The Last Hurrah

It is halftime.  Blessed more than the rest of us or just lucky?  Neither are destined to last.

Was that Chip Lindsey on the sideline?

Before the game NFL mock drafts suggested four Michigan players (three with Colston Loveland a potential) and Jalen Milroe early in the second round.

The biggest surprise has been Milroe.  Sherrone Moore was the beneficiary.

Oh no, the second half is starting.  Ball on 16.  Jordan Marshall for nothing.  The first half was Davis Warren's best ever and that is not saying a lot.

It just isn't going to work.  The analyst announcer doesn't know what he is talking about.  Michigan's offense does not have another gear.  Warren made an awful, regression to the norm play and now he is injured.  He'll say he was trying to do too much.

This may not end well.

 

Michigan Football, Reliaquest Bowl, and Moore

https://www.si.com/college/michigan/football/what-michigan-football-offense-will-look-like-with-tight-end-coach-steve-casula-interim-offensive-coordinator-alabama-reliaquest-bowl

There are two current storylines and an overall theme.

The first story is the Reliaquest (whatever that means) Bowl.  Michigan had a lousy season with a couple of wins over rivals.  They are going to be worse in the bowl with opt-outs and transfers.  The biggest event has probably Chip Lindsey at offensive coordinator and he signed but apparently on vacation.  Great hire.  North Carolina was worse than Michigan and they all got fired.

Anyway, the news is Michigan in a bowl is no news.  I'm glad the coaches and players feel they deserve a reward and more practice/play time.  Maybe they can even have some nice dinners, sight-seeing, and even some beach time, all on the house.

Kalen DeBoer is super hard-nosed and awfully conflicted in terms of putting on a nice face for the cameras and then acting like a tyranical, single-purpose tyrant.  Not a nice guy, but that is the norm among winning coaches.  He has apparently convinced the whole team to buy into the bowl.  Happy face now, but those kind of decisions can fester.

The other current news is the Michigan roster.  I see Sherrone Moore as an overall failure, but honestly, the recruiting class and incoming portals are respectable; not "top notch" as the Caddyshack pundit (Ted Night) exhorts, but top-10ish is in the ballpark.  Of course the stats are skewed by Bryce Underwood (I'll get to that), but I usually count the numbers of likely-to-be-good if they stick with recruits as top 300 types.  Looking at the ESPN 300 Michigan has about ten or eleven.  Same in the portal:  about half, RB, DT, CB, and LB are look from afar as potential all-Big Ten or NFL type players, again, if they stick with it and don't transfer all over the place.  They can't all be stars; the world need ditchdiggers too.  

But still, unless something dramatic happens, like Aiden Hutchinson suddenly re-enrolling, the defense is going to be worse next year and the passing game has not been fixed at all.

Michigan needs to cut the roster.  They lost 16 transfers, so far -- a lot, possibly the most ever.  More than a few probably had--at Michigan--potential.   

It is all, in a nutshell, the Sherrone Moore way.  Safe, unspectacular hires with long-term dollars.  A few possible, conservative stop-gaps.  No evidence of anything big on the field, in recent history, or upcoming.

---

I have been around long enough to realize that #1 players usually pan out, eventually or in one way or another.  Same goes for prospects rated highly but below that.  Often these are kids with pedigrees, experience, coaching, and iron wills with respect to the NFL.  That is or was, of course, before the new $$$ for merely an image era.  Underwood is likely good now and destined to join the league.  Even if he is as good as humanly possible, he won't lead Michigan to significant success next year because Moore does not have the roster or the personal experience.  Picture it, maybe a little passing game fill-n and a little better in 2026; then, maybe, all bets are on for 2027.  That is the idealistic, mythical, absolute best that could happen.

It is also easy to envision something much more mediocre with possible a possible injury, transfer, turnover problems, a coaching change, etc.  Heaven forbid, a domestic abuse incident.  It is not rational for anyone to hang the hopes of the team on a 17-year old kid.

