(09-14-2013 09:51 PM)HuronRob Wrote:  OD beat Howard 76 - 19.

(09-14-2013 09:14 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Somewhat O/T but tonight I will be following Howard vs. ODU.

I'd like to know how Howard does against a team which is transitional FBS.

To me, it will provide some 'context' to the our 1st game this year. How good is Howard? Will ODU beat them by say 2 TDs or more?

ODU is on our schedule next year, I believe.

Hmm, I guess Howard Bison was not that good. 76 pts? Jeebus.

(09-14-2013 09:51 PM)HuronRob Wrote:  OD beat Howard 76 - 19.

(09-14-2013 09:14 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Somewhat O/T but tonight I will be following Howard vs. ODU.

I'd like to know how Howard does against a team which is transitional FBS.

To me, it will provide some 'context' to the our 1st game this year. How good is Howard? Will ODU beat them by say 2 TDs or more?

ODU is on our schedule next year, I believe.

and now we have to worry about playing mighty Akron maybe next year too.

It was a bizarre day in college FB.

MAC was 4 - 8 with Akron coming within 30 - 36 inches of a huge upset in the last what 30 seconds?

Ball State blew a big lead and lost to N. Texas.

B1G was a paltry 7 - 5. Normally the B1G feasts on non-conference foes.

Craziest game was SUNY-Buffalo by 3 over SUNY-Stony Brook in 5 OTs.

Our game was 'predictable'.

(09-15-2013 02:32 AM)emu steve Wrote:  It was a bizarre day in college FB.

MAC was 4 - 8 with Akron coming within 30 - 36 inches of a huge upset in the last what 30 seconds?

Ball State blew a big lead and lost to N. Texas.

B1G was a paltry 7 - 5. Normally the B1G feasts on non-conference foes.

Craziest game was SUNY-Buffalo by 3 over SUNY-Stony Brook in 5 OTs.

Our game was 'predictable'.

That near-loss was the worst Michigan game I have ever watched. It was worst than Toledo because that 08[ Michigan was simply a bad football team. This team with much more talent did much, much LESS than that team did.

Bowden and his troops were extremely well-prepared to play and Michigan was not. Akron deserves all the credit in the world for their play and preparation. Akron respected the game enough to prepare even though they were outmatched. Michigan did not.

The game reminded me of English’s defensive debacle against Hoke’s BSU team in 06’. That game would be the first in a succession of terrible defensive performances.(Ohio, USC, Appy State, Oregon)

That too came down to a last stand inside the 5 and UM also won that game. This time Hoke was on the other side of the coin. Just an ugly performance all the way around.

(09-15-2013 11:29 AM)wolverineeagle Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 02:32 AM)emu steve Wrote:  It was a bizarre day in college FB.

MAC was 4 - 8 with Akron coming within 30 - 36 inches of a huge upset in the last what 30 seconds?

Ball State blew a big lead and lost to N. Texas.

B1G was a paltry 7 - 5. Normally the B1G feasts on non-conference foes.

Craziest game was SUNY-Buffalo by 3 over SUNY-Stony Brook in 5 OTs.

Our game was 'predictable'.

That near-loss was the worst Michigan game I have ever watched. It was worst than Toledo because that 08[ Michigan was simply a bad football team. This team with much more talent did much, much LESS than that team did.

Bowden and his troops were extremely well-prepared to play and Michigan was not. Akron deserves all the credit in the world for their play and preparation. Akron respected the game enough to prepare even though they were outmatched. Michigan did not.

The game reminded me of English’s defensive debacle against Hoke’s BSU team in 06’. That game would be the first of a successive of terrible defensive performances.(Ohio, USC, Appy State, Oregon)

That too came down to a last stand inside the 5 and UM also won that game. This time Hoke was on the other side of the coin. Just an ugly performance all the way around.

W'eagle - Because of a very busy day with the family I was not able to watch the UM game. From what I was hearing, the Akron team got screwed by the refs. Is this true?

(09-15-2013 01:32 PM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 11:29 AM)wolverineeagle Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 02:32 AM)emu steve Wrote:  It was a bizarre day in college FB.

MAC was 4 - 8 with Akron coming within 30 - 36 inches of a huge upset in the last what 30 seconds?

Ball State blew a big lead and lost to N. Texas.

B1G was a paltry 7 - 5. Normally the B1G feasts on non-conference foes.

Craziest game was SUNY-Buffalo by 3 over SUNY-Stony Brook in 5 OTs.

Our game was 'predictable'.

That near-loss was the worst Michigan game I have ever watched. It was worst than Toledo because that 08[ Michigan was simply a bad football team. This team with much more talent did much, much LESS than that team did.

