Oregon 39, Michigan 7 (final)

[coastalbuck]

Hey Guys-
ND fan here.
I am looking foward to the Mallet / Clausen match up for the next few years.Next week is probably the most anticipated match up of 0-2 teams ever.

True genius, they should be so proud.....

 

[sandgk]

Detroit Free Press:

Before the Game - A Prediction

Prediction: Michigan 40, Oregon 35.

After the Game - Quotes

Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, on whether he was surprised by the success his team had in the first half: "I wasn't surprised by our success. Anytime you can run the ball and control the line of scrimmage, the rest becomes easier. We changed our play mixes a little bit. I felt there were things from last week's game that gave us ideas. The mobility of our quarterback made some big plays early."
Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon, on the fake Statue of Liberty play he turned into a touchdown run: "That was a play we executed for a long time in camp. We finally had an opportunity, and we just seized the moment. I think you gotta actually see it on film to actually appreciate it. I couldn't believe how open I was."

And then of course, there is anyone who had a Hart ... AKA "Look At Me"

U-M running back Mike Hart: "As players, we have to come out and compete. It's our fault, not the coaches' fault. I'm not a guy who feels a lot of pressure. We have nothing to lose. When you're 0-2, people aren't going to expect anything out of us. They're going to expect us to be beat now."
More Hart: "I wouldn't want to be a part of any other team right now. I wouldn't want to be part of the USC (prospective) national championship team, wouldn't want to be on the West Virginia championship team. I'd rather be on this team right now that's 0-2."
Hart, on how hard it is to be 0-2: "It's going to test me, going to test the seniors on this team and make me a better person. At the end of the season, when we have a winning record, I'll look back and say, 'Man, don't ever quit.' Because when you go through something like this, it's going to make this team better."

Belotti's Take on UMs D - more from Detroit Free Press

"We didn't take advantage of everything, in all honesty," said Mike Bellotti, Oregon's head coach. "We could have got on them worse."
His team punted twice in the first half. His quarterback threw up twice at halftime. His offense amassed 624 yards.

And Johnathan Stewart the heralded Oregon RB chimes in ..

So thoroughly did his offense run over U-M's defense that he and his coaches left Ann Arbor wondering if they even got a test.
Jonathan Stewart, Oregon's starting running back, had a feeling the day would be easy. Part of it was knowing that Appalachian State had run on the Wolverines. And part of it was what he saw on film:
"They looked slow," Stewart said. "They were a big group of guys. At the same time, they were getting moved around."
And that's were the game was lost Saturday. The Ducks offensive line kept Michigan's defensive line from moving. The holes were everywhere.
"All I had to do," said Stewart, "was pick and choose."

Also DP - Mitch Albom - from which one line deserves special mention.

I hate to put it this way, but there have been Lions games less embarrassing than this.

Same article - how well prepared was UM's D? Not very - knew what was coming (by their own words) did not have a clue how to spy and halt those SoL plays.

Minutes later, the Ducks tried a Statue of Liberty play. The Statue of Liberty? Yep. And a few minutes later, they tried it again!
Hey, why not? The first one got 14 yards. The second got a touchdown.
"We knew they ran that play," U-M safety Jamar Adams said, glumly. "We just didn't execute the right way ... twice."

Mitch thinks Carr should stay (forever?) Drew Sharp thinks otherwise. DP.

Michigan flunked its character test. Where was the anger after last weekend's national humiliation? Where was the resolve?
Instead, the Wolverines resembled a team Saturday that already has accepted its fate, surrendering the season after just two weeks with barely a whimper. There was little emotion -- and even less execution on both sides of the ball. The Wolverines looked like a team that already knows its beloved coach isn't coming back after this season. They played like a team still burdened from the immense weight of a historic embarrassment just seven days prior.
Michigan quit. As I watched from Oakland, Calif., where another disappointing team in this state -- the Lions -- will play today, I saw Oregon didn't just beat the Wolverines. It gutted them like a fish. It cut through them, looking for the heart that Michigan vowed would save it after Appalachian State, but all it discovered was an empty shell.
The Ducks beat a lame duck.
How obvious can it be to even the most stubborn Blue apologist that Lloyd Carr and his staff have lost this team?
He should have offered his resignation to athletic director Bill Martin afterward, accelerating his retirement exit strategy a little earlier than initially orchestrated. As shocking as Appalachian State was to the system, the Wolverines' timid response against the Ducks was perhaps a more damning statement of where the Michigan program sits right now.
Nobody fears coming to Michigan Stadium any longer.

