Once again, a team that has come into the Big
House and left Ann Arbor hurting a LOT MORE more than when it
arrived. And I do mean hurting…Physically
and mentally. Michigan not only beats
teams, but with the Nittany Lions final abysmal numbers (less than 250 total
yards) on the offense and defense, well, it can’t be a good feeling mentally
when reviewing game film on Sunday and Monday. Wait – I take that back: PSU had 6 punts for a total of 270 yards of
punting. That’s good!
Getting serious, sort of, Michigan defeated an opponent it
should have destroyed so I’m not entirely sure what we know yet, but we are 4/12’s
of the way towards knowing more. 4
Games, undefeated, haven’t left the state of Michigan with a very surprising
4-0 Cheesehead team heading into town.
SuperFan – the price of that ticket just went up!
Michigan was effective from the opening kick in this
game. After a very efficient defensive
first series, J-Peppers took the first punt back ALMOST all the way. The Turf Snake grabbed his ankle and tripped
him up or another Heisman moment would have been added to his highlight
reel. As hair raising as the Colorado
game was (btw – Don’t look now, but Colorado is 3-1 with an upset victory over
the Quack Attack!) in the first quarter, this game was under control and more
or less over in the 2nd quarter when Michigan went up 28-0. Michigan ran at will against a PSU Defense
that simply wasn’t there. UCF presented
more rushing difficulty than the PSU Defensive line could have ever hoped to
create.
Michigan is averaging over 50 points a game. I know, I know….I have to keep telling myself
the same thing I’ve been saying since Hawaii:
Who’ve they played?
Colorado is looking like a better win and I hope the Buffs keep it
rolling. Penn State was simply not
good. Not good at all…..They were awful.
I feel for PSU fans, in a weird way. They’ve been to lower, darker places than
most loyal fans deserve to go. But they
really need to let what happened go and that means letting JoPa go, too.
I saw a Nittany Lion stumble by with a lone white 409 on
his blue t-shirt during the tailgate.
I’ll admit it took me a minute as I thought it had something to do with
the cleaner AJAX or the Beach Boy’s Song, and then it hit me that it was for
JoPa’s Total Wins (which are now re-recognized by the NCAA after they initially
scrapped 111 of them after the scandal).
If you can stomach wearing it – nice honor. But. This is a sad, sad, SAD fanbase that may
actually be in a lower place mentally than where Michigan Fans were when we
were at the bottom of the Rich Rod and Hoke-Brandon nightmare years. Their nightmare continues to live even when
everyone associated with that issue has been jailed, fired or has died. When fans don’t let go of the past, haters
and the broader community are continually reminded of the sickening facts…..
Let
it go….
Wiscy 4-0. I had
them at 2-2 or 3-1 at best coming into the Big House. So much for pre-season prognostication. They are very much the surprise team in the B1G
West with a QB that seems to know how to throw a pretty good pass….more
on the Sparty collapse in a minute.
Bring on the Cheeseheads and let’s see where the chips fall
come Saturday!
The
Rest of the Mess
Lots of Elimination games and opening conference game
Losses…
Clemson
@ GT: The FMQ totally blew
this game as did the Wramblin’ Wreck. I
was disappointed to see what’s usually a hallmark of a Paul Johnson coached
team, the Defense, more or less bend a knee to the will of Clemson. This game was sort of over right at the end
of the 2nd quarter when GT intercepted a pass in the end zone,
fumbled the interception, and Clemson tackled the GT player that recovered the
fumble in the End Zone for a safety.
That was a potential 9 point swing in the wrong direction and it only
got worse from there. Still not
impressed with Clemson, though they did take care of business on the road.
