Graham's Week 4 Notes: An Undefeated Michigan Season and A New Minnesota Coach
by Graham Filler on Sep 28, 2010 8:51 AM CDT
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Print- Michigan scored 65 points and put up 700+ yards against Bowling Green. And it felt really good, as wrong as that seems. I compare the situation to being single for a long time...and then when you finally get an amazing girlfriend, you're doubly happy. (That's me on the left though, Giant Chuck Woodson in the middle).
- All those positive words aside though, a Michigan loss to Indiana this week shouldn't surprise you that much. Indiana has experienced skill players who play together extremely well (Chappel is averaging 300 passing yards per game)...and that's bad news for an unproven and inexperienced Wolverine defense. I'll bet our power poll will put Michigan around 7th and Indiana at 9th.
- The Michigan hype machine (20 minute Denard Robinson special on ESPN, a national ranking) has ramped up enough to obscure the fact that this is probably still an 8-4 Wolverine team. They won't be undefeated much longer and their star is already nicked up.
- Speaking of the most famous knee in America last weekend, Denard needs to learn to just skate out of bounds when given the opportunity. His costly knee injury happened on a 40 yard jaunt that should have ended with him hopping OOB.
- Oddly enough, Denard's throws have been catchable and zippy. He throws a better ball than Forcier and Gardner.
- On my way to Chicago, I stopped at Wendy's. I had surprisingly tasty boneless wings and a cup of chili. It filled me up and I went on my merry way. This very good experience made Wendy's my favorite fast foot spot. To recap my other choices: Taco Bell: Tastes great, makes you sick. McDonalds: Mediocre taste, even the snack wraps have lost their luster, makes me sick. Burger King? Pasted on cheese.
- Who is the next Minnesota coach? Mike Leach? Is that even possible? What do Minnesotian's think of pirates? How about Mark Richt? I'll be excited to see JerDogg discuss this.
- Speaking of Minnesota, I watched the entire NIU loss. You want to run on the Gophers? It's yours. You want to pass on the Gophers? Going to be there too.
- Let me set the background for a quick description of Minnesota's defensive struggles. NIU was pounding the inside run all day and ran a simple inside handoff from the shotgun in the third quarter. As the RB ran untouched up the middle, there was not a linebacker within five yards of the ballcarrier. Where...were the LB's? How does a linebacker possibly get five yards away from anything right after the snap? That's coaching fail in my book.
- Toledo came out strong, Purdue came out injured. It's not fun to get stuffed on 4th and 1 in the first quarter either. As Bear Bryant used to say: "If you can't pick up one yard, go home and put on a dress."
- Toledo out-Purdue'd Purdue. Run five yards, turn around, catch the ball. Run a shallow cross, catch the ball, keep the sticks moving. All from Shotgun too.
- Ryan Kerrigan and Kawann Short are so talented individually, something you can't say for the Purdue linebackers and secondary.
My favorite part of this season? We haven't had a watershed Big Ten moment (or national moment for that matter, thanks for nothin' Ryan Mallett!). There are six undefeated Big Ten teams, but all of those teams SHOULD be undefeated. Let me compare this college football season to dating, per usual. You've went out on two good dates, you can tell she's into you, you're having her over for dinner and you can feel that you and her might...take the relationship to the next level. That's how I feel about this season. It's been fun, but we're about to hit the exciting stuff.
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I like pirates...
…but methinks that Leach may be too much of a swashbuckler for the U’s administration. That and his scandal issues. And that he won’t come cheap. I’m not advocating that the U be cheap. I’m just saying I can see them deciding not to go north of 2 million a year for a guy who sticks his players in a closet, shed, or brig.
Richt would be a home run. It also won’t happen without a serious increase in funding. I’d love it if the U made a move like this but I’m not holding my breath.
…
…
ARRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike Leach has too much WIN for the Minnesota administration to handle.
They don’t want to win. They don’t want to pay for it, and they certainly wouldn’t know what to do with WIN if they ever stumbled upon it.
by HawkeyeRecon on Sep 28, 2010 9:23 AM CDT up reply actions
In that case...
I’m guessing they’ll hire Brad Childress after the season, or maybe we can work out a deal with Illinois to swap coaches.
by Minnesota Fats on Sep 28, 2010 11:11 AM CDT up reply actions
Ahem
We haven’t had a watershed Big Ten moment
I think Aaron Bates and the MSU fans will be here any moment to tell you otherwise….
Chad, I would be interested to see how Persa handles Notre Dame...
Too bad Swarbrick is too much of a pansy to agree to such a deal. I’d love to see a NU/ND home and away series.
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 28, 2010 10:02 AM CDT up reply actions
That School in South Bend has been scared...
…of Northwestern since 1995, when we beat them. Honestly — since that time, they’ve been terrified of the purple….
