The Crier

Winning (Michigan Style) Ain’t What it Used to Be

Sure, the Wolverines came out on top this week. But how far can they go this season?

Lloyd Cargo · Sport · Sep 23, 2007

Heading into this weekend the vibe on campus would have been described as nervous optimism at best. At least that’s how I felt — it was hard to gauge the attitude of the student body when a student was so hard to find. On Friday, I made a rare trip (for me) outside of Kerrytown to meet up with a few high school friends in town for the weekend, and the Blue and White was dominating south-central campus, from the Brown Jug to frat row. Chants of “WE ARE PENN STATE” and “WHERE IS MICHIGAN?” echoed down an uncharacteristically dead South University, and sure enough, kids repping the block M were few and far between. All of this despite the recent eight (now nine) year trend of pwning of the Nittany Lions.

So when the clock winded down after that final pathetic four and out and the student section erupted, you’d of thought that Michigan pride was back, swagger in tow – but after the cheers died down and the masses migrated away from the stadium, it was hard not to see the 14-9 victory as somewhat hollow.

We still don’t know… how good this team really is.

We still don’t know if our defense can stop anyone with a pulse. We still don’t know if the coaches are willing to open it up for Mallett. We still don’t know when Chad Henne is coming back. We still don’t know… how good this team really is.

We do know that Mallet has fun. We do know that Mike Hart is a monster, and without a doubt the greatest running back in a long, illustrious line of great Michigan backs. We do know that Michigan has got a shot to run the Big Ten. But the mitigating factor is the one that rang out the clearest – Penn State was severely overrated coming into the Big House.

Before I get into a more thorough breakdown of the game I want to introduce myself. It’s rare to start up a column like this a third of the way through the season, but I’d actually like to thank the Crier staff for not posting up the (in hindsight) incredibly embarrassing season preview I wrote before week one. In fact, I can sum up my feelings about the first three weeks as such:

Preseason: We ought to go undefeated! Week one: Stunned silence. Week two: Disgust, anger, and denial. Week three: Shadenfreude! Week four: Back to the beginning, except without the whole optimism thing.

Ah, but yes, but I’m getting ahead of myself again.

Hello, my name is Lloyd and I’m addicted to Michigan Football. I’m a senior this year, I’m from (the suburbs) outside Philadelphia, and my major is General Studies (laugh it up, Harbaugh). I think MGoBlog is pretty much the greatest thing to happen to the internet ever, and I bow down before the genius of Brian Cook – the leader of the most intelligent, rational and well-written cadre of blogs any fan base can lay claim to. The only thing missing between The M-Zone, Ronald Bellamy’s Underachieving All Stars, Maize ‘N Brew (and many more) is analysis from a student’s perspective. And that’s where I come in.

And on behalf of the student body, I’d like to make one thing clear: We want a new coach. All jokes about the similarities in our names aside, I want Lloyd gone just like all of my fellow student ticket holders. I honestly believe that Michigan has national-championship caliber potential, and the coaching staff’s antiquated play-calling has been able to overcome that against teams with a distinct talent disadvantage, but when the other team is just as stacked – see USC, OSU, Texas – we’ve had it handed to us time and time again. Appalachian State and Oregon made that point loud and clear on an embarrassingly national level, and as bad as those losses felt, they almost assure a coaching change at the end of the season.

The desire to “win the Michigan way” is admirable, but as the spread continues it’s rise to prominence this type of thinking leaves Michigan and it’s Bo-style offense looking like dinosaurs.

That’s probably why beating a team like Joe Paterno’s on Saturday was so bittersweet. Paterno is like Carr’s even more conservative Grandfather, and he showed it by calling the same kind of plays he used when Fielding Yost was across the lines. Possessing a ton of speedy wide receivers and a killer defense, all PSU needed was a few big plays on offense to end their 8 game streak of misery against us, their hated rivals. Remind me again, what kind of offense has been used to soundly and consistently beat us? Oh yeah, the spread option. And sure enough, the Nittany Lions came out with it at the beginning of the game, but it was quickly abandoned after a nasty turnover for a far more straightforward and predictable game plan that did nothing but play to their weaknesses and our strengths.

Both of our lines looked excellent. Long was a monster like usual, Kraus was solid and even though Hart gained a heroic 153 yards, but he wasn’t getting his usual yards per carry. This wasn’t entirely the lines fault (and never would I ever even begin to talk about the infinite awesomeness of the one who can do no wrong aka Mike Hart) as Penn State consistently stacked the box and Mike DeBord, in all his wisdom, decided not to go with the “scoring offense.” You know, that’s the one that doesn’t, you know, RUN JUST ABOUT EVERY FIRST AND SECOND DOWN.

A victory is a victory, but it’s precisely this “play to barely win” mentality that has resulted in large number of heartbreaking games for the Wolverines over the last few years. The desire to “win the Michigan way” is admirable, but as the spread continues it’s rise to prominence this type of thinking leaves Michigan and it’s Bo-style offense looking like dinosaurs.

This team needs to win. It should win. If not for me and you, then for mighty Mike Hart.

There were a lot of positives to take away from this game. First, I can’t say it enough: Ryan Mallett looks like he’s having a lot of fun out there, and his confidence appears to be infectious. Hart is a ferocious leader who will do everything within his power to uphold the pride of the program. Arrington continues to develop into a dynamic receiver alongside the New Math. And even Super Mario’s play (although underwhelming at times) has had a silver lining – he may stick around for another year, rather than bolt for the NFL like many thought the talented receiver was all but a foregone conclusion to do.

On the other side of the ball, the defense continued to attack like they did against Notre Dame (who are so far in the gutter, I won’t even waste time bashing them). Chris Graham, much maligned through his first two games of the year, has shown steady improvement when not blocked. The other Graham, stud defensive end Brandon, has begun to live up to his (admittedly dubious) 99 ranking in NCAA 08, with five sacks in the last two games. Terrance Taylor is starting to play a level consistent with the flashes of brilliance he showed alongside Alan Branch. And while I think the secondary is still somewhat of an Achilles heal, Warren, Trent and Englemon have been solid while Adams and Harrison have managed to avoid any catastrophes the last two weeks.

So I don’t want to make it sound like people weren’t complaining about beating Penn State. The fans and I left the stadium feeling great, just like I do every time I walk out of the Big House after a UM victory. I’d just like for that feeling not to turn to dread when I think about simply being good and not great. This team needs to win. It should win. If not for me and you, then for mighty Mike Hart.

Anyway, please come talk to me. I sit in section 30, row 39, seat 21.