In the meantime, it nothing more than a distraction; not a hypothetical one, but a real one.  Michigan lost two other excellent QB recruits--one this year and one next.  The whole thing casts a money-crazed pall.  Underwood didn't appear to show a lick of interest in Michigan without the money.  It is a horrible precedent just as likely to backfire as it is to succeed.

The worst news I have seen about the Michigan roster is Davis Warren will be back next year.  Ditto that RE the ReliaQuest bowl.

What really is going on?  Why is the team such a downer?  Next I'll look into what is really going on.  Who are Sean Magee and Tom Gamble? 

High Marks in Low Places

 

LINK

Not.  Expected.  Luck.  Money cannon.

13-10 Ohio State Shocker

The whole game.  3.12 gb on NFL-Video.

 

Michigan Stars of the Game.

1. Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant

2. Kalel Mullings

3. Aamir Hall and Makari Paige

4. Dominick Zvada (a given)

 

The Bigger Picture RE Sherrone Moore.

It is not as though he was going to be fired.  Wins over Ohio State and Michigan State means the season is a mild success.  It was ugly aside from that.  He is young and black and that is starting to take hold; it was never about the players not playing hard.  RE NIL:  it is odious but if you are going to play the game you have to play to win.  At the moment the future looks incomplete; that is solvable with the portal (and NIL money).  It took a while but Wink Martindale long-term is an asset.

 

Amazing Because

No Colston Loveland, no Will Johnson, Donovan Edwards injured, very little Semaj Morgan.  Grant and Graham looked like as though they played every defensive snap.

Even Davis Warren's completions are usually off-target; he made maybe 3-4 accurate passes the whole game with two interceptions  He had one run for a first down.  It is amazing and a tribute to the rest of the team that they could run under those circumstances. 

 

What Did He Say?

Rewind.  "A brilliant young coach.  What a coaching performance,  today nobody giving the Wolverines a chance,  this young man has a brilliant mind, is a brilliant coach, and he's just getting started..."

"Sherrone Moore says 'we didn't cheat this time''"

"He was turning the ball over way too much.  He has solved that."  Klattt on Warren.

 

Finally Saw It Live

#1 Barham Unsportsmanlike Conduct for signaling shooting  a gun.

Who was the Michigan back at the end doing backflips? #23 Marshall.  But then he was walking sadly off by himself?  Must be another #23.  They cut it off before the fight.

The Fight at the End

More

Coming Soon.

Sherrone Moore: Pimp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I Dislike About Sherrone Moore

 Many people have asked, "Peter, what is it you dislike about Sherrone Moore?"  Now, on the eve of a final, visible beatdown, one of those everyone knows it's coming but it is still humiliating games, I am providing this list.  It is all things he has done, not something vague or unprovable like "he is in over his head."

1,  He is not gracious.  He does not compliment the competition.  In post-game news conferences he shows no confidence, leadership, or enthusiasm.  He appears to lack respect for the fans, the university, reporters, or anyone besides himself.

2.  He has violations in his past and with his colleagues and he hasn't denounced it or expressed a desire to run a clean program.

3.  Recruiting with money is gross or desperation or both.

4.  He has lost too many games.

5.  He is a poor in-game manager.

6.  He has lost too many previously-commited recruits, a bad indicator.

7.  His team makes too many penalties, in particular personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

8.  His verbal abilities are poor; he repeats coachspeak to the point of not telling the truth, e.g., for an injury he says "he is working through something.

9.  His coaching staff is unimpressive: a defensive coordinator with no college or recruiting experience; receivers coach, offensive coordinator, special teams, and perhaps other position groups have mistakes, injuries, and other notable gaffes.

10.  He is dour.  He is downright depressing.

EDIT:  No one has asked me.  I just felt obligated.

11.  He has a temper reminiscent of Juwan Howard.  On the sideline and on national TV.  He looks unaware of his surroundings and others.  Of course he realizes the team looks terrible and it is his neck on the line..  He is handling it poorly.

 

November Big Ten Football

What do you call it?  Real college football.  Good college football.  

