Disregard sleep; acquire BCS wins

Wow, what a crazy game.  Both teams played what might qualify as their worst game of the season.  Sloppy mistakes and ridiculously bad play-calling were the stories of the night, but somehow Michigan righted the ship to make it to overtime and kick a game-winning field goal, made by a guy who probably nobody would have shed a tear over if he had walked off campus last year.

Congrats to the Hokies on a hard-fought game, especially in bottling up a potentially explosive Michigan offense.  I know Adam and I aren't exactly seeing eye-to-eye on VT's overturned TD "catch" in OT, but you won't find a single person in maize and blue who didn't agree with the replay officials.  In a game featuring some controversial calls, non-calls (Tech got away with a monster pass interference in the 4th quarter alone) and replays (hell, what game doesn't?) that was a huge moment, but so was Frank Beamer's constantly ridiculous risks, like a late fake punt.  It all led to an important win for the Victors Valiant:
A bowl win for the first time since January of 2008

11 wins for the first season since 2006

The start of a new era in Michigan Wolverines football

Michigan.  Is.  Back.

Hoke über alles.  Thanks for a tremendous first season, coach--here's to many more.

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”
             

My Cardboard Bookie: a friendly bet

I recently proposed a friendly wager with Adam of My Cardboard Mistress due to our favorite teams competing in the Sugar Bowl Tuesday evening, and to his credit, he accepted.  The terms:  the fan of the losing team has to buy the winner $10 worth of cards on COMC.  I've got a whole page worth of stuff to work with assuming the Victors Valiant are conqu'ring heroes tomorrow night.  Here's hoping that Denard Robinson and Mike Martin cap off this outstanding season with a big bowl win, but regardless, good luck to both teams.  And as always when mentioning Adam,

And also, as always when mentioning Michigan football,

LET'S GO BLUE!!!