It almost happened again. Michigan almost fumbled away another game. Michigan’s offense is still abysmal, but they were able to get it together enough to pull off the 2nd biggest comback in Michigan history. Wisconsin was up 19-0 at halftime and then was outscored 27-6 by the Wolverines in the second half.

Michigan only notched 1 first half first down. But even worse than that were the turnovers. Michigan turned the ball over 5 times in the first half (3 fumbles and 2 interceptions) so it’s amazing that the score was only 19-0. Michigan’s defense held the Badgers to field goals on all but one of their scoring drives. In the second half it was the 25 yard interception return for a touchdown by John Thompson that really sparked Michigan. It came shortly after Brandon Minor scored on a 34 yard touchdown run. Michigan took the lead when Sam McGuffie punched it in the end zone after being set up by Steven Threet’s 58 yard run.

Wisconsin had a chance to tie it up with a 2 point conversion, but were called for an ineligible man downfield penalty. Their second effort was unsuccessful and Michigan locked up their victory.

Once again, Michigan showed it’s youth and infamiliarity with this new offensive scheme. They looked lost for the first 3 quarters. They were able to score enough points to get back in it and eventually win, but early turnovers put them in a hole again. If they could limit (or ideally eliminate) these turnovers, the Wolverine would have a lot better shot at winning games. I think that the defense would probably appreciate it too. When a team turns the ball over that much it consistently puts pressure on the defense. There can only be harmony in the locker room for so long if that keeps happening. Let’s hope that they continue to  grasp the system and learn how to hold onto the ball. They have Illinois up next which will not be an easy game.

Six turnovers? SIX? I know it was raining but hold on to the ball! And by the way, Nick Sheridan should not take another snap for Michigan. He’s terrible. He floats every pass.

Other problems for Michigan

They did not pressure the quarterback. Notre Dame gave up a record number of sacks last year. Michigan sacked Jimmy Clausen 8 times last year and zero this year.

Defensive back play. Morgan Trent got worked multiple times. Donovan Warren continues to be overrated. Warren actually played pretty well today but he also made some bone-headed plays.

There were a couple of high points to the game. When Michigan was able to hold onto the ball, they actually moved the ball effectively against the Irish defense. Steven Threet played really well. His passes were crisp (take notes Nick Sheridan) and well placed.

Another highlight was the play of true freshman Sam McGuffie. McGuffie was the most effective ball carrier and also was a major factor in the passing game. Sam McGuffie will continue to grow as a running back. As soon as he learns how to pick up a blitz there is no reason he shouldn’t be on the field.

Overall a very disappointing performance by Michigan. I’m afraid Michigan fans will have to endure a lot more of those before it gets better.

The Rich Rodriguez Era began dubiously on Saturday when the Wolverines fell to the Utah Utes 25-23. I have to say it wasn’t really that close.

The first half was thoroughly embarassing for Michigan. They couldn’t move the ball and they could stop Brian Johnson and the Utes. It was Johnson and kicker Sakoda that took the game over.

Michigan’s offense was terrible. Nick Sheridan didn’t have a clue. His statistics only recorded 1 interception but he was lucky that it wasn’t 3. Worst of all, his pick came with 51 seconds before the half, which of course Utah capitalized on and took it in for a score to make it 12-10 at the half. On top of that, to begin the second half, Sheridan botched a handoff to true freshman Sam McGuffie. It looked like they both messed up, but I was certainly not pleased that McGuffie literally pointed fingers after he fumbled. He needs to grow up and grow up quickly. The botched exchange led to Sheridan being ushered to the bench in favor of Steven Threet.

Finally, a bright spot. I thought that Threet came into the game with poise and seemed to able to complete a pass to his own team. Neither Sheridan nor Threet are going to win the game with their feet (they both proved it today), but I think that Steven Threet might be able to win it with his arm. He has considerably better passing skills than Sheridan and Carlos Brown proved that he can be the dual run/pass threat that Coach Rodriguez’s spread offense.