It is still the first quarter.  Indiana at Columbus, Ohio is real football.  Indiana took the kickoff for a touchdown.  Will Howard is a really good quarterback.  He is big, White, and you'd think he is slow, one dimensional, or boring.  He is anything but; excellent passer, runner, and emotional.  He was recruited and I guess paid to put Ohio State over the top, or at least up to it.  That is the way you have to do it--you can't teach someone to do it in one season. 

Indiana is undefeated.  I will not be Googling Indiana football coach.  The game matters in the standings.

Michigan plays Northwestern at home later.

Indiana stooped OSU on 4th down at the 2.  Ohio State has a lot of yards; passing yards.  That is going to be the deciding factor.  7-7 and it is going to continue.

Michigan better hope they get lost on the way to The Shoe next week.

If Indiana wins they deserve it.  

I must be getting old, or good at this. I could see it coming, halfway through the 3rd, IU has 68 yards, 18 rushing,  OMG, the Suckeyes are going to score again.  They are a machine.  That stadium may look like the rest of Ohio--concrete, fencing, and fake turf, but it is murder.  Whatever Chip Kelly is doing, it is working; they have the matchups.  Views of the stadium are nothing but business-like red.  Don't they know those are Indiana's colors?  Intelligence was never a prerequisite.  It is not that they are not enthusiastic, it is just that there are so many they blend into one.  There are a lot of crowd barriers.  There is a lot of crowd.

And these people are not normal.  They live for it.  Only when it is zero degrees and snowing do I enjoy seeing their bestial outfits.  

It is as if Marvin Harrison, Jr. never left, and with an even better quarterback.  It is getting ugly and someone is going to get hurt.  Or maybe some extracurricular... You have to watch the whole game to see how the people react.  It is nothing like earlier in the game but Indiana is still punchy.  Ohio State is focused; no way Indiana is going to get in the way.  The Indiana transfers are not up to the task.  This one is over, but I still want to see if anyone loses their cool or if Curt Cignetti eats it.  Mark Dantonio as prophet RE pride and failure.  They have a good field goal kicker too.  Indiana has 91 yards.

Sherrone Moore should donate $5 million to charity.  He got a free year.  It begs the question of who said it first or last.  If it happens again, you're fired.

Michigan is going to get killed.  And they're going to enjoy it in Ohio.

Up Next - More Sat-Action.  Who is Brian Hartline.  I see he didn't go to college, he went to THE Ohio State University.  Just get it over with.  Ohio State has good corners; look for some interceptions.  I think Michigan is really going to have trouble moving the ball.  The game is almost over.  Indiana is playing like Michigan with a garbage time touchdown.  There is playing to win and there is just playing the game.  "Unbelievable"(Joel Klatt), Ryan Day showed-up by TreyVeon Henderson.  I try to watch the whole game.  They're singing an anthem to concrete.

Champions Circle

Jolin and Larry Ellison.  Are you f**cking kidding?

It is a story.

It is about how many people Sherrone Moore has let down in 10 months.

We should all be so lucky, to have that kind of support.

Gotta Have It

OK, I was wrong.  I had this theory that NFL-Video gets more NCAA views than NFL views.  The stats of likes or views or whataever they are is simple.  Kansas City rules.  Have you ever been to Kansas, Kansas City, or even Missouri?  I have.  I'd rather be in Southern California.  I still wonder what all the NCAA views add up to.

Those of us who need it gotta have it.  Michigan is a big dud so I have to look elsewhere.

I have this other theory:  if the world is right, USC beats Nebraska.  I know Nebraska's coach is a former big-time NFL coach who was at least well paid and sought after even if he has been a little bit of a weenie lately.  Nebraska was making strides.  Recently those strides have been teenie-weenie if not backward.  

Hard times in talent rich Nebraska.  Quick check, Nebraska has had championships as defined by Wiki since the Big 8 broke up in 1996 and became the Big 12.  Tom Osborne was still there and Frank Solich did rather well record-wise (58-19).  Solich was not good enough for the greedy Huskers who will always demand a return to some former world where cornfields rule.  Just about the only truth in NCAA football is that instability.

