Joe

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 12:59 p.m.

I have a question for all of the RR supporters. Please tell me all/any reasons that you are proud to have RR as our coach? Can it be his overall and/or conference record? Can it be the number of bowl games he has taken us to? Can it be the outstanding defense he has put on the field week after week? Can it be the number of players that have left AA? Can it be his squeaky clean record with the NCAA both here and at WVA? Can it be the obvious improvement that we have seen in the team from year one to now? As for me, I have a grand total of ZERO reasons, so please help me to see the light.

Wolveroon

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 12:44 p.m.

We should have kept Ron English as DC.

heartbreakM

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 11:23 a.m.

I just read the Huge show's comments and re-read this commentary. I actually think if you look at the record, 5-1, most people would say, about what I expected if not better based on last year. But if you look at the backward progression ("regression" actually) of the defense in years since LC retired, and the absence of any toughness on offense in 2.5 years of RR when the defenses are really tough--well, that's not where I expected to be. Those who love RR keep saying, 'wait until he has his players, wait until next year...', but these are very troubling things to see. Last year, the offense in the Big ten was just horrible. Well, our offense against IU was fine, (no defense) but against MSU was just atrocious once MSU adjusted in the late first quarter. Meanwhile, our defense has worsened over the years, and no, this is not where I expected us to be. Perhaps 1 or 2 losses, but not a team without defensive toughness. I actually expected front 7 defensive smarts and toughness with sporadic offense, given DR's last year performance (exponentially improved this year) and lack of proven running backs (which is still true).

rongalap

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 11:21 a.m.

A tw0 man Defense (Martin & Mouton)will not cut it.Most of the other D players thought they were playlng flag football.My God,do they not know what a tackle is? And the secondary might just as well have mailed in their performance.It was painful to watch them. Unfortunately Denard and the Offense also had an off day. They will need to score at least 40 points per game to make up for a sad,sad excuse for a Defense. There are two Robinsons in the M football program,and one of them needs to go. Not Denard.

P U MSU

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 10:36 a.m.

Some of you people are unrealistic. Let me start out by saying I did not want Michigan to hire RR. Why? Because I dont like losing and I knew the next few years were going to be disappointing. Does this mean that RR is a bad coach? Hell no. RR is a great coach. Look at everywhere the guy has coach. He is a winner and he will win at Michigan. The players he has recruited are true sophmores. Give the guy a little more time to develop. The offense works. They have put up numbers the likes of which Michigan has never seen. Why is it taking him longer to win at Michigan than it did at other places? He is playing much better competition people. This is the Big 10. We have the #1 all-purpose back coming in next year to complete an already steller offense. On to the State game. Can you really blame the coach for the mis-reads of DR. Look, the kid is a true sophmore, he was bound to make mistakes. The guys he was trying to throw to were in fact open. That is not the fault of the coach. The one knock I will place on RR is how poor the defense is. He is ultiimatly responsible for the defense eventhough he is an offensive genious. However, they are even younger on defense and have had troubles with injuries. If RR gets fired as many of you are calling for, expect 3-4 more years of losing seasons. If you want wins, then support RR and where this team is going. Compare all you want to the great coaches of the past, but none of them have made the changes that RR has made. It is like comparing apples to oranges. The previous new coachs have merely continued the system that was already in place. RR has totally changed the system. It takes time. Trust me when I say this, firing RR after 3 seasons would be the biggest mistake in Michigan history. Even surpassing hiring him in the first place.

Gillete

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 10:35 a.m.

Tough loss to Sparty, first time in my lifetime that they have lost 3 in a row (born in 68') to the boys from East Lansing. My take is this; Spartans had (made) all the big plays, converted 3rd & 15 deep in their own territory, two long runs for TD's, blocked Fg, forced three U of M turnovers & did not self destruct. Let's hope the Spartans, Huskies & Irish keep winning. I can tell you this, I've been waiting with great anticipation the whole year for this part of Michigan's schedule, like RR or not this is where the rubber meets the road & hopefully next week at this time Iowa leaves Ann Arbor with an "L"!

trigg7

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 8:48 a.m.

fan The wolverine name was given to Michiganders when Ohio and Michigan were fighting over Toledo. It was a put down cuz wolverines are the slopyest eaters in the animal world. So you can thank Ohio for the name,another win for Ohio.Why did UM jump on the name,your guess is as good as mine, maybe UM fans eat like pigs!!!

baitm

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 8:35 a.m.

expectations! well. richrod gone and jimmy coming back home where he belongs. end the nightmare. maybe jim can get a defensive coach that teaches fundamentals. okay one that teaches these guys anything. expectations! 5 star recruits that want to start next year on defense.