Wiscy
@ Sparty: That sound you heard was Marcus Antoninni’s heart skipping
a big
‘ole beat after the Wiscy Beat down at home. I didn’t get to see as much of this game as I
would have liked on Saturday – Tailgate had it on behind us – but from their
cheers I could tell that Wiscy was doing good things. And Sparty was doing bad things. Caught the BTN in 60 on Sunday and Sparty
more or less got “Sparty’d” by a hard hitting turn-over causing defense and a
very patient and efficient offense. And
O’Connor showed us why he was sitting on the bench behind Cook for the last
three seasons. Sparty is reeling, but I
can’t count them out yet. Side
Note: Nice Field Touch with #3 at 50
Yard line for the former Kicker Sadler. Still
can’t believe that happened.
Georgia
@ Ole Miss: Hugh Freeze handed a heaping cup of “SEC West” to Kirby
Smart. After all the years that Kirby
was handing that out from Alabama, you’d think he’d know how to manage
that. The curse of Georgia lives on and
Kirby just found out what the Hot Seat feels like.
Arkansas
@ Texas A&M: Technically
this game was at Jerry’s World, but whatever.
Sumlin is proving once again that you should never count a good coach
out even when things are looking grim.
With all the crap that went down in the off-season, Sumlin has a QB and
an offense that is going to wreak havoc in the SEC West. I’m convinced A&M beats somebody they’re
not supposed to this season. And the
initials of that team might be Alabama.
CornHUSKERS @ Northworstern: The
Wildcats didn’t even make this a game as the Huskers cruised to an easy
victory. Smilin’ Mike Riley was as
pleasant as ever in his post game interview and I have a feeling there’s a big
showdown coming in the West between a couple of Red and White teams….
Iowa @
Rutgers: Iowa better look
out. You shouldn’t go to Jersey as
double digit favorites against a team that has two blow-outs (the wrong way) on
their resume and almost get beat. Bad
form, Iowa. Bad form.
FSU @ USF:
Jimbo
Fisher just polished up his resume by going to Tampa and taking care of
business. With LSU looking, you can
never have too many big wins behind you.
Beating an upstart Taggart lead Bulls team is a good way to get you
noticed for the LSU gig- again.
Gatorland
@ Tennessee: While
the FMQ’s prediction that it would be close (and taking the Gators and the
points started out to be accurate), the Cremesicles came out in the 2nd
half and simply said, “No.
This is our house, our Game and our Season.” Jones avoids the hot seat and McElwain has to
endure the first loss to Tennessee since before there were I-Phones. Seriously – look it up!
The
Electric Chair Games!
Dooooook
@ Domers: 21 point Underdog
Duke went into South Bend and the lack of respect on the Irish Blogs and even
in the local press was utterly amazing.
I saw no less than 3 articles last week that talked about “What
a great time to get into the weak part of the ACC schedule to get healthy on
the Win-Losses”. Duke and Coach Cutclift,
you may recall, is not that far removed from winning the ACC Coastal and going to
the ACC Championship game. Duke knows
how to win Football Games now. And they
proved it on the field on Saturday. It absolutely DELIGHTS me to see the Domers
spiral out of control into the quagmire of football wasteland! Every time it happens to them! Final result:
Defensive Coordinator VanGorder was placed on the Domer Football Sacrificial Altar
and lit up on Sunday. And
with that Domer loss and a Michigan W, Michigan regained the ALL TIME Win
Percentage Title from the Domers!!!
WOO-HOO!!!!!
LSU @
Auburn: The Electric
Chair of Death Bowl has been decided and the Electric has been switched
ON! After the craziest
ending to a football game (oh hell, when Les Miles is involved, what’s a
football game WITHOUT a crazy ending!) where emotions roller-coastered up and
down in both directions for both teams, the Auburn Tigers ended up on top
because LSU’s final TD didn’t count. Les
Miles, the WINNINGEST COACH to ever have coached at LSU (0.770 winning
percentage) was canned yesterday afternoon. Les and Cam Cameron were given their walking
papers and Ed Ogeron is the temp Head Coach.
My guess is this might be Ed’s last gig because I’d be really nervous
about bringing Ed in as a Defensive guy thinking I was about to get Axed….
