We are pleased to be joined by long-time Edina, Minnesota resident Ric Flair. Because this week boils down to one simple thing:
And in the B1G, the Bucks are The Man -- however they did it and whether we like it or not.
But now is the time. Their leader knows. From the kickoff yesterday, when Urb wasn't grabbing his junk he was bent over in agony.
They're fractured. Their "get paid, get rings" payroll culture has come back to bite them. They're not playing like a Band of Brothers.
They're hurt. Weber barely saw the field yesterday and Dobbins had roughly 173 carries (give or take; math has never been my thing).
But they are still The Man. And we are going to get their best game of the season. We need to, as Fritz Crisler would say, "play better than we know how." Moody needs to be a threat from 45 in. Patterson needs to NOT underthrow receivers deep so that the DBs can juuuuuussssssttttt get a hand on the ball. Karan needs to break that extra tackle and Evans needs to plant and go because his speed, against the Buck porous run D, can make the difference. And we need to keep our depleted DL off the field so they can be potent when called upon.
This season can be a true watershed -- a line of demarcation, a changing of the guard. Use whatever metaphor you want, it can be the signal that one program is ascending, the other is on the decline. But it all starts with a win in Columbus. Without that, there truly are no moral victories. Lose and this is just another Michigan team that couldn't. Win and this team can look the 1976, 1980, and 1997 teams dead in the eye. Those were all teams that brought emphatic and exhilerating halts to disturbing trends.
Win or win not. There is no try.
***
With respect to yesterday's game, a few thoughts:
It is time for a complete Michigan team to win this in just that fashion -- as a team. Keep the ball, pound the rock, make timely throws, and keep the D fresh and we can do something no Michigan team has done since 2000. Let OSU get an early lead and get a running game going, let them gas our D, and let them make US one-dimensional and it's likely going to be another chapter in Wolverine Agonistes.
***
Finally, a whole bunch of folks on this board are not, in Mrs. V's eyes, getting it done. I read her some of the posts during the game when the bed-wetters and trolls came out and, well, she was disappointed. Add to that the folks who were rooting for OSU to win and she came away feeling as though The Fort didn't cover itself in glory.
But there were, of course, a few bright spots -- beacons of light in a grey wasteland of confused and muddled thinking. So today's winner of the "Winston Churchill Beacon of Moral Clarity Poster of the Week" Award is @Cincinnati_Wolverine for his elegant and incisive explanation as to why OSU must always lose: https://michigan.forums.rivals.com/threads/it’s-soooo-fun-to-watch-the-buckeyes-get-abused.265521/#post-4427160
It's Ohio State week. With apologies to the ladies on the board, it's time to put the women and children to bed and to go looking for f'ing dinner.
And in the B1G, the Bucks are The Man -- however they did it and whether we like it or not.
But now is the time. Their leader knows. From the kickoff yesterday, when Urb wasn't grabbing his junk he was bent over in agony.
They're fractured. Their "get paid, get rings" payroll culture has come back to bite them. They're not playing like a Band of Brothers.
They're hurt. Weber barely saw the field yesterday and Dobbins had roughly 173 carries (give or take; math has never been my thing).
But they are still The Man. And we are going to get their best game of the season. We need to, as Fritz Crisler would say, "play better than we know how." Moody needs to be a threat from 45 in. Patterson needs to NOT underthrow receivers deep so that the DBs can juuuuuussssssttttt get a hand on the ball. Karan needs to break that extra tackle and Evans needs to plant and go because his speed, against the Buck porous run D, can make the difference. And we need to keep our depleted DL off the field so they can be potent when called upon.
This season can be a true watershed -- a line of demarcation, a changing of the guard. Use whatever metaphor you want, it can be the signal that one program is ascending, the other is on the decline. But it all starts with a win in Columbus. Without that, there truly are no moral victories. Lose and this is just another Michigan team that couldn't. Win and this team can look the 1976, 1980, and 1997 teams dead in the eye. Those were all teams that brought emphatic and exhilerating halts to disturbing trends.
Win or win not. There is no try.
***
With respect to yesterday's game, a few thoughts:
- The IU game was, I thought, a good example of how little things add up. IU was just good enough on the ground that they were often able to stay on schedule. That forced our D (especially the DL) to play them straight up. Then add the miscues on offense -- 4 points lost because of a poor throw to Gentry (yes he should have made the catch), 3 more at the end of the half, a point on the conversion, and 25 more possessions than has been the norm and you get a performance that, by recent standards, is pretty "meh."
- Put maybe another way, IU showed how even a team with limited talent that is, nevertheless, complete -- that can run, pass, and defend both -- is a lot better against an elite defense than a team that might be better in one phase.
- The lessons from yesterday just underline what we already knew. This offense doesn't have to score on every possession but Shea and his receivers are still not real, every-down threats in the deep passing game. (At least not when the defense doesn't completely blow a coverage). So Shea has to be efficient and the offense has to stay on schedule. They also have to start fast and keep the ball away from an Ohio State offense that is still potent and that is trying to have Haskins become more of a running threat from the pocket -- which is one of this Michigan defense's only real weaknesses. Especially when we're not able to get home with 4 rushers.
- Crossing routes. Know 'em, hate 'em, cover 'em. And get home before the receivers clear the middle.
- To sum up, this team feeds off of the defense. And the defense is at its best when it gets off the field and the other team is one-dimensional. That does not bode well for an Ohio State team that has real issues stopping the run and that cannot run the ball effectively. So we need to get the lead early, keep the D off of the field by possessing the ball, stone the run when Dobbins and his "I ran the ball 294 times against Maryland" aching body get the ball, and then make OSU one-dimensional. Their OL is not elite against the pass rush. Hit Haskins early and often and he'll have a hard time fitting the ball into (what I hope are) consistently tight windows. But the foundation has to be our ability to run the ball.
It is time for a complete Michigan team to win this in just that fashion -- as a team. Keep the ball, pound the rock, make timely throws, and keep the D fresh and we can do something no Michigan team has done since 2000. Let OSU get an early lead and get a running game going, let them gas our D, and let them make US one-dimensional and it's likely going to be another chapter in Wolverine Agonistes.
***
Finally, a whole bunch of folks on this board are not, in Mrs. V's eyes, getting it done. I read her some of the posts during the game when the bed-wetters and trolls came out and, well, she was disappointed. Add to that the folks who were rooting for OSU to win and she came away feeling as though The Fort didn't cover itself in glory.
But there were, of course, a few bright spots -- beacons of light in a grey wasteland of confused and muddled thinking. So today's winner of the "Winston Churchill Beacon of Moral Clarity Poster of the Week" Award is @Cincinnati_Wolverine for his elegant and incisive explanation as to why OSU must always lose: https://michigan.forums.rivals.com/threads/it’s-soooo-fun-to-watch-the-buckeyes-get-abused.265521/#post-4427160
It's Ohio State week. With apologies to the ladies on the board, it's time to put the women and children to bed and to go looking for f'ing dinner.
