Saturday Recap

I thought I should do a quick recap of football games played on Saturday especially since Michigan and Notre Dame play each other next week.

Michigan
Boy oh boy Michigan could have lost this game as easily as they won it. The offense doesn't look good right now and I am not sure they will fare much better throughout the season. On the plus side Michigan has athletes at all the skilled positions it's too bad they are all freshman this year. The offensive line doesn't look good and you need a good offensive line with any offense to have any consistency. I would have more confidence in the running backs and quarterbacks if the offensive line could block. Let's talk quarterbacks, hey coach settle on one and only one quarterback. I don't care which one, although I prefer Treet, but settle on one and try to develop him. Treet missed some easy passes to some wide open receivers. If he completed his passes this game would have been a lot different. I think he will get better but it will take time.

Now the defense is a different story. The defense is playing the way people thought they would. They gave up some yardage to the Miami offense but the Miami quarterback is pretty good but still only managed to score 6 points against Michigan. For Michigan to finish above .500 this year the defense will have to continue to play this way. Oh boy I sound like a Notre Dame fan hoping to finish .500.

Notre Dame
I am going to give ND a pass this week. It is tough to play your first game against a team that has already played a game the week before even if it was San Diego State. You can see Jon Tenuta has put his stamp on the defense as they chased the quarterback all over the field. The offense is a different story. Jimmy Clausen showed flashes of what people expect him to be. Let's be serious though doesn't Clausen look more like a surfer dude that belongs on the beaches of California waiting for a tasty wave to ride? This offense should be better than it is by now. Charlie deserves the credit here as he is suppose to be a offensive guru. This could be a long year. I may have to revise my prediction for next week to 3-0 and I am not sure what team will get the 3. With Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue on the schedule in the next three weeks the year could go down hill fast for Notre Dame. If it does it will give ND plenty of time to find a new coach for next year. How about Brian Kelly or Skip Holtz?

Michigan State
Didn't watch any of the game but it looks like they might be on track this year. I don't know how good EMU is but when you win 35-7 against anybody these days it is pretty impressive. My only concern is the running back Ringer carrying the ball 35 times for 135 yards. They need him and if they continue to overwork him he may not be there by the end of the year when they need him most. Could this be the year?

Ohio State
Who cares right? They got caught looking ahead to next weeks game with USC. I was rooting for Ohio, the other Ohio, and the big upset but OSU got it together in time so this couldn't happen. Damn.

This years sleeper team is East Carolina coached by Skip Holtz. They defeated the Virgina Tech and West Virgina University in consecutive weeks. Pretty impressive. They have an easy schedule the rest of the year so it is conceivable for them to be undefeated by the end of the year. Is Skip a master motivator like his dad Lou? Did Lou burn to many bridges when he left ND? Could Skip be in line for the ND job next year? Time will tell.

Sunday Update:
It's official the Lions have been eliminated from the playoffs. Is there a dumber quarterback in the NFL than Kitna? There is a reason he has been cut from other teams. Do the Lions actually think they can win with him? I want to see Drew Stanton. If they are going to loose why not play a quarterback that might have a future with the Lions.

And don't get me started on the defense.

Anybody know of any other teams that might need a new fan? Tell them to send their resume to me I'm looking.