NCAA FOOTBALL 2011 Thread

[Mike Austerman]

Phew.

What a great year for the two biggest schools in Michigan -- 20 wins between the two of 'em, and still a chance for 23.

[Larkin]

Ann Arbor: it seems the Wolverines Defensive Coach, Mattison has absolutely NO ANSWER in how to defend a 3rd down spike with the game on the line. Mattison reported that during the off season he will huddle with defensive gurus to determine how to defend against this play. Mattison quoted as saying: "that had to be a trick play that we have never seen before, with time running out, and only 2 plays left in the game they spike the ball....I don't know how to defend that and that's on me". Gotta love someone who takes credit or blame.

On one of the Columbus newspapers' sites, the comments included someone trashing Michigan saying that Ohio State "outplayed" them today.

Really.

Michigan won the game, but yeah....they were outplayed.

They are so delusional too. They are saying to enjoy our "once a decade" win, which of course, it wasn't. And frankly, the game stayed close because Michigan is still developing and made some critical mistakes today, like the botched punt and Denard's fumble and the defense letting up after it got to 37-27...and sadly, the inability to shake off the waved off TD and only get 3, but in the end, Michigan had more points.

But yeah, they were outplayed.

Do you all see why I hate these people so much?

[umfan]

That TD takeaway was nonsense. The Wolverines played a GREAT game. Can Ohio State win without cheating is now the question. Looking forward to bowl season.

[Larkin]

I don't think Urban Meyer is the slam dunk he's being made out to be:

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-footba ... -iron-clad

Not to mention the sanctions that are still forthcoming.

[pbr]

Well, if Meyer doesn't pan out they can always go after Favre.

I'm thinking Meyer probably has some kind of line on what the sanctions will wind up being to take the job so quickly. I do wonder how he'll hold up under the grind again. That's quite a microscope he's going to be under.

Anyway, the rivalry is back and I couldn't be happier with Hoke and the attitude he's put back into this team. Hopefully next year we can wipe some of the smirk and attitude off Dantonio's face.

[pbr]

Looking at next weekend, I'm hoping the Spartans can go 2-0 against the Badgers. I'm no fan on Dantonio by any stretch (must be the Ohio lineage and Tressel stench), but Bielema and his Badgers are the team I dislike more than all but one other in the big 10+2. And since I find myself in the awkward position of sending tuition dollars to East Lansing, I might as well root for them every once in a while.

[Larkin]

http://nathanjohnsoninc.com/urban-meyer ... rom-family

Urban "resigns", lol.

[format this]

Do you all see why I hate these people so much?

Yet you work with them... or for them...

[umfan]

Sugar Bowl for the Wolverines! Can't wait!

[Larkin]

http://vuolovideo.com/order.html

I had the pleasure of hearing from Art Vuolo yesterday. He told me that he has put up some GREAT Michigan games from the year, including a lot of extended coverage from the big Ohio State win and also Notre Dame. Some of these games are bundled together and you can get a deal. The games feature the audio of Frank and Jim and a lot of extended footage filmed by Art himself. It would make a good Christmas gift for a fan (or yourself!) and Art says he is very proud of the work he did on the games this year. He said modern technology has really allowed him to do some great things with this. Its a good price too-he sells them at cost.

[Larkin]

Wow! What a game between MSU and Georgia with the Spartans pulling it out in three Overtimes.

[Jack Wolfman]

Gotta say...I didn't give my Spartans much of a chance when they were down 0-16 at half. Glad they got it together to get the win. Wasn't pretty, but it did the job

[phMSU89]

Entering the Bowl season, no not Zehnder's Chicken Season, it looked like UM had the best matchup, with Purdue and Illinois close behind. It's hard to believe tOSu, Penn State and Nebraska wouldn't have at lease one W between them...
Great job by Dantonio and Narduzzi. Just think, ONE Senior starter on "D", and Jerel Worthy possibly going pro, how tough they will be next year!
Larkin, good luck to your Wolvies tomorrow night- make the B1G Proud!

[umfan]

Looking forward to ther Sugar Bowl tonight!

[Larkin]

I'll take it! Yeah it was ugly, but you know what? They bent but didn't break. For all the big plays and the failed stops on 3rd (and 4th) down, think of the times they held VT to a Field Goal and in the first half, stuffed them completely on 4th down. At the end of the game, they did NOT let VT into the end zone and did not let them in the end zone in Overtime either.

What the hell was VT doing with that fake punt? Its 4th and 1 and you DROP BACK to try to get the 1st down? I've never played the game, I've never coached at any level and I even suck at Madden's video games but I seriously don't get that call.

[River Rat Dad]

:clap:

I'll take it!.... they did NOT let VT into the end zone... in Overtime either.....

I think we may have gotten lucky on that overturned touchdown call. Watching the game with one brother, one daughter and my wife none of us expected to get that call reversed. It didn't seem clear enough either way way to overturn it even though I think it was the correct call in the end.

[Larkin]

Yeah you may be right RRD.
Maybe it was payback for that absurd Touissant TD reversal against Ohio!

[pbr]

I thought it was a catch made (barely) out of bounds as it looked like he and the ball hit the ground just over the line and then his feet touched down in bounds after. Glad they made the reversal, but yeah, it was a close one.