The 5
Stages of Slappy Fan Grief
Denial and Isolation –Hawkeyes. Still telling themselves they only have 1
loss and the B1G West is still a possibility….RIGHT!!! And the Check is in the mail and all the
other cliché’s can apply….
ANGER
–The
ANGRY, ANGRY fanbase still has to be the Domers. They got blood (after BKelly said they wouldn’t
get it) and they’re still pissed because most of them believe the wrong guy got
canned. LSU fans are here as well
after watching a very promising season squandered to the stubbornness of a
Ball-Control-Defense is Good oriented Head Coach. I have to say that even Satan figured out you
need to score at times in today’s modern game and made the adjustment.
Bargaining
–USC Trojan fan –
step right up and be accounted for.
Players bailing on the team, getting beat in the last 2 minutes of the
game…Yep, Rubbers are down here this week at 1-3 wondering where to go
next. Keep losing to get Helton Fired or
try to salvage the season?
Depression
–
Shared amongst Domers and LSU Tiger fans…Nothing is as depressing as canning
coaches knowing that changing a system mid-season never solves anything. IT’s over for the knowing fans and that’s
disheartening, for sure.
Acceptance
–
Northwestern and Illinois remain. Georgia Fan is also down here. They’ve accepted the fact that just getting
an SEC Coach doesn’t fix the curse or whatever it is that plagues this
team.
Idle
Thoughts from Saturday
-Gorgeous day in Ann Arbor
-4 games in a row is tough, but it’s easier when the team
is winning!
-Canners out in force, again.
-Easy points on Saturday.
-Lots of Tailgate Walk Bys!
Remember: Corner of Hoover and
Greene.
-The ‘ole Tailgate sometimes tries to solve the worlds
problems…
-LBGTQ came up at the Tailgate – of all things.
-I know – don’t ask.
Beer and Big Game and God know where a topic can go….
-Anyway, Everyone more or less agreed the NCAA should keep
their nose out of stuff….
-But why this is even an issue still baffles….
-And we still didn’t solve that one….
-Okay – I’m tired of the cheat stick that the Drum Major is
using.
-She needs to figure out how to do the head touch without the Baton.
-And don't give me, "You do it!"
-It's Tradition, dammit!
-Another fly-over!
They’re always fun!
-Good Defense.
-Go Peppers! Oh…He’s
gonna be mad when he sees that replay come Monday.
-PSU fans are here, but not very loud.
-They’ve been through a lot.
-A lot fan bases probably wouldn’t have endured.
-I guess that’s always a good test.
-Stress makes you stronger and better.
-Just what can you endure.
-And right now, PSU is enduring as much as any fan base has
ever endured.
-Of course, the school keeps bringing it on itself.
-And the Paterno family needs to walk away and let it go,
also.
-This game is over.
-Maybe the halftime show will be okay.
-2nd half highlights: Uh…..Higdon, I guess? He had a 40 some yarder for a score.
-The turnovers were good, also.
-Bring on Wiscy!!!
The Hot Seat
Week #4’s
Hot Seat Mascot. Thanks
for the positive feedback on the ring girls from the MMA!! This week’s Hot Seat Mascot is ring girl
Arianny Celeste!
ZAPPED!!!
I can’t remember coaches getting canned this early in the
season in this kind of volume just for losing on the field…..Gonna’ be a long
year for some schools.
Miles
and Cameron – LSU Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator. Winningest coach at LSU ever. A National Championship. After 12 Seasons and a National Title, LSU to
cough up $12M for the right to dismiss Les.
As was texted to me by G-Money:
May LSU wander in the desert for years to come. Latest Example of “What were we thinking?” Georgia’s beat down from Ole Miss knocked
them out of the polls and Miami just checked in at #14. That’s where fired Coach Mark Richt ended up. LSU is going to miss Les Miles….Count
on it.
