For what it is worth, it was by far the greatest Rose Bowl I can ever remember watching. In fact, it quite possibly was the greatest game PERIOD I watched all season long. Someone had to lose, unfortunately, and even more unfortunate was it that it had to be my beloved Wolverines. Bummer, but I still walked away having enjoyed a great game, period.
Can someone please tell Jim Herrmann, U of M's defensive coordinator, that there are things out there called "mobile quarterbacks" and that he should learn how to defend them? How many seasons has this been the beef against this guy and the defensive schemes he comes up with? He needs to work on something during the off season, do his homework, whatever - because if not I think he needs to go or be demoted. Good friends with Lloyd Carr or not, he is not getting the job done and he apparently is not learning either - because for years now mobile QB's have burned us. Figure it out or get a new job - we should never score 37 points in a game and lose - done.
Now, for next season. I am truly excited about next year, believe me. Hart and Henne will be a year older, a year wiser and Henne really looked promising in that Rose Bowl, did he not? He finally showed that he deserved the "blue chipper" status he received last year coming out of high school. Hart, he will only get better now that he has a season under his belt, and there should be some Heisman talk for him next year - even though he is only a sophomore, there will still be talk! Edwards will be missed, but Avant and Breaston ( who was finally healthy and himself in the Rose Bowl - can you imagine that all season next year? It is coming! ) will help fill the void. Plus, doesn't it always seem we have a talented receiver waiting on the bench? Bass will be hard to replace, but U of M always seems to be a factory for offensive lineman, doesn't it? The defense pretty much stays in tack, with Marlin Jackson leaving. I doubt Shazor will leave now, his stock for sure had to drop with his shitty Rose Bowl performance - the guy couldn't tackle for shit all game long! I think otherwise on "D" we are pretty alright. I think, overall, U of M is losing 6 key guys to graduation, that really is promising. Next year will be great, but mark my words - if Henne and Hart stay healthy, when they are juniors, National Championship baby! Then Carr will retire and ride off into the sunset.
But, let us focus on next year and the fact that we have seven homes games out of eleven, and our two toughest road games are the first two big 10 games of the year - at Wisconsin followed by at MSU. Wisconsin is a fraud, so that should be an easy win, but MSU will be a test very early in the season. Whoever wins that game has the inside track on the Big Ten title.
Well, that is enough U of M talk for one post. More to come later, as I say farewell to weekly college football talk and now start to turn my thoughts onto something else - I just don't know what yet! Happy New Year and we will talk to you all later - the sports dude!
Luke Waltons Forehead presented by the Sports Dude.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005 at 8:41 AM
The greatest game, with a lousy ending!
Uncle Grambo said...
Great commentary. While I agree that Herrman should be bashed, he shouldn't shoulder all the blame for the Rose Bowl loss. That blame should go to the entire defensive unit. The scheme he designed was good (they finally shut down a bruising tailback!), it's just that his players couldn't tackle for sh*t!
Keep up the great work. Obvs.
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the sports dude said...
Hey - first and foremost thanks for the "linkage" dude, it is well received and most unexpected. As for the U of M defense, I agree the players shoulder some of the blame - they did seem to leave their tackling skills in the locker room! But my beef is for years the thorn in U of M's side has been mobile QB's. Now, the players have changed year in and year out, but the one constant is Herrmann. Thanks again - the sports dude.
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