careers?
Next Saturday is gonna' be fun to see, isn't it?
SUCKEYES: Can someone explain to me how a bunch of guys that are going to spend 6 years of their lives serving their country after their football careers are over without so much as a whiff of a pro contract were able to make this a game with 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter against the 6th ranked team in the country??? Everyone was saying how they were "keeping it simple" to not show USC too much....I am here to tell you, USC saw everything they needed to see - an offensive line that played horribly. A defense that played like, well, Michigan's D last year....And special teams that were atrocious. I usually expect big Suckeye routs in these early pre-season games. So either Navy is really good and heading to a bowl, or the Suckeyes are in for a massacre when the Rubbers come to the Shoe Saturday Night.
SPARTY: MSU beat MSU. Eh. Whatever. But the QB situation at MSU looks promising. And they were one of the better Bog 10 offering's on Saturday. I was flipping, but what I saw will make an interesting season for Sparty and they may be a dark horse surprise....
HAWKEYES: Nearly blew it to Div II Northern Iowa. From the "what the hell were they thinking?" files of how not to block and recover a blocked kick. I thought Ferentz was going to have them ready to play, but they looked bad....I may want to notch this as a win if Iowa continues to play like this.
FUMBLING ILLINI: Juice Williams looks dried out and Mizzou looked impressive. If they play with that kind of inspiration all season, this is another team we can beat....
Big 10 Summary: They looked bad...Cheeseheads didn't play well in their victory. Kitty Kats looked okay, but Akron ain't much. Gophers beat the 'Cuse in OT, which was nice.
GATORLAND: Yes, they beat their cupcake and The Divine One had a great day. And the Heismann field thinned a little when...
LATERS: QB Bradford went down with a shoulder injury. He won't be the same and while I beleived Oklahoma would get beat this year, I didn't think it would be the first game of the season and I didn't think they would lose their star, similar to what happened when Adrian Peterson went down and the Laters ended up going 7-5...However, it's kismet, karma, retribution, call it what you will that you lost to the Short Horns and still went on to play in the National Title Game. It's simply the Later's turn to pay the price.
SHORTHORNS: McCoy had a great day, they looked impressive.
CREMESICLES: Lane Kiffin has arrived....Pasting WKU with 63 points is a take no prisoners attitude.
SATAN'S WARRIORS vs. the HOAKIES: Former looked impressive, latter - not so much. Beamer and the ACC needs to get a lot better earlier and beat these teams.....
FSU vs. Miami: Game had it all, just with the wrong guy winning...Wait a minute, either way, I was happy to see one of these teams lose, so it was all good.
Cincinnatti - Rutgers: Which Moron(s) scheduled a RIVALRY GAME 1st game of the season? If this was to improve recruiting, Schiano just pooched it, bad. In fact, he may be at Rutgers forever at this point.
Thoughts From Saturday (In no particular order):
1. Maybe Michigan is going to be better than I expected.....
2. If anyone says one more thing about the "controversy" created by the FREEP article, I am either going to thank him or kill him.
3. Speaking of the FREEP, they are now reporting ON THE ARTICLE ITSELF and dedicated three pages of Sunday's paper to the reports on the first report. This included editors trying to defend the original article, columnists commenting on other columnists comments and more dribble than I can go into here. The FREEP has truly lost it journalistic integrity and should just call itself what its become: A supermarket tabloid with some facts thrown in. The faster they go broke, the better off we'll all be.
4. Jeez, we're fast. Or Western's slow.....
5. Denard will tie his shoes at some point this season - I think.
6. Charlie Wuzzles has NOT taken the Nutri-system challenge.
7. For having a stroke in the off season, Corso still has it - thankfully.
8. Did Herbstreit suffer from a stroke in the off season, also?
9. Fowler, as always, the stable anchor...
10. GOD I LOVE COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!
THE HOT SEAT
I know, a lot of you skip to right here to see what's going on. Well, we need to start off with a bang, so here goes -
Because I heard her name in the NEWS repeatedly this weekend - and frankly, I didn't know who she was - and since she was in the Hot SEAT, who better than Internet Sensation Tila TEQUILA for this weeks HOT SEAT MASCOT!
(BTW - How old is this girl, anyway? And is the MMQ liable for republishing these kind of images of girls that aren't old enough to vote? OR am I just getting old?)
1. Rich Rod - Honorary First Seat Position. Even though there's zero chance of his getting canned before another head coach gets the ax this season, I figure he earned it with everyting else that's going on.
2.Wuzzles - If he loses to Michigan with this year's team, well, its going to be evaluation time. And I think the Domer faithfull may have had enough of the jolly good fellow.
3.Zookie - How do the Illini come out that flat against a border rival? Didn't and doesn't make sense with a senior QB....Of course, Michigan lost to APP STATE with Henne at the helm.
4. Groh - Virginia lost to D-II school and Groh has been on thin ice for two years. He could be the first to go....
5. Schiano - How can you get pasted by a rival like that in the opening game?
6. Bobby - Come on - haven't we seen enough of him? But I still like the FSU Cheerleaders....
THIS WEEK:
SUCKEYES vs. TROJANS: I have a feeling the outcome will be similar to last year. They're just playing the game in the Shoe this year....
MICHIGAN vs. the DOMERS: My early prediction was that the DOMERS would win in a squeaker...I may be feeling a little Maize and Blue this morning, but I am liking Michigan's chances.
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