Navarre Again

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Coming Up Short

OK, listen. I've watched the game now in the friendly confines of my living room. The truth hurts, and I somewhat agree with Tuba. Laying blame is something we all look to do when faced with an unfathomable defeat. Let me tell you where I think it lies...

#1 Gameplan: For the first time in my 10-year, Riverview-biased, Lloyd-loving career, I can tell you this...we we're outcoached in large facets of the game. Perhaps not outcoached completely, as Mike Belotti made some TERRIBLE calls towards the end of the game. But not recognizing earlier that the Ducks were basically in goal-line defense is not excusable. Or was the staff afraid to turn it over to John Navarre and the passing game so early in the game? Do they also beleive what everyone else seems to already know?

Defensively we were on the field for the entire first quarter. And sure, we can blame the offense for putting them right back out there after they made a stop. But the offense didn't allow Oregon to sustain a Michigan-like nine minute drive to start the game.

#2 Heart and Homefield: I made a statement this week that Michigan on most occasions is the more talented team. They just need to find what motivates them to come away with a victory. This is the reason that you don't often see Michigan lose to the same team in consecutive years. This is the reason we stuck it to Notre Dame. This is the reason that they should stick it to Iowa. But a weeks worth of "Michigan tends to lose these west coast road trips" and "Michigan is going to have trouble in Autzen Stadium" and "Oregon is the Ohio State of the Pac-10" must not have been enough. Flat out...the Ducks wanted it more. I mean, these whackos drove a man-sized duck out onto the field in a motorcycle, with all the grace and tradition of a bad Disney movie. Then they systematically bullied the greatest team in college football history into submission. They forced a team loaded with talent to put the game into the hands of its least explosive and talented skill player.

#3 John Navarre: Yeah, it's his fault if you want to pick a player. You will see someday when these young receivers get balls thrown to them in stride. It will be an amazing sight. The passes John threw were not just telegraphed, not just off target, they were also horribly thrown balls. There were 12 ducks on the field on that 4th and 7 play that ended the game. The eleven wearing green and yellow, and the one wearing pigskin that clanked almost sideways off of Braylon Edwards's injured hand.

Regroup?

I'm not sure that the Wolverines can, but I know we can. The tailgate is ON for Saturday, and the theme is....drumroll please... Oktoberfest. So get your mugs ready for some dark beer, sausage, kraut, and cheese. But take some speed, because we're playing Indiana. Let's hope it won't take Johnny Wangler to Anthony Carter to get it done.

Return to Mediocrity

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A Sheep In Wolves Clothing

Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish. The gold helmets, the tradition, the team centered play, and the #1 win percentage in the history of college football. In 1887, the Wolverines stopped off on their way to a game with Chicago and showed a group of Notre Dame students how to play football. 116 years later, we showed them again. Ranking as one of the all-time feel-good games along with the pasting of Penn State in State College in 1997, Anthony Carter's miracle in 1979, and Dreisbach to Hayes in 1995, Michigan completely dismantled the Cowering Irish, 38-0.

A Perry Good Time

Talk about him. Get on the bandwagon. Chris Perry rushed for 133 yards, had 44 yards receiving, and scored 4 total touchdowns. He is the nation's leading rusher and the nation's leading scorer. And now, Chris is rapidly becoming the most talked about Wolverine since Charles Woodson. Whether or not Chris can keep up his pace in the coming weeks remains to be seen, but revel in it now... sorry Maurice, there's a new running back that is the sparkle of the media's eye.

Yellow Uniforms?

No time to rest as Michigan heads west, where success has been non-existant since a 1998 Rose Bowl victory. The Wolverines and UMTailgate.com will head to Eugene for a matchup with with the Oregon Ducks. Luckily, Joey Harrington and Onterrio Smith will be watching on TV.

Vamos Azul!

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Ho Hum...

Breakfast burritos, quesadillas, fajitas, and tons and tons of chips filled the tables for the Mexican Fiesta themed tailgate on Saturday. This 'sandwich' game, in between the opener and Notre Dame, was less crowded but just as intense. The amount of food was certainly astounding, and had it all been eaten, we would have had some classic cases of Mexican-themed Montezuma's revenge.

Again, As Expected

Houston had little to offer, being unable to stop the run, and less able to move the ball than Central. The Wolverine defense took last week's lackluster performance to heart, and shut down Houston in every way, allowing only 3 points and sub 100 yard performances in both rushing and passing. Chris Perry held on to the lead as the nation's leading rusher with 184 yards, bringing his total to 416 for the season, 2 yards more than Anthony Davis of Wisconsin. Michigan is ranked #1 in the nation for total rushing offense as well, with 367 yards-per-game, and #2 in total offense in the country, just behind Boise State. The Wolverines scored 21 points in the 4th quarter, including two rushing touchdowns by Pierre Rembert, and defeated the Cougars 50-3.

