A Weekend Of Upsets...Relax, We Already Had Ours

/

​It was everything you didn't want it to be, except a loss. When you travel to Evanston, which is the most disconnected campus in all the land, the last thing you need is to be thinking about is if your team is going to win, especially in the 4th quarter. 'Twas another lackluster first half of Michigan football that included a two quarterback system, the "don't finish a tackle" defense, and a bend don't break strategy in combination with the "donut" coverage package. "Pissed off" doesn't quite do it justice. A more blue than purple group of onlookers were less than enthusiastic to welcome back the Wolverines of week one and week two....and that's exactly what it looked like.

The second half was a slightly different story. Freshman Ryan Mallet went back to the headset and clipboard that we all (or most) hope he will don for the remainder of the Big Ten campaign. The defense, in absence of actual coverage or stopping big plays, decided to let Northwestern implode. A collective thank you to Northwestern as bad passes, dropped passes, and turnovers on their last four possessions did exactly what we needed it to do...hand us this game on a silver platter. Though it seemed as we were trying to reject their offer of a free road opening victory, behind Henne we took just enough advantage of the miscues of the Wildcats to win. Actually, let's call it "not losing" this week.

Aside from the disappointment in the flat performance, we'll take the road victory (obviously). The three remaining away games will be very serious tests, so perhaps it was good to get the rust out in Evanston.

There is still a glaring problem though...placekicking. Jason Gingell, heretofore known only as "Ginger," is 3 of 9 on field goals this season. I'm done asking why we don't have a kicker. I've been asking that question for the better part of my adult life. Northwestern's kicker...better than ours. App State's kicker...better than ours. When we get to the 30 yard line, we should know that we are getting at least 3 points. That should never be a question for a football program like Michigan. Instead, we have a guy that is 1 of 3 on 20-29 yard kicks. Unacceptable. I don't care if this guy is routinely draining 60 yarders in practice...which I am certain he's not...we need to try somebody else. Or perhaps we can go the Duke route and have open goddamn tryouts. Ya...were about as good as Duke.

Michigan 28, Northwestern 16...Duke 20, Northwestern 14. Hmmmmm.

Hurry Up and Tailgate

Our theme-less tailgate went off without a hitch. Mini-burgers, sausage and cheese chowder, and cheesy potatoes were quickly shoved down our throats in the 3-hour tailgate before the 11am (local) kickoff. Brats and a re-hash of leftover mini-burgers made an appearance in the postgame. Good stuff. We are certainly in mid-season form and ready for the battle of Washtenaw County.

Is It November 18th Yet? Michigan 17, Northwestern 3

/

​It's tough sometimes, to be a Michigan fan. So many expectations, a fair amount of disappointment, and rarely a game occurs where you walk out and say "we executed to the best of our ability." That's just the way it is. We've reached November unblemished, but you're confidence in the offense is low. There are a couple of schools of thought as to the reason why the Michigan offense has mustered only 54 points in the last three games. One is that in our current state we just are not that good, and that the boring conservatism of the Wolverines is a result of the loss of Mario Manningham, the questionable right side of the offensive line, dropped passes by receivers, and a running back by committee that seems to contain only one man that can get yards and not fumble. Maybe Penn State has a good defense, perhaps even Iowa...but Northwestern did not. Going 4 of 15 on third down against the Wildcats could be viewed as unacceptable, and it might be time to wonder if Mike DeBord, the master of 1997's conservative offensive masterpiece might just be too conservative for the available weapons on this Michigan team. The other view is that this is a giant conspiracy, with a 10-play playbook that hides everything we plan to do against Ohio State from the Sweatervest and his staff. We will run the ball (to the left) and rely on the best defense in the nation to hold our lead, no matter how small. You might think we've done this before. After ho-humming our way through Vanderbilt and Central Michigan, we dominated Notre Dame, the #2 team in the country at the time.

A look at total offense reveals that the last three games were our lowest outputs of the season. We peaked at Minnesota, amassing 514 yards, which was 130 yards more than any other game, but only beat the Gophers 28-14. But maybe the powers that be know what it is that wins championships. It's defense. And until we need it, the offense can go three and out every time. We'll get into the common opponent comparisons when we get closer to Armageddon, but let me leave you with this for now: The most total yards Michigan has given up this season is 323 to Minnesota. Ohio State gave up 343 yards to Northern Illinois and 339 yards to Bowling Green. Hmmm.

In the worst weather conditions since the famous 5-0 affair against Purdue in 1995, the Wolverines defense came out in the near-freezing rain and completely dominated Northwestern. Forcing 5 turnovers, they single-handedly won the game for an offense that only managed 17 points, most of which came from great field position gained by the defense. For the 2nd time in three games, Michigan's defense held its opponent to negative rushing yards, and lowered their nation-leading per game average to 28.4 yards per game. Michigan wins, 17-3.