Bowden and his troops were extremely well-prepared to play and Michigan was not. Akron deserves all the credit in the world for their play and preparation. Akron respected the game enough to prepare even though they were outmatched. Michigan did not.

The game reminded me of English’s defensive debacle against Hoke’s BSU team in 06’. That game would be the first of a successive of terrible defensive performances.(Ohio, USC, Appy State, Oregon)

That too came down to a last stand inside the 5 and UM also won that game. This time Hoke was on the other side of the coin. Just an ugly performance all the way around.

W'eagle - Because of a very busy day with the family I was not able to watch the UM game. From what I was hearing, the Akron team got screwed by the refs. Is this true?

The Akron WR was tackled short of the first(it was originally declared a first down, but the WR clearly was short) and the clock continued to run while the refs dithered. The clock stopped and then they looked at it. When it was clear that the WR was short the clock was left as it which makes sense in that the clock ought to have continued to run anyways as Akron was short of the first down and clock stoppage. However, I can see why people were pissed as it a bit strange to see the time run off before a review occurred. Eitherway it was 3rd down. Akron foolishly ran a pitch play which cost them 3 yards. On fourth UM blitzed and forced an errant pass.

I think that if you are inclined to hate UM you will say that Akron got screwed. However, the loss of time had no impact on the play called as Akron still had time to call their third and fourth down plays. That said, Akron deserved to win. UM was greatly outplayed and out coached. It was an embarrassing performance by Michigan and a superb performance by Akron. Saturday reminds us that no matter how bad a team supposedly is you just cannot stroll out there and expect to win.

(09-15-2013 01:54 PM)wolverineeagle Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 01:32 PM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 11:29 AM)wolverineeagle Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 02:32 AM)emu steve Wrote:  It was a bizarre day in college FB.

MAC was 4 - 8 with Akron coming within 30 - 36 inches of a huge upset in the last what 30 seconds?

Ball State blew a big lead and lost to N. Texas.

B1G was a paltry 7 - 5. Normally the B1G feasts on non-conference foes.

Craziest game was SUNY-Buffalo by 3 over SUNY-Stony Brook in 5 OTs.

Our game was 'predictable'.

That near-loss was the worst Michigan game I have ever watched. It was worst than Toledo because that 08[ Michigan was simply a bad football team. This team with much more talent did much, much LESS than that team did.

Bowden and his troops were extremely well-prepared to play and Michigan was not. Akron deserves all the credit in the world for their play and preparation. Akron respected the game enough to prepare even though they were outmatched. Michigan did not.

The game reminded me of English’s defensive debacle against Hoke’s BSU team in 06’. That game would be the first of a successive of terrible defensive performances.(Ohio, USC, Appy State, Oregon)

That too came down to a last stand inside the 5 and UM also won that game. This time Hoke was on the other side of the coin. Just an ugly performance all the way around.

W'eagle - Because of a very busy day with the family I was not able to watch the UM game. From what I was hearing, the Akron team got screwed by the refs. Is this true?

The Akron WR was tackled short of the first(it was originally declared a first down, but the WR clearly was short) and the clock continued to run while the refs dithered. The clock stopped and then they looked at it. When it was clear that the WR was short the clock was left as it which makes sense in that the clock ought to have continued to run anyways as Akron was short of the first down and clock stoppage. However, I can see why people were pissed as it a bit strange to see the time run off before a review occurred. Eitherway it was 3rd down. Akron foolishly ran a pitch play which cost them 3 yards. On fourth UM blitzed and forced an errant pass.

I think that if you are inclined to hate UM you will say that Akron got screwed. However, the loss of time had no impact on the play called as Akron still had time to call their third and fourth down plays. That said, Akron deserved to win. UM was greatly outplayed and out coached. It was an embarrassing performance by Michigan and a superb performance by Akron. Saturday reminds us that no matter how bad a team supposedly is you just cannot stroll out there and expect to win.

"The Akron WR was tackled short of the first(it was originally declared a first down, but the WR clearly was short) and the clock continued to run while the refs dithered. The clock stopped and then they looked at it. When it was clear that the WR was short the clock was left as it which makes sense in that the clock ought to have continued to run anyways as Akron was short of the first down and clock stoppage. "

1). I don't think it was obvious that the WR was short of the 1st down line. It was DECLARED a 1st down, as you indicate. Those calls are difficult and are frequently reversed both ways.

2). I believe Akron had 1 TO left and clock management was critical. The game officials did Akron a great disservice to the Zips by robbing them of say 7 or 8 seconds esp. after they took away the clock stoppage for a 1st down. Zips had a difficult decision to make trying to get their 2nd to last play run under those circumstances.

I taped the game as I flipped the game as a 'Clicker Alert' game. I would have to re-re-watch the end if the officials interfered with Akron's ability to run a play quickly before UofM could get set, a competitive advantage.