...Now the season really starts

College football's version of the preseason ends for the Wolverines next Saturday, when the mystical Fighting Irish come to town. Michigan has a score to settle with the Irish, who narrowly defeated the Wolverines last season 25-23. In addition, the game is slated for a 3:30pm start, which means a 7.5 hour tailgate, so get your rest on Friday night, there's a long day of drinking ahead. The tailgate theme is Grill the Irish, so think burgers, steaks, chicken, or any other type of flesh that would make a vegetarian squeemish. Look for a post by Sister Kristen later this week, as well as the Notre Dame preview. Don't forget to coordinate the menu with Bubba's wife at theme@umtailgate.com.

Still Streaking

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Congratulations to Bubba and Stephen on reaching their milestone 75th straight home and away Michigan game. The Godfather presented them with their perfect attendence award, and Stephen made an announcement which increased their previous goal of 100 straight games to instead a decade straight of Michigan football, which they will reach at the conclusion of the 2007 season.

Keeping With the Theme

Next week's theme is Mexican Fiesta. Don't forget to coordinate the menu with Bubba's wife at theme@umtailgate.com.

Ready, Set, Tailgate

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The Slowest Week of the Year

Note to self: Find something to do this week to keep mind off of impending season.

Like a five-year-old waiting for December 19th to turn into December 25th, I can't seem to find a way to ease the restlessness and anticipation for the upcoming college football season. It's now August 24th, and less than six days remain before we will gather in our famed corner of the golf course. No doubt, we will come together as we always do, which is as if we had been doing it all summer.

How High?

Preseason rankings are high for the Wolverines, #4 and #7 in the AP and coaches poll respectively. In addition, with the Clarett scandal, every college football analyst is scrambling to attach themselves to the Wolverines, both as the Big Ten champion and as a potential Sugar Bowl representative. Without a doubt, this is the most preseason hype We've had since the creation of UMTailgate.com. Be weary, as this is a double edged sword. This takes some pressure off of Ohio State as they were the mark, the team everyone else circled on their schedule. Of course, they still will be, at least until they lose. But OUR potential as it pertains to the media will only add to the fire that burns inside the teams of the Big Ten to beat Michigan.

Not that I condone looking past any games, but assume we beat Central and Houston...the mark begins to shift towards us. Any slip up, or even a close game, by anyone in the top 6 (coaches poll) or the top 3 (AP poll) and we slide up. Get out of the non-conference schedule undefeated, followed up by a cupcake (Indiana) to open Big Ten action, and the real season starts. We BECOME the mark. At Iowa, at Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, at MSU, at Northwestern, OHIO STATE...that's a lot of teams gunning for us. Depending on what the rest of the country does, we may even hit a point where we are the National MARK, ranked #1. That can be deadly for a team, because everybody wants to beat #1 as bad as they want to beat their biggest rival. We become everyone's biggest rival. Are the Wolverines ready for that pressure? Or will they falter early, making it all a moot point?

That Feeling

To partially quote Coach Norman Dale "I know playing in the championship game in the Sugar Bowl is beyond your wildest dreams, so let's just keep it right there." Watch yourselves for delusions of grandeur, for the predictions you make, for the trash that you talk to that jackass Buckeye in your office telling you about Clarett's backup and how they're not going to lose a step. All of these things have a way of coming back to bite you in the ass. I beleive in the karma. Be humble, because humble pie tastes so much better when you are the one serving it to those son's-of-bitches on January 5th. Of course, I am preaching this message both to you, the tailgating public, and to myself. I personally won the National Championship for the Buckeyes by taking a 10 to 1 bet from a Buckeye fan on the Fiesta Bowl. I've eaten the humble pie. It tastes like shit and it sticks in your teeth so you taste it for 8 months.

The Box Picks the Bucks

Once again to avoid my personal bias, the season has been simulated, this year by NCAA Football 2004 for the X-Box. Similar to last year, the scores will come on a per game basis. According to the X-Box the Wolverines will finish the season 11-2, culminating their season with a trip to the Orange Bowl to play the Miami Hurricanes. Ohio State plays against, unbelievably, Oregon State in the Sugar Bowl, and defeats them handily to win a second consecutive National Championship. Of course, the X-Box doesn't know that Maurice Clarett is missing the first half of the season, so take this whole thing for what it is...a bunch of randomnly generated numbers crunched by a black box in my living room...which probably makes it a little more accurate than Lee Corso (who by the way has Michigan and Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl).

Get Leid

Don't forget, dust off your pineapples for the first tailgate, which is a Luau themed event. Get your recipes together, and coordinate with Sister Kristen AKA Bubba's Wife to find out what we might need to make the theme run smoothly. She can be contacted at theme@umtailgate.com.