Meanwhile in the Post-Game Presser Carr goes maudlin on us - losing your mind is the first step toward losing your job?

Lloyd Carr had an interesting response when asked why his demeanor has been more sedate after the last two games than after past losses:
"I've got a message for Peter. Peter's a second-grader over at St. Francis Elementary School. My granddaughter Drew is in his class.
This week on Wednesday, my daughter Emily did recess duty over at St. Francis. There's Peter, who's new in the class. He's an avid Michigan fan. So when Emily went out to recess, Drew and Peter knew that I am Drew's grandfather. "So Drew took him out to introduce him to my daughter Emily, and she said, 'Peter, how you doing?' Peter said, 'I want to know how Lloyd Carr's doing.' So, you know, I want to answer Peter. I want to answer your question.
"I'm doing great. I've got great kids here. And you don't know me. But those who do know me, friend and foe, I think would agree that I'm a tough-minded, competitive guy. And there isn't anything that comes my way that I can't handle, professionally.
"And there is nothing, there is nothing that can keep me down. Not a loss to Appalachian State, not a loss to Oregon. Not a hundred losses. And not the loss of my job. And I think the same thing can be said for our team here, and the guys that play football at Michigan. So that's the way we're going to approach it.
"Peter, what I would say to you is this: You're probably going to lose a lot of games the next few years. And my advice to you is when you lose, don't make excuses, don't blame your coaches or teammates or the officials. Just play every day as hard as you can. And regardless of what the outcome of those games are, you keep your head high. Because if you're doing everything you can to the best of your ability, you have nothing -- nothing -- to be embarrassed about. That's all I got for you."
Then Carr walked off.

Wow - Just wow!
More DP - their collation of national commentary on the game.

John Canzano, Oregonian

--- Ducks coach Mike Bellotti told me after the game that it took him exactly one offensive series to understand Oregon was going to have a big day. He said it took 2-3 series on defense before he realized they could stop Michigan.

--- I have never seen a team leave the field quicker than Michigan did after the loss. Never. Ever.

Apparently TSUN can move quickly - when their goose is cooked.

 

[brutus2002]

Dryden

I think its more mental than physical. Michigan and its players have had alot of off the field issues. When players are getting into fight, exposing themselves(not Harrison this time) ,and getting into other miscellaneous runins with the law how can you be focusing on football.

Their players are fast and strong. Physically they are as good as you can be. instincts and the mental parts of the game make you play fast on the field. If we had a track meet against Michigan we might lose but this is football. Their players look slow on the field because they don't know what they are doing and they are reacting rather than attacking. Our defense attacks you...making them fast.

I think everybody was pumping Michigan up and they got a big head. They thought they could just show up with their offene and blow teams out. IMO their offense is overated combine that with a horrible defense and special teams unitand that spells trouble for the wolvies.

 

[Dryden]

Dryden

I think its more mental than physical. Michigan and its players have had alot of off the field issues. When players are getting into fight, exposing themselves(not Harrison this time) ,and getting into other miscellaneous runins with the law how can you be focusing on football.

Their players are fast and strong. Physically they are as good as you can be. instincts and the mental parts of the game make you play fast on the field.

I can agree to a point, but the fact remains is that it all starts at the top. From Carr, to English, to English's predecessor, Herrmann, these guys are poorly coached, poorly prepared, and poorly motivated -- except for Hart. I commend Hart for this comment:

"I wouldn't want to be a part of any other team right now. I wouldn't want to be part of the USC (prospective) national championship team, wouldn't want to be on the West Virginia championship team. I'd rather be on this team right now that's 0-2."

Hart gets a lot of grief on this board, and from our fans for running his mouth. I love that quote though, and it needs to be acknowledged.

However, we've been in the fish bowl too. We've had on-field problems. We've had off-field problems. When a guy like Cooper was running the show, that implosion meant 6-6. When Tressel is running the show, we still go 10-2 in 2003, and 8-4 in 2004.

In 2004, our players were new, lacked significant game experience, and had to do a lot of thinking on the field, rather than just playing their game. One thing was for certain though. They didn't quit. Even when it all came to a head at Iowa. They never, ever quit on Tressel.

Michigan rolled over yesterday. They're playing like a team that knows their season is over, and they'll have a different coach next year.

Yesterday was vintage '99-'00 John Cooper.