3). The game officials violated the 1st rule of officiating: Do not yourselves effect the game.

4). I assume the game officials were B1G, but I don't know that for a fact. I wonder if the conference office will review...

All of that said, UofM DID stop the last two plays so they win. That is the way football is played.

(09-15-2013 02:05 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 01:54 PM)wolverineeagle Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 01:32 PM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 11:29 AM)wolverineeagle Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 02:32 AM)emu steve Wrote:  It was a bizarre day in college FB.

MAC was 4 - 8 with Akron coming within 30 - 36 inches of a huge upset in the last what 30 seconds?

Ball State blew a big lead and lost to N. Texas.

B1G was a paltry 7 - 5. Normally the B1G feasts on non-conference foes.

Craziest game was SUNY-Buffalo by 3 over SUNY-Stony Brook in 5 OTs.

Our game was 'predictable'.

That near-loss was the worst Michigan game I have ever watched. It was worst than Toledo because that 08[ Michigan was simply a bad football team. This team with much more talent did much, much LESS than that team did.

Bowden and his troops were extremely well-prepared to play and Michigan was not. Akron deserves all the credit in the world for their play and preparation. Akron respected the game enough to prepare even though they were outmatched. Michigan did not.

The game reminded me of English’s defensive debacle against Hoke’s BSU team in 06’. That game would be the first of a successive of terrible defensive performances.(Ohio, USC, Appy State, Oregon)

That too came down to a last stand inside the 5 and UM also won that game. This time Hoke was on the other side of the coin. Just an ugly performance all the way around.

W'eagle - Because of a very busy day with the family I was not able to watch the UM game. From what I was hearing, the Akron team got screwed by the refs. Is this true?

The Akron WR was tackled short of the first(it was originally declared a first down, but the WR clearly was short) and the clock continued to run while the refs dithered. The clock stopped and then they looked at it. When it was clear that the WR was short the clock was left as it which makes sense in that the clock ought to have continued to run anyways as Akron was short of the first down and clock stoppage. However, I can see why people were pissed as it a bit strange to see the time run off before a review occurred. Eitherway it was 3rd down. Akron foolishly ran a pitch play which cost them 3 yards. On fourth UM blitzed and forced an errant pass.

I think that if you are inclined to hate UM you will say that Akron got screwed. However, the loss of time had no impact on the play called as Akron still had time to call their third and fourth down plays. That said, Akron deserved to win. UM was greatly outplayed and out coached. It was an embarrassing performance by Michigan and a superb performance by Akron. Saturday reminds us that no matter how bad a team supposedly is you just cannot stroll out there and expect to win.

"The Akron WR was tackled short of the first(it was originally declared a first down, but the WR clearly was short) and the clock continued to run while the refs dithered. The clock stopped and then they looked at it. When it was clear that the WR was short the clock was left as it which makes sense in that the clock ought to have continued to run anyways as Akron was short of the first down and clock stoppage. "

1). I don't think it was obvious that the WR was short of the 1st down line. It was DECLARED a 1st down, as you indicate. Those calls are difficult and are frequently reversed both ways.

2). I believe Akron had 1 TO left and clock management was critical. The game officials did Akron a great disservice to the Zips by robbing them of say 7 or 8 seconds esp. after they took away the clock stoppage for a 1st down. Zips had a difficult decision to make trying to get their 2nd to last play run under those circumstances.

I taped the game as I flipped the game as a 'Clicker Alert' game. I would have to re-re-watch the end if the officials interfered with Akron's ability to run a play quickly before UofM could get set, a competitive advantage.

3). The game officials violated the 1st rule of officiating: Do not yourselves effect the game.

4). I assume the game officials were B1G, but I don't know that for a fact. I wonder if the conference office will review...

All of that said, UofM DID stop the last two plays so they win. That is the way football is played.

Yes, it was obvious that he was short. His knee hit at the three. The guy was at least a half-yard short.

No, they did not go them a “great disservice”. They were able to stop the clock and run their two plays, which they would have had to do anyways.

The problems seem fairly consistent for all three games so far:

The kicking game.

Our defense allowing the big plays.

Up until the Rutgers game our kicking coverage was doing better than last year.

The offensive line seems to lack the talent to alllow a consistent running game as we have in past years.

Guys,

I am still gathering my thinking on this game, we won every area of the game that is trackable except for the score..

I am not sure what to do about the OL. I have said this and I think so did EmuSteve, the OL was the biggest fear that I had and now it's coming true. The DL and LB'er are playing great, Rutgers only had 40 plays and we almost doubled that...

I will post my thoughts later today while in flight...

(09-16-2013 07:32 AM)NUPudge Wrote:  Guys,

I am still gathering my thinking on this game, we won every area of the game that is trackable except for the score..