The question isn't if Matt Rhule is a good coach or not, it is how the hell is he going to do it in Nebraska?  Look at who you are up against!  The Big Ten has three (now 4) teams in the top 5.  James Franklin, Luke Fickell and Kirk Ferentz are better coaches than Sherrone Moore and so are PJ Fleck, Jonathan Smith and possibly others too.  Washington, USC, and maybe even UCLA are sleeping giants; all three are great schools in big metro areas with gorgeous campuses.

Note to self and others:  the new TV deal is great.  Out with ESPN and ABC; in with CBS and NBC with the best announcers and coverage existing.  There's still BTN for those non-big games like Michigan.  There is no secret behind it.  These schools are powers; they are the biggest and the best.  It is a fluke that the geographical area includes Nebraska.

Indiana isn't on a par with Oregon or Ohio State (or, sorry, forgot Penn State) but they show no signs of slowing down.  We're sitting here watching Coach Moore fumble and attempt to matriculate; Michigan is completely out of the picture.  Even Rutgers; Greg Schiano hasn't shown an ability to build Rutgers into something more but at least they are competitive.  Maryland has regressed.  Purdue is dead.  

Looking more closely at the Big Ten:  Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Rutgers are decent teams that are going to bowls.  Oregon, Indiana, Ohio State, and Penn State are killing it.  Michigan belongs with Maryland, Northwestern, and Purdue.

It is now Friday before the big Michigan-Northwestern game.  I'm still watching USC-Nebraska.  Brock Huard is my favorite analyst.  Nebraska plays like Michigan--a little emotion--correction, useless swagger--with players who think they are better than they are (this is of course not including the Michigan players who actually give a damn). Man, that is a beautiful stadium.  USC plays at the Colloseum and UCLA at the Rose Bowl.  This is third time I have really tried to watch the whole game; you have to watch the whole game.  It has been worth it.  I already know USC is going to win big and that the world is right again.

Ohio State is going to crush Michigan

 . . . In the meantime, we wait.

We are now at the second Fall vacation break.  Northwestern is in a few weeks or so and then comes the final humiliation of the season.  A possible bowl will have no impact on anything or anyone.

For those of us not in a hurry, it will be a story.  It will take a while though.  The questions and analyses will include, but will not be limited to, the following.  Why was no search done?  Who cares what ex patriot Harbaugh said or does?  And maybe, What were you thinking?

In the meantime, we have only the head-hanging gloom and doom.  Let's take a look.

 

No praise for the opponent.  Nothing new.  No confidence at all.  At least hold your head up and be proud of something.

Indiana is not a great team given that Michigan--in this one, a half of Michigan defense--can get that close.

Including Will Johnson, Michigan has three and a half great players.  Next year will probably be worse.

It will take at least next year too.

The comments on YouTube are blistering; and, they are virtually unanimous.  Even those homers, happy to have something to do and eternally optimistic, stay away.  More and more people including national commentators are realizing and writing, Sherrone Moore is not the right man for the job.

Gawd, Northwestern.  That is not something to look forward to.  I remember when it was a fun excuse to get drunk or even travel to Evanston because Michigan was having a great season and they were sure to romp.  Times don't change that much, but head football coaches do.

If this isn't proof, what is?

The State of Michigan Football

 

 

Most predictions say take Indiana even with Michigan getting 14 points.

Michigan is always a big game for the opponents.  This year that team is especially psyched.  Michigan could be 0-4 away.

Oregon Duck Week

Probably the biggest news in the deluge for Michigan this week is...  

The floods in Spain are much more important.

But it is Saturday in the Fall in the United States.  Even bigger news of our own making looms.

And that is what Michigan news is, all of their own making.  It is all rumor, last-minute revelation, dysfunction, or failure.  

