Update on Countdown to Kickoff - day 1 Great Autographs!!!

Back in September I finished my countdown to kick off with a recap of the Michigan - Indiana game from 1979.
Here are the scans of the autographs from the Go Blue Brunch:

Calvin O'Neal 1976
Jim Pace 1957
Pat O'Donney (???)
Barry Dehlin (my cousin - Fullback/linebacker 1963-64,66)

Bob Timberlake 1964
Lowell Perry 1951
Paul Seymour 1972
Marty Huff 1970
Jim Mandich 1969
Ron Johnson 1968
Alvin Wistert 1948-49

Rick Volk 1966
Billy Taylor 1971
Tom Curtis 1969
Pete Elliott 1948
Jim Pace (again)
Rick Leach 1978
Calvin O'Neal (again)
Ron Kramer 1955-56

Ernie Vick 1921
Benny Friedman 1924-25
Rick Leach (again)
Bob Chappuis 1947
Maynard Morrison 1931
Bill Daley 1943
Merv Pregulman 1943
Ed Frutig 1940
Otto Pommerening 1928

Finding the old photo album may have answered the question of where I sat for the game. My parents stuck with the tickets from the Pharmacy School down in Row A of the South Endzone. Horrible seats, until AC splits the defenders and ends up right in front of them. I remembered being in the student section, but I would have thought I was closer to midfield then section 31, which is pretty deep into the corner. Since the two tickets aren't together and the late 70s student section was even less strict on where you sat, who knows if I was even in section 31.

M vs. UConn review

The questions coming in:

The QB - Who will start? Can Velcro really run the offense and pass the ball well enough to keep the other opposition honest?

• As I said in previous comments - I can;t imagine a better performance from Robinson. Whether it was because UConn just didn't have enough tape to scout him properly or that he really is THAT GOOD we'll wait to find out for sure. But if he can perform at 70% of this effort M will be successful (at least offensively).
• I'm still not sold on his arm. But assuming the coaches keep the playbook limited to plays he can succeed with, I think they might be OK. I like the run opening up throwing lanes and the screen passes opening up the seems. But if he has to throw a lot of long outs or deep balls on obvious passing downs, I'm still not convinced he has the arm to pull that off.
• The addition of the zone read really makes him much more effective - although UConn didn't have much luck stopping even the straight sweeps and draws.
  
• Forcier's dad's comments certainly made it seem like there might have been some sort of team suspension that Tate was under for this game. I still think he can be a decent college QB. If he really is buried at 3rd string, I wouldn't blame him at all for transferring.
  

Running backs - Are they good enough?

• I thought Shaw and Smith both showed promise. I was surprised they ended up below 4 ypc. I Shaw looks like he could have all the tools. Smith seems like he would be a great third down type back - good receiver out of the backfield - shifty for draws and screens etc. I don't think anyone else played (fullbacks don't count)
• Seemed like Stephen Hopkins looked good in the spring game - I was surprised he didn't get any game time - same for Michael Cox.

Receivers - does quantity = quality?

• So may options here. Is it too many? Hemmingway is hurt again, now Roundtree is questionable for the ND game. I like Tay Odoms. He made a key block on Velcros TD run. Other than Odoms and the injured Roundtree, I'm not sure what M has. Terrence Robinson seemed like he was pulling a wagon on that seam pass, should have been a TD.
  

Defense - Questions everywhere - How much will they run the real 3-3-5? Is Moundros really the answer at linebacker? Can Roh build off the promising freshman showing? The DBs - can they be anything but a liability?

• I don't remember them lining up in the true 3-3-5 at all Saturday. I think this might end up being similar to always hearing about the 1-3-1 zone trap that Beilein runs for the basketball team, that they used maybe 10% of the time last year and all of that was before the conference season.
  
• They're definitely multiple. I like that they increased substitutions. There was at least one formation that was really a 2-3-6, counting Roh as a linebacker and the hybrids as safeties.
• I didn't notice any difference with Thomas Gordon or Carvin Johnson in the game. I guess the injury will decrease some depth.
• The corners weren't tested. But they did make some nice plays. Floyd caused the fumble. Rogers almost had an interception. Seems like I remember Kovacs making some good plays against the run, but looking a little lost on a 20 or so yard pass on the far sideline on their TD drive (or maybe their fumble drive). I don't remember much from Cam Gordon, Seems like the long pass UConn tried, the receiver was behind him and as deep as I remember Gordon playing that can't be too good.
• A team with more of a passing attack (like ND I assume, or at least MSU, Purdue... among others) will be a truer test for the DBs - and I don't look forward to that at this point.
• The linebackers - I don't remember anything too awful. I heard Mouton's name a lot - so I would guess he'll have a decent result from the mgblog UFR. I htink Ezeh played most of the game but Moundros did see some time.
  
• They switched along the D-line a lot. Mostly in the non Martin/non RVB position. Seems like the better series for UConn may have occurred when either one of them was out of the game. They didn't get a whole lot of pressure. No official sacks. Roh got through a few times, but there was certainly no BG in waiting based on this game.

Special teams - how will that go?

• Gibbons had the first horrible kickoff and he missed a FG and a PAT. I've heard the PAT was maybe on Dileo (the holder). And there were some crazy winds - so I'm not giving up on Gibbons yet, but he needs to show up at ND.
• Hagerup - I think only had one punt. It wasn't pretty, but got a great roll - I'll take 50 yards net all season. Can't make any judgment on this one.
• Returns - T.Robinson misplayed the one short kick off and Gallon fumbled the short punt. I think both were because the wind was playing tricks on those kicks, but you have to know the conditions. If the choice is a great returner who might fumble some or an average returner who catches the kicks and doesn't fumble - I'll take the latter every time.