The tailgate was moved from our cushy surroundings on the golf course to our alternate spot at a house on Main St. Wet and muddy, we tried to stay dry under our tents, and tried to stay warm with the appropo Soups and Stews theme. Next week, we gather for Fried Turkeys, and will end the day with our yearly banquet.

It's Homecoming! The Northwestern Preview

/

​We now take you to the cushy part of the Wolverine's 2006 schedule, with the three-headed monster of Northwestern, Ball State, and Indiana before we head to Columbus. How easy should these games be? Really easy. How vanilla will the offense be for the next three weeks? Super vanilla. We will spend as much time hiding plays that we unleash on the Buckeyes as we will actually preparing for games. We will rest Mike Hart. We will suspend Adrian Arrington. We will rehab Mario Manningham. We will celebrate the near guarantee of a BCS bowl game.

So let's have fun and enjoy it...first up, the Wildcats of Northwestern.

The School:

  • Established in 1851

  • Enrollment: 13,000

  • Mascot: Willie the Wildcat

Notable Alumni:

  • Jerry Springer

  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus

  • Charlton Heston

The Numbers:

  • Michigan leads series 50-14-2, and is 27-5-2 at Michigan Stadium

  • Northwestern blew a 35 point lead to Michigan State last week, the biggest choke job in the history of NCAA football

  • Michigan is 33-5 in their last 38 homecoming games.

  • Chad Henne has a league best 65% completion percentage in Big Ten play

  • Michigan will be going for their 400th win all time in the month of October, Northwestern will be going for their 437th win all time...in all months.

This Year:

  • Northwestern is 2-6 on the season, with their only wins coming against Miami of Ohio (21-3) and Eastern Michigan (14-6)

  • Northwestern is 94th in the country in total offense, and 93rd in total defense

Watch For (I guess):

  • Tyrell Sutton, RB, averages 84 yards per game

  • Nick Roach, LB, leads team with 7.75 tackles per game
Predictions

The Hammer:

Who do we play this week? Oh, that's right Northwestern.Man that was a whirlwind first eight weeks! Still undefeated and the redemption tour has taken a hiatus and now its just getting down to good old fashion fine tuning. Don't sleep on these teams though. We need to perfect our execution. We have three weeks of preparation and it starts with the Wildcats.

1st half prediction:
Michigan 24
NWU 3
2nd half will be on the second team so I leave that up to them.

Go Blue.

The XBox:

Michigan 52
Northwestern 14

The Webmaster:

Tough to make predictions when the team is only going to play a little over a half, but I think our 2nd team would still dominate this poor excuse for a Big Ten team. Mike Hart better have less than 20 carries. Can't wait to see Brandon Minor get his game legs under him. Oh, and Jason Forcier...that should be fun.

Michigan 42
Northwestern 7

It's Like Stealing

/
Two For the Road

It was another beautiful gameday, this time in the quiet neighborhood of Evanston, Illinois. The only sounds to be heard were the flames of propane, the migrating birds, and 500 watts of The Victors blasted throughout the parking lot.We arrived early for the night game...very early. The first in the lot, and perhaps the only tailgate anywhere in Evanston to have a tent popped up, soup simmering, and cheesy potatoes shoveling into our gullets by 10:30am. We again came full force with gallons of soup and beef sandwiches with all of the necessary accompaniments. It was a few hours before we saw another soul, and that was just fine with us. The TV played Ohio State-Minnesota and Penn State-Purdue as we shoveled bowl after bowl into our faces with our official tailgate song "You're the Best" playing in the background. It took until 4:30pm for the police to try to cite us for disturbing the peace, and it was around 8:30pm when Wildcat fans wanted to cite the Wolverines for disturbing their season.

Michigan jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first few minutes of the game, and held it despite the fact that a Northwestern Hail Mary was answered to end the first half. That half ending touchdown would be the last points scored by the Wildcats who couldn't find an answer for the Woodley-less Michigan defense. Even without Mike Hart, Michigan racked up 253 yards on the ground, and with Rivas's four field goals, there was nothing Northwestern could do. It was all about momentum on Saturday, and nothing could stop it. So it goes with the season. The Wolverines have momentum going into their last two games. The bye week will give the banged up players time to heal for the home stretch and the attempt at a third consecutive Big Ten championship.

Take A Week Off

The Wolverines need it. You need it. I NEED IT. Take the week off, watch some football, and take a long weekend nap. We'll see you all back at "the corner" in a couple weeks. A reminder that the theme for Indiana is Italian Kitchen...and our banquet follows. Drop me an email if you plan to attend the banquet. (frank@umtailgate.com) I need to give a rough count to Damon's soon.