'Relative' expectations have Michigan feeling blue after 4-2 start
Now, after a perfect September, it’s a hard-to-swallow reality.
“I don’t feel good” about our record, punter Zoltan Mesko said. “Speaking from the perspective of being 4-0 two weeks ago, of course everyone wants to be 6-0, not 4-2. It’s all relative.”
Despite heightened expectations by the fast start, Michigan is right about where it should be halfway through Year 2 of Rich Rodriguez’s strip-it-down-and-rebuild-it tenure.
The Wolverines (4-2, 1-2) have mostly beat the teams everyone expected - Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Indiana, plus a toss-up win against Notre Dame - and lost on the road in hostile environments to Michigan State and Iowa.
Four games have gone down to the last possession, with Michigan winning against Notre Dame and Indiana and losing to MSU (in overtime) and Iowa.
“I’m not happy with the two losses,” Rodriguez said. “They were two pretty good teams in tough environments, but there were also moments we'd like to have back.
“There were a lot of errors that were unforced. Whether it was on offense or defense, you'd like to have those back and all of a sudden maybe you won those games or sneaked one of those out."
With a young, thin team - 18 first- or second-year players dot Michigan’s two-deep, and true freshmen start at quarterback and outside linebacker - mistakes are to be expected.
Tate Forcier has shown flashes of brilliance at quarterback, leading late touchdown drives against Notre Dame, Indiana and, perhaps most impressively, rival MSU. In an unrelenting rain, he rallied Michigan from 14 points down with five minutes to play against the Spartans, eventually tying the game at 20 on an exhausting 12-play, 92-yard touchdown drive.
He's also looked like a freshman, throwing an overtime interception in traffic against MSU and struggling for three quarters last week at Iowa before giving way to 19-year-old classmate Denard Robinson.
Forcier, who suffered a concussion against the Hawkeyes and has been battling a shoulder injury the last two weeks, was expected to practice Wednesday and appears on track to play Saturday against Delaware State.
"We've got to step back a little bit and say what really do our guys understand?" Rodriguez said. "Not just Tate and Denard, but our young guys. What do they understand in our offense, what can we execute well, and how do we go forward as far as putting things in?
“There are so many things more we want to do offensively, but we don't want to confuse the young guys.”
Along with a healthy Forcier, Michigan needs steady production from its beat-up running game - both Brandon Minor (ankle) and Carlos Brown (concussion) have missed time with injuries - and improved play on defense (the Wolverines rank last in the Big Ten in passing yards allowed) to navigate a difficult final month.
After Saturday’s “buy” game against the FCS bottom-feeding Hornets (1-3), the Wolverines close with games against Penn State, Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Michigan needs two more wins to qualify for the postseason, and perhaps three more to avoid the dreaded Little Caesar’s Bowl.
“We don’t want those two loses, I can’t say that enough,” offensive lineman David Moosman said. “But we’ve come out and we’ve played hard for six games and that's great. We’ve already done better than last year. That was definitely a goal, but we got a long way to go. We got a lot of big games, we got a lot teams that we want to beat, so we've got a lot of work to do.”
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
djuninho
Fri, Oct 16, 2009 : 1:44 p.m.
We're upset cause even in Lloyd's 11-2 season, people were calling for his head cause he lost the last two to OSU and USC... even in the year we lost to App St. (2007), Lloyd went 9-4... now people view going to the Pizza Bowl under RichRod as progress... just pointing out the hypocrisy...
gablue
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 4:48 p.m.
Comments mostly sound like they're trying to be Micheal Rosenberg. As I understand, Carr was starting to look for a way out as early as 2006, at a time when his stock was a high as ever. RR didn't push him out. I don't understand all of the hostility to RR. Are you angry b/c people were critical of the head coach two years ago? Look at you all now. I like what LakeErie says -- "Stay classy. Respect Michigan."
rightmind250
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 4:02 p.m.
6-6 is realistic. They should beat DSU then they have to have a split with Purdue and Illinois. They don't have a chance with Wisky, PSU and OSU. Beating ND has kept this team from having another losing season. That is reality. No kooo-laid.
