As the Wolverine faithful scamper away towards irrelevancy for the remainder of the year, they take with them a ton of excuses and the too-frequently-heard (from UM at least) “wait til’ next year”.
They have fallen back on the argument of RichRod’s first-season record at WVU, and they cling to faith that they will someday again be good, pehaps even in the BCS as early as next year. It’s comical at this point, and a little bit sad at the same time. Michigan, at this point, has very little to look forward to.
- Their quarterbacks (Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan) are downright awful and still very inexperienced despite a full season of snaps. Their best QB potentially (Justin Feagin)) wasted a redshirt season on a kick return and six measly snaps from center in a blowout game.
- Their best RB (Sam McGuffie) suffers from severe depression and has asked for a transfer. Their second-best RB is Brandon Minor. Nuff said.
- Their best WRs (Martavius Odoms and Greg Mathews) are the lone source of hope on offense. But who the hell will complete a pass to them?
- The offensive line is shattered and showing signs of more transfers like Justin Boren did last season.
Defensively, it gets worse. This was supposed to be their strong suit in 2008, and they allowed 5 teams to gain over 400 yards each, twice topping the 500-yard mark.
- They lose three of their starters on the line to graduation.
- One-third of their two-deep linebackers graduate, and odds are pretty good that nobody would know any of the rest if asked in a quiz. Obinna Ezeh is the only player left worth anything.
- In the defensive backfield, they lose Morgan Trent and Brandon Harrison to graduation.
On special teams, punter Zoltan Mesko and kicker K.C Lopata have placed their foot on the ball for the final time at UM. I’m not sure losing Lopata is a bad thing for Wolverine fans, but Mesko was the team MVP and that one does hurt. No longer will he be pinning the opposing team inside the 20. But then again, doing that meant watching the defense give up an 80-yard TD drive instead of a 70-yard TD drive.
That’s how bad it WILL be next year. But how bad was it in 2008? Let’s look back.
Their three wins came against Miami of Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Not too pretty of a resume there. But how did each game go?
Week 1 – Nobody knew how good Utah was heading into the season, and they escaped the Big House with a 2-point win after a late 2-point conversion attempt failed. The Utes are still undefeated, and it’s strange to say, but that may have been the best game Michigan played all season. For all of the Michigan fans calling for patience and “steady improvement”, take a look at how you went from a near-miss of a Top 10 team to an implosion on national TV to a Top 10 team.
Week 2 – Miami of Ohio came into Michigan Stadium, and it was one of those games that everybody knew would be a Michigan win. And it nearly wasn’t. The Redhawks are 2-9 right now, and they were within 4 points of the Wolverines in the 4th quarter. That game gave a LOT of UM fans pause about their season and it was great foreshadowing into the troubles they would face against the most basic teams.
Week 3 – As bad as it was against Miami, it was 10 times worse against Notre Dame. Most fans expected these two teams to put on a great battle, and it ended up being YouTube comedy. Michigan turned the ball over 6 times and wore their asses home as hats. Hope turned to hysterics on Michigan blogs worldwide, and the fear of a losing season began to set in. Notre Dame, as it turns out, isn’t at all a good team, having dropped a game to Syracuse, and will probably be thrilled with a pre-Christmas bowl game.
Week 4 – Hope returns to Ann Arbor, as a second half rally beats Wisconsin 27-25. A last-second defensive stop keeps the game from going into OT and gives Michigan a 2-2 record. At the time, nobody knew that it was a win against a reallllly bad Wisconsin team. The Badgers barely made bowl eligibility, and it took a missed XP in OT to beat Cal Poly. Seriously.
Week 5 – Doubt returns to the faithful fans of Ann Arbor, as Illinois’ offense lights up the scoreboard to the tune of 45 points. Michigan allows over 500 yards of offense to Illinois, and gives up a 38-6 scoring spurt over the final three quarters. Juice Willimas looks like a Heisman winner in the game, and the failures of the Illini after playing UM only makes this loss look worse and worse. Illinois loses 5 of their final 7 games, and end up failing to make a bowl game. Their blowout of Michigan becomes their signature win in a season of failures.
Week 6 – When Appalachian State can be explained away by their winning the 1-AA championship, there is no excuse for losing to Toledo at home. The Rockets sit at 3-8 and will probably fall to 3-9 for the year. A bad MAC school went into the Big House and beat Michigan. It can’t get much worse than that, unless they were to follow it up by losing badly to a team they have owned.
Week 7 – A team that Michigan has owned for a decade humiliates the Blue on national TV. Penn State explodes during the second half, racking up nearly 500 yards of offense in a 46-17 blowout. 32 consecutive Lion points leave Michigan blogs with their heads hung low. It can only get worse if another team they have owned beats them badly.
Week 8 – A team that Michigan has owned comes into Ann Arbor and badly beats Michigan. Michigan State shakes off the label of “little brother” and punches UM fans in the gut with a 2-TD victory. The score is closer than the game actually was, as MSU racks up nearly 500 yards of offense, and Brian Hoyer flings the ball around at will. With the loss, Michigan falls to 2-6 and is one failure away from missing out on a bowl game for the first time in three decades.
Week 9 – The Michigan offense shows signs of life by scoring 42 points against Purdue. But the defense allows 522 yards and 48 points, ending Michigan bowl streak. Purdue, who finished the season at 4-8, finds their own signature win in a failed season.
Week 10 – With nothing left to play for, Michigan finds their rhythm and crushes Minnesota. The Gophers had started the season at 7-1, but fall into a funk that UM takes full advantage of. Minnesota ends up dropping their final four games, including a 55-0 pasting to end the season and give worry back to Gopher fans feeling confident again.
Week 11 – The era of Michigan dominance over Northwestern comes to a screeching halt, as the Wildcats snuff out their nemesis 21-14. Northwestern ends up clinching fourth place in the Big Ten and leaves Ann Arbor with their second victory ever in the Big House.
Week 12 – In a game completely dominated by Ohio State, everything seemingly falls apart for Michigan. Long TDs allowed, wide-open receivers on multiple occasions, fumbles, poor execution, coaches fighting with players on the sidelines. You name it, it went wrong. Ohio State actually puts the brakes on and settles for a 42-7 win. Three 4th-quarter drives inside Michigan territory are cut short by merciful play-calling from Ohio State. Michigan leaves Columbus with their worst record ever and a thousand unanswered questions.
How bad was it? Could it have been any worse?
The answers are going to be found over the next two seasons. If the turmoil can settle down over the next few weeks, and Michigan can right the ship before recruiting season ends, they have a chance at returning to the bowl picture in 2009. But like Charlie Weis at Notre Dame, fans need to stop making excuses for the Titanic-proportion disaster that 2008 was. And if that sideline fight was any indication of what it’s like to be on the Michigan football team, 2009 could get even worse.
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