 

[NFBuck]

Lloyd Carr had an interesting response when asked why his demeanor has been more sedate after the last two games than after past losses:
"I've got a message for Peter. Peter's a second-grader over at St. Francis Elementary School. My granddaughter Drew is in his class.
This week on Wednesday, my daughter Emily did recess duty over at St. Francis. There's Peter, who's new in the class. He's an avid Michigan fan. So when Emily went out to recess, Drew and Peter knew that I am Drew's grandfather. "So Drew took him out to introduce him to my daughter Emily, and she said, 'Peter, how you doing?' Peter said, 'I want to know how Lloyd Carr's doing.' So, you know, I want to answer Peter. I want to answer your question.
"I'm doing great. I've got great kids here. And you don't know me. But those who do know me, friend and foe, I think would agree that I'm a tough-minded, competitive guy. And there isn't anything that comes my way that I can't handle, professionally.
"And there is nothing, there is nothing that can keep me down. Not a loss to Appalachian State, not a loss to Oregon. Not a hundred losses. And not the loss of my job. And I think the same thing can be said for our team here, and the guys that play football at Michigan. So that's the way we're going to approach it.
"Peter, what I would say to you is this: You're probably going to lose a lot of games the next few years. And my advice to you is when you lose, don't make excuses, don't blame your coaches or teammates or the officials. Just play every day as hard as you can. And regardless of what the outcome of those games are, you keep your head high. Because if you're doing everything you can to the best of your ability, you have nothing -- nothing -- to be embarrassed about. That's all I got for you."
Then Carr walked off.

Jesus, Mary and Travolta. That almost makes me feel sorry for the bastard.

In all honesty, I'll be suprised if they win five games this year. Once a coach loses the players, the ship becomes damn near impossible to steer. Look at the Raiders in 2003. One year after getting to the SB, they completely imploded and turned on Bill Callahan. Callahan was gone after the season and they've been a mess ever since.

 

[jlb1705]

I'd like to say I'm the official jinx for betting on this site... Everytime I make a bet, it's WRONG! LOL This time it worked in my favor!

Michigan's Worst Nightmare:

THE #10!!!!!!!!!!!!

You forgot this one:

Hell, even this one managed to pull off a couple wins against them:

 

[OCBucksFan]

Will the Little Brown Jug go back to Minnesota this year?

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Your post had me thinking, what were their recruiting classes, and have they been recruiting too many offensive players?:

Scout.com
2007: 10th overall, 10 off/10 def
2006: 9th overall, 8 off/11 def
2005: 2nd overall, 12 off/10 def
2004: 5th overall, 10 off/12 def
2003: 8th overall, 8 off/8 def

Now, I know star rankings and such don't mean squat in the end when you evaluate a player, but I have always been inclined to think that the recruiting services' ranks do offer some barometer as to the overall quality of kids a program is bringing in over a longer term

You might like to think that rankings do offer some barometer of quality, but in recruiting, the horse often follows the cart. One of the more egregious examples is 2004 Michigan signee Tim Jamison, who was ranked as the #20 prospect in the state of Illinois ... until he committed to Michigan, whereafter his ranking immediately skyrocketed to the #40 prospect in the entire freakin' country! In his first three seasons in that oh-so-intimidating winged helmet, Jamison contributed a grand total of 27 tackles and 8 sacks (that's 9 tackles and 2.67 sacks per year), which sounds a hell of a lot more like the 20th-best player in Illinois than the 40th-best player in the nation. This year, of course, Tim is a starting defensive end for one of the worst defenses in the college football. But hey, Jamison helped Big Blue to the #5 recruiting class in the country way back in 2004....

Here's another example.... In the class of 2006, the Wolverines signed defensive tackle Jason Kates (6' 2", 324 lbs, 5.28 forty, 11 bench reps, 50 tackles and 10 sacks as a high school senior), whose college choices were Minnesota, Maryland, N.C. State, Syracuse, and ... Michigan. What's wrong with this picture? Why were those mighty Wolverines battling with such lesser football powers for an overweight, out-of-shape underachiever like Kates? Well, the facts didn't seem to matter much to Rivals, who gave Jason a four-star rating and put him on their top 250 list. Was there any evidence that Kates was a top national prospect? That he would develop into one in college? That he even produced at the high school level? That he was a superior athlete? No, no, no, and no - but Michigan signed him, so he must be good, or so the "logic" goes. By the way, Jason is a third-string DT on a Michigan line that has been described by opponents as slow, weak, and poorly conditioned. What a surprise!

