What we learned from the first game!

1-Coaches did not have our players prepared mentally or physically. Coach Carr admits responsibility in his post game interview with Jim Brandstatter.
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2-Our players are not mentally tough, and lack leadership. Other teams including Appalachian State show week in and out a tougher mental attitude than our players this year, last year and in previous years. Hart did a great job today responding from an injury to bring us back into the lead; that was great leadership. It is no mistake that Henne, a four year starter and senior, was not elected as a Captain. As a result, our offense is good, but not great; other teams don't fear us, and Appalachian State certainly didn't.

Our players did not take Appalachian State and this game as seriously as Appalachian State did. I loved the postgame interview with an Appalachian State player who said "they just another team with a jersey." The Mountaineers Bandit, Pierre Banks, had 12 tackles, 2 for loss including one sack and a fumble recovery. Corey Lynch has 11 tackles including the blocked field goal to preserve the win, and former friend and teammate of Jamar Adams, Leonard Love, had 8 tackles and a 26 yard pass interception in the 4th quarter. They were tougher than us physically and mentally.

If someone had predicted that Appalachian State would score 34 points in this game, convert 5 of 5 red zones (or even achieve 5 red zones) and dominate time of possession prior to this game, I'd have thought the person would need to consider mental health services. Now that this game is over, it is I who am in need.

3-Our defense is worse than we expected! They showed signs of improvement in the second half, but couldn't stop the Mountaineers when they had to. Our linebacking is still weak, and certainly weaker than last year when we had a great linebacker in David Harris. We did get great leadership in the second half from Shawn Crable who finished with 10 tackles, 2.5 for loss including 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

Brandent Engelmon replaced Stevie Brown after he was burned for 3 TDs in the second quarter, and was in on 7 tackles, one for loss and an interception. One of the great coaching strategies by Moore was to exploit our young free safety with post patterns. Our defensive backfield is weak, and many changes in personnel there only mean that by the end of the year we'll probably have Warren, Wolfolk and others playing more.

Frosh who did play today mostly on special teams include: Helmuth, Clemons, Hemmingway, Webb, Warren, Wolfolk and Chambers.

At Linebacker, Chris Graham had nine tackles, but how many missed tackles? We need some statistics on missed tackles because there is where we see a problem at Michigan. Brandstatter and Beckman cited our defensive lack of "flow to the ball" in the first half. At middle or MIKE-Inside Linebacker, neither Thompson nor Ezeh could contain Edwards or Richardson on draws or quarterback draws. How many times did our defensive ends have their number called? Tim Jamison did have 6 tackles including one sack, but Brandon Graham had no tackles, a disappointing performance. Part of that was their coaches trying to keep up in a 4-2-5 defensive scheme so they could exploit our lack of linebacking speed. Yes, we got 4 sacks, but they created enough red zones and big plays to get 34 points. Yes, we certainly miss Lamarr Woodley, Alan Branch, David Harris, Prescott Burgess, Leon Hall and Rondell Biggs.

5-Our offense is good, but not great like we'd hoped. Yes, we have three very good wideouts in Manningham, Arrington and Mathews. Yes, we have a senior quarterback, a good offensive line, and a wonderful senior running back in Hart. Our offensive line did not get us 200 net rushing yards against Appalachian State. The Mountaineers were also able to hurry Henne several times with their blitz package. Minor has talent, but he is no Michael Hart and we don't have a lot of other options. We are still a pretty one dimensional offense that defensive coordinators can contain and manage. We will score our share of points, and maintain time of possession against some of the opponents on our schedule; however, our offense is not scary by any means.

6-Our special teams are not very special! They are not even mediocre; they are poor. Two blocked field goal attempts in the last two minutes. Numerous delay of game and improper substitution problems in critical moments. Fumbles by Sears on punt and kickoff returns. We certainly miss Steve Breaston and Garrett Rivas.

