Kill Yr Idols
There has been a lot of talk about Rich Rodriguez’s statements about not being nostalgic about running out from the tunnel and touching the GO BLUE banner at midfield before the start of the team’s football games. I think what he likely meant was he wasn’t emotional about envisioning that scenario, a scene that is an emotional touchstone for just about every Michigan fan, no more so than for the first game of the year.
Rodriguez, of course, has it correct. Being fans we embrace the parts of the tradition that are tried and true, true blue if you will. The new coach will add elements that are tried and true for him, one such addition is the Victors Walk. I think this is a new tradition that will become very popular over time.
It’s a small part of why I think Rodriguez is going to be an exceptional hire for the Wolverine football team: he’s very comfortable and confident doing what has worked for him and isn’t likely to bow to pressure. The only time he has was when he was unaware of the new-ish tradition [by Michigan’s standards] of assigning the #1 jersey to a receiver, and his about face was likely due to Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards contributing scholarship money to the university as part of the new tradition.
I’ve generally been a Michael Rosenberg fan but its obvious his doctor has upped the dosage of his crazy pills lately. Here’s the one comment in his most recent article I agree with:
[Michigan head coach Rich] Rodriguez started Nick Sheridan at quarterback based on Sheridan’s performance in recent practices, which is understandable. The coach should now start Steven Threet based on his performance in the game.
Neither Sheridan nor Threet made Jim Tressel nervous Saturday, but in the second half, Threet showed he has a better arm and more big-play capability. He gives U-M a better chance to win.
If Lloyd Carr started Sheridan over Threet he would have come under heavy criticism from Michigan fans. Heck CJ Lopata didn’t win the placekicking position at the start of last season and he’s been excellent ever since he was elevated to the top of the depth chart. It really makes you wonder why we’re sitting here talking about practice and not focusing on what players do in game situations. So I think there’s a good chance Threet is given the start against Miami (OH).
Here’s the part of the Rosenberg article I disagree with more than any other part of the article:
If this happened to the old regime — heck, when it happened to the old regime — a lot of fans screamed about poor coaching. It was way overdone then, and I’m not suggesting fans overdo it now.
I’m sorry but this game was nothing like the loss to Appalachian State last year when the Wolverines had the #1 pick in the NFL draft, the all-time leading rusher and all-time leading passer. Should the coaches come in for some criticism? Sure, as I said above, I agree that Threet should have been brought in earlier and it seemed like the defense took a little too long to make the adjustments that helped shut down the Utes in the second half.
I prefer the old Rosenberg who would be honest, witty, and would probably acknowledge Rich Rodriguez has very little proven, experienced talent to work with on offense. If you go back and watch the Capital One bowl game against Florida you’ll see Chad Henne changing plays at the line just about every single play - something Michigan’s new coaching staff implemented. Henne took snaps from the shotgun and either handed the ball to the running back, handed it to a slot receiver on an end-around, or passsed the ball - something Michigan’s new coaching staff implemented. It should be noted Michigan’s offense in the Capital One bowl could have easily put up 50 points on a good Florida defense. The Wolverines rushed for 170 yards and passed for close to 375 yards while completely gutting the Gators.
Some people chalked that Capital One bowl performance up to having a reasonably healthy team, and there is certainly some truth to that. But I suspected back then that the offense Michigan used would give us an idea of how Rodriguez will utilize the talent on Michigan’s roster. After one game we can see that’s clearly the case. Once the line gels, the running backs establish some sort of pecking order and if - IF - Steven Threet can prove to be a reasonably good facsimile of the classic Michigan quarterback then the team will start to look a little more dangerous on offense.
I’m not predicting a huge turnaround - I’ve stuck by my 7-5 prediction from back in March. The offense is going to struggle alot against good defenses that have solid defensive lines - that means Penn State, Ohio State and possibly Illinois and Wisconsin. But they could have some success against mediocre defenses.
The most disappointing part of the offense was that Nick Sheridan was purported to be a decent running threat. That did not prove to be the case at all - he averaged 0.4 yards per carry. His two scoring drives were greatly aided by Utah penalties. So I’d like to see what Steven Threet would do if he was given more snaps at QB since he can’t run either but at least he’ll be able to stretch the field with his passes. He struggled when he was blitzed and Michigan didn’t run much when he was in the game since they were down two touchdowns when he entered the game. So putting him in a position where the team can call more running plays and also use screens when he’s being blitzed should help. He can bring similar elements and skills to what Chad Henne brought to the table. I also hope Justin Feagin gets some snaps when he’s ready as he will hopefully be a quarterback who can force the defense to account for him and would likely become a dangerous run threat if they don’t.
The old Michigan from the Bo era is gone and anyone who has been paying attention knows it was time to move on. Yesterday’s game was an eye opener as it proved that while the new era has begun it is going to hit some really rough patches during this difficult first season. On the one hand we’d have a better handle on what Rich Rodriguez can do on offense if most of the talent was on the offensive side of the ball. But if the defense can rebound from a very poor first half against Utah and play more like they did in the second half they’ll help keep the team in games and give the offense more chances to start to develop and contribute to wins.
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