MichFanTex

Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 11:48 p.m.

The D has a 'tude I haven't seen from a Michigan team in 14 years. Not the cocky arrogance of Woodson, but a quieter air of confidence and determination. This D is definitely greater than the sum of its parts, no superstar on the field, but a two deep that show they have been coached in the fundementals. No one should expect a defensive squad to be perfect on every drive of every game but I don't see Northwestern putting the ball in the endzone more than once. Couple that with an offense that is also getting better with each passing week, I call this UM 38 NU 13.

A2D2

Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 8:23 p.m.

Us 35, them 17 go blue

David Vande Bunte

Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 8:21 p.m.

At the risk of sounding like a slappy, while I won't go as far as to predict 69-0 (would love to see it happen though) I do think Michigan will win this game fairly easily. First, Dan Persa will not be 100%. That alone will somewhat neutralize his effectiveness at scrambling. He will still run, but he just might not be quite as good as he could be. Second: While Northwestern press writers can claim that NW's defense is ready for Denard because they face Persa every day in practice, the same is also true. Michigan's defense practices against Denard Robinson's scrambling ability every day too. Personally, I think I would take practicing against DRob/playing Persa over practicing against Persa/playing DRob any day of the week. Third: Al Borges is crazy. By introducing that 2 QB formation last week against Minnesota, it gives Northwestern something additional they have to cover in practice, which reduces the time they can practice against the other stuff. Even if Michigan doesn't run a single play out of that formation all game, Northwestern has to take the time to prepare for it. On top of that, I think Al Borges will have even more surprises for them, something that they couldn't have been on the look out for or practiced against. While unveiling the formation last week against Minnesota gave Northwestern something else to spend time on in practice, given the nature of how the Minnesota game was going, if he had kept it under wraps, Northwestern would have no idea it was coming. He could have waited to take Northwestern completely by surprise. Michigan had no need to use it to gain any kind of competitive advantage against Minnesota, they used it in that game merely as PRACTICE. That tells me Al Borges probably has a lot more up his sleeve. Fourth: They lost to Army.

BornInA2

Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 6:36 p.m.

We score 45 in the first half, including five safeties. Persa asks to be taken out of the game because he's soiled his underwear. We run back three turnovers for touchdowns. Denard and Devin each pass for 300 yards. Final score: Michigan 69, Northwestern 0 (in honor of the score of the first Michigan game I ever attended). Hoke's comment after the game: "We'll look at the film, but we have a lot to work on. We're nowhere near playing 'Michigan Football'.