7-I think the off field problems and issues have definitely affected this year's team, and not in a good way. Booted off the team: Eugene Germany, Chris Richards, Quinton Patilla, Laterryal Savoy, Rob Thornbladh, etc. Disciplined, but allowed back on the team: Carson Butler, Adrian Arrington. Transfers: Jason Forcier (Stanford), James McKinney (Louisville), Ryan Mundy (West Virginia) New possible issues: Marques Slocum, Obi Ezeh, etc. Problems with previous players who are now coaches: Jim Harbaugh (Stanford), Corwin Brown (Notre Dame), etc.

Injuries and/or other disciplinary issues prevented Mouton, Williams, Babb, etc. from making the first "dress" list. By my count, that is 15 players, and a significant factor in team morale.

8--Their skill players were better than our skill players on both sides of the ball. Edwards was better than Henne, Hart was better than Richardson, but Jackson outplayed Manningham. Certainly, the Mountaineers defensive backs were better than ours, and covered our receivers better than we covered theirs. The Mountaineers skill players were obviously hungrier than ours to prove they were at least as good if not better, and they proved they were better.

Observations on the loss to Appalachian State, 32-34.

1-Michigan comes up with 26 points in five red zones, a 54 yard TD run in the 4th quarter by Captain Hart and two turnovers in 11 possessions; the Mountaineers come up with one big play and create five red zones for four TDs, two field goals in 11 possessions for the win. They came back every time we took the lead.

2-Henne completed 20 of 38 for 236 yards and one TD, but a costly 4th quarter turnover when we had a red zone that could have given us the lead. Offense amassed 22 first downs and 478 total yards in 12 possessions, and 7 of 17 in 3rd and 4th down conversions. Henne was sacked once, and we were forced into three punts, three field goal attempts and we were stopped twice on 4th down including in the 4th quarter. Their defense made our offense look mediocre, and certainly Henne did not look like any Heisman, O'Brien or Maxwell candidate. Edwards was definitely the better quarterback today.

3-Hart rushed for 188 yards in 23 carries and 3 TDs including a long 54 yard run in the 4th quarter to give us a temporary lead. His availability was limited with a thigh bruise. Minor had 13 carries for 50 yards, and a fumble for a turnover. We outgained the Mountaineers in net rushing: 246 to 160. Minor, Massey, Manningham, Arrington, Moundros and Mathews all made catches. Mathews catches the lone TD, and had 7 catches for 67 yards including a big 4th quarter 1st down grab. Manningham catches a 46 yard bomb to set up the winning field goal attempt which was blocked with 6 seconds to go.

4-The Mountaineers burned our new Sophomore starting free safety, Stevie Brown, for a 68, 20 and 9 yard TD passes in the first half. They come every time we take the lead. The Mountaineers established a 3 minute time of possession advantage. Armanti Edwards was 17 of 23 for 227 yards for 3 TDs, rushed for 60 yards in 17 carries and 1 TD. Dexter Jackson had five touches for 133 yards, 3 catches, one punt return and an end around for 2 TDs. Richardson has 90 yards in 25 carries. The Mountaineers get 19 first downs, and were 7 of 13 in third and 4th down conversions for 387 total yards of offense. Ron English has a lot of work to do.

5-Defense comes up big in the second half! We get 4 sacks in the second half and create three turnovers. Morgan Trent gets the first turnover of the year, an interception which leads to a field goal.. Thompson and Brown were replaced by Ezeh and Engelmon to start the second half. Crable creates a fumble recovered by Thompson at the 31 in the 3rd quarter which led to a touchdown. Minor gives up the ball in the 3rd quarter at our 28, but defense holds them to a missed field goal attempt. Engelmon comes up with a big 4th quarter interception after we get the lead, 32-31. Points off turnover: Michigan 9 Appalachian State 0.

6-Special Teams need a lot of work. Sears had one nice kickoff runback of 31 yards, and two near disasters: he fumbled on the 18 that could've given the Mountaineers another red zone; luckily, the play was reviewed and overturned. Then, he fumbles at the two, but gets it back to start the offense at the 10 in the 3rd quarter. Sears also had a nice punt return in the 4th quarter of 13 yards plus a facemask that led to a red zone TD. Then, he fumbles the next punt, but luckily recovers. Inconsisent and Undependable? Yes, I think so.