An ugly win to be sure, but a win's a win. State's win wasn't the prettiest or most convincing, either, but both teams held in there and did what they had to in the end. Glad to see our state is doing it's part to hold up the conference. Speaking of conferences, anyone else think it's weird that 8 of 10 Big 12 teams went to bowls and 10 of 12 Big 10 teams went? When conferences send all but two schools somewhere, what does bowl season really mean anyway?

[umfan]

It was ugly but a GREAT win for the Wolverines. This was an excellent season culminating in only the 2nd BCS win by the program ever. Hopefully Dennard stays in school. it really is his best option at this point. Hoke has proven himself to be a first rate coach.

[Larkin]

A friend of mine wrote this on the internet today:

Got this response from a Florida fan on a Michigan message board. He made a very complimentary post on Greg Mattison so I asked him his opinion on Mr. Meyer....His response:

I'm sorry, I've got an sub to the Gator board here on scout.. Are you from the Michigan board? I'm guessing you're responding to the Mattison post from the other day? That's the first time I've ventured back over to the Michigan board in a long time. I've been meaning to, but when things aren't going well for UF, it's hard to be on boards where they are.. lol

Anyways, just keeping it real. Honestly to God it's not sour grapes. He left our program in absolute shambles.. and that's an understatement. Not only are we 20 short of the 85 limit, but we're woefully short on DL's, LB's, and OL's.. Muschamp had to get rid of a ton of bad apples that were in it for themselves. That is typical of the recruits Meyer attracted his last three classes at UF. We've got a nice foundation and a great class coming in, but Muschamp still has another year or two before UF is back to what it needs to be. We UF fans aren't bitter at all about him leaving, or going to Ohio State, we're bitter because of just how bad of a situation he left. He literally stole 4 million bucks from us his last two years at UF.. You should hear the horror stories from our players about literally not having a head coach for an entire season (2010) and offseason. I suspect Meyer will be a little better at OSU, but not nearly what he once was. Michigan is about to own that conference in a big way.

Thoughts? I've also heard strange stories about him...obsessive compulsive stuff...like throwing a fit about the Gatorade not being the right temperature. A real control freak...has to have everything HIS way and if it isn't or something is wrong he can't deal with it. Thus the meltdown we saw where he resigned and came back and left again.
I also think tOSU is kidding themselves to think the Tressel era can repeat itself. He's gone and while we hated the cheating weasel, lets face it, he was the program. He built it up and without him we saw what just happened. It was not just because Fickell was the coach. It was the absence of Tressel.
Meyer has talent, but he isn't Tressel...and Meyer has won NC's but that was at Florida and years ago. Kind of like when Joe Gibbs came back to the Redskins..its not about what you've done before its about now and I think Urban is going to get frustrated. For one thing, I don't think Braxton Miller is that good and he will NOT be throwing to Posey next year.

[Mike Austerman]

In this case, I think it's fair to reserve judgement on Meyer until he has a season or two under his belt in Columbus. Has he really changed his approach and will he be able to let others make decisions on things that aren't critical to the success of the program? I'd think that during his off time, he's had some serious life coaching help - but the acid test will be when after the team has lost a couple games and the natives start getting restless.

The success he had at Bowling Green and Utah showed he could do great things without the downside when the stakes were smaller. When the heat got turned up at Florida, things changed for him. Ohio State will be an even tougher job with far more pressure to win. It'll be interesting to see if the time off allowed him to reset his priorities and trust those that work for him to take some of the load.

[Larkin]

That's fair Mike. We'll see what happens. I guess I'm just sick of people down here acting like he will never lose a game.

That and their other favorite thing, which is that the 2011 loss to Michigan doesn't count because they were having an "off year", as if its Michigan's fault that that was the team they put on the field this year, and of course, the 2010 game still counts. You know how Buckeye fans are.

Here is more that was posted today:

Urban is a pysch (sp) major. He knows exactly what buttons to push and how to manipulate these players. Listen, he's probably the best recruiter in the nation, so don't expect that to change. Like I said, when he had Mattison, Mullen, Strong (all hugely successful right now at other schools) and he was on top of his game, he was the VERY BEST. IMO, that staff he hired, and the Urban that took over at UF six years ago, CANNOT be replicated. Any HC is only as good as his weakest link (asst coaches) I believe Michigans staff is quite a bit better than Urbans. Michigan will NOT out recruit him.. NOBODY DOES.. But, what Michigan can do is still attract GREAT players, that fit what they're trying to do (Urban's not good with getting "fits" for his system) and can develop better chemistry and strength than OSU. Generally the players UM and OSU get aren't going to be that different talent wise. IT's all a matter of what they do with the players once they're on campus..

I'll tell you this.. The BIGGEST mistake Urban made was hiring MIcky Marotti as S&C coach. He SUCKS.. WE at UF are SO HAPPY to be rid of him. His emphasis on speed really hurt us against LSu and Bama's speed AND strength. Now, maybe in the Big ten speed will overwhelm everyone, but in the SEC EVERYONE has it. UF is finally going to be a strong team again. I know it's worrisome seeing Urban get all these top shelf recruits. I know it'll be annoying seeing him continue to clean up on the recruiting trail, but that's just something you'll have to except, cuz it ain't changing. Lets just see what happens with them after a year or two of being weak minded, physically underdeveloped, and wondering why they aren't getting the PT that Urban promised them. Michigan will be fine. Having your rival stay strong is good for your program anyways. Hoke and staff will work that much harder to stay ahead of the pack.. You guys are going to be fine.. trust me.

Just a bitter Gator? I guess we'll see.

Go Blue.