Sugar Bowl preview

Before I get started, just wanted to thank Dennis for the opportunity to help out with his new blog.  Hopefully what I bring to the table will only add to the great stuff he has planned for it.

Tomorrow night is our big game against Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.  Is the game a must win for us?  In my opinion, yes.  It’s already been a season better than I had expected so technically, no it’s not a must win, but I don’t care about that.  I want this win as bad as I wanted to beat that team from Ohio and ND.  Why?  It’s a bowl game.  Why wouldn’t I want to win?  With where we’ve been in the last 3 years, it only seems fitting to go out with a bowl win.  What Brady Hoke and his coaches have done with this team shows exactly how much good coaching can do.
From what I’ve read, we should be able to run the ball, but have trouble throwing it.  Well, Denard always has trouble throwing it so nothing new there.  For those that didn’t follow me at my blog, I love Denard, but he scares me anytime he throws the ball.  Does he have some big throws this year?  Yes.  Has his receivers bailed out his bad throws in almost all those big plays?  Yes.  I don’t mind Denard throwing on short plays, he still scares me, but I don’t mind as much.  I don’t mind designed runs for him, as long as they are limited and not all the time.  Fitz has been great the last half of the season, use him.  I love Denard running best when he’s scrambling.  Do you know what play I would like to see, that I haven’t seen it in awhile?  Denard in the shotgun, hikes the ball, tucks it for a step like he’s running and then lobs it over the top after sucking the defense in.  We’ve seen this play earlier in the season a few times but I don’t remember seeing it lately.  Oh, and just in case you’re a Virginia Tech fan, this is Denard Robinson below.

As far as our defense goes, I heard that VT has a pretty good RB if he can get the corner’s.  To me that says their O-line isn’t very good if he has trouble running up the middle.  Which is good for us, because our D-line has been fantastic this year.  So if we can get to the QB quickly, it limits his chances of throwing which is the weakest of our defense, our secondary.  They have played well as of late but one big play against your secondary can usually equal 6 points.  But look for Jordan Kovacs to make a difference on our defense as he has all year.  Click his pic below for a good article about him, I’m sure they’ll tell you his story during the game because it is a great story.

So what it all comes down to.  Michigan NEEDS this win.  The Big Ten NEEDS Michigan to win.  All of the Michigan faithful NEED this win.  We are definitely good enough to beat this Virginia Tech team.  My uneducated prediction, Michigan 38, Virginia Tech 17.  I am definitely not hoping for a close one, I’m not sure my heart could take it.

(left) – Our jerseys for tomorrows game.
(below) – Pop Evil’s “In The Big House”