Take a Deep Breath

So, I was at the game on Saturday and to say I was unimpressed, is an understatement.  As excited, hopeful, and impressed as I was about the Florida game, I was equally unimpressed about the Cincy game. With that being said, I was not one of the fans booing and I am not on the "Speight needs to be benched" bandwagon, or the "This is the best Harbaugh can do?" train.  I am on the, "I have faith in not only our coach, but also our quarterback" side of things.  There are things that need to be fixed with the offense, no doubt, but seriously people, take a deep breath.

Let us not forget that three short years ago, this game probably would have come down to the last possession/play of the game under Hoke. And maybe we would've pulled out a win. You people do realize we won the game by twenty-two points, right?!?!?!  These are the days of old, when we're pissed it wasn't a perfect game, a shut-out.  A win is a win, and right now we have a zero in the losses column. That's a good thing!!

Does Speight need to be more accurate? Undoubtedly. Does the RT still need improvement in his game? See last week's post. Do the receivers need to catch catchable balls? Uh, that IS your job. Does our defense need to stop big plays. Yup. But I have faith that these issues will be corrected, because, in case you forgot.....We got Harbaugh and The Wizard (Don Brown).

This week's game is the Military Appreciation Game.  Here's my Pick 6 things I love about this game:

1. The flyover
2. The parachueters
3. The veteran of the Game moment
4. The chills during the National Anthem
5. Love our military, but let's win
6. The respect that is shown by 110,000+ people

The Good, The Bad, The Defense

This blog is going to follow the format I use for parent meetings.  I love talking with the parents of my students, but sometimes, I have to deliver bad news, and that's hard. I learned this format from my mentor teacher when I was in college and I still use it today.  I like to begin by focusing on....

The Good:

• The O-line. They made holes so the running game could be established. The pass protection was notable so Speight had time in the pocket to make some great deep ball throws. 
• We had a very balanced offensive game plan that was well executed.  We had 198 passing yards and 215 rushing yards, for a total of 413. Not too shabby. 
• The receivers, they lived up to the hype coming out of spring ball and fall camp.  They were GOOD.  I think at one point I said, "He could catch a feral kitten," when speaking of Tarik Black. Nick Eubanks and Grant Perry got in on the action, too.
• The backs played an equally important role in the offensive success. The thing that stood out to me, was the yards after contact.  Thumbs up to Ty Issac, Karan Higdon, and my favorite Urkle look-a-like/mechanic/custodian, Chris Evans. You guys get a B+.
• Quinn Nordin----I'm glad our coach spent the night with you and stole you from Penn State.  Welcome to Michigan "Wild Thang" and thanks for having a leg like a cannon. 

Here comes the tough part....

The Bad:
Ahem, Nolan Ulizio I'm looking at you, listen up!!..... I know, you're young, don't have a ton of game experience, yadda, yadda, yadda, but dude, you gotta be better.  There were many times I saw the back of your horrendous maize jersey chasing your guy down and then stopping the pursuit.  You. Can't. Do. That. Our QB is gonna get hurt. Step up your game, please!

Speaking of the maize jersey and equally awful pants.....I saw them earlier in the week. I didn't like them then, but was hopeful that I'd be so happy and excited to see the team on the field, that they'd grow on me. They didn't.  They were just as terrible at the end of the game as they were when I first laid eyes on them.  Please don't mess with our iconic uniforms again.  They're beautiful in the their original state.  Don't try to put your spin on them Jumpman, leave them alone.

When this blog was named, I was hopful to talk more about the opponent's Pick 6s than our own, but that is not the case this week.  The first one falls on the receiver, that's you're fault Kekoa Crawford. If you can't bring it down, you have to knock it down so no one else can get it.  That will come with experience and practice....I hope. The second one, that came on the very next play, and was surely the nail in our coffin, was Speight's fault.  He overthrew the receiver and right into the hands of the defender.  Heartbreaker. His face said it all.

And now for the way I like to end my parent meetings, amazement.....

The Defense:
All the talking heads could discuss this off-season was how many players we lost on defense to the draft, and what was the "new" defense going to look like. Would they be good? How could they ever live up to last year's defense? No one can recover from the loss of experience and upperclassmen that quickly, right? WRONG!!!!!! Coming out of fall camp, I'd read rumblings that this defense was going to be better than last year's.  Wait, how could that be? Last year's defense was astounding! No way, that's just hype. WRONG again. They are going to better than last year, and very soon.  I think it's safe to say, everyone was shocked at how good they actually were.  Guys were flying around the field (Devin Bush), swarming the ball, sacking the quarterback (Chase Winovich) and knocking the ball loose.  I have goosebumps as I type this, because I'm just so amazed at how good they were.  And the really amazing thing is........they're only going to get better.

The season is upon us and I can't wait to watch this team develop.

~Go Blue
Bekki

Pick 6 Pivotal moments from Saturday:
1. Pulling Speight
2. The 55 yarder
3. The run D
4. Tarik Black TD reception
5. Ty Isaac rushing
6. The win

Row Your Own Boat

What a dumpster fire Florida is right now, huh?! I mean, maybe Jim McElwain should pay more attention to his roster, instead of worrying so much about Michigan's.  Seems as though he's got bigger fish to fry in his program, than knowing which of our wide-outs made the roster and are on the 2-deep. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't really think so.  When you've got student/athletes using a program issued credit card to purchase non-allowed items, then lying and saying the credit cards were stolen, one would think you'd be focused on getting to the bottom of that situation. They obviously knew that what they were doing was wrong, which is why they lied, and then to find out that 10 people were involved.  And, there's rumors that there are more suspensions to come related to this incident.  Geesh, kind of a big deal, I'd think. Hey McElwain, ever heard MYOB?! Mind Your Own Business.

Furthermore, to keep myself entertained these past few weeks, and to get a small football fix, I've been watching the mini documentary "Being P.J. Fleck" on the Big Ten Network.  It's chronicled his rise to fame in the coaching circles, shown small clips of him doing speaking engagements, and followed him and the Minnesota Golden Gophers during spring practice. They interviewed players, talked to coaching staff and other people in the athletic department, so on and so forth.

One interview with a player stuck out to me for reasons you'll quickly discover.  The question was asked, "how does Coach Fleck motivate you guys during practice?" The answer, "You know, we're just out there trying to be better today than we were yesterday, and better tomorrow that we are today." My jaw hit the floor! If you follow Jim Harbaugh at all, you know that is his key phrase when it comes to competition and motivation.  I get it, it's catchy, easy to remember, and says all the right things, but for heavens' sake, do YOUR thing. Worry 'bout yourself! Row your own damn boat! Our ship is sailing......get outta the way!!!

Man am I ready for some football or what?!?!?! I'm no longer counting months, weeks, or days.  I'm counting the hours. It's GAME DAY my friends.

~Go Blue!!
Bekki

Pick 6 things I'm looking forward to:
1. The excuses that will come when Florida gets embarrassed.
2. Seeing how the O-line has developed.
3. Finding out if the defense is going to be able to uphold the reputation of last year's guys.
4. Watching the development of Speight.
5. Rashan Gary---no explanation needed.
6. Wins, lots of them.