Clearly Mike Leach has too much experience
AD Joel Maturi much prefers career position coaches with zero head coaching experience to, you know, qualified candidates. If you’ve actually accomplished something besides being really excited and Tweeting a lot, you’re off the list.
Leach, Tony Dungy, or Marc Trestman
Anything else would be a fail. Well, Mark Richt would be good, but I can’t see him coming to Minnesota if Georgia fires him.
"A parent's only as good as their dumbest kid. If one wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed."
Really?
You best be knocking on every tree you see today. There is no coaching hire that Maturi couldn’t screw up? Frankly, the last FB coaching vacancy was one he shouldn’t have been able to screw up. Charlie Strong was a better choice. Strong is willing to coach at The Ville. He’d have come to MN. You and I both know Maturi could screw this up. =)
Thinking about this is making me cranky. So lets convince Maturi to hire Leach and then Leach can make him walk the plank. That would cheer me up.
I only say that because Maturi DID hire Tubby
but it was only because it was so obvious he couldn’t screw it up. Richt would be a total no-brainer. Even for Maturi. I still think there’s a good chance he could be canned too and we get a new AD in here who knows what he’s doing.
Why are you high on Trestman?
Just interested in knowing. I’m pretty familiar with his “high points” but I’m just not feeling it for reasons I can’t explain (prob the CFL thing).
Solid reputation as a QB coach and OC
in the NFL. Won the Grey Cup, which isn’t a big deal down here, but it is a championship. Was either a QB coach or Offensive coordinator for two Super Bowl teams. One was the Steve Young 49ers, the other was the 2002 Raiders.
Most importantly, he’s a native Minnesotan, and he might be the guy that could turn Minnesota into a desired place to coach, and not a Lou Holtz stepping stone. He was a Gopher QB, coached for the Vikings, and still has a lot of ties to the hometown. Same for Dungy.
Richt would be great, but he’d have his eye on the next big thing and I would doubt he’d be around much more than three years.
"A parent's only as good as their dumbest kid. If one wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed."
All sounds good...
…I’m actually uneasy with anyone who hasn’t coached college ever (or in Trestman’s case, in a long while) so that prob has a lot to do with it. It’s why I don’t think Dungy would work out as planned even if he was willing to take the job.
Agree on Richt though. If by some crazy ass miracle he landed in the U’s lap I’m sure he’d be looking to leave fairly quickly. If he’s the best option I’d say that’s not a reason to pass on him though. Failing to hire someone because he might be too successful seems like erroneous thinking to me.
I almost prefer on staying away from people who have coached in the pros
It is just too different in that players can devout more time to study than college players can. Once you get that privilege it is hard to unremember it when you go back to the college ranks.
Just find a solid X’s and O’s guy who is charismatic and believes in meticulous preparation and motivation. That usually pans out, unlike the more glorified “he coached in the NFL” route.
No one is getting Rubio's rights unless they pry them from our cold dead fingers.
by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 28, 2010 11:36 AM CDT up reply actions
Old Gold & Black
GOD, please help my Boilermakers get past this funk. I know its a good football team underneath, we just need to ditch the hex that hovers over us and break out. We need help.
You know what would be hilarious (and awesome)
would be if you guys won 6 Big Ten games to cover up that hideous non-conference performance.
I’m still in favor of EXTERMINATION, but whatever…
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 28, 2010 10:22 AM CDT up reply actions
What, EXTERMINATION
or winning a ton of Big Ten games? Because that trip to Madison was a nonstop nightmare for PurdueMatt, I imagine…
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 28, 2010 10:28 AM CDT up reply actions
Maybe its because you STOLE IOWA'S COLORS
Give them back to your most hated rival ever and we will call off AIRBHG to leave your skill position ACL’s alone
"I shoot, I score. He shoots, I score." - Dan Gable
by ClaybornSmash on Sep 28, 2010 1:02 PM CDT up reply actions
Good thing Iowa didn't get stuck with piss yellow like you and Georgia Tech.
I'm gonna give her my "D" face. Deeeee, deeee, deeee!
---Norm Parker
Piss yellow
is much much MUCH better than the other yellows of the conference (Iowa excepted).
Maybe Koa Misi and Jared Odrick would be Patriots if Bill Parcells wasn't Comedic.Sans's father...
"I looked at BN once. I got banned." -the immortal words of JShufelt
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 28, 2010 11:55 PM CDT up reply actions
It says there that Mike Leach also likes Jackson Pollock.
Minnesota’s uniforms will likely change if he takes over.
I'm gonna give her my "D" face. Deeeee, deeee, deeee!
---Norm Parker
I'll take this deal
The Michigan hype machine (20 minute Denard Robinson special on ESPN, a national ranking) has ramped up enough to obscure the fact that this is probably still an 8-4 Wolverine team.
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