T1B

The better team won. The thing that pisses me off most is that most of the targets the next two classes are offense...time to focus on the d.

Good luck the rest of the way State...the Rose Bowl awaits.

Scu-m blows. No defense. The spread in the big 11 is garbage. Bye bye dick rod. Maybe you'll get hired at nd.

I tip my hat to the green and white as well. Too many big plays given up by the defense along with getting skunked in the turnover battle...not a good combo. State's ground game was far too physical and that usually tells the tale of this game if one side dominates on the ground. Shoelace didn't play an awful game but it was a bad game compared to what he's done so far. His receivers hung him out to dry as well. The Lions think they dropped too many passes.

Shoalzie wrote:The Lions think they dropped too many passes.

Yep. There's the game.

Sparty RBs were very impressive - dragging all sorts of fools down the field.

ja, proppers. rather frustrating to lose by 17 when denard left 18 points there in the end zone, but it's hard to forget it was only his sixth start as a competent qb, so i suppose some regression is to be expected at times.

from the michigan side of things: jfc, fucking horrible linebackers. obi ezeh needs to go to chemistry class and mix something together that blows his face off. he doesn't necessarily have to fill the correct gap, but he can at least make the back think about what hole he wants to run through.

i'll leave off any other commentary about our awesome defense since it'd be redundant to state the obvious.

also, nice that the biggest play of the game was probably a false start. michigan forces a three and out after going up 10-7 and was still moving the ball pretty efficiently. a good chance to go up 10 but instead state converts a 3rd and 15, goes up up 14-10, and never looks back.

selah, at least psu is entirely crippled, so we still have a good shot at three more wins and can possibly steal one from iowa-wisco-ohio state (<--ha), meaning 9-3 is entirely feasible. even if it weren't, i'm not going to complain about a reasonable chance at eight wins considering the last two seasons we had.

can't wait till state goes into the final weekend needing an osu loss to secure a big ten championship but rooting against michigan anyhow.

Always good to step into the largest crowd in the history of college football as your first true road game and smack down the skunk bears.

On Michigan's first drive I was like ohhh fuck, here we go. They were moving the ball with ease, but then Robinson made his first of many poor decisions, throwing an INT in the end zone. UM left 14 obvious points on the board, but that's still an L.

My biggest fear was the big play by Robinson on the ground, but the MSU D did a good job of limiting that, and played well in pass coverage...except for that worthless Marcus Hyde.

Bell, Baker, Caper = freshman, sophomore, sophomore. So lots more o that to come.

I wonder if UM will have another new qb next year who's the leading Heisman candidate after 4 wins versus nobody. Seriously, Denard is a likeable dude and he'll be fine.

Screw_Michigan wrote:

Shoalzie wrote:The Lions think they dropped too many passes.

Yep. There's the game.

The other funny thing is...when did the Sparty DBs become sure-handed? They seemed to snag any poorly thrown ball Robinson threw yesterday. State was able to keep Shoelace from having the weekly highlight TD run but they were able to move the ball on them but had 3 drives ending 3 points instead of 21.

M Club is right about the gap responsibility. The State o-line has traditionally been very good at run blocking but the holes Baker and Bell had yesterday were probably a combo of great blocks but terrible gap integrity. Baker is a load to take down and wants he got downhill...there's no way of those puny Michigan corners to catch him and bring him down.

State kind of drew up the blue print on how to expose the weakness in Michigan's game and exploit it. I shiver at what Iowa's defense will do to them next week. I look at the remaining schedule...the only games I feel good about are Purdue and Penn State. Illinois could be a tricky game. There's maybe 2-3 wins left on the schedule. They got the wins early on that were there for the taking.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:UM left 14 obvious points on the board, but that's still an L.

18:

- homeboy was open on robinson's first pick.

- michigan kicked a fg after denard missed a wide-open hemingway drinking margaritas in the end zone.

- state's second pick, though in fairness that's one any qb might have thrown considering how tight the window was, whereas the first was what i'd look like aborting a baby.

so anywhere from 11 - 18 points, which would have drastically altered how the game played out in its final stages. (though a situation i'd fully expect state to have stuffed the ball down our dope azz defense's tits.)

Shoalzie wrote: State kind of drew up the blue print on how to expose the weakness in Michigan's game and exploit it. I shiver at what Iowa's defense will do to them next week.

in a perfect world dickrod will draw something to counter the things state did well against us yesterday.

M Club wrote:

Shoalzie wrote: State kind of drew up the blue print on how to expose the weakness in Michigan's game and exploit it. I shiver at what Iowa's defense will do to them next week.

in a perfect world dickrod will draw something to counter the things state did well against us yesterday.

Think of his brief time in the Big Ten...who has he beaten?

