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Posted on Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 10:51 a.m.

Bottom 5 moments of the season's first half for the Michigan football team

By Pete Bigelow

For a team sporting a 5-2 record just past the season’s halfway point, the Wolverines have endured more than their share of injuries, tumult and what Rich Rodriguez likes to call “drama.”

On Tuesday, I counted down the top five moments of Michigan’s season to date. Now it’s time to look at the bottom five moments of the year thus far.

Here we go:

5. Troy Woolfolk gets hurt In many ways, the fate of the Michigan defense was sealed the moment cornerback Troy Woolfolk dislocated an ankle in an August practice.

Not only was he the team’s most experienced player in the secondary, he was the only experienced player in the secondary. He entered camp, he said, in the best shape of his life.

The injury ended his season. In his absence, among others, the Wolverines have used three true freshmen cornerbacks this year. Predictably, Michigan’s pass defense ranks as the worst in the Big Ten.

4. Denard Robinson goes down

092510_UM V BGSU FBC ROBINSON HURT 1 LON.jpg

Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson on the sidelines after injuring his knee against Bowling Green.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

It might be the quietest moment in Michigan Stadium history.

More than 100,000 people collectively held their breath and remained silent when Denard Robinson didn’t get up following a Bowling Green tackle early in the first quarter.

Although he would be OK, Robinson didn’t return to the game because of a left knee injury. The moment underscored that in four short games, Shoelace had become essential to the Michigan offense.

3. NCAA starts round two If anyone needed further proof that the NCAA intends to deal harshly with Rich Rodriguez regarding rules violations at Michigan, it arrived when college sports’ governing body announced its findings from its investigation into his West Virginia tenure.

Five alleged rules violations at Morgantown were nearly identical to the ones found in Ann Arbor, the NCAA concluded on Aug. 4.

At this point, the ramifications of the two cases are unclear. For certain: Once the NCAA Committee on Infractions releases its findings in the Michigan case, Rodriguez will still have the West Virginia headache lingering.

2. Irish cream Michigan's secondary Standing in his own end zone, Notre Dame QB Dayne Crist fired a laser to tight end Kyle Rudolph at midfield, who took the reception the rest of the way for a touchdown that gave the Irish a 24-21 lead late in the fourth quarter.

The 95-yard TD was the second-longest in Notre Dame history.

Although Michigan would come back to win the game on the ensuing drive, the play embodied everything wrong with the Michigan defense this season.

Not only did the young group of defenders give up the big play in a crucial situation, they couldn’t catch a lumbering tight end from behind.

1. The curse of Mike Hart So many plays from the Michigan State game could claim the No. 1 spot - and doesn’t that really say enough?

Twice, Spartans running backs gouged the Wolverines defense on long touchdown runs, using a play the Michigan players later said they had practiced against often. Those were bad enough.

But the worst might have been the third-quarter flea flicker that clinched the game for MSU.

Out of the wildcat format, Larry Caper handed to Keshawn Martin who flipped the ball to quarterback Kirk Cousins who hit fellow QB Keith Nichol on a 44-yard pass that set up a TD for Caper that put the game out of reach for Michigan at 31-10. They lost 34-17. Three straight wins for Michigan State in the series. Little Brother has grown up.

Pete Bigelow can be reached at (734) 623-2556 or e-mailed at petebigelow@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeterCBigelow.

Comments

Chase

Sun, Oct 24, 2010 : 2:32 p.m.

No Team in America could deal with this many injuries and transfers. Carvin Johnson, probably out a few weeks after suffering a sprained knee. The thin and young secondary had lost six other players in the past two years Troy Woolfolk (injury), Justin Turner (transfer), Demar Dorsey (not admitted for academics), Adrian Witty (not admitted for academics), Boubacar Cissoko (kicked off) and Donovan Warren (left early for NFL). Jared Van Slyke, a third-year sophomore who would miss the opener with a broken clavicle. Injuries hurt Michigan football team's linebacking corps, defensive end transfers, The Michigan football team lost two linebackers Saturday, one probably for the season and one for a few days. Backup Mike Jones broke a leg against Notre Dame and coach Rich Rodriguez said Monday that Jones will probably not play again this season. Brandon Herron sprained an ankle, Defensive end Anthony LaLota asked for and received his release from Michigan on Monday. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive end redshirted last season and had not played this year.

Dusty

Thu, Oct 21, 2010 : 12:24 a.m.

"I think Pete nailed it. Number 1 for me was the way in which MSU beat Michigan, showing the distance between the two programs right now. Last year, UM was able to hang around and keep it close, but MSU had proven to be the better team throughout the game. This year, MSU proved it was the better team and UM was never in it. " Actually, I'd disagree. Last year Michigan's offense was pathetic for the first 55 minutes of the MSU game. They were shut down hard until they started to choke at the end of the game and let Michigan score on prayer possessions. This year Michigan moved the ball very well and killed themselves on 3 drives with poorly thrown passes to open receivers in the endzone. one of those turned into a field goal, but that's an 18 point difference. those 18 points would have made this a much different game. Michigan's defense is bad, but turnovers are the number 1 reason they lost the last 2 games.

St8rBoiInMN

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 11:34 p.m.

NCAA Rules: "#9 Not Putting Lloyd back in charge. Under Carr, the Wolverines compiled a record of 12240 and won or shared five Big Ten Conference titles (1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2004). Carr's 1997 team was declared the national champion by the Associated Press. Carr's record coaching against top ten-ranked opponents was 198. But... but... but... didn't he leave the cupboard bare?

NCAA Rules

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 10:22 p.m.

#9 Not Putting Lloyd back in charge. Under Carr, the Wolverines compiled a record of 12240 and won or shared five Big Ten Conference titles (1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2004). Carr's 1997 team was declared the national champion by the Associated Press. Carr's record coaching against top ten-ranked opponents was 198.

2sweetblue

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 8:37 p.m.

Oh boy now we are saying Dantonio to the Browns like tater has been saying every year Izzo to the Pistons.......... It's official Michigan is desperate!!

A2D2

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 7:59 p.m.

Okay, here we go. We're going to start the rumor of Dantonio going to the Cleveland Browns. It's gotta start someplace, so it might as well be here......... "A source close (hey, same town)to a Big Ten School reported today that...."

Jaxon5

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 7:08 p.m.

I think Pete nailed it. Number 1 for me was the way in which MSU beat Michigan, showing the distance between the two programs right now. Last year, UM was able to hang around and keep it close, but MSU had proven to be the better team throughout the game. This year, MSU proved it was the better team and UM was never in it.

Matt

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 6:50 p.m.

tate forcier or denard robinson?

Kubrick66

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 5:58 p.m.

"As I was saying, Alex, you can be instrumental in changing the public verdict. Do you understand, Alex? Have I made myself clear? " "As an unmuddied lake, Fred. As clear as an azure sky of deepest summer. You can rely on me, Fred. "

3 And Out

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 5:49 p.m.

Exactly what Throne would Rich Rod be on there Theo?

Aaron

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 4 p.m.

...and our secondary is so bad that you can pass too if you'd like.

Aaron

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 3:58 p.m.

How about the loss to Iowa. The bottom line is wins v losses. 2 of the top 5 have to be losses. Also, Greg Robinson has an excellent history as a D-coordinator. Whoever suggests otherwise is misinformed. "Robinson also served as the co-defensive coordinator at the University of Texas during the 2004 season. Prior to his role at Texas, he was defensive coordinator for three teams in the National Football League: the Kansas City Chiefs under Dick Vermeil, the Denver Broncos under Mike Shanahan, where his team won two Super Bowl championships in 1997 and 1998, and the New York Jets under Pete Carroll." Guess what defense I bet he never ran before? A 3-3-5. The problem is a stubborn HC (who is actually an O-coordinator and knows nothing about defense). Remember this is Michigan's 2nd D-coordinator under Rich. Running a 3-3-5 defense in the Big 10 is the equivalent of saying to Mich St, Iowa, Wisconsin, PSU, and OSU, "hey just run the ball, we'll let you rip off an avg of 6 yards a carry, you'll be able to dominate the clock and keep our prolific offense off the field."

BLUE fan Az

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 2:46 p.m.

Why didn't they just leave it at the top 5 moments? I'm sure we all have our bottom 5 for the season, and most will be drastically different! This article is a waste of time and it's just more fuel for the RR haters.

Webber's Grill

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 1:46 p.m.

#8. AnnArbor.com staffer Cindy Heflin is forced to remove Rich Rodriguez's profanity-laced tirade from the comments section of this article.

SonnyDog09

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 12:15 p.m.

Richrod: "Vince Lombardi couldn't fix this defense."

rnich231

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 12:13 p.m.

#7 Coach Dantonio matching RichRod for amount of Big Ten wins in the Outhouse

Lokalisierung

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 11:52 a.m.

"It might be the quietest moment in Michigan Stadium history." This is becoming a weekly event of him leaving a game. But #1 should just be the overall lack of a defense. RR play calling could come in maybe #5.

saginaw

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 11:39 a.m.

Pete, good job. We hate to see these; but it is what it is. Much of this focus is on a really bad defense -- and we know that a bad defense is NOT Michigan football. The Mike Hart curse is over-hyped. We are not losing to MSU because of Mike Hart -- in the last three years we have given MSU too many points: 35, 26, 34.

downwithmi

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 11:36 a.m.

The problem isn't the offense. The problem is greg robinson. Perhaps there was a reason he was fired from Syracuse after winning less than 10 games total in his career. Syracuse used to be a traditional football power, then robinson took over. I think they have decent defensive players, but they're in the wrong system and robinson is a poor coach. When you can't stop UMass and Indiana, a switch needs to be made. Denard and Company can't win every game by scoring 50 pts a game. It's not realistic. They need to cut robinson loose and find someone that understands their personnel. Michigan is still a good job if you can find the right fit. greg robinson is not the right fit.

InRichRodWeTrust

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 11:02 a.m.

My bad. I missed the "bottom" in the title. Lol,shows had bad the press is that this wouldn't suprise me as "the moments of the season."

InRichRodWeTrust

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 10:59 a.m.

Disappointing If I hadnt watched any games I wouldnt know Denard has 1096 rushing yards from reading this article, which is unbelievable.

A2D2

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 10:44 a.m.

Let's not quibble over the details. Okay, #6 is KEEPING Rich Rod.

P U MSU

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 10:24 a.m.

YP, Your #6 did not occur this season.

YPboyWRheart

Wed, Oct 20, 2010 : 10 a.m.

#6 Hiring Rich Rod.