I was at this game, unfortunately and this was the view from my seat. The weather was rather nice for October in Michigan, however, I really don’t like going to Michigan football games. I have my reasons, but this is how I’ve always felt. Hear me out.
Saturday’s game, even with the beautiful weather, further enhanced me wanting to watch a Michigan game on TV and not standing the entire game in a over-packed stadium. Ok, I’m a wimp, but my legs can’t take standing for every non-converted third down. Also, sometimes when you go to a game the people around you can suck and make you think twice about respecting all Michigan fans. The guy in front of me complains about my knees in his back, which was true, but what could I do? I was already squeezed so tightly and there was nowhere else they could move. What do you want me to do?! Or the guy to my right, who spent way too much time pre-gaming, continuously yells in my face and making my stomach and nostrils revolt. But the thing that I get annoyed most about is when 112 thousand people are pretty much silent. I like to yell and when the place is quite, someone will actually hear me. I prefer when it’s only my mom and there is no judgment’s passed. I contained myself most the game because the guy on my right covered everything. My dad and I thankfully left early and watched the painful, but inevitable, ending at home.
To the actual game: It’s fair to say that Michigan gave Iowa an early Christmas present with the countless mistakes and errors. My opinion is that if these teams played ten times, Iowa takes six. Talent was about even and it was the mistakes, missed opportunities and poor coaching, that hurt Michigan and not Iowa. Three plays I highlight as being the difference.
- Vincent Smith’s fumble inside the 20 yard line. Denard had just gotten injured, Forcier comes in and got the offense up and going again. Converted two big third downs and a fourth down to Roundtree but than Smith fumbles the rock. When the play happened, I didn’t like the call. I then hated it when I saw Iowa’s defense jumping up and down. I have had some positive thoughts about Vincent Smith in the past, but after the fumble my faith in him is completely lost. Smith is not a workhorse and the coaches needs to give up on him being the featured back and give some of his carries to Stephen Hopkins.
- Kicking the ball out of bounds-twice. Seriously, how hard is it to find a soccer player that wants to play a sport that people actually attend? It’s getting rather old watching the special teams consistently blocked field goals and their momentum killer out of bounds kicks. I have been sold for awhile that the coaching staff needs to do whatever it takes to find someone who can kick a forty yard field goal and keep the kick-offs from going out of bounds. Enough with Brandon Gibbons, who should be forced to give back his scholarship and Brza, whatever his name is, I don’t want to hear his name ever again.
- Courtney Avery’s missed tackle on third down. There were probably twenty other missed tackles, but this one was the absolute biggest and most painful. I was at home and more calm, but this play still was frustrating. Needing only a stop on third and (eight?) Iowa runs a dinky drop off to its running back. Michigan’s freshman corner, Courtney Avery, is right in position to stop the runner short, but totally whiffs and might not have even touched the guy. This led to Iowa’s field goal putting the game out of reach. I knew the defense was going to be bad before the year, but I had no idea it would be this bad. My thought about the defense is that we shouldn’t expect anything positive from them because if something positive actually happens, then it’s a special occurrence and we should be very grateful for it.
Other college football notes:
Wisconsin is a legitimate Big Ten contender. By beating the #1 team in the nation at the time, Ohio State Buckeyes, they are now tied for first place with MSU and Iowa. I wasn’t able to catch most of the game, because I was trying to forget football entirely, but I caught a few plays and noted the huge holes for Wisconsin’s running backs overpowering OSU. OSU has quite a bit of work to do, but Wisconsin is my projection for Champion, if they can beat Iowa.
Auburn is a national championship contender. Scoring 65 points any game is a major accomplishment, but against a ranked SEC team is another thing. Quarterback Cam Newton currently leads for the Heisman and looks rather similar to Vince Young at Texas. If Auburn gets through the SEC untouched, which I don’t believe will be the case, they are definitely deserving the chance to play for the National championship.
The BCS is still a joke and hopefully will be removed after the year. Oklahoma is the #1 team in the rankings and in no way should be. Barely beating Utah State, Air Force and Cincinnati and its only major win against a struggling Texas team, is not deserving of #1 status. Oregon, without a doubt, should be the #1 team, but sits #2. Boise State follows at #3, which I agree with and Auburn is #4. TCU #5, LSU #6, MSU #7 are ok as well. Oklahoma, though, would be a disgrace to college football to see them in the National Championship game, but could rid the BCS entirely.