Indiana twice...a spread team that plays no offense. Essentially a worse version of Michigan. It's pretty easy to come up with a scheme against a team that does similar things as your team. They didn't exactly shut the Hoosiers down either. They allowed 68 points and 1035 yards in the two close wins. In his 2-plus seasons...Indiana is the only team worse than Michigan in the Big Ten in terms of conference record. They should beat them but they don't do it convincingly.

Wisconsin in his first season...9 combined turnovers and the Badgers blew a 19-0 first half lead...it was far from a masterpiece. Threet couldn't top 100 yards passing and he lead the team in rushing. One of Michigan's touchdowns were from an interception return. Wisconsin almost tied the game in the closing seconds but failed on the two-point conversion. They won by making the less costly mistakes. They didn't really beat the Badgers because they were dominated in the first half...they were opportunistic.

Minnesota at the Metrodome...they're best defensive performance in conference under Rodriguez...albeit it was with Schafer as the d-coor. The defense forced 6 three-and-outs and the other possession was a 4 play drive ending in a punt. They allowed 36 yards in the first half and took 16-0 lead into the locker room. The offense left points on the board...Lopata had to make 5 field goals. Still, a pretty solid road conference effort.

If Rodriguez wants to keep his job...he has to win some conference games coming up. Based on his brief history and seeing yesterday, we could end up seeing more of the same. Finishing 6-6 and going to a bad bowl should be considered a failure. I want no fewer than 8 wins out of this season. Purdue, Illinois and Penn State are winnable games. A losing record in those 3 games should pretty much seal his fate because I have a hard time believing he'll get a win in the Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio State games.

Props to Sparty on their big in-state conference win. Obviously, your RBs looked good, in part due to the performance of the offensive line, and Cousins looked a lot more like "the leading Heisman candidate" than Robinson, who found out yesterday that the yards don't come quite so easy against a good defense. At least the ridiculous Heisman hype will stop now. Robinson's athleticism is unquestionable, but he's not yet developed into a great QB. Right now he's just Forcier, part II.

Michigan could beat Iowa next week if they score on special teams or Iowa turns the ball over and gives them short fields but, in reality, I don't think that is likely to happen. Michigan has no defense and, once Iowa establishes a running game, Stanzi will pick them apart with play action passes, and I would expect lots of big plays from the Hawkeyes for that reason. Iowa's defense is also a notch better than MSUs, which will be bad news for Forcier...errr....Robinson and Co.

I know this isn't an Iowa-Michigan thread so, sorry, and props to MGO and his Spartans on the win in the Big House, and I look forward to the Iowa-MSU matchup in Iowa City and think it will be a hell of a game.

M Club wrote:so anywhere from 11 - 18 points, which would have drastically altered how the game played out in its final stages.

Sure. A closer game also means more points for MSU since they wouldn't have went into the prevent O late in the 3rd quarter.

I get it. If ______________ happened it would've been a different game. That's how it always goes.

Hey, at least you guys don't care about the State game, so it's no biggie.

you mean where i said this?

M Club wrote: (though a situation i'd fully expect state to have stuffed the ball down our dope azz defense's tits.)

denard made two entirely retarded mistakes that would have changed the complexion of the game. could've would've should've, it's still reasonable to point them out as reasons for frustration. but typical sparty. you'd think you'd just lie back and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime run on its own merits but instead are more concerned about michiagan fans' reactions than your own.

And typical UM fan, routinely over-estimating your own importance. I can enjoy the win and scoff at your bitter, lame excuse of we left just enough points on the board to conveniently win by 1 simultaneously.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:And typical UM fan, routinely over-estimating your own importance. I can enjoy the win and scoff at your bitter, lame excuse of we left just enough points on the board to conveniently win by 1 simultaneously.

are you disputing my math? or are you being a whiny bitch because some other fan is lamenting the might have beens, something you've obviously never done? fair enough, i'll be sure to keep track of any hypotheticals once you guys drop into your predictable tailspin.

over-estimating? tell me, what one game do we actually care about? what game do you care about? or rather, what team would your coach pass on a big ten title to see lose an inconsequential game? enjoy your bit of a winning streak but make sure to send me a text when you guys begin to win at least a third of our games against each other.

M Club wrote:are you disputing my math?

I'm disputing they had guaranteed points beyond the 14 obvious ones I already conceded. The souvenir Robinson chucked to E. Lansing, and the dropsies by Roundtree as he was coasting into the end zone should have been TDs. I'm not conceding you points on the INTs, since the points were taken from you as opposed to hoping your guys would fuck up an easy throw or catch.

or are you being a whiny bitch because some other fan is lamenting the might have beens, something you've obviously never done?

Uhh, I'm just message boarding.

over-estimating?

Your sense of importance? Yes. My comment had to do with your implication that I can't trade barbs lest I be soooooo full of concern over everything UM fan says and does.

tell me, what one game do we actually care about?

IU, since it's the only Big 10 team you can beat.

what game do you care about?

