Reality Bites
/Somewhere in your mind, past the place where Michigan fanhood clouds your better judgment, past the place where hope kills all common sense...you knew. It really is a rebuilding year. And the reality is that in the near future, no matter what this team does to grow and learn, it would take a miracle of biblical proportions to have us win games in the manner to which we have become accustomed.
The football project is now on pace with the stadium project...both should be ready by the fall of 2010.
Utah dominated every facet of the game on Saturday, and despite the Utes best Michigan State impression through stupid penalties and turnovers, the Wolverines still managed to fall short. The Utes at several points in the third and fourth quarter attempted to literally hand us a victory that we did not deserve. Utah moved the ball for Michigan through penalties nearly as well as the Michigan offense moved the ball through offensive plays. 137 yards of penalties for Utah..203 yards of total offense for Michigan. But even that blatant ineptitude was not enough to assist an offense that could not overcome two quarterbacks that looked like the 3rd and 4th members of a depth chart, and an offensive line whose best asset seems to be the speed at which they run to the line of scrimmage. The defense took a full half of football to adjust to game speed, and by then it was too late. All of Michigan's best plays were from the punt team (both Zoltan (minus 1 shank) and the coverage team) when they weren't getting inexcusable delays of game.
If your looking for more positives, they are few and far between. The inevitable "we didn't quit" probably comes to mind...but that's akin to saying "I take care of my kids" or "I've never been arrested." The defense, once awakened, made some big stops, especially late in the game. Threet threw one really nice ball to Junior Hemmingway. Finally, the biggest highlight for me...the new construction shaded my section by halftime.
