Blog Archive

Darryl Stonum walks through the Michigan Stadium tunnel

There was something about Saturday’s Michigan Northwestern game that was painfully familiar.  The same old mix of hope and despair we have seen all season.  The defense comes of with a big interception only to have the offense fail to score a touchdown and have the field goal attempt blocked.  Yet another special teams fumble that leads to an opponent touchdown.

But it wouldn’t be this Michigan team if they also didn’t give the fans some sick hope they might pull out the win.  So a walk on manages to block a punt and that leads to a touchdown and a halftime lead. Then came the reliable Michigan third quarter collapse.  Michigan scored with 6:30 left in the half and never scored again.  Despite having more first downs, more yardage, and more time of possession Michigan loses by a touchdown.

A they have so many times this year, the offense simply disappeared.  Despite a strong running game led by Carlos Brown (115 yards), neither Sherridan nor Threet could muster any consistency in the passing game.  As a result A nice second half touchdown drive and one 53 yard passing touchdown by Northwestern was enough to seal the win.

Michigan had a number of opportunities to win and simply failed to take advantage.  Donovan Warren had an interception that appeared to be run back for a touchdown, but the refs ruled he stepped out of bounds.  Nevertheless, Michigan had the ball in Northwestern territory, but Threet badly overthrows the TE Massie for an interception in the endzone.

The defense continues to hold and the offense puts together what looks like a nice drive.  After picking up a key fourth down, the sequence is a summation of Michigan’s season.  First Martavious Odoms drops a pass that would have been a first down.  Then Carlos Brown trips and falls when he has clear room to run.  Suddenly it is 3rd and 11.  Two more incomplete passes and the game is essentially over.

So the question becomes can Michigan pull of the miraculous win and beat Ohio State on Saturday?  Everything points to a resounding no.  Michigan simply doesn’t look like a team capable of beating a competent opponent and Ohio State is often a good deal more than merely competent.  Michigan has no clear leader at QB and is banged up at RB.  It is full of freshman in key positions and has given up big plays at critical moments all season.  They face a freshmen QB with exactly the type of skill and athleticism that has given Michigan fits.  And a RB who crushed them last year.

As the dubious records continue to pile up (Saturday’s loss mean the first 8 loss season in UM history) this game will be no different.  For the last 79 years every first year Michigan coach has won their first Ohio State game.  Michigan is on a four game losing streak to Ohio State and Ohio State has never beaten Michigan five years in a row.

Think about that.  No one on this Michigan team will have beaten Ohio State in their careers if they lost Saturday.  I can’t imagine motivation will be a problem for the game, talent will be.  I can’t remember a time when Michigan was struggling this much heading in to The Game. So I guess this will be a new experience for me: watching one of the greatest rivalries in sports with the sinking feeling that there is no way my team can win.

But if Michigan can somehow pull the upset of the ages, fans could savor it the entire off-season and find some hope for the future of the program.