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Rodriguez era gets off to a rocky start in Ann Arbor
Michigan
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in Sports Talk
From the Detroit Free Press:
Chalk it up to the combination of:
1. Mediocre returning talent, by Michigan standards.
2. Quarterback Ryan Mallett and offensive lineman Justin Boren leaving because of differences with Rodriguez.
3. The remaining talent not fitting in with a totally new system.
But how do you explain the defense? U-M returned seven starters from last year's defense, which was 24th in the nation in yardage allowed and 23rd in scoring defense.
Yet the Utes averaged those 7.5 yards per play in the first half. They passed for 253 yards in that half against a defense that returned its entire line and both cornerbacks.
You can't say Utah's offense has more talent than Michigan's defense. That just isn't plausible. Utah was 79th in the nation in total offense.
The Wolverines were resilient to the end, played much better defense in the second half and benefited from a Utah meltdown. (The Utes committed 15 penalties in the game.) But in the end, U-M fell just short.
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.
But when a coach takes over the winningest program in college football history, the free pass ends when his first team takes the field.
Welcome to Michigan, Rich. I know you expect better. So does everybody else.
Chalk it up to the combination of:
1. Mediocre returning talent, by Michigan standards.
2. Quarterback Ryan Mallett and offensive lineman Justin Boren leaving because of differences with Rodriguez.
3. The remaining talent not fitting in with a totally new system.
But how do you explain the defense? U-M returned seven starters from last year's defense, which was 24th in the nation in yardage allowed and 23rd in scoring defense.
Yet the Utes averaged those 7.5 yards per play in the first half. They passed for 253 yards in that half against a defense that returned its entire line and both cornerbacks.
You can't say Utah's offense has more talent than Michigan's defense. That just isn't plausible. Utah was 79th in the nation in total offense.
The Wolverines were resilient to the end, played much better defense in the second half and benefited from a Utah meltdown. (The Utes committed 15 penalties in the game.) But in the end, U-M fell just short.
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.
But when a coach takes over the winningest program in college football history, the free pass ends when his first team takes the field.
Welcome to Michigan, Rich. I know you expect better. So does everybody else.
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Comments
Michigan and alot of big 10 teams have been exposed against the spread offense. It will take another 1-2 years before enough talent takes over.
Between Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana, Purde and I think Minnesota now, all are running or installing a version of the spread so maybe when the Big 10 steps into the modern era of football they can start to compete with other conferences.