Fan

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 7:27 a.m.

Although the score does not reflect, with the exception of "Dancing with the Stars" tackling and timing obviously off, the MSU game (a real street fight) was from my perspective, our best all around effort. Unlike losses in past seasons, we could have and should have won this game! That said, from this FANs perspective, I thought the referees did a horrible (intentional?) job of allowing late pounding hits on Denard. What adds injury to insult was the fact that the Fans sat passively by and voiced no concern or complaints. Fans did not vocalize or boo the referees as they (referees) turned their heads to the obvious; Fans accepted the prejudiced (not race) insult inflicted on our quarterback. Again from my perspective, Michigan players, coaching staff and FANS need to get "competitively nasty" (not to be confused with poor sportsmanship or spectatorship). Perhaps our coaching staff does not or cannot teach "nasty" but when the players, coaches and FANS review the game films/replays; it will be crystal clear what happens when being nasty, triumphs. Perhaps we need to revisit the reason why the Wolverine was chosen as the Michigan mascot; it is one aggressive nasty surviving critter; get "nastier" Wolverines and survive! Never again (loss) in MY HOUSE or yours count on it!

Wolveroon

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 6:23 a.m.

I agree with much of this thread so far. MSU beat us well. We do not have good defense (where oh where is WILL CAMPBELL, coaches???). We need impact players on the defensive side of the ball, and once we get them we will be a lot better. Glad I do not live in MI these days. I would hate to have some of the complete Spartan retards I worked with giving me grief for the next year. One thing for sure: you never see a Spartan fan outside of Michigan (usually outside of central Michigan). I live in the deep south, and have several Michigan fans nearby.

CamaroDan

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 6:19 a.m.

3 and Pout Mark it down. RR will be back next year. You will have to change your name to 4 and out.

3 And Out

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 5:39 a.m.

Dont throw Robinson under the Bus...this is ALL on Rich Rod...he is a flat out JOKE as a head coach. 6 losing seasons in 17 as a HC says it all....33% of the time, Rich Rod teams have losing seasons. Throwing Robinson under the bus for having to be saddled with RR's lackys like Gibby is the same thing as throwing Shafer under the bus for 09s defensive disaster (which RR did)... and Shafer is pretty successful at Syracuse, just like he was at Stanford and Western. This is all on Rich Rodriguez, a complete and utter bust as a head coach.... his only good coaching is as an OC in a spread system, if your program wants to go that route. As for Sparty, they are a decently good team, well coached with some talent....and they are fortunate to not play OSU this year...but lets not crown them just yet, they are not that good...just pretty good.

Wolvreen

Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 1:44 a.m.

Michigans defense is a joke and will continue to be as long as they have a loser for defensive coach. I understand the "d' is young but, when you have a known failure as "teacher" the best they can hope for is a top 100 Def. ranking. This team is nothing close to the Michigan Football I grew up watching for the past 35 yrs. This team will never rebuild with loser g.robinson leading the way. I am so disgusted. Perhaps robinson can run across the street to pioneer high and get some advise.

Dusty

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 11:40 p.m.

You know, I'd be mad if Michigan had lost by 17 to the old MSU. Folks, I don't think this is the old MSU. After committing 3 turnovers and still beating Wisconsin by 10, and after letting Michigan move the ball as much as they wanted and still winning by 17, I'm inclined to think MSU has finally gotten over the hump. I wouldn't be surprised at all if MSU finishes the season 11-1.

sevesteve

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 11:30 p.m.

Here's a question I'd be asking myself if I were a Wolverine fan....and my premise is not about how good MSU is or might be but how Michigan got so bad. Who had the better program, players and national support and recognition coming into their coaching hire....Dantonio preceded by John L. Smith and Bobbie Williams before that (Sabin's last season was 1999), or Rodriguez preceded by Lloyd Carr (who only won 75 to 90% of his game for a very long time)? How can a big-time coach half way through his third year into an already established program field a team as inept defensively as Michigan? Learning a totally new offensive scheme may take a year or two (many will give RR three or more....where else does that happen??), but defense ain't rocket science and Michigan plays like it doesn't practice it a lick. RR's focus on the spread at the expense of two thirds of the game (defense and special teams) would be inexcusable to any legitimate program, let alone Michigan. Michigan has totally lost its focus on the things they were for decades very good at....blocking, tackling, throwing, catching and playing with discipline. As someone who has always respected their dedication to playing all aspects of the game pretty damn well...they have honestly become very hard to watch.

Alexander John Migda

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 11:18 p.m.

hah!

SHub'68

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 9:43 p.m.

Dear brilliant defensive coordinators, linebackers and secondary coaches, Like to be hailed as god and savior at a prestigious and storied university? Have we got a deal for you!

Lou

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 9:42 p.m.

Florida would be a good match up in a bowl game. $EC has 5 or 6 quality teams this year and with 3 $EC - Big Ten bowl matchups we would likely have to fininsh with at least 8 wins to get into one of those games. I can tell you this though, I want no part of a bowl game against Ryan Mallett, not with our secondary. Also, I see that the Spartan faithfull are maintaining thier usual classless demenor, go figure?

SHub'68

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 9:40 p.m.

Dear good defensive players currently in your senior and junior years of high school, Like to attend a prestigious University with a storied tradition? Like a shot at immediate playing time? Got decent grades? Have we got a deal for you!

MetricSU

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 8:59 p.m.

heartbreakM writes: "Why is there such disrespect for MSU?" Because that's what UM fans do.

Sparty7

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 8:23 p.m.

MSU was the better team in every way. Their defense has been great, 3 picks and they basicly smacked DR in the face. I hope RR stays in AA for a long time. Its been great seeing the UofM fans cry about how they use to be great and how they are better than the teams they played even when they lost. News update UofM sucks and they will for another 3 years. They will lose to Iowa and State will beat Ill. End of story case closed!

m44goblue

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 8:19 p.m.

Greg Robinson must wake up every day and call Rich Rod and THANK HIM for still having a job. I understand he is dealing with a very young secondary, but all of our defensive players, minus the D line which is playing pretty well, continuously take terrible routes to the ball, miss tackles, and put themselves out of position to make a play. I would think those are things that need to be stressed every day in practice. They have watched film for five weeks and still make these types of mistakes. Also, for the second year in a row, it doesn't seem like there are any adjustments made at halftime. We get much worse in the second half because the other team makes adjustments at the half and we don't. It is very frustrating to watch. I hate to say it, because I don't like to blame coaches, but Greg Robinson looks to be confused and doesn't understand how to adjust to a team as the game progresses.

michboy40

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 7:50 p.m.

I hope something gives with the D by end of year, but I'm not holding my breath. I can't remember the last time we had a really good D, RR or not. I don't expect 1997 good, but servicable does not seem unreasonable!

truebluefan

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 7:15 p.m.

Michigan had a bad day on offense with Denard's poor decisions in the red zone, poor throw to a wide open Stonum in the end zone and a huge drop by Roundtree on a sure TD. Shaw's knee is most likely still dinged up, therefore he didn't see the field much. And Smith does not project as an every down back. The offense will go as the QB goes. Shocker, huh? Going forward, Michigan cannot have a down day on O and expect the D to pick it up. The Michigan offense MUST lead the charge this year. Stop blaming the guys in the secondary. Rogers is a converted WR that never sniffed the field until this year (his senior year), Cullen Christian is a true freshman, Cam Gordon is a RS Fr in his first year at safety, JT Floyd played last year and is our best CB this year as a RS So (not saying much), the rest of the guys (Talbott, Avery) are true freshmen. Heck, we were going to be mediocre even with D. Warren and Woolfolk in there. But, when D. Warren left then Woolfolk went out for the year, everyone knew we would have HUGE problems on D. These aren't excuses. These are the very grim facts and the people that are up in arms about the D's performance so far need a reality check.

1989NCAACHAMPS

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 7:09 p.m.

To Johnny Spirt: Michigan matches up very well against Iowa. Next Weeks Predictions MSU will loose at home to Illinois. Its a noon kickoff, Illinois will find a way to keep it close, and beat MSU. They match up well against MSU and are playing with a lot of confidence. And I dont think MSU will have the focus and will be able to match the emotion they played with against Wisconsin & U of M. Ohio State will loose at Wisconsin. Gameday will be there for that upset! Wisconsin matches up very well with Ohio State. And the game is in Madison. And yes, Michigan will beat Iowa at home. Its going to be a very exciting & unpredictable season in the Big Ten & college football!

DrSteve

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 7:06 p.m.