Illinois.

or rather, what team would your coach pass on a big ten title to see lose an inconsequential game?

Pretty simple: there isn't one.

Props to Sparty. And while we're on the subject (sort of), here's a question that came up in my mind.

While it's a little early to be talking about this, I could see Sparty running the table this year. They skip tOSU, and the only possible bumps in the road I see coming up are Iowa and Penn State, both road games. As I understand it, if tOSU and Sparty both run the table, since they don't play each other, the tiebreaker goes to Sparty on the basis that tOSU has won the Big Ten more recently. Is that still true, or did the Big Ten change the tiebreaker to the higher-ranked team in the BCS poll? If the old tiebreaker still holds, tOSU could wind up playing for the national championship despite not being recognized as their conference champion. Of course there is a precedent for that (Nebraska in '01), but then again, the BCS has been tweaked since that time.

MgoBlue-Light Special wrote:I wonder if UM will have another new qb next year who's the leading Heisman candidate after 4 wins versus nobody.

Of course, one of those "nobodies" was a team your team was lucky to beat. Just sayin'.

That would be correct, Terry.

They share the title of co-champions, regardless of who is selected to go to the Rose Bowl.

Terry in Crapchester wrote: Of course, one of those "nobodies" was a team your team was lucky to beat. Just sayin'.

Lucky? Did MSU beat ND on some Hand of God play? THAT is lucky. NOT executing a brilliant call in OT while ND's pants were around their ankles.

You guys are gonna get throttled this weekend.

Higher ranked team in the BCS gets the Rose Bowl nod, but FLW is right in that they're still considered co-champs.

Screw_Michigan wrote:Lucky? Did MSU beat ND on some Hand of God play? THAT is lucky. NOT executing a brilliant call in OT while ND's pants were around their ankles.

God damn you're stupid.

Screw_Michigan wrote:

Terry in Crapchester wrote: Of course, one of those "nobodies" was a team your team was lucky to beat. Just sayin'.

Lucky? Did MSU beat ND on some Hand of God play? THAT is lucky. NOT executing a brilliant call in OT while ND's pants were around their ankles.

My point is that it was an OT game. By definition, that was a game that could have gone either way.

You guys are gonna get throttled this weekend.

But way to be a homer.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote: I'm disputing they had guaranteed points beyond the 14 obvious ones I already conceded. The souvenir Robinson chucked to E. Lansing, and the dropsies by Roundtree as he was coasting into the end zone should have been TDs. I'm not conceding you points on the INTs, since the points were taken from you as opposed to hoping your guys would fuck up an easy throw or catch.

the roundtree drop doesn't much matter considering they still scored a td a few plays later.

i said michigan passed on either 11 or 18 points and also said it was from the perspective of ruing lost opportunities, not "you only beat us because." you'll also notice i said a closer game near the end probably just meant state ramming the ball down our throats that much more.

i suppose we'll have to disagree on what was taken and what was a standard-issue fuckup. i guess that first int could be considered both considering the state db had to dive across his own body to make the catch. there's quite the bit of hand-ringing this side that, although he made a nice play on a ball thrown a yard behind him, it was still three yards behind roundtree.

or rather, what team would your coach pass on a big ten title to see lose an inconsequential game?

Pretty simple: there isn't one.

too bad he's on the public record saying otherwise.

- hey, mark dantonio, if you beat penn state and michigan beats osu, you'll be big ten champs. who do you want to win between umich and osu?

- osu.

at least you won't be terribly shocked when he moves to columbus after tressel retires.

M Club wrote:the roundtree drop doesn't much matter considering they still scored a td a few plays later.

I was thinking that was one of the drives that ended in an INT.

too bad he's on the public record saying otherwise.

- hey, mark dantonio, if you beat penn state and michigan beats osu, you'll be big ten champs. who do you want to win between umich and osu?

- osu.

He was asked if he was "rooting" for Michigan. He said no, he was focusing on Penn St. Pretty predictable and pc response. In a situation you can't control of course you're not going to say on record you've got your rival's garb waiting back home and your 12 pack cold and ready. The way you originally framed it though was as if he'd hit the dump button on his own team if he had the actual opportunity.

at least you won't be terribly shocked when he moves to columbus after tressel retires.

Definitely would be the case if he was 10 years younger.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:

Just going to capture that, for posterity sake.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote: He was asked if he was "rooting" for Michigan. He said no, he was focusing on Penn St. Pretty predictable and pc response. In a situation you can't control of course you're not going to say on record you've got your rival's garb waiting back home and your 12 pack cold and ready. The way you originally framed it though was as if he'd hit the dump button on his own team if he had the actual opportunity.

the way i framed it? he said he couldn't root for michigan. i think the predictable and pc response would be that self-interest precedes rivalries, something along the lines of: "obvs we have to win our game, but part of the scenario involves a michigan win, so yes, that's what i'm pulling for."

difference of opinion, i suppose.