There were a couple plays that were kind of strange to me. The plays where the offensive line didn’t move while the sideline route was run. The play payed off once and the the other was a near completion. I really liked the innovation there. Cool to see if they continue to use plays like that. The Utah defense didn’t know what was going on.

Unfortunately that was Michigan’s defense most of the game. The defense definitely played better in the second half, but the tackling was terrible and the coverage was very loose. The bright spots for me were the pass rush in the second half, led by Tim Jamison, and the overall play of linebacker Obi Ezeh. This unit has a lot of work to do if they’re supposed to carry this team.

Overall this was not a huge shock. Utah is a good team and Michigan is a team without a strong identity. It is definitely a disappointment but I think one good thing was learning where Michigan needs to improve. And we definitely learned that on Saturday.

As we all know Michigan’s home opener last year was an embarrassment. This year the Wolverines bring a Utah team into the Big House that has BCS bowl aspirations. Michigan will also be breaking in a new head coach, offensive philosophy, starting quarterback, starting running back and it’s wide receiving corps.

That’s enough for me to be very scared. I know that Coach Rodriguez will be able to bring in top-shelf talent (Terrelle Pryor notwithstanding) to run his spread offense. The problem is that the talent hasn’t arrived in Ann Arbor. They’re still in high school. And frankly they may be more suited to lead the Wolverine offense than either potential starting quarterback (Nick Sheridan or Steven Threet). I’m sure those guys are great guys, but if you asked either of them if they realistically thought they would start a season as the University of Michigan’s first-string quarterback I have to believe they’d have said “No way!”

Everyone has said that Michigan’s defense is (and will have to be) it’s strength, and I agree. But if their offense is terrible and turns the ball over all the time, they won’t be able to overcome it (ask Brian Urlacher and the 2006 Bears defense).

Now onto the Utah game. Utah runs the spread offense that gave Michigan fits last year against App. State and Oregon. One thing has changed, the defense faces a similar offense every day at practice. And that can only help. Utah’s offense will return 4 players who suffered injuries last year.

Starting quarterback Brian Johnson, wide receiver Brent Casteel, and running backs Matt Asiata and Darrell Mack are all coming off injuries for Utah. This could prove to be very bad for the Michigan defense. I think the Michigan defense will need to put some points on the board for Michigan to come out on top. Hopefully Michigan will be able to withstand their attack and put enough points on the board to escape a second home opener loss.

Prediction
Utah 24
Michigan 27

Michigan’s football team will have some new threads this fall (and for many years to come). The new uniforms are courtesy of adidas. Michigan has been in a relationship with Nike for many years, so this is a huge change for the university the traditionally has been a leader in merchandise sales.

Some cool points about the jerseys. They have Bo Schembechler’s historic quote, “Those who stay will be champions” embroidered into the hem of the shirt. There are also silicon inserts in the sleeves commemorating all of Michigan’s 42 Big Ten championships. I think that these 2 things give me a small sense of hope that all tradition is not lost at Michigan. It shows me that Rich Rodriguez is at least aware that tradition is very important at Michigan. Can Michigan retain it’s tradition as a football powerhouse even though the offense that’s on the field will be decidedly un-Michigan? I guess this is an indication that the answer could at least be maybe.

Now comes the question of like. Do I like the new jerseys? I like the plain home blue jerseys but I’m not a huge fan of the maize stripe on the away white unis. There has been a maize stripe on the away uniforms for a while that was fairly unperceptablel, but these are a bit wider. All in all, I like the traditional elements that have been brought in, and at least they don’t look like Cal’s or Rodriguez’s last stop West Virginia. Or even worse, Oregon.

All this hoopla about the Kansas football team last fall, and now KU’s incredible comeback victory in the NCAA tournament, the phrase ‘Rock Chalk Jayhawk’ has been thrown around a ton.

In an effort to educate myself, I visited Wikipedia (where else would I go for that type of information?) and found that there is a lot of tradition and cool back story to the chant.