VanGorder – Domer D-Coordinator. B. Kelly stated in his Saturday
Presser that everyone on the coaching staff had his support. Sunday there’s a press release that VanGorder
has been relieved of his duties. Can
anyone say $warbuck$ Interference and
meddling? I couldn’t get a
screenshot of the tweet before it got deleted, but VanGorder’s daughter tweeted
“F#$@ Notre Dame!” right after her dad got canned.
Ron Turner –
FIU. Former Florida Coach out at FIU
after an auspicious 0-4 start.
Electric
Chair of Death Seat!
Kelly –
Domers (1-3). Why he might get fired: Hey - $warbuck$ made him fire VanGorder and
maybe that’s a message to BKelly that he needs to get his shit together or he’s
next. I believe he’s lost the team at
this point. IF the Domers lose another “Easy
ACC Game”, I foresee a Zapping of Kelly. Why he Won’t Get Fired: Still $warbuck$ Guy. That’s not going to change and he bought
Kelly some time by supplanting the
masses that were chanting “Fire VanGorder!” at the end of the Duke Game.
The
Hot Seat – Guy’s that have Hot Seats but Won’t get Canned, Immediately
Whoever’s coaching USC – Helton. Losing and going 1-3 at a school as talent
rich as USC puts you number one on the Hot Seat.
Muschamp - Losing to Kentucky this season? Seriously?
South Carolina will be in the market for a new coach soon
enough.
Stoops – Oklahoma. Holdover till he wins again.
Dave Doeren – NC
State. Added him, cause NC State isn’t
good….
Helfrich –
Oregon (2-2). Wow…I mean, just Wow. Losing
to the Huskers at their place – forgivable. Losing to Colorado (team that won 4 games
last season) at HOME when you are a DOUBLE DIGIT FAVORITE –
Inexcusable. Oregon may be shopping for
a new deal soon….
Franklin – PSU. His seat didn’t get any cooler with a
blow-out loss at Michigan
Hazell - Purdue.
Just cause
Adazzio - Boston College.
Malzhan – Auburn. He’s 2-2 and an Alabama win will cure
everything….
Short List of Available or
Desirable Head Coaches and Where They Might Go
Kiffin – Satan’s
O-coordinator…For head coach at – wait for it….wait for it…AUBURN!!!! Or LSU….
Hermann –Probably heading for
USC. This is purely an MMQ hypothetical,
but Hermann at USC sounds so logical with B1G roots out in the Pac 14.
PJ Fleck – Western Michigan. I’m going to guess that a B1G team grabs
Fleck…I don’t know which one, but he’s impressing some of them.
John Bonamego –
Central Michigan, may be a cancidate.
He’s still pretty new at Central but has Central trending up. NC State perhaps?
Willie Taggart –Played
and Head Coached WKU and coached under Jimmy Harbaugh at Stanford before that. Buzz is up on Taggart for a Big Time
School. If Stoops at Kentucky gets the
axe…would Taggart be a hire for the Wildcats?
Les Miles – Don’t
laugh. I know you’re laughing out
there. Do you know how many schools
would take a 3 to 5 year flyer on a 62 year old Miles thinking he could
possible do a quick turnaround job and fix some things? Short list – USC, PSU, Boston College, NC
State, and maybe South Carolina (after they get rid of Muschamp)
Side
NFL NOTE: The
Lions showed up for the 2nd half, but were not aware they had to
play an entire 60 minutes of football….
Golf
Side Note: Arnold
Palmer, RIP. TH and I got the chance to
see him play down at the Omni Resort in Orlando at the Father-Son Tournament
that they host down there in November or December. I think it was back in 2005 or 2006 when we
saw him play. Class act and will be
missed….
LSU
Head Coach Watch: I’ll be
posting off and on this week as the Rumor Mill gets cranked up regarding who
LSU will offer. Fans are split on Fisher
and Herman, as near as I can tell.