Coaching

• I guess I can understand RR wanting to have Velcro play in this offense. As I mentioned above if the offense can stay in down and distance situations that allow Velcro to run the plays he's (or really I'm) comfortable with him running, they'll be successful. At this point I'd rather see a QB draw on 3rd and long than him throwing downfield. I hope I'm wrong.
• Obviously it is too soon to judge the defense. Maybe the GERG finally has enough players to run some different fronts etc. More available bodies has to be better right?

My prediction was 34-24, although the offense scored under my prediction, I'm still very pleased with that effort. The defense certainly was better than I'd expected - I hope it is due to them and not due to UConn.

Offense - A-
Defense - B+
Special teams - D
Coaching - B

Review Pre-season Game Predictions

I predicted M would lose to Uconn. Thankfully, I was wrong.

I'm going to stick with my 6-6 season record for now, though. I'll probably have no choice but to change it if M defeats ND.

Review Pre-Season Predictions

If I have a chance, I will review how my pre-season predictions are coming along.

1. The defense is 7th in yards/gm, 7th rushing yards/gm, T7th passing yds/gm, t5th takeaways, #3 scoring. The good news is that most of the other B10 teams played amongst the easiest games of the season this past weekend, and M still has their two "stat-padding" games coming up. The bad news, of course, is I can't tell if the D is going to be any good against decent teams
2 QB controversy is not really a controversy today. If Drob plays 62.4% as well as he did Saturday, he will keep the job without any controversy
3. Regardless of what Tate's dad is saying, I think Tate is gone after the year. I hope that Tate was suspended this game for attitude issues (or whatever is going on between he and Rodrig, and if Drob struggles next week, Tate is the one that is chosen. If Gardner goes in again before Tate, I'll be pretty sure this is a correct prediction
4. As far as I know, no starters from Saturday are off the team yet.
5. I don't know if Gardner has officially blown his redshirt yet, but if he doesn't have an injury in the next couple weeks, he'll be gone in 4 (or less).
6. The polls aren't out yet so I don't know for sure what is happening this week, but I believe M will get some votes. A victory over ND may get them into the top 25 (like last year). We'll see.
7. Molk going out made me wonder about this one. One review of the OLine's performance I read, had Molk doing the worst out of all of them. We'll see how this goes.

One prediction I forgot to write down, but I mentioned to people many times was that there wouldn't be a 1000 rusher or receiver this year. I don't know if I would have specified RB or not, but clearly Drob is on his way to 1000 rushing.

What Does It Mean?

There is no question M was more impressive than what I expected, and Drob had an amazing game. It was a very good win against a decent team. Like every other first game of the season, this victory means much more than just a victory. It allows us to have a better idea of what the remainder of the season could mean. Most M fans, especially those who were predicting 8 wins or more, are probably increasing their win prediction by a game or two after the great performance today. I, on the other hand, am too much of a curmudgeon to do that.

Why?

It could be that I have been burned before (remember, how we all felt after the ND game last year). It could be that RR's teams are inconsistent and a downfall is imminent. It could be that I just can't accept the "Drob is God" sentiment that has existed since his first play against WMU. It could be all of a little of each of these things, but it could also be because of the following:

1) Drob probably had the best statistical game he will have all year. I'm not saying he won't be effective and be the star of other games, but he was pretty much way too good today. As opposing D's scout M, they will find ways to stop slow down Drob.

2) Drob was statistically amazing in the passing game today. Against a D with some DBs with speed, the downfield passes Drob made today will be knocked down or picked off.

3) So much is put on the QB's shoulders in this offense, that losing Drob would be a heck of a blow. I know the crowd likes Gardner almost as much as they like Drob, but he is not there yet. It reminds me of the 2007 Oregon team that fell apart when Dixon got hurt. I could see that happening here.

4) M only had 1 penalty. That was a good thing for this game, but it is not going to happen again. It is great to see that discipline has been improved, but you have to expect more than that each game from now on (though less than last year, probably)

4) M had 3 fumbles. Fortunately, none were lost, but if that fumble number doesn't decrease, the lost fumble number could be a game loser.

5) The kickers are bad.

I'm sure there are other reasons, but these are the first that came to mind. I thought of a few reasons why I am wrong about the above, but I just can't allow myself to fall into the trap of thinking things are going to be OK. Not yet, I can't. They've done this to me before.

big game recap

I thought the Colts third drive was key. They dropped a conversion pass on 3rd down. If they hit that and score another TD (a couple of "if's"), a 17-0 lead is a much bigger deal than 10-0.

Mike Hart's failure to get a first down on short yardage after the Colts goal line stand leads to 3 Saints points.

Obviously the onside kick, after Sean Payton had already gone for it on 4th and goal, showed the confidence he had in his team. E network star Hank Baskett misplayed the bounce for the Colts.

I was convinced that the Colts were going to tie the score prior to the pick-six. I just wasn't sure if there would be time for the Saints to try to score to avoid overtime.

I think the Saints kicker should have gotten some MVP consideration. Obviously Brees was a bigger "hero", but the kicker made 3 fgs over 40 yards and executed a successful onside kick.

CBS might run the best production of NFL. There were no digital robots and sound effects with every graphic (thanks fox). Other than the obvious ad for HIMYM, there were no crowd shots of CBS personalities (another Fox classic). Nantz and Simms are not perfect, but I think they're better than Michaels and whoever is on NBC, the ESPN crowded booth and MUCH better than Buck and Aikmen.