Of course, it would have been nice to have beaten Utah in the season opener; however, a win may have not been what was needed. A win may have created a false sense of where this team really stands. Let’s face it – Michigan did not deserve to win that game, and they’ve got a long way to go in terms of preparation before they are able to put a respectable offense on the field.

I don’t think too many fans are disappointed by the loss, and many may have expected it. Utah is no pushover, and they put a tough team on the field. Michigan has too much inexperience on offense to effectively execute a complex offensive scheme like the spread. It may be mid-season before this team looks somewhat competent with the new offensive scheme. Who knows – it may be longer.

I was impressed with several things on Saturday, however.

1 – I do think that Michigan is a very well conditioned team. In fact, they are far better conditioned than they ever were under Carr. Under Carr, we saw far too many comebacks in the fourth quarter from the opposing team. I used to chalk that up to Carr’s conservative style. I now think that it may have been a combination of that as well as poor conditioning. It was fantastic to finally see a furious Michigan comeback. For the defense to be out on the field as long as they were and still stuff Utah for the entire second half, you know that conditioning had to play a huge role in that.

2 – I thought the special teams did a great job. Contrary to what the media has been saying, I think Mesko did a great job with the rugby style punting. I also think that coverage on the punts and kickoffs was excellent. There seemed to be some uncertainty on the kickoff return teams but it’s still early in the season.

3 – I need to review the entire game as I did miss some parts but I thought Sheridan did alright in his first start. I didn’t see his interception. Threet is just another of those big, slow, lumbering quarterbacks that, for some reason, Carr loved. They are both incredibly inexperienced and have a long way to go. Right now, it seems that the quarterback position is killing any opportunity of offensive effectiveness. Utah appeared to be stacked to stop the run and dared Sheridan/Threet to pass the ball. Against Miami, these two need to establish some confidence and complete passes. The spread ain’t going to be too effective if they ain’t gonna throw. Heck, let Carlos Brown have an extended shot at quarterback. At least, he’s got some speed.

Obviously, this team has a long way to go and another week ain’t going to solve much. It’s easy for some columnists to lambaste the team but they’re completely missing the point. I don’t know any coach who could take a freshman or sophomore quarterback behind an equally green offensive line, implement a new offensive system and produce an immediate winner. With that said, they still need to beat Miami. Their defense must stop Miami from the start of the game and not wait til the second half to decide to show up and play football.

You Should Also Check Out This Post:

More Active Posts: