Where are the Michigan Haters Now?

Hm, can we get a little love here in Ann Arbor? Yea we lost to Appy State and Oregon which gave plenty of reason for all those closet Michigan haters (and/or Ohio State lovers) to come out in their true colors. Since then, Michigan has won 6 straight including victories against Penn State, Purdue, and now Illinois. Yes, the same Illinois team that defeated Penn State and Wisconsin. Michigan went out there without Mike Hart. Chad Henne was playing with a shoulder and wrist injury. Yet we still won in a hostile environment against a pretty good Illinois football team.

Yesterday's win should have proven that Michigan's resurgence is legit...that our team has a lot of talent outside of Mike Hart (please do yourself a favor and don't call us the Mike Hart Wolverines anymore)...that our defense can handle the spread offense quite well now....and that with young studs like Ryan Mallett, Carlos Brown, and Donovan Warren, Michigan is not going to be falling anytime soon.

We'll be heading into November right in the thick of things to win the Big Ten. Sorry critics, guess your time isn't here yet.

Mama's boys

In the NFL we see a lot of quarterbacks' mothers writing blogs and appearing in commercials. So, since college football players can't have agents yet, a few running backs have been taking a page from that book and have let their mom do the talking for them. Or, sometimes, mom just does the talking without consulting her son.

It started back in August when Darren McFadden's mom blabbed to the press that her son would be turning pro after his junior season at Arkansas.

"He told me [Friday], 'Mom, I'll be through in December,'" Mini Muhammed said. "I said, 'What you mean?' He said, 'I'll be through.' That's what he told me."

Asked if that meant her son would be entering the draft and joining the NFL, Muhammed said, "Yeah. He'll be making big money."

And then we had Austin Scott's mother, JoAnn, speak up when rumors circulated about her son's behavior that led to his suspension from the Penn State squad.

When asked earlier in the week about her son's removal from the team, JoAnn Scott said he returned home last weekend and that she believed the incident would "boil down to a misunderstanding."

We'll see about that.

As has been reported over the last few days, Michigan players have been saying they expect their teammate, Mike Hart, to be on the field in Champaign Saturday night when the Wolverines take on the Fighting Illini of Illinois. They cite his determination and his drive to win.

But when a player's hurt, who better to get a diagnosis from but from Dr. Mom? She spoke to the press yesterday about her son's status.

"No one will know until Saturday," Rory Rushlow said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "I just left Ann Arbor yesterday, and he says he's fine and if he's even 80 percent healthy he'll play.

"Hopefully, he'll play. But he if doesn't, I'm sure he'll play the next game against Minnesota."

I wonder what school she got her sports medicine degree from.

And then, of course, we all know about that letter from an "anonymous parent" sent to Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins, complaining about the level of team conditioning, that inspired Hawkins' infamous and much-parodied "It ain't intramurals!" rant. It may not have been a mother who wrote that letter, but it runs along the same wavelength.

Are these moms trying to prime themselves for a campaign to be the next Mama McNabb? Well, they or their sons can't really appear in Chunky soup commercials just yet, or get paid, or get reimbursed with gifts ... I mean, c'mon, they're not Reggie Bush.

Unfortunately, I was right...

A few days ago, I said this little quip on the PSU-UM game:

-It pains me to pick this but I don't think Morelli will be able to cut it and I think Hart could just have a field day against our D-Line. Regardless, it should be very close.

Well, Morelli didn't cut it. No picks, thank God, but there was a costly fumble and a completion % under 50%. Half the time he looked lost out there but from what I could see, some of that had to do with a shaky O-Line and receivers not running crisp routes. Regardless, he did make some stupid throws.

Hart did have a field day. Just when you thought he was gonna get stopped by the line, he kept going...and going...and going. He's the main reason Michigan won this one.

It was close, lucky for PSU. The D kept them in this one. I felt bad for them because the O didn't help them out at all. Michigan had the ball for 10 more minutes than PSU and that's just unacceptable.

Either way, I have no idea what happened to UM in the first two games but they're not that bad of a football team. They have just as good a shot as anyone in the Big Ten this year and I'm just glad PSU got their toughest road game off the schedule already.

Also, if Austin Scott starts one more game for the Blue and White......

Shocker in Ann Arbor

Quite possibly the biggest upset in the history of college football: the Appalachian State Mountaineers defeat the AP #5 ranked Michigan Wolverines 34-32 in Ann Arbor, MI. Appalachian State controlled much of the game, leading from midway through the 2nd until midway through the 4th. Michigan then stormed back after mistakes by the Mountaineers defense and offense. But Appalachian State drove 69 yards with no timeouts remaining and kicked what would be the game winning field goal with less than a minute remaining. The Wolverines would get another shot as Michigan QB Chad Henne (more below) connected with Mario Manningham for 46 yards to get to the Mountaineers 20 yard line with 6 seconds left. Appalachian State blocked the kick - their 2nd of the game - and pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of NCAA Football. Mike Hart had a huge game for the Wolverines, compiling 23 carries for 188 yards and 3 touchdowns - the last being a 54 yard scamper and giving UM the lead with 4:46 left in the 4th.

Being a HUGE Penn State fan (who demolished FIU 59-0 in Happy Valley today) I am ecstatic. But being a Chad Henne fan I am disheartened. I've known Chad for over 10 years and played football with him throughout high school in West Lawn, PA at Wilson High School. He is a character guy and has tremendous talent, regardless of what some Wolverine faithful say. I truly wanted him to have a monster year and take Michigan as far as possible (without hindering Penn State's chances, obviously). But this loss is going to hurt Chad's reputation and legacy at Michigan. He is a big time QB, most likely to be selected in the first 3 rounds of the 2008 draft. He has the physical and mental skills to produce. He is not cocky or arrogant; really a classy guy. Unfortunately sometimes personal views are linked to wins and losses and with Chad not yet beating Ohio State (0-3) or winning a bowl game (0-3) he may be seen as a bust. He already is one of most prolific passers in the history of Wolverine football, and that's saying something. It's unfortunate that his senior season started this way. I wish him the best of luck the rest of the way and hope that the Wolverines rebound...they are welcomed to lapse on Sept. 22nd though :-).

2007 NFL Predictions - Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns - Oh the AFC doormat. Doesn't it seem as if every year they are the worst team in the conference? It most likely averages out to that. Anyway, the Browns are headed in the right direction. But their key players are too young and unproven to warrant rating them any higher. Recent drafts have brought in a vast amount of potential (Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow, Kamerion Wimbley, D'Qwell Jackson, Joe Thomas, Brady Quinn, Eric Wright, etc.) but they still lack plenty. The defensive line is a question mark and the secondary is a steady work in progress. If Brady Quinn turns out to be everything he thinks he is, this team will be on the way up. But possibly not for another 2-3 years. They need a stud RB in next years draft and luckily they may be bad enough to be in the Top 3 with a shot at taking Darren McFadden, Mike Hart, or Steve Slaton...oh, right, they sent their 2008 1st rounder to Dallas in the Quinn trade. Crap.