Well they severely outgained us on the ground and their special teams were worlds better than ours, so there's a couple a reasons why we lost by 18.

The game may have been different if Mulder would've made those two missed FGs (at ranges he made last season), but our offense still never seemed like a threat to score in the 2nd half. Rutgers defense made proper adjustments.

I still stand by the fact that there isn't much to take away from any of our first three games. Reading some of the posts on the main board about margin of defeat against the BCS schools, and how they "rank" everyone, make me chuckle. These are paycheck games, and we will probably look different against fellow MAC schools. That being said, Ball State may have the best offense of any team we have played so far, so hopefully our offense can keep up.

(09-16-2013 08:17 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(09-16-2013 07:32 AM)NUPudge Wrote:  Guys,

I am still gathering my thinking on this game, we won every area of the game that is trackable except for the score..

Well they severely outgained us on the ground and their special teams were worlds better than ours, so there's a couple a reasons why we lost by 18.

The game may have been different if Mulder would've made those two missed FGs (at ranges he made last season), but our offense still never seemed like a threat to score in the 2nd half. Rutgers defense made proper adjustments.

I still stand by the fact that there isn't much to take away from any of our first three games. Reading some of the posts on the main board about margin of defeat against the BCS schools, and how they "rank" everyone, make me chuckle. These are paycheck games, and we will probably look different against fellow MAC schools. That being said, Ball State may have the best offense of any team we have played so far, so hopefully our offense can keep up.

The final score would have been even more lopsided if EMU's head-hunting linebacker hadn't intentionally head-butted our QB in the facemask and knocked him out of the game (and potentially longer).

#19 should have been ejected for that play under the new targeting rules -- and frankly, he should be suspended further, for as long as Nova is unable to play due to the concussion that bush-leaguer caused. That kind of nonsense has no place on the field.

Edit: Don't want to be exclusively negative in this post. I think your QB did a great job of exploiting our very soft coverage. Our defensive backfield is very young and very green, a fact that our new DC has translated into playing like 20 yards off of every receiver. Definitely something that needs to be tightened up, as your offense took full advantage of it!

You're right, our LB was obviously trying to concuss your QB...come on. It was a dumb play on his part, but who calls college kids "bush league" on the Internet? Get a life dude. I'm sure if we went over every single play, we'd find plenty of things that Rutgers players did that could be constituted as dirty, but honestly I don't care. It's a tough, fast game. There was no obvious intent to injure, so quite frankly, your post is totally uncalled for.

(09-16-2013 09:14 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  You're right, our LB was obviously trying to concuss your QB...come on. It was a dumb play on his part, but who calls college kids "bush league" on the Internet? Get a life dude. I'm sure if we went over every single play, we'd find plenty of things that Rutgers players did that could be constituted as dirty, but honestly I don't care. It's a tough, fast game. There was no obvious intent to injure, so quite frankly, your post is totally uncalled for.

Let me clarify: I don't think Spearman was trying to concuss Gary Nova. I do think he intentionally initiated helmet-to-helmet contact with Nova well after the ball was released (and in fact accelerated towards Nova after the ball was out of Nova's hands). If the kid doesn't fully appreciate the likelihood of that action leading to brain injury, that doesn't absolve him from intentionally doing something dangerous that causes harm beyond what is allowed by the rules of the game.

You can quibble all you want with the adjective I chose, but you can't possibly defend his action.

Edit: To further clarify, I don't think it's likely that this kid is a jerk looking to inflict lasting harm on opposing players (you know, a psychopath like Bill Romanowski or something) -- and I think that brain injury awareness is something that is not likely to be pervasive among football players for decades, until the coaching at the youth level has caught up to the realities of the impact of those types of plays on brain health. But I do hope he learned something from the outcome of this play.

I didn't defend his action. It was a dumb play, and I said so in my post. You're the one who called a 19 year old kid a bush-leaguer, and I just wasn't going to ignore that.

(09-16-2013 09:44 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  I didn't defend his action. It was a dumb play, and I said so in my post. You're the one who called a 19 year old kid a bush-leaguer, and I just wasn't going to ignore that.

That's fair -- I can accept criticism for my hyperbole. Unfortunately, his hit wasn't bush-league in the strict sense of the definition (meaning "unprofessional" or "minor-league"), since guys in the pros do the same thing, and many probably with actual intent to injure.

Like I said, I doubt this is a bad kid.

Great game this weekend guys. Good luck on the rest of your season.

(09-16-2013 01:16 PM)chrisRU Wrote:  Great game this weekend guys. Good luck on the rest of your season.

Same to you guys, I like you guys chances in the BIG. Your reruiting will get better and the 4 & 5 Star kids beg to play for your college..

From what I heard your fans were very nice, compared to other schools we have played against.

Again good luck!!!!!!!