Barstool Sports is kind of a neat name but I don't know who Dave Portnoy is.  I don't really have a reason to Google him either.  When the rumors first broke that Michigan was interested again in Bryce Underwood--big deal--his reaction was laughter.  He is the only one who knows.  Now the "news" is that Michigan is raising the scum level and circling the wagons for NIL money.  It is all so similar to Rich Rod and Tyrelle Pryor.  That was a time when these things were a little more discreet.

Carter Smith is a high school student I have heard of.  He holds Florida awards and records and had been a future bright spot.  He was, past tense, everything you want in a quarterback recruit.  Now his is but another Sherrone Moore failure.

Ohio State - Penn State is at halftime, 14-10, respectively.  Ah, the top three after Oregon.  I cannot listen to Urban Meyer at halftime.  Go Nittany Lions.

Perhaps we are seeing Moore's strategy.  Racism, I'll write it, and Wink Martindale and Kirk Campbell are not the solution.  Anyway, it is money and stealing others' recruits.  Hardly noble.  And you could even speculate (Putin?) desperate.

But Moore does have deep recruiting roots in Kansas.  Why would a top-100 o-line recruit want to come to Michigan?

And he condones a sideline-clearing fight after his team has already won the game.

I'm hoping for 5-7.  Today with Oregon we're all going to see what it looks like.  Moore and Michigan was very lucky to have so many hone games with revenue this year.  The poor fans today...  I'm just an observer.

Head coach Moore and Will Johnson have a plan. 

TreVeyon Henderson looks better--leaner, faster, and stronger--than under OSU's discarded, fat, running backs coach who, BTW, Moore hired.  Michigan already had Kalel Mullings and Donovan Edwards.

The Ohio State - Oregon game was exceptionally close.  Penn State is really good.  Ohio State looks even better.  They are all stars; they make plays.

 

Michigan 24 Michigan State 17

Wouldn't you know it.  Sherrone Moore.  If he cannot embarrass the school in the game he will do it afterward.  Blame it on Moore.  I hope he is suspended, again.  Leaving the bench or sideline for a fight is wrong.

Michigan taunts.

The game.  Michigan State has promise but they are not a great team.  I missed the beginning, but it was just as expected.

 

Then, when I finally found it online, Michigan was stopping, even pushing Michigan State backward.  They made aggressive, individual, self-congratulating plays.  Some of the players don't really tackle, they hit or go for the ball.  Sometimes they fail; it is more about opportunity and violence than anything else.  This is their trademark.

Josaiah Stewart made a great, smart, play for a fumble.  It was working.  Aiden Chiles was a little rattled.

That provided some momentum.  Then, surprisingly, Davis Warren connected.  It was like a psychological trick, the weird clapping ritual before the snap.  It worked.  He was a different quarterback,  decisive and on target, and even a somewhat mobile.  Donovan Edwards threatened.  Colston Loveland caught.  Then Michigan State could not stop Alex Orji.  He too was successful.  From there Michigan resorted to trickery, flea flicker, halfback pass, and wildcat.  It all worked.

Finally, they had a lead.  They were actually playing complementary football.  Shockingly, Jonathan Smith may have been outcoached. 

Sunday morning and I'm letting YouTube guide me through highlights.  Colorado is much worse--the guy got a penalty for waving his finger at the Cincinnati defender as he was scoring.  Then Hunter did a backflip in the endzone while someone else was dancing.  Now he is dancing again, because he is scoring again.  I live in Colorado.  I do not like this Colorado team.

I'm not real fond of this Michigan team either.  I sometimes wish they would remove the names from the jerseys.  But I also realize Michigan football has always been about players who can not just handle, but crave the spotlight.

Blog Post

I hope Sherrone Moore and Warren Davis or Davis Warren and whoever it is get creamed.  Even if that doesn't happen, it is as likely as not.  Much of what I have read favors the Spartans over the void that is Moore.  We have seen it before, and Moore stands there like he is some analyst on the 19th floor.  We are finally aware it has been going on for 10 months.

