Observations on the win over Houston, 50-3!

1-Well, the defense was awesome today! They completely shut down the Houston offense. Kolb was 15 of 30 for a paltry 64 yards; their offense ran 59 plays for 138 yards (2.3 per play). This includes 28 rushes for only 74 yards. We had 6 sacks in our 11 tackles for loss with a safety. The defense looks much quicker, and more solid up the middle with the addition of Jackson and Shazor. McClintock had played the whole way at MIKE as Diggs had some kind of personal tragedy this week. Houston was one for sixteen in 3rd down conversions, and one for one on 4th down.

2-Our offense looked absolutely horrid! It is hard to believe we have a senior quarterback starting his 31st game. Navarre was 13 of 30 for 136 yards and one TD pass. We are only 2 of 11 in 3rd down conversions. We had 28 first downs, nineteen of those by rushing (and most of those with a "dog tired" Cougar defense). We had 536 yards in 82 plays for 6.5 per play. We dominated time of possession with over 34 minutes. Navarre overthrew his receivers all day, and had his usual tipped passes. He took one sack and one almost sack. The only nice pass/catches were the 45 yard reception by Massaquoi, and the Edwards TD pass. The Cougars had 5 tackles for loss.

3-Our running game got off to a slow start, but ended up with 392 yards on 51 rushes. Perry had 184 yards on 27 carries continuing his Heisman quest with a 200+ yard per game average, and Underwood had 108 yards on 11 carries. We had 5 rushing touchdowns with 2 each by Perry and Rembert and one by Underwood. Jerome Jackson had 5 rushes for 60 yards including a 41 yard scamper. Our screens looked good and Perry had 5 catches for 23 yards leading our receivers. It was nice to see Tim Bracken; perhaps he, Braylon and Shazor experienced some type of discipline message in the first game with CMU along with Jackson.

4-Our kicking game and special teams also look awesome. Nienberg has boomed the ball on kickoffs into the end zone. Our kickoff return looked great with LeSueur running down to the Cougar 40 after a fake reverse on the safety kick. Our punting was solid with Finley forced to punt 5 times (due to our dismal offense) for nearly 42 yards per punt. Our punt returns look scary with Breaston's 60 yard TD negated due to an illegal block, but 5 returns for 51 yards officially. It looks like Curry and Breaston are alternating every other punt; Hall got 2 returns. We had 8 returns for 71 yards. Rivas was two of two on field goal attempts in the first half and looks to be the kicker we've wanted although he did miss one in the second half. Our coverage was good on both kickoffs and punts with one punt downed at the one, and another almost with Tabb missing the ball.

5-Harris was injured early, but it doesn't look serious. Woods has his hand wrapped because of a torn finger nail, but he looks much quicker rushing the passer. Larry Harrison didn't play due to injury, and Brabbs and Leoni were also in "street clothes." Crable, Gonzalez and Avant didn't play either. Our receiving corps are down to five healthy scholarship players and walk-ons. Stevens looks solid as does Van Alstyne, Massey and Kashama at the ends. Mundy came in and had three tackles in a reserve role. Joe Sarantos has got to be the toughest 3rd string linebacker in the Big Ten with 5 tackles in the 4th quarter. Woodard had 11 tackles and Gulley had 12 for the Cougars.

6-Kevin Dudley was the player of the game with his outstanding blocking for Perry and Underwood. Both Thompson and Ecker caught their first passes as Wolverines! Our 2nd team offense was two touchdowns of two attempts in the red zone. Bihl backup up Pearson rather than Cristopfel. Fisher was the 4th tight end in after Massaquoi, Mingery and Ecker so possibly another discipline for the first game. Kastl and Kaselitz both made it in at QB. Stewart and Shazor started at safety, but Jackson and Shazor played most of the way.

7-The first two games have been great to help us get ready for the tough season, and we've been able to play a lot of players which is great for attitude and unity; however, the Irish are coming and the game won't be easy. The road to a national title goes through Notre Dame.

Observations on the first half with the Cougars, 22-0!

1-Well, the defense came to play today! They completely shut down the Houston offense. Kolb was 7 of 16 for 42 yards; their offense ran 29 plays for 68 yards (2.3 per play). This includes 13 rushes for only 26 yards. We had 5 sacks in our 6 tackles for loss with a safety. The defense looks much quicker, and more solid up the middle with the addition of Jackson and Shazor. McClintock had played the whole way at MIKE as Diggs had some kind of personal tragedy this week. Houston was zero for eight in 3rd down conversions.

2-Our offense looks absolutely horrid! It is hard to believe we have a senior quarterback starting his 31st game. Navarre is 8 of 22 for 95 yards and no TD passes. We are only 2 of 9 in 3rd down conversions, and 17 points in 3 attempts in the red zone. We have 13 first downs, eight of those by rushing. We have 215 yards in 46 plays for 4.7 per play. We have dominated time of possession with almost 19 minutes of 30 played so we could easily be ahead 44-0 if we were clicking. Navarre has overthrown his receivers all day, and had his usual tipped passes. He took one sack and one almost sack. The only nice pass was the 45 yard reception by Massaquoi. The Cougars have 5 tackles for loss.

3-Our running game got off to a slow start, but is starting to click. Perry has 88 yards on 18 carries, and Underwood has 33 yards on 5 carries; each have scored a TD. Our screens have looked good and Perry has 5 catches for 23 yards leading our receivers.

4-Our kicking game and special teams also look awesome. Nienberg has boomed the ball on kickoffs into the end zone every time except one. Our kickoff return looked great with LeSueur running down to the Cougar 40 after a fake reverse on the safety kick. Our punting was solid with Finley forced to punt 5 times (due to our dismal offense) for nearly 42 yards per punt. Our punt returns look scary with Breaston's 60 yard TD negated due to an illegal block, but 5 returns for 54 yards officially. Rivas was two of two on field goal attempts and looks to be the kicker we've wanted.

5-Harris was injured early, but it doesn't look serious. Woods has his hand wrapped because of a torn finger nail, but he looks much quicker rushing the passer. Stevens looks solid as does Van Alstyne. Mundy came in and had his first defensive tackle. Woodard has 9 tackles for the Cougars.

6-We should be able to get a lot of 2nd and 3rd string players in for action in the 3rd and 4th quarter. We need to improve "big time" offensively for the Irish next week.