Gingell was perfect on extra points, and made a 22 yard field goal; however, he had two late field goal attempts blocked with less than two minutes to go in the game. Gingell is not to blame, but atrocious special team schemes and blocking was. Mesko had three nice punts for 48.7 yard average. Engelmon and Warren had nice tackles on kickoff returns.

7-The Mountaineers had 7 penalties for 45 yards, we had 7 for 57 including a late hit by Austin Panter setting up a drive at the Michigan 37 for the Mountaineers. Jamison also gets a facemask penalty on their last TD drive. 5th year Senior Kraus had a 4th quarter false start in the red zone and another 4th quarter false start plus a delay of game when we could have run out the clock in the 4th quarter. We failed at both two point conversion attempts. Many of these things reflect poor clock management and poor coaching. Good teams don't make these types of mistakes.

8-Moundros started over Helmuth at fullback. Greg Banks started over Brandon Graham at defensive end. Mouton, Slocum, Butler, Babb and Williams did not dress. I'm sure we'll find out about whether those decisions were injuries or disciplinary on Monday when Carr addresses his "no dress" list. Terrence Taylor went out with a left leg injury, but came back. Mike Massey went out with a knee injury, but came back.

9-The game ended appropriately with the best team winning, and deservedly so. I don't think the press or the coaches will vote us #5 next week.

Observations on the first half with Appalachian State, 17-28.

1-Michigan scores on their first drive, but the Mountaineers come right back with a 68 yard touchdown pass to Dexter Jackson. Michigan comes up with 17 points in three red zones; the Mountaineers come up with one big play for 7 points and create three red zones for four TDs in five possessions. 14-7 after one quarter Michigan, 17-28 at halftime. Our defense couldn't stop them, and their defense contained our offense pretty well.

2-Henne completes 14 of 22 for 163 yards and one TD. Offense amasses 12 first downs and 222 total yards in six possessions, and 4 of 8 in 3rd and 4th down conversions. Henne was sacked once, and we were forced into two punts, a field goal and stopped on 4th down on another drive. Their defense made our offense look mediocre.

3-Hart rushes for 57 yards in 10 carries and a TD. Minor has 6 carries for 18 yards. Minor, Massey, Manningham, Arrington and Mathews all catch 13 passes. Mathews catches the lone TD, and has 3 catches for 40 yards.

4-Defense looks weak! The Mountaineers burn our new free safety, Stevie Brown, for a 68, 20 and 9 yard TD passes. They also come back both times we take the lead, and outgain us 244 yards to 228. The Mountaineers also establish a 2 minute time of possession advantage, and a net rushing yard advantage, 120 to 65. Armanti Edwards was 7 of 7 for 129 yards, rushed for and 3 TDs, two to Dexter Jackson. Jackson has four touches for 133 yards, 2 catches, one punt return and an end around for 2 TDs. Richardson has 61 yards in 16 carries. The Mountaineers get 10 first downs, and were 6 of 8 in third and 4th down conversions. Ron English has a lot of work to do.

5-Special Teams need work. Sears had a nice runback of 31 yards on a kickoff, but fumbled on the 18 that could've given the Mountaineers another red zone; luckily, the play was reviewed and overturned. Engelmon and Warren had nice tackles on kickoff returns. Gingell was perfect on extra points, and made a 22 yard field goal. Mesko had two nice punts for 90 yards. The Mountaineers had 5 penalties for 25 yards, we had 3 for 37 including a late hit by Austin Panter setting up a drive at the Michigan 37. Jamison also gets a facemask penalty on their last TD drive. Neither team had a turnover.

6-Moundros started over Helmuth at fullback. Mouton, Slocum, Butler, Babb and Williams did not dress. I'm sure we'll find out about whether those decisions were injuries or disciplinary on Monday when Carr addresses his "no dress" list. Terrence Taylor went out with a left leg injury, but came back. Mike Massey went out with a knee injury, but came back.

7-Hope everyone is enjoying the Big Ten Network and its new partnership the Comcast and Charter Cable!

8-If we can't beat the powers of the East like Appalachian, maybe we can lick the Eagles from EMU. So much for the big, bad #5 rated Wolverines.