Also notice how many Wolverine signees just make the cut of the Rivals 100 list: Matt Gutierrez (#96 in class of 2002); Jim Presley (#89 in class of 2003); Ryan Mundy (#96 in class of 2003); Brett Gallimore (#96 in class of 2004); Terrance Taylor (#96 in class of 2005); Adam Patterson (#91 in class of 2006); Greg Mathews (#93 in class of 2006); Toney Clemons (#91 in class of 2007); and Sam McGuffie (#90 in class of 2008). Hmmm ... isn't it kinda strange how one or two Michigan Men seem to just barely make the cut every year? Could it be bias on the part of Rivals? Could it be that the so-called recruiting gurus sometimes base a prospect's ranking on his school of choice, and not on his talent, his athleticism, or how he projects at the college level? Isn't it possible that schools like Michigan and Notre Dame have been the beneficiaries of recruit "star fixing" in February, and have been burdened with over-hyped prima donnas for the following four years?

The bottom line is this: Michigan signs top-ten recruiting classes every year because, well, they are Michigan. The recruiting services - especially Rivals - have a strong bias in favor of Michigan, and they adjust their star rankings so that the Wolverines end up with a top class, year in and year out. But arbitrarily giving a kid an extra "star" or placing him on some "top 100" list doesn't increase his ability, it only increases his hype, and ultimately his level of underachievement.

Recruiting services aren't talent evaluators - they are propagandists and admen. That's why we always tell you to, "Trust the coaches". Jim Tressel is one of the best in the business at identifying and developing talent. So, every year, while you are obsessively fretting about the fact that Ohio State is signing "nobodies" like Brian Robiskie, Malcolm Jenkins, James Laurinaitis, Donald Washington, Chimdi Chekwa, Dane Sanzenbacher, and Anderson Russell, just remember that the Buckeyes could be getting stuck with "blue chippers" like Tim Jamison, Jason Kates, and Brett Gallimore. Oh, and don't forget about Shawn Crable....

 

[brutus2002]

To add to what LordJeff is saying about Michigans recruitng think about this. How many WR's does Michigan convert to DB's. Look at how many tweener athletes they recruit. Morgan Trent is probably the best example of this. IMO they gamble in recruiting because they have to. Their state doesn't produce enough talent and they have to rely on OOS recruitng. Losing King,Macho Harris, and all the athletes in Michigan last year is really rearing its head. Their DB corps is in shambles. Another good example is Mouton who was recruited as a Safety and has been moved to LB'er...its hard for kids to progress when they are being moved around alot or not playing the position they really want to.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

And then of course, there is anyone who had a Hart ... AKA "Look At Me"

They had a shot of him on the sidelines looking up at a replay of the run he had just made, which reminded me of our 2004 game, when he was a freeshman, when nearly everytime they showed the Michigan huddle after a Hart run, Hart was looking up at his replay instead of listening to the play call...

 

[scarletandgrey]

 

[NFBuck]

They had a shot of him on the sidelines looking up at a replay of the run he had just made, which reminded me of our 2004 game, when he was a freeshman, when nearly everytime they showed the Michigan huddle after a Hart run, Hart was looking up at his replay instead of listening to the play call...

There really may not be a bigger ass in the country. The fact that he's on the team makes each scUM loss a little more sweet. Million dollar ability, two cent brain.

 

[SNIPER26]

Yep we suck. For some odd reason I thought our defense maybe learned to play football this off-season, and I was clearly wrong. The corners may be the worst at any level in college football

 

[Moose]

Michigan is going to DEMOLISH Oregon.

Michigan was sleepwalking before, but not anymore. Oregon is still Oregon - crap.

Anyone who doesn't see a blowout by the skunks is just kidding himself.

Michigan's loss was a fluke. An amazing, awesome, stupendous fluke.

Thats as funny as Harts guaranteed win. I went back and found the original post. Couldn't believe it.

 

[OCBucksFan]

Yep we suck. For some odd reason I thought our defense maybe learned to play football this off-season, and I was clearly wrong. The corners may be the worst at any level in college football

Meh, you should get a win next week, and look on the bright side, next year you SHOULD have a new coach and be putting in a new system.

Michigan Wolverines 0-1
Last Game: Loss vs. Appalachian State 34-32
Next Game: 09/08 Vs. Oregon

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