It's not really whether we won or not, it is how terrible the defense is. I suffered through 7 seasons of terrible Michigan football from 1956-1963. I lost interest. Then a man named Bo came to Michigan and you know the rest of the story. His first year with Bump Elliot's recruits he beat the OSU team of the century. His players were tough, tough, tough. For almost every game during his tenure even the losses were closely played games. He was proud of his defense, because he knew that defense wins games. When you have a lousy defense it makes the offense think that it has to score on every possession. I am sure that Denard thinks that he has to make every play. Sometimes a few first downs and a punt, putting the opposition back on their heels and play a field position game. From what I see, RR doesn't really coach the defense, he out sources to his DC. Well his first was a disaster and based on what I see his second is no better. Until our Wolverines get a better defensive coach and players we will not be a great team. Dr. Steve

Jonny Spirit

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 6:11 p.m.

Michigan does not match up with Iowa. Ha, that's funny I predict Michigan will get blown out by 20+ points. Welcome to the Big Ten teams. Maybe we can sign EMU again, that's always a good game to pay $54 dollars for.

1989NCAACHAMPS

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 5:24 p.m.

I sure wish some of you Michigan fans would just relax. Its 1 game, 1 loss. I really dont understand why some of you blame everything on the coaches?? Give credit to the teams there playing, they have guys who can play as well. Let the season play out. I feel they will do very well the rest of the season. I see a team that has character, great chemistry, work ethic, leadership, toughness, and talented guys that are learning & getting better. I'm from Ann Arbor, had family members graduate from U of M, had family members that have won championships for U of M. I have been a proud supporter of U of M all my life! In my opinion they match up very well with Iowa. Looking forward to Saturday. Go Blue!!

bobr

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 5:23 p.m.

Season isn't over. Wolverines are about where expected. Disappointed in defensive coaching. RR maybe better than I was thinking since a lot of the histrionics in the comments about him sound like what was in the Ann Arbor News about Lloyd Carr and, if our memories are intact, about some of Bo's years.

Jonny Spirit

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 5:23 p.m.

It's finally good to see Michigan ranked at it's proper spot. (Not in the top 25) How can you get ranked so high when you were so bad the last 2 years. Now make it 3 years. They should of never made the top 25 until they proved themselves. Once again Michigan wont win another game all year. Great season. Rich Rod has my vote for Coach of the Year. We love him up here. Go Green!!! Sparty On.

lawrencelaundry

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 5:20 p.m.

The offense is great, however, the coaching decisions in all phases were brutal. 6 min left and we punt the ball down 3 scores. Are u kidding me? The special teams is horrendous. And defensive strategies are terrible. Bowl games? Lol. We might beat purdue and penn state. Thats it. Had are recievers caught the ball when they should have it may have made a difference. But to continue giving shaw and smith the ball on a 3rd and one is plain stupid. You have cox and hopkins that seem to be better and they ride the pine most or all of the game. The coaching is terrible. Now I gotta listen to all Spartan alums how we suck all year.

lawrencelaundry

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 5:10 p.m.

Does anyone know why the clock kept running when are players went out of bounds?

heartbreakM

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 5:08 p.m.

Why is there such disrespect for MSU? They played very well--made few mistakes, blocked and tackled well, and kept very disciplined throughout the game. They did all the things well that make you win games. Michigan did not. I think Dantonio is a solid coach, very organized, very disciplined, and a great hire for them. I don't know why they are being called mediocre. They have shut down 2 high yield offenses in a row, and have moved the ball on offense. Their D is beginning to click. Re: Cullen Christian--he is not prepared so it is not fair to criticize him. He should be redshirted, but bad circumstances put him into play. When he committed last year, all the slappies were saying how he would come in and clean up, etc etc. I commented at the time that we should back off, not put such pressure on and indicated that frosh have a difficult time competing in the B10 (even Woodson in 1995). Of course, I got grief for being a 'hater'. I hope people will be patient with him and hope that he can develop into an all big-10 DB, but he needs to grow into a player. That'll happen, but not this year probably.

loki

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 4:50 p.m.

Lorain Steelmen - "Michigan had to beat Michigan, and we found a way to do it." this is the problem with michigan fans, you can't admit that you were thoroughly out played and out coached by a superior MSU team. UM fans are so Denarded

Garvie Craw

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 4:15 p.m.

Telling the truth is not crying.

Lorain Steelmen

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 4:09 p.m.