LakeErieMaize/Blue
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 3:22 p.m.
Yeah, I remember people on this site saying going 9-3 or 8-4 was the same as going 3-9 like last season b/c both records won't bring us National Championship gm.(which didn't make sense to me.)I'd rather have the WINNING record over the losing record anyday!!Instead of BLAMING Coach Carr for everything,just say you're ready for a change(be careful what u wish for!)and keep it moving!Stay classy.Respect Michigan!!But some have to learn the hard way.And now that they've got what they wished for,we will see how all this plays out.But realize this,no team wins a NC, EVERY year that they play.NO TEAM!!!So having a winning record and a winning program IS important.GO BLUE!!!
djuninho
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 2:10 p.m.
@Tony: You are 100% correct that there are different standards for Lloyd and RR... Lloyd had to play on the road against Pac-10 teams in 2000 (UCLA), 2001 (Washington), and 2003 (Oregon)... He lost all three... Lloyd won the home games against those teams (UCLA - 1996, UW - 2002), but lost a tough one to Oregon in 2003... Lloyd would have faced a lot less criticism if those were patsy home games against the likes of Delaware State instead... You think Bill Martin is gonna make his home-boy RichRod endure the same type of road games on his schedule? He didn't even schedule a good FCS team in Del. St, they stink at 1-3! Why didn't Martin schedule App St. or Richmond or even Delaware (all good FCS teams) for his homeboy RichRod? He's prolly scared of the damage he caused the program by scheduling App St. and Toledo (he scheduled both himself)!!! And the defense is getting worse under RR... he should never have fired English and all the assistants in the first place... you reap what you sow!
1998pa
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 12:09 p.m.
DocJ, you can't worry about tater. He is what Eric Hoffer wrote about in the book, "The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements." There are many other more sensible fans to interact with on this site.
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 11:35 a.m.
At this point, I'd take 6-6 in a heartbeat. RichRod has made progress on offense because he has some athletes to fit his highness's system. The one he crammed down our throats last year to disastrous results. But the man wouldn't know how to build a defense if his life depended on it. His ego is so focused on how many points he scores that he doesn't have the bandwidth. So the defense continues to underachieve. Michigan has the athletes, but they aren't producing because there's no emphasis on defense. Hopefully, Greg Robinson will learn that RichRod won't give him the time, so he has to find a way to simplify things. I'm tired of seeing entire groups of defensive personnel out of position, play after play. This defense is actually worse than 2008's. Which was the worst in Michigan history.
Tony
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 10:38 a.m.
Now that this team has had to go on the road, it has been exposed for what is, a mediocre club that has not only scheduled eight home games, but sprinkled it with several opponents unbecoming of a school with the winningest record in college football history. If 6-6 or 7-5 and a flea bag bowl game is okay with the U-M faithful, then so be it. Is it me, or are there completely different standards for Lloyd Carr and Rich Rod?
Rizzle
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 9:37 a.m.
I'm betting on 6-6, 7-5 tops.
djuninho
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 9:31 a.m.
When Lloyd would go 9-3, 8-4, or 7-5, all of you would be braying for his firing... now y'all view that as progress under RichRod... defense wins championships, so where is the progress on that side of the ball? Don't give me the baloney that the cupboard was bare cause there were 8 starters a year ago on defense, and we lost 9 games... now our defense can't stop Michigan State...
DocJ
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 8:55 a.m.
"UM lost to a team they should have beaten"? What game were you watching? MSU dominated UM. The only reason UM made it close was Narduzzi calling off the dogs and going to a three man rush for the last two UM drives. Always a recipe for failure, especially with a spread offense. Also, Dantonio's bonehead decision to run it three times into the line instead of trying to get a first down at the 35 yd. line just before UM's first TD. Even not getting it, if they had tried to kick a field goal instead of going for it, there was a decent chance Brett Swenson might have made it - it would have been a 46 yarder and he has the leg to make those. If MSU scores any points there, the game is over. MSU handed UM those 14 points. When they were playing their game, UM was manhandled.