Western Michigan at Michigan football
Michigan football team's hopes for an 'outstanding season' start with beating Western
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There’s a sure way one of the rougher weeks in Michigan football history can get worse: Lose today’s season-opener to Western Michigan.
After spending the week answering questions about possible NCAA violations, potential player unrest and his own personal relationships, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez is eager to put the “unnecessary drama” behind him and get back to football.
“These guys have worked pretty hard, really for seven, eight months, but especially the last three weeks in camp to get ready for game week, and here we are,” Rodriguez said. “Nothing’s going to change their focus on getting ready for hopefully an outstanding season.”
Barely into September, Michigan’s season is off to a rocky start.
Last week, several mostly anonymous current and former players alleged that Rodriguez and his staff shirked NCAA rules on practice time. Rodriguez denied the charges and the university launched an internal investigation. Days later, a lawsuit against Rodriguez and his ties to a rogue former Clemson booster were revealed.
Beating the Broncos won’t make any of that go away - Michigan has hired the ex-head of the NCAA Infractions Committee to assist the investigation - but a win today could galvanize a team with major questions both on and off the field.
The Wolverines are coming off a 3-9 season that ranks as the losingest in program history, and they have little proven depth on either side of the ball.
“We all know what happened last year, and we don’t want that to happen again,” linebacker Stevie Brown said. “Everybody’s picking us last for a lot of things, or not where Michigan’s being typically picked to produce at. So we’re all ready and just anxious to get out there so we can show what we can do.”
True freshman Tate Forcier will start at quarterback for Michigan, the third true freshman to do so since 1975.
He edged classmate Denard Robinson and junior Nick Sheridan for the job, thanks to strong performances in two fall scrimmages. Rodriguez said he considers all three starters, and all three will play today.
“Generally you’ll keep them in a series, especially if we’re in a rhythm,” Rodriguez said. “But there are certain plays that maybe we’ll put them in and out of.
“We don’t have just a Wildcat package for (Robinson) or different packages for Nick or Tate, but there are some plays that some of them run better than others. We’ll play that by ear.”
Defensively, Michigan will have its hands full with Broncos quarterback Tim Hiller, a career 64-percent passer who’s playing behind a veteran offensive line.
Western graduated its top two receivers, and safety Louis Delmas was a second-round pick by the Lions, but the Broncos remain one of the most dangerous teams in the Mid-American Conference.
That’s a scary proposition for Michigan, which has lost two straight season openers - to Utah last year and Appalachian State in 2007 - and last year fell to a MAC team in Toledo for the first time.
“The MAC teams have proven over the years, not just against us, they can be (not just) very competitive but win,” Rodriguez said. “We’re playing a veteran quarterback, a veteran ballclub, and we know we’re going to get their best shot.”
Dave Birkett covers the University of Michigan football team for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidbirkett@annarbor.com
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honestly, i dont understand how this story about the hours allotted to michigan football practices was even a story. it seems really weak in even making the news, who cares if they go over some regulation of the NCAA, the world is full of regulations that are not imposed in every facet of life.
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Posted Sep 4 2009
Um, Mr. Birkett you are talking about Western Michigan. They do not have the scholarships, the recruiting, the talent, the coaching staff, the money, nor the facilities that Michigan has. Obviously, you are trying to lower expectations as Michigan is a two touchdown favorite...oh, and they are at home with 107,000 fans.
No faith, Mr. Birkett? You don't honestly believe that this is a 3-9 team this year do you?
To "a2jpb": I think the real story is that there are players on this team that respect the program but not the coach. They are playing for Michigan one of the storied college programs in the country. Any player would work their tail off for Bo, Lloyd, Pete Carrol or even Jim Tressel. Not some of these players- they complain to the media. It is difficult to "galvanize" a team (as RR hopes) when a cancer exists somewhere.
Mr. Birkett, let me give a bold prediction Michigan by 17.
That is what should be expected when Michigan hosts W. Michigan.
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Posted Sep 5 2009
Three words for Joseph.
Appalachian State.
Toledo.
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Posted Sep 5 2009
Dwight, you see there, ya' rubbing salt on their big opening day! :-)
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Posted Sep 5 2009
I find it humorous that so many of my fellow Michigan fans enjoy attacking any member of the media for almost anything they write in regards to Michigan. Example: MR BIRKETT, DO YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE MICHIGAN CAN'T BEAT WESTERN MICHIGAN? WELL, DO YOU SIR?RR COULD BEAT WESTERN BY HIMSELF, IN HIS SLEEP, WEARING LEAD SLIPPERS. I PREDICT WE WIN BY ONE HUNDRED...MORE IF TATE IS NOT WEARING HANDCUFFS. THAT IS THE EXPECTATION OF MICHIGAN PLAYING WESTERN, SIR.
All the guy was saying is that it could be a competitive game. Get over it.
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Posted Sep 5 2009
Really...The team hopes for an outstanding season...No..I figured they hoped for a terrible year...What a dumb title to a weak lack luster article...
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Posted Sep 5 2009
Big test WMU.EMU,DELLY STATE,and the GOLDEN DOMERS.But it will give the BLUE BRAINS something to rejoice about BEFORE they start playing the real teams.
Remember Though TICK------------TOCK
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Posted Sep 5 2009
Living 45 miles north of Columbus I e-mail NBC4 news every saturday with the count down. 76 days till Michigan beats OSU. All in for Michigan, Go Blue, wear Maize.
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Posted Sep 5 2009
"Barely into September, Michigan’s season is off to a rocky start."
Actually, in a FOOTBALL sense, it's off to a great start. It's only the constant harping of the media that makes it appear "rocky." I really wish the media would stick to reporting the news instead of trying to create it.
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Posted Sep 5 2009
azwolverine -
While I agree with Dave Birket, and the analysis over the past few days that says Western will be tough (Hiller is supposed to be the number 5 QB in the NFL draft next spring. Think about who's going to be 1, 2 and 3 ...), he's also perpetuating the Freeps allegations, and is the one who broke the Lawsuit and Banned Booster news.
So you can see how a few other Wolverine fans and I are feeling like the press has attacked us this week.
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Posted Sep 5 2009
Don't be so fast in insinuating that U of M will beat the Broncos! After all, the Broncos went to a bowl game last year and big, bad U of M didn't. I wouldn't put any money on U of M for this one!
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Posted Sep 5 2009
well susan maybe you should stick to your own teams msg board and let the true wolverine fans talk football. As far as all you RR haters go ahead and jump off the band wagon who needs you its bad enough that we have the media flying over like vultures we dont need negative so called fans to GO BLUE for the true fans
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Posted Sep 5 2009
To Kerch65- I was not informed that this was a message board for U of M sports. I was just stating a fact. Sorry to hurt your feelings.
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Posted Sep 5 2009