Lookout Terrelle, there’s a new kid in town and he’s faster even with his shoes untied – watch him make #25 miss and then watch him blow by #1, #33 and #13 despite the poor angle – amazing!

Michigan fans are cautiously optimistic after Saturday’s blowout of Western Michigan. Up 31-0 at halftime, it could have been much worse. I’ll play both sides of the ball and give some reasons why we should remain cautiously optimistic and why we shouldn’t.

1. Depth on defense – sophomore cornerback Boubacar Cissoko left the game in the second half due to injury but appears to be a go versus Notre Dame. When he did leave, his absence was painfully apparent. The secondary seems to be the most shallow unit. Any losses at those positions could spell a major weakness.

2. Inexperience of Forcier in truly huge games – although true freshman Tate Forcier looked like a seasoned pro out there and proudly claims that he just doesn’t get nervous, I need to see him play against Notre Dame before I’m a 100% believer. But damn was he polished! He may have chose to tuck it and run a little too soon and a little too often. I don’t know if that was because the coaching staff limited his options or if it was due to his own decision-making. He also seemed to have to juke too many defenders. This could have been because the offensive line was not opening holes or because Forcier was impatient and running too early in the play. I would like to see him wait for the field to open up and then take off and scamper for 15+ untouched several times.

Btw, it should be abundantly clear right now why Michigan was 3-9 last year. Ohio State fans usually right it off as we were just that bad. The truth is that we didn’t have a quarterback who fit the system. To run Rodriguez’s offense, you need a quarterback who has legitimate speed and a legitimate arm as well as an understanding of the system. Sheridan and Threet had neither an arm or a leg and only a basic understanding of the system. If all you have is quarterbacks that can’t sustain drives then your defense suffers as well.

3. Unproven place-kickers – it was nice to see Olesnavage can a 44 yard field goal as well as the handling of kickoffs reasonably well. Like Forcier, I need to see this happen in the truly big games before I’m a believer.

4. It was Western Michigan after all – I’m really struggling here to come up with more reasons to remain guarded. Many are now mitigating the victory with the “it was only Western” remark. Funny, in the days leading up to the game, many had predicted us to lose this game. Western was 9-4 last year and they did beat Toledo. MAC teams are no pushover anymore – just ask Ohio State.

Ok, that’s all I got on why we should remain close to the vest and not start proclaiming a Big Ten Championship. Let’s switch gears and consider why we should start raising the glass right now.

1. Defense – was Greg Robinson the hire of the century or what? The former Syracuse head coach had these guys playing as a unit and with incredible purpose. I can’t remember seeing so many blue shirts around the ball on every play (ok, well maybe in 1997). I sure was worried when I learned we were facing the 4th or 5th best pro prospect in Hiller. I had visions of several 40+ yard pass plays going against us. If anything, we had pro scouts questioning the validity of their Hiller prognostications. The defense played outstanding.

2. Brandon Graham – the senior defensive end could have clearly gone pro last year. Thank god he stuck around for another. The guy was a beast out there. Graham didn’t have a sack but just missed several and was constantly putting the heat on Hiller. Although difficult to tally, “quarterback hurries” should be a stat. If they were, Graham would have a dozen or so. And how about the overall strength and conditioning of the defense. A year+ under Barwis has done wonders for these guys.

3. Forcier – I saved him until third but he could easily be the biggest reason to proclaim a huge turnaround from last year. I was amazed to see him come out on the first series and lead Michigan to a touchdown. I was even more incredulous when the ABC cameramen couldn’t keep up with the offense. Forcier had them immediately to the line after each play. That’s how the no huddle should be run. Remember what killed Ohio State against Texas last year? It was when Texas went to the hurry up offense. Ohio State’s defense couldn’t keep up. We appeared to be running it faster than Texas did last year.

4. de – nard, De – Nard, DE – NARD – Watch the highlight reel above and you will start to understand why he was not redshirted. He’s still raw but he has speed to burn. Clearly, he wanted to score a touchdown every time he touched the ball. If he can develop some patience, Shoelace has the potential to score every time he touches the ball.

5. Receiving corps – Matthews, Hemingway, Koger, Grady – when were you last able to name four receivers from Michigan without hesitating?

6. Zoltan Mesko – the guy averaged 47 yards on 6 punts yesterday. Not only was he doing a great Ray Guy impersonation but he’s left-footed to boot.

7. Crowd noise – with the new stadium, rumor has it that we finally sound like 110,000 rowdy fans. I can’t wait to find out next weekend.

8. No punt/kickoff muffs – I still have yet to watch the fourth quarter but I didn’t notice any punt/kickoff muffs – something that plagued us last year.

9. I’m still waiting for a youtube clip of Ricky Dobbs punishing Ohio State in the fourth quarter. When one comes up, I’ll post it. OSU fans are seriously worried about USC after their extremely poor showing against Navy and USC’s 56-3 drubbing of San Jose State. Some are wondering if it will be worse than last year’s 35-3 loss at USC.

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