There is no way Michigan wins this game as if to say they will even challenge Oregon or Ohio State.  Michigan plays as if it is practice, not to win.  The outcome with immature State is hard to predict.  After all, Michigan beat Fresno State and Arkansas State.

Losing to a team that was totally decimated and rebuilding would be justice.  Moore, you deserve it for what you have done to the team that was and the program.  It is a great way to make up for being suspended too.

Any moron--queue movie clip--will tell you Michigan's steadfast gameplan:  throw short to Loveland, run Mullings 20-25 times, and wishful hopeful execution, do not turn it over.  In other words, safety, safety, safety.

Here's the catch:  in the meantime, Michigan State will move the ball and eventually score.  It has little to do with possession time, when Michigan State has the ball they will retain it or score.  When it happens often it will be a wide margin and disgrace.

Moore and (previously unemployed) Wink get no bye if State lights it up.  WTF is up with him anyway, why was he so immediately available and what has he done in recruiting?

I'm really looking forward to this game.

Sherrone Moore is a bad face of  Michigan football, bags under eyes and all.  He doesn't even have a change of clothes.

 I sure hope I'm not wrong about the game.

Michigan State Week

 

The link upper right is a decent forecast (I could read it on my phone but it is paywalled on my pc).  MSU 16 Michigan 13.

But the author suggests a lot of tension among Michigan fans in the stands.  I think it will be more like boos.

I was thrown off in my Illinois preview by Brian Cook, Mgoblog, who predicted Michigan's lines would be a positive and Michigan will win.  I don't like to predict scores because I tend to compromise or water down what I really think.  I thought Michigan would lose to Illinois 27-10.  As I wrote then, Michigan usually looks/starts lethargic coming off a bye; that was certainly true.

This one I think will be around what the Lansing Journal writer says.

Iowa is not the same away from home, and they are sometimes not great on turf at night (see Big Ten Championship).  Michigan State looks as expected:  upbeat, energetic, rising, young and gaining confidence.  Aiden Chiles looks the part of someone to build around--some skillful throws and one really bad one at the outset.  He is young and probably can be rattled, unless, Texas gameplanned for quick releases, and it worked.  Several Michigan players (e.g., Josaiah Stewart and TJ Guy) have shown nasty streaks and, something I don't like about this iteration of Michigan football, Michigan will take cheap shots and try and knock Chiles out of the game.

Wow, Chiles just threw another awful ball and this one was caught.  Earlier, he tossed one out of bounds for intentional grounding.  Then he ran around for about 10 seconds holding the ball vulnerably.

But in this one the opposing quarterback is Cade McNamara.  And Michigan State has had success gang-tackling Iowa's fullback, Michigan-like offense.  Anyway, McNamara threw a couple of uncatchable passes and Iowa missed a field goal.

Chiles is back to slinging it and getting slammed to the ground.  What happens when...  a 6th-year transfer  QB is now in.  Freshman WR Nick Marsh is ballyhooed and is probably as dangerous as anyone Michigan has seen this year.  Same for Michigan State's kicker Kim.  Yardage is 180 MSU, Iowa 50.

Chiles runs the option too.  He is more than a scrambler, he is a dangerous runner.  He has quick feet and a pocket escape move similar to that of a former Michigan quarterback.  With Chiles State's offense is versatile and the playcalling supports it.

Strange game:  12-0 State with 4 field goals and they have a touchdown-scoring problem.  It is a fun game to watch.  Michigan State plays clean and with energy; Iowa is always tough and disciplined.

Iowa's offense is as bad as ever; Michigan, with Mullings and Loveland, may even be better.  At times.

Switch gears. 

Michigan is not just unsuccessful--against decent competition they are a .500 team at best, with blow-out losses--they are directionless.  In other words, Sherrone Moore is not only not a plus, he is a minus.

Michigan has more star power than Michigan State.  They should be better than Michigan State, I would say, still watching the Iowa game...  it is close, but Michigan State may be the better team now.  They will definitely be the better team next year.  

BTW, State has already played Oregon and Ohio State.  That is also a robust prediction of what is going to happen to Michigan.