I will get a chance to see the rerun on DVD tonight or tomorrow, but as one who was there, a few things are worth noting. First, Cam Gordon had a chance to totally 'blow up' Lithicum, early in the second quarter, and did not enagage. Not good...If he had lowered the boom on him, the Spartans might have thought long and hard about out sending someone else on those mid level passes over the middle. (I thought Safeties were suppossed to be enforcers back there.) The defense let a back,, break free, twice in the first half. It reminded me of Lloyd Carr's (and Ron English's) defense in the 2006 embarressment in Columbus...41 points. Ugggh. Also, when Rogers went out, early in the third quarter, it looked like Cullen Christian was the slowest defender in the state. I think the Spartans went max protect, and literally just threw it out there. That was back breaker. Finally, there are times when you need to put Forcier in the game, and let DRob, step back and gather himself. I thought this was supposed to be a 'team' game, and that UM had THREE QB's! Guess I don't get it. Let's face it, MSU is NOT a good foootball team. Michigan had to beat Michigan, and we found a way to do it.

rico2458

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 4:08 p.m.

Stop crying michigan had a bad day it happen to anyone ask alabama they will be back maybe not to win the big ten but 8 and 5 for the year

Garvie Craw

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 3:46 p.m.

I've supported Rodriguez until now. That was the biggest game of his tenure and he failed miserably. I see no hope of a stout defense as long as he is the head coach, ignores the defense, and keeps his pal Tony Gibson on staff. Scott Shafer was not the problem. It's time to pull the plug. Another transition will be tough, but at least there may be something to look forward to.

3 And Out

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 3:12 p.m.

Bowls? Your talking Bowls??? Seriously Bowls??? Dont talk about Bowls....! (mimicing Jim Mora Sr.)..... This team can only beat IU in shootouts in the Big Ten and get physically whipped by everyone else. Until that changes, no one should be talking about Bowls.

Jaxon5

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 2:39 p.m.

I agree with Pete Bigelow in that Michigan has surpassed expectations up to this point. My expectation was that ND, UConn and MSU were not borderline games, but definite losses. So, they've exceeded expectations (partly because expectations were set very low). Going forward, I'm not so optimistic. I'm seeing a lot of the same dynamic as last year - poor defense and predictable offense that is figured out by opposing defenses. It is offense that gets you through September, but defense that gets you through October and November. RR got lucky at Indiana and will once again be O' fer the rest of October by losing to MSU, Iowa and Penn State.

Papabear151

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 2:30 p.m.

mmppc, first of all, Michigan Outranks several Ivy league Colleges in many of it's individual schools (Law, Business, Etc.). Michigan is AS or MORE prestigious than a lot of these schools. Secondly, everyone who's anyone or knows anything about college football claimed, when RR came in, that we would need to wait till his third year to see what he is really capable of producing. Well it's his third year and lets see what we've got (ignoring years 1 and 2) Garbage defense: one of the worst in college football and Michigan history Mediocre Offense: Carried by a better than average QB that cupcake D's cant seem to figure out. State showed us mediocre D's have no problem with this Rivalries: Beat ND, probably should've lost that game but injured starting QB saved us. Lost MSU, pounded at home by a MEDIOCRE MSU. OSU, haven't played, 99% likely as a loss. Big 10: Most likely will finish with 1-3 wins in the B10, NOT acceptable. Off Field: NCAA issues True history: 2 losing seasons, 2 missed bowls, 3 straight losses to MSU, most likely 3 straight losses to OSU, 3 of the worst D's in Michigan history, Ncaa issues, West Virginia/Legal problems, huge attrition, third season MIGHT see a poor bowl bid with a highly likely loss to anyone truly worth a damn. Everyone said give him his third year, it's his third year and the stats speak for themselves, this regime is NOT fit to coach at Michigan.

81wolverine

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 2:21 p.m.

Losing to MSU is one thing, but losing by 17 on our home field is NOT what I would have expected in Rodriguez's 3rd year. I feel if there was one MUST-WIN on our schedule, it was this game. VERY disappointing. Michigan must figure out a way to get our offense back on track to scoring lots of points. That's the ONLY way we're going to win games the rest of the season with our defense. Denard needs to get back to throwing the ball smart with no interceptions. And we need to try out Stephen Hopkins more, and maybe Toussaint if he can get healthy. Vincent Smith ain't getting it done and Shaw isn't a whole lot better. And the receivers CAN NOT have another game like this one. How many balls did they drop - 4 or 5? At least one was a sure touchdown. Iowa is going to be a tough game to say the least especially since they've had a week's rest. Hopefully Michigan will pull things together by next Saturday.

saginaw

Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 1:58 p.m.

Very sad, as we live up to expectations by losing to MSU. At the end of 2010 our big game record under RR OSU we will be 0 - 3 MSU we will be 0 - 3 PSU we will likely be 0 - 3 ILL we will likely be 0 - 3 Notre Dame we will be 2 - 1 WOW!!