I’m still not totally sure I know what it means, or why commentators insist on show-horning it into every other sentence that deals with the University of Kansas. I’m all for school spirit but things are a bit out of whack when Jim Nantz’s championship call is “Rock Chalk Championship”.

There is some good news and some bad news.

Good news first:

• If Memphis could hit free throws, I would have locked up my second consecutive Vigilante Sports contests

Now for the Bad news:

• Memphis cannot in fact hit free throws when it counts
• Mario Chalmers can drain a prayer of 3 pointer to tie the game

All that to say (through gritted teeth), congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks who picked up the 2008 NCAA National Championship. Also congratulations to Mark Smith, who bested everyone in the 2008 Vigilante Sports NCAA Bracket Challenge.

I do have to say that Mark and I both picked 45 games correctly. His counted for more and he picked up the win. I will definitely be back to bring the still non-existent trophy back to it’s rightful owner… ME!

We all remember Maurice Clarett don’t we? Today Terrelle Pryor announced that he’ll be playing football for Ohio State this fall. Pryor claimed that he thought that OSU gave him a better chance to make the NFL.

By that did he mean, “They don’t really care how long I stay here, they just want to use me for a year or two”? Or was is more like, “I see too many Michigan quarterbacks in the NFL already, I want to be the next Troy Smith, or Joe Germaine”?

It’s all really hard to tell. Pryor, by most accounts, is a prima donna, with an entitled attitude. Exactly the kind of guy I don’t want as the capstone to a new program. I much prefer that Coach Rodriguez builds the program from the ground up. Contrary to what Terrelle Pryor thinks, he’s not bigger that the Ohio State football program, and he’s certainly not bigger than the Michigan football program.

I hope the reason that Pryor chose OSU over Michigan is that Rodriguez didn’t coddle the young man and that’s what Pryor wanted or needed. It sure seems like this kid has talent, I hope, for his sake, he doesn’t blow all of that talent, but washing out at Ohio State. Granted, the prospects of Michigan beating Ohio State this fall are pretty slim no matter what. Coach Rodriguez has a lot of work to do to mold the Wolverines into his team. But when he does, I want Ohio State to be in top form. It’s just more fun to beat them when they’re ranked number 1.

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It’s Mid-March and the brackets were released today. It’s time for the Third Annual Vigilante Sports NCAA Bracket Challenge. We’ve have 2 great years, let’s make it 3. Last year we doubled the amount of entries in our Challenge. Let’s do that again. If you’re interested please post a comment. It will submit your email address to me, but not show it to the public. I’ll take care of your email address (ie. not share it with anyone else). So, submit a comment and I’ll get you an invite to the greatest (or at least the most fun) bracket challenge around.

There hasn’t been any money on the line and there still won’t be… but fame and glory will be yours as you might add your name next to mine on the non-existent Vigilante Sports NCAA Bracket Challenge Championship Trophy. And that’s not too bad.

If you participated last year, you should have already received an email inviting you back.

Ryan Mallett has left the building. Shembechler Hall to be more specific. The freshman quarterback is going to transfer to another school, sit out next season and play his remaining 3 years of eligibility at another school.

This sucks.

I predict that Ryan Mallett will win the Heisman trophy. Wherever he goes. He’s that good. As a freshman he stepped in with poise, and was a major part of Michigan’s return from their horrible start to this season.

He’s rumored to be heading to Tennessee. But other options are Texas A&M, Arkansas, and UCLA. UCLA seems like the best fit for him. With new coach Rick Neuheisel wanting to make a splash and open it up. But it looks like Tennessee with hire former Michigan offensive coordinator Mike DeBord, and quarterbacks coach Scott Loeffler. He obviously gained confidence in them as coached in his time at Michigan. If that scenario does happen, look for the Vols to return to the national title hunt when Mallett takes over.

What does this mean for Michigan. Well, I hope that it means that this clears the way for blue chip recruit Terrelle Pryor. National signing day is February 9th. If he really is the next Vince Young, I want him in Maize and Blue.